'You Are Not Abiding By The Law': Lauren Underwood Grills Acting ICE Director Over Detention Beds

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) questioned Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons about funding levels, Congressional oversight, and deaths in ICE custody.

Transcript

00:00Yours for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director Lyons, in fiscal year 2024, ICE was

00:05provided funding to support 41,500 detention beds. This was agreed to by Congress and carried

00:11forward in the fiscal year 2025 continuing resolution. Whether the administration likes

00:16it or not, that is what the law provided. And with ICE's current bed count at over 52,000 beds

00:22just last week, you are not abiding by the law. As I mentioned in my opening, you are maybe one

00:29or two months away from running out of funds to support this current level of operations.

00:33If reconciliation doesn't pass before the end of the fiscal year, what is your plan to

00:37avoid an Anti-Deficiency Act violation? Thank you for your question, ma'am. And I appreciate

00:43you recognizing the good work earlier in your statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement

00:47do. The men and women really appreciate your support. Counting on reconciliation is not a

00:52plan, ma'am, and that is not what we are doing. ICE will not run out of money because we are

00:56fiscally responsible to ensure that we meet what the Appropriation Committee has outlined

01:00for us and what Congress has given us to work within the means in order to keep our operations

01:05going smoothly and ensure that we're protecting the American people.

01:08So what you characterize as fiscal responsibility, we know that the department is already trying

01:14to take funding from CBP and CISA, and that will only get you through June. It sounds like

01:19there is no plan to get ICE back to following the law in the direction of 41,500 beds, even with

01:26DHS encounter numbers, quote, at record lows. You are claiming success and demanding more,

01:31and the justifications we're seeing from this administration just aren't adding up.

01:35Mr. Lyons, with the power of the purse lying in the Congress, and if DHS continues to spend

01:40like this, we will have to look at how we can tighten those strings. Moving on, like most Americans,

01:46I am alarmed that ICE is trying to build more detention facilities while reducing oversight

01:50of those facilities at the same time. Last week, DHS accused members of Congress who were

01:55exercising their oversight responsibilities of, quote, illegally breaking in to an ICE facility

02:02in New Jersey. The department's spokesperson said, quote, had these members requested a tour,

02:09we would have facilitated a tour of the facility. Mr. Lyons, members of Congress do not have to request

02:16a tour of ICE detention centers to be allowed in. Federal law explicitly requires you to admit us,

02:23even if we show up unannounced, without previously requesting a tour. In light of this incident,

02:28what actions are you taking to ensure ICE employees know the law and are following it? And have you

02:35issued a memo or guidance to the workforce clarifying that members of Congress must be admitted in these

02:40circumstances, or are you requiring additional training? Thank you, ma'am, for that question. I appreciate it.

02:46Ma'am, I'll go back to the Consolidated Appropriation Act from 2020. The staff knows that we are fully

02:53supportive to ensure that the oversight that is granted by law by this committee is abided by.

02:59So we have proper access and oversight from the men and women of your committee in Congress to

03:05oversee what immigration and custom enforcement are doing in our detention centers. We have nothing

03:09to hide. I hear with a promise that ICE will be fully transparent. We do acknowledge that any member

03:16Congress does have the right to show up for an inspection of one of our facilities in their

03:22oversight capacity. In this situation, we would ask that while it is unannounced, that Congress elected

03:28officials do respect and into accordance with the Appropriations Act in Section 532. Presentation of

03:37ID to go through screening. Don't bring any contraband, things like that. We do also, and I'd like to just, you know,

03:44point out that congressional staff does require 24 hours. We did encounter that over this weekend,

03:49and we did address that, and it was handled properly, and those tours have been scheduled.

03:54So yes, ma'am, the staff is fully aware of the Appropriation Act of 2020, specifically 532, which

03:59grants that oversight. Okay, excellent. The law is unambiguous on this issue, and we expect ICE to follow

04:05the law. With my remaining time, I want to discuss the deaths in ICE custody. In just the last four months,

04:10we have seen at least seven deaths. Since 2018, ICE has had a congressional requirement to make this

04:16information publicly available on its website, but there's a 90-day delay, and it seems to be missing

04:21at least three more recent deaths in custody that we've received notifications about. To date, what is

04:26the total number of deaths in ICE custody since January 20, 2025? Thank you, ma'am, for that question.

04:32Our total death in custody right now is up to nine. We do conduct a thorough investigation on all of

04:39those, treating the opposite of professional responsibility as well as the local jurisdiction

04:44as well. ICE is, as I said, dedicated to transparency, and I will assure, ma'am, as I get back, that we get

04:50all the information back to you and your staff. And publicly available online as pursuant to the

04:54congressional directive. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I yield back.

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