Amid a funding battle on Capitol Hill and polls showing that more than 60% of Americans disapprove of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforces immigration laws, top immigration officials will testify Tuesday before the House Homeland Security Committee.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection (CPB) Commissioner Rodney Scott are scheduled 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 the first since two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis and since the partial withdrawal of federal officers from Minnesota.
Todd Lyons, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Enforcement (ICE), interviewed on television at the White House, November 3, 2025.
Manuel Pals Sinita/AP, File
“In order to get [Department of Homeland Security funding] “After we get that done, I think we need to ask some questions and make everyone feel comfortable about what ICE and USCIS and CBP are doing, what their goals are, what they’re trying to accomplish,” House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino 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 their officers receive. … There’s been a huge investment to hire more ICE and CBP officers that came through the One Big Beautiful Bill. … It would be good to have these directors provide answers and set the record straight.”
Democrats have called for more accountability for ICE and CBP. They also called on Interior Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees immigration agencies, to resign, which she has said she will not do.
In a statement issued Monday, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said the hearing “will be just the beginning of a reckoning with the Trump administration and its weaponization of the government against our country.”
He continued: “Donald Trump and Kristi Noem must be held accountable for the immigration operations that have created chaos in our communities, terrorized people, and harmed American citizens and immigrants alike.” He added: “I hope my Republican colleagues remember that our job is to conduct oversight, not cover up for Donald Trump and his out-of-control followers.” “An administration that abuses the rights of Americans, kills American citizens, and threatens our very democracy.”
US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott speaks as US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (left) looks on during a news conference next to the wall on the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, February 4, 2026.
Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images
Polls show Americans disapprove of the way agencies are running President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operation.
A Quinnipiac poll The one released earlier this month found that 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE enforces immigration laws and 34% approve of it — a lower rating than the agency received in 2018. January Quinnipiac pollWhere 57% rejected and 40% agreed.
and Ipsos survey From early February it found that 62% of Americans said efforts by ICE officers to deal with unauthorized immigration go “too far.” This is slightly more than the 58% who said the same in A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted the previous week. The percentage of Republicans who say ICE efforts go too far rose by 10 points, from 20% to 30%.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire Friday if no agreement is reached on DHS reforms that Democrats want to pass for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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 warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on ICE agents from wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.
Republican Senator Katie Britt, who was tasked by leadership to lead the talks on behalf of Senate Republicans, attacked the Democrats’ proposal in a controversial manner. Share on X Last week.
“Democrats’ latest proposal is a ridiculous list of Christmas demands for the press,” Britt said. He added, “This is not negotiation in good faith, and this is not what the American people want. They continue to practice politics for the benefit of their extremist base at the expense of the safety of Americans.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thon He told reporters Monday evening that Republicans were preparing a counteroffer to the Democrats’ proposal Which could be available soon.