Congressman Goes Off On Trump And His Gestapo, "Abolish ICE, There Is No Fixing This"

0:04All right, welcome to IHIP News. Today, I have my favorite congressman, Congressman Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, should ICE be abolished? 100%. No question. ICE should be abolished. Christine Elm should be impeached. There is just no reforming an agency that is murdering our own citizens, that is kidnapping children, that is throwing people to the ground and blinding them or causing great harm to people in communities. Look, people have to remember that ICE hasn't been around forever. This is actually a newer agency. When you look at the history of our country, we can do without it and it should be abolished.

0:49And what do you say to people that would have the argument like, I forget her name, the senator from Michigan. She said, I'm pro-law enforcement. How do we make this argument? because to me, I think abolishing ICE is a moderate position. And I even would argue that a moderate position would be prosecute ICE. But two middle Americans that have this, they think, oh, we need to be safe. They're terrorized by Fox News all the time. Why don't we need ICE? Look, I think actually, if you want to be pro-law enforcement, you should actually want to abolish ICE. And let me explain why. Right now, what ICE is doing is causing massive distrust with local police officers, local law enforcement on the ground who have worked really hard to regain the trust of their communities.

1:45I've talked to local police officers. I was mayor of a city with 800 cops before I got to Congress just a few years ago. I've talked to those rank and file cops, our local police chiefs. They are horrified by what they're seeing and what ICE is doing. And their concern is the danger that now they're being put in, their concern about how folks are going to associate ICE and their tactics with what they're doing. So if we really want to support law enforcement, I would say to my Democratic colleagues, we have to abolish ICE. We can't say if this is okay or that somehow this is somehow how we are going to act and fund.

2:22They don't deserve a penny more. Okay, so Alligator Alcatraz, the people that were in it, nobody knows where they are. Do you have any information on that? That alone, before we get to the murders of Renee Good and Alex Preddy, the fact that I think it's 1 ,800 people are missing. They're not in a database. Do you have any information on that? Look, we don't. And that's what's really scary. And it's not just what's happening at Alligator Alcatraz. This is happening across the country and in detention centers. We know that ICE has now tried to limit oversight, congressional visits, even though we've won lawsuits in the courts.

3:01Alligator Alcatraz has been a horrific abuse of human rights. God knows who is making unlimited amounts of money. Billions of dollars are being made on these detention centers by private industry. So we have to be very, very aggressive in oversight. I'm actually been talking a lot to Congressman Maxwell Frost. So the two of us actually intend to hopefully visit Alligator Alcatraz soon to also ensure that people understand what's actually happening, not just there, but across the country as well. He's been a leader in the Congress on that issue. We have to think about, for example, the young kid, Liam, the five-year-old.

3:37We barely know how he's doing or where he's at. There are children, grandparents, mothers are being snatched up off the street, taken to detention centers in horrific, inhumane conditions. And Kristi Noem is at the top who is directing all of this chaos. Her and Stephen Miller need to both be held directly accountable. And for all those agents out there that are working at these facilities, and some of them might know they're being ordered to do the wrong thing, this is a moment of courage. Because we are not just going to abolish ICE. we are going to prosecute those that have caused harm and those that are doing harm on the American public and the inhumanity of the moment.

4:16So people need to be very careful and remember that Donald Trump is not going to be the president forever. You speak about courage, and I think about the Democratic Party right now. And I feel like the base of the party has moved in a direction that you're in touch with. I feel like Maxwell Frost is in touch with it. I feel like Democratic leadership is completely crowdsourcing. What do we vote on this? And don't use the term abolish ICE instead of standing in conviction, particularly seven of your colleagues voted to fund ICE. And there's this notion that within the ruling class of the Democratic Party, you have what are called rotating villains.

4:58And these rotating villains fund these ICE bills or whatever. And after the we all saw the murder execution, first they beat him up like a gang of just violent thugs beating up when he's trying to help a woman. And then we saw him get shot in his back nine times. So obviously that vote has not aged well. So my question for you is, is the Democratic Party right now in the House willing to have a serious conversation where they meet this moment and Hakeem whips the votes and we have 100 percent resistance against this criminal regime? You mentioned Kristi Noem. You mentioned Stephen Miller, both on Donald Trump's speed dial.

5:46Stephen Miller, by all intents and purposes, appears to be with whom they call Mr. Prime Minister. I'm so disappointed, and millions of my listeners are too, with the minority leader's ability to whip the vote on something that is so clear to have moral clarity on. Look, I think first, obviously, the Democrats that voted to fund ICE, obviously, I couldn't disagree more with that vote. And I'm glad that some of them have actually come out in the last day or so and have actually said they made a mistake. I think that's important. But I do believe that the House Democratic Caucus can and we must be united, one, on this effort to impeach Noem, and two, to ensure that we don't give a single dime more to ICE and Donald Trump's terror machine.

