Cynthia Nixon slammed by Border Patrol Council VP for calling ICE a "terrorist organization"
US Border Patrol Council Vice President Art del Cueto has criticized 'Sex and the City' star and NY governor hopeful Cynthia Nixon for referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a "terrorist organization."
"ICE has strayed so far from its mission. It's supposed to be here to keep Americans safe... It's turned into a terrorist organization," Nixon said at a speech at a Manhattan Church on Thursday, the New York Post reported. However, Nixon, who is hoping to land the Democratic nomination against two-term incumbent Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D-N.Y.), was rebutted by Cueto, who said Nixon and others who were trageting the ICE "need to go back to history class."
"It's disgusting," he said speaking to Fox News. "They need to go back to history class," Cueto said, also slamming actor Peter Fonda, who sent several inflammable tweets directed at federal officials and President Donald 12-yearold son Barron Trump.
Several celebrities like Karlie Kloss, Tatiana Maslany, and Oprah Winfrey have taken to social media to express their concern about the separation of immigrant children from their families at the US border. Many have also urged their followers to call their congressmen and voice their disapproval.
Nixon has been very vocal about her opinion on several social issues, not just immigration, including repairing New York City’s subway system and acceptance related to the LGBTQ community. She recently revealed to the world that her son Samuel, Seph as he likes to be called, is transgender with an empowering Instagram post on Trans Day of Action.
The post showcased a picture from her son’s graduation from earlier this month from the University of Chicago. “I’m so proud of my son Samuel Joseph Mozes (called Seph) who graduated college this month. I salute him and everyone else marking today’s #TransDayofAction. #TDOA,” Nixon wrote in the caption.
However, her attack on the ICE was preceded by similar attacks by other celebs on the organization responsible for implementing the "zero tolerance" policy on immigration that triggered a furore over children being separated from their parents and being reportedly kept in unsavory conditions.
Actor Peter Fonda on Wednesday called on his Twitter followers to target ICE agents in large-scale protests by surrounding their homes and children's schools.
Furthermore, Wikileaks recently released a list of ICE employees and other government officials associated with border-related work and their LinkedIn profiles under the banner ICEPatrol, reported Newsweek.
The whistleblowing platform believed that the list would serve as an important public resource in a time when people are struggling to understand the zero-tolerance policy. The verified WikiLeaks Twitter account wrote late on Thursday: “ICEPatrol is an important public resource for understanding ICE programs and increasing accountability, especially in light of the actions taken by ICE lately, such as the separation of children and parents at the U.S. border. ICEPatrol is a searchable archive of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) positions voluntarily released to the public by each staff member,” the profile added, posting a link to the new website. “It is useful for journalists to develop sources inside ICE and to understand its structure.”
However, there are questions about whether posting such information in a searchable form breaks any LinkedIn data collection or privacy policies. Medium took down this scraped account information from their website. A LinkedIn spokesperson told Buzzfeed on Tuesday: “We do not support or condone what immigration authorities are doing at the border, but we can’t allow the illegal use of our member data. We will take appropriate action to ensure our members’ data is protected and used properly,” reported Newsweek.
Over the past few days, serveral clips and images of detention campus have flooded the internet. Referring to all these pictures, del Cueto said, "I don't know what to say to these people. The pictures that the media likes to continuously show [are] from the Obama administration."
He also conveyed his dissatisfaction with TIME magazine’s controversial cover that features President Trump looking down on a crying immigrant child.
President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order that intends to reverse the policy that demands the separation of children from their parents at the U.S. border. Though the order still promotes a zero-tolerance prosecution policy for illegal immigrants, the administration intend to stop the separation of families in the process. Trump hopes the court will approve the order that calls upon agencies like the Pentagon to make available existing facilities or build more detention centers for the Department of Homeland Security to house immigrant families while they are being prosecuted.
The executive order also calls into question the policy that demands children to be released to legitimate sponsors in the United States after 20 days if their parents face long-term detention or jail-time. The order aims to extend the detention time indefinitely so that children are not separated from their parents. Government officials have met to ideate on how to act in accordance to the new order. What will happen to the 2,300 children who have already been separated from their families due to Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcement in April that instigated the zero-tolerance policy is yet to be decided.
