WASHINGTON — Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, is renewing his calls for more compassionate decisions when it comes to immigration enforcement, calling it “a false narrative” that the country can’t simultaneously practice empathy and the rule of law.
“Sadly, a lot of times when we’re talking about immigration, it’s just painful,” Curtis said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday morning. “I think we’re really struggling with compassion.”
That lack of compassion, Curtis argued, stems from both sides. While Curtis acknowledged there are real concerns with how ICE agents operate, he argued that protesters who interfere with their missions are also not acting out of compassion.
“It’s like us against them,” Curtis said. “We’ve got to get rid of bad guys and to be compassionate at the same time. We can do it.”
Curtis’ comments come as the Trump administration targets Somali immigrants in Minnesota, with the president announcing last week he doesn’t “want them in our country” and referred to the community as “garbage.”
White House border czar Tom Homan addressed those comments on CNN just moments before Curtis’ interview, noting he supports Trump’s attempts to crack down on the immigrant population in the North Star State.
“I agree 100% with what he’s doing,” Homan said. “He was put in the Oval Office to run the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen. That’s exactly what we’re doing. That’s what American people voted for.”
While stopping short of backing Homan’s stance, Curtis agreed this type of immigration enforcement is indicative of what voters wanted when they elected Trump last November.
“We knew very well what we were electing. At the time, the country wanted a disruptor,” Curtis said. “And (Trump has) put disruptors into place: Tom Homan and things like that.”
“Disruption is very, very painful,” he added. “But you have to remember the reason I think the country went that direction is they were very uncomfortable with a number of things we were doing in this country, and we wanted a disruptor. And for good or bad, that’s what disruption brings.”
Curtis said that “open border policies,” which he said became too common under the Biden administration, is not considered compassionate enforcement either — and that the country needs to find some sort of compromise to ensure that empathy.
Much of that, Curtis said, starts with personal action.
“I think all of us need to wake up every morning, look in the mirror and say, ‘What are we doing? What am I doing specifically today, to make this country a better country, to make our all of our immigrants feel more welcome?’” Curtis said. “I think if more of us would do that, it would matter less what individuals said.”