ICE director to face Congressional oversight hearing amid ICE surge in MN: Watch live

(FOX 9) - ICE Director Todd Lyons will appear before a Congressional committee on Tuesday as part of a Homeland Security oversight hearing amid the ICE surge in Minnesota.

10:05 a.m. – Lyons won't say if any ICE officers have been fired

Citing personnel reasons, Director Lyons wouldn't answer questioning from California Rep. Eric Swalwell on whether ICE has fired any officers for their conduct under his leadership or during the surge in Minnesota.

Rep. Swalwell: "How many Ice agents have been fired for their conduct under your leadership?"
Lyons: "I can get you that data. I'll get that back to you."
Rep. Swalwell: "Is it more than one?"
Lyons: "I'm not going to speak about personnel actions, but I will get to that data."
Rep. Swalwell: "Can you tell us if at least. God, I hope at least one person has been fired for their conduct since these operations have begun. Are you telling us you can't even say one person has been fired?"
Lyons: "Sir, I'm not going to talk about personnel actions, but we will get back to you."

9:56 a.m. – Officials say no plans to guard elections sites

Commissioner Scott and Director Lyons told Rep. Thompson that their agencies are not planning to station officers at polling sites, amid President Trump's calls to nationalize elections.

Rep. Thompson: Are you involved in any planning on guarding precincts in this country as of today, Mr. Scott?
Scott: "No sir."
Rep. Thompson: "Mr. Lyons."
Lyons: "No sir."

9:46 a.m. DHS officials take questions on training

Director Lyons and Commissioner Scott took questions about training and how their agencies are investigating the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Both leaders confirmed they are handling the investigations into the Minneapolis per standard protocol for use-of-force shootings.

As for training, Lyons said the "meat" of the training for ICE officers hasn't changed but the timeline has.

"The meat of the training was never removed," said Lyons. "The timeline was. We took training from five days a week, eight hours a day to six days a week, 12 hours a day. In addition to that, training is different in the fact that before officers even go to the federal law enforcement training academy, there's pre-employment training, which we never had before. And on top of that, we've adapted our on-the-job training program, which is much like a city or state field training officer program."

Lyons told Rep. Thompson that overall training for ICE officers, including pre-employment training, is about three months. Of that training, officers spend 47 days at the federal law enforcement academy.

9:40 a.m. – Lyons says ICE fulfilling ‘mandate’

During his opening remarks, Director Lyons said that ICE is fulfilling the mandate handed to them from President Trump.

"The president tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate," said Lyons. "Thanks to the resources provided by this Congress, we are ramping up detention capabilities and removal flights daily. In the last year alone, we conducted over 475,000 removals. It's a brutal reality that criminal immigration today is organized by sophisticated, ruthless transnational criminal organizations. These include cartels and transnational gangs. President Trump has already designated four foreign terrorist organizations."

9:30 a.m. – Customs and Border Protection head: ‘No officer should be put at risk’

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott made an opening statement ahead of questioning. He ended his remarks by pointing out the attacks his officers have faced in recent months.

"As recent events have demonstrated, though, our officers and agents are increasingly facing an unprecedented level of aggressive interference and intimidation when executing the laws that you have asked them to enforce," said Scott. "These attacks on federal law enforcement personnel are coordinated and well funded. This is not peaceful protest. No law enforcement officers should be put at personal risk simply for doing the job that we have asked them to do."

9:14 a.m. – Garbarino denies Rep. Escobar's request to join hearing

Rep. Garbarino denied a request from Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas representative, through ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) to sit in on the hearing.

Rep. Garbarino said he had previously informed all members that he wouldn't entertain other members joining the hearing, noting they've had a lot of requests.

Rep. Thompson went on to make his own opening statements, referencing the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. "Last month, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a Minneapolis mom, in cold blood, as she drove away from him… Other agents refused to allow a nearby physician to treat her. Democrats call for accountability instead. Secretary Noem blamed the victim, Miss Good, and attempted to gaslight Americans with false claims that Miss Good was a domestic terrorist."

He then went on and asked the committee to observe a moment of silence in honor of Alex Pretti.

9:05 a.m. – Hearing gaveled in

Rep. Garbarino (R-NY) gaveled in the meeting, demanding proper conduct from members of the audience and his fellow Congressional members.

In an opening statement, Garbarino said the hearing comes at "an inflection point, an opportunity to assess and reinforce the integrity of immigration enforcement." He also stated the hearing is an opportunity to restore public trust.

But, Rep. Garbarino put the blame on the Biden administration for putting the country in the position it's in. "For years, we witnessed a blanket refusal to enforce the law, wide open borders, catch-and-release policies, and uncontrolled mass migration. These policies undermine the rule of law and endangered all Americans. Enforcing immigration law is not optional."

Todd Lyons at Congressional oversight hearing

What we know:

Lyons is slated to appear as a witness alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow at a House Committee on Homeland Security oversight hearing.

Big picture view:

The Homeland Security Committee is chaired by Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino. In an interview last week, Garbarino said he plans to question leaders about training for officers and hopes the hearing can help "calm down the rhetoric."

The other side:

DHS officials will also face questions from some prominent ICE critics on the Democrat side, including Rep. Shri Thanedar, who recently proposed a bill to abolish ICE and Rep. LaMonica McIver, who was charged last June with impeding federal officers because of an incident at an ICE detention center.

What's next:

The hearing is slated to begin at 9 a.m. central time. You can watch the hearing in the live player above.