‘Thugs’: The Moderate Democrat Railing Against ICE

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is nobody’s idea of a partisan firebrand. She’s a moderate, swing-state Democrat with a résumé steeped in law enforcement — all of which makes her an unlikely leader of the Democratic-led shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which has now entered its sixth day.

But over the past few months, Senator Cortez Masto said she was horrified by the conduct of federal immigration enforcement agents in her own state and across the country. By last week, she and many of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate decided to act on their outrage.

In an interview with her on “The Daily,” Senator Cortez Masto talks about why she decided to support withholding homeland security funding, the political perils for her party in blocking that funding and why she believes most Americans support the strategy.

Guest: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada

Background reading: 

• Democrats and the White House traded offers, but a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security remained elusive.
• A polling memo circulated among centrist senators urged Democrats to talk tougher on crime, while noting an opportunity for the party to appeal to voters with criticism of ICE.

Photo: Eric Lee for The New York Times

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