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Progressive “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is taking heat for an “unhinged” take comparing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to members of the Ku Klux Klan.
In an interview, Pressley accused federal immigration enforcement officers of unleashing a “campaign of terror” that she said “does not care who is in its wake.”
“In the same way that the KKK cannot be reformed, another, you know, masked militia group, I do not believe that ICE can be reformed and that this has anything to do with training and protocols,” said Pressley.
In response, RNC Research, the Republican National Committee’s official X account, called out Pressley in an all-caps post in which it called her “UNHINGED.”
Ayanna Pressley at the Featured Session “Repro Revolution: A Conversation with Rep. Ayanna Pressley” during the SXSW Conference & Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center on March 9, 2025 in Austin, Texas (Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
Pressley has previously taken criticism for similar rhetoric with regard to ICE. In January, Pressley called for ICE be abolished, saying the agency was “racist” and “rogue.”
“The actions of ICE — they are unconstitutional, unlawful, they are cruel,” Pressley said on MS NOW. “They are rogue, they are racist, and they are terrorizing communities.”
Pressley called the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis “horrific and unacceptable.” Good was killed in a confrontation with ICE agents after federal authorities said she attempted to run over one of the officers.
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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
“This harm does not discriminate. It is coming for everyone,” said Pressley. “And that is exactly why ICE must be stopped, because they’re not operating with any constitutional due diligence. They are lawless, they are masked thugs. So, whether you are a White woman, whether you are Black or Brown, certainly our most vulnerable communities are the most vulnerable to the attacks of this rogue agency, but all of our communities are vulnerable to the attacks of this rogue agency.”
“This has nothing to do with training or new protocols. This is about cultural practices that have been underway for many years,” Pressley said, adding, “Congress has the power of the purse and appropriations. We need to use it in this moment because this harm is coming for everyone.”
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FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators recovered these rounds from the scene in Dallas where a gunman opened fire on the local ICE field office on Sept. 24, 2025. (FBI)
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pressley’s remarks.
Last September, the White House linked Pressley and other Democrats’ rhetoric to a shooting of ICE agents in Dallas. The White House said these Democrats’ “words aren’t just reckless — they’re a battle cry for violence.”
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“The carnage in Dallas, Texas — where a maniac with “ANTI-ICE” ammo gunned down an ICE field office in an attack clearly targeted at ICE personnel — lays bare the deadly consequences of Democrats’ unhinged crusade against our border enforcement,” the White House said, adding, “Democrats have spent years vilifying ICE as ‘fascists,’ ‘the Gestapo,’ and ‘slave patrols,’ inciting a 1,000% surge in assaults on agents and a wave of Radical Left terror.”
Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
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