During a Thursday confirmation hearing for Ronald Vitiello, President Trump’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Democrat California Sen. Kamala Harris compared the agency to the Ku Klux Klan.
Vitiello was questioned by Harris about past comments in which he referred to the Democrat Party as “neo-Klan” like. He offered an apology and called the comments inappropriate, but Harris insisted he expound on why they were inappropriate.
“The Klan was what we could call today a domestic terrorist group,” Vitiello said, “Because they tried to use fear and force to change the political environment… based on race and ethnicity.”
“And are you aware of the perception of many about how the power and discretion at ICE is being used to enforce the law,” Harris asked, “and do you see any parallels?”