LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN: “IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IN THIS COUNTRY SHOULD BE HUMANE, AND NOTHING WE SAW AT DELANEY HALL SUGGESTS THAT”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront, where he emphasized that the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration is out of control and that Democrats are committed to ensuring immigration enforcement is conducted in a manner that is consistent with American values.

ERIN BURNETT: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries just visited the facility, and he is now OutFront. And Leader Jeffries, I appreciate your time. So I just detailed a few of the allegations out there, but can you tell me specifically what did you see and witness during your visit that convinced you that Delaney Hall has to be shut down?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, good evening, thanks for having me on. Listen, Donald Trump promised that immigration enforcement in this country was going to target violent felons and the worst of the worst. That's not what has happened. Taxpayer dollars are being used to brutalize or kill American citizens, which is what we horrifically saw happen in Minneapolis, or to violently target law-abiding immigrant families.Not a single person who we spoke with at Delaney Hall yesterday was a violent felon, someone who had been convicted of a crime or presented a danger, as far as we can tell, to the community. In fact, we spent a good amount of time with an 18-year-old girl who was a month away from finishing her high school graduation and has been detained now in Delaney Hall for months, who also appears to be here on a U visa, which is available for juveniles, and has been ripped away from her family, including her two children siblings, who are here as American citizens. We also spent some time talking to a whole lot of folks with serious medical conditions who clearly have not gotten basic medical care. Now, immigration enforcement in this country, it should be fair, just and humane, and nothing that we saw at Delaney Hall or that people have previously experienced at Delaney Hall suggest that that is what is taking place, and that's why we believe it should be shut down.

ERIN BURNETT: So the acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security had a comment about your claims and other criticisms, saying, "Sanctuary politicians are spreading categorically false smears about ICE's Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey. These types of smears are inciting violent riots outside the ICE facility in New Jersey. No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been better treated than illegal aliens." What do you say to that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it's a wildly irresponsible claim, but this is what we should expect from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, which is deeply unpopular with the American people, or from the Trump administration. Not a day goes by without them peddling a lie to the American People. And they obviously are trying to distract from the fact that the administration has been a total failure-a failure on the economy, a failure of immigration enforcement, a failure as it relates to this reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East, which has caused gas prices to skyrocket for tens of millions of everyday Americans all across the country. We will continue to encourage people who show up outside of Delaney Hall to comply with the law and to peacefully demonstrate consistent with the First Amendment at the same period of time as Members of Congress, led by the New Jersey Congressional delegation, particularly LaMonica McIver and Rob Menendez, who have done a tremendous job, are going to continue to exercise our constitutional responsibility to engage in oversight to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent consistent with American values.

ERIN BURNETT: I want to ask you about something else, if I may, Leader Jeffries, and this is a report from our KFILE tonight about Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Democratic socialist. She's endorsed by the New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani. She is challenging the incumbent Congressman, Adriano Espaillat. Now, she deleted a previous Twitter account, but KFILE found a lot of the deleted posts and reposts, and I just wanted to share a couple of them with you. One of them is Avila Chevalier responding to a user asking what a better slogan would be than defund the police by posting, "F- you. We're going to defund and abolish. You don't get to water down our movement." There is another one. This one's from 2020, so obviously prior to any of the conflict in the Middle East, in which Chevalier reposted a tweet, which responded to a social media prompt. The prompt asked, "Israel suddenly disappears. Your third emoji is your reaction." And then she reposted a tweet that said, "Trick question. Israel doesn't exist." Now, Leader Jeffries, she has not disavowed these posts. She did tell CNN, "I have grown considerably since in the years since these tweets." And you have endorsed her opponent, Congressman Espaillat. But, you know, those views, if she's elected, do those views have a home in your Caucus in the Democratic Party?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, the voters are ultimately going to decide this primary election, and Adriano Espaillat, in my view, is going to win. Adriano Espaillat has been a tremendous leader. He's leading in terms of battling Donald Trump. He's leading as it relates to battling and pushing back against ICE's violent mass deportation machine. And he's been one of the leaders in pushing back against Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice. I'm unfamiliar with his particular primary opponent. Obviously, the language that she's used, as is the case with any candidate, speaks for itself, and she's gonna have to explain herself, of course, to the people of Harlem, the people of Washington Heights and the people of the Bronx. We're going to continue to stand firmly behind Representative Espaillat. He's got a track record of accomplishment, but more importantly, a progressive vision for the future to make life better for the people he represents.

ERIN BURNETT: Okay, so it's clear where you stand, I mean, who you've endorsed, right? You say she has to speak for herself on those posts, but Mayor Mamdani praised her. Now, he didn't address the controversial posts, okay, but he said, "At a time when power is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, Darializa will fight in Congress for New York's working families. She's the champion we need for a city New Yorkers can actually afford." Are you disappointed in that response given just those examples that I shared? Does it surprise you that Mayor Mamdani would say that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: The mayor and I have agreed to strongly disagree as it relates to this particular race. And we, as House Democrats-certainly Members of the New York delegation, but also the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, Members of goodwill in terms of the organized labor movement who are strongly behind Adriano Espaillat-we've got to put the work in over the next few weeks to make sure that his track record is clear, can't be distorted and that Adriano Espaillat is able to communicate the fact that he is an actual genuine leader who lifts people up as opposed to trying to tear people down.

ERIN BURNETT: Leader Hakeem Jeffries, I appreciate your time and thank you very much.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

Full interview can be watched here.

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