Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized leftist politicians’ anti-ICE rhetoric after a fatal shooting at an immigration detention center in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday morning.
Cruz gave an impassioned speech during a press conference authorities held hours after the shooting, which was carried out by a since-deceased man who left shell casings with “ANTI-ICE” engraved on them. During his remarks, Cruz mentioned the recent assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk.
“This needs to stop. Violence is wrong. Politically motivated violence is wrong. It was two weeks ago today that we saw a political assassination in Utah that tore the heart out of much of this country. This is the third shooting in Texas directed at ICE or CBP. This must stop,” Cruz fumed.
“To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CBP, stop,” he said. “To every politician demanding that ICE agents be doxxed and calling for people to go after their families, stop. This has very real consequences. Look, in America, we disagree, that’s fine, that’s the democratic process, but your political opponents are not Nazis. We need to learn to work together without demonizing each other, without attacking each other.”
“Every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CBP – STOP!”@tedcruz calls on Democrats to stop demonizing immigration officers after today’s shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas. pic.twitter.com/Jt5lFwlUwy
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 24, 2025
Wednesday’s shooting follows a series of recent attacks at federal immigration facilities in Texas.
On July 4, an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, located just outside of Dallas, was targeted by a group of leftist anarchists wearing military-style gear who hurled fireworks at the building to lure officers outside before they opened fire. An Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck during the attack.
The group allegedly possessed fliers reading “FIGHT ICE TERROR WITH CLASS WAR!” and “FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS,” and a flag stating, “RESIST FASCISM – FIGHT OLIGARCHY.”
In a separate incident on Aug. 25, Bratton Dean Wilkinson, a 36-year-old American citizen, showed up to the ICE facility in Dallas claiming to have a bomb in his backpack and a “detonator” on his wrist, the agency said.
On July 7, a masked shooter opened fire at a Border Patrol office in McAllen, Texas, and was successfully taken out by federal agents.
“The divisive rhetoric tragically has real consequences. I hope that every one of us will pray, number one, for the safety of law enforcement that are risking their lives to keep us safe, number two, for the health of those who were shot and injured today, we still don’t know the full details of who was injured, but for the families also of the victims of this shooting,” Cruz said.
“Violence has no place, it is wrong, and we should come together if we want to have a debate about immigration policies. We can do so in the halls of Congress without demonizing each other, and especially without demonizing the men and women who, every day, put on a badge and go risk their lives to keep us safe. And we should not be putting language out there that inspires madmen to commit evil crimes. Our prayers are with the men and women of law enforcement, and we ought to come together and have some decency across the political aisle to say this violence is wrong and it needs to stop,” he said.
All of the victims of the latest shooting were ICE detainees, according to NBC News. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
No law enforcement officers were injured, according to the FBI.
