Hour 2 - ICE Crackdown Intensifies in Minneapolis

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (Hour 2)

Episode Theme:
ICE Crackdown Intensifies in Minneapolis
Date: January 23, 2026
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Host: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This hour of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show centers on the intensifying ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operations in Minneapolis, the pushback from local and state Democratic officials, and clashes with protestors. The hosts challenge the mainstream narrative around these enforcement actions, discuss Democrat infighting, media disinformation techniques, and broader cultural debates. The interview with Trisha McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, provides an inside look at current enforcement efforts, challenges, and outcomes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. ICE Operations in Minneapolis & Public Pushback

• Buck and Clay open with commentary on the growing resistance in Minnesota to ICE enforcement operations, including street protests and political criticism from Democrats.
• Buck describes critics as "street Communists" (00:04) intent on blocking lawful deportation operations.
• Clay and Buck mock the claims that ICE is operating as a "rogue" and "brutalizing" force, highlighting how Democrats prefer to thwart enforcement rather than offer realistic alternatives.

Notable Quote:

“The people that are complaining about how they are being done don’t want them done at all. [...] There’s a bad faith criticism going on here.”
— Buck Sexton (01:33)

• The hosts play a clip of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries criticizing ICE as "out of control" and compare this to what they see as a refusal among Democrats to support immigration law.

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2. Political Discontent Amongst Democrats

• Clay references polling data to show high levels of dissatisfaction with Democratic congressional leaders—even among their own voters (04:15).
• The hosts joke about how most people don’t even know their congressional representatives, contributing to broader political malaise and low accountability.

Notable Quote:

"Most people don’t even know who their congressperson is."
— Clay Travis (05:19)

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3. Celebrating Family and Population Growth

• Clay congratulates Vice President J.D. Vance on expecting a fourth child, framing family growth as a patriotic and positive act in contrast to what he describes as negative messages from the left about parenthood (06:05).
• Both hosts criticize what they see as left-wing messaging against having children, linking it to climate change alarmism.

Notable Quote:

“Having kids is the ultimate vote of confidence, in my opinion, in the future.”
— Clay Travis (07:43)

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4. Climate Change, Media Narratives, and Disinformation

• Clay and Buck discuss the tendency to blame any irregular weather event on climate change and mock articles explaining away both the presence and absence of hurricanes as evidence of global warming (11:21).
• Buck explains the shift in language from "global warming" to "climate change" as a way to maintain a perpetual crisis narrative.

Notable Quote:

“Whether it goes up or goes down, it is climate disruption. And therefore it’s also known as weather.”
— Buck Sexton (12:05)

• Buck plugs his upcoming book, Manufacturing Delusion, promising readers an exposé on media brainwashing, indoctrination, and propaganda techniques, including the concept “fire hose of falsehood.”

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5. Media Repetition and Narrative Entrenchment

• The hosts discuss entrenched narratives such as “hands up, don’t shoot” and false reports about Jan 6th, arguing that mass repetition cements untrue stories in the public mind (15:56).
• Buck mentions the "fire hose of falsehood" tactic as an example of this media phenomenon.

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Interview: Trisha McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (19:01–29:09)

Timestamps cover main interview content.

Minneapolis ICE Operations Update

• McLaughlin confirms enforcement is ongoing, with around 3,000 illegal aliens arrested in the area (19:35).
• Details recent arrests:
  • From Mexico: convictions for criminal sexual assault, drug trafficking
  • From Laos: convicted murderer and female convicted of homicide

Notable Quote:

"These are the criminals that we’re going after...the worst of the worst."
— Trisha McLaughlin (19:35)

• She criticizes local leaders (MN Gov. Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey) for lack of cooperation, noting 1,360 criminal aliens in local custody are at risk of being released onto the streets (20:36).

The "Five-Year-Old Abandonment" Incident

• McLaughlin recounts how an illegal alien from Ecuador fleeing law enforcement abandoned his five-year-old son in the cold:
  • ICE officers cared for the child, provided food and music, and tried to return him to his mother (who refused).
  • Both father and child are now reunited in detention (20:53).

Size and Intensity of Minneapolis Operations

• ICE and CBP resources have surged in Minneapolis due to a lack of local law enforcement support and violent resistance from protesters, including assaults and obstruction.
• Contrasts Minneapolis unrest with the relative calm in Florida and Texas, crediting better state cooperation (22:16).

