On the latest major issues, Gallego said he rejected the “abolish ICE” message that many Democrats are now espousing.
“If you talk to working-class Latinos, we’re very, unfortunately, we have too much experience with immigration. We know there needs to be an immigration force that deports bad people. We want bad people out. We want bad people stopped from getting in illegally,” Gallego said.
“We do need to reform it,” he continued. “We need to right-size it. We need to pen it in to make sure that it’s not being abusive. But this idea that there’s not going to be an immigration enforcement mechanism this country is ridiculous, because that’s never going to happen.”
On Israel, Gallego said he disagreed with those who have said they’d oppose defensive money for the country, including for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Gallego said he does not support offering Israel money for offensive capabilities because he disagrees with many aspects of their military operations, including the war in Iran and the nation’s treatment of Lebanon. But money for defense was different.
“Like any other ally in this in this world, I can’t imagine stopping defensive weapons going to any of our friends, because in that situation, if they’re raining down bombs, you’re hitting people that are, especially in Israel, they’re Arabs, Christians, Jews, people that are pro-war, against war. It’s indiscriminatory,” said Gallego, who deployed to Iraq in 2005 and whose unit suffered heavy casualties. “I know that’s not a popular thing. I’m sure everyone wants to be on the other side, but I’ve seen civilians get hurt in war by both sides, and it’s not, it’s not something you want to be responsible for.”
