CIE

Sister Nancy CONFRONTS JD Vance Over ICE’s Treatment of Immigrant Families — His Response Sparks Pushback Speaker: We have a voter here tonight, Sister Nancy Sylvester, from the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Nancy, she has a question for you. Sister Nancy Sylvester: Mr. Vice President, our sisters work at the southern border and here around Detroit. They see families affected by immigration policies and children separated from their parents, sometimes without warning. They witness the fear and trauma caused by ICE’s actions. We understand this is a complex issue, but what pains us is how these policies are being implemented. We share the same faith, so how would you justify ICE’s behaviour to people who try to follow the Gospel? And what policies would you support to ensure immigrants are treated with greater compassion and respect? JD Vance: Sister Nancy, I appreciate you, and I hope I’ll be in your prayers, as you’ll certainly be in mine. We’re trying to strike the right balance. When approximately 25 million undocumented immigrants have entered the country over the past 30 years, many unchecked and unvetted, we have to enforce the law humanely without doing so little that we empower some of the worst people in the world. Speaker: Are you striking that balance? JD Vance: I think it’s constantly a work in progress. We’ve increased training protocols because, while most ICE officers are good people who want to protect their country, some make mistakes. When they do, we have a responsibility to investigate and prosecute where appropriate. Speaker: What mistakes come to mind? We’ve all seen incidents online, but I haven’t heard you speak about the biggest mistakes in ICE policy and its rollout. JD Vance: There have been cases where we’ve conducted investigations, provided additional training, or taken disciplinary action. We don’t always publicise those cases because people should be judged through a proper investigative process. But we also have to remember what happened over the last five years, including drug cartels trafficking children and the fentanyl trade that killed so many people in Michigan. We wake up every day trying to balance law enforcement with humane enforcement. ICE won’t get everything right, but I believe its officers have, by and large, done a good job. Where people have made serious mistakes, they should face consequences.