Jay Block, a senator from New Mexico, said that comparisons between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) are inaccurate and contribute to political violence. The statement was made on the social media platform X.
"This is why the violence on the left is so bad," said C Block, New Mexico State Senator from 12th District (R). "Comments like this are pushing insane leftists to violence and killing. ICE is a law enforcement agency enforcing passed laws in Congress and signed by the president and upheld by the Supreme Court if challenged. The KKK is/was a lawless terror organization sanctioned by racists (the Democrats)."
In March 2025, controversy erupted in New Mexico when arsonists set fire to the state GOP headquarters and spray-painted "ICE = KKK," reviving a longstanding debate over whether immigration enforcement parallels America’s history of racial terror. Such comparisons had earlier surfaced in 2018 when then-Senator Kamala Harris questioned ICE leadership on perceived similarities to the Klan, sparking national debate. These incidents illustrate how the rhetoric surrounding immigration enforcement continues to collide with America’s civil rights history, fueling political flashpoints, as reported by Reuters.
According to ICE's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report and TRAC at Syracuse University, in FY2024, ICE recorded 271,484 removals, including 88,763 individuals with criminal histories, 237 suspected terrorists, and 3,706 known or suspected gang members while also issuing nearly 150,000 detainers. In 2025, ICE has averaged about 990 daily book-ins, with removals per day outpacing June levels and a detained population hovering near 57,000. These figures show an agency operating at a heightened scale amid intensifying immigration debates.
The Ku Klux Klan reached its peak in the 1920s with an estimated four to six million members before rapidly declining due to scandal and public resistance. Its legacy includes contributing to a broader campaign of racial violence during which the Tuskegee Institute recorded 4,743 lynchings between 1882 and 1968, including 3,446 Black victims. Today, the Klan exists only in small fragmented groups reflecting a century-long decline from its once massive influence. This information is according to Encyclopædia Britannica and the Tuskegee Institute archives.
Block is a Republican and retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who began serving in New Mexico’s Senate District 12 on January 1, 2025. He previously served two terms on the Sandoval County Commission and ran in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary emphasizing law-and-order and conservative policies. His political career has been marked by efforts to translate military and county-level leadership into statewide influence according to KOB 4.
