WASHINGTON — Various cartels, gangs, and terrorist organizations have placed bounties on the heads of several federal immigration agents, with offers of $10,000 for their assassination and $2,000 for their capture, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem disclosed on Sunday.
Noem highlighted that this alarming trend of bounties and doxing has unsettled federal law enforcement, but she did not clarify if it pertained to specific agencies such as the U.S. Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We have specific agents who have had bounties put out on their heads,” Noem told “Fox & Friends Weekend” over the weekend.
“It’s been $2,000 to abduct them, $10,000 to eliminate them. They have circulated their photos; they’ve disseminated this information across their networks. It is an extremely perilous and unprecedented situation.”
The Homeland Security secretary refrained from specifying which groups are behind these bounties due to ongoing investigations.
“It involves gangs, cartel affiliates, and recognized terrorist groups,” she provided, in broad terms.
“They ensure awareness of which officers are effectively out there, and they are determined to take them out because they wish to obstruct operations that are preventing them from profiting off their criminal enterprises.”
In recent weeks, there has been a spate of high-profile attacks targeting federal law enforcement officials.
For instance, last month, a sniper opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas, resulting in one detainee’s death and injuries to two others before the assailant took his own life. The FBI reported that the shooter had inscribed “Anti ICE” on his ammunition.
On Saturday, Noem reported that a “caravan of ten vehicles” followed Border Patrol agents through the streets of Chicago, effectively trapping them.
“They were pursued, cornered, and when our agents exited their vehicles, they attempted to run over our officers while brandishing semi-automatic handguns, forcing our agents to defend themselves, resulting in shots being fired, and one individual needing hospital treatment after attacking the officers,” she recounted.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed that the woman killed on Chicago’s Southwest Side was struck by “defensive gunfire” from Border Patrol agents.
President Trump has dispatched 300 National Guard troops to Illinois on Saturday to support federal law enforcement there despite objections from Governor JB Pritzker (D).
Noem emphasized that the Trump administration has gathered intelligence suggesting that the individuals targeting federal officers are highly organized.
“Our intelligence indicates that these individuals are coordinated. They are recruiting more people to their cause, planning attacks on officers, and strategizing to ambush and kill them,” she asserted.
She also stated that the government is investigating who is financing the protesters in locations like Chicago, who are rallying against the presence of federal law enforcement.
“I was in Chicago just two days ago, observing these protesters and our officers interacting with them. All the demonstrators donned similar gas masks, carried identical signs, and many were printed in the same font,” she noted. “It’s clear that they are being funded and organized and that they’re receiving financial support.”
