On September 24, 2025, a shooter opened fire at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Dallas, Texas, in a brazen rooftop attack that left one detainee dead and two others critically wounded before the assailant killed himself. The attack — carried out with a high-powered rifle fired into a sally port where detainees were being processed — sent shockwaves through federal law enforcement and the local community and could easily have produced a far higher body count. This was not a random act of street violence; it was a calculated assault on the people and infrastructure charged with enforcing the law.
Authorities quickly identified the shooter as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, and investigators discovered evidence indicating the attack was premeditated and motivated by hatred for ICE, including notes and ammunition marked with anti-ICE messages. Officials say Jahn researched DHS facilities and monitoring tools and even studied other violent incidents, underlining the chilling reality of self-radicalized attackers who plan strikes against government personnel. That the perpetrator targeted agents and facilities — and took his own life when confronted by the consequences of his actions — should make every American who values law and order uneasy.
Acting ICE leadership warned the nation this could have been far worse, noting that no ICE employees were physically wounded only by providence and the quick work of officers on the scene. The agency stressed the indiscriminate nature of the fire and the use of a rifle capable of inflicting mass casualties, prompting immediate security reviews at ICE and DHS facilities nationwide. These are federal officers doing difficult, often thankless work; the least they deserve is the protection of the federal government and the condemnation of anyone who encourages or excuses attacks on them.
This horrific shooting is not an isolated incident but fits a disturbing pattern across Texas this year, where ICE and Border Patrol facilities have faced multiple attacks and coordinated assaults that put officers and communities at risk. From the July attack on the Alvarado facility to other plots and threats, the environment has become more dangerous for federal workers carrying out immigration enforcement that many Americans demand and expect. Law-abiding citizens and front-line agents should not be the targets of political theater or violent extremism cloaked as protest.
Enough with the double standards. While the left’s activists and some in the mainstream media rush to politicize tragedies, conservatives must be crystal clear: violence against law enforcement — any agency, any officer — is terrorism, not debate. Political rhetoric that demonizes enforcement agencies without offering a plan to secure the border or enforce the law only fans the flames of radical actors looking for permission to act. We must call out bad actors on the left who celebrate defunding or delegitimizing federal law enforcement institutions and demand accountability for words that encourage violence.
Presidentially allied voices and conservative leaders rightly pointed out the connection between relentless anti-law-enforcement messaging and the real-world consequences it can inspire, and they urged swift federal action to ensure perpetrators are tracked and stopped. The federal response must be robust: prosecute those who plan or inspire attacks, harden security at vulnerable facilities, and allocate the resources ICE needs to protect both staff and detainees. Political finger-pointing is easy; real leadership means preventing the next attack before it happens.
Americans who cherish safety, sovereignty, and the rule of law should mourn the victims and stand with the brave men and women who enforce our immigration laws. We should also demand that the Biden administration and local officials stop coddling rhetoric that paints federal agents as villains while failing to secure the border and support officers on the front lines. If our government cannot protect its own personnel and enforce order, then it has failed in its most basic duty to the American people.
