Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

In a few minutes, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will be holding a hearing on several nominees, including the nominee for @ICEGov, Ed Gonzalez.

I'll be following the hearing in this thread (though not a full livetweet). hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/nomin…

The first nominee being considered is for the position of the Census Director, so we're not going to see ICE come up first.

Sheriff Gonzalez is now speaking and delivering his opening statement. He says that American has shown how a nation can not only survive, but thrive, through people coming to this country seeking a better life. He also emphasizes his belief that America is a nation of laws.

After opening statements from Chairman Peters (D-MI) and the nominees, we turn now to Ranking Member Portman (R-OH), who begins not with immigration issues but with questions to the Census nominee, Robert Santos, on the urgent need to get data for redistricting purposes.

Portman quickly pivots to the border (and I would not that ICE has little jurisdiction over the border), saying that we are in a border crisis and notes that apprehensions rose every single month since Biden took office.

True... but they also rose every month since March 2020.

Portman is continuing to talk about the border, and talking about the process by which Customs and Border Protection (again, not ICE) issues parole to people taken out of the MPP winddown, which he unsurprisingly doesn't like.

The ICE nominee has no authority over that issue.

Portman says that "in 2019 we had a surge... and it was largely unaccompanied kids."

That is not correct. It was largely families. Unaccompanied kids made up just 8.2% of overall encounters.

Portman continues to talk about people released from the border without a court date, which to my understanding happened in <20% of cases, and notes that ICE didn't know what's happened to those cases.

I'd note that the courts were shuttered due to COVID during much of that time

After questioning begins, Senator Peters throws a bunch of softballs to Gonzalez, who's using the opportunity to talk about his law enforcement background and says that he's previously had experience in working to fight human trafficking (which ICE does in the HSI division).

Moving to Ron Johnson for questions, who begins by asking why CBP (again not ICE) hasn't released June border numbers yet.

Those numbers are maybe 2-3 days later than normal, and are going to be released later today, so this is a bit of an odd question.

Johnson now echoing Portman's claims about ICE's lack of knowledge of where the small number of people released from the border without court dates are going.

Gonzalez says he agrees it's concerning that ICE doesn't know.

Johnson asks whether state and local governments should be told if there is a plane or busload of people being releases.

Gonzalez gives a noncommittal answer, but I'm happy to say Johnson's claim is ridiculous. Migrants aren't a security threat.

Johnson says we're apprehending 6,000 people a day. Not to be too pedantic, but it was 5,400 a day in June.

And once again, all of these are CBP questions, not ICE questions, and have literally nothing to do with what Sheriff Gonzalez's job would be at ICE.

Johnson falsely claims that "very few" asylum seekers releases from the border will show up for ICE check-ins or court dates.

This is extremely incorrect. The vast majority of people show up for their court dates, as we've documented extensively. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immig…

Johnson now tarring unaccompanied kids, who are mostly teenagers, as likely to be gang members because they're 15-17-year-old males.

Most of them are fleeing the gangs!

Gonzales says "I'm always mindful of not profiling... at the end of the day, they're still teenagers." Yes!

Johnson ends his questions, which weren't really questions so much as political diatribes about the border (which, again, isn't what ICE does) by accusing Gonzalez of denying reality.

Now up to Josh Hawley, who starts listing off groups of "illegal aliens" and asks whether Gonzalez believes each of those groups should be deported (such as people with final orders of removal). Gonzalez says yes for all.

Hawley then asks him about the enforcement priorities.

Hawley says that the current ICE enforcement priorities "could well" lead to the release of people who have committed certain crimes.

Of course, what Hawley is ignoring is that anyone convicted of those crimes has already served their time, and would be released if a US citizen.

Gonzalez is doing a poor job (IMHO) responding to Hawley, basically agreeing with the concept that those with prior convictions are inherently more dangerous and should be locked up.

But again, if they were US citizens, they'd be home! You can't lock up people for future crimes!

Gonzalez is now reiterating the need for enforcement priorities. In response, Hawley says "here's my problem with the discussion of priorities" and notes the drop in removals since Biden took office.

I'll note that ICE is required BY LAW to set enforcement priorities.

Gonzalez says he agrees that the drop in ICE arrests and removals "is concerning." Hawley brings up a random anecdote about a person where an ICE agent was supposedly not allowed to issue a detainer, and Gonzalez says he agrees that sounds concerning.

Moving to Senator Carper (D-DE), who asks Gonzalez some softballs about whether he'd like to abolish ICE (obviously no), then moves to talk about root causes of migration—which again is not really an ICE issue, it's a CBP or State Department issue.

Not everything is the border!