Notable Quotes:

"You see peace, you see calm… It really goes to show you how if there’s state and local law enforcement that will actually let us in their jails and actually give us backup... it’s a lot better for the public."
— Trisha McLaughlin (22:16)

ICE’s Role in Drop in National Murders

• McLaughlin credits DHS enforcement, including the arrest of 8,000 gang members and over 1,500 suspected terrorists in the past year, with contributing to a historic low in the U.S. murder rate (24:02).
• Encourages listeners to visit wow.dhs.gov for case transparency.

Scale of Criminal Illegal Alien Problem

• Thousands of criminal illegal aliens detained by ICE have been convicted of murder in the U.S., with hundreds "just in Minneapolis alone" (25:53-26:18).

"Thousands who have been convicted in the United States of America...hundreds plural in just Minneapolis alone."
— Trisha McLaughlin (25:35, 26:12)

Democrat Resistance & ICE Morale

• McLaughlin finds it "disheartening" that Democrat opposition is focused on protecting violent offenders from deportation.
• ICE agents face a 1000% increase in assaults, vehicle attacks, doxing, and even an 8000% rise in death threats; despite this, morale remains solid due to supportive federal leadership (27:59).

Notable Quote:

"There is a degree of ICE hysteria that the Democrats have tried to manufacture, but... they continue to put politics ahead of public safety."
— Trisha McLaughlin (26:58)

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6. Listener Call-Ins & Cultural Sidebar (31:42–34:36)

• Clay takes a call from John in South Carolina about Oscar-nominated films and vampire movie recommendations.
• The hosts share a clip of a 23-year-old Somali Minnesotan describing the "banana and rice" fusion of Somali-American identity (33:26).

Memorable Moment:

"Being Somali isn't just eating bananas with rice … It’s like that combination of banana and rice."
— 23-year-old St. Paul resident (33:26)

• Show ends the hour with banter about home electronics, football, and weather preparations.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |---|---|---| | 01:33 | "The people that are complaining about how they are being done don’t want them done at all." | Buck Sexton | | 05:19 | "Most people don’t even know who their congressperson is." | Clay Travis | | 07:43 | "Having kids is the ultimate vote of confidence, in my opinion, in the future." | Clay Travis | | 12:05 | "Whether it goes up or goes down, it is climate disruption. And therefore it’s also known as weather." | Buck Sexton | | 25:35/26:12 | "Thousands who have been convicted in the United States of America... hundreds plural in just Minneapolis alone." | Trisha McLaughlin | | 27:59 | "They are facing 1,000% increase in assaults against them... but [they] know they have a president and Secretary... who actually has their back." | Trisha McLaughlin | | 33:26 | "Being Somali isn’t just eating bananas with rice ... but that's what it's like to be Somali and American." | St. Paul resident |

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:04–03:11 — ICE enforcement debate; Democrat criticism
• 04:14–05:42 — Polling, party dissatisfaction, lack of civic knowledge
• 06:00–08:09 — J.D. Vance family news and discussion of family values
• 11:17–13:16 — Climate change narratives, “Manufacturing Delusion” book tease
• 15:30–17:29 — Listener on media narrative repetition (“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”)
• 19:01–29:09 — Interview: Trisha McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security
• 31:42–34:36 — Listener calls and cultural/fun segments

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Summary Flow & Tone

The conversation keeps a brisk, lively tone—skeptical of mainstream narratives and critical of Democratic public officials. The hosts blend humor, real-time fact checking (with “Grok”), and cultural commentary. The interview with Trisha McLaughlin offers direct law enforcement data, a sharp critique of political resistance to ICE, and an insider’s view on the realities of modern immigration enforcement.

This hour provides both partisan analysis and practical reporting on the ground truth of immigration operations amid America’s ongoing policy and cultural clashes.

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Transcript

[Host/Intro Voice]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Buck Sexton]

All right, we got the second hour of play nvoc, and we're diving into the situation of ICE facing off with the street Communists doing all kinds of nonsense up in Minneapolis, trying to prevent the deportation, the deportation operations from taking effect. We'll give you the latest on this. We should be joined here shortly by a senior member of the ICE team. Talk to us about what's going on. So we're looking forward to that. And in the meantime, look, there's a lot of people that are trying to make this about. They don't like the way this is being done. You're going to hear a lot about this, and they're going to say it's profiling. They say it's mean. They're going to say it's all these different things. What is the alternative in a country where Democrat cities and states, Democrat controlled cities and states, actively thwart immigration enforcement? And because money is fungible federal dollars, I mean, if you can live in the reddest state in the country, which I think is Wyoming by the numbers, does that sound right? I think Wyoming is technically the reddest state. Is that right now you're looking at me kind of.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I'm trying to remember. I think Wyoming and West Virginia were the two that Trump won by the largest majorities in the country in 2024. So I think that's probably. But I think they've gone back and forth a couple of times. The team can look that up. I'll grock it while you continue to talk.

