ICE chief, immigration officials testify at House hearing

The committee initially sought testimony from the leaders of ICE, CBP and USCIS on Jan. 15. But after Pretti’s killing on Jan. 24, the committee chairman, Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York, wrote to the leaders “formally memorializing this previous invitation.”

Garbarino said in a statement at the time that his “top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission.”

“I take my oversight duties for the department seriously, and Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect,” he said. “I am committed to ensuring ICE, CBP, and USCIS are effectively using the historic resources provided through reconciliation to strengthen public safety, and I look forward to each of these agencies testifying before the Committee.”

Three days later, Garbarino announced that the three leaders had agreed to testify.

“Transparency and communication are needed to turn the temperature down,” Garbarino said. “Thank you to Secretary Noem and the Department of Homeland Security for making these witnesses available, and I look forward to receiving their testimony.”

Lyons, Scott and Edlow are also set to testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday. Noem herself is expected to testify before Congress in March. 

GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who sits on the committee, told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that he wants to hear from the leaders of the immigration enforcement agencies about their efforts to work with local and state officials. 

“What happened in Minneapolis, nobody in this country should want,” Gonzales said. “We should all strive not to be Minneapolis. We don’t want to see local communities not work with federal government.”

Gonzales said he wants to know what the leaders are doing to “work with others within the community” so it’s not “ICE going it alone.”

“It shouldn’t be that way,” Gonzales said.

The Texas Republican said the administration has been trying to facilitate cooperation, but he pointed the blame at local government officials. 

“The problem is, you’ve got so many local municipalities that don’t want to work together, and when that happens, your city burns,” he said. “We don’t want Los Angeles, we shouldn’t want Minneapolis. People can protest. People can be able to say, ‘Hey, we won’t agree with certain policy,’ but there needs to be more collaboration at the local, state and federal level.”

Tuesday’s hearing comes as Congress has been grappling with how to fund DHS, given intense opposition from Democrats following the events in Minneapolis.

Congress has until Saturday to fund DHS. Lawmakers approved a stopgap measure to keep the department funded for two weeks while funding the rest of the government through September. The funding patch was designed to give lawmakers more time to negotiate on immigration enforcement reforms. But despite some common ground between Democrats and Republicans on issues like mandating body cameras be worn and bringing an end to roving patrols, an agreement has remained elusive. 

Senate Democrats have submitted draft legislation of a DHS funding measure to Republicans, which reflects a proposal they outlined last week. On Monday, Democratic leaders called a counterproposal from the White House “incomplete and insufficient.”