California's junior senator tried to bait the nominee to lead Immigrations and Customs Enforcement into comparing the agency to the Ku Klux Klan during a hearing Thursday.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., first asked Ronald Vitiello, ICE's current acting director, about the KKK and what the group was known for during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
Vitiello called it a "domestic terrorist group" that "tried to use fear and force to change the political environment . . . based on race and ethnicity."
Harris then attempted to use Vitiello's answer to draw a parallel between the KKK and ICE, the latter of which enforces U.S. immigration laws.
Here is the exchange between the two:
Harris: "Are you aware of the perception of many about how the power and the discretion at ICE is being used to enforce the laws, and do you see any parallels?"
Vitiello: "I don't see a parallel between what is constitutionally mandated as it relates to enforcing the law. I see no perception that puts ICE in the same category as the KKK. Is that what you're asking me?"
Harris: "No, I'm very specific about what I'm asking you. Are you aware of a perception that the way that the discretion . . ."
Vitiello: "I see no parallel. I see none."
Harris: "I'm not finished. I'm not finished. I'm not finished. Are you aware that there is a perception that ICE is administering its power in a way that is causing fear and intimidation, particularly among immigrants and specifically among immigrants coming from Mexico and Central America?"
Vitiello: "I do not see a parallel between the power and the authority that ICE has to do its job, and the agents and officers who did it professionally and excellently with lots of compassion."
Harris then wondered aloud how Vitiello could sit atop the agency and not know how others viewed it.
Harris might run for president in 2020 and has suggested ICE should be abolished.
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