Kentucky senator Rand Paul is done with all the populist doom and gloom, and after nearly a decade of that from Republicans, he’s pushing back hard—defending immigrants and free trade, and floating the possibility of another presidential run.
“We still want ICE to deport criminals,” Paul, who chairs the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee, told me, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “At the same time, I think some of the best Americans just got here.”
We were in Paul’s office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., and it was less than 48 hours before his committee was slated to conduct hearings probing the fatal shooting by federal agents of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. It may be one of the few high-profile events to feature a GOP lawmaker holding the administration to account for its conduct on the nation’s most divisive issue. The heads of ICE and other top immigration officials are scheduled to appear before the committee.
In the aftermath of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, Paul became a beacon of hope for some on the right who believe President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign has threatened the rights of some Americans. “I think to restore trust things are gonna have to improve,” Paul said after Pretti’s shooting.
