Atlanta mayor is wrong to target ICE

There is a growing movement that wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement supposedly because they separate families at the border. This theme is seen in the Atlanta mayor’s executive order regarding ICE detainees. Here is the rub: ICE has nothing to do with separating families at the border; that is done by Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol, when they apprehend people or when unaccompanied minors are picked up crossing the border illegally. Now I know Mayor Bottoms is aware of the different Homeland Security divisions, but she makes the issue to continue the attacks against President Trump, drum up her base and make political points with the Democratic Party. Under President Barack Obama, the division prioritized removing undocumented immigrants who had committed serious crimes in the United States. This is one of several jobs ICE has, but none of them involve any duties at the borders.

JAMES VAN VALKENBURG, SNELLVILLE