[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Immigration and Customs Enforcement

  Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, today I rise to voice my support for the 
brave men and women of America's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 
also known as ICE. Unfortunately, a resolution that would have shown 
this body's unanimous support for these courageous individuals was 
blocked.
  While the Border Patrol has the important mission of maintaining 
security at our borders, ICE agents have the critical mission of 
enforcing immigration laws inside the United States. These two work 
hand in hand. Our Nation cannot have border security without enforcing 
our laws inside communities, and we cannot have secure communities 
without enforcing our laws at our borders.
  The critical mission of ICE goes far beyond just immigration 
enforcement. These folks are on the frontlines of our homeland 
security.
  Here is just a short list of the types of activities ICE is involved 
in: one, investigating and combating drug smuggling, pretty important; 
stopping human trafficking; preventing gang-related crimes; and working 
with other law enforcement entities to stop criminal and terrorist 
networks from operating.
  Iowa, along with the rest of the country, has been gripped by an 
opioid crisis that puts our people and our safety at risk. 
Additionally, we continue to have a very grave methamphetamine issue 
that threatens the core of many of our already struggling rural 
communities.
  We need ICE to help stop the flow of these drugs into Iowa's 
communities, our schools, our workplaces, and to our children and our 
families. In 2017 alone, ICE enforcement and removal operations seized 
nearly 1 million pounds of narcotics--1 million pounds of narcotics 
seized by ICE. Abolishing ICE would turn the flow of illegal drugs 
across the border from a stream into a monsoon.
  I also implore anyone challenging the need for ICE to look at the 
horrendous toll of human trafficking: young and innocent women and men, 
boys and girls used as human pawns, smuggled across the border with 
hopes of a better life, forced into prostitution or worse--raped, 
beaten, subjected to sexual diseases and stripped of all innocence and 
dignity.
  Sadly, human trafficking is a major issue in Iowa. In 2016, for 
instance, Des Moines was identified as one of the country's top 100 
human trafficking locations. That information came to us from our good 
friends at Polaris, which is an anti-trafficking organization.
  Human traffickers often exploit our immigration laws to transport 
their victims, and our ICE agents are the ones who help to stop them 
and to stop their illicit activities.
  Every day, 24/7, 365 days a year, ICE agents are on the frontlines. 
They are working to dismantle human trafficking networks and protect 
our most vulnerable.
  I urge my colleagues to reconsider their objections and to support 
not only the resolution but to support those officers and personnel who 
carry out the vital mission of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 
order to ensure the safety and security of all Americans.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.