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Witnesses tell Oversight Committee Democrats that ICE tactics have terrorized families and children
Summary
At a congressional oversight hearing, Reverend Tolgard and other witnesses said enforcement actions and on-the-ground threats have left families in Minnesota afraid to leave home and children fearful at school; committee members displayed images of detained children and of Renee Good, who was described as shot by an ICE agent.
A member of the Oversight Committee opened the hearing by saying that over the past two months "countless" people had shared stories of violence and terror, and asked witnesses to describe effects on families and children. The committee member showed images and asked whether families were too frightened to go to work or to send children to school.
Reverend Tolgard of Minnesota told the committee he was seeing families who would not leave their homes for fear of enforcement actions. "Kids are scared at their schools," he said, and "parents are scared of what's going to happen to their children." He added that children in his congregation feared that violence like what happened to Renee Good could happen to their parents when they speak out.
Reverend Tolgard said an ICE agent told a protester on the ground, "Have y'all not learned from the past couple of days, this is just two days after Renee Good was shot?" He said that message was being delivered to people in Minneapolis and elsewhere in Minnesota and described it as unacceptable.
The committee member showed an image the member said was of children being held at U.S. detention centers and cited a reported figure of "almost 4,000" children detained. The figure was presented in the hearing but was not independently verified in the record. The member also described a graphic image of the driver's seat of Renee Good's car after an ICE agent shot her dead; Reverend Tolgard affirmed that families in his community feared similar incidents.
Reverend Tolgard argued that the tactics discussed did not make communities safer. "This violence does not make us safer," he said, adding that it "does not address fraud, waste, and abuse" and "does not help families with health care" or small businesses.
Democratic staff released a report related to Operation Metro Surge during the hearing; the report was entered into the record without objection. The committee did not take a vote during the portion of the hearing recorded here.
The hearing is expected to continue consideration of these issues and related testimony in future sessions; Democratic staff material was entered into the record at the close of the recorded exchange.