[Buck Sexton]

Close. Yeah. Grok is amazing. It allows us to fact check in real time and to always be able to update the things that we say. Because when you're speaking extemporaneously for three hours on end, you're trying to throw facts and figures out there. Guess what? Occasionally even we will be a little bit off. But in the meantime, I think, Clay, that people recognize the ICE enforcement operations that are underway. The people that are complaining about how they are being done don't want them done at all. And this is. So there's a bad faith criticism that's going on here. It's that they're saying, oh, they're wearing masks and it's scary, but the truth, I mean, here you go, here's Hakeem, here's Hakeem Jeffries. Here's the thing. Here's Hakeem Jeffries saying the ICE is like a rogue elephant, you know, trampling the Constitution, all that kind of stuff. Play 8. The American people Deserve Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency that conducts itself in a manner consistent with every other law enforcement agency in the country. That is not too much to ask in the United States of America. But ISIS totally out of control. Using taxpayer dollars to brutalize American citizens and, and law abiding immigrant families. Clay, they don't want this to actually be done. That's really the problem. Do we have Trisha, you gave me the point. I'm not sure.

[Clay Travis]

No, I've got the data from Grok, so I was going to give you grok data. OK, grok data. You are correct. Wyoming, Trump won by 46 points.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm going to make that my ringtone, Clay saying you are correct. That was great.

[Clay Travis]

West Virginia, I was kind of correct. Second place 42. And then for those of you out there who wonder, North Dakota, Trump won by 37. Iowa Trump won by right around 36 to 37. And Oklahoma, Republican plus 34 according to Grok would be the five Trumpiest of Trump states in America using his election victory most recently as a proxy for redness. Those are the five most die hard Republican states in the country right now. So yeah, I mean look, I think the, the challenge that Democrats have is, and I think we have this cut. Democrats are not even popular with Democrats. In fact, I'll pull this up in a sec. This was Harry Enton on CNN pointing out that Democrat poll numbers, Democrats are actually very frustrated with Democrats. Cut 14. Take a look at how Democrats who disapprove of congressional Democratic leaders.

[Buck Sexton]

Hello.

[Clay Travis]

We're talking about 57% in January of 2026, the second highest disapproval rate for Democratic leaders from their own party on record. It's only beat by what we saw earlier on in this Congress when it was 61%. There's basically been no improvement. Democrats hate their own congressional leaders.

[Caller]

These numbers are awful, awful, awful.

[Clay Travis]

I think that's kind of tough. It's one thing to have people who are the opposing party disagree with you, but even Democrats are looking at their Democrat congressional leaders and saying we hate you. We cannot stand what you are able to do.

[Buck Sexton]

The data that you always have to set alongside that Clay, because I just, after a while I feel like this is, it becomes a little tiresome to hear this stuff from people. The complaints, oh, I hate, I hate Democrats or I hate Republicans in Congress. Then you say okay, how do you feel about your rep?

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

And what's really interesting is how many people go, well I, my, my rep is good or even more so, I don't even know my rep is yeah.

[Clay Travis]

That'S actually more common. Yes.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Most people don't even know who their congressperson is. I mean, and that is why to a certain extent, we get the results. We do, because a lot of people don't even know who they're voting for when it comes to actually going out and representing them.

[Buck Sexton]

I have one of, I have one of the true greats, Clay. I have Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, Democrat. She is my congresswoman.

[Clay Travis]

Wow.

[Buck Sexton]

There you go.

[Clay Travis]

You told me about this before. She's the cowboy wearing.

[Buck Sexton]

Where's the cowboy?

[Clay Travis]

Whereas.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, yes, frequently in cowboy hats, but always has a, A, a kind of festive hat on. Yes.

