Attacks have spiked significantly in 2025 from the same period the previous year.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel have faced more than a 1,300 percent increase in assaults and a 3,200 percent increase in vehicular attacks, according to new figures released on Jan. 8 by the Department of Homeland Security.
The department blames “radical rhetoric by sanctuary politicians” for the surge in attacks against federal law enforcement. There was also an 8,000 percent increase in death threats against the officers, according to DHS.
Homeland Security reported 275 assaults during the Trump administration’s 2025 term, comparing it to 19 reported assaults in the same period during the prior administration’s 2024 term, resulting in a 1,347 percent increase.
In about the same time period, there were 66 vehicular attacks against personnel, compared to two such attacks in 2024, the department said.
The increase in violence has previously been reported by The Epoch Times.
Vehicular incidents have occurred mostly when protestors or illegal immigrants attempted to flee law enforcement.
One of the recent incidents involved Juan Carlos Romero, an illegal immigrant from Cuba who was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Dec. 21 after unsuccessfully attempting to evade arrest, according to the agency.
Romero tried to escape by “ramming his car into two officers AND multiple vehicles—causing officers to defensively fire their service weapons,” ICE said. “After a pursuit, he attempted to flee on foot and was eventually subdued, all while resisting arrest and biting an officer during the process.”
Another incident was reported on Dec. 24, when Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, an illegal immigrant from Portugal, allegedly rammed his van into ICE vehicles and attempted to run over officers during a targeted enforcement operation in Maryland.
According to ICE, when officers asked Sousa-Martins to turn off the vehicle’s engine, he refused and “drove his van directly at ICE officers, attempting to run them over,“ DHS said. ”Fearing for their lives and public safety, the ICE officers defensively fired their service weapons, striking the driver.”
Sousa-Martins is currently recovering in a hospital.
