A tearful young girl was used as a prop after her dad, who “committed a crime,” was scooped up in an ICE roundup of illegal immigrants at food processing plants in Mississippi, the top Customs and Border Protection official said Sunday.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” acting commissioner of CBP Mark Morgan defended the operations that busted 680 illegal immigrants at plants across the state, pushing back at the image of an 11-year-old girl begging for her father’s release.
“I understand that the girl is upset and I get that,” Morgan said. “But her father committed a crime. And just so the American people know, also, is that [her]…mother was home and she was reunited with her mother within a few hours that night.”
“These individuals seeking a better life, first being exploited by the cartels to come here and once they come in the United States then they’re further exploited by United States companies by paying reduced wages,” he added.
“These individuals here and the girl — I know it is emotional and I know it is done on purpose to show a picture like that,” he charged.
He also pushed back at the characterization of the operation as raids.
“These are targeted law enforcement operations,” he said. “And in this case, this was a joint criminal investigation with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], and the Department of Justice targeting work site enforcement, meaning companies that knowingly and willfully hire illegal aliens so that in most cases they could pay them reduced wages, exploit them further for their bottom line… a criminal investigation.”
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