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The Department of Homeland Security pushed back against several Democrats over the weekend, saying their claims that ICE crackdowns aren’t focused on the most dangerous illegal immigrants show they’ve been “bamboozled” by politics.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., led a news release featuring Illinois’ Democratic delegation several days prior – in which they objected to DHS’ behavior and their claims of targeting the most egregious offenders in their “Operation Midway Blitz.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said she needed to correct the record on such accounts, remarking the agency continues to seek out “criminal illegal aliens convicted of heinous crimes” like aggravated sexual assault of children, child pornography and drug trafficking.
“As Democrat politicians try to bamboozle the American public and assert DHS law enforcement is not targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens, our brave ICE law enforcement are putting their lives on the line to remove pedophiles, drug traffickers, and other violent thugs from American neighborhoods,” McLaughlin said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
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Sen. Dick Durbin speaks out about Operation Midway Blitz, flanked by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, left, Gov. JB Pritzker, second from left, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, right. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“We are not going to allow these heinous criminals to terrorize innocent American children and families.”
McLaughlin then laid out the worst offenders from recent days, including new names provided exclusively to Fox News Digital.
Mexican national Cristian Mendivil-Diaz was convicted of aggravated battery of a child and domestic battery in Illinois – while Burmese national Liam San was nabbed in ICE’s latest focus on Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, after a conviction of indecent liberties with a child. Other offenders captured included Salvadoran national Guillermo Guevara-Serrano, convicted of aggravated assault on a minor in Dallas.
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Orville C. Weir, of Jamaica, was convicted of lewd/lascivious acts with a minor in the Fort Lauderdale area, and recently nabbed by ICE.
A Congolese illegal immigrant named Andre Lubala, convicted of aggravated assault near Philadelphia, Tennessee, was also captured by federal authorities, according to DHS.
In their original “fact-check” of DHS, Illinois Democrats branded the agency’s public posturing as a “misinformation campaign.”
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Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Ill. (Octavio Jones/Reuters)
“The Trump administration continues to peddle outright lies since its unprovoked, unnecessary, and unhelpful enforcement activity in Illinois,” Durbin said in a statement.
“The photos and videos out of Illinois are horrific, showing unspeakable acts committed by the United States government against its own civilians, including teargassing, pepper spraying, racial profiling, excessive force, and physical violence.”
“Squad” member Rep. Delia Ramirez of Chicago named McLaughlin, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Thomas Homan as “vicious liars” who have been caught “manipulating” to hide unlawful actions.
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“I am proud to work with my colleagues of the Illinois congressional delegation to set the record straight on the terror and lawlessness that ICE and CBP have inflicted on our communities,” Ramirez said.
Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., — who has faced scrutiny over the timing of his retirement announcement, which allowed his chief of staff to qualify for the 2026 ballot — said he witnessed “brutality and abuses” by DHS firsthand in his heavily Hispanic Chicago district.
“My grandchild is scared because their helicopters are hovering at night over our neighborhood. People are being detained and disappeared,” Garcia said.
Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., who represents suburban DuPage and Will County along Chicago’s western edge, said in a statement that ICE’s operation in the Windy City is “not law enforcement.”
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“Squad” member Delia Ramirez of Chicago. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“It is a campaign of fear and intimidation. Federal agents, under orders from the Trump administration, have repeatedly used violence against peaceful communities,” Foster said.
In a formerly-red district farther west of Chicago, Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood added in a statement that DHS is not pursuing the worst of the worst but continuing a “horrifying campaign to spread fear in our communities, trample over our constitutional rights, and violently snatch people from our streets.”
