00:00For a year, you maintain that no U.S. citizens have been arrested or detained by ICE or CBP.
00:10After hearings that I conducted in the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation as the ranking member,
00:17you admitted finally in a letter written to me just last month that, in fact,
00:27U.S. citizens have been detained and arrested.
00:30I'm going to ask, Mr. Chairman, that that letter be entered into the record.
00:36You put the number as 38.
00:39Far more American citizens have been arrested by ICE and CBP,
00:44probably in the hundreds, perhaps the thousands.
00:48Have you met with any of the American citizens who have been detained or arrested by your agency?
00:53The individuals that may have been detained and arrested were individuals that could have been obstructing law enforcement operations
01:02and committing crimes that way and that we would have met individuals until their identity was confirmed.
01:08Leo, Javier, and Marimar, would you please stand?
01:16These three individuals, Madam Secretary, were arrested by your agency, Leonardo Garcia-Venegas,
01:25Javier Ramirez, and Marimar Martinez.
01:29Do you know what your agents did to Leo-Venegas?
01:33I'll tell you, on May 21 of last year, they entered the private property at a house that he was
01:41constructing without consent, without a warrant, illegally.
01:49Again, on June 12th, they entered private property, a home where he was doing construction.
01:56He is a United States citizen, born in Florida.
02:00They seized him and ignored and disregarded his proof of citizenship.
02:08Wouldn't you agree with me that no U.S. citizen simply working lawfully should be arrested?
02:16In law enforcement operations across the country, there are times when U.S. citizens may be arrested or detained until
02:23their identity is confirmed and that they haven't committed a crime.
02:26Would you agree with me, Madam Secretary, that U.S. citizens should not be arrested when they are obeying the
02:30law,
02:30they have no criminal record, and they are engaged in a lawful activity?
02:35Sir, in situations where law enforcement, regardless of the agency across the country, when there is probable cause...
02:42Let me tell you about Javier Ramirez.
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