DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reopens the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office.
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NewsTranscript
01:00Good afternoon and thank you all for joining us and thank you to these courageous families for joining us today as well.
01:08As we observe National Crime Victims Week, the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security are more committed than ever to our mission of protecting the American people and our homeland.
01:20We have heard far too many stories about American lives that were taken because of illegal aliens who should have never been here in the first place.
01:29Today, we're once again reopening an office dedicated to helping the victims of an immigrant crime.
01:36The victims of immigration crime engagement or voice office provides victims and their families with the resources they need to make sure that justice is finally served and their voices are heard.
01:48While the Biden administration prioritized foreigners and criminals over American citizens, we are once again have a president and Donald J.
01:56Trump and a Department of Homeland Security secretary and Kristi Noem who are putting the American people first.
02:02Now, it is my honor to introduce the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.
02:08Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you so much for being patient this afternoon.
02:19We were spending some time together with these families behind me and sharing their stories, but also sharing about what this office will do, the work that it will do in bringing grieving families together,
02:32but also the advocacy that it can facilitate for them going forward and helping prevent future tragedies like theirs,
02:39but also bringing together folks for real solutions and policy, not just at the federal level, but also for state and local level as well.
02:48It was a powerful time together, and it did go longer than expected, but for me, I'll be forever changed by the stories these families told, the details they told me,
02:59but also the advice and wisdom that they've given from years of suffering and grief, but also knowing that loss in your life changes everything forever.
03:08Listening to them speak, you recognize the reality of what grief is, that when you lose someone that is this important to you in your life,
03:16that forever the rest of your life is determined by that day, that everything that you reference from that is though that was before they were taken from us,
03:25or that happened after the day we lost Jocelyn, or that happened before Drew was killed in an overdose,
03:32and that is what these families' lives were forever changed by what happened to them and what gives them the strength to stand up here now and continue to tell their stories.
03:40I truly believe that one of the greatest honors of the Department of Homeland Security is getting to interact with Americans like these families that don't believe that they have special gifts or talents
03:54or think that they have something incredible within them that makes them want to stand up in front of people and share their stories.
04:02It's that they have incredible strength because of what happened to them and because they found that strength within them to tell their stories and their testimony that they literally saved America.
04:14I believe that by them telling these stories, they woke up the American public to make a change in leadership in this country that now we have consequences for people who break the law.
04:25Now there is enforcement of our laws that people know that it matters when you do right and there are going to be severe consequences when you do wrong.
04:35These families behind us stood up and told about their grief and their suffering, what their children went through, what their siblings went through.
04:45And because they did that, American families rallied around them and they put a president in the White House that now is willing to take tough actions to take our country back.
04:55And put it back on a foundation for which our founders envisioned when they gave us freedom and liberty and the ability to live in a country that truly is special and safe.
05:05So thank you for being here and thank you to all of the folks behind me for sharing your stories.
05:11When I took the oath as the Secretary of Homeland Security, I pledged that I would work to protect the American people from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
05:20And let me be clear, we have enemies living among us.
05:23Because of what the Biden administration has done by opening our borders, they have allowed terrorists, people that are on the terrorist watch list, dangerous criminals, gang members, and criminals to enter our country and to perpetuate violence on American families.
05:38And that is going to stop now.
05:41The book of Proverbs tells us that it is for us to stand up and to speak for those who can't speak for themselves today.
05:48And there are a lot of statistics in the world, but Greg was sharing earlier today about the fact that just since 2019, we have a million parents that have grieved and lost their children just because of fentanyl.
06:02And the loss that this country is suffering because of drug overdoses and trafficking is taking out the next generation of Americans.
06:11So it's up for us, and it's our responsibility every day to speak for them, because they can no longer speak for themselves.
06:18I'm standing here today with angel families who lost their loved ones, and as I listened to them, I was changed not only by what they said, but by watching their faces and the emotion that hit them.
