Story perspectives

Congress Questions Trump-Era Immigration Policies in Heated Hearing

2/12/2026

Center

Democrats Demand Accountability

The House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing with ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott.
Democrats led by Ranking Member Bennie Thompson pressed for accountability.
They framed the hearing as a reckoning for the immigration policies of the U.S. President Donald Trump.
The hearing coincides with ongoing DHS funding negotiations.
Republicans including Rep. Michael McCaul advocate returning ICE to its core mission of removing criminals.

Right

Swalwell Presses ICE

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) pressed ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to resign over the detention of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos.
Swalwell accused Lyons of siding with "killers" rather than protecting children.
Lyons defended ICE's actions, noting the agency cared for the child after his father abandoned him during an arrest.
The hearing underscored the debate over ICE's role in U.S. immigration enforcement.

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Democrats Demand Accountability

The House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing with ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott.
Democrats led by Ranking Member Bennie Thompson pressed for accountability.
They framed the hearing as a reckoning for the immigration policies of the U.S. President Donald Trump.
The hearing coincides with ongoing DHS funding negotiations.
Republicans including Rep. Michael McCaul advocate returning ICE to its core mission of removing criminals.

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