Abdul El-Sayed says ICE 'isn’t working', draws strong pushback from Jesse Watters
WASHINGTON, DC: On Monday, August 24, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn't managed to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants in the US, even with ramped-up operations. Fox News host Jesse Watters jumped in right away, challenging El-Sayed’s claim during a tense back-and-forth on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ with the conversation turning into a verbal tug-of-war.
Watters tried to pin El-Sayed down about a recent ICE arrest, pushing him for specifics. Things heated up when El-Sayed argued that the simple fact that the undocumented population remains high proves ICE isn't doing what it's supposed to do.
Abdul El-Sayed points to cost-of-living concerns
El-Sayed, a progressive, appeared for roughly half an hour on 'Jesse Watters Primetime,' where the host played clips of past comments El-Sayed had made and attempted to challenge him on those subjects, sometimes abruptly moving on to the next topic.
.@JesseBWatters and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed clash over ICE after El-Sayed argues the agency isn't working and says voters he meets are more concerned about gas and grocery prices than immigration.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 25, 2026
Watters fires back by pointing to an immigrant ICE recently… pic.twitter.com/E9f6ZRev60
The two quarreled over gas prices, as El-Sayed accused Watters of not seeming “to be upset” about how they have soared as a result of the war in Iran.
He made a dig at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying he was the “sixth host” on Fox News’s 'The Five' and that he “wanted to raise our military budget to $1.5 trillion.”
“You don’t seem to be upset about that,” El-Sayed continued. “What, so we can fight a war we don’t know how to get out of, to raise our gas prices to $5 a gallon? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
The two talked over each other about the $7 trillion in the federal budget, with El-Sayed emphasizing President Trump’s words about the conflict ending not long after it began in February.
“Oopsie, you go to war and you tell us that it’s going to be a special military operation. That was February,” he continued. “We’re now in September almost, and we’re still fighting the special military operation. I mean, it’s not working for us.”
El-Sayed mentioned that when he talked to people across Michigan, they almost always brought up how expensive gas and groceries have gotten, much more than they complained about immigration policy.
He kept trying to steer the conversation back to those big economic problems. At the same time, he called out Watters for interrupting him again and again, saying he wanted a real chance to dig into the issues, not just get pushed onto the next question.
Broader clash touched other issues
The exchange about ICE happened during a half-hour interview that covered a lot more than just immigration.
They discussed gender-affirming care, transgender athletes, Sharia law, and El-Sayed’s previous statements about the NFL and Colin Kaepernick.
Watters kept playing clips of El-Sayed’s past comments and pushed him for answers, but the conversation kept jumping from topic to topic before anything really got settled.
“Please be serious,” El-Sayed replied. I’m here with you; I want to talk about the issues that matter. Let’s talk about the things that people are actually talking about … I know you guys are talking about that, but, like, most of the country’s not.”
The Michigan Senate race is expected to remain closely watched heading into the fall, with immigration enforcement and affordability likely to remain central points of contrast between the two candidates as the campaign continues.
