DHS assistant secretary of public affairs Tricia McLaughlin makes the case during a CNN interview that everything ICE has been doing in cities like Minnesota is legal, and the chaos taking place is a direct result of sanctuary city policies that prevent local jails from turning over criminal undocumented immigrants, forcing federal agents to operate in public. The reason we have a physical presence on the ground is because of the sanctuary city policies,” she said. “Because of these policies, we are not allowed into the jails.” “There are over 1,400 criminal illegal aliens sitting in Minneapolis’ jails-pedophiles, rapists, even murderers-who will not be turned over to ICE,” she said. “That’s why we have to have a physical presence on the ground-so we can find those individuals when they’re released and apprehend them.” McLaughlin also blames the media for inciting chaos by dropping context for incidents and “fearmongering.” “I have not seen CNN cover who some of those individuals are: an individual from Ecuador who murdered his three-month-old son; an individual who’s perpetuating human slavery and human trafficking; scores and scores of murderers; child pedophiles,” she said. “Why does the media not talk about that?” “We continue to see people love to demonize law enforcement, vilify them, as there’s a 1,000% increase in assaults against them, and yet we’re not talking about the great work that they’re doing on the ground-the fact that they are risking their lives day in and day out to get these criminals off the ground, gang members, known or suspected terrorists.” Full transcript:

PAMELA BROWN, CNN: Joining me now is Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. I want to start on the Insurrection Act. Is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem currently recommending to President Trump that he should invoke that and send troops to Minnesota? TRICIA McLAUGHLIN, DHS: Of course, this is the president’s full authority under the U.S. Constitution. What we’re really focused on, though, is trying to work with the state and local law enforcement officials on the ground there. So if we can zoom out, Pamela, I think something that’s very important for your viewers to know is: why do we have a physical presence there at all in the first place? It’s because of the sanctuary city policies. What sanctuary city policies are, first and foremost, is the fact that because Tim Walz and others have instituted these policies, we are not allowed into the jails. So as we speak, there are over 1,400 criminal illegal aliens sitting in Minneapolis jails. We’re talking about pedophiles. We’re talking about rapists, even murderers. Those individuals will not be allowed to be turned over to ICE. So what we have to do is have a physical presence on the ground so we can find those individuals when they’re released and we can apprehend them. That’s why we have that large physical presence. BROWN: I understand. I’ve actually been on the ICE ride-along. It was much more targeted. I think what we’re seeing here-and we’re going to discuss this a little bit later-you’re seeing more sweeps, you’re seeing so many more agents than what has been done in the past. So I want to follow up on the question at hand. Does DHS believe it is currently able to do its job in Minneapolis, or do you need the military to come in and help you? McLAUGHLIN: I’m not going to get ahead of the president here. But what I will say is why we’ve surged resources-you mentioned that large footprint. The reason we’re seeing that is because state and local law enforcement are not allowed to engage with us. If our law enforcement is being attacked or obstructed-which we’re seeing rampantly across the board, time and time again-state and local law enforcement can’t answer calls for backup. That means the public is more at risk, and our law enforcement is more at risk as well. BROWN: Secretary Noem, your boss, said yesterday she will not be pulling out of Minnesota anytime soon. How many federal immigration agents are currently in that state, and how many more are being sent? McLAUGHLIN: I can’t speak to how many more are being sent. We’re looking at around 22,500 on the ground there, and part of that is Homeland Security Investigations as well. You all have covered that rampant fraud we’ve seen out of Minneapolis-$ 9 billion. