BETHLEHEM, Pa. — U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie defended expanded immigration enforcement under the Trump administration while acknowledging the need for reforms after recent incidents involving federal agents, during an interview marking his first year in office.
Mackenzie, a Republican representing Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, appeared this week on Lehigh Valley Political Pulse with host Tom Shortell. The early part of the conversation focused heavily on border security funding approved under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.
Asked whether he supports how immigration agents have been operating in the field — particularly after American citizens were killed during enforcement activity in Minneapolis — Mackenzie called the deaths tragic while framing current enforcement as a response to policies under former President Joe Biden.
"So first of all, the individuals that were killed in Minneapolis, very much a tragic situation for them and their families, obviously,” Mackenzie said. “And so our thoughts are with both Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed in those instances."
Inherited crisis
Mackenzie argued that the current administration inherited a crisis at the southern border, repeatedly blaming Biden-era policies for allowing what he described as nearly 10 million people to enter the country illegally.
"The Biden administration had allowed almost 10 million people to cross the border illegally,” Mackenzie said, recounting a visit he made to the border during Biden’s presidency. He said construction materials and equipment for border wall projects sat unused after Biden took office.
"The construction vehicles were sitting there, and border agents who were in that site said the day that Joe Biden took office, all construction stopped,” he said.
"These individuals don't stay in border communities, they go to all of your communities across the rest of the country.”U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley
Mackenzie said the Trump administration reversed course primarily through policy changes rather than new legislation, later bolstered by additional funding to secure the border long term. He said interior enforcement was now necessary because migrants dispersed throughout the country rather than remaining near the border.
"These individuals don't stay in border communities, they go to all of your communities across the rest of the country,” Mackenzie said, citing what he said border officials told him.
He said the administration’s focus has been on arresting and deporting criminals, claiming widespread public support for that approach.
"What we have seen now from the Trump administration is thousands of illegal immigrant criminals, people that again, 80% of people probably say should be removed from our streets,” Mackenzie said. “They have been arrested. They have been detained, and in many cases they are being deported."
Mackenzie blamed local officials in Minneapolis for creating what he described as a hostile environment that contributed to deadly outcomes by refusing to cooperate with federal agents.
“What we saw in Minneapolis was that we had local elected officials that did not want to work with our ICE agents,” he said. “They did not want to cooperate. A very hostile situation ensued and ultimately ended up resulting in some tragic deaths.”
'Should obviously not be happening'
At the same time, Mackenzie acknowledged serious concerns about how some enforcement actions have been carried out. He said reports of U.S. citizens being detained, warrantless home entries and agents operating without clear identification should not be happening.
“You pointed to U.S. citizens being detained or arrested. That should not be occurring,” he said. “We saw agents. Going into people's houses without warrants, that should obviously not be happening as well.”
“We saw pictures just regularly routinely where individuals, ICE agents, were on the streets in street clothes, no identification. I think these individuals need to be properly identified.”U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley
He also criticized agents conducting operations in plain clothes without visible identification.
“We saw pictures just regularly routinely where individuals, ICE agents, were on the streets in street clothes, no identification,” Mackenzie said. “I think these individuals need to be properly identified.”
Mackenzie argued that better coordination with local law enforcement could reduce chaos during enforcement actions and limit the need for federal agents to handle crowd control.
“If you had support from local law enforcement to do some of the crowd control and, and other things, I think you would have had more seamless operations,” he said.
Turning to the Lehigh Valley, Mackenzie criticized former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure for what he described as insufficient cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We have it right here in our local communities where Lamont McClure in Northampton County does not want to fully cooperate with ICE,” Mackenzie said, alleging that gang members and domestic abusers were being released. He said ICE disputes county claims that it is being properly notified.
McClure is seeking the Democratic nomination in the 2026 midterm primary election for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, positioning himself as a potential challenger to Mackenzie in the 2026 midterm election.
This interview was part of a one-year check-in on Mackenzie’s tenure in Congress. An extended version of the conversation is available in the YouTube player above, or on the PBS39 YouTube channel.