06:31Today we have many that told their stories, Alexis you're familiar with as she lost her daughter, Jocelyn, but also Jackie spoke very powerfully about the fact that, you know, we have, we fear that people will forget those that we love.
06:47I think one of the greatest fears of losing people is that people will forget them and forget what they were like.
06:53She talked about how Jocelyn was a happy girl and funny and gifted and talented, and we should remember those traits, not just how we lost her.
07:02We also have others here, Sabina, Tammy, and her husband, Jeremiah, who talked about being unfiltered, which I think it's probably time for us to be a little unfiltered when we talk about the reality of these tragedies.
07:15Ann and Doris, Doug and Patricia, Greg, Amanda, who, if you remember Amanda telling her story about being attacked in San Francisco, having her skull fractured and still feeling like she didn't go through the suffering that other families did,
07:29but her life was changed forever by that illegal alien that didn't face any consequences for being in this country and perpetuating crimes.
07:37Agnes, Maureen, Maureen's husband, Michael, I believe, had to leave already, but I just want to thank all of them for being here.
07:44I'm going to tell a little bit of their stories before we give them the chance to speak and talk about what the Voices office will do for them and their families and others in this country.
07:53Tammy's daughter, Kayla, was just 20 years old when she was strangled to death by an illegal alien in 2022.
08:00She was in her bed sleeping after working the night shift when her killer broke in and attacked her.
08:06Kayla's killer was a member of MS-13, and he came into this country illegally from El Salvador
08:11and was able to get in due to the open borders of the Biden administration.
08:15He was a known gang member, and he was sentenced to 70 years in prison for Kayla's murder.
08:22But he was allowed, even though he had that criminal record in El Salvador, in this country.
08:28And Ferdinand's son, Weston, was just 15 years old.
08:31He played football and hockey.
08:33He loved to serve, and his life was cut short when he was poisoned by fentanyl in 2022.
08:39I think you all remember the powerful speech that she gave at the convention last year that really changed a lot of our hearts.
08:47The spread of these legal drugs is one of the most devastating impacts of the open border policies
08:52and actions that the Department of Homeland Security is using every department and agency to go to war with.
08:58Doug and Patricia's son, Nicholas, was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
09:02He was driving with his friends to Rocky Point, Sonora in October of 2024 when the Sinaloa cartel members, they ambushed him.
09:11They chased him down and shot him in the back while he was trying to escape, and he was just 31 years old and was serving in our military.
09:20Now the Sinaloa cartel is one of the cartels that President Trump has targeted and has designated as a foreign terrorist organization,
09:27and that is going to bring all of the departments, agencies, and the military to bear to fight these organizations
09:33as the terrorists and the enemies of the United States that they are.
09:38Now on what would have been Nick's birthday is the day that the Trump administration announced new sanctions
09:45against the Sinaloa cartel criminals as well.
09:48We all have been and are familiar with the story of Jocelyn, Alexis' daughter,
09:54but it's a story that can't be told enough because of the tragedy of it.
09:58She was just 12 years old when two members of the Venezuelan gang, the Trende Aragua, kidnapped her,
10:04they raped her, and they murdered her.
10:06And even though they were much bigger and much older than her,
10:10Jocelyn still fought her attackers as much as she could.
10:12And she was brave till the very end, and a very tough girl.
10:18Also here with us today are leaders and representatives of many of the groups that fight every single day to support these families,
10:25but also fight human trafficking and help us go after illegal activities.
10:29I'd like to ask them to stand when I mention their names and have them be recognized for the work and the advocacy that they do.
10:36Marcel, you're the president of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
10:40If you would please stand, thank you for your service and your help.
10:44Kelly Doerr, director of the National Human Trafficking Survivor Coalition, is here as well.
10:49Rochelle Kenyon, CEO and attorney at Collective Liberty, thank you for your work,
10:54especially in the courtroom and all the legal advice that you give.
10:58Samantha, strategy advisor of the Shared Hope Institute for Justice.
11:02I don't know where Samantha is, but we'll catch up with her.
