Ayanna Pressley

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D‑Mass., said in a recently aired interview that she believes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 'cannot be reformed,' comparing the agency to the Ku Klux Klan and calling its officers a 'masked militia group' engaged in a 'campaign of terror.' She argued ICE is 'lawless,' 'rogue,' and 'racist,' and insisted its problems are not about training or protocols but about long‑standing 'cultural practices,' urging Congress to use its appropriations power to 'stop' the agency. Pressley cited the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis and said 'this harm does not discriminate,' warning that White, Black and Brown communities are all vulnerable to a 'masked thugs' agency she says is operating without constitutional due diligence. The Republican National Committee’s official X account labeled her remarks 'UNHINGED,' and the article recalls a prior White House statement blaming anti‑ICE rhetoric from Democrats for contributing to a 2025 shooting at an ICE field office in Dallas. The clash underscores how language around ICE has become even more incendiary as Trump’s mass‑deportation push, the DHS funding fight, and recent ICE‑involved shootings polarize debate over federal immigration enforcement.