ICE Chief Dares Philly Sheriff To Follow Through On Threat To Arrest Immigration Agents: ‘Try It’

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons fired back on Saturday at the  Philadelphia Sheriff who’d threatened to arrest ICE agents, telling her to go ahead and “try it, see what happens.”

Lyons addressed Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s comments directly during an appearance on “The Big Weekend Show” on Fox News, saying that Bilal was only feeding into the already dangerous situation ICE agents were facing every day by pitting local law enforcement against federal law enforcement.

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ICE Director FIRES BACK At Democrat Threats To Arrest ICE Agents

Todd Lyons: “You can’t pit a local law enforcement officer against a federal law enforcement officer … My message to the Sheriff is try it, try to arrest my folks. Let’s see what happens.” https://t.co/ZyZC2GgB08 pic.twitter.com/Jd4yZXErhk

— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) January 11, 2026

“Any time you pit law enforcement officers against law enforcement officers, it makes nobody safe,” Lyons said. “This is the exact type of political rhetoric that I’ve been seeing ever since I had the opportunity to be the ICE Director … this increased rhetoric is what’s causing the issues right now. You can’t pit a local law enforcement officer against a federal law enforcement officer. We are out there trying to do a lawful law enforcement mission, and this rhetoric right here is a pure example of what we’re facing every day.”

Lyons went on to say that he wasn’t normally one to engage in public bluster, but his message to the sheriff was simple: “Try it, try to arrest my folks. Let’s see what happens.”

Bilal tore into ICE a day earlier, claiming that federal agents were the ones committing crimes when they moved to enforce federal immigration law.

“Those that come into our communities wearing masks to commit crime—and thank God for our District Attorney Larry Krasner, who says he’s gonna lock them up … you’re getting arrested … we stand here today with all those who stand against the made-up fake, what you can call ICE,” she said. “Professional law enforcement? I’m not calling none of that. I call them made-up, fake wanna-be law enforcement. Because what they do is against not only legal law but moral law … you will not be able to hide. Nobody will whisk you off. You don’t want this smoke, because we’ll bring it to you. And the fake, whatever they call them because I can put … I can’t say their name. But the criminal in the White House will not keep you from going to jail.”

The Philadelphia Police Department also issued a statement in response to Bilal’s comments, saying that she was not in charge of municipal policing and that the city’s police officers would continue to work in conjunction with other “law enforcement partners” moving forward.

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— Kevin J. Bethel (@PPDCommish) January 9, 2026