Wave of car attacks on ICE agents follows incendiary rhetoric from target-city leaders

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A surge in car-rammings and other assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during targeted operations in California, Illinois and North Carolina has coincided with sharp criticism from local and state leaders against federal officers.

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security reported a 1,300% increase in vehicular attacks on ICE since President Donald Trump took office, and a 58% spike against CBP officers in that same time period.

There were only two vehicular rammings of ICE agents – in particular – during former President Joe Biden’s final year in office. His administration also did not conduct fervent, targeted immigration raids at the same scale or frequency, according to reports. 

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In comments to Fox News Digital on Friday, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said:

"Since January 20, there have been 99 vehicle attacks against DHS law enforcement, a 1,000% increase in assaults against them, and an 8,000% increase in death threats to ICE officers. Make no mistake: The uptick in these kinds of attacks is being fueled by the constant demonization of ICE and CBP officers by Democrat politicians. They need to knock it off before they get one of our officers killed." 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose city was targeted second after Los Angeles, has repeatedly labeled Trump a racist and characterized ICE agents as terrorists.

As recently as this week, Johnson told a podcast – in a report aired by Sky News – that "attacks" on illegal immigrants and targets of the Trump administration have the same characteristics as the priorities of antebellum freedmen.

"We know that the intentional attacks that are coming from the Trump administration and the extreme right in this country has very much been what I call an attempt to relitigate the Civil War," Johnson said.

"They have not accepted the results that the North actually won."

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents clashed with protesters in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, July 8. (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement via X)

Johnson said that Trump is also politically targeting education, housing, transportation, jobs and health care – which he said were "literally the five demands of descendants of slaves."

During the Civil War, however, the Confederacy was led largely by Democrats of that era, including President Jefferson Davis, Vice President Alexander Stephens and officers like Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

During the heat of immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, Johnson railed against the missions, describing scenes from the streets as "what terrorism looks like."

Johnson also set up what he called "ICE-free zones" and in one instance, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was denied the use of a restroom at the Broadview, Ill., city hall just outside Chicago proper.

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Noem blamed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for the conditions that led to the incident, saying it is an example of how the Democrat "and his cronies treat our law enforcement -- Absolutely shameful."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also spoke out during ICE operations in her city, saying, "These tactics sow terror in our communities."

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was caught on video shouting questions at Noem during a press conference.

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Noem later claimed Padilla "lunged" at her, which resulted in various analyses of video of the confrontation.

Padilla was quickly tackled by Noem’s security detail, and later commented on the incident, saying that if his treatment is how the Trump administration deals with a "senator with a question… you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers" on the immigration enforcement front.

California Attorney General Robert Bonta publicly called the actions of ICE and CBP during its Los Angeles operations "part of a cruel and familiar patter of attacks on our immigrant communities by an administration that thrives on fear and division."

"We won’t be silent. We won’t back down. We will continue to hold the federal government accountable when it violates the Constitution and federal law," Bonta said in a July 7 statement.

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On Friday, DHS announced another arrest of a car-ramming suspect, with officials alleging Mexican national Roberto Galeana-Guatemala struck and seriously injured an officer with his vehicle when ICE was attempting to arrest him in National City, California.

Galeana-Guatemala was charged Friday with the assault as well as one count of being a removed alien who again entered the U.S. illegally.

McLaughlin said the incident marked roughly the 100th vehicle attack on ICE personnel since Trump took office.

After a recent case in which critics claimed DHS "kidnapped" a teenager, McLaughlin said the boy had been part of a group throwing rocks at officers who themselves were targets of another vehicle ramming attack.

She suggested rhetoric from critics over the incident was yet another accelerant on the political fire causing such attacks:

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"A U.S. teenager was arrested for assaulting law enforcement in Chicago—any claims that CBP ‘kidnapped’ a U.S. citizen and held him in a warehouse are bizarre and categorically false," she said.

"These are more disgusting smears peddled by the media and billboard law firms. This attack is not an isolated incident, and it reflects a growing and dangerous trend of illegal aliens violently resisting arrest, and agitators and criminals ramming cars into our law enforcement officers."

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].