ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Fox News Sunday on Fox News to Discuss ICE Cooperation, Government Shutdown Risks, Iran Talks, Russia Arms Control, the SAVE Act

WASHINGTON-Yesterday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Fox News Sunday on Fox Newsto discuss ICE enforcement cooperation, potential government shutdown negotiations, U.S. pressure on Iran, nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China, and the SAVE Act.

Partial Transcript

Hagerty on ICE cooperation and Minneapolis vs. Memphis: "It's clear ICE [United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement] themselves are ready to deal with the body cameras. There are a number of things we could talk about, but this isn't a serious negotiation. This is all happening in the media, trying to motivate a radical left base. The main difference between what we're seeing in Minneapolis and the situation you were just discussing is a lack of cooperation. Look no further than Memphis, Tennessee. In Memphis and Tennessee, we actually have cooperation with local authorities. If the local authorities would cooperate in Minneapolis with ICE, they would issue the detainer, the ICE agent would go directly to the jail, pick up the person, and move on. It takes four to eight times more agents to go into the field to go after the same criminal. That's why you have so many people in Minneapolis. That's why this is so chaotic, because the Democrats-the local leadership, Tim Walz, the mayor of Minneapolis-are actively encouraging people to resist. They're not agreeing, they're not cooperating with authorities at the federal level. And the result is utter chaos in Minneapolis. Go to Memphis. Memphis is now becoming one of the safest cities in America because we do have cooperation at the local level, the state level, and the federal level. We have 16 agencies at the federal level working with Memphis, and Memphis has been dramatically improved in terms of the reduction of crime on the streets and in the neighborhoods."

Hagerty on shutdown negotiations and protecting ICE agents: "Democrats are going to have a very hard time shutting the government down just so they can perpetuate the kind of chaos that's going on in Minneapolis. There's a reason why ICE does not want to have their badges and their names on their uniforms. There's a reason why they're masking, because threats have risen 1,300 percent-death threats against ICE agents. They're being doxed. The left has gone completely overboard, and they're threatening the safety and security of our agents so they cannot do their job. This is something we need to look at very carefully. The request that we should put ICE agents in harm's way is absolutely intolerable. The Democrats need to get serious. If they do shut the government down, it's not going to have an impact. But it's going to impact the Coast Guard. It's going to impact TSA [Transportation Security Administration]. It's going to impact FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency]. In our state, we've had massive ice storms. 'Let's shut that down.' Is that the argument the Democrats want to make? I don't think the American public is going to believe this is the right path to follow."

Hagerty on Iran negotiations: "What's different now is we're not just talking diplomatic talks. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and, importantly, Admiral Brad Cooper-our lead military officer who runs CENTCOM [United States Central Command]-are in the room with the negotiations in Oman. We're also seeing significant military movement. So, it's not just diplomatic pressure. Military pressure is coming to play in a very significant way. The other aspect that fails to be covered enough is that the economic pressure on Iran is significant. The rial is in a tailspin. This is the type of economic pressure, again, married with military pressure and diplomatic pressure that actually puts President [Donald] Trump in a much more serious bargaining position to achieve what he's trying to accomplish."

Hagerty on Russia arms control and China: "Getting China to the table is its own argument, and that gets back to pressure as well. President Trump is making significant moves. Look again at Venezuela-who's the largest purchaser of the illicit oil from Venezuela? It's China. Putting more pressure on China at every turn. If you look at Russia, they have not complied with the [New] START treaty. Is this a bad deal? It absolutely is a bad deal. If you look at the new technologies, the new military technologies that Russia is working on right now, nuclear-armed torpedoes that they're saying are off the table, the types of weaponry that would be used to attack our coastal cities, new nuclear-powered missiles that again, they're saying would be off the table. We're looking at a situation where the United States would be far more constrained than Russia. No one should do a deal like that. The terms of the deal that [Joe] Biden was happy to extend were far more unfavorable to the United States than to Russia. And look at Russia's behavior since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022; they've basically stopped cooperating altogether. The terms of trade with Russia are not adequate right now. Getting China to the table is a complicated additional agreement. I agree that's where we should be, that China should be at the table and part of the agreement, but I'm not saying it will be easy."

Hagerty on the SAVE Act: "I wouldn't say this is an across-the-board nationalization at all. It's one fundamental question: are you a citizen and can you prove it? Because those are the only people who should be voting. And that can be done on a nationwide basis. The problem is we have Democrat states that want to have non-citizens eligible to vote. This does not remove the state's ability to set the terms, conditions, and place for elections. This would address the state's ability to regulate, for example, ballot harvesting. If we look at the Democrat strategy, they want to have as loose a situation as they can. This is how states vary. If you look at the states where we have significant problems, those are blue states. That's where they wanted to go with their legislation-loosen all the requirements. This is one where more than 80 percent of Americans agree: a person should be a citizen and be able to prove it in order to vote."

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