Columbia Student's Arrest, Release Leads to Renewed Focus on ICE Operations: Panel

Federal immigration officers today arrested a Columbia University student. They reportedly posed as the NYPD looking for a missing child in order to enter her residential building. The DHS identified the student as an illegal immigrant from Azerbaijan. Her student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes. After discussing with President Trump, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani says that she was released. Joining us to discuss this case and more is our panel, Democratic Strategist Nicole Brenner-Schmitz and Republican Strategist Morgan Bonwell. Thank you both for coming back on. Great to have you. Now, Nicole, let's start with you, your reaction to this, to the arrest and her release. I mean, look, this is exactly what the Democrats have been talking about. There's two different things happening here. There's should this person be in this country, which needs to be determined. And we were talking about going after the worst of the worst, which does not seem to be what the target here is for ICE. But separately, how are we arresting people? Are we violating their civil liberties? And it's very clear here that these officers pose as something else with the guise of a different mission. And that is a problem because that is a slippery slope that we're going down. And it seems to me that this is very bipartisan agreement in the end because you have arguably one of the most liberal people in the Democratic Party right now, the mayor of New York and the leader of the Republican Party who agreed and have released her from this arrest. Morgan, I want to get your thoughts on the case and your response to all that. Yeah, the spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security denied that agents were impersonating as NYPD. And listen, I know that President Trump is a deal maker through and through. He's proving that he can work with people across the aisle to get stuff done. And I'm really excited to see what comes out of this conversation with President Trump and Mamdani today. I think whatever happened today will be good for the American people. It's definitely important to note that the DHS denies that they identified themselves as NYPD officers. Now, also in New York City, this week, people are hurling large snowballs at NYPD officers. Mayor Mamdani appears to downplay the incident. Here's what he says, followed by the response from the NYPD union president. Having seen these videos, to me, it was a snowball fight that got out of hand, and it should be treated accordingly. Words matter. And what the mayor says matters. And what he's saying right here, it's okay to attack our police officers, which is not okay. This wasn't a game. This wasn't just a snowball fight. This was an attack on our police officers. One was smashed over the head with ice. Another one was hit in the eye, in the back. Nicole, how should this incident be treated? Yeah, I mean, it should be treated as an assault on these police officers. And I think it's very unfortunate that Mamdani seems to be playing it down. I think that that's just a real lack of leadership on his behalf for the city. I will say that the Democratic Attorney General has criticized this and says they are looking into it. The Democratic governor of the state of New York has also said this is not fine, full stop, cannot throw things at police officers. And look, I live in Washington, D.C. We have organized snowball fights in DuPont Circle. There is such a thing as having a fun, organized one. That's clearly not what this is. And Morgan, what kind of tone does Mamdani set here? And how could this impact officers who may not feel supported by the mayor after this incident? Absolutely. New York Police Department is one of the largest forces in the country. And his position of not standing up for these officers really sets a bad precedent across the country. And in one of the largest forces, we need people going out there, becoming police officers, protecting us. And I'm really disappointed in the response there. But I do agree. Everyone loves a good snowball fight. You just cannot attack our police officers. Now, I want to pivot a bit here. FBI Director Cash Patel says that the FBI under President Biden subpoenaed his phone records and those of the White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Nicole, your reaction. Was this appropriate? And is it reasonable a thorough investigation would be conducted here? Well, I mean, look, it was with Special Counsel Jack Smith. He says he was doing it in his investigation. It's very normal to subpoena phone records. I think routers who discovered the story or reported the story initially hasn't been able to verify what Patel has said yet. So I think we'll continue to see developments in this story and find out what were they really investigating and was this an appropriate subpoena of private citizen at that time phone records. And Morgan, if additional details do emerge, does this become a transparency issue the public deserves answers on? Absolutely. I mean, it's no secret that the Biden administration was targeting President Trump. I'm obviously appalled that they were spying on a private citizen, Susie Wiles. There was no reason for them to be looking into her. It's really just another manhunt against someone you don't like in another political party. So I do think it demands transparency. We need to know why this happened to prevent things like this happening again. Morgan Bonwell, Nicole Brenner-Schmitz, thank you both again for coming on and sharing your insights with us. Always appreciate it.