Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons is sounding the alarm on the public safety risks posed by sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States. In Part Two of an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Lyons detailed how local governments that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement are endangering communities and forcing ICE agents into increasingly dangerous operations.
Breitbart asked Lyons about the difference in operating in non-sanctuary jurisdictions, like Texas, versus the sanctuary jurisdictions like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.
“You know, it’s huge. I’d almost say it’s a game changer,” Lyons said, describing the difference between arresting criminal aliens in secure facilities versus on the streets like they are forced to do by sanctuary cities and states. “Any ICE agent or officer will tell you they’d much rather have the cooperation of a state or local agency… not only is it safe for my officers and agents, it’s safe for the agency that’s turning them over, and it’s also safe for the criminal alien.”
Without cooperation, ICE must deploy large teams into neighborhoods, increasing risk for agents and civilians alike. “You’re looking at five to six officers or agents being on that arrest team,” Lyons explained. “And now, with the uptick of violence against ICE special agents and deportation officers, we’re looking to take another five to six just to do security on the ones making that one arrest.”
Recently, Breitbart Texas reported about a tow truck driver in Los Angeles after he allegedly towed away an ICE vehicle while the agents were arresting an illegal alien.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by Breitbart Texas, an ICE officer observed Bobby Nunez laughing and videoing the office as he attempted to chase down the tow truck on August 15.
“Apparently, he thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations,” the acting U.S. Attorney stated. “Now he can laugh behind bars while he faces justice. Nunez is looking at up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted.”
Director Lyons praised Texas for outlawing sanctuary policies and mandating statewide 287(g) cooperation, calling it a model for the nation. “Luckily, we have such great partners in Texas… Harris County, Dallas County, who do turn these individuals over in a safe, humane way,” he said. “But all too often across the country, we have to go into these communities where it’s not safe for anyone.”
The consequences of non-cooperation are devastating. Lyons pointed to the case of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houston girl raped and murdered by two Tren de Aragua gang members. These two men, Franklin Pena and Johan Martinez-Rangel, reportedly entered the U.S. illegally and were released by the Biden-Harris administration. They traveled to the sanctuary city of New York, where they allegedly committed crimes but were released and allowed to reenter the community.
“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Jocelyn’s mom,” Lyons said. “I invite elected officials to sit with her and her grandmother and just see the pain they went through… and understand [the impact] these open border policies have left so many U.S. citizen victims.”
During the Biden administration, ICE was hamstrung by political pressure to release illegal aliens without proper vetting. Lyons described a chaotic system where agents lacked the tools and time to verify identities or criminal histories.
“We weren’t allowed to take a deep dive into their history,” he said. “We’d roll fingerprints manually, send them to FBI headquarters, and weeks later find out—‘Oh hey, four weeks ago we encountered a known and suspected terrorist.’”
Last December, a multi-agency task force descended on Brooklyn, New York, to find a South African migrant after officials determined, weeks after his release in Texas by the Biden administration, that he was a suspected terrorist. Despite being identified by the Texas authorities as being the subject of an alert on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database, federal authorities released the migrant to pursue an asylum claim, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported.
Lyons urged sanctuary jurisdictions to reconsider their stance, even if only for the most egregious offenders. “You can have your sanctuary policies,” he said, “but start with these egregious offenders first, and see what ICE can do for your communities.”
He also warned that ICE is ramping up resources to respond to non-cooperative cities. “If a city or state doesn’t want to work with us, that’s fine,” Lyons said. “But we’re going to make sure we have the right amount of agents and officers in place… 24 hours a day… to ensure these criminal aliens won’t go back into the community and reoffend again.
The director went on to describe the revolving door afforded to criminal aliens in the Boston area — another prominent sanctuary city.
“I would always say, Hey, we’re the number three destination site for all new non-citizens coming to Massachusetts, because you have a place where you can get a driver’s license with no ID check, right?” Lyons explained. “You have places that if you were in proceedings with ice, you were eligible for hotels, food stipends. So there was that big draw.”
“During Operation Patriot, while we were conducting targeted enforcement, meaning that there were criminal alien targets that we were trying to focus on and arrest in the community in real time, there were still other criminal aliens being released,” the director continued. “So we ended up almost doubling the number of arrests just because while we were trying to go after the ones we had planned on arresting, the state of Massachusetts, all through the counties and cities that don’t work with us, were releasing criminal aliens in real time.”
“To me, that’s really highlighted the fact that ICE can go into a city, but we have to have the right amount of resources, because these sanctuary cities just don’t operate Monday through Friday, eight to five,” he said. “They’re releasing them at two, three in the morning, when they know ice isn’t around.”
Lyons warned sanctuary jurisdictions that argue that ICE does not have the resources to keep this up, saying, “We’re getting ready to hire almost 12,000 people. I guarantee, if any jurisdiction wants to work with us, now we’re going to respond and make sure we’re there to support them in a law enforcement mission and take those criminal aliens off their hands.”
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of a three-part exclusive interview with Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. Part Three will focus on the rapid expansion of ICE and the recruitment of new officers and agents.
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