A protestors holds up a “Justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo” sign as people protest in support of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican motorist fatally shot by an ICE agent during a vehicle stop in Houston, Texas, U.S., July 19, 2026. REUTERS/Antranik Tavitian
Former Republican operative Steve Schmidt called for a wholesale purge of Trump administration officials involved in recent controversies, specifically targeting ICE agents trained under President Donald Trump's accelerated program.
During an episode of "The Warning," Schmidt characterized Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, as "irredeemable" and argued that all agents who completed Trump's 47-day training program and received badges and weapons should be dismissed.
Schmidt's demands were prompted by recent fatal ICE shootings in Texas and Maine.
He argued, "Every government lawyer, every agent in the chain of custody of the memos that has ordered a withdrawal of FBI investigators from shootings involving ICE, their careers are over."
"There's going to be a big purge of everybody who got in line with this," Schmidt said.
He also advocated for the dismantling of the Department of Homeland Security and abolishing ICE entirely as part of restoring federal law enforcement integrity.
Watch the video below.