Kamala Harris: ICE raid part of Trump's 'campaign of terror'

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (Wikipedia)

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement law-enforcement action resulting in the detention of 680 illegal immigrants is part of a "campaign of terror," contends 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.

In an interview Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press," she accused President Trump of terrorizing his political detractors with ICE raids that have struck fear in families who entered the country illegally.

"This administration has directed DHS to conduct these raids as part of what I believe is this administration's campaign of terror," Harris said. "To make whole populations of people afraid to go to work.

"Children are afraid to go to school for fear that when they come home, their parents won’t be there," she said.

ICE agents with federal search warrants swarmed a food processing plant in Mississippi last Wednesday. Nearly half of the detainees were released the following day, however, on humanitarian grounds, particularly to avoid separating families.

"The execution of federal search warrants today was simply about enforcing the rule of law in our state and throughout our great country," U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst said in a statement.

"I commend these federal agents, our state and local law enforcement partners, and our federal prosecutors for their professionalism and dedication to ensure that those who violate our laws are held."

Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday that the raids were a "very good deterrent" to illegal immigration.

Tom Homan, a former acting director of ICE, agreed, telling Fox News people should know that if they come into the United States illegally, they're "going to be brought out."

Harris also accused Trump of failing to deliver on promises he made to working families, clearing targeting the socially conservative Democrats who enabled Trump to snatch Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan from the Democrats in 2016.

"He betrayed a lot of people," Harris said. "He came in saying he was going to help working families. Everyone from farmers to auto workers."