During an interview on ABC's The View, Beshear said ICE agents should be pulled from every city and community they are currently in and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be fired.
ICE is acting outside the bounds of law enforcement.Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear
The comment didn't escape the attention of ICE, which responded via X, saying, "We'll continue to 'withdraw' criminal aliens from Kentucky regardless of your rhetoric, Governor."
Thursday, Beshear had this rebuttal.
"My challenge here is that ICE is not operating the way any law enforcement agency can or should operate," the governor said, citing his time as the state's attorney general. "I know how an investigation is supposed to be run. I know people's rights and whether or not they're being trampled on, and the fact is that ICE is acting outside the bounds of law enforcement."
The ICE post suggests the agency isn't planning on altering its enforcement operations in the commonwealth, though federal authorities have announced the immigration crackdown in Minnesota is coming to an end.
Beshear capped off his response by saying ICE needs to be retrained in order to align its actions with constitutional rights.
"ICE can act tough. All I was doing was exercising my First Amendment rights. That's within the Constitution and I suggest that ICE reads it," the governor added.
Neither the governor nor ICE has announced any policy changes.
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy reports ICE data show that in Kentucky, between Jan. 20, 2025 and Oct. 15, 2025, there were 1,950 ICE arrests — a 32% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The rhetorical exchanges between Beshear and ICE are taking place as Republican state lawmakers seek to increase cooperation between the immigration agency and local law enforcement. One such effort would require all local departments to sign on with a federal program dubbed the "Task Force Model" that would provide training for officers, who could then act on behalf and under the oversight of ICE.
"It provides the ability for law enforcement officers to be deputized for limited immigration enforcement," Republican Rep. TJ Roberts said. "This is not independent raids. This is in they pull someone over for, suppose, a DUI, they are called for any other type of case, that they are then able, upon reasonable suspicion, to investigate whether or not the individuals are here legally."
KYCEP reports the model was "discontinued from 2012 until January 2025 due to documented civil rights abuses."