11:05Chris Lim, director of research and policy at the Institute for Survivor Care, and also Stacey, the president of Stop Child Predators.
11:14Thank you, Stacey, for being here today, and thank you all for your work.
11:19These organizations and their representatives here work tirelessly to end this despicable crime.
11:25And while the Biden administration may have been the worst offender when it comes to open borders, they were certainly not the first ones.
11:32We're still dealing with the consequences of previous administrations.
11:36And just last week, we lost another American to illegal immigrant crime.
11:42Nate Baker, a 21-year-old student at the University of South Carolina, was killed when an illegal alien ran him over with his truck.
11:50This illegal alien, who was driving without a license, he fled the scene, and he left Nate to die.
11:58Thankfully, the suspect was arrested by the brave men and women of the Columbia Police Department.
12:03But it turns out that after he entered the country illegally, he was caught and released by the Obama administration.
12:11You know, I was just in El Salvador, and I spent some time touring the CICOT prison, where the worst of the worst are being held.
12:17And to see that there was real consequences for these individuals that are members of gangs and terrorist organizations is a reality of what I think every single person needs to recognize will happen to them if they perpetuate crimes affiliated with these terrorists.
12:34It's the prison where we have sent many members of the TDA terrorist organization.
12:40We have already deported over 800 members of the Trende Aragua gang since President Trump just returned to office.
12:48It was TDA members and their associates who murdered just 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungary and nursing student Lake and Riley last year.
12:56And we're getting these dirtbags off of our street, and we're making them pay consequences for what they've done to our country.
13:02But we know that these two girls are not alone and that there's many families and countless others who have paid the consequences for their violence.
13:11Cartels are setting up networks to bring in ingredients for fentanyl into Mexico from China.
13:16They're participating with Chinese businesses and PRC affiliates, smuggling it in, laundering money, and bringing it into this country.
13:24America is in a new war with China over this issue, and cartel terrorists have been helping them fight it.
13:30And terrorists have been helping them, and we are going to fight back with every tool that we have.
13:36Just last week, CBP seized 34 pounds of fentanyl in California.
13:41And on that same day, in Nogales, Arizona, CBP seized 73 pounds of fentanyl, 121 pounds of meth, and 9 pounds of cocaine in a single arrest.
13:52In fact, our Coast Guard just made a historic interdiction mission with over a half a billion dollars worth of cocaine that they seized.
14:02President Donald J. Trump will make sure and will continue to fight for each of these families.
14:08And it's why we're here today announcing the reopening of the ISIS Victim of Immigration Crime Engagement, or the Voice Office.
14:17The Voice Office began during the first Trump administration, and it was a resource for those victims of crime.
14:24And those crimes are related to immigration and illegal immigration as it impacts this country.
14:30The Biden administration shuttered this office.
14:33And to look at the history of it, there was no reason to do so other than a complete disregard for the tragedy that these families have had to live with.
14:41They shut down the only resource that these families had to have a victim's voice be heard and their families to be listened to.
14:50Biden prioritized and protected foreign criminals and undermined our national sovereignty and violated our laws
14:58and then closed an office that serviced the victims that were impacted by it.
15:02President Trump is righting the ship, and he's reopening this office,
15:06and he's going to prioritize not only these families, but all the families that will be impacted by illegal immigration
15:13and the tragedy of losing someone because of the consequences of it.
15:17The Voice Office will be here to make sure that these victims and their stories will be heard.
15:23But it will be heard to wake people up and allow them to continue to impact policy
15:28and the direction that this country is going in influencing its leaders to protect our communities.
15:33The Voice Office has three different objectives.
15:38The first is it uses a victim-centered approach to provide support for crime victims and their families.
15:44Second, it will promote greater awareness for services that are available to victims of migrant crime.
15:51And third, it builds strong partnerships with community stakeholders, assisting the victims of immigrant crime as well.
15:57And as we observe National Crime Victims' Rights Week, DHS remains more dedicated than ever to the mission of protecting American homeland,
16:07our citizens, and our way of life.
