Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D) distanced himself on Sunday from calls by some other Democrats to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying that doing so is not “a good idea.”

“I don’t think abolishing ICE is a good idea, primarily because when police departments get out of the way, do the wrong thing or are governed in the wrong way, you don’t say get rid of the police department,” Landrieu said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You reform the police department.”

The former mayor of New Orleans Mitch Landrieu says he is a “radical centrist”: “I don’t think abolishing ICE is a good idea” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/dbRRbpxmH0

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 29, 2018

Landrieu said the U.S. is a “nation of immigrants” but also a “nation of laws,” adding that Congress has been “remiss” not to pursue comprehensive immigration reform.

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“I do think that Congress has been remiss in not passing comprehensive immigration reform,” he said. “But it does have to be common sense, it has to be thoughtful and it has to protect the border, while at the same time making sure that everybody is dealt with in a constitutional way.”

Landrieu, who has been mentioned as a potential dark horse candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, told host Jake Tapper that he doesn’t “intend to run” in 2020.

A number of Democrats, primarily in the party’s progressive wing, have called in recent weeks to do away with ICE, arguing that the agency has failed to serve the purpose for which it was established.

The demands to abolish the agency arose amid intense public scrutiny of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which prioritizes prosecutions of people who cross into the U.S. illegally.

That policy led to thousands of migrant children being separated from their parents at the southern border before, bowing to intense bipartisan backlash, President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE signed an executive order reversing his administration’s policy.

The government has sought in recent weeks to reunify families in response to a court-ordered mandate to do so.

While the government said Friday that more than 1,800 children had been reunited with their parents, it said that hundreds more were deemed “ineligible” for family reunification.

— This report was updated at 1:30 p.m.

Indicted Rep. Chris CollinsChristopher (Chris) Carl CollinsWe can’t afford to let local news die House bill would ban stock trading by members of Congress Former Rep. Chris Collins sentenced to 2 years in prison for insider trading MORE (R-N.Y.) spent more than $200,000 in campaign funds since mid-2017 to pay the law firm defending him against securities fraud and insider trading charges, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show.

Collins’s campaign paid law firm Baker Hostetler almost monthly for legal services related to the ethics inquiries into Collins, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s legal team told The Hill. 

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A federal indictment unsealed by prosecutors in New York City on Wednesday accuses Collins of using his position on the board of Australian drugmaker Innate Immunotherapeutics to provide nonpublic information to his son and others that helped them avoid stock losses.

The legal team spokesman said that Collins’s personal funds were used to pay for legal services related to the criminal investigation.

His son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron’s fiancée, were also charged with multiple counts of securities and wire fraud on Wednesday. They have all pleaded not guilty.

The payments from Collins’s campaign to the law firm began in July 2017 with an initial transfer of about $45,000, according to the filings. The most recent transfer came in June.

The largest payment, just under $61,000, came a little over a month later. The payments are just described as being for “legal services” on the FEC filings. 

Collins’s legal team did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

Collins has denied the allegations and has vowed to fight the charges in court. He said at a brief press appearance on Wednesday evening that he would continue to seek reelection in spite of the indictment.

It’s not illegal to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees. But the revelation is likely to fuel criticism of Collins by political opponents heading into the November midterm elections. 

Collins is facing off with Democrat Nate McMurray in a district widely seen as safe for Republicans. President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE won the district in 2016 by 24 points, and Collins won reelection that same year by about 34 points.

But Collins’s legal troubles have energized Democrats in New York’s 27th District, fueling prospects of an increasingly competitive race.

Updated at 7:05 p.m.

