As ICE and the Trump administration continue to crack down on protecting America’s border, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is facing increasing resistance from the judiciary, illegal aliens, immigration advocacy groups, and Democratic legislators.
Tensions are escalating, and some anti-ICE opponents are not shying away from violent tactics to impede Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing Tuesday focused on examining threats to ICE operations. The Democrats’ anti-ICE rhetoric has reached a fever pitch, and their base is responding with actions.
Activist judges have blocked President Donald Trump’s executive orders and deportation efforts on multiple fronts, in multiple states. There have been numerous social media threats against ICE agents in recent months, with one person suggesting people murder their local ICE agent, News Nation reported.
The mainstream media is fueling the flames, too, with countless headlines that sympathize with gang members and criticize the Trump administration’s anti-immigration agenda.
Reports of increasingly antagonistic language, acts of violence and blatant disregard for the law have been reported across the country:
- “I’m going to kill these b*stards,” said one North Carolina man, referring to ICE agents.
- In California, attempts to brake-check an ICE vehicle to cause an accident have led to a criminal charge.
- Two judges have been charged, one in Wisconsin and one in New Mexico, for aiding and abetting illegal immigrants and gang members.
- Former Vice Presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz used Nazi imagery when describing ICE agents and tactics.
Explosive opinions from opposing parties took center stage during Tuesday’s hearing, while lawmakers and witnesses traded blows about current immigration laws and policies, The National Desk reports.
Committee members brought up the incident at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, where three Democratic House lawmakers joined protestors on May 9. Activist groups and faith leaders formed a human chain and blocked the facility’s gate on May 12.
“While the Trump administration has taken decisive action to address this crisis, Democrat leaders have worked tirelessly to block those efforts. What happened in my home state of New Jersey is just the latest example, and it is simply unacceptable,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey, told Fox News Digital prior to the hearing.
The clash which involved pushing and shoving led to the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for trespassing. Those charges have been dropped, but now New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver faces federal assault charges. And Democratic colleagues have rallied behind her.
During the hearing, Van Drew said the lawmakers “stormed the facility without clearance, without following protocol and physically disrupted law enforcement operations.”
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who is also on the panel, told Fox: “What we’re trying to understand is, why in the world are Democrats hell-bent on stopping the president from deporting murderers and rapists and terrorists?”
Lawmakers also heard testimony from four witnesses, including former DHS senior law enforcement Charles Marino, who said the border policies under the former Biden administration made the U.S. less safe “by allowing very dangerous criminals and national security threats to enter the country.”
Several high-speed car chases involving suspects fleeing law enforcement agents along both the southern and northern border have put members of the public and agents at risk.
Last week, federal officials indicted four Mexican nationals for a large-scale human smuggling operation at the U.S.-Canadian border that involved fleeing from Border Patrol agents.
Fox News also reported two South Texas gang members were sentenced this week for human smuggling, following a series of high-speed chases at the border that involved one of the gang members crashing his car into the Rio Grande and swimming to Mexico to escape.