16:10Law and order are back, and we are going to continue letting cops do their job,
16:15enforce our laws, and bring consequences to those who break our laws.
16:20We're going to help our victims wrap our arms around them and love them,
16:24help them heal while remembering those that they've lost.
16:28And we're going to continue to make America safe again.
16:32ICE's Voice Office will speak for these that we have lost,
16:36and it will be a critical part of all the efforts that we undertake in doing so.
16:40So thank you, and may God bless all of you.
16:42May God bless these families behind us.
16:45And we are so incredibly grateful for their strength and what they have been able to do.
16:50Thank you for your strength in telling your stories,
16:52and thank you for being an advocate for taking America back and putting it back on its foundation.
17:04Sabita Durden-Coulter, mother of Dominic Durden.
17:09Good afternoon.
17:11Before I start, I want to say thank you to Madam Secretary for everybody in this team,
17:19the highest job to the lowest job.
17:21This means the world.
17:23We don't feel alone.
17:24I don't feel alone anymore.
17:26I'm known as Dom's mom, and I brought him with me.
17:31That's all I have of my child, my only son, Dominic.
17:36I came from Germany with my son the legal way.
17:40We didn't climb fences.
17:42We didn't dig under fences.
17:44We applied.
17:46It took us a long time, paid a lot of money, a lot of paperwork.
17:49And I still remember receiving my resident alien card.
17:54It was a proud moment because I was allowed to be here,
17:57and then I worked six years to become a citizen of this beautiful country.
18:01That was another, after my son's birth, another one of my most important events in my life.
18:06We were proud to be here.
18:12My son, he called himself German Chocolate because he was born in Germany,
18:16and his color explains the rest.
18:20We loved it here.
18:21He immediately, we lived in Moreno Valley, California,
18:24and he immediately got into volunteer work for fire department, for EMF.
18:31He would wear his yellow vest, help an old lady over the street, so I called him Barney Fife.
18:37And 4.0 student, best friend to everybody who ever met him.
18:42Love of my life, my rock, got me through a lot.
18:45We both ride motorcycles.
18:46He learned how to fly, so he took me for flights.
18:51And then he wanted to be in law enforcement,
18:53but he couldn't become a police officer because he had a hip injury,
18:56so he became a dispatcher for the Riverside Sheriff's Department
19:00while working on his pilot license for a helicopter to become a helicopter sheriff
19:05for the Sheriff's Department.
19:08Life was great.
19:10We had plans.
19:11I met a gentleman after I divorced Dominic's dad that my son said I would marry, and I did,
19:18and we've been together 15 years.
19:20But on July 12, 2012, the day after he took my now husband and myself to the airport
19:26to fly to Atlanta for a family reunion, we hugged our last goodbye, our last I love you,
19:33and we never missed those moments, but I didn't know it was my last
19:37because at 5.45 in the morning, my son was heading to work on his motorcycle
19:43when an illegal alien from Guatemala with two felonies, two DUIs, one deportation,
19:50no license, no insurance, no anything because he didn't need it.
19:55You know, it just works like that.
19:57Turned his truck right into my son and hit him head on and killed him instantly.
20:02I had to drive by that spot every day.
20:07But being out of town, my phone started pinging and ringing,
20:11and God made sure I wasn't listening to those voicemails.
20:15But I felt something, so I called his job, and they all knew me,
20:20and they couldn't speak, so they got the chief on the line.
20:22And those words that you hear in movies and you go, oh, when you hear them about your loved one,
20:31you will never forget that moment.
20:34I'm so sorry to let you know Dominic got killed this morning.
20:37And I thought, somebody's playing a prank, because that's what he was.
20:41He was a big prankster, but he wasn't.
20:43So we had to come back to California.
20:46I'm in denial.
20:47I don't know what day it is.
20:49Everything in your world stops.
20:51Your heart explodes.
20:52You hear it breaking.
