Democratic Lawmakers Grill the Heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS on Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign

On Capitol Hill, the heads of three federal immigration agencies all defended the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; and Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Tuesday. They refused to comment on the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents. Lyons, the acting director of ICE, mentioned that his agency would maintain an active presence during the World Cup this summer. Lyons was also questioned about whether ICE was surveilling protesters as multiple outlets have reported. He denied that the agency was compiling a database tracking U.S. citizens. Rep. Lou Correa: “One of your officers in Maine said to one of the individuals protesting, ’We’re going to put your face in a little database.’ What does that mean? Do you have a little database” — Todd Lyons: “No, sir.” Rep. Lou Correa: — “of Americans?” Todd Lyons: “No, sir, we don’t.” Rep. Lou Correa: “Then, what do you think your ICE agent was doing to this individual when he said those statements?” Todd Lyons: “I can’t speak for that individual, sir, but I can assure you there is no database that’s tracking United States citizens.” Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are withholding votes for DHS funding, threatening a partial government shutdown starting on Saturday unless Republicans agree to their demands to rein in federal immigration agents, by requiring judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use-of-force standards and a stop to racial profiling.