- United States
- Fla.
- Letter
Demand Accountability for Vice President's False Statements on ICE Operations
To: Sen. Moody, Rep. Buchanan, Sen. Scott
From: A verified voter in Bradenton, FL
January 23
I am writing to demand accountability for Vice President JD Vance's demonstrably false statements during his Thursday press conference in Minneapolis. As a constituent, I expect my elected officials to challenge these lies and protect constitutional rights.
Vance denied ever claiming ICE agents have "absolute immunity," despite making exactly that statement after the January 7 shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Legal scholars have confirmed that absolute immunity for ICE agents is a legal fiction with no basis in recognized statute. When confronted, Vance simply claimed he never said it, a statement contradicted by his own recorded remarks.
Vance also claimed the administration is investigating the Good shooting, but Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the DOJ is not investigating the case. According to the Washington Post, while an FBI agent in Minnesota found sufficient grounds for a civil rights investigation, DOJ officials chose not to pursue it. Instead, the DOJ is reportedly investigating Renee Good's widow, Becca Good, over the couple's monitoring of ICE actions. This investigation prompted six federal prosecutors to resign in outrage.
Most concerning are Vance's statements about warrantless home entries. He claimed ICE uses warrants from "administrative law judges," but legal experts have thoroughly debunked this. Rob Doar, a Minnesota criminal defense and civil rights attorney, confirmed that immigration judges are not administrative law judges and do not issue warrants. ICE administrative warrants are signed by ICE officers, not judges, and do not authorize home entry under the Fourth Amendment. NYU law professor Ryan Goodman called this "pernicious wordplay."
I urge you to publicly condemn these false statements and demand that ICE operations comply with constitutional requirements for judicial warrants. The administration has already judged the Good case in the court of public opinion while refusing an actual investigation. This pattern of deception must end.