Democrats press Trump officials on immigration enforcement tactics in tense hearing

By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress pressed President Donald Trump's top immigration officials on Tuesday over the Republican president's crackdown, the first such hearing since two U.S. citizens were killed in Minnesota amid mounting opposition to Trump’s mass deportation push.

The officials - the highest-ranking at three agencies overseeing immigration enforcement and legal immigration - faced repeated criticism from Democrats on the committee after federal immigration officers fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Trump escalated his aggressive immigration enforcement push in Minneapolis in January, leading to clashes between masked immigration officers and residents opposed to broad immigration sweeps that have picked up many people with no criminal record, including families and children. Top Trump officials swiftly portrayed Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorists” and aggressors after they were killed by federal officers, but video evidence contradicted those statements.

The fallout over the killing became a tipping point for Democrats after months of intensifying immigration enforcement and led them to hold up funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in January, agreeing to a short-term funding extension that expires on Friday.

Democrats say ICE must be reformed and have demanded they remove masks, wear body cameras and prioritize enforcement to focus on criminal offenders.

U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, a Republican, called for a full investigation into the killings of the two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in opening remarks, a departure from Trump officials who blamed Good and Pretti in the hours after the shootings.

"There must be a complete and impartial investigation," said Garbarino, who represents a district on Long Island in New York. "I expect each of our witnesses to keep this committee fully informed as the investigations run their course ... While these investigations are ongoing, officials and elected leaders cannot rush to judgment."

The top Democrat on the committee, Bennie Thompson, sharply criticized the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement in U.S. cities and reiterated a call for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign, saying her department "has the blood of American citizens on its hand."

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

PARTISAN CLASHES OVER 'ABOLISH ICE' CALLS

Testifying on Tuesday were Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rodney Scott, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Joe Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The three Trump officials in opening remarks defended the president's immigration agenda, highlighting threats to ICE officers, increased border security under Trump, and more intense vetting of legal immigrants.

Lyons said ICE officers would continue implementing Trump's deportation push even as officers faced the risk of assault amid public opposition.

"Despite these perils, our officers continue to execute their mission with unwavering resolve. And we are only getting started," he said. "ICE remains committed to the fundamental principle that those who illegally enter our country must be held accountable."

A spending package passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2025 devoted a historic $170 billion to immigration enforcement agencies through September 2029, a huge surge of funding over ICE and Border Patrol's existing annual budgets of about $19 billion.

At the hearing, some Democrats called for eliminating ICE altogether, citing aggressive tactics against immigrants and U.S. citizens.

"ICE must be abolished," said U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar, a Democrat representing part of Detroit.

Republicans highlighted the high levels of illegal immigration under Democratic former President Joe Biden, and said Democratic-led cities and states should cooperate more with federal immigration enforcement.

"We would not be having this hearing if the Democrats attacked illegal immigration with the same vigor that they're attacking law enforcement and the men at this table," said Brad Knott, a Republican from North Carolina.

IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SWEEPS IN U.S. CITIZENS

Democratic U.S. Representative Lou Correa, who represents a district that includes Anaheim, California, pressed Lyons on whether ICE maintained a database on U.S. citizens.

Correa cited a video of a masked federal immigration officer in Maine saying he would put an opponent's name in a "nice little database" and that the person was now "considered a domestic terrorist." Reuters reported on Tuesday that ICE officers have been tracking the names of protesters in an internal database for several months, citing two ICE officials.

Lyons denied his agency was tracking anti-ICE protesters in a database.

“I can assure you there is no database that is tracking U.S. citizens,” he said.

DHS said in response to Reuters that it does not maintain a database of U.S. “domestic terrorists,” but does track threats.

Seth Magaziner, a Democratic U.S. representative from Rhode Island, played a video clip of a border agent who sprayed a chemical irritant at a Chicago father and his 1-year-old daughter at close range in their car last year.

"This is a family of United States citizens who were out to get groceries at a Sam's Club in Chicago," Magaziner said to Scott, the nation's top border official. "Is it proper procedure to aim pepper spray into the window of a moving vehicle?"

"I don't have all the details on this; it's an ongoing investigation," Scott said. "But to answer your question, we try to avoid that ... No, it is not proper procedure."

Despite internal ICE guidance calling for officers to stop engaging with protesters, the encounters have continued, including U.S. citizens arrested and charged after following officers in their cars.