Attorney General Pam Bondi is taking aim at Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) over their plan to launch a public-facing website that would track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions. Bondi said the idea risks exposing agents to harm and could interfere with federal operations. The lawmakers, meanwhile, argue the tool is meant to improve transparency and accountability, saying congressional committees are working together on the effort.
Garcia said the project would allow residents—especially in Los Angeles—to report and document verified immigration enforcement activity. In his view, a central tracker would give communities clearer visibility into federal actions and strengthen public oversight.
“Over the course of the next couple of weeks, the Oversight Committee will be launching on their website a master ICE tracker where we’re going to be essentially tracking every single instance that we can verify that the community will send,” Garcia said.
He added that the system will let people submit information and review verified reports in one place, including location-specific details tied to Los Angeles.
Garcia also claimed ICE actions have swept up U.S. citizens, saying more than 170 have been arrested based on appearance or ethnicity. “Over 170 U.S. Citizens are being arrested. Why? Because they look like me, because they are of Latino origin, or because they are suspected to not be a U.S. citizen, or because they are suspected of crimes that they have not committed,” he said.
Blumenthal echoed that allegation, accusing ICE of unlawfully detaining U.S. citizens and calling the proposed tracker a necessary check on enforcement abuses. He said agents are increasingly “using police state tactics to terrorize communities across the country — unlawfully arresting at least 170 U.S. citizens in the process.”
Bondi pushed back sharply, warning that publicizing where ICE is operating—or where agents might be headed next—could put federal officers in danger. She also stressed that the Justice Department will aggressively pursue anyone who threatens or attacks law enforcement. “Shutdown Democrats are already refusing to pay our law enforcement agents. Now, @RepRobertGarcia and @SenBlumenthal are trying to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs,” she wrote.
Bondi added that @TheJusticeDept has “ZERO tolerance for violence against law enforcement — we will prosecute any person who physically assaults our agents.”
