Illegal Alien Gets Decades In Prison For Violent Attack On ICE Agent

An illegal alien from Mexico will spend decades behind bars after launching a violent assault on a federal immigration officer, underscoring the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance approach to attacks on law enforcement.

Diego Barron-Esquivel was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison — the statutory maximum — for brutally attacking and attempting to strangle an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent earlier this year in Wichita, Kansas, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which confirmed the sentence to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The punishment comes as federal officials warn of an alarming surge in violence targeting immigration officers carrying out enforcement duties.

“This barbaric criminal illegal alien with a rap sheet a mile long, violently punched one of our officers in the face and head and then began strangling the officer with his own badge cord,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a prepared statement. “Our officers are facing a 1150% increase in violence against them as they arrest the worst of the worst.”

“Secretary Noem has been clear: if you lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” McLaughlin added.

According to DHS, Barron-Esquivel entered the United States illegally at an unknown time and location. When two ICE agents attempted to apprehend him in the Wichita area on Feb. 28, he violently resisted arrest.

Authorities say the Mexican national repeatedly punched one agent in the face and head before wrapping the officer’s badge cord around his neck, nearly rendering him unconscious. The officer ultimately broke free, but Barron-Esquivel initially escaped the scene before being captured later by local law enforcement.

At the time of his arrest, Barron-Esquivel was accused of repeatedly harassing his ex-spouse. DHS records show he also carried an extensive criminal history, including arrests for domestic battery, aggravated robbery, felony theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, property damage, and other offenses.

On Dec. 3, Barron-Esquivel pleaded guilty to one count of forcibly assaulting a federal officer. His sentence reflects repeated warnings from President Donald J. Trump’s administration that violence against ICE agents and other federal officers will be met with the harshest penalties available under the law.

Since President Trump returned to the White House, ICE officers have been assaulted 238 times, according to administration figures — a more than 1,150 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024 under the Biden administration.

Federal officials say the threat has escalated beyond isolated attacks to coordinated attempts to kill law enforcement personnel.

The Department of Justice has charged 10 suspects accused of organizing an armed July 4 attack on an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, during which a local police officer was shot in the neck. In another case, authorities allege that 29-year-old Joshua Jahn fired multiple rounds from a rooftop in Dallas on Sept. 24 with the intent of targeting nearby ICE agents conducting enforcement operations, the Daily Caller reported.

As the administration intensifies immigration enforcement, the White House is also pointing to signs of economic momentum. Officials have highlighted inflation coming in at 2.7 percent for November — lower than expected — and argue the U.S. economy is positioned for a strong rebound.

Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Oxford Economics, expressed surprise at the data, particularly the modest increase in housing costs.

“It’s possible that this does reflect a genuine drop off in inflationary pressures, but such a sudden stop, particularly in the more-persistent services components like rent of shelter is very unusual, at least outside of a recession,” Ashworth wrote in a note.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed that optimism in a recent Fox News interview, saying the administration believes “2026 will be a great year for growth, inflation, and the American people.”