The District Attorney of Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, recently stated that agents who break the law at airports will be arrested and prosecuted. However, the Pennsylvania attorney’s remarks did not sit well with some people online, sparking outrage.
Krasner’s comments come from an interview he gave after ICE arrived at Philadelphia International Airport. The interview quickly went viral and was reposted by Libs of TikTok, an X profile focused on right-wing news.
In the interview, Krasner says that anyone who commits crimes in Philadelphia will be prosecuted, adding that “the President cannot pardon you.” He warned ICE agents that if they turned the airport into “anything like you did in the streets of Minnesota, like criminal homicide,” they would be arrested.
So far, most reports of ICE agents at airports have been fairly peaceful. However, there has been at least one reported incident in which agents were accused of “causing havoc” while arresting a woman after being deployed to airports.
Social Media Reacts to Philadelphia’s DA Plans to Arrest ICE Agents
Most reactions to the clip shared by Libs of TikTok were negative toward Krasner’s hard stance on ICE agents. Much of the criticism focused on whether he was acting within his jurisdiction.
One user wrote, “ICE doesn’t need your permission to enforce immigration law. (…) Go ahead and try arresting federal agents, Larry.” Another one doubled down on this, claiming that the police should “arrest Krasner for obstruction of justice. Immigration is a federal matter, and ICE is the agency trying to uphold the laws passed by Congress.”
Others complained that removing ICE agents from airports would be a bad idea, given the staff shortage: “So he WANTS travelers to wait in line for four hours. Gotcha.” One seemingly infuriated person claimed that “Larry Krasner would rather arrest an ICE agent than a carjacker.”
A person who seemingly misunderstood that the District Attorney was only referring to arresting agents who committed crimes, not all of them, said, “It’s treason. That’s why the Democrats went after the U.S. legal system, including DAs and judges. This is simply the implementation of a plan to end the USA.”
The reaction highlights the growing divide between Americans who support the current federal administration’s immigration policies and those who do not. In any case, no ICE agents have been arrested at Philadelphia International Airport yet.
