Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who held a record number of undocumented immigrants in detention in 2018 and has faced widespread criticism for their treatment of vulnerable communities, tweeted out a picture on Tuesday night to celebrate Human Rights Day.
It did not go well.
Democratic presidential candidate and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro was not impressed, replying:
Jordan Uhl also did not mince words:
A human rights lawyer also responded:
Human rights?
Hey @ICEgov, I’m a human rights lawyer, & I do not think that phrase means what you think it means.#HumanRightsDay pic.twitter.com/Ct8zvHszPn
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–>— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) December 11, 2019
Anger towards inhumane ICE policies have sparked nation-wide protests and large #AbolishICE sentiment. Calls to abolish the agency have also grown louder within the democratic party, most notably from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who made it a top campaign issue during her 2018 run for Congress.
Tragically, 24 immigrants have died in ICE custody since Donald Trump took office and in 2019, a record-breaking 70,000 children were held in ICE custody.
Earlier this year, NBC News reported that, “Thousands of immigrants suffer in solitary confinement in U.S. detention centers.”
During 2018, 396,448 people were booked into ICE custody: A daily average of 42,188 immigrants. 256,000 were deported that same year.
Happy Human Rights Day, ICE.