20:54You can't breathe.
20:56And you still, no, he's going to pick you up at the airport.
20:59But his best friends picked us up.
21:00And since then, right after he was killed, everybody, the DA, everybody was there.
21:08But nobody told us it wasn't illegal.
21:11So I thought, well, I calmed myself.
21:13Accidents do happen.
21:14And until a sheriff walked up to me at the accident site where we went every night and said,
21:20you need to ask the DA to tell you the truth.
21:23And I asked him, I said, it's time to be real.
21:26And he said, yeah, he's an undocumented immigrant.
21:29And I get very angry when I hear that.
21:31If I leave my license at home when I drive, I'm an undocumented immigrant.
21:36Otherwise, you're an illegal alien.
21:38That's it.
21:39And, well, Sanctuary State, the judge knew the killer.
21:45And they gave him a deal.
21:46He got to bail out for $10,000 cash while we had hearings.
21:51I thought he would leave, but he didn't because he knew he was protected.
21:54And then the judge told me, after my victim's impact statement, that he wished he would have known all this.
22:04But he made a deal with the killer of my only child, and he has to honor that.
22:11Now, I thought there were cameras to prank me or something.
22:14So he got nine months, five-year probation with a misdemeanor, vehicular manslaughter, misdemeanor without gross negligence.
22:24And he served a total of 35 days.
22:27That's how my son was worth his life.
22:30And after I knew it was an illegal, I started speaking.
22:34I was deathly afraid of any of this.
22:36But I started speaking because nobody would listen.
22:39And everybody backed up, the media backed up, until Donald Trump, one of his team members, called my phone and asked if we would meet him in L.A.
22:50And I hung up because I thought it was a prank call.
22:54But they called back, and we met him.
22:56And I could tell him the story that I was suicidal.
23:00I didn't want to live without my child anymore.
23:02We were real close.
23:03But when I saw him come down the escalator, and I wasn't politically interested, really.
23:09And he started talking.
23:11I walked through my living room.
23:12I thought it was a, he's starting a new show.
23:15And he said something, something, and then illegal immigration.
23:19And I knew that was the moment God saved my life because it stopped me from thinking that.
23:24And then I met him.
23:25And I've been fighting, not just for my son, but for all these parents here that don't have a voice, that get ignored.
23:38I get called a Nazi because I'm from Germany.
23:40I get called a racist, yeah, clearly.
23:44And I learned to count on others.
23:48And the voice office was so important.
23:50And I was here the first time it opened up.
23:53And we had somebody to call, somebody to reach out to, to help us along the way.
23:59And I'm forever grateful.
24:01I'm forever grateful for this office, for Donald Trump, Tom Homan, and Madam.
24:10Thank you, Sabina.
24:11Thank you, Sabina.
24:15Acting Director, Todd Lyons, ICE.
24:20Thank you, Tricia.
24:27Good afternoon.
24:29I'm ICE Acting Director, Todd Lyons.
24:31I'm honored today to host our secretary, the representatives of all the victim organizations,
24:37the ICE Chief of Staff, John Fury, my deputy, Madison Sheehan.
24:41But most important of all, I'm honored by our Angel families that are behind us.
24:46It was truly humbling and a wonderful experience to sit with you today.
24:50So thank you for allowing me to hear your story.
24:53I really appreciate it.
24:54I know it's not easy to do, but your courage is beyond amazing.
25:05It helps us honor Dominic, Alexis, Kayla, Matthew, Weston, Nick, Ronald, and Drew
25:16as we pursue justice for other families that have been torn apart by crimes with the immigration nexus.
25:22Your stories give us a small glimpse into the struggles you face every day
25:27and the battles you fight just to find some type of measure for the justice for your children.
25:32This also helps people understand how important the ICE public safety mission is.
25:40And the strength of your resolve to make the voice office keep evolving to provide better resources
25:46and better support to others who have lost so much at the hands of criminal aliens.
25:51And thank you again for sharing your children's stories today.
