New data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reveal that death threats targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have increased by approximately 8,000 percent in fiscal year 2025.
According to a statement by DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, ICE officers are now facing an unprecedented level of danger. She cited threats that include:
- Bounties placed on officers’ lives.
- Online doxxing (public posting of personal information) and stalking of officers.
- Harassing messages directed at officers’ spouses and children, sometimes invoking Nazi comparisons.
- Calls for violence against enforcement personnel via social media and online platforms.
One cited case involves an undocumented individual in Dallas who allegedly posted in Spanish on TikTok offering $10,000 for the murder of an ICE agent. Additionally, a Texas officer’s spouse received threatening phone messages accusing the family of being like Nazis and declaring “what happened to the Nazis after WWII is what’s going to happen to your family.”
DHS says the escalation is linked to heightened public and political scrutiny of immigration-enforcement policies, particularly under the current administration’s intensified mission. New York Post+1 The agency warns that such hostile rhetoric and targeting of officers can have serious consequences — both for the safety of the officers and the effectiveness of enforcement operations.
The report underscores a larger trend in the law-enforcement field: as agencies become more politicized and visible, the risks to individual officers—and their families—are rising. Previous DHS data also noted sharp increases in assaults against ICE personnel (an 830 % increase cited for part of 2025).
