Oct. 15 (UPI) — The Department of Homeland Security said it has credible intelligence that Mexican cartels have placed bounties on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers.
The Tuesday statement from DHS said criminal networks have instructed “U.S.-based sympathetics,” including Chicago street gangs, to “monitor, harass and assassinate” federal agents.
According to the federal agencies, the cartels are offering $2,000 for gathering intelligence, between $5,000 and $10,000 for kidnapping and assaults on standard ICE and CBP officers and up to $50,000 to assassinate 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 protected our borders and communities,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
ICE has been conducting an immigration crackdown in Chicago, employing aggressive tactics, such as the use of tear gas and forced entries, that have drawn criticism over the use of force and accusations of intimidation against residents. Local leaders have accused the Trump administration of overreach and violating the Constitution.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to deploy the National Guard to the city, but federal judges have blocked or delayed the move.
“ICE is recklessly throwing tear gas into our neighborhoods and busy streets, including near children at school and CPD officers,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday in a statement.
“The Trump administration must stop their deployment of dangerous chemical weapons into the air of peaceful American communities.”
Trump has criticized out at Pritzker for resisting troop deployments, saying he and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers.”
According to the DHS, gangs have established so-called spotter networks in Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. Groups including the Latin Kins have stationed members on rooftops with firearms and radios to track ICE and CBP movements to disrupt federal immigration raids being conducted under Operation Midway Blitz.
Last week, the Justice Department charged Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, with one count of murder-for-hire targeting a senior ICE agent involved in the Chicago operation.
Federal prosecutors alleged Martinez, identified as a Latin Kings gang member, sent a Snapchat message offering $10,000 “if u take him down” and $2,000 for information on the agent’s whereabouts.
On Oct. 3, DHS announced that more than 1,000 undocumented migrants had been detained under Operation Midway Blitz, which began Sept. 8.