Two illegal immigrants were arrested in Illinois for allegedly weaponizing their vehicles in “deliberate attempts to ram and injure” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced. 

The reported assaults in Norridge and Bensenville come as anti-ICE sentiment is surging in the Chicago metro area, with protests centered around an ICE facility in the suburb of Broadview. 

“Thankfully none of our law enforcement was killed because of these deranged criminals’ attacks on law enforcement. This is exactly what happens when [Illinois] Governor Pritzker, [Chicago] Mayor Johnson, and other sanctuary politicians demonize ICE and encourage illegal aliens to resist law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. 

“Our ICE law enforcement is facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults — including cars — being used as weapons against them,” she added. “Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been clear: anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” 

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Homeland Security said both alleged assaults happened on Wednesday. 

“In the first assault in Norridge, IL, Miguel Escareno De Loera, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, rammed his vehicle into an ICE law enforcement vehicle twice. He then jumped a curb and crashed his car into a stop sign — ending his violent assault,” according to DHS. “Escareno De Loera entered the United States at an unknown date and unknown location, without inspection by an immigration official.” 

“In the second instance, Widman Osberto Lopez-Funes, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, rammed his vehicle into ICE agents during a targeted enforcement operation, and then exited the vehicle and fled into his residence in Bensenville, IL,” the department added. “This criminal illegal alien was later arrested on scene without incident.” 

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Lopez-Funes also entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location, without inspection by an immigration official, DHS said. 

“Both criminals will remain in custody pending removal proceedings, and the Administration is pursuing criminal charges for assaulting law enforcement,” the department added. 

ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz earlier this month, describing the operation as one that, “will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.”