At a rally held on Saturday featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-PA), who has referred to himself as a “Bernie bro,” the speaker shouted “f**k ICE” following comments from progressive Representative Susan Wild, prompting loud cheers from the audience.
Lamont McClure, a Democratic politician serving as the Executive of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and Carol Obando-Derstine, a Democratic political activist and community organizer based in Pennsylvania, share similar views to McClure's. As Northampton County Executive, he enacted strong policies opposing ICE. Meanwhile, Obando-Derstine is closely aligned with Susan Wild, a member of Congress known for advocating against ICE-related measures.
“Today’s ‘rally’ perfectly illustrates just how far left and out of touch Democrats Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine really are. Their top priority is protecting criminal illegal immigrants, not hardworking, law-abiding Pennsylvanians,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said.
McClure, who announced in March he would be running in PA-07 against Republican Ryan Mackenzie, has been a strong advocate for an anti-ICE agenda. In January, a violent criminal illegal immigrant was released from prison, prompting ICE to speak out against the incident, saying they were “forced to arrest this violent criminal outside the prison.” Officials explained it could’ve been “safer and more efficient” if not for McClure’s radical policy.
“Extremist Lamont McClure’s far-left immigration agenda is a threat to Pennsylvanians’ safety, and voters will reject him because of it,” O’Toole said.
Meanwhile, Obando-Derstine launched a campaign for Pennsylvania’s 7th District, challenging Mackenzie. She received an endorsement from Wild, the former Democratic incumbent who lost to Mackenzie in the previous election. Wild herself has also championed an anti-ICE agenda.