‘Gangs’ and ‘cartels’ put bounties up to $10K on immigration agents: Noem
During an interview with Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that cartels and other organized crime syndicates have put bounties on specific U.S. immigration agents. Noem made the claim one day after federal immigration authorities shot a woman in Chicago, and accused her of ramming agents with her car and carrying a semiautomatic weapon.
Bounties on the heads of immigration agents
“We have specific officers and agents that have bounties that have been put out on their heads,” Noem said during Sunday’s interview with Fox & Friends. “It’s been $2,000 to kidnap them, $10,000 to kill them, they’ve released their pictures, they’ve sent them between their networks, and it’s an extremely dangerous situation, and unprecedented.”
Noem did not specify which groups are behind the bounties, only referring to them in general terms such as “cartels,” “gangs” and “foreign terrorist organizations.” She also didn’t disclose what evidence or intelligence the administration has to corroborate its claims.
In February, President Donald Trump designated several international organized crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including Tren de Aragua, MS-13, Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Tepalcatepec Cartel, Los Zetas Cartel, Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.
Noem added, “They are making sure that they know which officers are out there and being extremely effective, and they want to take them down, because they want to try to stop the operations that are going, that are keeping them from making money off their criminal networks.”
Chicago becomes newest immigration flashpoint
The Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts have been met with growing resistance, most notably in Chicago, which saw the launch of an immigration effort dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz” in September.
Since then, Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have been at odds over immigration operations in Chicago, as well as threats by Trump to deploy the National Guard. Likewise, there have been numerous complaints about immigration agents using excessive force, including a man who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in a Chicago suburb.
That all came to a head on Saturday, when immigration agents shot a woman who allegedly tried to assault them using her car. The woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was able to drive herself to the hospital. Agents reported only minor injuries.
In a statement following the incident, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “Secretary Noem has taken action to deploy additional resources to restore law and order. We will not allow domestic terrorists to attack our law enforcement. If you lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Also on Saturday, Pritzker said that the Trump administration is planning to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard. The Department of Defense gave him an “ultimatum” Saturday morning, Pritzker said: “Call up your troops, or we will.”
The governor said it is “absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” adding, “For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
