Kamal Ghorui
Democratic Congressman Shri Thanedar stood up to the racist comments targeted at him in the wake of his ‘abolish ICE’ proposal, and shielded the Indian-origin Congressmen from a vile attack. “My politics are tripling the size of ICE and getting these six on a one-way flight back to Mumbai,” a social media user wrote, sharing a photo of Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), informally called the “Samosa Caucus” for their Indian origin. “Remember when MAGA claimed that they were only in favor of deporting people who were here ‘illegally,’ and that it had nothing to do with racism?” Shri Thanedar wrote.While racist attacks are not new for Indian-origin Congressmen, Thanedar has recently been called out as he introduced the Abolish ICE Act, a bill that proposes to eliminate ICE and end its current enforcement authority effective 90 days after enactment. The legislation proposes reassigning immigration-related duties to other federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that ICE’s structure inherently prioritizes aggressive enforcement and violence over due process and justice.Thanedar took a strong anti-ICE stand after the shooting of 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, who was killed by Jonathan Ross during an ICE raid. The Donald Trump administration said the ICE agent was not at fault as he acted in self-defence in front of Renee Good’s moving car.
Thanedar’s retort to ‘doesn’t know English’ jibe
As Thanedar appeared at several interviews with his ‘Abolish ICE’ Bill, he was mocked for his English. Thanedar did not let it go. As he spoke about an incident where a baby was teargassed by the ICE and the family was not even protesting and somone asked why a baby was there at a riot, Thanedar said: “MAGA evidently can’t read. These are guys telling people to learn English.”
