00:00With the rise in violence that we continue to see against these officers, with that 1,000 percent increase,
00:06it's making sure that they are safe while they do this job and that they get home to their families at night, too, is incredibly important.
00:14Violent rhetoric has led to over a 1,000 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers, and it has to stop.
00:23The White House says assaults on ICE officers have surged more than 1,000 percent.
00:28However, independent reviews of federal court filings by NPR and Colorado Public Radio tell a different story.
00:36Charges for assault on federal officers were up only about 25 percent through mid-September versus a year ago.
00:44The Department of Homeland Security has not released the underlying data or methodology to support the 1,000 percent claim, despite repeated requests.
00:52The administration's position, reiterated in a September executive order, is that anyone who assaults an ICE agent will face the full extent of the law.
01:02Now, there's no question the work has grown riskier.
01:05Cases this summer include gunfire aimed at agents in Texas, an agent dragged by a car in California, and a hospitalized officer in Omaha.
01:15Assault filings jumped 74 percent in the most recent quarter, driven largely by confrontations around large ICE operations in Los Angeles.
01:24But those numbers fall far short of a 1,000 percent increase.
01:28And critics say exaggerated figures erode public trust and make accountability harder.
01:34Former FBI official Bob Pence warns that when law enforcement stats outpace the evidence, cooperation from the public can suffer.
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