Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem vowed Tuesday to personally participate in future regulation enforcement raids looking for unlawful migrants after collaborating in a pre-dawn operation that netted authorities a violent Tren de Aragua ringleader and different “career criminals” hiding out in New York Metropolis.
“We’ve just gotten started,” Noem mentioned of profitable Massive Apple raids throughout an interview with Fox Information host Sean Hannity.
“We are picking up the worst of the worst in this country,” the DHS secretary mentioned of President Trump’s crackdown on unlawful immigration.
Noem donned a protecting ICE vest as she embedded with officers from a number of federal businesses to hit targets throughout all 5 boroughs of New York Metropolis.
“We did encounter and incarcerate a Tren de Aragua member — one of the ringleaders,” the previous South Dakota governor informed Hannity, referring to 25-year-old Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, who’s an alleged member of the violent Venezuelan jail gang that infamously took over an Aurora, Colo., residence complicated final yr.
“He had warrants out for his arrest in Colorado,” Noem mentioned. “The truth is, he was a kind of that we noticed on among the video from that residence constructing that they’d taken over and had perpetuated a lot violence there.
“So this was a good morning for our agents.”
Noem additional revealed that the TdA ringleader had allegedly “tried to buy some grenades” and took half in a “gun buy” earlier than he was apprehended by authorities.
“We talk about families that are losing their kids to violence … losing our next generation of Americans to drugs — these folks are perpetuating that,” she mentioned, referring to the prison migrants she helped apprehend Tuesday morning.
“And we’re going to get them out of here.”
The Trump administration official famous that New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams was “fantastic” to work with on the operation and that she “talked to him 4 or 5 times last night about what we were doing, our operations and how they could support us.”
When requested if she could be partaking in immigration raids on a “regular basis” as DHS secretary, Noem responded, “Absolutely.”
“I will be out there with our agents and with our law enforcement officers, our border patrol. I will be with all of them because I think that when I’m there, they know they have a leader that supports them, but also I’m learning from them. I’m learning what tools they need, what authorities they need when they arrest someone and turn them over,” she defined, noting potential challenges that will come up when rounding up prison migrants in sanctuary cities.
“I need to tell that story and then be the liaison to help get those local leaders on board and talk to the community so they see the good work that we’re doing,” Noem continued.
The DHS secretary declared that the Trump administration has already efficiently “sent the message” that “If you’re an illegal and if you’re dangerous, we have a target on you, and you will not be welcome. And we will remove you and have consequences.”
