ICE Director Todd Lyons speaks during a news conference with members of Florida law enforcement after the state made the first arrest in the nation via the Alien Enemies Act with the arrest of an alleged TdA gang member in Orlando. (WOFL/Pool)
"If you don't want to work with us, we're going to handle the problem," he added.
Lyons, however, did praise California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently said his state will work with ICE.
A sanctuary state, California generally doesn't cooperate with immigration authorities, but Newsom said it would be willing to work with the agency to honor detainer requests. That followed outrage over a Fox News story about an illegal immigrant convicted of vehicular manslaughter who will be released from prison July 19, over six years before his full sentence is up.
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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is willing to work with ICE. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"I really applaud the governor for that," Lyons said. "When people see exactly the individual that ICE is dealing with, how could you not work with ICE in a case like that?
"We actually saw the details behind this case," he added. "It's a commonsense approach to work with ICE to get these public safety threats out of here."
In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, ICE has arrested more than 6,000 illegal immigrants, the agency said this week. The agency is going to continue to "remove the worst of the worst," Lyons said.
"How can anyone argue with you when you're deporting violent gang members, sex offenders and fentanyl traffickers," he said. "ICE is out there protecting communities, taking these public safety threats away from our neighborhoods, protecting our children."
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As Congress ponders giving ICE funding for 10,000 agents, Lyons said the additional money would be a "game changer."
"I'll give you an example. When we did the operation in Boston, we had targeted enforcement when we knew these criminal aliens that had been released from jails, from courts, from sanctuary jurisdictions where detainees weren't honored," he said. "But while the teams were out there conducting this operation, in real time, more criminal aliens were being released."
Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/acting-ice-director-says-agency-ramp-up-raids-sanctuary-jurisdictions-dont-cooperate