WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is publicly reporting a sharp increase in vehicular attacks on federal immigration officers over the past year, and cited a January 2026 incident in San Antonio as one of several cases across the country, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
According to DHS, on January 13, 2026, a Cuban national rammed two ICE vehicles with his own vehicle in San Antonio during an ICE encounter. The department said ICE officers successfully arrested the individual. DHS did not identify the individual by name, did not indicate whether federal or state charges have been filed, and did not include additional details about the encounter. The individual is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
According to DHS, the San Antonio case is one of a series of alleged vehicle attacks on ICE and CBP officers documented over the past year. Other incidents cited in the department’s release include:
An April 2, 2026 case in Baltimore, Maryland, in which DHS said a Honduran national struck two ICE officers with his vehicle. Both officers were hospitalized. DHS said the individual was arrested.
A December 8, 2025 case in Elgin, Illinois, in which DHS said a Venezuelan national — whom the department described as a suspected member of Tren de Aragua — used a vehicle to ram a law enforcement vehicle into a tree.
A November 13, 2025 case in Adelphi, Maryland, in which DHS said a Salvadoran national rammed an ICE vehicle before striking another vehicle and fleeing on foot.
Four separate ramming incidents targeting Border Patrol during immigration enforcement operations in Chicago on a single day, November 8, 2025.
Two incidents in Illinois on October 2, 2025, in Bensenville and Norridge.
A September 14, 2025 incident in Homestead, Florida, in which DHS said a Guatemalan national reversed into an ICE officer during a traffic stop, striking the officer’s leg, and later collided with a utility van before being arrested.
All of the individuals cited in the DHS release are alleged to have committed the acts described. Details about charges filed in individual cases, and whether any of the cases have proceeded to conviction, were not included in the department’s release.
DHS calls for lowered political rhetoric
According to DHS, the department is publicly calling on political leaders and media outlets to reduce what it described as inflammatory rhetoric surrounding federal immigration enforcement, citing what it said was a 3,300 percent increase in vehicle attacks on ICE and CBP officers.
DHS did not include the source of the 3,300 percent figure, the time period it covers, or the underlying data used to calculate it.
“Every day, the brave men and women of ICE and CBP put their lives on the line to protect the American people and remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Yet, because of the dangerous smears and hoaxes spread by sanctuary politicians, our officers are facing a 3,300% increase in vehicle attacks by illegal aliens and anti-ICE agitators. We are once again calling on sanctuary politicians, agitators, and the media to turn the temperature down and stop calling for violence and resistance against ICE law enforcement.”
The department’s release named ten Democratic elected officials and public figures and characterized their public statements about ICE as contributing to the environment of hostility toward federal officers. Officials named in the release included the governors of Minnesota, Illinois, and California, the mayors of Los Angeles and Boston, and several members of Congress. Responses from any of the named officials were not included in the release.
Anyone with information about criminal activity involving immigration violations can report tips to ICE by calling 1-866-347-2423.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
