Michigan Senate candidate El-Sayed says ICE is 'not working,' and US had fewer illegals under INS

Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed claimed Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished because it is "not working," and that the United States had fewer illegal migrants during the time of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 

El-Sayed told Fox News host Jesse Watters that the U.S. had "far fewer" illegal migrants when the country had the larger INS and therefore "clearly ICE is not working." 

"You and I both know that long before we ever had ICE, we had INS. We were able to enforce our immigration policies without shooting people in the face," he said. "We celebrated our 250th anniversary. That was an anniversary to throw away tyranny. Now to bring that tyranny back ... seems to me to be inconsistent with the freedom that you and I both love." 

El-Sayed admitted that he was glad a migrant was arrested by ICE after Watters highlighted a case in Michigan where an illegal migrant molested a child. 

"I'm glad that guy got picked up," he said. "But that is a different thing than saying INS would not have picked him up."

The INS was established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. It was later dissolved in 2002 after Congress passed the Homeland Security Act, which divided the INS into ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

Among other topics discussed were Iran, healthcare, taxation and the "Green New Deal."

The interview comes as El-Sayed prepares to face former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., in November.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.