Trump calls for public officials to praise ICE, Border Patrol agents

President Trump is calling for state and local officials to publicly praise the “sacrifice” that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents make. 

“Through letters, public statements, op-eds, resolutions, and events, we can give our voice to our Nation’s longstanding tradition of honoring the public servants who protect our communities and our way of life,” Trump wrote in a letter released by the White House on Monday. 

{mosads}The letter’s release came the same day Trump will honor ICE and Border Patrol agents during the “Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs [and] Border Protection” event.

Trump wrote in the letter that immigration agents have been subjected to a series of unfair “smears” by politicians “catering to the extreme elements of our society that desire lawlessness and anarchy.”

“These horrendous assaults are no-doubt spurred on by the dangerous ‘Abolish ICE’ movement — a movement to abolish our borders entirely,” Trump added. 

He said that “while anarchist protesters hurl vicious insults at ICE officers in Portland and other disturbing episodes nationwide, those same ICE officers continue to dutifully remove some of the most dangerous and violent individuals from the communities they protect — putting their lives on the line in the process.” 

He later notes that ICE arrested more than 125,000 “aliens” with criminal records during the 2017 fiscal year. 

ICE has faced increasing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers over its role in carrying out Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which resulted in thousands of migrant families being separated at the southern border.

Many politicians, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have called for abolishing the agency. 

According to an update from the Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union last week, 565 migrant children detained at the border remain in U.S. custody.