6:31Because I think what everyone needs to understand, including in our caucus, and I think the folks on the ground understand, is that what Donald Trump is doing with ICE, this is not about funding immigration enforcement. He's trying to fund his own paramilitary police force. It's a national domestic police force that is only accountable to him. And so we cannot give them another dime. And it's not just about saying no on funding and holding the caucus together and being all in on impeaching no on, which we have to all be on. We must also demand more. We have to—part of this has to be demanding no more masks, body cameras on ICE agents, ensuring that they're removed from all of our cities, independent investigations.

7:10And so it's good and it's important for us to say that we're going to abolish ICE, that we're going to fire Christian Nowam. But without demand of the Senate and ourselves, we're not going to actually make any progress. And so, look, I agree. We're all angry. I am angry and pissed. Every single Democratic member moving forward has to be united and ensuring that we get rid of this agency and that we fire Christy Noah. Okay, so there's kind of conflicting things here, though, Congressman. We talk about the one, on the one hand, not funding it. And then on the other hand, you mentioned removing masks and putting body cameras on them.

7:47And I saw this tweet, and I thought this really summed it up. And it was like conservatives, let's kill immigrants, Democrats, let's put body cams on cops when killing people. Here it is right here. And I think that this is at the heart of the frustration with the Democrats, that if we put body cameras or we unmask them, that somehow this cancer that has, you know, this is where all the proud boys are being employed. This is where the don't tread on me guys now work. that somehow there's some body cam or unmask that fixes this cancer that is this right wing, and I'm going to say it, and I'm sure they're all going to go bananas, terrorist organization.

8:28They're terrorizing United States citizens. And I just feel like one year in to this horrible, horrible thing that we're all experiencing right now, that Hakeem Jeffries should be the most hated man on the right because he's such a badass. Because he is whooping votes and he is telling the American people, I'm fighting for you. I don't care if I have the votes or not. I am here and I am the resistance, full stop. And we just don't have that. And you can look at the popularity of the Democratic Party right now, which is abysmal, which corroborates what I'm saying. And any support that the Democrats have had in elections is simply a side effect of just how incompetent and horrible these MAGA Republicans are.

9:21So I want to ask again, do you think we have the right leadership in the House for this moment? I think Speaker Minority Leader Jeffrey is a good person. I'm not seeing a fearless, standing on conviction, standing on business fighter right now because they hated Nancy Pelosi. They hated her. You don't hear anything about Hakeem Jeffries on the right. Nothing. Look, a couple of things. I want to respond to everything you said. Number one, let me start that by saying that Hakeem Jeffries came out today strongly on the impeachment of Christine Oum to start those proceedings. He has absolutely, in my opinion, united this caucus in an incredibly important moment.

10:01So I support Leader Jeffries. Now, I understand the frustration. It should be on all of us. As it relates to what you said, though, Jennifer, as it relates to ICE and to meeting the moment on these officers, there's always going to be federal law enforcement in this country. There's always going to be federal law enforcement. ICE has to be abolished as an agency. But for all the other federal law enforcement that is going to remain, we cannot also allow them to continue wearing masks and wearing body cams. I just want to address that. I think that's an important distinction. Yes, ICE has to be abolished, but all other federal law enforcement, particularly the Trump regime, has to be held accountable, and there needs to be better laws and rules in place.

10:40More broadly, I join you in being angered at us. Congress has not, in many cases, met this moment. We haven't been prepared. I think Congress as a whole underestimated Trump and what he's doing to this country. But I also hope that there, and I know there are fighters in this Congress. There are fighters in this Congress every single day that are pushing back and doing everything that we can to push back against Trump and the regime and the fact that he wants to stay in power. We should be crystal clear that this man wants to stay in power. And the reason why he wants to have this military police force well-earned is because we should expect that he's going to deploy some of these folks even during election time.

11:23So all of this is a serious moment, and we've got to unify the caucus and move forward. Okay. I want everybody there to know in the opposition party in Congress, we are like cheering for you guys. We want the fight. I I'm the biggest critic of Hakeem right now. But if he started whipping votes and he started showing intense loyalty to the electorate and not to donors and intense loyalty to winners and the Democratic Party like Zoran Mamdani. All of the base is going to unite behind him. But it just it feels like such a disjointed resistance. And we have a saying in Oklahoma, there ain't no time like the present.

