The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed on Thursday a startling 3,200% surge in vehicular assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents over the past year. This alarming trend culminated in a recent incident in Minneapolis, where an ICE officer fatally shot a driver during a protest.

The report documents numerous cases where vehicles were used as weapons against law enforcement, often resulting in injuries. Wednesday’s shooting is just a single episode in a series of dangerous encounters that officers have faced throughout the year.

In addition to the spike in vehicular attacks, DHS has reported a 1,300% increase in assaults and an extraordinary 8,000% rise in death threats directed at ICE agents over the same period.

Authorities attribute this rise in attacks to what they describe as “radical rhetoric by sanctuary politicians.” In particular, DHS pointed to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who, following the recent shooting, publicly demanded that ICE “get the f— out of Minneapolis.”

Earlier, in a September incident in Florida, an ICE officer was injured during a traffic stop when Henry Isaul Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, allegedly reversed his vehicle, hitting the officer’s leg.

“Sanctuary politicians have fostered an atmosphere that emboldens frequent assaults on law enforcement,” stated the DHS, highlighting the significant challenges faced by ICE agents in the current political climate.

Since Jan. 21, 2025, ICE officers experienced 66 car attacks, compared with just two during the same period the previous year, resulting in a 3,200% increase.

During the first year of the second Trump administration, from Jan. 20, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025, DHS officials reported 275 assaults, up from 19 during the same period in 2024.

An illegal immigrant from Venezuela, Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, was arrested after “intentionally ramming an officer’s vehicle into a tree,” DHS said in December. (Department of Homeland Security)

“This is a horrific 1,347% increase in assaults against ICE officers,” DHS said. 

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed sanctuary leaders for the violence, arguing that their rhetoric “demonizes our law enforcement” officers, who are targeting criminal illegal immigrants in the U.S.

“This unprecedented increase in violence against law enforcement is a direct result of sanctuary politicians and the media creating an environment that demonizes our law enforcement and encourages rampant assaults against them. Dangerous criminals — whether they be illegal aliens or U.S. citizens — are assaulting law enforcement and turning their vehicles into weapons to attack law enforcement,” McLaughlin said in a statement. 

“Still, the brave men and women of DHS will not be deterred and will continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Anyone who attacks law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Two separate car attacks took place during Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, authorities said in October. (Department of Homeland Security)

According to the DHS, a criminal illegal immigrant from Venezuela and a suspected Tren de Aragua member, Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, intentionally “rammed a law enforcement vehicle into a tree” around December. 

During Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, two criminal illegal immigrants “weaponized their vehicles in deliberate attempts to ram and injure officers” in separate incidents, authorities said in October.

An ICE agent was also injured in Florida after an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Henry Isaul Garcia, “put his car in reverse, hitting an ICE officer in the leg, nearly crushing him,” authorities said in September.

DHS said Secretary Kristi Noem’s message is clear: “You will not stop or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”