ICE does interior enforcement. The agency locks up tens of thousands of people daily in sprawling networks of detention centers and has deported hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants over the years. But like always, today's hearing is nearly all about the border.

Moving to Senator Portman, who asks Gonzalez why he terminated the 287(g) agreement with ICE in 2016.

He suggests (1) it was expensive and they were in a budget deficit, (2) it was disrupting community relationships, and (3) he honored detainers anyway, so it wasn't necessary.

Portman follows up on Gonzalez's prior comments he made around terminating the 287(g), where he complained about a state law requiring cooperation with ICE. Gonzalez says his anti-287(g) comments were "focused on that it was being mandated" by the state legislature.

Moving to Senator Hassan (D-NH), who finally asks an ICE question not about the border, asking about how he will help ICE Homeland Security Investigations carry out its anti-drug mission.

Gonzalez gives a standard answer about working with HSI to accomplish their mission.

Hassan now asking about Indonesian Christians with final orders of removal who ICE had for years given stays of removal, and who the Trump administration sought to deport.

Gonzalez says he commits to looking at the issue, and says this is why prioritization matters.

Moving to Senator Rosen (D-NV), who asks Gonzalez about the challenge ICE has had in recruitment over the years. She also notes challenges with staff at private prisons, asking about this incident and how screening for white supremacy is being done. thehill.com/changing-ameri…

Gonzalez says on recruitment that this is an issue that all law enforcement agencies are grappling with, and he commits to working with Rosen on this issue going forward.

Rosen then moves to ICE contracting practices, highlighting the Irwin scandal. nytimes.com/2020/09/29/us/…

Gonzalez says that, if confirmed, "the health and safety of our facilities is paramount."

We've heard ICE nominees and Directors say this for years, and yet the scandals keep coming. So even if he is serious about this, getting ICE to treat people properly is a hard job.

Moving now to Senator Scott (R-FL), who asks Gonzalez to talk about "the importance of following the law" and asks for his thoughts on law enforcement choosing which laws to enforce.

Gonzalez gives a noncommittal answer about the importance of following the law.

Scott now asking about children left in the desert, saying "your heart goes out to these people." He asks whether ICE can do anything to "try to make sure those things don't happen."

But that's all CBP and also HHS ORR. ICE has literally nothing to do with that.

Scott now asking about stories that "ICE employees are not allowed to enforce the law." Gonzalez says he doesn't believe those stories are true, and notes latitude at the field office to make decision, and says he'd want to understand what's happening after he takes office.

Scott asks whether Gonzalez has ever been asked not to enforce the law, and how he'd feel if someone asks that.

Gonzalez emphasizes that enforcement priorities are not new. He also recognizes that they're not popular among ICE officers, and says he'll talk to the workforce.

Scott asks how Gonzalez would define "success" at ICE. He says he'd like ICE to become "a strategic agency, a preeminent law enforcement agency that works effectively." He says he wants ICE to respect the rule of law, keep communities safe, and also engage with the community.

Moving to Senator Padilla (D-CA), who asks Gonzalez about reports of ICE agents under Trump falsely claiming to be police and concealing their true identities to get people to open their doors.

It's a common ICE ruse. I had it happen to a client.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1250845234763837440

Padilla asks Gonzalez if ICE will move away from using that particular ruse (impersonating local law enforcement). Gonzalez says he'll look into the issue. But he also says that sometimes "we may have to take certain action" and suggests such ruses may be merited at times.

What Gonzalez should know is that oftentimes ICE uses those ruses when they are completely unnecessary—when they could just wait until the person leaves their house. But ICE would rather do quick raids at peoples' homes than just wait a few hours for the person to leave for work.

Padilla notes that ICE's tactics of impersonating local police undermines local trust, and says that if Gonzalez is confirmed he looks forward to working with him to address that issue.

Moving to Senator Lankford (R-OK), who asks Gonzalez if he's met with the ICE Union yet. Gonzalez says no, but he will if confirmed.

Lankford now asks about specific anecdotes where detainers were supposedly not issued. Gonzalez says "the fact patterns are concerning."

Lankford now asking about "at large" arrests where ICE would round up every undocumented immigrant in an area when they arrived seeking a specific target. That's been ended under Biden.

Gonzalez says this is a matter of prioritization, and notes that it's a matter of tradeoff.

Lankford asks Gonzalez about low removal and arrest numbers under the new enforcement priorities, saying it "sends a signal" that ICE isn't going to enforce the law.

Gonzalez again emphasizes need for strategic enforcement priorities and opposes blanket arrest of collaterals.

And with that, the hearing is over! Thank you for following the thread. The nomination will now be voted on by the Committee, and then if they make it through, it will go to the Senate for a full vote.