Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that there has been a huge spike in assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they carry out President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation.
"Our brave ICE law enforcement are now facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," Noem wrote in a post on X. "These acts of violence are fueled by sanctuary politicians rhetoric vilifying our law enforcement."
"We will not and have not let this violence stop us or slow us down," she said. "Everyday our law enforcement continues to enforce the law and arrest the most depraved criminals including pedophiles, terrorists, murderers, gang members, and sexual predators."
On Saturday, ICE agents escaped an arson attack on their Yakima, Washington, office after an unidentified suspect threw a rock through the window before setting fire to the back of the building.
The weekend attack follows another in Los Angeles, where two rioters in June threw concrete blocks at federal officers working at the downtown immigration detention facility. The rioters in that incident launched their assault on the federal agents in response to an immigration raid at a local Home Depot store.
In July, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, told Newsmax the then-830% increase in assaults against DHS agents was "despicable."
"We're seeing [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.], [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom, Mayor [Michelle] Wu out of Boston likening our law enforcement to the Nazis, to the modern-day gestapo," McLaughlin said on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
"It's just un-American. We should be thanking our brave law enforcement, our ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] officers who are making America safer," she said. "Seventy percent of those illegal aliens who have been arrested under this administration have either prior convictions, criminal convictions, or pending criminal charges."
Despite the risks, "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" actor Dean Cain revealed on Tuesday that he has joined up with ICE "to help save America."
"For those who don't know, I am a sworn law enforcement officer, as well as being a filmmaker, and I felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it," Cain wrote on X. "So I joined up."
"Since President Trump took office, ICE has arrested hundreds of thousands of criminals including terrorists, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, MS-13 gang members, drug traffickers, you name it — very dangerous people who are no longer on the streets," he continued, adding that those who sign up will receive "great benefits" and "can get to work right away."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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