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Democratic leaders push back against immigration crackdown in Chicago

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons joins 'The Faulkner Focus' to discuss Democratic pushback against immigration operations in Chicago and the surge in threats targeting federal officials.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), pushed back on criticism that federal agents are "harassing" communities during enforcement operations, arguing that ICE personnel are forced into communities by sanctuary jurisdictions that routinely release offenders.

Lyons asserted that ICE officers are "doing targeted enforcement on these individuals that were actually released after a law enforcement agency deemed them a public safety threat."

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons attends a press conference in Gary, Indiana, on Oct. 30, 2025. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

"So that's the key part that's being left out, is the fact that these individuals have already been convicted of a crime or have pending charges, and a local law enforcement or state law enforcement agency deemed it necessary to put that individual in jail," Lyons said on "The Faulkner Focus" on Wednesday.

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Lyons said the political decisions of sanctuary cities directly force ICE personnel into riskier environments, leading to heightened confrontations and increased violence against officers. He cited a 1,150% increase in assaults and an 8,000% surge in death threats against ICE agents.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons speaks at a press conference at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston on June 2. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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He emphasized that ICE prefers to make arrests in "secure settings" rather than put officers and immigrants at risk and "deal with these agitators who are fueled by the political rhetoric that's out there right now."

"Sanctuary jurisdictions are the ones that keep re-releasing public safety threats back into the community, which means ICE and other federal partners have to go into the communities to take these public safety threats out," he said.