Republicans in tough races are suddenly concerned about ICE, too

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One of the surest signs that Republicans are quite concerned about the 2026 midterm elections is the sudden onslaught of them distancing themselves from President Doanld Trump and his unpopular policies. They’ve called for an end to the Iran war, criticized his tariffs and removed Trump references from their website.

And now we can add another one to the list: They’re suddenly taking issue with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

And that includes some of the agency’s strongest allies.

An ICE enforcement operation in Kansas drew some concerned statements from both of the state’s GOP senators on Wednesday. And in Maine, congressional candidate Paul LePage is crying foul over what he said was the wrongful deportation of a family member.

The situation is Kansas is still fluid, but ICE appears to be targeting cities in the southwestern portion of the state with large populations working in the meatpacking industry. The enforcement actions drew statements urging care from both Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall – the latter of whom is perhaps the most surprisingly vulnerable GOP senator right now.

After local officials cried foul over the lack of coordination , and both businesses and schools struggled to deal with the upheaval, Moran and Marshall each issued statements urging ICE to coordinate better.

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“When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement,” Marshall posted on X. “Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe.”

He added that he was “closely following what’s happening in SW Kansas” and has been in touch with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Marshall’s comments are particularly notable given his past commentary about ICE.

While Moran raised concerns about the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, Marshall went in a very different direction.

A week after Good was killed, Marshall told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “ sometimes there’s collateral damage ” and that “we could be just as easily talking about the death of ICE agents.”

Two days later, he told Fox Business Network that “ we’re grateful for all the ICE officers in there risking their lives .”

He continued praising ICE in the months that followed and, in March, authored an op-ed defending how ICE carries out apprehensions .

The story is similar with LePage in Maine.

The former governor has a long history of strident immigration views, including criticizing asylum-seekers in his state as liabilities who bring disease and drain public resources.

And after an ICE agent shot and killed a man in Biddeford, Maine, in July, LePage cautioned that law enforcement are “often in situations where they have to make split-second decisions.” He also accused the other side of trying “ to politicize this incident to try and perpetuate illegal immigration .”

But this week, LePage held a press conference where he accused ICE of wrongfully moving to deport his son’s father-in-law, despite his having a work permit.

LePage said the man is “being deported because he came from a country that’s not liked by certain people in Washington.”

“That’s not right,” LePage said.

He also called for ICE to focus more on “people in the gangs and criminals.”

The comments from Marshall and LePage come after some Republicans from heavily Hispanic congressional districts recently distanced themselves from Trump’s deportation policies.

That made sense for Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida and Monica De La Cruz of Texas , given polls showing Hispanics have swung hard against Trump over the past two years.

But it’s perhaps more telling to see this dynamic stretch into Kansas, which Trump won by 16 points in 2024, and Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which Trump won by nine points. And that’s especially given the prior rhetoric of some of the GOP lawmakers who are suddenly expressing concern.

Of course, as with the long-unpopular Iran war, the writing has been on the wall when it comes to Americans’ concerns about ICE and Trump’s deportations for a while now.

A July CNN poll showed three-quarters of Americans said ICE uses force inappropriately at least “sometimes,” including 54% who said it happens “often.” A Quinnipiac University poll at the time showed registered voters disapproved of ICE 60%-37%.

But elections have a tendency to make people suddenly notice problems from which they might have previously averted their gaze.