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. So our Homeland Security investigators are going around, they’re collecting information, following leads, and trying to get accountability for the American people. BROWN: Secretary Noem also told reporters yesterday that ICE may ask people to validate their identity when asked about Americans carrying proof of citizenship. Can you clarify what exactly that means? Do American citizens, as of now, need to carry their passports or other immigration documents to show that they’re citizens? McLAUGHLIN: I am so glad you asked this question, because I think there’s a lot of confusion there about this. We have incredibly targeted immigration enforcement operations. So what’s happening there is, if there is reasonable suspicion-if somebody is in the vicinity of this operation, of this target-then they could be asked for their identification. We’ve been vindicated on this by the Supreme Court in September of 2025. You also saw a case out of Los Angeles where they said we can use reasonable suspicion. I think I’ve seen a lot on this network and other places where they’re talking about this being racially based-absolutely not. Racial animus has no place in DHS and is, of course, not used. We’re using what is protected under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. BROWN: All right, let’s dive a little bit deeper into that. I want to play this video of a recent incident in Minnesota that has received attention. [VIDEO CLIP PLAYS] So that video was filmed by a woman who, as you heard, said she is a U.S. citizen. Why exactly was she stopped? Was there reasonable suspicion-which is a legal bar, as you noted-that a crime was committed in that situation? And why was he asking her, Where were you born? Like, what was he basing that on? McLAUGHLIN: Sure. So either-this is, and I haven’t seen this video before-so there could be two circumstances here. Either this was a targeted operation and she’s around the vicinity of it, around the target. There’s reasonable suspicion because there might be a descriptor. Or she could be 5’6 and they’re looking for somebody who’s 5’6. That could be part of it. They’re looking for somebody that could be part of it. The other piece of it is it could be-I don’t know if she was obstructing law enforcement, if she was assaulting law enforcement prior to this-but they either have those Title VI authorities under U.S. Code 1357, or they had that reasonable suspicion. BROWN: What do you say to those who watched that and other videos that they’re seeing themselves-I mean, this is not just the mainstream media-people are seeing these videos and they’re concerned. And they’re concerned that a place like Minnesota is turning into a police state, and they’re going up to U.S. citizens asking for ID. McLAUGHLIN: I think that there’s a lot of fearmongering going on, I think, by the media. BROWN: Hold on-let me just correct you right there. They’re watching these videos and using their independence of mind. It’s not- McLAUGHLIN: No, actually, it is the media. We’re seeing it time and time again by saying things like police state. What we’re seeing is rampant violence against our law enforcement-highly coordinated. We have our legal authorities. When individuals see videos like that, you have to ask the question: was this individual obstructing law enforcement, which is a federal crime? Were they assaulting law enforcement, which is a felony? Or any of those instances occurring before this video was cut? You saw a very short cut, and that’s why I’m talking about the media. There is not a lot of context that’s being put out there. ICE officers do wear cameras. Of course, they allow them to wear-they all have body cameras. We are working on that with the One Big Beautiful Bill, actually. I think we can talk about the incident from last week, where that law enforcement officer actually filmed himself being obstructed by individuals on the ground who were harassing him-his vehicle being blocked in-and that actually largely vindicated him. Everything DHS had said up until that point was corroborated. BROWN: Well, I mean, it hasn’t been corroborated. The investigation is ongoing. The secretary came out shortly after and said that the victim here, Renee Good, was a domestic terrorist. Yes, and we’ve spoken to many experts who said at the very least we don’t have enough facts. There’s not enough information, and it’s too early in the investigation to make that claim. And you know, just going back to what you say about the media, we’re talking to people on the ground-and look, maybe some of them don’t like ICE, they don’t like law enforcement at all, so they could be saying this-but you have to look at the polling, right? This isn’t the media. This is actual polling that says, Hey, I like what ICE is doing in terms of its target-we want to get criminals off the street who don’t belong in the country-but 51% say ICE makes cities less safe. Just 31% say it makes cities more safe. On the Renee Good case you brought up, 26% of Americans viewed the shooting as an appropriate use of force, while 56% called it an inappropriate use of force. So are you willing to consider that in some cases ICE has gone too far and is losing American support? McLAUGHLIN: Pamela, in the last five weeks we have arrested 2,500 criminal aliens off the streets of Minneapolis. If I can make my point-I appreciate you having me-but I do want to be able to make my point. The point of the matter is, I have not seen CNN cover who some of those individuals are: an individual from Ecuador who murdered