1 of 3 | Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons said federal officers lawfully are enforcing immigration law during a House Homeland Security Committee oversight hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Trump administration officials said federal immigration officers are properly enforcing the nation’s laws during congressional testimony Tuesday as Democratic lawmakers accused them of “using unnecessary force.”
The 3-hour hearing included testimony from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow.
The agency lawfully and correctly is enforcing the nation’s immigration laws and properly trains officers before they go to work in the field, Lyons told members of the Committee on Homeland Security.
He said federal officers face threats of violence from those who oppose the enforcement of federal immigration laws, but they won’t stop enforcing the law.
“Despite these perils, our officers continue to execute their mission with unwavering resolve,” Lyons said, as reported by Politico. “We are only getting started.”
Lyons and other DHS officials testified in the oversight hearing as congressional Democrats threaten to vote against federal funding for the department after temporarily extending its 2025 budget through Friday.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., showed a clip of officers spraying a man and a child inside a moving vehicle with irritants. Another showed a person being sprayed at close distance while being pinned down by officers.
“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,” Magaziner said. “You are supposed to be making people safer, and instead, your agents are being unnecessarily violent, and that is why the Trump administration has lost the trust of the American people on immigration.”
Committee Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said the January shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, in Minneapolis, must be addressed.
“Public trust and public safety go hand in hand,” Garbarino said during the hearing.
“Transparency and communication are needed now more than ever,” he added. “The department’s no-fail mission hangs in the balance.”
House and Senate Democrats are demanding the deployment of body cameras on all federal officers, want them to be unmasked and want to require judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants prior to arresting those targeted for deportation.
Lyons, Scott and Edlow separately testified that shutting down the DHS would impair national security and endanger communities impacted by natural disasters and other emergencies.
If the DHS is defunded, ICE and Customs and Border Protection would continue to operate due to funding provided in the Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, but it would shut down the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others.
The deaths of Good and Pretti have triggered backlash from House and Senate Democrats and some Republicans.
Lyons said investigations are ongoing in each case and refused to apologize for or comment on prior statements made by others who described Good and Pretti as domestic terrorists.
Some officials have described the shooting of Good as justified after she used her SUV to block ICE officers in Minneapolis. Her vehicle struck and injured the ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who ultimately shot and killed her on the morning of Jan. 7.
Bystanders said Good wasn’t aiming to strike the officer and was instead attempting to drive away from the scene.
Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and CBP officer Raymundo Gutierrez on Jan. 24 shot and killed Pretti on Jan. 24 amid a confrontation between federal officials and protesters in Minneapolis. Several officers tackled Pretti to the ground after spraying him and others with pepper spray.
One agent removed a firearm from Pretti’s hip, after which Ochoa and Gutierrez fired several shots at him, killing him. Pretti had a lawful permit to carry the gun and was also carrying two extra magazines of ammunition.
The officers who shot Pretti were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.
This week in Washington
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice Headquarters on Friday. Justice Department officials have announced that the FBI has arrested Zubayr al-Bakoush, a suspect in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
