May 14 (UPI) — The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday told a House subcommittee that his agency won’t run out of money before the fiscal 2026 budget is approved.
Todd Lyons clashed with Democratic members of the Homeland Security subcommittee of appropriations over funding for the apprehension and housing of arrested unregistered immigrants, including some who have died.
Congress has approved funding for 41,500 detention beds but ICE is detaining 52,000 people, which could lead the agency to be out of money within two months.
Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, said the goal to deport 1 million people per year is an “incredibly risky strategy that sets you up for failure.
“This administration is cashing checks it does not have to reach questionable goals it cannot meet.”
Lyons responded: “ICE will not run out of money.”
He said money could be shifted from other agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
ICE’s goal is to have 60,000 detention beds after funding shifts.
“We’re still prioritizing the worst of the worst,” said Lyons, who was selected by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to serve as the interim chief in March after the previous director resigned.
Lyons testified his agency prefers to work with public institutions versus private facilities.
“What we’re focused on is working with your committee and working with members of Congress to ensure that we do add to our bed space capacity in the proper and fiscal way,” he said.
The funding proposal for fiscal 2026 is $500 million more for ICE to support 50,000 detention beds and $766 million for advanced border surveillance and detection technology. The agency wants to maintain 22,000 Border Patrol agents, and additional hiring for a total of 26,383 Customs and Border Protection officers.
The ICE budget for fiscal year 2025 is $9.7 billion.
ICE is the second-largest law enforcement agency within DHS, behind U.S. Customs and Border Protection with more than 60,000 employees.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security would increase nearly 65% to bolster military readiness and immigration enforcement.
Democrats are also upset they have been blocked from inspecting ICE detention places though there is Congressional oversight.
Underwood and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, noted statutory language allows lawmakers to inspect ICE detention facilities without prior announcement.
“You cannot accept federal funding and shut the door on oversight,” Underwood said.
On Friday, a scuffle outside an ICE detention center in New Jersey led to the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing. Three House lawmakers — New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver and Rob Menendez — had made an unannounced visit to inspect the privately run center, which is called Delaney Hall.
“We have nothing to hide,” Lyons said. “ICE will be fully transparent.”
ICE staffers understand lawmakers can show up unannounced, Lyons said. But he wants them to provide identification and go through screening before entering the buildings.
“After years of being told to stand down instead of investigating, arresting, and removing the most dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, ICE’s brave officers and agents are now allowed to do what they signed up for,” Lyons testified.
Democratic lawmakers have been concerned about overcrowding and harsh conditions at the centers, which were described as “tantamount to human rights abuses,” according to Escobar.
“What we’ve seen under the Trump administration should send chills down the spine of every American,” Escobar said.
Lyons said nine detainees have died in custody, and pledged to post information about the deaths on the agency’s website.
Underwood, during her opening statement, described an incident by ICE.
“Last month in Oklahoma, ICE sent 20 armed agents, with their rifles drawn, to storm the home of a mom who was home alone with her young daughters in the middle of the night,” she said. “These American citizens who did nothing wrong were forced to wait outside their home in the rain during a midnight investigation that had nothing to do with them.
“These are U.S. citizens who, based on publicly available information, were never implicated in any of the crimes being investigated. It’s not even clear whether the family’s devices and savings were ever returned to them.
“Your department has issued no apology, taken no accountability, just doubled down.
“How can Americans trust an organization that operates like this — that treats them like this — with their national security?”
Lyons did not mention the Oklahoma incident.
Amid the rise in detentions, border crossings from Mexico diminished significantly.
In March, there were 7,181 encounters at the border, which is a 95% reduction from 136,473 in the same month a year ago and 97% from 2022 of 211,181.
And ICE has arrested 88,000 people this year, two-thirds of those since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, Lyons told lawmakers.
ICE employs more than 21,000 people.
