DALLAS – The Department of Homeland Security said it will increase security following the deadly shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas.
In a statement to KSAT, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said DHS will “immediately” begin increased safety measures at ICE facilities nationwide.
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In the shooting early Wednesday morning, a detainee was killed and two others were critically wounded by the gunman, who then fatally shot himself.
The shots were fired indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van in a gated entryway, the Associated Press reported.
The detainees were in the van. No ICE personnel were wounded.
The shooter was identified as Joshua Jahn, 29, by a law enforcement official who could not publicly disclose details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Investigators had not yet determined the assailant’s motive.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on social media showing a bullet found at the scene with “ANTI-ICE” written on it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered more security at ICE facilities across the U.S., according to a post by the DHS on the social platform X.
“Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them,” McLaughlin said in a statement, in part. “For months, we’ve been warning politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement before someone was killed. This shooting must serve as a wake-up call to the far-left that their rhetoric about ICE has consequences.”
The attack was the latest high-profile targeted killing in the U.S. It happened two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a shooter on the roof of a building at Utah Valley University and as heightened immigration enforcement has prompted a backlash against ICE agents and fear in immigrant communities.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association called the shootings “a stark reminder that behind every immigration case number is a human being deserving of dignity, safety and respect.”
“Whether they are individuals navigating the immigration process, public servants carrying out their duties, or professionals working within the system, all deserve to be free from violence and fear,” the group said in a statement.
Authorities have given few details about the shooting and did not publicly release the names of the victims or the gunman. The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted violence.”
The gunman used a bolt-action rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Read McLaughlin’s full statement below:
“In light of today’s horrific shooting that was motivated by hatred for ICE and the other unprecedented acts of violence against ICE law enforcement, including bomb threats, cars being used a weapons, rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at officers, and doxing online of officers families, DHS will immediately begin increasing security at ICE facilities across the country. Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them.
For months, we’ve been warning politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement before someone was killed. This shooting must serve as a wake-up call to the far-left that their rhetoric about ICE has consequences. Comparing ICE Day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and slave patrols has consequences. The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. Like everyone else, we just want to go home to our families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.”
Calls for an end to political violence
Shortly after the shooting and before officials said at least one victim was a detainee, Vice President JD Vance posted on X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who represents Texas, continued in that direction, calling for an end to political violence.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, an advocacy group, said the shootings are “a heartbreaking reminder of the violence and fear that too often touch the lives of migrants and the communities where they live.”
Noem says ICE agents have been targeted
Noem noted a recent uptick in targeting of ICE agents.
On July 4, attackers in black, military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, federal prosecutors said. One police officer was wounded. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
Days later, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents leaving a Border Patrol facility in McAllen. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a responding police officer before authorities shot and killed him.
In suburban Chicago, federal authorities erected a fence around an immigration processing center after tensions flared with protesters. President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up immigration enforcement in the Chicago area, resulting in hundreds of arrests.
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