Biden administration Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials defended the agency's decision to meet with anti-border immigration activists.
ICE Chief of Staff Michael Lumpkin met Tuesday with Setare Gandehari, advocacy director of the Detention Watch Network, who has the hashtag “abolish borders” in her bio, and called for a “world without ICE detention.” discussed the organization's demands. ICE Deputy Director Patrick Rechleitner defended the meeting between Lumpkin and Gundehari, saying at a press conference Thursday that having such conversations with immigrant advocacy groups is “something we have to do.” insisted. (Related: 'Abolish borders' activist says he met with top Biden ICE official)
“We will meet with as many parties as possible on both sides of the aisle to get everyone’s input on this matter,” Rechleitner said. “We are mission-driven, mission-driven, and will support our employees in any way possible to accomplish our mission.”
Afterward, Rechleitner said Lumpkin was “in no way inconsistent” with ICE's mission to meet with people like Gandehari.
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“It's not unusual to meet with various organizations that want to be more pro-immigration or less pro-immigration,” Rechleitner said. “Really, that's what we have to do. We have to make sure we understand the dialogue so we can communicate with people and explain where we're coming from.”
The Biden administration has taken several steps to limit ICE's immigration enforcement abilities, including curbing arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants. ICE detention facilities had thousands of empty beds in October.
Illegal immigration has skyrocketed under the Biden administration's policies. The number of immigrant apprehensions at the southern border will exceed 2 million in fiscal year 2023, up from about 1.6 million in 2021 but down from 2.2 in fiscal year 2022. according to Customs and Border Protection data.
ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
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