President Donald Trump said in a new interview that he thinks immigration raids by federal agents have not been tough enough. The interview covered questions about how immigration officers have been treating people during arrests across the country.
According to Fox News, interviewer Norah O’Donnell brought up several videos that have been making the rounds online. These clips show an ICE officer shoving a woman down at an immigration court, agents spraying tear gas in a Chicago neighborhood, and officers smashing through car windows. O’Donnell wanted to know if Trump thought any of these actions went too far.
Trump did not agree that the raids were too harsh. Instead, he said they “haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.”
This is happening while his poll numbers are dropping
When O’Donnell asked him directly if he was okay with these kinds of tactics, Trump said “Yeah, because you have to get the people out. You know, you have to look at the people. Many of them are murderers. Many of them are people that were thrown outta their countries because they were, you know, criminals.”
“Many of them are people from jails and prisons. Many of them are people from frankly mental institutions,” he continued. “I feel badly about that, but they’re released from insane asylums. You know why? Because they’re killers.”
Trump’s team has been running immigration raids in big cities as part of his promise to kick out millions of people who came to America illegally. Officials keep saying they are going after the worst criminals first, but the reality on the ground looks different to many people watching.
The raids have caused a lot of anger and protests. In Illinois, a group including reporters and protesters filed a lawsuit against several government officials in early October. They say Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and others used illegal force against peaceful protesters and journalists who were near an ICE building in Broadview.
There are also problems happening inside the immigration agencies themselves. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, senior adviser Corey Lewandowski, and Bovino want to arrest anyone in the country without permission, not just people with criminal records.
This would help them get deportation numbers up faster. The aggressive tactics come as Trump’s approval numbers have dropped in states he previously won.
Not long ago, a federal judge put new limits on what ICE can do. The judge said agents cannot arrest people without warrants or good reason to believe they broke the law. This is just one more thing slowing down Trump’s deportation plans. Trump has faced similar legal setbacks with judges blocking his initiatives in other areas as well.
Trump said that his work would be done when “many” out of about 25 million people get sent back to their countries. He said some people think only 10 million came here illegally, but he believes his number is closer to the truth. He said a lot of those 25 million people should not be here.
Published: Nov 3, 2025 03:30 pm