DHS Reports Large Increases in Assaults and Vehicular Attacks on ICE Officers in 2025

In the Jan. 8, 2026 DHS release, the department does not spell out formal definitions for “assaults” or “vehicular attacks.” Based on DHS/ICE practice in related releases and federal law:

• “Assaults” on ICE officers generally refers to reported incidents where officers are forcibly attacked, threatened with violence, or subjected to physical contact or attempts at physical harm while performing official duties, often aligned with the federal crime of assaulting a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. § 111 (which covers forcible assault, resistance, intimidation, or interference).
• “Vehicular attacks” in ICE/DHS usage refers to cases where a vehicle is used as a weapon against officers or their vehicles (for example, ramming, sideswiping, or dragging an officer with a car during enforcement actions), a subset of the broader “assault” category that DHS has begun tracking separately in recent press statements. Because DHS has not released a technical methodology document for the 1,300%/3,200% figures, the exact internal case‑coding criteria for which incidents are counted in these categories are not publicly specified beyond these general descriptions.

DHS describes the percentage increases as follows (all figures are from DHS; independent outlets have noted they have not seen the underlying case‑level data):

• Assaults on ICE officers: DHS says there were 275 assaults between Jan. 20–Dec. 31, 2025, compared with 19 assaults in the same period in 2024. The reported increase is about 1,347%, which mathematically is ((275−19) ÷ 19) × 100 ≈ 1,347%.
• Vehicular attacks: DHS says there were 66 vehicular attacks on ICE officers between Jan. 21, 2025–Jan. 7, 2026, compared with 2 in the same prior‑year period. The increase DHS cites as 3,200% corresponds to ((66−2) ÷ 2) × 100 = 3,200%.
• Death threats: The same release says death threats against ICE personnel rose by 8,000%, but DHS has not publicly released the exact baseline counts used for that calculation, so the underlying numbers and exact time window for that metric are not independently verifiable from public documentation. These time frames and counts are consistent with prior DHS communications in 2025 that highlighted large percentage increases over year‑earlier periods, although independent reporting has raised questions about how complete and comparable the underlying data sets are.

In this DHS framing, “sanctuary politicians” is a political label rather than a formal legal category. The department and Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin have used it in 2025–26 releases to mean elected officials who:

• Support or lead jurisdictions with “sanctuary” or “non‑cooperation” policies that limit local law‑enforcement collaboration with ICE on civil immigration enforcement; and
• Publicly criticize or attempt to restrict ICE operations. In the June 20, 2025 DHS release that set up this narrative, McLaughlin explicitly named House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as examples, accusing them of “vilification and demonization” of ICE and likening ICE to “modern‑day Nazi Gestapo.” The January 8, 2026 press release re‑uses this “sanctuary politicians” language to blame such officials’ rhetoric for the reported spike in assaults and vehicular attacks, but it does not provide a precise formal definition or a complete list of individuals covered by the term.

Within DHS, according to their official biographies:

• Tricia McLaughlin – Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs: She oversees DHS’s public outreach and communications, including media relations, digital content, strategic messaging, and crisis communications. She serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security on internal and external communications and is responsible for shaping and disseminating DHS’s public narrative on issues such as ICE enforcement and officer safety.
• Kristi Noem – Secretary of Homeland Security: She is the head of the Department of Homeland Security and a member of the president’s cabinet. As Secretary, she has ultimate responsibility for DHS components (including ICE, CBP, TSA, FEMA, etc.), sets department‑wide policy priorities, and is the final decision‑maker on major enforcement strategies and public‑safety initiatives. In the context of this release, she is the top official directing immigration‑enforcement policy and emphasizing prosecution of those who attack federal officers. These roles are defined in DHS organizational materials and reflected in the way both officials are quoted in the press releases about assaults on ICE officers.

ICE and HSI are related but not the same thing:

• ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is the overall federal agency within DHS that enforces immigration, customs, and certain border‑related laws. It has two main law‑enforcement branches: Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
• HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) is ICE’s principal criminal investigative arm. HSI focuses on transnational crime such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, child exploitation, cybercrime, financial crimes, and complex immigration‑related criminal networks. Many “ICE agents” the public sees in complex investigations are actually HSI special agents. By contrast, ERO handles most day‑to‑day civil immigration enforcement: locating, arresting, detaining, and deporting people based on immigration status. When the Jan. 8, 2026 release refers to ICE and HSI in describing attacks during operations such as “Operation Midway Blitz,” it is distinguishing between criminal‑investigation agents (HSI) and ICE’s broader enforcement and removal functions.

Operation Midway Blitz is a named ICE enforcement surge in the Chicago region:

• Announced by DHS/ICE on Sept. 8, 2025, it was described as an operation “in honor of Katie Abraham,” an Illinois woman killed by a drunk driver whom DHS labeled a “criminal illegal alien.”
• DHS stated that Midway Blitz would target “the worst of the worst” criminal non‑citizens in Chicago and Illinois, explicitly framing it as a crackdown on so‑called sanctuary policies in the city and state.
• Reporting and subsequent analysis show the operation involved large‑scale ICE arrests (numbering in the thousands), including many people with no serious criminal convictions, arrests near schools and childcare centers, and use of crowd‑control agents such as tear gas at protests, drawing significant criticism from local officials and civil‑rights groups. In the January 8, 2026 DHS release, a vehicular attack example is tied to this operation, illustrating DHS’s claim that officers faced vehicle‑based assaults while carrying out Midway Blitz enforcement actions.

Public DHS materials describe several types of protections, investigations, and support for ICE officers (and other DHS employees) who face attacks or threats, though the Jan. 8, 2026 release itself only briefly notes these:

• Criminal investigation and prosecution: Attacks, threats, and doxing of ICE officers can be investigated by ICE’s own Office of Professional Responsibility, HSI, the DHS Office of Inspector General, and/or partner agencies (e.g., FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Offices), and prosecuted under federal statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 111 (assaulting a federal officer) and laws against interstate threats and stalking. DHS repeatedly states that individuals who attack or dox officers will be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.”
• Threat‑reporting channels: DHS directs officers and the public to report harassment, doxing, or threats involving ICE personnel via the DHS/ICE tip line (866‑DHS‑2‑ICE) and ICE’s online tip form, so that cases can be documented and referred for investigation.
• Workplace‑violence and security guidance: DHS and CISA publish government‑wide guidance on preventing and responding to workplace violence, which includes measures such as security planning, coordination with law enforcement, use of restraining orders where appropriate, and procedures for handling threats against employees.
• Employee assistance and resilience programs: While not specific to ICE, DHS and its components provide Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), counseling, and resilience resources to personnel exposed to threats or traumatic incidents. Detailed case‑by‑case descriptions of how DHS assists particular ICE officers targeted in the incidents cited in the 2026 release are not publicly available; only general statements about investigation, prosecution, and safety guidance have been released.