Agency heads stand by immigration enforcement efforts

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(The Center Square) – Federal immigration enforcement agency heads defended their leadership and touted agency accomplishments under the Trump administration, while congressional Republicans and Democrats painted very different pictures of those efforts.

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Homeland Security held its first hearing since the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers in Minneapolis, Minn., but agency heads also declined to answer questions about their deaths.

Committee Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., clarified before questioning began that ongoing investigations limited what agency heads could share. He said the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice were all conducting investigations, but he obtained commitments from the directors of ICE and Customs and Border Protection that they would provide the investigations’ findings to the committee once they were complete.

“We are fully committed to giving you the full and unabridged investigation,” said ICE Director Todd Lyons.

However, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., later questioned that statement because of previous statements from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and others from those organizations were not investigating Good’s killing.

Democrats focused their questions on the more controversial aspects of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement and deportation efforts, including ICE agents conducting arrests in plain clothes or masks, stories of American citizens being detained, some abridged training programs and excessive use of force. Several argued that ICE, CBP and Citizenship and Immigration Services aren’t being held accountable for their actions.

Goldman recalled his experiences as a federal prosecutor, claiming none of the law enforcement officers he worked with ever wore masks.

“You and your untrained, unqualified, unvetted, unidentified agents are intentionally terrorizing our cities and communities all over this country to avoid accountability for their excessive force and their lawless actions,” Goldman said. “That is why you're wearing masks – so no one can hold you accountable.”

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., said that American citizens from his district have been detained by ICE. Correa said some of his constituents have asked him what kind of identification they should carry so they’re not deported.

“An American citizen shouldn’t carry or shouldn’t feel the need to carry –” Lyons started to respond.

Correa interrupted him with a story of an American citizen from his district who was pulled over while driving, and ICE agents arrested him even after he showed them his passport. 

“No American citizen will be arrested for being an American citizen,” Lyons replied. 

Democrats also asked if any ICE agents had been fired or disciplined for inappropriate conduct or the use of excessive force. 

Lyons said he would get Democrats “the data” on terminations, disciplinary actions or investigations into ICE agents, but he also said he wasn’t “going to speak on any personnel actions.”

Republicans, on the other hand, asked questions about standard operating procedures and training, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, indicated that he believed that Border Czar Tom Homan had made some necessary course corrections after being called in to de-escalate the situation in Minnesota.

Otherwise, Republicans’ questions centered on officer safety and immigration agencies being able to effectively reverse the consequences of the prior administration’s border policies.

“I can't imagine being a DHS officer, an ice officer, and being threatened with violence, having death threats, being doxed, having your family identified, putting that on the internet and violently telling you that they are going to kill you because you are enforcing the laws that are on this books that were passed by both sides of the aisle in this body,” said Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas. 

“Director Lyons, how many of your agents are being doxxed, threatened or harassed?” Pfluger said.

“We’ve had over an 8,000% increase on death threats,” Lyons responded. 

Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow cited many statistics on how their agencies have accomplished their missions during their testimonies, including achieving the “most secure border in the nation’s history.”

They listed record-low illegal crossings between ports of entry, daily border encounters dropping by 95%, and a massive increase in drug seizures among their proudest accomplishments. They also cited a 138% increase in fraud referrals from USCIS, stronger prevention of the abuse of public benefits and visas, a more than 900% increase in deputizations of local law enforcement officers to perform immigration enforcement, and the location of 145,000 of the children “lost” by the Biden administration.

They made almost 380,000 arrests in the last year, including 7,000 “suspected gang members” and over 1,400 “known and suspected terrorists.” They’re also working on building a “smart wall” that will optimize technology for enhanced border surveillance.

“I'm proud to serve alongside a workforce that's deeply committed to advancing the President's agenda, protecting our communities and restoring integrity to America's legal immigration system,” Edlow said.