More than half of House Democrats voted against a GOP resolution that linked condemning antisemitism with supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), revealing deep partisan divisions over immigration enforcement even in the context of responding to terrorism.
According to The Daily Caller, the House voted 280-113 to pass the resolution offered by freshman Republican Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans, with 113 Democrats opposing the measure while 75 supported it. Six lawmakers, including Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, voted "present."
The resolution not only condemned antisemitism and the recent terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado but also expressed support for ICE's role in detaining criminal illegal migrants and urged the Trump administration to implement aggressive vetting for visa applicants.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries lashed out at the resolution's sponsor, questioning Evans' sincerity in addressing antisemitism. "Who is this guy?" Jeffries asked reporters sarcastically during a Monday press conference. "He's not seriously concerned with combating antisemitism in America."
Jeffries escalated his criticism with personal attacks against the freshman congressman, calling Evans "a complete and total embarrassment" and "a joke," while predicting he would be "a one term member of Congress."
Democratic opposition centered on the resolution's linking of antisemitism condemnation with immigration enforcement policies, which many in the party viewed as politicizing the response to the Boulder attack.
House Republican leadership quickly responded to Jeffries' criticism, framing Democrats' opposition as evidence of radical positions on both antisemitism and border security. "Only radical Democrats would call it a joke to denounce antisemitic terrorism and express gratitude to law enforcement for detaining the terrorist here illegally who perpetrated the Boulder attack," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise wrote on X Monday afternoon.
The NRCC, House Republicans' campaign arm, issued a blistering statement following the vote, claiming, "House Democrats just sided with terrorists over cops and couldn't even bring themselves to condemn antisemitism. They're officially the antisemite and anti-cop caucus."
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer connected the Boulder attack to broader border security concerns, arguing that Democratic lawmakers' failure to secure the border under former President Joe Biden contributed to the attack allegedly committed by Mohamed Soliman.
The resolution specifically mentioned ICE personnel's role in "protecting the homeland" and called for more aggressive vetting of foreign nationals applying for visas. These provisions directly referenced the circumstances surrounding Mohamed Soliman, the Colorado terrorist attack suspect, who reportedly overstayed a visa that expired in February 2023 and was in the United States illegally when he allegedly committed the attack.
This immigration angle proved to be the sticking point for many Democrats, who viewed it as Republicans using a tragedy to advance immigration policy goals rather than focusing solely on condemning antisemitism and violence against Jewish communities.
In a telling contrast, the House later passed a similar resolution condemning antisemitism and violence against Jewish individuals without the immigration provisions, which received unanimous support from lawmakers of both parties.
The contentious vote has already become fodder for political messaging heading into future elections, with Republicans portraying Democrats as soft on both antisemitism and immigration enforcement. Evans, a former law enforcement officer and Iraq War veteran, has been thrust into the national spotlight by the resolution and subsequent Democratic criticism, particularly from Jeffries.
The partisan divide over the resolution underscores how even issues like condemning antisemitism, which typically generates bipartisan consensus, can become politically charged when connected to immigration policy.
With congressional elections approaching, both parties are signaling that immigration enforcement and responses to terrorism will remain contentious campaign issues, particularly as the resolution connected to the Boulder attack allegedly perpetrated by Soliman, who had overstayed his visa by more than two years.
