TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Senator Ashley Moody has announced her intention to co-sponsor an act that would double the federal penalty for attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who are on duty.
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This comes after Moody introduced the HALO Act, a similar piece of legislature that makes it illegal to “get in the way or interfere with the officer’s work, threaten the officer with physical harm, or harass the officer,” according to reporting from Fox News.
READ: Sen. Ashley Moody to Introduce HALO Act to Protect Federal Immigration Officers
The Protect and Respect ICE Act (or “PRICE Act), which will be co-sponsored by Moody and Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), aims “to increase the criminal penalties for assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer or employee of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
This, according to a press release from Moody and Schmitt, is in response to a 700% surge in attacks against ICE agents.
“Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to defend communities across the country and keep us safe,” said Moody in the press release. “That is why I am working with Senator Schmitt to double the penalty for these violent attacks. Let’s pass the PRICE Act today and ensure that we have our officers’ backs, while they protect ours.”
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