Since Inauguration Day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been working nonstop to make America safe again. Thanks to their operations, the Trump administration has deported more than 600,000 illegal aliens, including predators, gang members, drug traffickers, and violent criminals. Another 1.9 million have chosen to self-deport rather than face arrest.

In Tennessee, we are seeing how these efforts are transforming communities for the better. ICE officers have played a vital role in President Trump’s Memphis Safe Task Force, helping restore law and order in a city that last year recorded the highest crime rate in the country. Since the task force launched in September, overall crime has dropped 44%, including a 70% reduction in car thefts and a 44% decline in murders.

In total, the task force has conducted more than 5,800 arrests, including hundreds of warrant arrests for domestic violence and aggravated assault and dozens more for narcotics, weapons, robbery, homicide, and sexual assault. Nearly 800 have been immigration arrests conducted by ICE officers, apprehending aliens charged with some of the worst crimes imaginable: child abuse, human trafficking, assaulting police officers, domestic violence, aggravated assault, drug dealing, and more.

A big part of this success: local, state, and federal law enforcement are working closely together to identify and detain criminals, including illegal aliens. In November, the Shelby County Sheriff signed a 287(g) agreement that allows law enforcement to detain and transport illegal aliens wanted by ICE, serving as a model of what can be accomplished when authorities at all levels of government cooperate to enforce our immigration laws.

Beyond Memphis, ICE has detained dangerous criminals across Tennessee. Just last weekend, agents arrested a criminal meth dealer in Monroe County. In Nashville, agents have rounded up violent criminal illegal aliens, including Tren de Aragua gang members who operated a transnational sex trafficking ring.

Operations like these are making communities safer for Tennesseans and Americans nationwide. Yet for months, Democrats have smeared these officers for doing their job and enforcing the law.

California Governor Gavin Newsom compared them to “secret police.” Minnesota’s Tim Walz likened them to “modern-day Gestapo.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) called ICE’s operations “vile and beyond cruel,” while Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) claimed agents are “turning our country into a fascist police state.”

This reckless rhetoric has put a target on the back of the brave men and women of ICE, who are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults over the last year. In response, far-Left activists have mobilized to disrupt lawful ICE operations, endangering both agents and the public. We saw this in Minneapolis, where 37-year-old Renee Good attempted to impede federal officers and hit an ICE agent — forcing the officer, who suffered internal bleeding, to use lethal force to stop her.

This tragedy should have never happened. But instead of dialing back their incendiary language, Democrats have doubled down. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey instructed ICE agents to “get the f— out” of the city, and Minnesota is suing the Trump administration to block their law enforcement operations. In Congress, Democrats are threatening a partial government shutdown to block funding for the agency.

Some media outlets have only made matters worse by amplifying false narratives. Just this week in Tennessee, a local news outlet claimed that state troopers ran over a man protesting ICE. Dashcam footage later showed that the protester flagged down the vehicle, bent down in front of it, and walked off unharmed.

The lies, slander, and mischaracterizations can’t hide the truth: ICE agents are putting their lives on the line every single day to protect the American people — from Memphis to Minneapolis and everywhere in between. And they deserve our full support as they uphold the rule of law.

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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn represents the state of Tennessee and serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday.

Machado met with the president a day after Trump spoke with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, over the phone. Machado had previously dedicated her award to Trump last year “for his decisive support of our cause.”

“I presented the President of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. She said Trump deserved the accolade “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

Trump thanked Machado for the award and complimented the opposition leader in a post on Truth Social.

“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much,” said Trump. “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”

Top Trump officials have repeated the administration’s commitment to long-term democratic elections in Venezuela, however, the president has not placed a timeline on when elections might happen. Securing trustworthy democratic elections is one of the top priorities of Machado, whose party has been kept out of power in part due to election rigging by Venezuela’s Communist regime.

After ousting former Venezuela strongman Nicolás Maduro earlier this month and forcibly extraditing him to New York to face trial on drug-related charges, the Trump administration has left Rodriguez to steady the Venezuela government while using an oil embargo to force Caracas to align itself with U.S. interests.

Trump has declined to pressure Rodriguez to turn over the government to the opposition. The White House was reportedly convinced prior to Maduro’s arrest that Machado did not have the sway among Venezuela’s government and power brokers to stabilize the government. Some of the reforms that Washington has tasked Caracas with include ridding foreign influence from nations such as China and Cuba from Venezuela’s government.

Washington has kept up pressure on Venezuela by restricting Caracas’ ability to sell oil on the international market. The United States has seized at least half a dozen oil tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude. The ships belong to a “ghost fleet” of foreign vessels that often use deception to carry sanctioned goods.

Instead, Washington has struck a deal with Rodriguez’s administration and will handle the sale of Venezuelan oil on international markets. The Trump administration says it can secure a higher price for Venezuela while keeping influence over Caracas by controlling the flow of its most important export.