Ex-Biden aide draws GOP backlash after post on child’s death in custody amid mounting ICE scrutiny
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
A former Biden administration official's social media post lamenting the death of a young child in government custody amid increased immigration operations in Minnesota drew backlash from Republicans, who seized on the fact that the death occurred during the Biden administration.
Andrew Bates, who previously served as the senior deputy press secretary for former President Joe Biden, on Tuesday retweeted a post from the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats about Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, an 8-year-old who suffered from sickle cell anemia and a heart condition and died in Border Patrol custody in 2023.
Bates wrote alongside the reposted content, "Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right. Just absolutely wrong."
Bates' post, and the original Senate Judiciary Committee post, prompted comments from conservatives pointing out that Alvarez died in 2023, during President Joe Biden's administration.
BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA SLAM ICE AFTER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING, URGE ACCOUNTABILITY
"What’s remarkable, Andrew, is the level of pride you must have felt when posting this, completely unaware that it had happened while you worked in the White House yourself," Tim Murtaugh, who was President Donald Trump’s campaign communications director in 2020, said in response to Bates. "Just remarkable. Top notch work from beginning to end."
Greg Price, Trump White House rapid response manager for the first half of 2025 wrote, "Andy, remind who was in charge of the country in 2023?"
"I stand by what I said. It’s horrible and shouldn’t have happened," Bates wrote in the post's replies. "What makes me proud is that the American people are rejecting the cruelty that ICE is forcing on Americans and immigrants, putting all of us in danger. I’d hope we could agree on that."
Fox News Digital reached out to Bates for comment.
The series of social media posts between the White House veterans come amid heightened scrutiny of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge, an immigration operation that kicked off in December 2025 and dispatched thousands of ICE agents to the city.
The agency recently seized 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian national whom federal officials say is in the U.S. illegally.
The two are being held at a Texas immigration detention facility.
NEW DETAILS TO CONGRESS REVEAL GUNS USED, BODYCAM FOOTAGE IN FATAL BORDER PATROL SHOOTING OF MINNESOTA NURSE
The interaction between Bates and Murtaugh also comes as ICE and Customs and Border Protection …
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
A former Biden administration official's social media post lamenting the death of a young child in government custody amid increased immigration operations in Minnesota drew backlash from Republicans, who seized on the fact that the death occurred during the Biden administration.
Andrew Bates, who previously served as the senior deputy press secretary for former President Joe Biden, on Tuesday retweeted a post from the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats about Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, an 8-year-old who suffered from sickle cell anemia and a heart condition and died in Border Patrol custody in 2023.
Bates wrote alongside the reposted content, "Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right. Just absolutely wrong."
Bates' post, and the original Senate Judiciary Committee post, prompted comments from conservatives pointing out that Alvarez died in 2023, during President Joe Biden's administration.
BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA SLAM ICE AFTER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING, URGE ACCOUNTABILITY
"What’s remarkable, Andrew, is the level of pride you must have felt when posting this, completely unaware that it had happened while you worked in the White House yourself," Tim Murtaugh, who was President Donald Trump’s campaign communications director in 2020, said in response to Bates. "Just remarkable. Top notch work from beginning to end."
Greg Price, Trump White House rapid response manager for the first half of 2025 wrote, "Andy, remind who was in charge of the country in 2023?"
"I stand by what I said. It’s horrible and shouldn’t have happened," Bates wrote in the post's replies. "What makes me proud is that the American people are rejecting the cruelty that ICE is forcing on Americans and immigrants, putting all of us in danger. I’d hope we could agree on that."
Fox News Digital reached out to Bates for comment.
The series of social media posts between the White House veterans come amid heightened scrutiny of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge, an immigration operation that kicked off in December 2025 and dispatched thousands of ICE agents to the city.
The agency recently seized 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian national whom federal officials say is in the U.S. illegally.
The two are being held at a Texas immigration detention facility.
NEW DETAILS TO CONGRESS REVEAL GUNS USED, BODYCAM FOOTAGE IN FATAL BORDER PATROL SHOOTING OF MINNESOTA NURSE
The interaction between Bates and Murtaugh also comes as ICE and Customs and Border Protection …
Ex-Biden aide draws GOP backlash after post on child’s death in custody amid mounting ICE scrutiny
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
A former Biden administration official's social media post lamenting the death of a young child in government custody amid increased immigration operations in Minnesota drew backlash from Republicans, who seized on the fact that the death occurred during the Biden administration.
Andrew Bates, who previously served as the senior deputy press secretary for former President Joe Biden, on Tuesday retweeted a post from the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats about Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, an 8-year-old who suffered from sickle cell anemia and a heart condition and died in Border Patrol custody in 2023.
Bates wrote alongside the reposted content, "Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right. Just absolutely wrong."
Bates' post, and the original Senate Judiciary Committee post, prompted comments from conservatives pointing out that Alvarez died in 2023, during President Joe Biden's administration.
BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA SLAM ICE AFTER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING, URGE ACCOUNTABILITY
"What’s remarkable, Andrew, is the level of pride you must have felt when posting this, completely unaware that it had happened while you worked in the White House yourself," Tim Murtaugh, who was President Donald Trump’s campaign communications director in 2020, said in response to Bates. "Just remarkable. Top notch work from beginning to end."
Greg Price, Trump White House rapid response manager for the first half of 2025 wrote, "Andy, remind who was in charge of the country in 2023?"
"I stand by what I said. It’s horrible and shouldn’t have happened," Bates wrote in the post's replies. "What makes me proud is that the American people are rejecting the cruelty that ICE is forcing on Americans and immigrants, putting all of us in danger. I’d hope we could agree on that."
Fox News Digital reached out to Bates for comment.
The series of social media posts between the White House veterans come amid heightened scrutiny of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge, an immigration operation that kicked off in December 2025 and dispatched thousands of ICE agents to the city.
The agency recently seized 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian national whom federal officials say is in the U.S. illegally.
The two are being held at a Texas immigration detention facility.
NEW DETAILS TO CONGRESS REVEAL GUNS USED, BODYCAM FOOTAGE IN FATAL BORDER PATROL SHOOTING OF MINNESOTA NURSE
The interaction between Bates and Murtaugh also comes as ICE and Customs and Border Protection …
0 Comments
0 Shares
55 Views
0 Reviews
