Government officials continued to defend the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and were unapologetic when grilled by Democrats during a House hearing on Tuesday.
Todd Lyons, the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, testified before the House Homeland Security Committee.
The officials declined to answer questions from Democrats about the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis last month, citing an ongoing investigation about the events surrounding the killings.
“The slaying of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti by DHS are the most tragic examples of what is wrong with Trump’s DHS,” Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said during opening remarks.
Lyons declined to apologize over Good and Pretti’s deaths and said he would not comment on any active investigations.
He defended the administration’s immigration policies and tactics, saying that, "in the wake of the unprecedented border crisis of the previous administration, ICE has stepped into the breach to enforce the law."
“We sent a message to anyone who thinks they can intimidate us, you will fail,” he added.
Lyons said ICE made 379,000 arrests during the first year of the Trump administration and removed over 475,000 people from the U.S.
“We are only getting started,” he said.
Republican lawmakers focused on the escalation of threats against federal law enforcement while also calling for an investigation into the fatal shootings in Minnesota.
“We sit here today at an inflection point, an opportunity to assess and reinforce the integrity of immigration enforcement, to strengthen public trust, an opportunity to emphasize and underscore the Department of Homeland Security’s no-fail mission as a whole,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew R. Garbarino, R-N.Y.
Garbarino stated there should be a “complete and impartial” investigation into the killings of Pretti and Good.
“We have seen state and local jurisdictions refuse to protect federal law enforcement officers, and obviously, we have now seen the deaths of two American citizens in Minnesota,” Garbarino said. “This is all unacceptable and preventable.”
Garbarino pointed out that there has been a significant increase in attacks on federal law enforcement and in the number of threats facing them and their families.
Democrats asked Lyons for the number of ICE agents or officers who have been fired for misconduct during immigration operations, which Lyons didn’t answer, as they cited reports of arrests of U.S. citizens, the use of chemical irritants on protesters and other instances of suspected excessive use of force. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said there are several open investigations within his agency but declined to provide details.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., showed videos of chemical irritants being deployed against a driver and his young child, and pepper spray being used at close range on someone’s face while pinned down by officers. When Magaziner asked Scott whether it was proper procedure to deploy pepper spray into a moving vehicle, Scott said no. Scott declined to comment on the second instance, saying the video was just a limited clip.
“Your agency has repeatedly been caught on tape using unnecessary violence against civilians, and you can’t even tell me if any of these agents have been investigated or disciplined,” the congressman said.
Democrats have vowed to vote against Department of Homeland Security funding unless it makes changes to its immigration enforcement policies. The department will enter a shutdown this weekend if a funding bill is not passed, which Republican legislators warned against.
“Let me be clear, shutting down DHS makes America less safe,” Garbarino said at the hearing.
The hearing marked the first time these top immigration officials have appeared together before Congress since their umbrella government agency, the Department of Homeland Security, received a huge infusion of federal funds last summer to significantly ramp up enforcement operations across the country.
