'How did you leave?' Trump's 'unhappy' ICE agents reportedly begging agency vet for help
A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement prosecutor revealed on Sunday that some of her former colleagues have reached out to her for advice about how to leave the agency.
Veronica Cardenas told MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin and Antonia Hylton on "The Weekend: Primetime" that morale is "very low" for immigration agents and that "a lot of people are unhappy." Her comments come as ICE continues to aggressively arrest and detain people across the country, some of whom are American citizens.
"I have been contacted by people on the inside, stating 'How did you leave?' and 'What process did that take?'" Cardenas said.
Immigration has become one of President Donald Trump's key issues during his second term. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, has set an aggressive target of 3,000 arrests per day for immigration officials as the administration seeks to deport as many illegal immigrants as possible.
Those deportation efforts have also become a political flashpoint between Trump and Democrats. Multiple Democrats have been arrested or detained while attending protests against ICE or for attempting to enter ICE detention facilities.
Cardenas said her decision to leave the government was because "people were being harmed" by Trump's immigration policies.
"I think people are going through that struggle, and what I would say to them is that your voice has so much power," Cardenas said. "You don't have to do things that are unjust or wrong."
Cardenas added that there is a way to change ICE's practices, but it will take a collective effort.
"Change is not coming from the inside," Cardenas said. "Change is coming from the outside."