ICE operations and local disruptions are putting battleground Republicans on the defensive ahead of the midterms. Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall criticized ICE’s lack of coordination with local police; Republicans in Texas and Florida have also criticized the crackdown.
ICE activity in four rural Kansas towns led some businesses to close, while schools asked families to identify someone who could pick up children if their parents were detained. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE was not conducting worksite operations in Kansas, but was targeting serious criminals and people with final removal orders.
A POLITICO poll found 49% of U.S. adults consider mass deportations too aggressive, 26% say they are about right and 14% say they are not aggressive enough. Texas accounted for one in five ICE arrests nationwide this year. Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar aired an ad saying the crackdown had gone too far; a fatal ICE shooting in Maine has become an issue in Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection race. Sen. Thom Tillis criticized the reported lack of body-camera footage from the nonfatal Austin shooting.