his three-month-old son; an individual who’s perpetuating human slavery and human trafficking; scores and scores of murderers; child pedophiles. Why does the media not talk about that? We continue to see people love to demonize law enforcement, vilify them, as there’s a 1,000% increase in assaults against them, and yet we’re not talking about the great work that they’re doing on the ground-the fact that they are risking their lives day in and day out to get these criminals off the ground, gang members, known or suspected terrorists. These are all the people that we’ve arrested in Minneapolis, and DHS and Secretary Noem and President Trump have done a phenomenal job of trying to give people transparency on who we are arresting. And yet we’re sitting here talking about relitigating cases over and over, and a U.S. citizen was killed by an ICE officer. BROWN: I talked about the polls. It’s a fair question to say: are you losing American support? McLAUGHLIN: But Wolf-let me just-no one supports attacking or killing. Nobody supports that. But if I say-you all have said really laying the feet at that ICE enforcement officer. We said that this investigation-we said that this was domestic terrorism for a reason. This individual used a deadly weapon against our ICE law enforcement officer. That is-and will be charged-in any of the cases. We saw 15 of these cases over the past week alone in Minneapolis. Those will be charged as domestic terrorism. BROWN: When she called this 37-year-old mother of three who was driving that car a domestic terrorist, that really was outrageous. McLAUGHLIN: We say it was an act of domestic terrorism. In no way is that outrageous. What we saw on the ground there-she had been stalking and harassing law enforcement throughout the morning, and then she went on to use her car as a deadly weapon. That’s not driving by after dropping off a six-year-old boy. That’s just simply not true. I have the facts on the ground. I mean, if you look at it-for more information you can release to give the public a better understanding-if I can give you the facts of what happened that morning: At 9:30 a.m. Central Time, this is where the incident occurred in Minneapolis. This individual, for hours before, had been stalking and harassing law enforcement, impeding operations. At the time of that incident, our law enforcement approached this individual’s vehicle as she was blocking in our law enforcement. That is a federal crime. They asked her to get out of the car to stop obstructing law enforcement. You saw from the video that her partner had been walking around harassing the law enforcement officer. Our officer was in front of her. She gunned the vehicle, and that’s when things turned dangerous and deadly. If you don’t listen to lawful commands of federal law enforcement, if you use your vehicle as a weapon, that is absolutely an act of domestic- BROWN: I mean, you just mentioned he stepped in front of the vehicle, and there is no confirmation-I mean, there have been different analyses of this vehicle, and of course we would love more facts to fill in the picture. But she’s also turning the wheel, and he did step in front of the vehicle as part of this. Is that part of the training for ICE agents during an encounter with a vehicle when you’re trying to-when they’re being blocked, when you’re being impeded, when cars were going by? McLAUGHLIN: Cars were being-you’re not seeing the full video. There are cars behind this individual that could not get through. So again, we’re talking about manipulative editing and only showing-we’re only showing part of the- Pamela, if I could say one thing: there’s a very simple solution here. Tim Walz and Mayor Frey should let us into their jails. Those 1,400 individuals-those criminal illegal aliens-who have already had their due process-let us into those jails. Let us take those murderers, those rapists, those child pedophiles out. That would simply solve the situation. Work with state and local law enforcement. That is what we’re asking. Down in Florida, there’s been 40,000 arrests of criminal aliens. We’ve seen peace. We’ve seen public safety. That’s what we should be seeing across the nation. BROWN: Tricia, I want you to listen and watch what your boss, the Secretary of Homeland Security-Tricia Noem, excuse me-Secretary Noem-said yesterday, alongside another video of a recent encounter in Minnesota. Listen to this. NOEM (VIDEO): The officers that we have out there are very highly trained and skilled, specifically for the operations that they’re doing. They’re utilizing the most gifted individuals on these operations to go out and do enforcement, because many times they’re going after murderers. BROWN: And we also saw that video of a woman being pulled out of her car as she was trying to simply go to the doctor. Is that what that is? Is that what we’re seeing there? McLAUGHLIN: She was not going to the doctor. What you’re seeing there-these officers are trained to