Fresno County leaders publicly condemned the attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other law enforcement officers.
Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld led other local leaders in a press conference on Tuesday to call for elected officials across the nation to stand with law enforcement.
Driving the news: Bredefeld called a press conference at the Fresno County Hall of Records and was joined by fellow supervisors Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes, as well as Clovis City Councilmembers Diane Pearce and Drew Bessinger.
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released new statistics last week showing that ICE agents face over a 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks and an 8,000% increase in death threats.
- According to Homeland Security, there were 275 assaults on ICE agents from Jan. 20, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025, compared to 19 for the same period in 2024.
- There were also 66 vehicular attacks against ICE agents from Jan. 21, 2025, to Jan. 7, 2026, up from just two the previous year.
- Democrats, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have spoken out against ICE. Walz called ICE the “modern-day Gestapo” last May.
Zoom in: Along with speaking about open border policies and sanctuary states, Bredefeld honed in on Senate Bill 54 as one of the policies that has exacerbated the illegal immigration issue.
- Former governor Jerry Brown signed SB 54 into law in 2017, which is also known as the California Values Act. SB 54 bars local law enforcement from communicating with ICE over illegal immigrants who are detained.
What they’re saying: Bredefeld said President Donald Trump is doing the necessary work to restore law and order by removing dangerous criminals who are in the U.S. illegally.
- “That effort has been met with open resistance from radical Democrat politicians like Gavin Newsom, Tim Walz, JB Pritzker and that spineless mayor Jacob Frey, whose sanctuary policies openly defy federal law and have turned their cities into magnets for crime, fraud and chaos,” Bredefeld said. “Now these radicals are further escalating the problem with more reckless and irresponsible rhetoric.”
- Speaking on SB 54, Bredefeld added, “If not for sanctuary policies and laws like SB 54, criminals would be handed over to ICE in jail settings, and ICE would not need to go into communities to find these dangerous criminals. But lawless sanctuary policies in Democrat-run cities and states, like California and Minnesota, caused these dangerous situations for innocent citizens and law enforcement. We’re now seeing the consequences.”
- Mendes noted that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is approaching, saying that people need to protest peacefully.
- “Say you don’t like the laws on speeding and you don’t like the driving laws in the State of California, so you decide you’re going to go out with a group of people and start harassing the CHP – that’s what we’re looking at the same thing here,” Mendes said.
- Pearce said law enforcement at every level deserve respect, support and gratitude for putting their lives on the line every day.
- “I thank ICE, and I implore my fellow citizens to do the same and not foolishly put their lives on the line to obstruct legal law enforcement operations,” Pearce said.