[Clay Travis]

By the way, I think we have. We're waiting on Trisha McLaughlin. McLaughlin. I will text her here in a sec and see what we've got going there. But I did want to play. We mentioned that JD Vance was speech speaking at the March for Life event and we haven't mentioned this on the show since. I didn't deliver very good positive news as we finished the hour. This is very positive news. Congratulations to J.D. and his wife Usha. They are having a fourth child in July, a baby boy. And J.D. vance addressed this cut 30. Now, some of you may remember that in my remarks last year, I told you all that one of the things I most wanted in the United States of America was more families and more babies. So let the record show you have a vice president who practices what he preaches. So there you go. I mean, we had not mentioned it, but I do think that is certainly something very worthy of celebration. And I think that this will be the first time that a vice president has had a baby while in office since the 1870s. Was the, was the stat that I saw on that, which I think speaks, you know, quite clearly to, to the fact that that things are, you know, at least in the context of the, this White House. You got Caroline Levitt having a baby. You got J.D. vance having a baby. Several people out there, I think Katie and Stephen Miller are having another baby. Having kids is the ultimate vote of confidence, in my opinion, in the future. And we do need more families and more babies in this country. And unfortunately, we have had a huge dearth of children. And I think it goes to the fact that Democrats have convinced a lot of people that children are awful and they're not worth the time. And you're making the world a worse place when you have a baby. And that's the ultimate to me, sign of a failed argument and a failed culture when you don't want more Children.

[Buck Sexton]

I know this is a maybe sounds like a fringe argument and at some level it is, but it's definitely pushed by the media. Can you imagine if you're one of these people who has been quoted, who have been quoted in these articles and not the immediate recent years, but five years ago, 10 years ago, who were saying that they didn't want to have kids because of the carbon impact and because of climate change. Imagine that. That's your belief. But. But now you realize, well, you've been had. Climate change is a joke. It doesn't mean anything. Climate, the climate is always changing. The climate is fine, the earth is not melting, the seas are not rising. It was all a scam. It's really like some of these left wing beliefs, actually most if not all, when you break them down to their effect, their impact on people, cruel. So a lot of they think they're the nice ones, but they're actually really cruel in the outcomes. You know, they think they're the nice ones by letting people out of prison, for example, or not putting people in prison. And then terrible things happen because there is a criminal class in this country, unfortunately, there are some people who do very bad things.

[Clay Travis]

I do think that that's well said. And I think unfortunately people refuse to recognize that they might be wrong. And because if you did, if you are 45, let's say you're around my age and you never had any kids and you are a die hard Kamala supporter and you had to. And one reason you didn't have kids was because you believe the climate was in an existential crisis and the best thing you for the future of humanity was actually not to have children? Are you suddenly going to realize that you made all the wrong choices in your life when you're in your mid-40s and it's difficult or impossible for you to have children? Or are you going to double, triple, quadruple down on your wrongness because it's too difficult to stare into the mirror and recognize that you might have been the rube, that you might have made poor life choices? I think unfortunately it's the latter. And I think that's one reason why you're seeing such a strong base in the Democrat party for childless women, which is the number one voting bloc of Democrats across the country. It's because as they age, if you're a childless woman and you convinced yourself that you were making the right choice by not having children, you either have to recognize that you may have made an awful choice in your life or. Or you have to double and triple down and make politics your life's mission, because there is nothing else. And when you really think about it from that context becomes really kind of awfully sad. And I can't wait. You know, we're dealing here with this awful winter storm, which is going to be one of the worst winter storms, it looks like potentially in decades for many parts of the country. I was reading the New York Times today and I was expecting to see it, I guarantee you, on the front page of the New York Times either Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Buck.

[Buck Sexton]

The snowstorm disproportionately affects women and minorities.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, that's funny. That's. I wasn't going to go that far. Although that probably will come. No, no, no. That the snowstorm and the extreme cold and the fact that we had this event is a sign of global warming. There will be, you know, just because it's cold. Actually, you know, every irregular or somewhat strange weather pattern is a sign of global warming. Did you notice, by the way, we didn't have a single hurricane hit the United States this past year. There was actually articles saying, well, sometimes lack of hurricanes can be a sign of global warming. So whatever occurs in the weather is front page news of how global weather can be, can be impacted.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, that's why they change it to climate change, as we all know, was global warming. And I know this feels like ancient history now, but think about this. Global warming indicates that there's only one trajectory, getting warmer. But they couldn't mess with the numbers enough to prove that. So then they turned it to climate change, which is another way of saying, clay, whether it goes up or goes down, it is climate disruption. And therefore it's also known as weather. And those of us who have the ability, you know, at some point you're. You're a person who just. You sit there in your chair and no matter how many times someone looks you in the eyes and says you're not on a chair, you know that you are. And you don't care what they say. You want to be those people. If you're listening to the show, you're one of those people. And actually, this is what I get into in my book Manufacturing Delusion, which.

