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The Situation Room

Congress Questions Immigration Officials. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired February 10, 2026 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:00]

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[11:33:52]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, so as this hearing continues with top immigration officials there on Capitol Hill, we want to bring back an all-star panel of reporters and analysts to discuss what we have heard so far.

CNN anchor and chief domestic correspondent Phil Mattingly is here with us. Former Acting ICE Director under President Bush and Obama John Torres is here.

So, John, I actually want to start with you. You have so much experience in this space. I have known you for many years, even when I was a local news reporter here in Washington. And I'm wondering, what stands out to you so far from Lyons' testimony, Todd Lyons, who is the head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement?

Do you think he is doing a good job communicating what the role of ICE has been and what has been going on, of course, in cities like Minneapolis?

JOHN TORRES, FORMER ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: Yes, thanks for having me on, Pam. Good to see you again too.

I will say this. What really stands out to me is that Director Lyons is in an impossible position here, where he has to tout the administration priorities and also the priorities of the Department of Homeland Security, yet still answer questions to the appropriators here.

[11:35:00]

And what's really interesting is, normally, an appropriations hearing focuses on the accomplishments of the agency and what they need going forward. And that's not what you're seeing today. What you're seeing is really a lot of discussions about policy and procedure.

As to your question, I think, for this hearing, I think Director Lyons is doing as best as he can under the pressure from all three of those components, Congress, the department and the White House.

As to what he's doing on the ground, I think, for him and his agency, it's been tough, because there's been so many changes in direction here. And what I mean by that is what they're talking about today and what you're seeing under border czar Homan is really going back to what ICE has been doing for the past 20 years since its inception.

And what has changed over the past year was the bringing in of CBP Border Patrol agents and doing those roving patrols in an urban environment, which is not something that ICE has been doing. And you throw that into a volatile mixture of those protests, and some of them violent, you end up with a recipe for disaster, especially in an area where local law enforcement was not cooperating with ICE, nor providing protection on the ground for crowd control.

BROWN: On that note, I want to play this sound. I believe we have it from Congressman McCaul of Texas, a Republican who was speaking directly about that issue and the role of CBP and the fact that he believes that the situation has been de-escalated since there has been a change in leadership there in Minneapolis.

Let's take a listen, if we have that sound.

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REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Your officers are not trained to effectuate crowd control. They are trained to move in surgically, go in and remove these dangerous violent criminals from the United States of America.

I have called for de-escalation after the two deaths, the two shootings that took place. I believe that these roving patrols should be done at the border, rather than in the major cities of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I wonder what your reaction is to that, John, hearing that from that Republican congressman, and how that impacts the dynamic with ICE. ICE is supposed to be doing interior targeted enforcement, and CBP is typically at the border.

And that hasn't really been the case on the ground in Minneapolis, as we have seen. And CBP was the one involved in the Alex Pretti shooting.

TORRES: Yes, correct. And that's been tough on the morale of the ICE officers, in that they're -- everything that goes wrong, they're being blamed for, from their perspective.

And so, when I look at this, I agree to a certain extent that, yes, the Border Patrol are trained to do those types of operations on the border. It's a different dynamic. You have people recently crossing the border, as opposed to what you see in the urban environment, whether you're talking about Minnesota, Chicago, Los Angeles, or even Washington, D.C.

I will say that, when you're focused on those targeted, surgical type of operations, that can be done quietly. It can be done off the radar. You won't see the big spectacle that you were seeing when agent Bovino was on the ground leading those types of operations.

And I get why they were trying to do that. They're trying to show that they're arresting people in bigger numbers. But in reality, when you stray away from that 80/20 really perspective of 80 percent of people support removing serious criminals, that drops very quickly when you start arresting everybody else that is here illegally.

And that's because, with over 20 million people here illegally in the U.S., at some point, we're all going to know somebody out there. And that makes it very difficult to say, oh, wait a minute, that person may not really be the criminal we thought they were. And now it hits closer to home, and you see that percentage of support drop very quickly.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: There was another notable moment, Phil, and I want to go through it with you, when the top Democrat on this House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, asked these officials who had been called to testify if they have been asked to deploy anywhere by the Trump administration for the upcoming midterm elections in November, and they said no.

What did you make of that?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: It struck me as a kind of clip and save moment, given some of the things we have seen behind the scenes, some of the very public statements from the administration, but also very real concern when you talk to state election officials -- and I know you guys have spoken to them.

I have spoken to them as well, who are concerned about the type of federal apparatus that the president may be willing to deploy ahead of the midterm elections and some of the signals they see right now in the administration's actions that they believe could lead to something like ICE being deployed at polling stations.

Todd Lyons saying explicitly, on the record, I have not talked about this issue. I have not been instructed to do anything with this issue. There are no plans that I am aware of related to this issue, is notable, one to have it on the record now, but also to see how that shifts going forward.

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BLITZER: Precisely, because the president has publicly said he wants to see all those elections nationalized.

BROWN: Fifteen states, he said.

MATTINGLY: Nationalized -- yes, nationalized on the state level, but also concern that the various components of federal law enforcement could be utilized in ways that could pursue something that the president wants on this, which, let's be honest, when the president talks about elections, almost nothing he says is accurate and hasn't been for years.

I think there's very real concern that ICE, of all agencies, may be the one, given its work in some of the very states, robust operations in some of the very states the president has identified as states he would want to target, that ICE would be involved in that, and as of now, the acting director saying no.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

All right, everybody, stand by. We're going to get back to the hearing, more questions coming up for these immigration officials, right after a short break.

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[11:45:25]

BROWN: All right, let's listen back into this House Homeland Security hearing.

Right there is Congressman Seth Magaziner, Democrat from Rhode Island, questioning. Let's take a listen.

