Montana’s AG Partnering with ICE to Deport Illegal Aliens

Protecting water rights for Montana ranchers. Getting an indoor shooting range for the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. And of course, the recent Tren de Aragua arrests in Montana. We talked about that and more with Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R-MT).

How big of a difference is it now with Donald J. Trump as President of the United States instead of the Biden Administration? 

AG Knudsen: "It's pretty stunning. We've talked about this a lot, but I mean, for the last four years, we have seen cartel fentanyl, methamphetamine, illicit drugs just flooding into Montana. I can tell you, this time last year, we had already seized 30% more drugs than we have this year. To me, that's already pretty stunning. I mean, we're just here in the last month, we're already seeing pretty marked slowdown in the drug trafficking. We're certainly- it's still bad. I'm not going to sit here and tell people that we don't still have a problem. We absolutely do. But we really are already seeing a lot of benefits here from having Donald Trump actually enforcing immigration law and national security on the southern border, it's making a difference."

In addition to the Tren de Aragua arrests in Bozeman/Belgrade, AG Knudsen talked about the arrest of three suspected drug dealers in Roosevelt County- the county where he served as the top prosecutor.

AG Knudsen: "Those people were not selling girl scout cookies...those were some bad individuals engaged in some bad activity, but great to see ICE actually being allowed to do their job. Because that was the issue before Aaron, I would talk to these federal agents, and I know you have too- they wanted to do their job. These are law enforcement professionals who signed up to protect our country, and Joe Biden put the handcuffs not on the bad guys, but on them."

AG Knudsen also talked about the new operating agreement between the Montana Department of Justice and President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Here's what his office put out in an official press release announcing the deal.

The agreement will authorize Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) troopers and Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents to arrest illegal aliens in Montana and work together with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport them.

“President Trump’s commitment to cracking down on illegal immigration and securing our nation’s southern border is unmatched. On the contrary, over the last four years, Joe Biden’s open border policies made every state a border state. Just recently, we saw firsthand in Montana the negative impact of Biden’s policies as six Venezuelan gang members were arrested in Gallatin County,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “This agreement will allow MHP and DCI to work hand in hand with federal immigration officials to stop illegal immigration and keep Montana families safe.”

Here's the full audio of our chat with AG Knudsen: