Remarks by President at the Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Last month, House Democrats even boycotted a resolution supporting our brave ICE officers and agents. But I will say this: The Republicans were with you all the way. All the way. (Applause.) And we won. We, actually - we won.

    This new wave of anti-borders, anti-law enforcement extremism, and shameful, dangerous - it's horrible in every way. And it's going to stop. It's going to stop right now. It's going to stop today. We slowed it down, and now we're stopping it.

    We will never surrender our nation to the forces of anarchy and chaos and crime. We will not allow our communities to be consumed by deadly poisons and violent predators. The poisons are flowing across our border, and we're hitting it from every angle. But we need new laws. We need border laws. We need immigration laws. We need them fast. We're going to get them. Hopefully, the midterms will help toward that end.

    I think we're going to do very well in the midterms, and this is one of the very big reason. The fact is, people respect law and order, and they love our law enforcement. And I think we're going to have much more of a red wave than you're going to see as a phony blue wave. Blue wave means crime. It means open borders. Not good.

    We will not stand for the vile smears, the hateful attacks, and the vicious assaults on the courageous men and women of ICE, and Border Patrol, and law enforcement. We will protect those who protect us.

    The extremists who attack ICE and CBC like to portray themselves as champions of social justice - they are not. But their radical policies are the ultimate injustice, hurting innocent Americans and spilling innocent blood. People are dying because of their either lack of knowledge, lack of understanding, or just plain stupidity.

    Last year alone, sanctuary jurisdictions and local communities unleashed nearly 8,000 criminal aliens onto our streets. Our laws are no good. Our immigrations laws are broken. They've been broken for many years. And the world is laughing at us. The world is laughing at the stupidity of what we have done with immigration. But we're getting it changed, and it's actually taking place much more so and much quicker, I think, than anybody understands - because people really now understand the problem. We're pushing very, very hard.

    In California, sanctuary policies released a domestic abuser. He is a suspected killer. They think he killed his girlfriend just two weeks after his release. It will be determined very shortly, and I have a feeling you all know the answer.

    In the sanctuary city of Philadelphia, local officials refused to cooperate with ICE - we have a lot of ICE people here that know exactly what happened there - and they released a previously deported illegal alien back onto the streets. After his release, the illegal alien raped and battered a child.

    In recent weeks, an elderly homeless woman in New York City was allegedly beaten to death by a twice-deported illegal alien. Two women in Oregon were sexually assaulted by an illegal alien previously deported 20 times. You hear that? Twenty times. The list goes on and on.

    The true champions of justice are right here in this room, and they're proudly wearing the badge of American law enforcement.

    My pledge to each of you is that my administration will not rest until you have the resources, the tools, and the authorities you need to do your job, and do it properly and do it strong. You're saving lives. You've saving a lot of Americans.

    We will stop sanctuary cities. We will end the ridiculous policy of catch-and-release. (Applause.) Think about that. Just think about it. You catch somebody bad, you take their name, and you release them. And except for politics, the Democrats all know it's wrong. But politics is absolutely paramount over law enforcement, safety, crime. We have to get people in that are going to do what's proper. I'll do what's proper. I'd vote the other way if I thought it was the proper thing to do. I don't have party lines.

    We will pass, at some point, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, Kate's Law. It's a great law. And it's sitting, waiting for a vote.

    We will destroy MS-13, and we will secure our border once and for all. (Applause.)

    You are the patriots, and you are the heroes, you are the fighters, and you are the warriors for justice. You are great people. You keep us safe, you keep us free, and you make us very, very proud. Very, very proud. You don't know what I'm talking about, right? You know that. Your father. You know that. And we're proud of them.

    And I'm honored every single day to serve as your Commander-in-Chief. I will never leave your side. I will never leave the fight. I will never, ever let you down.

    So on behalf of a grateful nation, let me say once more: Thank you for your service. You are truly incredible people.

    God bless you. God bless law enforcement. And God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)

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