When Democratic political strategist Maria Cardona blasted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions for violating citizens’ rights, the Trump administration responded with a quote from Billy Madison.
After appearing on CNN on Monday morning, Cardona posted on X, “ICE is engaging in egregious, criminal behavior, violating peoples’ civil rights, kidnapping, and snatching innocent men, women, and children off the streets, even detaining American citizens! While doing it, not identifying themselves, hiding their faces, not telling people why they are being taken. This is not normal! This is not American! This is not acceptable! And videotaping these agents, asking them questions, and even hollering that they should not be doing this, does not in any way constitute a ‘violent attack’ against these agents! It is part of the Constitution, to peacefully protest violent behavior against innocent people, and American citizens!”
The Department of Homeland Security responded, “What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things Americans have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent statement were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having listened to it.”
That is a quote from the 1995 Adam Sandler comedy, in which the principal tells him, “Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
In the DHS statement, the department argued that “far from engaging in criminal behavior, federal law enforcement actions have significantly REDUCED crime in the cities we have been deployed to. Locking up criminals works, imagine that.”
But DHS did not address Cardona’s criticisms that non-violent legal immigrants and even citizens have been caught up in ICE raids, by what amounts to a secret police force given the lack of uniforms or other information. Videos collected by bystanders have popped up every day, showing some of the raids. Last week, a video surfaced of an ICE officer who shot a member of the clergy who had been outside a processing facility in Chicago. ICE spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin later said that “these agitators were blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the federal facility—impeding operations.”
In response to the DHS message, Cardona wrote, “Really @DHSgov? You respond with a quote from Billy Madison? That proves just how unserious, sophomoric, and incompetent you all are. Which would be funny if you all weren’t so deadly dangerous to the communities you are terrorizing! You are also dead wrong! The vast majority of the ppl you are detaining ARE NOT violent criminals, 93% have no violent criminal history whatsoever! There are REAMS of videos of you slamming women, children, and elderly ppl to the ground, shooting pepper balls at priests, even kidnapping American citizens!! THAT is not acceptable, it IS criminal and it is UNAMERICAN!”