[Clay Travis]

Everyone should go by and make sure they get on the release date coming up next month.

[Buck Sexton]

Trisha McLaughlin on the left uses brainwashing, indoctrination and propaganda against you. They want to tell you you're not sitting in a chair when you're sitting in a chair. And there's a way they do this. And There are reasons they do this. Go get the book. You'll learn about all of it.

[Clay Travis]

Trisha McLaughlin texted me. She will be with us at 1:34 right at the bottom of the hour on the absolute latest having to do with ice, Minneapolis and more. Also Brendan Carr, commissioner of the fcc, top of the next hour and Mary Margaret Olahan. So we got a bunch of guests coming your way and we'll take some of your calls in the midst of all that to 800-282-2882.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Inspirational stories that unite us all. Each day, spend time with Clay and buck them on the free I hard radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are rolling through the program here and we've got a lot of different people who want to wake. I think Joe's got a good point here actually. Up in New Jersey, Joe, we talked about the arrest in Minneapolis, but the videos that went viral showed them pointing something out here. Thanks for calling in on the Friday edition of the program.

[Caller]

Yeah, no problem. I'm glad you took my call. Yeah, I just find it incredible that this woman Armstrong who was arrested, you know her version, we went and we sat down for part of the service. Man, she's still shouting, hands up, don't shoot. Yes, this is. And there's people that still believe that is the truth. It's. To me, it's just incredible. You know, it's.

[Clay Travis]

This is. Thank you for the call. I think this is important, Buck, because it'll happen with the five year old and a lot of other stories that just linger. There is a huge amount of public disinformation that Democrats are phenomenally good at getting ingrained into the overall narrative cycle so that it stops getting questioned and begins to become accepted as true. For instance, we just had the Jan, 6th anniversary, but the idea that tons of police officers were murdered, that becomes standard operating procedure for a lot of these stories. The hands up, don't shoot lie. So much of what they put out there is so successful due to mass repetition. I mean, the very fine people hoax associated with Trump that it becomes emblematic and embedded in, in the overall narrative and hard to defeat.

[Buck Sexton]

We call this tactic fire hose of falsehood in manufacturing delusion. The book that all of you should be getting your pre orders in on. So no, that's a real thing though. It's just, you just keep. It's effectively just repetition ad nauseam. You just keep saying it and saying and saying it and saying it and it does seep into people's minds. It does start to be accepted as the truth to so many. And it's unfortunate, but I mean, hands up, don't shoot is something that had a cultural resonance at a point in time. And the fact that it's not true and obviously was always untrue does not matter at all, Clay, to the people who used it then and use it now.

[Clay Travis]

And look for the people who are intentionally lying. They're despicable. But the thing that disappoints me is a lot of people come to trust the repetition and are not even intentionally attempting to lie. They are just taken advantage of. And there's a huge percentage of people out there that just believe untruths and think they're doing their best to be informed. And Democrats, I think, take advantage of that in a huge way. And the hands up, don't shoot thing is unfortunately an emblematic example of that 11 years later. Look, most of us don't usually stop and think about our online identities being stolen. Even when, when we're online purchasing one thing or another. We trust the online retailer, hotel chain, airline, food delivery service, whatever it is. What we can't trust is their ability to protect the database at all costs. When a cyber hacker sets their mind to it, there are few databases they can't eventually find their way into. And that's why it's their game. These cyber thieves, once they steal data in a data breach, they most often sell that data to the highest bidders on the dark web, leaving your online identity totally exposed. Cyber threats are everywhere. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second for identity threats. If and when they see evidence your name and identity is being used without your permission, they will notify you immediately. If you become a victim, you can help to get fixed. Get now and join by going to lifelock.com code clay for 40% off. That's lifelock.com code clay.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back into Clay and Buck as promised. We're joined by Trisha McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security. Trisha, thank you for calling in. Thanks for being with us.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Hey, thanks so much for having me.

