Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security, has escalated a war of words with Kim Kardashian, accusing the reality TV personality of “doing the bidding of criminals” by criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles.
“Ms. Kardashian is misinformed and detached from the very reality of the operations in Los Angeles she has decided to opine on,” McLaughlin said, TMZ reported Friday.
“These are the violent criminals who Homeland Security, under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, have removed from Los Angeles’ streets: murderers, rapists, gang members and child pedophiles.
“Why does Ms. Kardashian continue to do the bidding of criminals at the expense of innocent Americans and brave law enforcement?”
Just before receiving an award on Thursday in Venice, Italy, for her work in criminal justice reform, Kardashian was asked about ICE’s operations across the U.S.
“In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country,'” she reportedly said. “But then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected. People I know. People my friends know.
“You want to believe that there’s a powerful message in protection, but then you see that it’s not really happening like that. … It’s really tough, but I think that we have to do what we can to protect the people that have really supported and built our country.”
In June, McLaughlin ripped into Kardashian for denouncing ICE operations that targeted workers in the Los Angeles area. Kardashian called on the public to “speak up” against the “injustice.”
“@KimKardashian, which one of these convicted child molesters, murderers, drug traffickers and rapists would you like to stay in the county?” McLaughlin wrote in a post on X, attaching four images of people that she said ICE agents arrested during operations in Los Angeles. They were identified in each photo by name and by a brief summary of their alleged criminal history.
“These are just a few of the convicted illegal criminals who have been picked up in the last 72 hours,” McLaughlin added.
Kardashian collaborated with President Donald Trump in his first term on criminal justice reform, helping to secure a pardon and sentence commutation for Alice Marie Johnson, who had been serving a life sentence for a nonviolent federal conviction. Johnson is now an adviser to Trump on clemency for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes.
“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens and Make America Safe Again — no matter what elite Hollywood celebrities have to say about it,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Johnson told TMZ.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
