Kristi Noem and Corey R. Lewandowski together again in ICE deportation raids in Phoenix
PHOENIX — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty on President Trump’s deportation raids.
Noem led about 100 federal agents on an early morning raid Tuesday in Arizona’s capital, where they nabbed three illegal migrants wanted on charges from weapons and drug offenses to running a money laundering operation.
The Post was there as she dodged kicks from a suspect wearing slip-on shoes, and gamely told him, “You’re not scaring me with your Croc.”
United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accompanied a multi-agency law enforcement raid on wanted criminals on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 in Phoenix, Ariz.
The multi-agency task force — led by Phoenix Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and joined by a coterie of federal law enforcement and immigration agencies — nabbed three illegal immigrant felons with extensive criminal histories.
Noem, clad in police tactical gear including a flak jacket, sported her two-tone gold Rolex as she greeted agents from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration in a dingy underground parking garage. She shook hands with officers as she thanked them for their work and pledged to get them the resources they need to do their jobs better.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem assisting in multi-agency law enforcement raid for the apprehension of suspected money launderer Jose Escobar-Robles in Phoenix, Ariz.
Noem accompanied a multi-agency law enforcement raid to apprehend Jose Escobar-Robles, who is suspected of money laundering for a Mexican cartel, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Phoenix, Ariz.
“The effort of cooperation we have between agencies is getting turned onto steroids. We have this being multiplied across the country exponentially, now anyone who’s in this country illegally that’s committing crimes and has broken our laws will face consequences,” Noem told The Post.
“We’ll be sweeping them up faster than we ever have before.”
Also along for the raids with Noem was former Trump campaign manager and senior advisor Corey Lewandowski, who introduced himself to the group as “chief of staff.” DHS later clarified that he is an adviser to DHS and a special government employee.
Agents were briefed on the day’s targets before a dozen cars — with Noem leading the convoy behind the wheel of a BearCat armored SWAT vehicle — rolled out in pursuit of the suspects.
Corey R. Lewandowski joined United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem(not pictured) as they accompanied a multi-agency law enforcement raid on wanted criminals on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 in Phoenix, Ariz.
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Corey R. Lewandowski joined United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem(not pictured) as they accompanied a multi-agency law enforcement raid on wanted criminals on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 in Phoenix, Ariz.
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The first suspect arrested was Bonifacio Renteria-Cruz, an illegal migrant felon from Mexico with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, according to DHS. His lengthy rap sheet includes prior convictions for aggravated assault, weapons charges, and an active arrest warrant in Mexico for homicide.
Renteria-Cruz had been ordered removed by an immigration official in 2008.
Next on the task force’s chopping block was illegal alien Jose Escobar-Robles, identified as helping run Monroy Enterprises, a money service business believed to be illegally funneling money to Mexico to benefit cartels engaged in drug smuggling and human trafficking.
After he was slapped in cuffs and loaded into the back of a police car, Noem asked him questions about whether he has family as he raised his Croc shoe in an attempt to block out the camera, impatiently imploring the agents “let’s go, let’s go.”
Noem quipped back, “You’re gonna go — you’re gonna go home, and you’re gonna get prosecuted,” adding, “you’re not scaring me with your Croc” as he repeatedly kicked his foot in her direction.
The final suspect picked up in the raids, Luis Garcia-Sanchez, is allegedly connected to the notorious 18th Street Gang. He was wanted for felony narcotics charges dating back to 1987 and twice ordered removed from the country, DHS said.
Garcia-Sanchez was barefoot and surrounded by a pungent cloud of pot smoke when agents showed up with the warrant. His wife retrieved his shoes before they loaded him in a waiting police car.
As officers led Garcia-Sanchez, 61, away in handcuffs, he told The Post that he was no longer affiliated with the LA-based street gang, and that he was a grandfather now.
He told Noem from the back of a squad car, sounding somewhat remorseful, that he has three kids, and that he didn’t want them to wind up living the gangbanger lifestyle like their father.
“Go deal with the consequences of breaking the law here. Give them an example of being a better person,” Noem told a handcuffed Garcia-Sanchez.
Noem said the raids would continue, and were part of stepped-up efforts under the Trump administration to round up migrants — including those whose primary crime is being in the country illegally.
“We’re past the deadline of the Alien Registration Act, so everyone in this country illegally now, it’s a criminal charge. Everyone should know we’re enforcing the Act. If you’ve been here longer than 30 days and haven’t registered with the government, we are now coming after you criminally,” she said.
“That means we can come into your home and get you, charge you and remove you, and the fines are up to $1,000 a day,” she said, adding that federal agencies are now empowered to use all of the authority at their disposal “to make sure American citizens are the only ones afforded the rights of being in this country,” she said.
“Everybody else is going to pay consequences for breaking our laws.”
Noem also referenced the Supreme Court’s lifting of an order blocking the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act, paving the way to deport more criminal migrants to El Salvador’s infamous Terrorism Confinement Center prison, CECOT.
“We’re going to continue using that act in order to return people from these terrorist organizations to face consequences and be removed from our country,” she said, noting that there’s plenty of room in the facility and more to come.
“You’ll see us continuing to partner with El Salvador. CECOT has the capacity for 40,000 individuals, and [El Salvador President Nayib Bukele] has said they’ll take as many as we want to send. There’s 14,000 there now, and he said he plans to build another prison right next to it.”
