Wave of car attacks on ICE agents follows incendiary rhetoric from target-city leaders
In a troubling trend, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported a staggering increase in violent assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, coinciding with escalating criticism from local and state leaders, particularly in California, Illinois, and North Carolina. Since President Donald Trump took office, there has been a shocking 1,300% rise in vehicular attacks on ICE agents and a 58% increase in assaults on Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Notably, during President Joe Biden’s final year, only two vehicular rammings of ICE agents were recorded, highlighting the stark contrast in the climate of violence surrounding immigration enforcement operations under different administrations.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin attributed the surge in attacks to the “demonization” of ICE and CBP officers by Democratic politicians, urging them to reconsider their rhetoric before it leads to fatal consequences. This call to action comes amid comments from notable figures such as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has labeled Trump a racist and described ICE agents as terrorists. Johnson’s inflammatory rhetoric has drawn parallels between current immigration enforcement tactics and historical injustices faced by African Americans, suggesting that the actions of the Trump administration are reminiscent of antebellum oppression. Such statements have been met with criticism, particularly given the historical context that associates the Confederacy with the Democratic Party of the Civil War era.
As violence escalates, the DHS has documented nearly 100 vehicle attacks against its officers since January 20, 2021, with a significant uptick in death threats—an alarming 8,000% increase. Recent incidents, such as the arrest of a Mexican national for ramming his vehicle into an ICE officer, underscore the dangerous environment that federal agents are operating in. Critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policies argue that the aggressive rhetoric from local leaders and activists is contributing to a volatile atmosphere, where law enforcement officials are increasingly becoming targets. In response, McLaughlin emphasized that the attacks reflect a growing trend of illegal aliens violently resisting arrest, suggesting that the narrative surrounding these incidents is being manipulated by political agendas. With tensions running high, the ongoing conflict between local leaders and federal immigration enforcement raises critical questions about safety, accountability, and the future of immigration policy in the U.S.
A surge in car-rammings and other assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during targeted operations in California, Illinois and North Carolina has coincided with sharp criticism from local and state leaders against federal officers.
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security reported a 1,300% increase in vehicular attacks on ICE since President
Donald Trump
took office, and a 58% spike against CBP officers in that same time period.
There were only two vehicular rammings of ICE agents in particular – during former President
Joe Biden
’s final year in office. His administration also did not conduct fervent, targeted immigration raids at the same scale or frequency, according to reports.
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In comments to Fox News Digital on Friday, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said:
“Since January 20, there have been 99
vehicle attacks
against DHS law enforcement, a 1,000% increase in assaults against them, and an 8,000% increase in death threats to ICE officers. Make no mistake: The uptick in these kinds of attacks is being fueled by the constant demonization of ICE and CBP officers by Democrat politicians. They need to knock it off before they get one of our officers killed.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose city was targeted second after Los Angeles, has repeatedly labeled Trump a racist and characterized ICE agents as terrorists.
As recently as this week, Johnson told a podcast – in a report aired by Sky News – that “attacks” on illegal immigrants and targets of the Trump administration have the same characteristics as the priorities of antebellum freedmen.
“We know that the intentional attacks that are coming from the Trump administration and the extreme right in this country has very much been what I call an attempt to relitigate the Civil War,” Johnson said.
“They have not accepted the results that the North actually won.”
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Johnson said that Trump is also politically targeting education, housing, transportation, jobs and health care, which he said were “literally the five demands of descendants of slaves.”
During the Civil War, however, the Confederacy was led largely by Democrats of that era, including President Jefferson Davis, Vice President Alexander Stephens and officers like Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
During the heat of immigration enforcement operations
in Chicago
, Johnson railed against the missions, describing scenes from the streets as “what terrorism looks like.”
Johnson also set up what he called “ICE-free zones” and in one instance, Secretary of Homeland Security
Kristi Noem
was denied the use of a restroom at the Broadview, Ill., city hall just outside Chicago proper.
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Noem blamed
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker
for the conditions that led to the incident, saying it is an example of how the Democrat “and his cronies treat our law enforcement — Absolutely shameful.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also spoke out during ICE operations in her city, saying, “These tactics sow terror in our communities.”
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was caught on video
shouting questions at Noem during a press conference.
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Noem later claimed Padilla “lunged” at her, which resulted in various analyses of video of the confrontation.
Padilla was quickly tackled by Noem’s security detail, and later commented on the incident, saying that if his treatment is how the Trump administration deals with a “senator with a question … you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers” on the immigration enforcement front.
California Attorney General Robert Bonta
publicly called the actions of ICE and CBP during its Los Angeles operations “part of a cruel and familiar pattern of attacks on our immigrant communities by an administration that thrives on fear and division.”
“We won’t be silent. We won’t back down. We will continue to hold the federal government accountable when it violates the Constitution and federal law,” Bonta said in a July 7 statement.
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On Friday, DHS announced another arrest of a car-ramming suspect, with officials alleging Mexican national Roberto Galeana-Guatemala struck and seriously injured an officer with his vehicle when ICE was attempting to arrest him in National City, California.
Galeana-Guatemala was charged Friday with the assault as well as one count of being a
removed alien
who again entered the U.S. illegally.
McLaughlin said the incident marked roughly the 100th vehicle attack on ICE personnel since Trump took office.
After a recent case in which critics claimed DHS “kidnapped” a teenager, McLaughlin said the boy had been part of a group throwing rocks at officers who themselves were targets of another vehicle ramming attack.
She suggested rhetoric from critics over the incident was yet another accelerant on the political fire causing such attacks:
“A U.S. teenager was arrested for assaulting law enforcement in Chicago — any claims that CBP ‘kidnapped’ a U.S. citizen and held him in a warehouse are bizarre and categorically false,” she said.
“These are more disgusting smears peddled by the media and billboard law firms. This attack is not an isolated incident, and it reflects a growing and dangerous trend of illegal aliens violently resisting arrest, and agitators and criminals ramming cars into our law enforcement officers.”
