U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a press conference. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
DHS shared that despite agents being hit with multiple vehicle attacks by "domestic terrorists" over the weekend, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials continued operations in Chicago as part of Operation Midway Blitz, which the agency said "protect[s] American communities from the crime that sanctuary policies allow."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, DHS said some of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens arrested over the weekend included a foreign terrorist organization member, drug traffickers, child abusers, violent offenders and other repeat offenders.
Agents arrested Wilmer Alexander Gonzalez Garaban, a Venezuelan criminal illegal alien and confirmed member of the "Tren de Aragua" gang, a criminal group behind several brutal killings, which has been designated by the Trump administration as a foreign terrorist organization. Gonzalez Garaban has a criminal history of theft and resisting an officer, according to DHS.
Federal agents clash with demonstrators outside the ICE Detention Center in suburban Chicago. (Dominic Gwinn/Getty Images)
Similarly, Mexican illegals Ricardo Gervasio-Gervasio and Pedro Navajas-Contreras were arrested and have convictions for cocaine possession, driving under the influence of liquor and dangerous drugs and three prior convictions for driving under the influence, respectively.
On Saturday morning, federal agents were rammed and trapped by 10 vehicles, where anti-ICE crowds had gathered for days. Nearly a dozen people were arrested.
The suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident, Marimar Martinez and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, both of whom were described by DHS as being domestic terrorists who "ambushed" agents. Martinez was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and "ha[d] a history of doxxing federal agents," the DHS said in a release.
"She took defensive fire from CBP agents and has been discharged from the hospital and is currently in the custody of the FBI," the statement said.
Federal law enforcement agents confront demonstrators protesting outside an immigrant processing center on Saturday in Broadview, Illinois. One protester allegedly threatened to kill federal officers. (Getty Images)
This follows weeks of anti-ICE protesters holding demonstrations outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview. Protesters have had many tense interactions with federal officials outside the Broadview facility and have repeatedly blocked federal officials from entering and exiting.
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Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents from using city-owned property for immigration enforcement operations or staging.
In its statement to Fox News Digital, DHS said it "will not let violence from domestic terrorists and lawless rioters in Chicago slow us down from fulfilling the President's mandate to arrest the worst of the worst."
Fox News Digital's Deirdre Heavey and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/first-fox-dhs-chief-slams-violent-anarchists-pledges-full-support-federal-agents