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共和党人对2026年中期选举极为担忧的一个最明显迹象，就是他们突然开始与唐纳德·特朗普总统及其不得人心的政策划清界限。他们呼吁结束伊朗战争，批评特朗普的关税政策，并从其网站上删除了所有与特朗普相关的内容。

现在我们又可以把另一件事加到清单上了：他们突然开始对移民和海关执法局提出异议。

这其中也包括该机构的一些最坚定的盟友。

周三，堪萨斯州的一次移民执法行动引发了该州两位共和党参议员的关注。与此同时，缅因州国会候选人保罗·勒佩奇(Paul LePage)也对一名家庭成员被错误驱逐出境表示强烈抗议。

堪萨斯州的局势仍不明朗，但美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）似乎正将目标对准该州西南部肉类加工业从业人员众多的城市。此次执法行动引发了杰里·莫兰参议员和罗杰·马歇尔参议员的声明，他们敦促各方谨慎行事——后者或许是目前共和党参议员中最令人意外的、处境最为危险的一位。

在地方官员对缺乏协调表示强烈不满，企业和学校都难以应对这场混乱之后，莫兰和马歇尔分别发表声明，敦促美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）加强协调。

埃弗特·尼尔森/《首都日报》/今日美国网络/Imagn Images

“当美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）在堪萨斯州开展行动时，需要与我们当地的执法部门协调，”马歇尔在X论坛上发帖说。“我们的警长和警察比任何人都更了解这些社区，共同合作可以保障警员和居民的安全。”

他还表示，他“密切关注堪萨斯州西南部发生的事情”，并已与国土安全部长马克韦恩·穆林取得联系。

考虑到马歇尔过去对美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）的评论，他的这番言论尤其值得关注。

莫兰对 1 月份联邦特工在明尼阿波利斯杀害蕾妮·古德和亚历克斯·普雷蒂一事表示关切，而马歇尔则采取了截然不同的立场。

古德遇害一周后，马歇尔告诉 CNN 的杰克·塔珀，“有时会有附带损害”，而且“我们也可能是在谈论 ICE 特工的死亡”。

两天后，他告诉福克斯商业频道：“我们感谢所有在那里冒着生命危险的移民执法局官员。”

在接下来的几个月里，他继续赞扬美国移民及海关执法局（ICE），并在3月份撰写了一篇评论文章，为ICE执行逮捕行动的方式辩护。

缅因州的勒佩奇的情况也类似。

这位前州长长期以来对移民问题持有强硬态度，包括批评他所在州的寻求庇护者是负担，会带来疾病并消耗公共资源。

今年7月，缅因州比德福德一名移民执法局（ICE）特工开枪打死一名男子后，勒佩奇警告说，执法人员“经常需要在瞬间做出决定”。他还指责对方试图“将这起事件政治化，以助长非法移民”。

但本周，勒佩奇召开新闻发布会，指责美国移民及海关执法局错误地试图驱逐他儿子的岳父，尽管他岳父持有工作许可证。

勒佩奇说，这名男子“被驱逐出境是因为他来自一个华盛顿某些人不喜欢的国家”。

“那不对，”勒佩奇说。

他还呼吁美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）将更多精力放在“帮派成员和犯罪分子”身上。

马歇尔和勒佩奇发表上述评论之前，一些来自西班牙裔人口众多的国会选区的共和党人最近与特朗普的驱逐出境政策划清了界限。

考虑到民调显示，过去两年里，西班牙裔选民已经强烈反对特朗普，佛罗里达州众议员玛丽亚·埃尔维拉·萨拉萨尔和德克萨斯州众议员莫妮卡·德拉克鲁兹的这一做法是有道理的。

但或许更能说明问题的是，这种动态也蔓延到了堪萨斯州（特朗普在2024年以16个百分点的优势赢得了该州）和缅因州第二国会选区（特朗普在该选区以9个百分点的优势获胜）。尤其考虑到一些共和党议员此前的言论，他们现在却突然表达了担忧。

当然，就像长期以来不受欢迎的伊朗战争一样，美国人对美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）和特朗普的驱逐政策的担忧早已显露无疑。

美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）7月份的一项民调显示，四分之三的美国人认为美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）至少“有时”会不当使用武力，其中54%的人认为这种情况“经常发生”。昆尼皮亚克大学当时的一项民调显示，登记选民对ICE的反对率为60%，支持率为37%。

但选举往往会使人们突然注意到他们以前可能忽略的问题。