Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Todd M. Lyons sparred Tuesday with Democratic lawmakers who accused his agency of functioning like a violent secret police force, vowing at a congressional hearing to press forward with the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
Legislators on the House Homeland Security Committee pressed Lyons for more than three hours on the detentions of U.S. citizens, the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and the aggressive actions by immigration officers in cities including Minneapolis. Lyons refused to answer some questions, citing ongoing investigations, and denounced Democratic lawmakers who compared ICE to Gestapo — a reference to the police of Nazi Germany, which conducted brutal arrests with no legal oversight.
In one contentious moment, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York) told Lyons that if he and his agents do not want to be referred to as a secret police force, then they should reevaluate their actions.
“I have a simple suggestion: If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one,” Goldman said. Lyons told the lawmakers that such rhetoric has put officers in unprecedented danger, including assaults and death threats, and said his family had been targeted.
But Lyons said: “Let me send a message to anyone who thinks you can intimidate us: You will fail. We will continue carrying out our mission.”
Lyons was joined by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott and Customs and Immigration Services Director Joseph B. Edlow at the bipartisan hearing — the first time the heads of ICE and CBP had appeared before the committee in President Donald Trump’s second term. Although CBP and Border Patrol officers have been at the helm of some of the deportation campaign’s most controversial tactics — including use of force against protesters — much of the scrutiny was focused on ICE.
Republican legislators largely rallied to defend the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts and praised the Trump administration for drastically reducing illegal border crossings. But House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-New York), appeared to take a swipe at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem — despite not naming her — by criticizing the Department of Homeland Security for rushing to conclusions “about law enforcement or their fellow Americans” without the completion of an impartial investigation.
“Officials and elected leaders should not rush to judgment,” Garbarino said. “Public trust and public safety go hand in hand.”
The testimony came as public support for Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda has plummeted in the wake of the fatal shootings in Minneapolis last month. Though the Trump administration has taken some measures to try to tamp down protests in that city, including withdrawing 700 federal officers, tensions have remained between local officials and the federal government about the broad scope of the immigration enforcement operations and the aggressive tactics of officers.
“Some Minnesota officials are finally signaling the willingness to cooperate with ICE,” Lyons said. “Well, let me be clear: Promises are not enough. We need action.”
The hearing took place as DHS is set to shut down Saturday unless lawmakers strike a last-minute deal to fund the agency.
Democrats have demanded new restrictions on federal immigration agents in exchange for their votes. Their demands include tighter rules around the use of warrants, independent investigations of alleged misconduct, a ban on agents wearing masks, and a mandate for them to wear body cameras. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) have dismissed Republicans’ counteroffer as not detailed enough to negotiate over.
“It demonstrates that they want to be seen to be working with us, but they’re clearly sandbagging,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said.
Republicans have argued that there is not enough time to hash out a deal and pass it before DHS shuts down. They want Democrats to agree to fund the agency to allow more time for negotiations. Congress signed off on $170 billion last year for Trump’s immigration and border agenda over four years as part of the GOP’s sprawling tax bill.
The deaths of Pretti and Good, both U.S. citizens who lived in Minneapolis, have prompted public backlash and bipartisan calls for an independent investigation. Noem has also faced criticism from lawmakers in both parties for suggesting after Pretti’s death that he had committed an “act of domestic terrorism” and sought to kill law enforcement, despite video from witnesses contradicting that account.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (Mississippi), the top Democrat on the House committee, condemned Noem’s actions in his opening remarks and demanded that she resign.
“Secretary Noem is a liar with no concern for the lives of Americans killed by the department she runs,” he said. “She must go.”
Democrats pressed the three Trump administration officials on the ethics and morals of their actions. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan) asked Scott and Lyons if they expect to get a presidential pardon at the end of their terms. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-New Jersey), who is facing federal charges of assaulting ICE officers outside an immigration detention facility last year, was more direct, telling Lyons there is “blood on your hands” over ICE’s tactics.
“Do you think you’re going to hell, Mr. Lyons?” McIver asked, before Garbarino interrupted her questioning.
Lyons said ICE has made 379,000 arrests in the first year of Trump’s administration, a figure that he said included 7,000 suspected gang members and more than 14,000 “known or suspected terrorists” — although he did not define who is given that designation. Federal data has shown that the majority of people who have been arrested do not have criminal convictions.
“The president has tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate,” Lyons said.
Noem said last week that, “effective immediately,” DHS would deploy body cameras “to every officer in the field in Minneapolis” and would expand the body-cam program broadly, “as funding is available.” The Washington Post previously reported that in its initial budget proposal, the department said it planned to cut the staff of ICE’s body-cam program from 22 to three and reduce spending on the initiative from about $20.5 million to $5.5 million.
Lyons told lawmakers Tuesday that about 3,000 of ICE’s 13,000 officers in the field are assigned to wear body cameras, which can record their interactions with the public, and another 6,000 cameras are in the process of being deployed. Scott said that 10,000 of the 20,000 Border Patrol agents in the field have cameras and that the number is going to grow.
Asked about the training regimen of ICE officers, Lyons said the agency has not reduced the “meat of the training” but has sought to shorten amount of time it takes to get officers into the field. He said training used to take place five days a week for eight hours a day but has been changed to six days a week for 12 hours per day.
Scott said Border Patrol agents continue to undergo the standard 117-day training academy, while CBP officers attend for 103 days. He said the agency — which has played a larger role in immigration enforcement inside the country under the Trump administration — has added instruction on how officers should handle encounters with protesters.
Republicans lambasted Democrats for supporting “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit local cooperation with federal immigration operations. And they blamed the Biden administration for immigration policies that resulted in a spike in the number of undocumented immigrants who entered the country.
Democrats sought to focus on the accountability of federal officers over allegations of excessive force, and they denounced the Trump administration’s use of administrative warrants from ICE, which do not require approval from judges, to enter private residences without permission.
“Nobody wants to see attacks on ICE agents. Unfortunately, during your leadership and under Secretary Noem’s leadership, this rogue brutality that ICE agents are inflicting on the people of this country is not being reined in,” Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) said. “The agents who are abusing their power are not being held accountable.”
Theodoric Meyer, Scott Clement and Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report.
