Patriot Brief
Sen. John Fetterman urged ICE to continue enforcement despite political backlash.
He argued border security and deporting criminals are not partisan positions.
Fetterman rejected immigration extremes, calling for enforcement alongside compassion.
I don’t often find myself nodding along with Democratic Sen. John Fetterman on immigration. But here’s one of those moments where intellectual honesty matters: when someone is right, you say they’re right.
Fetterman’s remarks urging Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue arrests and enforcement weren’t brave in the performative sense. They were brave in the current political environment, where many Democrats treat immigration enforcement itself as morally suspect. Appearing on “The Will Cain Show,” Fetterman did something increasingly rare — he spoke plainly, without euphemism, and without pretending that reality bends to slogans.
The backdrop matters. ICE is under intense scrutiny following the fatal Minneapolis shooting involving Renee Good, an incident that remains tragic and emotionally charged. Fetterman didn’t minimize that. He acknowledged the loss of life and the seriousness of the situation. But he also refused to let one incident — however serious — become the justification for abandoning enforcement altogether.
That distinction is critical. Fetterman pointed to data showing that roughly two-thirds of those arrested by ICE have either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. That statistic alone punctures the narrative that enforcement is arbitrary or indiscriminate. It also explains why calls to “stand down” resonate more on social media than they do with voters who live with the consequences of failed border control.
What made Fetterman’s comments stand out wasn’t their harshness, but their balance. He rejected the extremes on both sides — the reflexive demonization of ICE on the left and the impulse on the right to flatten every immigration case into a single category. His formulation was simple: deport criminals, enforce the law, and acknowledge that not everyone here unlawfully is a hardened offender. Those ideas aren’t contradictory. They’re compatible.
Fetterman also made an uncomfortable historical point that many Democrats prefer to forget: under President Obama, millions were deported, and the party did not erupt into the same kind of outrage. The difference isn’t enforcement. It’s politics.
Immigration enforcement shouldn’t require partisan permission. It’s a core function of government. When Democrats like Fetterman say that out loud, it doesn’t weaken compassion — it restores credibility. And in a debate increasingly driven by absolutes, that kind of clarity is long overdue.
From Western Journal:
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday to continue arrests and enforcement rather than scale back operations.
ICE faces scrutiny after an agent shot 37-year-old Renee Good as she allegedly blocked a street with her vehicle during an enforcement operation and drove toward an agent. Appearing on “The Will Cain Show,” Fetterman said that securing the border and enforcing immigration law are not partisan issues, claiming the nation must confront unlawful entries and criminal conduct head on.
“As a Democrat, it shouldn’t be unreasonable to want to secure our border,” Fetterman told host Will Cain.
Fetterman said the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis was tragic but also said Democrats should not retreat from immigration enforcement.
“What happened in Minneapolis was absolutely tragic. This is from The Washington Post. This is the latest statistics. [Exactly] 67 percent have criminal charges, pending ones,” Fetterman said. “So that’s more than two-thirds of the people. Now, there are some people that aren’t involved in any kinds of illegal things, but I think two things can be true. Round up all the criminals. Deport them. They shouldn’t have ever been here, and they definitely have to go.”
Fetterman said Democrats must reject extremes on immigration, arguing both accountability and enforcement can coexist.
“I strongly reject the extreme on either side about this now,” Fetterman said. “And I watched you earlier in your show. You just pointed out that President Obama deported millions of people, and there wasn’t the same kind of outrage here as from Democrats.”
From Jan. 20 through Oct. 15, 2025, roughly 36 percent of people arrested by ICE had criminal convictions and about 30 percent had pending criminal charges, which together amounts to about 66 percent or 67 percent with either convictions or charges, according to a Washington Post report on ICE enforcement data.
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