25:54As Secretary Noem said, ICE is proud that we have relaunched the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office
26:01in accordance with the President's executive order protecting American people against invasion.
26:06The voice office lets us take a proactive approach to helping people who have been victimized by criminal aliens.
26:14The caring, compassionate staff of the voice office work with local victim advocates, law enforcement,
26:22and victim service providers to help victims and their families get the services they need,
26:26including access to social service professionals who can refer them to victim advocates in state
26:34and their local communities, as well as other federal resources that are available.
26:40They also help victims, their families, and victim advocates sign up for notifications
26:45so they can keep track of a criminal alien's custody status.
26:49And in some cases, the voice office can also provide victims and families with additional information
26:56on an alien's criminal history, as well as their immigration history while they're in the United States illegally.
27:03In certain cases, the voice office also helps victims get a chance to provide that powerful impact statement.
27:11The voice office helps all victims of immigration-related crimes.
27:14This means if someone's victimized by an alien who's in the United States on a visa
27:18or who's otherwise here legally, the voice office can still help.
27:23I want to make it clear that the voice office help isn't limited to specific crimes.
27:29Whether an alien commits fraud, sexual abuse, murder, drunk driving crimes, battery, or other criminal offenses,
27:37we can help.
27:38There's no question that Dominic, Matthew, many other Americans have lost their lives to people
27:45who should have never been in the United States in the first place.
27:49Now, with the President's support and Secretary's known leadership in these brave families that are behind me
27:55who are willing to share their stories with the American public,
28:00ICE will be better equipped than it has ever been to stand up for victim crimes
28:04and connect them with the resources they deserve.
28:07Again, thank you so much, and the men and women of ICE are committed to making sure
28:11that these type of tragedies never happen again.
28:14So thank you.
28:15Thank you, Trisha.
28:17Thank you, Todd.
28:18I would now like to introduce Maureen Maloney, mother of Matthew Denise.
28:34Thank you, Madam Secretary, Todd Lyons, everyone else with ICE,
28:44and everyone else in the administration who is fighting to keep America safe.
28:50It is an honor to be here at the relaunch of the voice office and speaking to all of you today.
28:56To the angel parents, I'm saddened and angered by your loss, and my heart weeps for you.
29:08As angel families, we are a unique group of victims in that the deaths of our loved ones should never have occurred.
29:18Our loved ones were killed by illegal aliens who should never have been in the country.
29:23Our loved ones should be alive and living their lives and living their dreams.
29:31Our government failed us.
29:34They didn't do their job.
29:37They did not enforce our current immigration laws.
29:41And our loved ones paid the price.
29:44In 2016, when President Trump was campaigning on building the wall and securing the border,
29:53everybody laughed at him.
29:56But President Trump knew the magnitude and consequences of illegal immigration
30:00because he had been meeting with angel families around the country while he was campaigning.
30:08Now fast forward to the last four years,
30:11when the Biden administration had wide open borders
30:14and were flying illegal aliens into the country under the cover of night.
30:19In that four-year period, another 10 million illegal aliens entered our country.
30:25And that's only the ones that could be counted.
30:29These illegal aliens were all unvetted, and they're in our country.
30:35How many more criminals, gang members, drug dealers do we have roaming free in our country?
30:41How many more innocent victims need to be killed?
30:48My beautiful son, Matthew, was 23 and had just graduated college and had his whole life ahead of him.
30:55He was killed by a drunk illegal alien who was driving a truck without a license.
31:04The illegal alien ran through a stop sign in a residential area and collided with Matthew's motorcycle.
31:12Matthew survived the collision and was getting up out of the street when the illegal alien fled.
31:19And when he did, he ran Matthew over, and Matthew became lodged in the truck real well.
31:27And he was dragged to his death while witnesses were pleading with the driver to stop and banging on his truck.
31:36The driver never stopped.
31:40Matthew became dislodged.
31:43The illegal alien backed up over him again and continued to flee.
31:49Matthew was the light of my life.
