Rick Scott Pushes Back at Critics of Border Patrol and New York Times

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., came out swinging at the New York Times after it refused to publish a letter he wrote to the editor regarding U.S. Border Patrol Agents.

Scott took aim at an op-ed from Kate Cronin-Furmanin in which she weighed in on detention of children who arrived in the U.S. illegally and called for public shaming of border officials.

“The New York Times is comfortable publishing an op-ed shaming the men and women of Customs and Border Protection, but has so far refused to publish my response,” Scott said on Tuesday. “Our brave border patrol agents and ICE officials wake up every day and work to defend and protect our nation – and all the extreme far left politicians and media want to do is vilify them. The New York Times won’t even publish the other side because it doesn’t fit their narrative. This is low, even for the New York Times.”

Scott released his response to Cronin-Furmanin on Tuesday.

“To call for public shaming of the brave men and women of our Customs & Border Protection is the most un-American, disgusting thing I’ve read in a long time. I’d like to watch this author try to do their job for just one day,” Scott wrote. “I am against the practice of separating families and believe every human being should be treated with respect and dignity. If there is mistreatment of migrants at our border, then action should be swiftly taken to hold any individuals responsible.But to suggest that our border agents and ICE officials should be publicly shamed for enforcing our laws is a new low. I’m disgusted by members of Congress and others who do nothing to fix our broken immigration system, and instead attack the men and women of our border patrol that are simply trying to do their jobs.

“What we have on our southern border is a crisis, no doubt. But our brave border agents are not the ones to blame,” Scott added. “These are honest people that put themselves in danger to secure our border and protect our country. These are people who go above and beyond to save lives. In testimony we heard in the Homeland Security Committee recently, CBP told us that their agents have saved more than 400 individuals from drowning in the Rio Grande river. These are Americans that have to go home to their families every night and watch their careers get attacked on TV and in newspapers by liberal Democrats who have refused to fix the problem they created in the first place by not securing our border and fixing our immigration laws.

“It’s time we stop the disgusting rhetoric and paralyzing inaction. It’s time we stop attacking law enforcement and actually do something to secure our border and protect families,” Scott wrote in conclusion.

Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.