ICE threats and harassment could bring prison time under new GOP Halo Act

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ashley Moody is rolling out a measure that would punish anyone who threatens a federal immigration officer while doing their job, Fox News Digital has learned.

Moody, R-Fla., is introducing The Halo Act, which would make it illegal for anyone, after being told to stay back, to knowingly come within 25 feet of a federal immigration officer who is doing their job.

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The act would make it illegal for an individual to get in the way or interfere with the officer’s work, threaten the officer with physical harm or harass the officer.

Breaking the possible law would hold a prison sentence of up to five years, a fine, or both.

"As the wife of a law enforcement officer, former Attorney General, and now United States Senator, I have always supported and fought for the selfless individuals who protect and serve our nation," Moody told Fox News Digital. "I am appalled at the news reports of people harassing and targeting federal officers while they are simply trying to do their jobs, and this must end."

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She added: "I’m introducing the Halo Act to enact criminal penalties for those that threaten or impede these federal officers while they are faithfully executing their duties."

The introduction of the legislation comes following a wave of violence and harassment against immigration officers carrying out their responsibilities to deport illegal criminal aliens across the nation.

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Just this weekend, two separate vehicle ramming incidents took place during immigration enforcement operations in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Border Patrol officials carried out arrests of at least 130 illegal immigrants in the area. At least one officer was injured.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers also have faced a surge in death threats and violent attacks amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Department of Homeland Security statistics in October show that ICE officers are experiencing an 8,000% increase in death threats.

"Our ICE law enforcement is now facing an 8,000% increase in death threats against them while they risk their lives every single day to remove the worst of the worst," Assistant Department of Homeland Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "From bounties placed on their heads for their murders, threats to their families, stalking, and doxxing online, our officers are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence and threats against them and their families." 

McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that "sanctuary politicians are contributing to the surge in violent threats and assaults of our officers through their repeated vilification and demonization tactics, including gross comparisons to the Nazi Gestapo and slave patrol." 

"It is incumbent on Democrat politicians to stop this rhetoric before more law enforcement are hurt or, God forbid, killed," she said. 

Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.