Anti-ICE Violence 590 Times More Likely in These 9 Deep Blue Sanctuary Jurisdictions [WATCH]

Senator Eric Schmitt addressed recent violence in Minnesota by emphasizing that the loss of life is tragic while rejecting claims that federal immigration authorities are responsible for the unrest.

In remarks focused on immigration enforcement and public safety, Schmitt argued that the chaos seen in Minnesota stems from local political leadership and sanctuary policies, not from ICE, Border Patrol, or President Trump.

“I want my Republican colleagues in particular to hear me on this,” Schmitt said.

“Nobody wants to see American citizens being shot and killed on a basic human level, it is a tragedy. Every time a life is lost, it is a tragedy. The lives lost in Minnesota have been tragic.”

Warning: Account balances and purchasing power no longer tell the same story. Know in 2 minutes if your retirement is working for you.

Schmitt said responsibility for the disorder in Minnesota has been wrongly placed on federal law enforcement.

“But what we are seeing in the streets of Minnesota. It’s not on ICE, it’s not on the Border Patrol, and it’s certainly not on President Trump,” he said.

“If it were, we would be seeing the same chaos in every city where ICE and Border Patrol carries out these operations. But we aren’t.”

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

He pointed to large-scale deportation operations carried out across red states as evidence that immigration enforcement can proceed without incident.

“There have been large scale deportation operations in red states all across the country,” Schmitt said.

“Most Americans probably never heard of them because they went off without a hitch.”

Schmitt cited arrest data to argue that cooperation between state governments and ICE reduces conflict rather than escalating it.

“In fact, when we measure ICE arrests in each state last year against the state share of the national illegal alien population, 21 out of the top 25 states are red, only three blue states, plus Washington, DC, cracked the top 26 and one of those states was Virginia, which had a Republican governor who was willing to work with ICE at the time,” he said.

He also referenced an analysis examining violent confrontations involving ICE across the country, highlighting a concentration in a small number of jurisdictions.

“A recent analysis found that just nine counties account for nearly two thirds of all violent confrontations with ICE in America over the past year,” Schmitt said.

“The number of violent confrontations in those counties was twice as high as the total instances of anti ICE violence from the remaining 3134 counties combined, anti ICE violence was 590 times more likely to occur in those nine counties than in any other county in America.”

Schmitt noted that all of the counties identified share the same political alignment.

“All nine counties are deep blue sanctuary jurisdictions run by Democrats,” he said.

He rejected claims from the political left that federal immigration agents are responsible for disorder and fear.

“We hear the left tell us that ICE and Border Patrol are agents of chaos and terror, the data tells a very different story,” Schmitt said.

“It’s not ICE or Border Patrol that is causing this terror. It’s the militant leftists and their enablers in the Democrat Party.”

Schmitt concluded by praising the conduct of federal immigration agents and calling for continued support for their work.

“And yet, in the face of all of it, the agents of ICE and Border Patrol continue to do their job, courageously, carrying out their duty and running towards the fire,” he said.

“They are not villains. They are American heroes. They are on the front lines of the fight to save our country, and we owe them absolute, unequivocal, unflinching support.”

WATCH: