Left: An "anti-ICE" message written on a bullet found after a fatal shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas. Right: Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who has recently called to "abolish ICE." (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo; FBI)
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Omar’s statement "a vile lie" and the story a "disgusting smear."
According to McLaughlin, "ICE agents NEVER used a 5-year-old girl as ‘bait.’"
She said Mejia "abandoned his 5-year-old daughter in the car" and that "officers helped rescue the child and called local police to report the abandonment."
In response to Omar’s call to abolish ICE, McLaughlin said the Democrat’s "habitual lies and demonization of our law enforcement is what’s cruel."
"The criminal illegal alien target — with previous arrests for domestic abuse and strangulation, among other charges — ABANDONED his own child in a car," said McLaughlin. "The target, Edwards Hip Mejia, ignored law enforcement emergency lights to pull over and drove back to his house. He fled from the car, gave officers the double middle finger, and darted inside his house."
"Disgusting smears like these peddled by the media are leading to a 1000% increase in assaults against our brave law enforcement," she added in another post.
According to NBC Boston, local police recovered the girl when they arrived and returned her to her family. Mejia was ultimately detained two days later, his wife told Telemundo, and is being held in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
KASH PATEL REACTS TO DALLAS ICE SHOOTING: 'IT HAS TO END'
Law enforcement personnel respond at the scene of a shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 24, 2025. (Reuters/Jeffrey McWhorter)
Following the shooting, McLaughlin posted on X, calling on people to pray for the victims of the attack and for an end to attacks on ICE personnel.
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"Like everyone else, our ICE law enforcement officers just want to go home to their families at night," said McLaughlin. "They are fathers and mothers. Sons, and daughters, brothers and sisters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer."
"The violence and dehumanization of these men and women must stop," she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Omar's office for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano, Greg Wehner and John Roberts contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vile-lie-trump-official-drills-squad-member-anti-ice-post-attacks-increase