Illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens alike are increasingly turning to cars and trucks as weapons of choice in their attempts to stop ICE from carrying out arrests, according to new government data that shows a massive increase in vehicular attacks.
From the day after President Trump’s inauguration to this Jan. 24, there were 68 vehicle attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE recorded just two such attacks under President Biden during the year before. That’s a 3,300% increase.
Customs and Border Protection, ICE’s sister enforcement agency, saw a much smaller increase from 51 attacks to 114 attacks — a 124% rise.
CBP dealt with far more border activity under the Biden administration, but has shifted attention to the interior now that Mr. Trump has largely solved the southwest border situation.
Homeland Security Department officials blamed “sanctuary politicians” for fomenting anger against the two agencies, sparking the rise in attacks.
“Sanctuary politicians with their rhetoric comparing ICE to the Nazi Gestapo, slave patrols and the secret police and encouraging illegal aliens to evade arrest have incited violence against law enforcement,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
Some DHS critics have questioned the department’s claims of increased attacks overall, saying officials are now counting incidents that would have been brushed off in the past.
The department on Tuesday released details — and photos — of a number of the attacks.
The images show mangled vehicles, including some instances where bystanders or uninvolved motorists were hit.
One of the incidents on the list was a confrontation in Portland, Oregon, last month that led to a DHS-involved shooting.
The department said two Venezuelan illegal immigrants suspected of being associated with the Tren de Aragua gang were targeted for arrest.
When Border Patrol agents closed in, boxing the target vehicle in using rental cars, the driver repeatedly lurched his vehicle forward then reversed, smashing a path out.
One agent opened fire and struck both migrants.
It’s not clear if DHS counted as one of the incidents the confrontation that left Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, dead in Minneapolis.
Video from that January incident showed her partially blocking a street and then failing to heed ICE officers’ demands to get out of her SUV. She reversed, then lurched the SUV forward, striking an ICE officer who was at the vehicle’s front. He opened fire and killed her.