do-they cut off her seatbelt, they dragged her out of the car, and took her out. This individual was actually arrested because she was time and time again impeding law enforcement officers. Again, a small snippet of this video. She was an agitator intentionally trying to impede federal law enforcement officers, which is a federal crime and a felony. BROWN: How do you know for certainty, though, that she wasn’t just caught up in the protests and the traffic and the chaos and was trying to get to- McLAUGHLIN: Because she was doing this time and time again, over and over and over again. We’ve talked to federal law enforcement on the ground. We talked to their supervisors in this case. We know exactly what happened here, and she’ll be charged as such. BROWN: OK, so let me just ask you-going back to the Renee-I’m just wondering, what is the status of that ICE agent that was involved in the shooting, and can you give us any more clarity as to his injuries? McLAUGHLIN: Yes. He’s on leave right now. He’s spending time with his family. Obviously, this is a very difficult time for him and for his family. As we’ve confirmed before, he had internal bleeding and was sent to the hospital. BROWN: Can you elaborate on that? Because doctors we’ve spoken to say normally-and I’m not trying to minimize, I don’t know what the injury was-but they say normally if you have internal bleeding, you would stay longer than a day. He was released the same day. Was this bruising, or can you give us any better indication of what the injury was? McLAUGHLIN: I haven’t spoken to this individual’s doctor. I just know he’s on leave. He was pretty banged up-internal bleeding-and we pray for him and his family. Any time there’s a loss of life, it is a tragedy. In this case, it’s an absolute tragedy. But Pamela, what I think again is so important-especially as we see these rioters-you have to listen to lawful commands. If I can finish my point: you cannot obstruct or impede law enforcement. You cannot assault law enforcement, which we’re seeing over and over again in the streets. We’re seeing them being spit on. These vehicle rammings are up 3,200%. That is a deadly weapon being used against law enforcement officers. So there’s a way to peacefully protest. The First Amendment, of course, is a precious right we have. Unfortunately, on the ground in that case with Renee, that is not peaceful protest. BROWN: But what is the ICE agent’s training to handle protesters and protect their First Amendment rights? Do they have extensive training in crowd control? Because I know just from covering this over the years, their task is to do immigration enforcement, not crowd control. So perhaps is this a situation that’s different? McLAUGHLIN: Absolutely-conflict management. They’re trained in driving training, firearm training, escalation training. They’re absolutely trained on that. As far as their training, I know I’ve seen a lot of coverage saying that they have lower standards. That’s absolutely not true. The timeline was truncated so that there’s more intensive training down in our facility in Georgia. But the reason, again, why we’ve sent more federal law enforcement officers is because when we’re seeing obstruction, when we’re seeing assault rampant against our law enforcement officers, they still need to be able to carry out their lawful duties and enforcement operations. That’s why we’ve surged federal law enforcement there-so they can continue to carry out those duties safely: safe for the public, safe for the migrants themselves, and safe for our officers. And again, just to reiterate what Wolf said: no one should endorse assaults against officers. BROWN: But before we let you go, I want to ask you about recruitment. You talked about training. There’s an ICE recruiting poster that read, quote, We’ll have our home again. That’s gone viral. That phrase is cited as having ties to white nationalist groups in the U.S. and Canada in a database of symbols maintained by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. I want to let you explain that. And also-even if this is not intentional-do you denounce this if it could be seen as a dog whistle to white supremacists? McLAUGHLIN: Have our home again is now a white nationalist dog whistle? I mean-what do they even-what is a dog whistle? Well, it’s-I mean, by the way, I knew I had a feeling you would ask me about this. There are plenty of poems. There are plenty of songs. There are plenty of books with the same title. And the fact that people would like to cherry-pick something of white nationalism to make some sort of connection to DHS law enforcement-it’s no wonder we’re seeing vast, rampant assaults against law enforcement. It’s no wonder Secretary Noem is facing so many threats against her life. Tom Homan across the board-it’s because of garbage like this and people choosing to manufacture outrage. I think it’s quite frankly embarrassing.

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