Nikki Haley calls for Dems' "disgusting" silence after the Mexican flag is lifted in the ICE offices

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley on Sunday condemned the prominent Democrat for his decision to stay after protesters demonstrated in front of a US Immigration and Customs Control (ICE) facility. last week, shot down the American flag and raised the Mexican flag in its place.

Teams in Aurora, Colorado, restored the American flag Friday night. The protesters also removed a "Blue Lives Matter" flag, honoring the forces of order, which he painted with the words "Abolish ICE", and then raised the flag upside down, on a pole next to the Mexican flag, local media reported.

"There are no words to explain why Democrats remain silent about it," wrote Haley. "If it's your way to win an election, fire your strategist, it's disgusting, love your country, and if you do not like what's going on, tell members of Congress to get to work and to repair."

Leland Vittert, of Fox News, on Sunday asked former Colorado governor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper if protesters were to be sentenced, but Hickenlooper largely avoided the problem.

"Well, I certainly respect the American flag, and all my life, I fought to make this country – and to make sure that this country welcomes everyone and that this flag represents everyone," said Hickenlooper .

"You know I'm old enough, I remember when people were burning the flag to protest the Vietnam War," he said. "What is amazing with this country is that we are really one of the few places on the planet where this level of freedom of expression is still protected." I may not approve of it, but I think we, as Americans, should accept this freedom. recognize and say, hey, that's part of our fundamental freedom. "

Vittert insisted: "Are you ready to say that doing this, and shoot down the American flag on a facility and ride the Mexican flag, is wrong, do not send the right message, will not we unite, what to tell you is so important? "

"I think there are better ways to unite," said Hickenlooper, pushing Vittert to laugh. "There is no doubt."

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Saturday that "any" Democrat in the 2020 presidential race "should be questioned" about the situation.

ANTI-ICE PROTECTORS DECODE AMERICAN FLAG, MEXICAN FLAG, VANDALIZE FLAG, BLUE LIVES MATTER & # 39;

Cruz hinted that the Democrats would like to play on the platform and present a "signal of virtue" on the issue, but hinted that they would fear the reaction of moderate voters.

The Colorado demonstration, part of a network of #LightsForLiberty events, has also been dubbed the "March for Closing the Concentration Camps," calling for the closure of detention centers on the US-Mexico border and the entry of all immigrants retained in these places. in the United States, according to the Facebook page of the event.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEPORTATIONS WITH FINAL DELETION ORDERS START, SAID OFFICIAL

This development took place as part of a heated national debate on illegal immigration policy, as the growing humanitarian crisis at the border continued. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., And other high-profile Democrats in the White House of 2020 lobbied to decriminalize border crossings and avoid deporting illegal immigrants already to the United States – even pushing some progressives to express their concerns.

"I've already criticized the Republicans who accused the Liberals of wanting" open borders, "wrote Kevin Drum, a blogger from the left Mother Jones. "President Trump keeps tweeting about it, but I have to admit that it's hard to see that there's a lot of light between Warren's plan and the de facto opening of borders."

"Are the Democrats now the party of open borders?" Drum asked in the article posted to Mother Jones last Friday.

At the same time, Washington State police announced that an armed man had been shot dead Saturday morning while he was attempting to attack a local ICE detention center. According to the Seattle Times, the unidentified man appeared outside the Tacoma Northwestern Detention Center with a rifle and threw incendiary devices at the facility and propane tanks at proximity, at one point, setting a vehicle on fire.

Officers responded to the apparent domestic terrorism incident around 4 am and called the man before the shots were fired.

In an official statement posted on Facebook, the Democratic Government of Washington, Jay Inslee, began by criticizing Trump's immigration policy before condemning violence in general.

"With a lot of Americans, I strongly support the inhuman treatment of immigrants by Donald Trump in America," Inslee wrote. "But if today's attack was motivated by opposition to the federal government's actions, it was totally unacceptable. Violence is not acceptable. Our democracy is strong and we are a resilient people. But it is again unacceptable to resort to violence … We must be better than that and find non-violent ways to seek the better world we want, as do many groups. "

Meanwhile, ICE resumed its previously announced plan to apprehend thousands of illegal immigrants to whom it had been ordered to leave the country, targeting people in at least 10 cities. The ICE raids began late Saturday and early Sunday morning in "a number of jurisdictions", not just in New York, confirmed a senior administration official at Fox News.

In an exclusive interview on "FOX & friends", Matt Albence, acting director of ICE, said that he could not talk about anything from an operational point of view, but that the main concern of the The agency in any enforcement operation is "safety and security of persons". our officers who direct the operation as well as the public. "

"We are taking coercive measures against some people who have appeared in immigration court and who have been referred to an immigration court," said Albence to Fox's Griff Jenkins News. "We only execute the orders of the judges legally issued."

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Albence, who said that the use of the term "raid" was hurting everyone, "added that the agency was focusing on people who had had the opportunity to seek asylum before a court and who had chosen not to do so or had not appeared for their first hearings. "The acting director added that ICE had given these people the opportunity in February to ensure that an orderly process was removed from the country, but only 3% of respondents answered the letters sent.

"At this point," said Albence, "we have no choice but to execute and execute the removal orders legally taken by an immigration judge. ".

Danielle Wallace, Leland Vittert, Sam Dorman and Travis Fedschun of Fox News contributed to this report.