At Turning Point USA's "Student Action Summit" in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth defended sending troops to back ICE in Los Angeles, California.
00:00...borders. It's about time we defend our own.
00:10Which is why you're seeing, you've already seen historic lows in crossings on the southern border.
00:16We've got over 10,000 troops stationed there through new national defense areas.
00:21If you're arrested on the border in those national defense areas, you are committing a crime.
00:25You will be charged and deported.
00:27When you meet these troops on the border, they're excited to be executing a mission on behalf of their country, defending the homeland.
00:35So deterrence starts in stopping that invasion.
00:38And we're supporting ICE agents in Los Angeles and elsewhere, ensuring they're safe in their duty.
00:44Of course, the media goes crazy.
00:46Oh my goodness, the Defense Department is deploying... No.
00:51ICE should have the ability to do its job in any city of America without being attacked.
00:57And if they're being attacked, their partners at the Defense Department are proud to stand alongside them to secure them, their facilities or their agents, in the execution of lawful law enforcement.
01:17It's something we're willing to do and we are doing on behalf of the mandate of the American people.
01:24But it's also the reestablishing deterrence around the globe.
01:27And that's why what happened through Operation Midnight Hammer was so important.
01:31By the way, a mission from the beginning, President Trump set the tone of what that would look like, the effects that would happen.
01:39He understood exactly, and our job was simply to execute.
01:44And to watch the skilled and courageous men and women of our military from beginning to end, from the city of America...
