A Democrat running for the Senate in ruby-red Arkansas once called to defund immigration enforcement, but has since changed her tune.Arkansas Senate Democratic nominee Hallie Shoffner, a farmer and political newcomer whose first time in the political arena is this midterm cycle, is running to unseat Sen.Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in November.As Election Day creeps closer, Cotton has gone on the offensive against her, attacking an apparent flip-flop in her position on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the immigration enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security that became a political lightning rod in Congress earlier this year.DEM REP SETH MOULTON SAYS PARTY HAS NO IMMIGRATION PLAN, IS ONLY ‘OPPOSITION TO TRUMP’Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk a detainee out of the Ventura County Government Center in Ventura, Calif., on July 27, 2026.
(AFP via Getty Images)Shoffner, during an appearance in June at the Immigrant Heritage Month Business Expo in Springdale, Ark., was asked whether she would defund ICE — a position several Democrats running for office have taken this cycle, including progressives Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota."I would vote to defund ICE as it exists right now," Shoffner said."Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created not that long ago, and it no longer serves the purpose it was originally created for." "I would not spend one more dime on ICE, because — not just because of the human dignity issue — but also the fact that it is now the largest law enforcement agency in the country," she continued.
"It has 10 times the budget of the organization that fights child sex trafficking."GOP ADVANCES ICE FUNDING PACKAGE AFTER FORCING TRUMP'S CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND INTO RETREATICE became a political third rail earlier this year after fatal shootings in Minnesota and was at the center of the longest government shutdown in history, when Senate Democrats refused to fund the agency absent ...