ICE agents report ‘unprecedented’ 3,200% surge in car attacks last year

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday that ICE agents reported an "unprecedented increase" of 3,200% in vehicular attacks over the past year, leading up to Wednesday’s incident in which an ICE officer shot and killed a driver during a protest in Minneapolis. 

The data, which cite multiple instances in which attackers used their cars to ram law enforcement, sometimes causing injuries, suggest that Wednesday’s shooting is just one of numerous incidents officers have faced over the past year.

Along with the rise in vehicular attacks, authorities also saw more than a 1,300% increase in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats toward ICE agents, according to DHS.

DHS said the increase in attacks has been spurred by "radical rhetoric by sanctuary politicians," citing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who called for ICE to "get the f--- out of Minneapolis" after Wednesday’s shooting.

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"Sanctuary politicians have created an environment that encourages rampant assaults on law enforcement," DHS said. 

Since Jan. 21, 2025, ICE officers experienced 66 car attacks, compared with just two during the same period the previous year, resulting in a 3,200% increase.

During the first year of the second Trump administration, from Jan. 20, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025, DHS officials reported 275 assaults, up from 19 during the same period in 2024.

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"This is a horrific 1,347% increase in assaults against ICE officers," DHS said. 

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed sanctuary leaders for the violence, arguing that their rhetoric "demonizes our law enforcement" officers, who are targeting criminal illegal immigrants in the U.S.

"This unprecedented increase in violence against law enforcement is a direct result of sanctuary politicians and the media creating an environment that demonizes our law enforcement and encourages rampant assaults against them. Dangerous criminals — whether they be illegal aliens or U.S. citizens — are assaulting law enforcement and turning their vehicles into weapons to attack law enforcement," McLaughlin said in a statement. 

"Still, the brave men and women of DHS will not be deterred and will continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Anyone who attacks law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

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According to the DHS, a criminal illegal immigrant from Venezuela and a suspected Tren de Aragua member, Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, intentionally "rammed a law enforcement vehicle into a tree" around December. 

During Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, two criminal illegal immigrants "weaponized their vehicles in deliberate attempts to ram and injure officers" in separate incidents, authorities said in October.

An ICE agent was also injured in Florida after an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Henry Isaul Garcia, "put his car in reverse, hitting an ICE officer in the leg, nearly crushing him," authorities said in September.

DHS said Secretary Kristi Noem’s message is clear: "You will not stop or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."