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(SHOUTING)

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REP. SETH MAGAZINER (D-RI): So, as you can see, the agent sprayed pepper spray at close range directly into the face of an individual who had already been pinned to the ground by three other agents. And there's a picture of this behind me to give you a better view.

Is this proper procedure for the use of pepper spray?

RODNEY SCOTT, COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: I cannot comment on that because you're only showing one piece, and that subject is clearly not compliant.

MAGAZINER: Has this agent been investigated? But this is not the intended use of this weapon, correct?

SCOTT: The intended use is to try to avoid escalating. It's to de- escalate the situation and get the individual to comply.

MAGAZINER: All right. Well, he was already pinned to the ground by three other agents. I think he had been de-escalated.

Is there any investigation into this agent for doing this?

SCOTT: I will get back to you. There are several open investigations.

MAGAZINER: All right, listen, there has been no accountability in your agency under the Trump administration, none. Your agency has repeatedly been caught on tape using unnecessary violence against civilians. And you can't even tell me if any of these agents have been investigated or disciplined. You are supposed to be making people safer, and instead your agents

are being unnecessarily violent. And that is why the Trump administration has lost the trust of the American people on immigration. Understand, it's not just the actions of the agents in the field. It is the lack of accountability from the top that has caused public trust to erode.

And there need to be major reforms before we vote to give any of you any more funding. Your agencies need to act like other law enforcement agencies. Take off the masks. Wear badge numbers. Enforce discipline with real standards of conduct.

But accountability starts at the top.

Kristi Noem is completely unfit and should be removed from office. And all of the operations that we just watched were overseen by Commander Gregory Bovino, who himself engaged in excessive use of force. He even admitted that he lied to a federal judge when he claimed he had been hit by a rock prior to throwing tear gas -- a tear gas canister at a crowd of civilians.

But then, after the footage came out, and that turned out to be not true, he admitted that he had lied about it.

Mr. Scott, what disciplinary action do you plan to take against Mr. Bovino?

SCOTT: I cannot comment on personnel actions on an individual...

MAGAZINER: Is there an investigation under way or being considered into Mr. Bovino?

SCOTT: Every allegation and every use of force is fully investigated within DHS. It goes to a review board.

(CROSSTALK)

MAGAZINER: Well, please investigate him. You need to start enforcing discipline.

REP. ANDREW GARBARINO (R-NY): The gentleman's time has expired.

I now recognize the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Strong, for five minutes of questioning.

REP. DALE STRONG (R-AL): Thank you, Chairman Garbarino, Ranking Member Thompson, and thank you to all our witnesses for being here today.

Let me start with the simple facts. The border is now closed. Fentanyl poisonings are down by more than 35 percent. I thank each of you for your service to our country.

I remember in April of '23, when then-Secretary Mayorkas testified before this very committee that the U.S. border was -- and I quote -- "secure" -- close quote -- "and not open." At the same time, under his leadership, illegal alien population surged to over 11 million from -- they were coming from more than 160 different countries as migrants were released into our country by the millions. That's what the Biden administration, in concert with Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, did to America.

They sold America out. The consequences of their failures were predictable. When the United States failed to enforce its border, the winners are not legal immigrants or American communities. It's the cartels, drug smugglers, human traffickers, and violent criminals.

We didn't need new laws to stop this crisis. We needed a president willing to enforce the laws already on the books. President Trump did exactly that, another promise made, another promise kept.

And, today, the number of illegal aliens being released into our country is zero, zero. That's what it took, a president to make the hard decisions, and America is better because of it.

So my question is straightforward. Commissioner Scott, was Secretary Mayorkas telling the truth when he testified before this committee that the border was secure?

[11:50:03]

SCOTT: Consistent with my prior testimony, no, he was not.

STRONG: As you stated earlier, the underlying immigration laws haven't fundamentally changed in decades.

What has changed is how different administrations choose to enforce these laws, particularly during the previous administration. It was 100 percent orchestrated to allow illegal aliens to invade our country under the Biden administration.

From an operational standpoint, how important is consistency in enforcement for deterrence and border control?

SCOTT: It's extremely important. And we keep talking about immigration, but let me remind people, border security really is national security.

The cartels use illegal immigration to literally overwhelm law enforcement at the border and bring in all kinds of other threats. It's the second wave that always is the most critical. The interior enforcement sent a message around the world that we're not going to just let you go.

It took away the marketing ability of the cartels to get people to come to the border and overwhelm law enforcement. This all works together. It's critically important because it is national security.

STRONG: Thank you, Commissioner.

The men and women of DHS deserve our respect.

BLITZER: All right, we're going to take another very, very quick break. We will continue our special coverage right after this.

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[11:55:27]

BLITZER: There's other important news we're following this morning as well.

We're getting new details right now and yet another school shooting here in the United States. One student was shot and wounded inside a Rockville, Maryland, high school yesterday, Rockville, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., that according to CNN affiliate WJLA.

The victim was found in the school's hallway. He's in stable condition in a local hospital. Police say they have a suspect in custody. He's facing attempted second-degree murder charges. Both the victim and the suspect are 16 years old, students at Wootton High School.

BROWN: Sad.

Well, new this morning, CNN has obtained air traffic control audio from the moments before a single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a busy road in Gainesville, Georgia.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gainesville traffic, this is Bonanza 229 Tango Tango. We're not going to make it. Please tell my wife, Molly, I love her and my parents. I love them so much.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BROWN: That's so sad. Wow.

Police say the plane crashed into several cars, leaving two people with minor injuries. The FAA says the plane experienced engine issues and they're investigating the incident.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, we want to thank all of you for joining us this morning, lots going on.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right after a quick break.