FILE PHOTO: Law enforcement officers, including HSI and ICE agents, take people into custody at an immigration court in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Caitlin O'Hara/File Photo
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) went out of his way on Thursday to defend the increasingly controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , staking out a position against the more progressive elements of the Democratic Party that want to abolish and replace the agency in the wake of President Donald Trump's mass deportation schemes.
"ICE performs an important job for our country. Any calls to abolish ICE are 100% inappropriate and outrageous," Fetterman posted to X.
He went on to clarify, however, that he doesn't support the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants who haven't committed crimes, which has been widespread since Trump took office and imposed impossibly high arrest quotas for agents.
"Absolutely support amnesty for the hardworking, otherwise law-abiding migrant workers. Round up and deport the criminals. We must acknowledge the critical contribution migrants make to our nation’s economy," he wrote, in response to reports Trump was considering — but has not so far implemented — an enforcement carveout for agricultural laborers.
Nonetheless, Fetterman, whose own wife was brought to the country illegally as a child before obtaining legal status in 2004, received widespread criticism on social media for choosing this moment to defend the operations of ICE, including from one of his erstwhile Senate primary rivals, former prosecutor and congressman Conor Lamb.
"Hey @SenFettermanPA they didn’t give ICE more money than the Marine Corps and all other law enforcement to just go after criminals," said Lamb, referring to the massive boost to ICE funding included in Trump's recently-passed tax cut megabill. "And you aren’t fooling us into thinking that is what’s going on."
Notably, Fetterman voted against the bill in question, issuing a fiery statement condemning the legislation after it passed the Senate, though not necessarily on the grounds of boosting funding for ICE.
“This bill is a disaster, which is why I voted HELL NO. The GOP will own the consequences,” stated Fetterman. “My colleagues on the other side of the aisle wrote and passed this 940-page bill without giving us time to read it. I’ll keep fighting to protect health care, defend nutrition assistance, block giveaways for billionaires, and prevent trillions more added to our national debt.”