by Molly Prince
Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib suggested that Americans engage in a hunger strike to “shut down” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rather than abolishing the agency through congressional approval.
“I want you not to only share things on social media, but pick up the phone because many of your Michigan delegation members need to also be loud and clear about this action,” Tlaib told a crowd of supporters on Sunday while delivering the keynote address for the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights.
“You know, there’s so many movements that we’re all part of. It won’t take us getting them information from the subpoena only,” Tlaib continued. “You know what it’s going to take? Movements outside of the halls of Congress, movements outside of [the] White House.”
The Michigan congresswoman has been an outspoken opponent of the agency. She claimed in June that ICE makes “our neighborhoods less safe” and that it “terrorizes” communities.
“I want you all to shut [ICE] down. We can shut them down,” Tlaib said. “Don’t wait for this Congress to act. Shut ’em down.”
“I know what you’re going to say though, they’re going to go ‘what do you mean Rashida?’ Well, I’ll tell you,” she continued. “There are some people that are using hunger strike[s], all these other things, going to the border, and I plan to.”
A spokesman for Tlaib did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation when asked if the congresswoman is planning to engage in a hunger strike, but denied that Tlaib called for supporters to launch one of their own.
“She did not call for a hunger strike,” Tlaib’s office told TheDCNF. “‘She mentioned that she knows of folks who have done hunger strikes. After that, she mentioned folks going to the southern border which she said she plans to do.”
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Molly Prince is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Molly on Twitter.
