The Left’s Dangerous War of Words Against ICE and Border Patrol: Fueling Violence Against America’s Defenders

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The brave men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) risk their lives daily to secure our borders and enforce our nation’s laws. Yet, from the halls of Congress to the streets of sanctuary cities, leftist politicians and activists have unleashed a torrent of inflammatory rhetoric, demonizing these agents as oppressors and inciting hostility that has led to a shocking surge in violent attacks. From labeling ICE a “terrorist force” to comparing agents to Nazis, this reckless language has real-world consequences, endangering federal officers and undermining the rule of law. It’s time to expose the Left’s outrageous rhetoric and its role in fueling a 690% increase in assaults on ICE and CBP agents in 2025, with specific examples of attacks and damning quotes from leftist leaders.

A Surge in Violence Against Agents

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported on July 7, 2025, that assaults on ICE officers and other federal immigration agents have skyrocketed by 690% compared to the same period in 2024. This alarming spike coincides with intensified deportation efforts under President Donald Trump’s second term, particularly following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025, which allocated $175 billion for border security, including $46.5 billion for border wall construction and $30 billion for CBP resources. The bill’s aggressive enforcement measures, such as a $100 asylum application fee and state-funded deportation support, have inflamed tensions, with leftist rhetoric amplifying hostility toward agents.

Two recent incidents in Texas underscore the dangers. On July 7, 2025, a gunman in tactical gear ambushed Border Patrol agents at an annex facility in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. One agent was shot in the knee, and a local police officer was injured, both requiring hospitalization. The attacker, neutralized by agents and local police, left behind a scene of chaos that DHS officials linked to rising anti-ICE sentiment. Just days earlier, on July 4, 2025, a Texas police officer was shot in the neck near ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility, highlighting the growing threat to law enforcement supporting immigration operations. These attacks followed a pattern of violence, including a June 6, 2025, riot in Los Angeles where protesters, enraged by ICE raids, assaulted officers, damaged federal property, and attempted to breach the Roybal Federal Building. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, and tear gas was deployed to disperse the crowd, which had set fires and thrown rocks.
In New York City, on June 7, 2025, anti-ICE protesters attempted to block a van from leaving the Jacobs Javits Federal Building, prompting NYPD intervention. These incidents reflect a broader wave of unrest, with NBC News reporting 25 rallies and demonstrations nationwide since June 9, 2025, many involving violence or property damage. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons described the Los Angeles riots as “appalling,” stating on June 7, 2025, that “violent rioters will be held accountable if they harm federal officers.” The surge in attacks, coupled with a 500% increase in threats reported by ICE agents, has left officers fearing for their families’ safety, with one agent telling Fox News on July 7, 2025, that online harassment and doxxing have become routine.

Leftist Rhetoric: Inciting Chaos

The Left’s incendiary language has directly contributed to this hostile environment. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) accused ICE in June 2025 of acting “like a terrorist force,” doubling down on CNN on July 2, 2025, by saying, “What is deranged and cruel and outrageous is that, literally, we are seeing ICE agents, I assume they’re ICE agents.” On July 4, 2025, Jayapal posted on X, refusing to apologize for “calling out the terror inflicted by ICE as they kidnap and disappear people, including U.S. citizens, on our streets and in our communities.” This rhetoric, equating lawful enforcement with criminality, paints agents as villains, emboldening attacks. Jayapal’s refusal to retract her statement, despite White House calls for an apology, underscores the Left’s defiance.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been equally inflammatory. On May 1, 2025, at a New York City rally, she reiterated her call to abolish ICE, a stance she first championed in 2018. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, on July 7, 2025, urged Ocasio-Cortez to meet with ICE and CBP agents, stating, “These are honorable Americans who are just simply trying to do their job to enforce the law. They go home to their families every night, just like we all do, and they deserve respect and dignity.” Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond, signaling her dismissal of agents’ humanity.