[Buck Sexton]

How are the operations going specifically in Minneapolis? Are we continuing with much of the same plan? When are we going to have a sense of numbers of those detained and possibly in the process of deportation? Just if you could bring us up to speed on immigration enforcement efforts in the state of Minnesota.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Absolutely. We're not being deterred. Our officers are still on the ground carrying out their lawful duties. We're about 13,000, excuse me, 3,000 illegal aliens who have been arrested. But I mean, you guys have to listen to some of the guys we picked up just yesterday. An individual from Mexico convicted for criminal sexual assault. An individual from another individual from Mexico, drug trafficking, an individual from Laos who was convicted of murder. Another individual from Laos, a female who was convicted of homicide. These are the criminals that we're going after. And as much as Walz and Jacob Fry don't want the American people to know that we are going after the worst, the worst and getting them off of the streets. And there's a very simple, easy solution here, which is that they could actually let us into their jails and make sure that the 1,360 criminal legal aliens who are sitting in their custody the two day does not get released back onto their streets to commit more crimes against Americans.

[Clay Travis]

Trisha, appreciate you joining us. Can you tell us the background on the five year old story that Democrats tried to make the new focus of their anti ICE protests? What happened there, what is significant and what should our audience know from your perspective about that story?

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Yeah, well, first and foremost, this father, he abandoned his five year old son when he was fleeing from law enforcement. So our law enforcement officers approached this illegal alien from Ecuador and that's when he darted off without his child, leaving his child out in the cold and Our officers, they stood there with the child and made sure the child was okay, actually brought him McDonald's and played him some of his favorite music. And they tried. They made multiple attempts to bring the child into the custody of the mother, who refused. And our officers even assured her that she would not be taken into custody. So the mother is abandoning the child, the father is. And so our law enforcement made sure that the child was safe and warm. And now the child and the father are in daily detention facility and they're back together.

[Buck Sexton]

So, Tricia, what we see is a lot of focus on these operations really in Minneapolis and perhaps the broader Minneapolis metro area. Are there a lot of places elsewhere in the country with similar deployment of resources given the size of the city? Or is the resistance that ICE officers have come up against in Minneapolis so much more severe that you've had to put a lot more manpower just to be able to conduct the lawful mission?

[Trisha McLaughlin]

You're exactly right. That is why you have such a large footprint and such a visible presence of ICE and CBP officers on the ground is because we don't have that state and local law enforcement backing. So when, I mean, people can look on at the images that are being put out as far as law enforcement is being assaulted, there is rampant violence against them, impeding an obstruction while they're carrying out their lawful duties. We still need to make these arrests and get these criminals off of the streets. So that's why we've surged resources there. But I mean, if you look at the juxtaposition between what's happening in Minnesota when There's been about 13,000 arrests, and then you look at in total, and then you look at somewhere like Florida where There's been over 40,000 arrests, and yet you don't see riots. You see peace, you see calm. And then you look at Texas, where we also have state and local law enforcement who are actually coordinating with us. Again, you see peace, calm, you don't see riots. That's about 35,000. It really goes to show you how if there's state and local law enforcement that will actually let us in their jails and actually give us backup when we call if our law enforcement are being assaulted or impeded, it's a lot better for the public and it's a lot better for all of these communities.

[Clay Travis]

We're Talking to Trisha McLaughlin. Good news that came out. 125 year low in murders, according to Axios, according to the New York Times. How much do you think that is attributable partly to the work that DHS is doing in helping to get violent predators out of our country. It doesn't seem coincidental to me that the border gets shut down and suddenly murders plummet to a level that truly has never occurred in the history of our nation. Basically, in the life of any.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Yeah, it's no coincidence. We've arrested 8,000 gang members just in this last year alone off the streets of America. We've arrested over 1500 known or suspected terrorists off of the streets. I mean, I get the reports every single day. The scores and scores of child pedophiles, convicted murderers, people who are wanted for human rights abuses. We have a worse, the worst website. We want to give ultimate transparency to Americans. It's wow.dhs.gov it's searchable website. Go see who has been walking around with impunity committing crimes in your neighborhood and who DHS law enforcement has risked their lives to get off of your streets. I think this is low in murder is completely. Because the President actually worked to enforce the rule of law and our DHS law enforcement has done a phenomenal job in getting these criminals off of the streets.

[Buck Sexton]

Patricia, I don't want to put you on the spot too much because, you know, I know that there's a lot of numbers one could ask or. So anything you can do to just give us some sense of the scale would be helpful. But something that I'm curious about. Do you have some estimate of either how many. Let's just take homicide, for example. How many of the illegals that have been arrested and or deported were people that had been convicted previously of murder or how many of them are actually still at large in the country? I mean, are we talking about hundreds of murderer illegal aliens? Thousands of murderer illegal aliens? I mean, I just want to get some sense of what these numbers look like.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Thousands who have been convicted in the United States of America. But keep in mind how many these people are wanted for crimes in their own country or a third country. And so they wouldn't have a rap sheet in the United States, but they still are criminals. They just are at large, fugitives from their own nation.

