Amid a funding fight on Capitol Hill and polls showing more than 60% of Americans disapproving of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is enforcing immigration laws, senior immigration officials will testify Tuesday before the House Department of Homeland Security Committee.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) Commissioner Rodney Scott are to appear in the first of two hearings on oversight of the two agencies. Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is also expected to appear.
The three are scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Tuesday’s testimony will be their first since two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis and since the partial drawdown of federal officers from Minnesota.
Todd Lyons, acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs. Enforcement (ICE), is interviewed on TV on the White House grounds, Nov. 3, 2025.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP, FILE
“In order to get [Department of Homeland Security funding] done, I think we need to get some questions asked and make everybody feel comfortable about what ICE, USCIS, and CBP are doing, what their goals are, and what they’re trying to accomplish,” House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. said on the “Julie Mason Show” over the weekend. “I think having these directors there will give them the opportunity to talk about the training that their officers receiv. … There was a huge investment to hire more ICE and CBP officers that came through the One Big Beautiful Bil. … It’s going to be good to have these directors giving answers and setting the record straight.”
Democrats have been calling for more accountability for ICE and CBP. They have also called on Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the immigration agencies, to resign, which she has said she will not.
In a statement released Monday, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the hearing “is going to be just the start of a reckoning for the Trump administration and its weaponization of government against our country.”
“Donald Trump and Kristi Noem must be held accountable for the immigration operations creating chaos in our communities, terrorizing people, and hurting U.S. citizens and immigrants alike,” he continued. “I hope my Republican colleagues will remember that our job is to conduct oversight, not cover for Donald Trump and his out-of-control administration, which is running roughshod over Americans’ rights, killing U.S. citizens, and threatening our very democracy.”
Rodney Scott, commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection, speaks as US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (L) looks on during a press conference by the wall at the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz., Feb. 4, 2026.
Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images
Polls show Americans disapprove of how the agencies are conducting President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operation.
A Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found that 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws and 34% approve — a lower rating than the agency received in a January Quinnipiac poll, when 57% disapproved and 40% approved.
And an Ipsos poll from early February found that 62% of Americans said efforts by ICE officers to deal with unauthorized immigration goes “too far.” That is up slightly from 58% who said the same in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted the week before. The share of Republicans saying ICE efforts go too far was up 10 points, from 20% to 30%.
Funding for DHS is set to expire on Friday if there is no deal on DHS reforms Democrats want passed for CBP and ICE.
In a letter last week to Republican leaders, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out 10 key demands from Democrats on DHS funding, including calling for judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on ICE agents wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.
Republican Sen. Katie Britt, who has been deputized by leadership to lead talks on behalf of Senate Republicans, ripped into the Democrats’ proposal in a post on X last week.
“Democrats’ newest proposal is a ridiculous Christmas list of demands for the press,” Britt said. “This is NOT negotiating in good faith, and it’s NOT what the American people want. They continue to play politics to their radical base at the expense of the safety of Americans.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday evening that Republicans are preparing a counteroffer to Democrats’ proposal that could be made available soon.
