ICE Director Honors Angel Families, Slams ‘Nazi’ Smears

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday blasted anti-ICE activists while flanked by families whose loved ones were killed by illegal immigrants.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons emphasized his agency’s role in cracking down on crime during a press conference about the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office, which provides resources to the victims and families of crimes committed by illegal immigrant offenders. The office was previously shut down under the Biden administration.

“I just want to say on a personal note that the families you see up here I’ve become really close with. They’re part of the ICE family, but when ICE officers and special agents are demonized, called Nazis, hated …” Lyons said. “We do it for these individuals, these families who are no longer with their loved ones because they didn’t get the justice they deserve. And that’s the main reason why ICE and our law enforcement partners are out there, so these Angel Families will finally get justice.”

The families standing behind Lyons praised ICE and the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

At one point, Angel Mom Agnes Gibboney, who legally immigrated to the United States from Hungary, told reporters: “I love ICE,” adding: “I love ice in my water. I love ice in my drink. I love ICE on the streets to protect us all.”

Gibboney’s son, Ronald Da Silva, was shot and killed by a previously-deported illegal immigrant gangbanger in California in 2002.

.@ICEDirector Todd Lyons standing in front of angel families:

“When ICE officers and special agents are demonized, called nazis … We do it for these families, who are no longer with their loved ones because they didn’t get the justice they deserve and that’s the main reason… pic.twitter.com/BPk7quy17u

— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) April 9, 2026

After dismantling the VOICE office, the Biden administration replaced it with the Victims Engagement and Services Line, a service that allowed illegal immigrant detainees to report abuse in ICE detention centers while also providing updates on immigration cases to their lawyers, CBS News reported at the time.

Illegal immigrants could also use the service to obtain visas if they were victims of human trafficking or other crimes in the United States.

Trump established the VOICE office in his first term and reopened it in his second term.

Since then, more than 500 victims have reached out to the office for help, according to its website. Roughly 55% of the reported crimes committed by illegal immigrants involved assault, rape and sexual assault, and homicide or manslaughter.