Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin has accused President Donald Trump of spreading “terror” across the country through the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Speaking on MSNBC’s The Jason Johnson Show Thursday evening, Martin said Trump’s administration is using ICE as a tool to intimidate and harass communities, particularly immigrant neighborhoods.
“One quick question,” Johnson began. “Every single day, we’re seeing viral videos of ICE agents breaking into homes, attacking people, threatening people, and tear-gassing people who are American citizens. We have major elections in cities across America that are being threatened by ICE.
Would the Democratic Party be willing to come out as aggressively against ICE as Republicans have against the Department of Education? Would the Democratic Party be willing to say, ‘We will abolish ICE if we take control of the White House in 2028?’ What is your position on ICE moving forward as the head of the DNC?”
Martin responded that the issue runs deeper than policy disagreements. “Well, listen, I think what we’ve seen in terms of how this administration has used ICE and weaponized it, having masked thugs, you know, terrorizing communities — I’m in LA today, East LA, in fact. And I will tell you, what’s happening out there again is not by accident,” said Martin.
“It’s by design to intimidate, to harass, to terrorize communities, to have people live in a constant state of fear. There’s no doubt about it.” When asked directly about abolishing ICE, Martin did not commit to that stance but said the agency must be reined in. “I will tell you what. You don’t weaponize it in the way that Donald Trump and the Republicans have, that’s for sure.
Right? You don’t use our federal government to attack its own people, to terrorize communities.” Martin described hearing from mental health professionals in Los Angeles about the toll these raids are taking on children and families.
“You know, I was talking to a mental health therapist earlier today who was telling me that they have a number of clinics in LA and the number of children coming in who are having generational trauma because they’re seeing their parents and grandparents disappeared right in front of their eyes and snatched and, you know, not coming home for days — I mean, this is the type of terror that Donald Trump and his administration and his agencies are inflicting on Americans,” he said.
“Again, that’s why we’ve seen a huge swing away from Donald Trump at this moment, right?” Martin added. “Those — again, I want to reiterate, it wasn’t just Democrats who showed up at those ‘No Kings’ rallies. It was Americans who were pissed off because they were seeing their Constitution shredded in front of their eyes.”