Tensions boiled over at Tuesday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing when Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) demanded Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons resign — or, as Swalwell put it, “side with the killers.”
Lyons refused.
The confrontation capped a combative line of questioning from Swalwell, who has been one of the most vocal Democratic critics of ICE’s mass deportation operations. Swalwell previously co-authored the “ICE OUT Act” with Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), legislation aimed at stripping federal immigration agents of qualified immunity protections.
During the hearing, Swalwell emphasized Lyons’ prior military and law enforcement background, suggesting he had other employment options and framing his continued service at ICE as a moral decision.
“You are what I would call ‘otherwise employable,’” Swalwell said. “But since you’ve been on this job, women have been dragged by their hair through streets. A 6-year-old child battling stage-four cancer has been deported. And it turns out he was a U.S. citizen.”
Swalwell then posed a direct question: “Will you stand with the kids who you’re supposed to protect, or will you side with the killers bringing terror to our streets? Mr. Lyons, will you resign from ICE?”
“No sir, I won’t,” Lyons replied.
The exchange intensified when Swalwell’s staff displayed a poster of a child during questioning. Lyons pushed back, referencing a case involving Adrian A.C. Arias, an Ecuadorian national who fled during an enforcement action, leaving his young child behind. According to DHS, ICE officers did not target the child but ensured his safety while apprehending the father.
“That child that you’re showing right there, the men and women of ICE took care of him when his father abandoned him and ran from law enforcement,” Lyons said.
Swalwell also confronted Lyons over remarks he made at a Border Security Expo, where Lyons compared improving immigration enforcement efficiency to the speed of Amazon Prime delivery. Swalwell referenced the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis and asked, “How many times has Amazon Prime shot a mom three times in the face?”
“None,” Lyons responded.
Lyons clarified that his Amazon comparison referred to technological efficiency — including artificial intelligence and improved processing systems — not to enforcement tactics. “I did say at the end of it, but we deal with human beings, so we can’t be like them. That’s the key part that you’re leaving out,” he added.
The exchange highlighted the widening partisan divide over immigration enforcement. Democrats have increasingly scrutinized ICE’s operational conduct, particularly amid high-profile incidents and protests. Republicans, meanwhile, argue that ICE is enforcing existing federal law and that criticism often misrepresents specific cases.
After Swalwell concluded his remarks, Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) turned questioning over to Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), shifting the tone of the hearing.
