We put our faith in our elected officials, but who could ever put their faith in someone who comes from an unremarkable background?
Joe Biden’s choice to lead US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has withdrawn from the Senate nomination process after 14 months without a vote.
He was nominated to run the Department of Homeland Security in April 2021, but Sheriff Ed Gonzales of Houston’s Harris County has notified the White House that he has informed the White House that he is no longer interested in managing the department.
“After seriously weighing what’s best for our country, my family, and the people of Harris County, who elected me to serve a second term as Sheriff, Gonzales chose to step down. Thanks to President Biden for selecting me, I wish this administration all the best as it works to overcome the political deadlock that threatens far more than our borders. Indeed, the dysfunction is threatening the very soul of the United States.”
Gonzalez’s reversal followed the Senate’s decision in March to postpone his confirmation process because of domestic abuse allegations against him and his wife, Melissa.
Gonzalez served for the Houston Police Department for over two decades before becoming sheriff, and throughout that time he spoke out against ICE, a federal organization tasked with arresting and deporting illegal immigrants and conducting major investigations into matters of homeland security.
Trump chose to remove children from their parents as part of a zero-tolerance policy in 2018, and the sheriff raised his voice again when Trump promised to go after “millions of illegal aliens” in 2019.
This practice affects children and is an insult to American principles,” Gonzalez wrote in 2018. As a rule, immigration detention centers should not be holding children.
“I do not support #ICERaids that threaten to deport millions of illegal immigrants, most of whom are not a threat to the United States,” Gonzalez stated on Twitter in July 2019. Clear and imminent safety hazards should always take precedence. There will be no participation from the third-largest sheriff’s department in the country from those who are not threats.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden’s Supreme Court candidate, too came under fire and scrutiny. After New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern remarked her country outlawed assault weapons, Ketanji Brown Jackson was observed clapping. During Ardern’s commencement speech at Harvard University, Biden’s Supreme Court nominee was sitting to the left of Ardern, who was making a speech (our right).
Ardern’s statement regarding New Zealand’s ban on the specific weapons prompted Jackson, dressed in a black and white shirt with wiggle motifs, to applaud in a video of the address.
Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court was approved by the Senate earlier this year. Only three Republican senators, Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted in support of confirmation.
Jackson is expected to succeed Stephen Breyer when he steps down.
The politicians of today are hiding a variety of fury under their sleeve, and it is embarrassing to think that the people are privy to this information. It would be wiser to walk out of the deal now rather than risk something worse in the months to come.