12:16And I'm not here to, if leadership starts pivoting and resisting every single step of the way, and instead of letting the donors be beholden to him, he tells the donors, I'm not answering to you. I'm going to get my people, my entire Democratic base to boycott your company. That's how bad we're going to flip the script. That's how bad we're not screwing around right now. That's the kind of intensity that people are dying for. I mean, I know that one thing that we share that we all have in common is the horrors of watching our government commit suicide every single day as a functioning democracy.

13:00But there is there there is a disjointed approach to the resistance. And so my question is, and saying all of that, do you have after this horrific, senseless, unnecessary murder of Alex and Renee, a good feeling that the Democrats are going to start resisting on every step of the way in the House? I think there's no choice. I mean, I think the Congress has to. There's no other way of moving forward. And I think what I've been encouraging, not just our leadership, but our own oversight committee and the rank and file, is one thing that's very important in this moment, is as we build this next agenda, as we move towards elections, as we move to next year, what we cannot do is forget about holding these people accountable.

13:55It's not just about moving forward. We cannot move forward without ensuring that every single person in this country and the history books understand that these people are criminals. They need to be held in contempt. They need to be put to trial. They need to be dragged in front of committees and in Congress, because we cannot allow the next generation to think that this moment wasn't as serious and as led by such evil people as it is right now. And so, yes, I do believe that Democrats in the caucus have to, have no choice but to move forward with intensity and fire and unity, because that's not just our voters in the country is demanding.

14:33That's what our families... I'm talking to my uncles and grandparents and folks that are like, what the fuck are you doing? You guys should be out there chaining yourselves to the White House. I'm hearing it every single day. And so I agree with you. And I am just as angry as the base and our voters. And I think there is a new generation of Democrats that are pushing as hard as we can and helping move our caucus in that direction. And we're going to do it every single day. What if Trump pardons her, Kristi Noem, and pardons the shooters? Like, you know, we're kind of in unprecedented times here where he's giving out pardons, you know, like popsicles to anybody who wants them.

15:19What if he does that immediately? Look, he can pardon whoever he wants, but at the end of the day, every single one of these folks that have caused harm, we're going to ensure that they are held accountable to the public and that they meet justice. When we talk about someone like Stephen Miller, who for me, he will be the first person that we subpoena on the Oversight Committee, when we have control of the subpoena on day one, we're going to drag Stephen Miller in front of our committee and hold him accountable, not just through the committee in Congress, but through the courts. none of these people should be allowed to just get away with what they're doing.

15:56And that includes Kristi Noem, that includes Stephen Miller, that includes Tom Holman, that includes RFK Jr., and all these folks that are damaging and hurting our country. Okay, what about the shooters? The second one that shot Alex has not been suspended or we don't have his identity. What is going to happen as far as allowing local police and state governments to investigate these crimes that are now on video that the whole country has seen? Well, and that's why I said earlier that other local law enforcement are horrified at these tactics, because in any other police department in America, in any major city, that officer that would have been involved with an officer-involved shooting would have been immediately pulled out and put, and essentially, as it's being reviewed, that officer would not be allowed to be back on the job.

16:52And so everyone, including law enforcement, are horrified at the actions of ICE. The fact that Stephen Miller immediately went to domestic terrorism on these protesters and the folks that are actually trying to do good in protesting in a way that's generally been pretty peaceful. And so, no, none of these folks should be pardoned. And again, these individuals, whether they're ICE agents, the people doing the leadership of ICE in all these organizations, they've got to be held accountable. We just can't move on. And even a pardon, there are other ways. A federal pardon is not going to stop the state courts.

17:27It's not going to stop state attorneys general. And it's certainly not going to stop the lawsuits of families in both civil and state courts. And so a federal pardon is not going to stop justice in this case. Yeah. All right. Congressman Garcia, please send all of my best wishes to all of the members of the Democratic Party, especially Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and tell him I'm critical of him because I expect the most of our opposition party. and it's healthy. It's healthy to criticize within our own party and not be a cult. So please keep telling everybody at work, and what a place to work these days, that the masses, the masses of the American population, look at the numbers, are behind you guys.

18:13And we want, I want every MF-er on in the United States of America to know your names individually, because that's how hard you're giving it to them. And I want you to, we have to flip the script and control the airwaves. Thank you so very much. Keep fighting the good fight. Thank you for all the work you do for the Epstein victims. You really are an exemplary leader for us at this time. No, thank you. We need all of you guys. Just keep the fight, keep the pressure. Let's stay on the ground. So stay safe. Thanks.

18:53Thank you.