War on badges: House GOP targets anti-police rhetoric amid ICE attacks

The hearing comes in response to several attacks against ICE officers and as the Department of Homeland Security reports that violent encounters against federal immigration officials have surged in recent months. 

"It is unacceptable that the brave men and women of law enforcement, who risk their lives daily to secure the homeland and protect the public, are facing targeted violence from radicals and international gangs on U.S. soil," House Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital. 

"With assaults against officers skyrocketing and heightened threats of political violence across America, Congress must support the mission of law enforcement and ensure our federal agencies have the tools, resources, and partnerships needed to keep these dedicated professionals safe on the job as they work to protect our communities," Garbarino said.

Those who will appear before the committee Dec. 3 for the hearing, titled "When Badges Become Targets: How Anti-Law Enforcement Rhetoric Fuels Violence Against Officers," include Michael Hughes, executive director of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police; and Jonathan Thompson, executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs' Association. 

Recent cases of violence against law enforcement include a shooting near ICE's Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, in July, where an Alvarado Police Department officer was shot in the neck. On Wednesday, five people pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges stemming from the attack.

More recently, a shooter opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas in September, and two detainees died. At the time, the FBI said it would investigate the matter as a "targeted attack" against ICE, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had identified shell casings with "anti-ICE" messages.

"Federal law enforcement agencies play a critical role in upholding the rule of law, protecting our national security, and supporting both state and local authorities," Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital.

"The recent deadly shooting at a Dallas ICE facility wasn't an isolated attack - it was part of a broader pattern of violence spurred on by anti-law enforcement rhetoric and heightened political extremism perpetrated by radicals on the Left," said Pfluger, who is from Texas.

Likewise, DHS announced in October that it had information that Mexico's cartels had placed bounties on ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel. Even so, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum claimed she had no information on the matter, and that her government was pressing for more information. 

"The radicals and transnational criminal organizations who are targeting law enforcement for doing their jobs are undermining our homeland security and threatening the safety of every American in doing so," Rep. Michael Guest, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's border security and enforcement subcommittee, said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday. "House Republicans are working to empower law enforcement in order to keep our borders, streets, and homeland secure."