ICE Chief Pressed on Tactics, Investigations After Shootings (2)

ICE acting chief Todd Lyons declined to discuss the specifics of the killings of two US citizens by federal officers during the Trump administration’s Minnesota immigration crackdown.

Democrats pressed Lyons during a contentious House oversight hearing Tuesday about the Minnesota surge, including top officials calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists.

“I welcome the opportunity speak to the family in private, but I’m not going to comment on any active investigation,” Lyons said in a response to a question from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) about apologizing to Good’s family. He told lawmakers ICE is using “standard investigative practices” to review the shooting.

Lyons, a career US Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who has led the agency on an acting basis since last year, largely deflected Democratic attacks while defending his agency’s training standards and denouncing threats against officers.

“We’ve seen a de-escalation in the fact that the protests, while they still go on, have subsided and ICE has been allowed to do their targeted, intelligence-driven operation,” Lyons testified before the House Homeland Security Committee.

He committed to Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) that ICE would provide the committee more information about the ICE’s investigation.

While the shootings have drawn bipartisan scrutiny and calls for transparency, Tuesday’s hearing largely played out on partisan lines. Many Republicans defended ICE’s enforcement actions and blamed Democratic politicians and protesters for creating a hostile environment. Democrats pressed to overhaul the agency, questioned Lyons for remaining in his role, and called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign.

The divide underscores the difficulty in finding common ground on immigration policy as the Department of Homeland Security’s annual funding hangs in the balance. Democrats have held up the department’s funding, which lapses this weekend, while insisting on body-camera requirements, mask bans, and other changes.

Lyons warned that a lapse in funding would disrupt operations and strain personnel, though he said ICE would continue carrying out its core enforcement mission.

“There need to be major reforms before we vote to give any of you any more funding,” Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) said at the hearing, which also included Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow.

A few Republicans indicated openness to discussions across the aisle. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) said there are “a couple areas where I think it’s appropriate to discuss potential reforms,” noting federal agents’ stops of US citizens.

Still, heated rhetoric and finger-pointing dominated most of the hearing.

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) delivered one of the hearing’s most confrontational moments, accusing Lyons of indifference to the deaths tied to ICE operations. “People are dying and you don’t seem to care,” McIver said before asking Lyons whether he considered himself religious.

After Lyons said he did, McIver pressed further, asking how he believed “Judgment Day” would treat him “with so much blood on your hands.” Garbarino cut off the line of questioning.

Swalwell questioned Lyons’ decision to stay on as ICE’s acting leader.

“Considering your honorable service in the past, and the dishonorable acts that those who have worked for you have conducted, and the disgraceful statements that the leadership above you have said, you now have a decision,” the congressman said.

Lyons rejected Swalwell’s push that he resign and emphasized his commitment to ICE and its mission.

— With assistance from Myles Miller (Bloomberg News).