“I hope they keep thinking about it because they’re going to get beaten so badly"

In an interview on Fox News set to air Sunday, Trump suggested that the issue would hurt Democrats in the midterm elections because ICE helps eradicate violent gangs. Trump’s public support of ICE came as tens of thousands marched in cities across the country to protest a “zero tolerance” policy under which all adults who crossed the border illegally were referred for criminal prosecution, resulting in more than 2,500 children being separated from adult relatives.

“I hope they keep thinking about it because they’re going to get beaten so badly,” he told Maria Bartiromo, host of “Sunday Morning Futures.” “You get rid of ICE, you’re going to have a country that you’re going to be afraid to walk out of your house. I love that issue if they’re going to actually do that.”…

“I think it’s a winning issue for him,” said Leon Fresco, an immigration lawyer who served as an aide to Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) during Congress’s unsuccessful effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform in 2013-2014. “If it’s a binary choice and people think it’s the end of immigration enforcement, that’s not a good place for us to be.”