DHS Warns Anti-ICE Rhetoric Driving '1,000% Increase' in Attacks on Officers

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday warned that political rhetoric targeting U.S. immigration enforcement is fueling violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, citing what it described as a "1,000% increase" in assaults.

"This hateful rhetoric is contributing to political violence in our country and a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against our brave ICE law enforcement," a Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who was also consulted by the news site, added:

"Following the evil act of political violence in the country and two brutal assaults on our brave ICE law enforcement last week, we are once again calling on the media and the far left to stop the hateful rhetoric directed at President Trump, those who support him, and our brave DHS law enforcement"

The department linked the rise in attacks to recent public comments by Democratic officials, including remarks by Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett comparing ICE to "slave patrols," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz calling the agency the "modern-day Gestapo," and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker likening the U.S. to Nazi Germany.

Other examples cited included Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, who described ICE enforcement actions as akin to the SS and Gestapo.

DHS officials also pointed to specific incidents of violence, including a group of armed men surveilling a Texas facility, a gunman opening fire at a Border Patrol annex in McAllen, and a woman in Maine accused of trying to run over an agent with her car.

The warning follows a series of moves by DHS and ICE to broaden how the agencies define threats against their personnel. On Tuesday, ICE posted on X that "anyone – regardless of immigration status – who assaults an ICE officer WILL face federal felony assault charges and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."

The department has also responded to criticism from outside the political arena. After actress Hannah Einbinder ended her Emmy Awards acceptance speech with "F– ICE," DHS condemned the remarks as "dangerous and inflammatory," wich McLaughlin saying that "such demonization is inspiring violence against our ICE law enforcement."