The committee chairman, GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, told “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday that there has been “a loss of public trust in ICE and their officials after seeing what’s been going on in Minneapolis,” while citing “fault on both sides.”
Outlining what he hopes to hear from witnesses, Paul said, “We want to hear both sides on this.”
“But we’re also going to ask the ICE heads and those at DHS, we’re going to ask them, ‘What is the proper use of force?'” Paul said. “‘When should agents be drawing their guns? When should they be firing their guns?’ And if these heads of these agencies refuse to answer these questions, it’s going to be a real problem.”
Paul said: “When a mistake of this magnitude happens, the first thing should be an apology and it should be regret, it should be sadness and it should be, ‘We are going to do better, and this is the policy, and we’re going to make sure it’s enforced.'” He credited Tom Homan with “doing better.” Homan is the White House border czar who has taken over operations in Minnesota.
The Kentucky Republican said the public needs to “know how to behave, too.”
“Do you have a chance of being shot if you take a weapon and have a proper license for a weapon to a rally?” Paul said. “Could you be shot if you’re yelling at ICE officers? Could you be shot if you’re gesticulating?”
He said the heads of the immigration enforcement agencies must be ready to answer the questions, noting that their testimony at the House hearing earlier this week was “mostly side-stepping.”
Lawmakers remain at a stalemate over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security as Democrats seek reforms to rein in ICE in the aftermath of the Minnesota immigration crackdown.
Funding for the department, which oversees ICE and CBP along with agencies like FEMA, TSA and the Coast Guard, is set to expire at 12 a.m. on Saturday unless lawmakers can come to an agreement. Democrats have pledged to oppose a short-term measure to keep DHS funded.
Without action by Congress, funding would lapse for the agencies and a partial shutdown could begin next week. But immigration enforcement would continue, since ICE and CBP received an influx of funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
The leaders of the immigration enforcement agencies defended the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign at Tuesday’s hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee.
Lyons and Scott, the leaders of ICE and CBP, fielded nearly all of the questions. Their agents have been at the center of the scrutiny surrounding the Minneapolis crackdown following the deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month. The officials largely declined to comment on the shootings, citing the ongoing investigations into their deaths.
GOP lawmakers widely supported the leaders, though some sought commitments from them going forward. Democratic lawmakers pressed the leaders on their agencies, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s handling of the shootings and the enforcement campaign more broadly.
