Federal Agents Defend ICE, CBP Tactics on Capitol Hill

Federal immigration officials defended enforcement tactics Tuesday during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that focused heavily on two fatal enforcement incidents in Minnesota and broader immigration policy.

The committee met Feb. 10 in Washington, D.C., and questioned leaders from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), during an oversight session.

Lawmakers pressed the officials on use of force standards, deportation operations, body camera deployment, training timelines and local cooperation policies amid ongoing federal investigations into two January shootings in Minnesota referenced during the hearing.

Minnesota Shootings Draw Bipartisan Scrutiny

Lawmakers from both parties questioned whether federal use of force policies were followed in the two January incidents and demanded full investigative findings once federal reviews conclude.

Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) said investigations are ongoing into the deaths of two American citizens in Minnesota, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and asked whether agencies would provide full reports once reviews conclude.

Garbarino said the incidents are being reviewed by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“I expect each of our witnesses to keep this committee fully informed as the investigations run their course,” Garbarino said.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said he would provide the “full and unabridged investigation” to Congress once finalized. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott offered the same assurance.

Ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) criticized the administration’s enforcement posture and referenced the Minnesota incidents in his remarks. Thompson alleged misconduct during those operations and called for accountability while Lyons declined to discuss specific operational details, citing the ongoing investigations.

Military.com reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and CBP for additional comment following the hearing.

Body Cameras and Training Questioned

Lawmakers examined transparency measures and officer preparedness, including how widely federal officers wear body cameras and how agencies train new hires. DHS leaders have publicly framed expanded body camera use as a central accountability measure after the Minneapolis cases.

Lyons testified that more than 3,000 ICE officers currently have active body cameras, with an additional 6,000 cameras in the deployment process. He said ICE has approximately 13,000 personnel operating in the field.

Scott said Border Patrol academy training remains 117 days and CBP officer academy training remains 103 days. Those timelines have not changed, he added.

Lyons said ICE training has shifted to more compressed daily schedules, expanding classroom hours per day while maintaining total requirements. He also described expanded pre-employment training and a field training officer model for on the job supervision.

Lawmakers also raised questions about hiring pace and training capacity—issues that have surfaced in oversight debates tied to reported hiring surges and training standards.

Border Metrics and Enforcement Claims

Scott highlighted border enforcement claims and said southwest border encounters have declined sharply compared with earlier periods.

He also cited narcotics seizures, stating that CBP seized approximately 617,000 pounds of illicit drugs in fiscal 2025, including nearly 11,000 pounds of fentanyl.

Lawmakers used the hearing to probe how DHS measures success across arrests, removals and interdictions. Those are issues that have intersected with broader federal efforts to support border operations, including prior active-duty deployments under Title 10 orders.

Lyons said ICE made nearly 379,000 arrests and carried out more than 475,000 removals from Jan. 20, 2025, through Jan. 20, 2026. He said more than 60 percent of individuals in ICE custody have pending or prior criminal charges.

Democratic members questioned how those figures reflect enforcement priorities and raised concerns about how removal data is categorized.

Local Cooperation and Minnesota Tensions

Lyons testified that ICE detainers were not honored by local officials during certain Minnesota operations and said the lack of cooperation complicated enforcement efforts.

“We didn’t see any cooperation at the state or the local level,” Lyons said.

Lyons also testified that his agency recorded a significant increase in threats against personnel during fiscal 2025 compared with the prior fiscal year.

Minnesota has also served as a focal point for legal and political disputes tied to federal enforcement activity, including state level litigation and broader federal state friction described in public reporting.

Investigations Ongoing

Officials said federal investigations into the Minnesota shootings remain active. No timeline was provided for when findings would be released.

Committee leaders indicated they expect full investigative reports once reviews conclude and said Congress may conduct additional oversight depending on the results.

Immigration enforcement and federal use of force standards remain central issues in ongoing congressional scrutiny.