DHS says Mexican cartels are placing bounties on ICE agents in Chicago

CHICAGO — Officials from the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that the agency is investigating a series of bounties that have allegedly been placed on ICE agents in Chicago by criminal organizations in Mexico.

Officials from DHS said they have obtained “credible intelligence” indicating that targeted bounties on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel have been placed by what it described as “Mexican criminals” working in coordination with “domestic extremist groups.”

“These criminal networks have issued explicit instructions to U.S.-based sympathetics, including street gangs in Chicago, to monitor, harass, and assassinate federal agents,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a press release shared on Wednesday morning.

According to DHS, an investigation into the criminal networks has revealed alleged “spotter networks” in Pilsen and Little Village which the agency claims are made up of gang members affiliated with groups like the Latin Kings. DHS claims the spotter networks are then allegedly deployed on rooftops, while equipped with firearms and radio communications, to track ICE and CBP movements in real-time and relay coordinates.

DHS says the spotter networks have allegedly “enabled ambushes and disruptions during routine enforcement actions,” which have unfolded amid the ongoing immigration enforcement operation unfolding in Chicagoland, which the Trump Administration has dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.”

In addition to the alleged spotter networks, DHS claims that cartels have devised a “structured bounty program to incentivize violence against federal personnel.”

DHS says the payouts of the bounty are based on rank and action taken, including a $2,000 payout for gathering intelligence or doxxing agents, $5,000 to $10,000 for kidnapping or non-lethal assaults on standard ICE/CBP officers and up to $50,000 for the assassination of high-ranking officials.

“These criminal networks are not just resisting the rule of law, they are waging an organized campaign of terror against the brave men and women who protect our borders and communities,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “Our agents are facing ambushes, drone surveillance, and death threats, all because they dare to enforce the laws passed by Congress. We will not back down from these threats, and every criminal, terrorist, and illegal alien will face American justice.”

Officials from the agency also claimed that Antifa groups have provided “logistical support, such as pre-staged protest supplies, doxxing of agent identities, and on-the-ground interference to shield cartel-linked individuals from deportation.”

Antifa, which is short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations, according to the Associated Press.

In the statement issued Wednesday, DHS called on sanctuary state and local leaders to cease policies that they say “embolden criminals.”

Additionally, DHS urged the public to report suspicious activities, such as rooftop surveillance or organized protests blocking federal operations, to the DHS Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or via the ICE website.

The claims regarding criminal networks impeding immigration enforcement operations come less than a day after ICE was ordered to take down a fence surrounding its suburban processing facility, after a judge ordered its removal.

The fence was erected by DHS around the Broadview facility on Sept. 23, after several days of protests, but it restricted access to Beach St, which a judge later ruled could not continue.

The fight over the fence was just the latest between local leaders and federal officials as Operation Midway Blitz continues in Chicagoland.

Over the weekend, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the deployment of the National Guard in Illinois, as protests continued outside the Broadview facility.

But amid the legal battles, clashes between ICE and protestors continue in Chicago, including a tense standoff between residents and law enforcement that unfolded on Chicago’s Southeast Side on Tuesday.

The situation began after a person, suspected of being in the country illegally by DHS, allegedly rammed a Border Patrol vehicle with a red SUV and attempted to flee.

Two teenagers, both U.S. citizens, said they were wrongly detained during the incident.