31:56He was the kind of kid every parent wants.
31:58He was a good kid.
32:00He wanted to be a police officer.
32:02He was voted most dependable in high school.
32:06He had a smile that lit up a room.
32:08And he was the kind of kid that loved everybody he met.
32:11My son's death was 13 years ago, and since then, I've been advocating against illegal immigration.
32:22I'm a founding member and vice president of Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime.
32:28That's AVIAC for short.
32:30And we're a national organization that helps families and victims of illegal alien crime.
32:38In 2017, President Trump delivered on his promise to help people victimized by illegal aliens by launching the voice office.
32:50AVIAC was instrumental in the formation of voice.
32:56Voice is an organization that is staffed by specially trained liaisons who can provide victims and their families information pertinent to the illegal offenders' immigration status and custody status.
33:12Voice can also address their concerns and questions regarding immigration enforcement and providing local contact for resources and referrals.
33:23You know, when a tragedy like this hits your family, first of all, like Sabina described, your world just stops.
33:34And as the weeks go on, you realize the world is moving on, but you haven't.
33:38Your life stopped the day your child was killed.
33:42And I remember every morning after Matthew's death, waking up and shocked that I actually woke up.
33:50I, going to bed every night, I thought for sure I was going to die of a broken heart.
33:59These liaisons at Voice are there for the victims.
34:04It's difficult enough going through a judicial system, or in some cases, the illegal alien doesn't even get apprehended.
34:12You need specialized people in immigration who can help out the victims.
34:18When the Biden administration took over the White House, Alexandro Mayorkas was the head of DHS, and he abolished ICE, along with the much-needed resources to provide it at a time when 10 million people would be crossing into our country.
34:41Well, thank God President Trump was reelected, and the voice office has been restored, providing the greatly needed assistance and resources to victims of illegal alien crime.
34:54Lastly, I would like to thank Todd Lyons, who was the Boston field office director for ICE when my son's killer was released from jail in the very liberal state of Massachusetts.
35:08I'd like to thank him for his leadership in successfully getting my son's killer deported.
35:16I want to thank Kristi Noem, President Trump, Tom Homan, everybody involved with getting rid of the illegal aliens in our country, and securing our borders so that fentanyl doesn't keep coming across.
35:32I want to thank them, and may God bless them and protect them.
35:40Thank you, Voice, for assisting victims of illegal alien crime during their darkest days.
35:46Thank you, Myrna.
35:51Thank you, Myrna.
35:52Now, I'd like to introduce Madison Sheehan, Deputy Director of ICE.
36:00Good afternoon.
36:01I'm Madison Sheehan, the Deputy Director of ICE.
36:03First of all, I want to thank Acting Director Todd Lyons, as well as Secretary Kristi Noem, for being able to put this together today and supporting our voice office here at ICE,
36:13because it's going to be a real opportunity for us to not only revamp what was first put in place in 2017,
36:20but revamp what we can really be doing for the victims and their families on a daily basis.
36:25On a daily basis, the men and women of ICE are working and serving in the community
36:29and being able to make sure that the stories that we heard today during the roundtable don't have to happen again.
36:36And I want to thank all of the families up here for their courage and bravery to tell the stories that they told us.
36:42Over the last couple hours, we have heard a powerful impact of the stories that they continue to tell to make sure that it doesn't happen to another family,
36:51whether it's the issues with fentanyl coming over our borders or just violent gang criminals who come over our borders
36:58that have been put a stop to, thanks to Secretary Noem and President Trump.
37:04And these families have a great bit of grit to be able to tell their stories on a daily basis
37:10and that we want to hear about them so that way we can continue to project the strength that ICE brings to communities on a daily basis.
37:18And so our voice office is committed to serving the community with our agents of ICE that are out there working with each one of these families.
37:26And I'm proud to be able to be part of this team that is revamping this as we can continue down the direction from Secretary Noem and President Trump
37:34to not only be able to work on interior enforcement every day, but we're removing these violent gang criminals from our country
37:42in order to protect the families that are standing behind me, but also the ones that aren't.
