PHOENIX — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche promised to go after every individual who assaults federal law enforcement conducting immigration enforcement “every single time,” standing firm Wednesday on the Justice Department’s intolerance for protesters.

“At my Department of Justice, if a rioter or an illegal alien or somebody you’re trying to arrest touches a federal law enforcement officer in any sort of manner that’s aggressive, we will take that case and prosecute them for assaulting a federal officer,” Blanche told attendees at the Border Security Expo conference in Phoenix on Wednesday morning.