00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman and ranking member.
00:03Mr. Lyons, as the senior official lead in ICE enforcement, much of today's scrutiny falls on you, and it should.
00:10You have seen repeatedly, we have seen repeatedly that Republicans, Trump administration, its DHS, and your agency will do absolutely anything to avoid answering for your actions.
00:21When I showed up to inspect Delaney Hall, a private prison that you contract with, ICE tried not to give us an oversight tour.
00:31Then, instead of taking accountability for ICE's attempts to keep us from seeing this facility's conditions to know if people's basic rights were being upheld,
00:41this administration is doing all they can to try to put me in prison for 17 years.
00:46When ICE shot and killed Renee Good, Kristi Noem called her a domestic terrorist.
00:51When Alex Petty, you all tried to tell us, he was threatening officers with a gun, but all we saw was a phone.
00:59This administration's clear lies fell apart, not because someone had a come-to-Jesus moment, but because we saw these murders from every angle.
01:08You are only here because public outrage has become so unavoidable.
01:13You are here, Mr. Lyons, because white people are getting shot in the face and chest when the cameras are rolling.
01:20Because now, my Republican colleagues care about optics.
01:25But, when Keith Porter Jr., a black American citizen, a son, a father, and a man loved by many, was killed by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year's Eve, there were no hearings.
01:37So, this is for him today.
01:38In my district, John Wilson Brutus, a Haitian immigrant, a beloved family man, died within 24 hours of being in ICE custody.
01:48He is just one of more than 30 people who have died in ICE custody last year.
01:54This is for all of them.
01:55Every human being your rogue, out-of-control agency has hurt, hunted down, imprisoned, killed, and continued to hold hostage, even after they have agreed to be deported.
02:10We know this administration doesn't care about protecting people or sparing lives.
02:15We all see so plainly what you are doing, what you have been doing to black and brown folks, immigrants, people silenced in the shadows, now in broad daylight to people peacefully rejecting your cruel agenda in the streets, which is their right to do.
02:31This is the despicable or predictable result of an agency that laughs at oversight, receives billions to deploy lethal force on our neighborhoods, and seems to believe that they are above the law and should be without accountability.
02:47This administration believes it can act first, explain later, or hell, never explain at all, as we see here today.
02:55You all seem to think you are the highest power who decides which people deserve dignity, protection, due process, and due process, but you are wrong.
03:07We are here for answers.
03:08We are here for accountability, and we are here because people are dying.
03:13Let me repeat that.
03:14People are dying, and you don't seem to care.
03:18So, Mr. Lyons, I've heard my colleagues ask many questions over and over again, and you cannot answer them, so let me ask you some questions that you may be able to answer.
03:29Mr. Lyons, do you consider yourself a religious man?
03:32Yes, ma'am.
03:33Oh, yes.
03:34Okay, well, how do you think Judgment Day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?
03:40I'm not going to entertain that question, ma'am.
03:42Oh, okay, of course not.
03:43Do you think you're going to hell, Mr. Lyons?
03:45I'm not going to entertain that.
03:45Of course not.
03:47The gentlelady will suspend.
03:49The gentlelady will suspend.
03:51Chairman.
03:51A gentlelady will suspend.
03:53As I said, the issues we're debating here are important to ones that members feel deeply about.
03:58Thank you, Chairman.
03:58While vigorous disagreement is part of the legislative process, members are reminded that we must adhere to established standards of decorum and debate.
04:06The witnesses are here voluntarily, and I will continue to remind members that while oversight is important, aggressively attacking those witnesses personally is inappropriate.
04:16And not in keeping with the traditions of our committee.
04:19Mr. Chairman, I'm just asking a question.
04:21You guys are always talking about religion here in the Bible.
04:24I mean, it's okay for me to ask a question, right?
04:27But let me continue on.
04:28I got your notes.
04:29All right.
04:29The gentlelady may resume.
04:30Thank you so much.
04:30Let me get back to my question, Mr. Chairman.
04:33I appreciate you.
04:34How many government agencies, Mr. Lyons, are you aware of that routinely kill American citizens and you still get funding?
04:41Ma'am, I'm not going to entertain that.
04:42Of course you're not.
04:43Exactly.
04:45Exactly.
04:45Once again, questions that you cannot answer.
04:47And that is exactly why, Mr. Chairman, and to this committee, to my colleagues, and to my colleagues across the aisle, this is exactly why we should not be funding this agency.
04:56The people are watching you.
04:58They are watching you.
04:59And this is why we need to abolish ICE.
05:01With that, I yield back.
05:03Thank you kindly.
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