Missouri representative uses personal privilege to praise ICE, credits stricter enforcement for greater safety

The Gentleman from Taney County used a point of personal privilege on the House floor to thank law enforcement and expressly praise U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying ICE officers "deserve our support, prayers, and protection." The remarks occurred during the House's morning session on Jan. 12, 2026.

In the floor remarks, the representative listed a range of law enforcement personnel'local police, sheriffs, state police and correctional officers'and singled out ICE agents, saying they work "diligently to keep our states and nation safe." The member also asserted, "Our nation is safer now than it has been at any point, especially during the previous 4 year administration." He urged bipartisan support for those officers and closed the sequence of remarks with the repeated phrase, "Ice ice baby. To go. To go."

The House took no formal action tied to the remarks. The comment period was followed by introductions of guests and routine business on the House calendar. No member rose on the record to challenge or rebut the representative during the same sequence of proceedings recorded in the transcript.

The remarks were delivered during a point of personal privilege, a time when members make brief statements on matters of personal or constituent interest. The transcript does not record any additional evidence, data, or formal citations offered by the speaker to substantiate the assertions about national safety or immigration enforcement statistics, and no response from ICE or other officials is included in the record.

The House later recessed until 2:00 p.m. for the governor's State of the State address.