Skip to main content

ICE testimony reveals 37 excessive force investigations as DHS funding deadline looms

37 excessive force cases as Congress debates DHS funding deadline

ICE opened 37 excessive force investigations from January 2025 to January 2026 — 18 closed, 19 pending, 1 referred for further action. Acting Director Todd Lyons did not say whether any resulted in terminations.

ICE cut training for new recruits from 75 days to 42 days at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia while onboarding 12,000 new officers, relying on longer on-the-job training instead.

Only 3,000 of ICE's 13,000 field agents had body cameras at the time of the hearing, with 6,000 additional cameras being deployed. CBP had roughly 10,000 of 67,000 agents equipped.

DHS funding expired at 12:01 a.m. on February 14, 2026 — two days after the hearing — triggering a partial government shutdown affecting the Coast Guard, FEMA, CISA, and TSA, while ICE and CBP kept operating through separate reconciliation bill funding.

The two Minneapolis shootings that prompted the hearing: ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot U.S. citizen Renee Macklin Good on January 7, 2026, and two CBP officers fatally shot U.S. citizen Alex Pretti — a VA intensive care nurse — on January 24, 2026.

Senate Democrats blocked DHS funding and issued 10 reform demands including mandatory body cameras, judicial warrants to enter private property, banning agents from wearing masks, prohibiting enforcement near schools and hospitals, and requiring agents to display identification.

🛂Immigration🏛️Government⚖️Justice✊Civil Rights💵Tax & Budget🛡️National Security

People, bills, and sources

Todd Lyons

Acting ICE Director

Rodney Scott

CBP Commissioner

Rand Paul

Chairman, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (R-KY)

Gary Peters

Gary Peters

Ranking Member, Senate Homeland Security Committee (D-MI)

Joseph Edlow

Director, U.S

Seth Magaziner

U.S

Jonathan Ross

ICE agent

Renee Macklin Good

U.S

Alex Pretti

U.S

What you can do

1

Watch for the DHS funding resolution — the partial shutdown affects FEMA disaster response, Coast Guard operations, and TSA staffing while ICE continues operating through separate funding, showing how budget structure determines which agencies face accountability pressure.

2

Track whether the 19 pending excessive force investigations result in terminations or discipline — Lyons' refusal to confirm any firings during testimony signals potential accountability gaps.

3

Follow body camera deployment numbers — with only 23% of ICE agents and 15% of CBP agents currently equipped, camera coverage directly affects whether future use-of-force incidents can be independently verified.

4

Contact your senators about the 10 Democratic reform demands for ICE — particularly mandatory body cameras, judicial warrants for private property, and banning masks — since these provisions must pass through the Senate Homeland Security Committee that held this hearing.