37:47And every day, I believe that we work to make sure that the government of the United States is as good as the people that we serve,
37:55and that's reflected by those behind me.
37:58So I want to thank President Trump, Secretary Noem, and Todd Lyons for the work that we've done
38:02to be able to put together the voice office and revamp it to what it should be
38:07and should have always been for the victims and their families.
38:15Thank you, Madison.
38:16And I know we are running a little bit behind, but we will take a few, just a few, questions from the press.
38:21Please make sure your questions pertain to the topic at hand, which is the voice office
38:26and the stories of these very courageous families.
38:31We'll start out with CNN.
38:34Priscilla?
38:38Hi.
38:39Priscilla with CNN.
38:41This is a question for the Secretary.
38:43You mentioned that in addition to opening up this hotline, you and your team are committing to doubling down on those with criminal records.
38:54Related to that, you got a decision this week by the Supreme Court allowing you to use the Alien Enemies Act.
39:00Have you commenced deportations already under this measure?
39:04You know, we're working with the White House, and we're not going to talk about specific operations to protect law enforcement officers.
39:10I think you're probably well aware that we've seen a dramatic increase of attacks and violence perpetuated against law enforcement
39:19under this administration because of the work that they're doing against cartels and terrorist organizations.
39:25So we're going to keep operations secure, but we will use the Alien Enemies Act.
39:31We will continue to use it to deport people.
39:33One of the reasons I went to El Salvador last week was to visit with the President and ask him to continue to take terrorists
39:40from the United States of America that don't belong here.
39:42And he has committed to continuing to work with us to make sure that we have more TDA members,
39:48more MS-13 members that we're able to incarcerate here in this country deported and in CICOT
39:54and pay the consequences for their actions of violence.
39:57Thank you, Secretary.
40:01Thank you. I think I see Ted Hassan, Reuters.
40:09Thank you. This is a question for Secretary Nome as well.
40:12Regarding the Venezuelan alleged members of Trande Aragua who were deported to El Salvador,
40:18is there a reason the administration can't release their records or their criminal records
40:22if they are indeed dangerous criminals or gang members?
40:25You know, these are all individual cases that we won't get into specifics on,
40:30but we have incredible intelligence capabilities at the Department of Homeland Security
40:35and casework that has been done not just by ICE individuals but by other departments
40:40and the Department of State that we're confident that people that are there should be there
40:45and they should stay there for the rest of their lives.
40:51I think we have time for just one more question by CBS.
40:58Nicole?
41:03Hi. Thank you so much.
41:04A question for Secretary Nome.
41:06We've heard all about ICE investigations that have brought justice to these families.
41:11Earlier this week, it became clear that ICE will begin sharing information
41:16and requesting information from the IRS to aid in its criminal investigations.
41:21I'd like to know when will that sharing begin, given this information is usually guarded,
41:26what information will ICE now have access to,
41:29and how will that be used to aid ICE in arresting individuals here illegally?
41:33Yes.
41:34So this is an unprecedented announcement that in partnership and agreement that has been made between ICE
41:40and the Department in order to make sure that we're using every tool that we have to go after criminals.
41:46I think the American people need to be confident in the fact that their personal privacy will be protected
41:52and that this will be a targeted agreement that will go specifically after individuals who do perpetuate violence
41:59and enact crimes in this country.
42:01We'll continue to talk about the specifics of the agreement,
42:04but right now that needs to be unveiled in a way that is transparent to the public and in full,
42:12and so we'll be giving that to you.
42:13Well, thank you all.
42:17That's all we have time for for questions.
42:19Please follow up with a public affairs officer for any follow-ups.
42:21Thank you to Secretary Noem.
42:23Thank you to Acting Director Todd Lyons.
42:25Thank you, Deputy Director Madison Sheehan,
42:27and thank you to these courageous families for sharing their stories.
42:31We are so honored.