Indiana Republican urges Attorney General Pam Bondi to examine possible overseas influence behind coordinated immigration enforcement demonstrations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., has formally requested that Attorney General Pam Bondi investigate whether foreign entities are financing and influencing anti-ICE protests across the United States.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Banks asked the Justice Department to examine what he described as coordinated activism aimed at disrupting federal immigration enforcement. In the correspondence, which was made public, Banks wrote, “I urge you to investigate foreign influence behind anti-ICE activism. Progressive groups across the country are organizing protests, economic boycotts, and school walkouts to oppose immigration enforcement,” according to a copy of the letter he submitted. “In many cases, they are inciting the obstruction of federal law.”
Banks asserted that a “national and coordinated anti-ICE network has activated in response to immigration enforcement by ICE and Border Patrol.” He further alleged that certain training sessions connected to protest activity have encouraged tactics that move beyond lawful demonstration.
“In trainings, some anti-ICE groups encourage protestors to interfere with enforcement, to ‘strike’ law enforcement officers, and to forcefully remove arrestees from custody—tactics that, as organizers sometimes acknowledge, move beyond lawful protest,” Banks wrote. “Obstructing federal law enforcement is a crime, as is harboring aliens known to be in the country illegally.”
The Indiana senator cited instances in which demonstrators allegedly assaulted federal officers, blocked or rammed vehicles, and entered churches during enforcement actions. He argued that federal authorities “must identify who is behind this chaos before it tears the country apart.”
Banks’ letter referenced what he described as foreign-linked networks. “Just last week, the State Department identified a network of progressive groups run by Neville Singham as a source of Chinese influence,” he wrote, adding that “Singham Network groups have led anti-ICE boycotts and school walkouts across the country, and have encouraged immigrant groups to protest ICE.”
He also pointed to ICE resistance trainings that he said were sponsored in multiple cities by organizations funded by Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, alleging that those events had the stated purpose of “interfering” with federal law enforcement.
“Foreign principals should not dictate America’s immigration policy, and they should not encourage American citizens or guests of this country to obstruct law enforcement,” Banks wrote. “At a minimum, we should know who is funding anti-ICE activism, what influence those funders are wielding, and whether they are acting as agents of our adversaries.”
The Justice Department has not publicly responded to the letter.
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