“But when you cross that line… to impediment, or knowingly harboring, concealing an illegal alien from ICE, you will be prosecuted, judge or not.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed questions on the judiciary during a Monday morning briefing, calling out judges who let the Biden administration allow in nearly 10 million illegal immigrants, in violation of US laws, without pushback. In response to a question from Rogan O'Handley, aka DC Draino in the new media seat, Leavitt said, "It is absurd that the previous administration was allowed to allow 15 million—that we know about—illegal aliens into this country with very little pushback from our judicial branch."
Two judges were arrested last week for essentially interfering with ICE actions for deportations. A New Mexico judge, who had resigned ahead of the arrest, was accused of tampering with evidence in an attempt to prevent law enforcement from gaining evidence to aid their deportation of suspected Tren de Aragua gang members living on the judge's property. In Milwaukee, a judge was arrested after law enforcement witnessed her leading a defendant out of her courtroom during a pre-trial hearing in an attempt to evade ICE arrest.
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View on X"This president is trying to simply enforce our nation's immigration laws and is facing roadblock after roadblock so we're complying with court orders," Leavitt said, going on to say that the administration is "going to continue to forge ahead with this mass deportation campaign."
Border czar Tom Homan spoke to the issue of the judiciary as well, and noted the arrest of the two judges. "I said from day one: you don't have to support ICE operations. You can support sanctuary cities, if that's what you desire to do," he said. But he emphasized that this does not mean officials should impede ICE operations.
"We're targeting public safety threats and national security threats. I can't believe there's any elected officials, especially a judge, that doesn't believe we should be doing that. And they should be helping us," he said. "What I said on day one: you can sit aside and watch. Again, you can argue against us all you want and protest all you want. But when you cross that line... to impediment, or knowingly harboring, concealing an illegal alien from ICE, you will be prosecuted, judge or not."
"You guys arrested a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge for allegedly helping illegal immigrants get away. As you guys look at other judges, would you ever arrest somebody higher up on the judicial food chain, like a federal judge or even a Supreme Court justice?" asked Fox News' Peter Doocy. Leavitt indicated that they would be arrested if they violated the law.
"She obstructed federal law enforcement who were looking for an illegal alien in her courthouse," Leavitt said, detailing the charges against the Milwaukee judge. "She showed that illegal alien the door to evade law enforcement officials. That is a clear-cut case of obstruction. You don't have to be a lawyer to understand that. And so anyone who is breaking the law or obstructing federal law enforcement officials from doing their jobs is putting their selves at risk of being prosecuted, absolutely."
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