People Call Out ICE Over Tone-Deaf Tweet Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

ICE joins the chorus of people honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy on Twitter, but many were quick to point out the hypocrisy over their involvement.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents detain an immigrant.
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Image via Getty/John Moore

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents detain an immigrant.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has come under fire for a tweet honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on his holiday. Many have argued the agency falls woefully short of living up to the late Reverend's "message of hope, justice and equality." 

Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of hope, justice and equality. pic.twitter.com/C7HOywZWbd

— ICE (@ICEgov) January 18, 2021

ICE is tasked with dealing with illegal immigration, and despite their divisive role in the U.S. government, many found it truly despicable that they followed Trump's harsh "zero tolerance" stance on the issue by separating children from their parents and guardians. Aside from being left all alone, these kids were also held in chain-link enclosures, which have been compared to cages.

Around the same time that this was coming to light in 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was running to represent New York's 14th district in the House of Representatives. Ocasio-Cortez unabashedly ran on a platform that included calls to "Abolish ICE," and the movement has only picked up steam considerably since then. 

In wake of ICE's Dr. King tweet, AOC held true to her push to "Abolish ICE." 

Abolish ICE. https://t.co/h4zIbesjRe

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 18, 2021

A few notable figures have also called out ICE for being the wrong group to express their support for King's message. 

Now on the leaderboard for worst possible person/people to tweet about MLK ... https://t.co/o5op2WkS5F

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) January 18, 2021

You should sit this one out. https://t.co/IqKzNLfHyW

— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) January 18, 2021

Others have also joined the chorus to blast ICE.

Now, I KNOW y'all aren't talking https://t.co/GyM5W2Ew0m pic.twitter.com/FQGtT9EgW1

— Brown Butter Evangelist (@krysilove) January 18, 2021

For this agency to tweet something like this is beyond me. ICE has inflicted deep wounds into my community. Separating families, sterilizations, mistreatment... the list goes on. Embrace out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words today by LIVING out his message. #MLKDay https://t.co/TAXveS3cTd

— Joseph E. Trujillo Falcón (@LatinWx) January 18, 2021

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