Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons got into a fiery exchange during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday.
Democratic lawmakers launched personal attacks against the ICE head over the Trump administration’s commitment to deport illegal immigrants – and implied he was going to hell for enforcing immigration laws.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, asked Lyons if he was a religious man. When Lyons said yes, McIver made a nasty attack.
“How do you think Judgment Day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?” McIver asked.
“I’m not going to entertain that question, ma’am,” Lyon responded.
“Oh, okay, of course not,” McIver shot back. “Do you think you’re going to hell, Mr. Lyons?”
The question prompted audible groans throughout the hearing room.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino immediately intervened.
“The issues we’re debating here are important ones that members feel deeply about. While vigorous disagreement is part of the legislative process, members are reminded that we must adhere to established standards of decorum and debate,” Garbarino said. “The witnesses are here voluntarily. And I will continue to remind members that while oversight is important, aggressively attacking those witnesses personally is inappropriate and not in keeping with the traditions of our committee.”
“Mr. Chairman, I’m just asking a question. You guys are always talking about religion here, and the Bible. I mean it’s okay for me to ask a question right?” she said.
Take a look –
.@RepLaMonica steps completely out of line, gets corrected during a committee hearing:
"Do you think you're going to hell, Mr. Lyons?"
This is seriously messed up. pic.twitter.com/W4K6YjYPzB
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 10, 2026
McIver is currently under federal indictment on three counts stemming from a May incident at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark.
Prosecutors have accused McIver of assaulting law enforcement during an orchestrated effort to disrupt ICE operations . McIver has said the charges are politically motivated.
Lyons appeared alongside Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow. The three officials defended their agencies’ illegal immigration enforcement tactics while facing criticism from Democratic lawmakers.
Lyons said ICE has conducted more than 475,000 removals and nearly 379,000 arrests in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The president tasked us with mass deportations, and we are fulfilling that mandate,” Lyons told the committee.
ICE has arrested more than 7,000 gang members and 1,400 known or suspected terrorists in just the last year, Lyons said.
McIver was not the only Democrat to launch personal attacks against the immigration officials during Tuesday’s hearing.
Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois said ICE and Border Patrol agents removing criminal illegals from American soil were worse than the Ku Klux Klan and slave patrols.
Rep. Lou Correa of California claimed only 14 percent of illegal immigrants arrested by ICE have violent criminal records. Lyons corrected the congressman, and said more than 60 percent of those arrested have either a pending charge or conviction on a criminal charge.
“What people are considered non-violent according to this rubric? Drug dealer, people with child porn, burglars, DUI, etc. These are all things that pose a threat,” Lyons said.
One of the hearing’s most nasty exchanges occurred when Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat running for governor, displayed a large photograph of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and demanded that Lyons resign, and called ICE agents “killers” that were terrorizing Americans.
“Will you stand with the kids who you’re supposed to protect, or will you side with the killers bringing terror to our streets?” Swalwell asked. “Mr. Lyons, will you resign from ICE?”
“No, sir, I won’t,” Lyons responded.
“Why not?” Swalwell pressed.
“Because, sir, 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 shot back.
Swalwell: "Will you resign from ICE?"
Lyons: "No"
Swalwell: "Why not?"
Lyons: "Because 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." pic.twitter.com/H7Rx8pZqRk
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 10, 2026
The 5-year-old was detained alongside his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, an illegal immigrant who had been ordered deported by a federal judge. Arias was arrested after he fled from agents, abandoning his son. The boy’s mother refused to take custody of him, and the father requested his child stay with him in detention.
ICE officials said agents remained with the child to ensure his safety until other family could be located.
“The officers who actually placed him in one of our vehicles played his favorite song, his favorite music, then they took him to McDonalds,” Lyons said during the hearing.
The hearing comes as Congress faces a Friday deadline to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, CBP and USCIS.
Lyons is scheduled to testify again before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Feb. 12. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3.