Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say assaults on their officers have risen sharply, describing the jump as the most severe on record. Border adviser Tom Homan cited internal Department of Homeland Security figures showing an 830% year-on-year increase, a number echoed by other agency executives. The spike follows a period in which field agents were restricted to arresting only migrants convicted of serious crimes, Homan said. Republican lawmakers seized on the statistics to argue that political rhetoric and local “sanctuary” policies are emboldening violence against federal officers. “Right now ICE agents face a 1,000% increase in attacks,” Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said, adding that demonizing the agency is "not right." Gonzales pointed to the recently enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which directs US$45 billion to the Department of Homeland Security, as evidence that Congress is responding. He said the money is funding new task forces that target smugglers, child-predators and other violent offenders along the border. Democrats have challenged both the depiction of sanctuary jurisdictions and the constitutionality of some ICE practices, maintaining that expanded enforcement risks civil-rights violations. Labor leaders, including the AFL-CIO’s Tim Driscoll, have also criticized the broader bill as favoring upper-income taxpayers at the expense of Medicaid recipients, underscoring the partisan divide over immigration and fiscal policy.