Former New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira - who is running for congress in Texas and is seeking the Republican Party's endorsement - is defending immigration officers.
Teixeira, who won the World Series with the Yankees in 2009, says that agitators are purposely creating threats to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
The Department of Homeland Security posted a message to social media saying 'anti-ICE radicals' are attempting to 'demonize American law enforcement'.
Specifically, the government is saying that videos created with artificial intelligence (AI) are being shared on the internet.
'The REALITY: these disgusting smears and lies are fueling the 1000% increase in assaults and nearly 8000% increase in death threats against our brave @ICEgov officers,' the agency said.
'The SICKOS spreading this filth must stop before they get someone killed.'
The acting director of ICE warned that if agents go unmasked, AI could be used against them.
Teixeira quote-tweeted that post on his X account and wrote, 'We have to stand up for ICE officers and law enforcement against these dangerous threats.'
Unlike traditional law enforcement, ICE agents have largely been able to conduct their operations without giving out their name or a badge number - with some donning masks over their face.
Speaking to Fox News in July, acting ICE director Todd Lyons said that if agents were forced to go maskless and identify themselves, the use of AI could lead to safety concerns.
'If legislation passes to try to unmask ICE agents, they are not allowed to wear them, it runs the risk of agitators, different groups, you know, these fringe organizations using reverse technology, AI, to try to dox their families, try to get their identity, their home addresses,' Lyons said.
'We've heard elected officials say there shouldn't be any rest for ICE agents or their families. So, they're definitely concerned about that.
'They're also concerned about their own well-being when they go out to effectuate these arrests because now we have to send more officers out into the communities because where we can send four or five to make arrests in the past, now we had to send up to eight or 10 just to protect the four that are making the arrests of one individual.'
Teixeira is running for the seat in Texas' 21st Congressional District. He filed to run after Rep. Chip Roy announced that he would not seat re-election.