00:00The Committee on Homeland Security will come to order, and obviously we have now seen the
00:05deaths of two American citizens in Minnesota. This is all unacceptable and preventable.
00:11The safety of law enforcement and the communities they serve and protect must always come first.
00:17When officials or elected leaders rush to conclusions about law enforcement
00:22or their fellow Americans, public trust suffers. There must be complete and impartial investigation.
00:30I expect each of our witnesses to keep this committee fully informed
00:33as the investigations run their course, and I will ensure this happens.
00:38While these investigations are ongoing, officials and elected leaders cannot rush to judgment.
00:43And tragically, our worst fears were realized. Just days after the hearing, Mr. Lyons refused to
00:52participate in. CBP personnel shot Alex Preeti, and he was face down on Minneapolis's sidewalk,
01:02killing him in broad daylight.
01:08Today, with great sadness about another American killed at the hands of DHS,
01:14I asked that the committee observe a moment of silence in honor of Alex Preeti.
01:31And competently implemented deportation campaign is putting it nicely, especially
01:38as it relates to small children.
01:45Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give before the Committee on Homeland Security of
01:48the United States House of Representatives will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
01:52so help you God.
01:56Despite these perils, our officers continue to execute their mission with unwavering resolve.
02:01And we are only getting started.
02:03I.C.E. remains committed to the fundamental principles that those who illegally enter our
02:07country must be held accountable.
02:09Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, we have achieved historic results.
02:13From January 20th, 2025 through January 20th, 2026,
02:17I.C.E. has conducted nearly 379,000 arrests.
02:22Among those arrests were more than 7,000 suspected gang members and over 1,400 known as suspected terrorists.
02:29The President tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate.
02:33Thanks to the resources provided by this Congress, we are ramping up detention capacities and removal
02:38flights daily. In the last year alone, we conducted over 475,000 removals.
02:45Will you stand with the kids who you're supposed to protect?
02:49Or will you side with the killers bringing terror to our streets?
02:53Mr. Lyons, will you resign from ICE?
02:57No, sir, I won't.
02:57Why not?
02:58Because, sir, that child that you're showing right there, the men and women of ICE took
03:02care of him when his father abandoned him and ran from law enforcement.
03:05The gentleman's time has expired.
03:05You never should have gone into custody.
03:06The gentleman's time has expired.
03:07I recognize the gentleman from Mississippi as a guest, sir.
03:13Are you surveilling U.S. citizens today?
03:15No, sir.
03:18Those people protesting, practicing this First Amendment right,
03:21photos of them, data taken, they're not being placed in any kind of a database?
03:28There is no database for protesters, sir.
03:31One of your officers in Maine said to one of the individuals protesting,
03:36we're going to put your face in a little database.
03:38What does that mean?
03:39Do you have a little database of Americans?
03:42No, sir, we don't.
03:43Then what do you think your ICE agent was doing to this individual when he said those statements?
03:47I can't speak for that individual, sir, but I can assure you there is
03:49no database that's tracking United States citizens.
03:52It seems like one side of the aisle is in favor of open borders and wants to abolish ICE.
04:00And I hope that that can be proven wrong.
04:03And the other side of the aisle wants to enforce the laws that are on the books.
04:09Commissioner Scott, how many administrations have you worked for in your career?
04:14Since the Clinton administration.
04:16So multiple Republicans, multiple Democrats.
04:19Correct.
04:19Is it a crime to enter this country illegally and to skip a notice to appear,
04:23to skip a court ordered appearance and to not comply with the laws that are on the books?
04:30Yes, sir.
04:31Has that changed since you started working for President Clinton?
04:34No.
04:35The ICU nurse, Alex Freddie, deserved to die.
04:41I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, sir.
04:45Did Renee Good deserve to die?
04:49Sir, I can't comment on ongoing investigations.
04:54Director Lyons, do you agree with Secretary Noem and Vice President Vance's characterization of
05:00Renee Good as a domestic terrorist?
05:05Sir, I can't speak to their comments as that they are their own.
05:07But as an ongoing investigation, I can't speak to that.
05:12Director Lyons, what did your agents mean when he said,
05:17you raise your voice, I erase your voice?
05:21In the video just that we have seen, all of us have seen.
05:26Sir, I'm not aware of that video that you have, sir.
05:28I can't comment on what that officer has said.
05:29Now, this is a family of United States citizens who were out to get groceries at a Sam's Club in Chicago.
05:37When they arrived, they could see that there was a chaotic operation in the parking lot.
05:41They turned their vehicle to leave, at which point your agents sprayed pepper spray out of their vehicle
05:47and into the driver's side window of the Verraza's family vehicle.
05:51Is it proper procedure to aim pepper spray into the window of a moving vehicle?
05:57I'm not familiar.
05:58I don't have all the details on this.
06:00It's an ongoing investigation.
06:00I'm not asking about this.
06:01But to answer your specific question.
06:03Is it proper procedure?
06:04We try to avoid that.
06:04No, it's not proper procedure.
06:05We try to avoid it.
06:06Because you understand it's dangerous, right?
06:07Not just for the driver, but for pedestrians,
06:11for other people who could be hit by a car if a driver is blinded, right?
06:15I 100% understand that.
06:16But you're talking about intentional versus not intentional.
06:19I've been in a vehicle in one of these situations.
06:21I'm reclaiming my time.
06:22From the video, this was clearly intentional.
06:24And you know as well as I do that in any other law enforcement agency,
06:27if an officer did this, they would be put on leave, investigated, and likely disciplined.
06:34We're a nation of laws.
06:36And you, your boss, Secretary Noem, and Donald Trump are not above the law.
06:40The American people are angry.
06:44And they're demanding accountability and justice from those giving the orders.
06:49Mr. Lyons, yes or no, do you believe that Secretary Noem should resign?
06:54I'm not going to comment on that, sir.
06:57So you're going to look the families of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preddy in the eye and tell them
07:01Secretary Noem should keep her job after their loved ones were killed?
07:06Sir, the loss of any life is unacceptable.
07:10In my heart, prayers and thoughts go out to anyone who tragically loses his life,
07:16especially a child, since I've suffered personal loss in my life.
07:20But I'm not going to comment on an ongoing investigation.
07:22Chairman.
07:23A gentlelady will suspend.
07:25As I said, the issues we're debating here are important to ones that members feel deeply about.
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