U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are dealing with a wave of threats like nothing they’ve seen before. According to new data from the Department of Homeland Security, death threats against ICE officers have spiked by an incredible 8,000%.
In a statement to Fox News, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the threats come as ICE officers put their lives on the line to “remove the worst of the worst.” McLaughlin described an alarming list of incidents targeting agents and their families. “From bounties placed on their heads for their murders, threats to their families, stalking, and doxxing online, our officers are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence and threats against them and their families,” she said.
McLaughlin also blamed what she called “sanctuary politicians” for stoking the hostility, accusing them of using “repeated vilification and demonization tactics, including gross comparisons to the Nazi Gestapo.” She added, “This violence against law enforcement must end.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem vowed to prosecute anyone who harms law enforcement officers “to the fullest extent of the law.”
Earlier this month, a man identified as Eduardo Aguilar, a Mexican national, was arrested in Dallas for allegedly posting $10,000 bounties on TikTok for the murder of ICE agents. “We are thankful this criminal who had a firearm in his possession was arrested before he could kill one of our law enforcement officers,” DHS said in a statement. “The Trump administration will not back down from these threats, and every criminal, terrorist, and illegal alien will face American justice.”
In another Texas incident, the spouse of an ICE officer received a disturbing phone call filled with violent threats. “I don’t know how you let your husband work for ICE, and you sleep at night. F— you, f— your family. I hope your kids get deported by accident. How do you sleep? F— you. Did you hear what happened to the Nazis after World War II? Because it’s what’s going to happen to your family,” the caller said, according to DHS.
Officials say the surge in threats is unlike anything the agency has faced before, and many worry that this escalating tension could turn deadly if it continues.