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When Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings next month, he will face a united front of Democratic opposition. He may face no more blistering set of questions than those posed by the senator who sits all the way to the left of the dais, Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.). ADVERTISEMENTA year and a half into her first term in office, the Judiciary Committee’s most junior member is already seen as a potential presidential front-runner. She has used her perch to insert herself into the debate over major national issues like President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and her advisers believe the Kavanaugh hearings will give her another moment to seize the spotlight. The hearings won’t exactly be a coming-out party for Harris, who is already front of mind for many Democratic activists across the country. But they will offer another moment in the limelight that other potential presidential contenders will not have. “I think she finds herself in this moment in time where people are craving leadership,” said Debbie Mesloh, president of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women and a former top aide to Harris when she served as district attorney. “She recognizes that leadership is needed now.” Away from Washington, Harris is beginning to lay the groundwork necessary to take advantage of her newfound stardom. She has spent months on the campaign trail, for both incumbent colleagues and first-time contenders alike, raising more than $5 million for Democratic candidates and groups this year.  “The midterms are going to be a giant turning point, hopefully, for the country, and she’s doing everything she can to leverage what she can bring to the table,” said Sean Clegg, Harris’s chief strategist. In the process, she has built an email list that would rival all but a very small handful of her potential rivals, a reservoir of potential supporters who could form the backbone of a presidential campaign. But while some potential 2020 candidates are offering their support to only a handful of party-backed candidates, Harris is trying something different. She has inserted herself into several contested primaries around the country, endorsing and raising money for candidates — mostly those of color — who do not always have support from their home-state political leaders. It is a risky strategy, one that could potentially anger the very Democrats a future presidential campaign would need to court for volunteer and financial support. But friends and advisers say Harris’s involvement is an effort to use her political capital, at a time when that capital is growing. “Kamala is not a person who sits back and waits to see which way the wind blows,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign and a longtime Harris confidant. “The fact that she has engaged in primaries says a lot about who she is as a person.” Sometimes, Harris’s chosen candidates have fared better than expected. Harris was one of the first national figures to back Ben Jealous, the former NAACP head, whom she has known for a long time. Jealous, now the Democratic nominee for governor in Maryland, beat a more established county executive who had support from Sen. Chris Van HollenChristopher (Chris) Van HollenDemocrats introduce bill to rein in Trump’s power under Insurrection Act Democratic senators kneel during moment of silence for George Floyd Hillicon Valley: Twitter flags Trump tweet for ‘glorifying violence’ | Cruz calls for criminal investigation into Twitter over alleged sanctions violations | Senators urge FTC to investigate TikTok child privacy issues MORE (D-Md.) and former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).  Harris also backed former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D), now the party’s nominee for governor, during a contentious primary against another former state legislator, Stacey Evans (D). Others have not been as successful. Harris was the only prominent national figure to back Mahlon Mitchell, a firefighter’s union leader who finished second in his bid to take on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). Nowhere has Harris’s imprint on the Democratic Party been more widely felt than in her home state. Harris appeared in television advertisements and literature for 27 candidates in this year’s primary, ranging from Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and congressional candidate Katie Porter, who won their races, to Noah Phillips, who lost his bid against the incumbent Sacramento District Attorney.  Phillips attacked District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert for accepting campaign cash from law enforcement organizations just after the shooting death of an unarmed black man at the hands of Sacramento police. Potential presidential prospects use early endorsements and campaign fundraisers as a way to build credit with those who might aid them in the future, said Bob Shrum, a veteran of many Democratic presidential campaigns and now the director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.  “Most endorsements don’t matter. It’s not the endorsement, it’s what she gets from the people underneath,” Shrum said. “What you can get out of it, especially if you endorse in a primary where people have very strong feelings about the direction of the party, you may pick up some of those people.” Harris has started to lay the groundwork in states that hold early presidential nominating contests. She attended a Washington fundraiser for Deidre DeJear, the Democrat running against Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (R). She backed former Rep. Steven HorsfordSteven Alexander HorsfordRep. Steven Horsford wins Democratic House primary in Nevada Overnight Defense: Army now willing to rename bases named after Confederates | Dems demand answers on ‘unfathomable’ nuke testing discussions | Pentagon confirms death of north African al Qaeda leader Top Democrats demand answers on Trump administration’s ‘unfathomable’ consideration of nuclear testing MORE (D-Nev.) and Aaron Ford, the Nevada Senate majority leader now running for attorney general. And her endorsements will solidify her hold on California, which plans what could be a deciding primary early in the 2020 process. And those closest to her say Harris sees an opportunity to use her voice to support a more diverse roster of Democratic candidates — like gubernatorial candidates Abrams and Jealous, and candidates for Congress like Horsford, Colin Allred of Texas and Joe Neguse of Colorado. “If you look at the types of candidates she’s getting behind, there’s a method to the madness,” one longtime Harris adviser said. “She’s always been helpful growing the bench of candidates of color.” When Harris moved from Sacramento, where she served as California’s attorney general, to Washington, few of her old allies expected her to make such a leap into the national conversation. Now, though, most Democratic leaders see her as a likely, if not certain, presidential contender. “She has become the progressive voice, or certainly one of the two or three progressive voices in the country,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg (D), who served as California’s Senate president when Harris was attorney general. “She is a politician who is willing to seize the opportunity.” Click Here: New Zealand rugby store