ICE offers the weakest defense of its widespread raids yet

The federal police force tasked with ambushing and arresting undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. attempted to set the record straight on Wednesday about what they do, while managing to offer up no hard evidence at all.

Let’s fact-check, Immigration and Customs Enforcement tweeted over @ICEgov. Yes, let’s!

Is there a reason that we shouldn’t refer to ICE agents literally grabbing people showing up for their court dates–including domestic violence victims seeking protective orders–”raids”? ICE offers not one but three: it’s 1) false, 2) dangerous, and 3) irresponsible. Why? Just because.

Know what else is dangerous and irresponsible? Arresting and sending immigrants, many of whom have no criminal record, back across the border, away from their children and their communities. Or holding young people covered by President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, in detention for nearly seven weeks. Or arresting parents in front of children who won’t know if they’ll ever see each other again and pulling American taxpayers out of their workplaces.

ICE tried again:

The agency didn’t cite any specific reports, so there’s no way to know exactly what was being referred to. What we do have are plenty of reports about the “mass panic” and invasive fear that ICE agents have instilled in immigrant communities, sown by President Trump’s draconian executive orders on immigration.

They gave it one more college try:

I don’t know where to start with this one. Who does ICE support? A Homeland Security chief considering a plan to twist the knife a little more by indefinitely separating undocumented parents from their kids and a president whose idea of national security is to ban Muslims from entering the country.