New Harris aide apologizes for past tweet questioning why ICE wouldn't arrest undocumented immigrants doing a TV interview
- Jamal Simmons apologized for a 2010 tweet questioning why two undocumented immigrants weren't arrested.
- Harris just announced Simmons' hiring as her new communications director.
Vice President Kamala Harris' new communications director Jamal Simmons apologized on Friday for wondering on Twitter in 2010 why federal immigration officers could not arrest undocumented immigrants who were doing a TV interview.
"Just saw 2 undocumented folks talking on MSNBC. One Law student the other a protester. Can someone explain why ICE is not picking them up?" Simmons wrote at the time. He then sent another tweet minutes later trying to clarify his remarks, but still asked why Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not detain people who openly admit their undocumented status.
"Sometimes I have been sarcastic, unclear, or just plainly missed the mark. I sincerely apologize for offending those who care as much as I do about making America the best, multi-ethnic, diverse democracy it can be," Simmons said in a statement Friday.
He later added that he has "never advocated for, nor believed that Dreamers should be targeted by ICE agents."
"I've been for DACA + comprehensive immigration reform for years. Frankly, it's depressing ppl can forget about every other thing I've said in public on this bc of bad tweets," Simmons wrote Friday on Twitter.
The tweets resurfaced after the news broke that he was joining Harris' staff. The messages were part of a lengthy FoxNews.com report about his past statements.
Simmons also tweeted during President Trump's first impeachment trial about President George W. Bush administration's use of torture, or what officials then called "enhanced interrogation techniques." Lawmakers for years, including Sen. John McCain, slammed the use of such practices as antithetical to American values.
Former Trump White House official Stephen Miller, who was instrumental in the administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that led to the separation of undocumented families, trolled Simmons on Twitter.
"I agree with @JamalSimmons. If you break into our nation there must be deportation," Miller wrote on Twitter.
Before Simmons issued his apology, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a lawyer for the American Immigration Council, expressed hope that now-White House staffer regrets his remarks.
"His positions a decade ago were fairly typical of a lot of Democrats; harsh border controls and employer sanctions but a desire to pass some kind of immigration reform. That is still the mainstream position for many even after years of proof that harsh border controls don't work," Reichlin-Melnick wrote on Twitter.