[Buck Sexton]

This is really important. You just said that thousands of the illegals. So they're supposed to not be in the country in the first place. Thousands of the ones that ICE is, is now detaining and putting in the process to deport have been convicted of murder here. So they're illegal aliens who committed murders in America?

[Trisha McLaughlin]

That's correct. I mean, we're talking about hundreds plural in just Minneapolis alone.

[Clay Travis]

My Lord, when we run through all of this, we're Talking to Trisha McLaughlin. Are you genuinely stunned that Democrats have decided that their entire basis as resistance to Trump 2.0 to a large extent has boiled down to we're going to try to keep ICE agents from deporting people who are illegally here, many of whom committed violent crimes? I mean, it just. I know you've got the job that you do, but when you pull yourself back and look at this, does it ever just strike you as absolutely bonkers that this is the Hill that the Democrat Party has decided they're going to die on?

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Well, I think it's disheartening just purely as an American, because I see these individuals, these criminal, illegal aliens who are law enforcement is risking their lives to remove. And yet these Democrat politicians, all they do is continue to vilify and demonize our law enforcement time and time again. So I think that there is a degree of ICE hysteria that the Democrats have tried to manufacture, but I do think that they're rudderless politically and they continue to put politics ahead of public safety. And this is kind of the same recipe that they had in 20, and I don't think they've learned any lessons from it.

[Buck Sexton]

How is the morale of the ICE officers that are engaged in these operations? There's clearly a broad effort, both with people going up to them in person, but then in the media, to defame them, to call them all kinds of names. I'm just wondering if you could speak to how are they holding up under this? And how is DHS leadership trying to support them as they're conducting their lawful operations?

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Well, I do think. Right. I mean, they are facing 1000% increase in assaults against them. We're seeing these rampant vehicle rammings against them as well. Their families are being targeted where their spouses work, where their children go to school. Mass amount of doxing, about 8,000% increase in death threats against them. So I will say, of course, that just on a human level, of course that takes a toll. But I do think with our law enforcement officers at dhs, they know that they have a president and a Secretary of Homeland Security and Krissi Noem who actually has their back. They didn't have that with Biden. They sure as heck didn't have that with Mayorkas who would continue to demonize his own men and women in law enforcement. So I do think I've been on the ground in Minneapolis, gosh, quite a few times here in the last week or two. And I do think that people understand the mission. They, they put their head down, they go to work. They know that they're carrying out the law and they know that they're saving really countless lives by getting these criminals off the street.

[Clay Travis]

Trisha, we appreciate the time. We know how hard you guys are working and we'll look forward to talking to you again and keep up the good work in the meantime.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

Thank you. Grateful to be on with you.

[Clay Travis]

That's Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Trisha McLaughlin. You see her obviously on television quite a lot. And we'll be back here momentarily. We're going to talk with Brendan Carr and Mary Margaret Olahan in the third hour of the program, but I want to tell you it's going to be freezing cold. The top story across all of the television networks, by and large, the top of every single hour right now is what may well be the largest winter storm to hit in the United States in decades. From basically Texas all the way up to New York and all points in between, except for bucks Florida. There's gonna be a lot of people who are very cold over the next several days and Cozy Earth will help to make sure that you, if you need to, can get under some warm, cozy blankets. They make sheets and bedding just as comfortable, just as luxurious as you could possibly want. They got a brand new bedding set, the Baja Bedding Set, perfect example. Matching collection sheets, duvet covers, quilts based on the beach setting vibes of Baja California where temperatures will be fantastic this weekend, unlike in much of the country. They also have new luxe bath towels. These products are phenomenal. They come with 100 day trial 10 year warranty. They want you to be satisfied and they believe in the product quality. Go online to cozyearth.com use my name Clay. That's C L A Y as your promo code for up to 20 off. Cozyearth.com promo code clay. Please check them out. C o z y cozyearth.com My name Clay for 20 off everything. Stories of freedom, stories of America, inspirational stories that unite us all each day. Spend time with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay Travis Sexton show. Our thanks to Trisha McLaughlin. Third hour of the program coming this way and we will be joined by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Mary Margaret Olahan from the Daily Wire. But a bunch of you want to weigh in on a variety of different topics. It is Friday, 800-282-2882 and we try to get to as many of you as we can. Let's go to. Let's see. Well, this is a wide variety of topics. So here we go. John in Columbia, South Carolina. John, what you got for us?

