Stanford made the remarks during a Friday interview with NBC Philadelphia reporter Lauren Mayk while discussing her campaign for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District.<\/p>\n
As Mayk pressed Stanford to identify who would take over immigration enforcement<\/a> responsibilities, the candidate stopped to gather her thoughts before answering.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s a good question, and you can pause because I just want to think about it for a minute,” Stanford said<\/a>.<\/p>\n CROCKETT WARNS OF NATIONWIDE PROTESTS OVER ICE SHOOTING: ‘STATE-SANCTIONED EXECUTION’<\/a><\/p>\n Ala Stanford said ICE cannot be reformed and argued the agency would need to be dismantled and rebuilt. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n After Mayk said they “need to continue” with the interview and did not have time to pause, Stanford failed to name a federal agency or law enforcement body that would replace ICE but said authority should shift away from the White House<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Not the executive branch,” Stanford said. “So, not the president. So, it belongs with Congress.”<\/p>\n She then expanded her criticism of the Trump administration\u2019s approach to immigration enforcement, accusing it and President Donald Trump of acting for political reasons rather than public safety.<\/p>\n “It belongs with Congress because the executive branch, and specifically the president, is self-serving and many of the decisions that he is making is not about the American people, is not about our safety,” Stanford said.<\/p>\n DEMOCRAT IN KEY SENATE PRIMARY SAYS SHE \u2018REGRETS\u2019 VOTE ON LAKEN RILEY ACT, DRAWS GOP BACKLASH<\/a><\/p>\n Dr. Ala Stanford, who is running for Congress in Pennsylvania, compared ICE to a paramilitary force and said its current approach has cost lives. (John Moore\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Mayk followed up by noting that immigration laws and border enforcement would still exist even if ICE were dismantled, again asking who would handle those responsibilities on the ground.<\/p>\n “But who should be on the ground enforcing?” Mayk asked. “I mean there are immigration laws absolutely in this country and a border. If it\u2019s not ICE, if you\u2019ve abolished ICE, who handles it?”<\/p>\n Stanford said any new system would need to be built after ICE is dismantled.<\/p>\n “So you can\u2019t \u2014 once you abolish, you have to rebuild,” she said. “We\u2019re at a point where you can\u2019t reform something that is a paramilitary organization that is taking human life.”<\/p>\n FORMER ‘SNL’ STAR WANTS DEMOCRATS TO JAIL ICE AGENTS IF THEY TAKE BACK CONGRESS AFTER THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS<\/a><\/p>\n Stanford said even the ICE name was too “negative” to use going forward as she was pressed on what should replace the agency if it was abolished.\u00a0 (Reginald Mathalone\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Stanford also suggested the ICE name itself carries too much negative baggage to survive any reorganization.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m saying that I wouldn\u2019t even use that. I think at this point the connotation of that word is so negative that you would need a new name,” she said.<\/p>\n Stanford argued the United States should combine border security with humanitarian assistance for migrants.<\/p>\n “People who come to this country add value and diversify and have helped build the United States,” she said. “When they\u2019re fleeing to come to the United States, it\u2019s supposed to be a sanctuary, not a living hell.”<\/p>\n Stanford said she would rely on experts to determine how a replacement system should function.<\/p>\n “I would put the subject-matter experts around me who are more knowledgeable in this space to say how do we not repeat the errors of the past,” she said.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE<\/a><\/p>\n Stanford is running for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, which is heavily Democratic and based in Philadelphia.\u00a0 (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/border-patrol-agent-vest-fox-news-001.jpg\")
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