Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The message rang loud and clear from local leaders in Buffalo on Thursday: ICE has to go.
Congressman Tim Kennedy (D, NY-26) was joined by a number of leaders in Western New York on Thursday at Canisius University to call on Washington for a complete withdrawal of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from cities across the nation.
"ICE is not operating as a credible law enforcement agency. Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are using it as a criminal organization to terrorize our communities," said Kennedy during the press conference. "We're already seeing that chaos manifest in our own community - racial profiling, raiding restaurants, arresting roofers and laborers, separating young children from their parents. ... This has to stop. ICE needs to get out of our cities. ICE needs to get out of our cities now."
Kennedy and others are also calling for the immediate impeachment of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
"Kristi Noem is in charge of this out of control, rogue government force. She's unfit for public office, and continues to prove every single day that she is unqualified for this position, and should have never been confirmed in the first place. I've called for her resignation, and if she doesn't resign, we will impeach her," Kennedy said.
Minneapolis is currently facing a public safety crisis asthea result of the Trump administration’s militarized "Operation Metro Surge", which Kennedy says has destabilized neighborhoods and resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents - Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretty. This escalation has sparked widespread protests and violent retaliation by ICE.
Buffalo has also been the site of aggressive federal enforcement, ranging from dragnet operations targeting commercial drivers on the Thruway to raids on Elmwood Avenue businesses that have terrorized local families.
"ICE has raided restaurants, they have held people - researchers that made a wrong turn crossing the Peace Bridge and haven't been let back in. We know they have just begun here in Western New York, and we're saying, 'Don't come here. ICE, you're not welcome here in Buffalo. You're not welcome in cities across this country, and you're not welcome in America. The injustices that you have perpetrated on the people of this country are absolutely unacceptable, they're wrong,'" Kennedy said. "And quite frankly, they're breaking the law every single day. They are breaking the Constitution that they have been sworn to uphold. They are not even trained appropriately. So they are an out of control, rogue, masked up secret federal police force of Donald Trump that's invading our cities, and they're not welcome here."
According to tracreports.org, 73.6% of current ICE detainees have no criminal conviction.
Citing the deaths of Good and Pretti as evidence of "state-sponsored violence," Kennedy and community leaders also demanded the clawing back of $75 billion in ICE funding recently authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
"Our communities have been forced to endure harm, chaos, fear at the hands of a weaponized agency that too often operates without transparency and accountability. Congress must not bankroll terror in the name of enforcement," said Rev. Mark Blue, president of the Buffalo branch of the NAACP. "The Dry ICE campaign launches with a clear, immediate objective: Block ICE funding now. The campaign will mobilize supporters nationwide for the NAACP, we will activate our 2,200 units and branches to represent us in this form. We need to get ICE out of our cities, because we have now released the KKK on America. It's time for us to stand up and exercise our rights. We have a right to protest, but we don't have a right to get killed by any individual who feels they are above the law.
"ICE is acting above the law and above the Constitution of the United States. This President has obliterated the Constitution to his own will, to do what he wanted to do. But America, it's time for us to take back. It's time for us to let him know, along with Ms. Noem, that you both can be impeached."
Last week, Kennedy voted against a new funding bill for the DHS as a direct response to the ongoing violence being committed by ICE.
Kennedy feels the push back to ICE's actions in Minneapolis should not be a partisan issue.
"This is an American issue," he said. "We are seeing across this country Democrats being the only ones that are standing up and fighting for the American people, fighting against this rogue, secret government, out of control agency that's hurting the American people and violating constitutional rights on a daily basis. It's really disheartening. It takes the death of two U.S. citizens in a matter of weeks for some of my Republican colleagues to wake up and even question this administration? That's what's disheartening, but hopefully it's a sign of better days to come, and Republicans in the House and in the Senate doing the right thing by the American people."
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R, NY-24) says what happened in Minnesota with the death of Pretti is a tragedy, and nobody should lose their life. However, she says no one should not be confronting or interfering with law enforcement when acting pursuant to a legal warrant.
"I 100% support our law enforcement, these are well-trained individuals. I do worry that the governor and the mayor in Minneapolis are not acting in accordance with working with our law enforcement," said Tenney on Wednesday during a visit to Batavia. "It's a tragedy that people are being either ginned up or getting paid, or there's some kind of grassroots effort. We don't know, we think it's astroturfing, there's money and logistics behind getting people to show up to protest against law enforcement in a very dangerous job in a very hostile situation. You don't know."
Tenney does believe the events that took place leading up to the death of Pretti should be investigated through an "all of government" approach - federal, state and local. She is pleased that border czar Tom Homan is going to Minnesota in an effort to de-escalate this situation and find more answers.
"He's compassionate. He knows about children who have been human trafficked all over our country because of the open border. He also knows how to deal with law enforcement, and how to work with our elected officials," Tenney said. "And you already see Governor [Tim] Walz, Mayor [Jacob] Frey, willing to work with him. So I think it's really important to have law enforcement involved with assisting them."
Tenney believes people should think twice about going out and trying to protest and interfere with any type of law enforcement operation.
"[ICE officials] are not going after people who are innocent. They've already got a warrant of some kind, that this person is the person being sought after. So it's a tragic situation. I think a lot of these people don't get full information before they go out and protest, and it's unfortunate," Tenney added.
Tenney further says she's disappointed to hear of more movements to "defund and demoralize the police."
"Defunding and demoralizing and attacking, referring to these people who are serving in very difficult jobs and difficult conditions, I just don't think it's fair to law enforcement. And it's unfair to these people who don't have the information to be out there, not really understanding the job of law enforcement. That's why you have these terrible tragedies happening," she said.
Erie County GOP chairman Michael Kracker also issued the following statement on Thursday after Kennedy's rally at Canisius:
"Earlier this week, a woman in Congressman Tim Kennedy's district was arrested for threatening to kill federal law enforcement officers. In the wake of that very real danger, Congressman Kennedy chose to host an event at a university to further inflame anti-police rhetoric and call for the defunding of federal law enforcement officers who have an important mission to protect our communities.
"If Tim Kennedy believes the law is wrong, he should do his damn job and work to change it in Congress. Instead, he is hosting irresponsible press rallies to gain attention for himself while disrespecting the law-and-order community he grew up in.
"I also question why Canisius University would allow its campus to be used for a partisan political event advocating the defunding of law enforcement. Is opposing the police and federal officers now part of the university's core mission?
"These are serious issues that deserve serious debate. Unfortunately for Western New York, Tim Kennedy has shown once again that he is not a serious leader."