[Caller]

Okay, I'm one of your 5% of your audience that actually saw Sinners in the theater.

[Clay Travis]

All right, what did you think? Did it deserve 16 Oscar nominations, the most in the history of Hollywood?

[Caller]

No, it was okay. It was highly overrated, overhyped, but, you know, it wasn't horrible. Yes, they're very gratuitous, though. Spoiler. At the very end, they ambush the white guy.

[Clay Travis]

All right, hold on. We don't need spoilers. Just in the events. A relatively new movie. But you said you have a couple of vampire movie suggestions. Are you a big vampire movie fan?

[Caller]

I'm pretty big horror buff all the way around. But there are a couple of recent ones that I think are really good. One of them is 30 days of night.

[Clay Travis]

Okay.

[Caller]

But it's. I have to warn you, it is very violent. So it might not be everybody's cup of tea, but it's a really original concept.

[Clay Travis]

Yep.

[Caller]

And then the other one is called Let the Right One In. It's a Swedish movie. It was remade in America as Let Me In. And the American version is good, but it's not really nearly as good as the original.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I appreciate the call. Thank you for those recommendations for the vampire movie aficionados out there. You can. You can listen to those. By the way, Buck, I wanted to play this. This is a St. Paul resident, 23 year old. She's making the argument for what being Somali is like. And she had a Kamala Harris esque analysis of what is the importance of being Somali up in Minnesota. Cut 28.

[Host/Intro Voice]

So I'm Somali. I'm proud to be Somali. To me, being Somali isn't just eating bananas with rice. It's. It's a lot. It's like. It's. It's. It's an interesting thing. It's a. It's very hard to describe what it means to be Somali and what it means to be American, but it's like a cultural fusion. It's kind of like the bananas and rice. You know, people don't really see, like, you know, it's a.

[Clay Travis]

It's a.

[Trisha McLaughlin]

It's.

[Host/Intro Voice]

You know, people don't think, oh, you can eat bananas with rice, but that's what it's like to be Somali and American. It's like that combination of banana and rice. But you're gonna get what I mean.

[Clay Travis]

I can't believe this is real. They had her speaking as one of the spokespeople for the Somali experience in, in Minnesota. And Buck, I don't think she persuaded anyone that that things were necessarily much more than bananas and rice. That is Kamala Harris if she were a 23 year old Somali. Derek in Buckeye Arizona. I didn't know there was a Buckeye Arizona. Cc, what you got for us?

[Caller]

Arizona? Hey, I'm kind of glad, Buck, that.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay finally admitted that he's getting old and he had to have a Jumbotron installed in his house for him to watch the football games.

[Caller]

Now dude, go get your eyes checked.

[Buck Sexton]

Lasik's cheap.

[Clay Travis]

The television. I just think I should be in charge of all instant replay review because I'm not sure that anyone has a larger video of games that take place in a private home. I'm going to give Roger Goodell my phone number. I'm going to give the SEC and the Big Ten commissioners, ACC, Big 12 and I'm just going to say, hey, if you need me, if you need me to review any play, I can look at it. I think I would be phenomenal at instant replay review. And now I have the ability to see it on a much bigger screen than any of the people that are actually in charge of instant replay review. So there you go. You're gonna have to check this thing out and I'm gonna watch. Evidently with the snowstorm coming as it is, I'm gonna plan on watching a lot of things this weekend because I think like many people going to be snowed in and they say, Buck, that the big, biggest beneficiary of everybody being snowed in, I mean legitimately, the whole east coast basically is going to be dealing with, with bad weather, nfc, AFC championship games which are already close to setting all time records, probably more people are going to be snowed in, which means they're going to need something to watch. And so there you go.

[Buck Sexton]

I will have to go deep into the game tape and study the AFC and NFC teams that are in it to understand who I think is going to win and to make that prediction for all of you. Because I might have lost on the national championship game pick and in fact picked against the Cinderella story that was the Indiana University because I didn't know anything about that story. But this, this time around, I'm going to do more than a GROK search. I'm going to do Grok and Gemini Clay. I'm going to go deep into my analysis.

[Clay Travis]

There you go. Up next FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. See you then.

[Host/Intro Voice]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.