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion – making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc.bsky.social) July 3, 2025 at 2:58 PM

Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) went further, calling ICE officers “vigilantes” engaged in “kidnapping” on June 26, 2025, via X, questioning, “How can we even trust that these are government officials?” This post, flagged by conservative accounts like Libs of TikTok and RapidResponse47, was cited as a catalyst for a 500% uptick in assaults, with critics arguing it dehumanizes agents and justifies violence. Similarly, New York Assemblymember and New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a socialist, doubled down on June 29, 2025, via X, saying, “We have to stand up and fight back,” while advocating for removing ICE from city facilities. His platform omits “illegal” when describing immigrants, implying ICE targets legal residents, a distortion that fuels public anger.
Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) targeted ICE on June 27, 2025, posting on X, “ICE is targeting our Iranian immigrant neighbors. Our wars abroad always return back home, from Japanese internment to today. No war with Iran. Abolish ICE.” By comparing ICE to historical atrocities, Tlaib’s rhetoric inflames tensions, ignoring the agency’s focus on deporting criminal aliens, as evidenced by ICE’s July 2, 2025, report of a life sentence for a human smuggling leader. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) added fuel on June 7, 2025, stating, “This is America. This is not the Soviet Union. We’re not behind the Iron Curtain. This is not the 1930s. And every single [ICE agent], no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will, of course, be identified.” This veiled threat, implying agents should fear exposure, escalates the climate of intimidation.

Local Leaders and the Sanctuary City Problem

Local officials have also stoked unrest. Cynthia Gonzalez, Vice Mayor of Cudahy, California, was condemned by DHS on June 24, 2025, for calling on criminal gangs, including the notorious 18th Street gang, to “defend turf” from ICE. A DHS X post called her comments “despicable,” linking them to the 500% increase in threats. In Los Angeles, a sanctuary city, Mayor Karen Bass sided with protesters during June 6–7, 2025, riots, prompting ICE’s Lyons to accuse her of supporting “chaos and lawlessness.” California Governor Gavin Newsom, on June 9, 2025, called Trump’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to quell Los Angeles unrest a “deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President,” further framing federal enforcement as authoritarian.
Far-left outlets like In These Times have amplified this narrative, equating ICE to Nazis and calling deportations “ethnic cleansing” and “state violence” in a July 6, 2025, article. A Jewish anti-borders activist quoted in the piece claimed ICE’s actions mirror “concentration camps,” a comparison that trivializes historical atrocities while vilifying agents. Such rhetoric, conservatives argue, incites the kind of mob violence seen in Los Angeles, where protesters burned cars and threw bricks, and in Portland, where Antifa members vowed on June 27, 2025, to doxx ICE agents, saying, “We have videos of your faces…We’re coming for you.”

The America First Response

From any reasonable perspective, this rhetoric is not just irresponsible—it’s a deliberate attack on national sovereignty. ICE and CBP agents, with 6,200 and 45,000 personnel respectively, enforce over 400 federal statutes, targeting criminal aliens like those arrested in a June 2025 South Carolina raid, where 66 drug dealers were detained. The Left’s refusal to distinguish between illegal and legal immigrants, as seen in Mamdani’s platform, distorts reality and excuses lawlessness. Polls reflect public support for enforcement: a July 2024 Gallup poll found 55% of Americans want reduced immigration, and an August 2024 Arizona poll showed 63% back Proposition 314, allowing state arrests for illegal crossings. Yet, the Left persists in painting agents as monsters, ignoring their exposure to diseases like hepatitis and scabies, as reported by Representative Andy Biggs in 2019 after visiting a New Mexico port of entry.
The human cost is clear. Agents face death threats, doxxing, and physical assaults, with one telling USA Today on June 28, 2025, that aggressive tactics, driven by quotas of 3,000 daily arrests, heighten risks. The Trump administration, led by Border Czar Tom Homan, has vowed to press forward, with Homan stating on May 31, 2025, “We need to increase” deportations. Conservatives argue that the Left’s rhetoric, from Jayapal’s “terrorist force” to Tlaib’s internment analogies, directly incites these dangers, undermining the rule of law and emboldening criminals.

What happens now?

The Left’s relentless demonization of ICE and Border Patrol agents—calling them vigilantes, terrorists, and Nazis—has created a toxic environment where violence against law enforcement is not just tolerated but encouraged. Specific attacks, like the July 7 McAllen ambush and June 6 Los Angeles riots, reflect the real-world fallout of this rhetoric, with a 690% surge in assaults threatening agents’ safety. Leaders like Jayapal, Ocasio-Cortez, and Tlaib, with their inflammatory statements, bear responsibility for fueling this chaos. From any common sense perspective, defending our borders and agents is non-negotiable. The Left must end its reckless war of words, or the blood of our brave officers will be on their hands.