DHS Cites Violence Against Agents to Speed Up Crackdown on Activity Outside Federal Property

The Department of Homeland Security cited violence against immigration agents to accelerate its crackdown on disorderly conduct outside of federal property, a move that could spark more incidents between protesters and officers.

A federal rule going into effect Wednesday allows the department to pursue criminal charges against people for intimidation, impeding official duties, camping outside of federal property and using masks or disguises when breaking laws or regulations. The rule applies to behavior in federal property or outside of it.

The rule was set to go into effect in January. But DHS announced on Tuesday that it would go into effect the following day instead. In its explanation, the department pointed to the September shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office that killed two detainees.

“Over the last few months, there has been a substantial rise in civil unrest near federal buildings, destruction of federal property, and violence perpetrated against federal

Officials,” a document posted to the Federal Register states. “Federal law enforcement officials, people on federal property and federal buildings have been subject to continual attacks, assaults, and even killings.”

“DHS must immediately address this cascade of violence, which is threatening the lives of federal law enforcement officers and the safety of federal property on a daily basis,” it continues.

The move also comes as immigration agents ramp up the use of aggressive tactics against journalists, politicians and protesters of its mass deportation efforts.

New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver faces federal charges stemming from a May scuffle with officers outside of a detention facility in her home state while attempting to conduct an oversight visit. She has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

The Department of Justice is prosecuting Illinois congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh for allegedly assaulting an immigration agent at a Sept. 26 protest of the Broadview ICE facility outside of Chicago.

“I know first-hand how this administration has made a point of violently repressing and criminalizing protected First Amendment protest,” Abughazaleh wrote in a statement to NOTUS. “Any expansion of its authority will only lead to the politically-motivated persecution of its opponents and others voicing dissent.”

Immigration agents have also shot at people they accused of trying to injure them with cars, killing one person in Chicago and injuring two others in California. A New York Times examination of videos from the shooting in Chicago didn’t show the driver hitting officers with his car.