Acting ICE director on attacks on ICE officers and ICE arrests

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons spoke with CBS News' Camilo Montoya-Galvez on Face the Nation Sunday about the attacks on ICE officers.

According to Montoya-Galvez, "More than a dozen individuals are facing charges for that violent attack against an ICE facility in Texas," with the Department of Homeland Security reporting a "sharp increase in attacks against" agents.

When asked what he thinks is behind it, Lyons said, "I think the sharp increase in the rhetoric, especially from a lot of elected officials that are shaming, if you will, or speaking out against ICE law enforcement mission is what's really increasing these attacks on officers. In that, unfortunately, the Alvarado incident down in Prairieland, that is one that's really taking it to the next level. Just the increase is amazing. The fact that...830% increase from last year assaults on officers."

Montoya-Galvez followed up by asking if the attacks were "connected to the broader increase in ICE arrests across the country," to which Lyons answered in part, "I think we're seeing both. I think because we are more visible in the community."

During the interview, Montoya-Galvez asked Lyons if he knew how many people, arrested by ICE, were in the country illegally and have serious criminal records, to which Lyons said:

"ICE is always focused on the worst of the worst. One difference you'll see now is, under this administration, we have opened up the whole aperture of the immigration portfolio. Meaning that, if you're here illegally and ICE goes out and arrests someone that is released from a sanctuary jurisdiction, are wanted in their home country, and...an ICE officer finds others individuals with them who are in the country illegally, we're going to take them as well.

One thing, though, that I'd like to highlight is the fact that foreign criminal records are in U.S. data systems. So, when we do go out and, say, arrest someone that has an Interpol red notice because they're wanted in their home country, they're still a criminal. But under the American judicial standard (ph), they don't have an American criminal history. But that doesn't mean they don't have a criminal history in their home country."

According to Montoya-Galvez, Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan obtained ICE data "showing that only a small percentage of the convicted criminals that ICE has deported over the past six months had convictions for violent offenses," with "fewer than 1% had homicide convictions."

When asked what he thinks of the data, Lyons said:

"We can't look at it just based on violence or the propensity of violence in that crime. What I looked at is, someone has committed a crime in the United States. Now, if you look at someone that's just been arrested, say for DUI, well, some people might say that's only a misdemeanor. We may have prevented vehicular homicide down the road for someone who's a habitual traffic offender. I can't look at the largest scale of what a specific crimes are. you know, whether it's a rape, a homicide. Of course, you want to get those worse of the worse. But if someone's committed a crime here in the United States and been let back into the community and are here illegally, we need to focus on that."

To watch more of Montoya-Galvez's interview with Lyons, click here.