Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., voiced support for President Donald Trump's call to end sanctuary city policies, saying Monday on Newsmax that unrest in Minnesota highlights the consequences of local officials refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Harris told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" that the situation in Minnesota is a "tragedy on top of tragedy" and criticized Democrat state and local leaders for what he described as a failure to maintain order.
Trump has urged Congress to take legislative action to eliminate sanctuary city policies, arguing that jurisdictions refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities undermine national security and public safety.
"I certainly agree with the president that we need to bring an end to sanctuary cities," Harris said, while acknowledging that the legislative path forward in Congress remains uncertain.
Harris said an active investigation into the incidents in Minnesota is ongoing and should be allowed to proceed.
"What has happened in Minneapolis has just been tragedy on top of tragedy," Harris said. "The reality is that things have gotten out of control. And the political leaders there ... are doing nothing but exacerbating the problems."
The congressman cited reports of protesters entering hotels where ICE agents were operating and disrupting public spaces, including worship services.
"There has got to be a time for cooperation," Harris said. "Everyone has a right to protest. But when the protests have morphed into blocking streets, have morphed into injecting themselves and impeding ICE's ability to do their job, when they have morphed into people flooding into worship services and creating chaos in a worship service, that's when we realize we've gone beyond the normal protester."
Harris defended ICE agents, describing them as law enforcement officers tasked with removing criminal illegal immigrants to improve public safety.
"They have a job to do," Harris said. "They're getting these criminal, illegal aliens off the streets in order to make our streets safer."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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