Trump praises Fetterman for saying calls to abolish ICE are “inappropriate and outrageous”
President Donald Trump praised "the new John Fetterman" for his comments supporting ICE enforcement.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) is still tweeting about ICE after earning President Donald Trump’s praise Wednesday for slamming calls to abolish Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Fetterman said “ICE performs an important job for our country” in the first of a pair of posts uploaded to X on Thursday.
“Any calls to abolish ICE are inappropriate and outrageous,” he wrote.
Fetterman also shared a screenshot of an Axios article about the Trump administration considering amnesty for some migrant workers.
“Absolutely support amnesty for the hardworking, otherwise law-abiding migrant workers. Round up and deport the criminals. We must acknowledge the critical contribution migrants make to our nation’s economy,” he wrote in the caption.
Fetterman’s support for ICE comes as the agency steps up its enforcement in immigrant communities across the country with increasingly aggressive tactics seen in raids and in confrontations with protestors, including several elected officials who have been arrested.
A group of Democratic senators Monday sent a letter to ICE officials calling out “the apparent widespread violations of historical norms and traditions in enforcement,” specially challenging the use of face masks by officers who are making arrests without wearing identifying uniforms.
Politico reports that on July 3, ICE made over 2,300 arrests — the largest single-day arrest total in the agency’s history. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, immigrant detentions have soared to levels unseen since 2011.
Immigration is a deeply partisan issue. According to a report released by the Pew Research Center last month, 81% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents disapprove of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration. Just 12% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents disapproved.
Fetterman’s comments reflect the growing rift between him and his fellow Democrats. In recent months, he has broken with his party to vote for several of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and, in June, he accused Democrats of failing to condemn anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. Fetterman was also the first sitting Democratic to meet with then-president elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this January.
Fetterman first made headlines this week when he told Fox News Wednesday that “ICE agents are just doing their job and I fully support that.”
“For me... [that] people in my party might want to abolish it or treat them as criminals or anything, that’s inappropriate and outrageous. ICE performs an important role for our nation,” he added.
When asked about Fetterman’s comments on Fox by a reporter, Trump said “The new John Fetterman is exactly what you said. He’s right, he’s right. And we have to protect our police officers, and we will, and we have been.”
Fetterman told The Daily Mail Thursday that Trump’s praise probably “made my parents proud.”
“They’re big Fox News viewers,” he said. “My whole family is Republican.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated after publication to include more context about the debate over ICE.