Chairman Garbarino Joins The Julie Mason Show Ahead of Hearing With ICE, CBP, USCIS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY) joined Sirius XM's "The Julie Mason Show " to preview the Committee's upcoming hearing featuring testimony from senior officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Following congressional Republicans' historic investments into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through reconciliation, Chairman Garbarino stressed the need for oversight of these funds to ensure they are being used in line with congressional intent to protect the American people, the importance of providing transparency for the public, and the need to give federal law enforcement the tools to do their jobs safely and effectively. Chairman Garbarino also detailed the importance of cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies amid heightened threats and in the wake of the Biden administration's historic border crisis. Read highlights of his interview below.

On the importance of hearing directly from the leaders of ICE, CBP, and USCIS:

"In order to get [Department of Homeland Security funding] done, I think we need to get some questions asked and make everybody feel comfortable about what ICE, USCIS, and CBP are doing, what their goals are, and what they're trying to accomplish. I think having these directors there will give them the opportunity to talk about the training that their officers receive… There was a huge investment to hire more ICE and CBP officers that came through the One Big Beautiful Bill… It's going to be good to have these directors giving answers and setting the record straight."

"The reason we're having this issue now is the open-border policies under the Biden administration. There are a lot of applications that run through [USCIS] that were never vetted. I'm looking forward to hearing from the director there as to what they are doing to re-vet some of these individuals… If proper vetting was done, some of them might not have been allowed in."

"We made major investments in the One Big Beautiful Bill, and now congressional oversight is to make sure that money is being spent [and] people are staying on target."

On the previous oversight hearing featuring testimony from officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and Science and Technology Directorate (S&T):

"The director of CISA talked about how he is focusing the employees there on its core mission… The acting administrator [of TSA] talked about the need for more investment in airline security and equipment. That is something I couldn't agree with more… My Committee is actually going to be working on a TSA modernization bill in a few months… I am focusing on congressional oversight, making sure the departments are doing the job they're supposed to be doing."

On the rise of violence and threats against law enforcement, as well as how it impacts public safety:

"I'm hoping this hearing can at least do some good to calm down the rhetoric… We need to make sure people are kept safe and the law is being followed--and that is on both sides. Unfortunately, we are seeing a lot of targeting of law enforcement and people interfering with law enforcement, and that has to stop."

On the importance of cooperation between every level of law enforcement:

"A lot of these states with the sanctuary policies, if our guys are in there running a federal law enforcement, a valid operation, the local guys should be helping them. They're the ones who are on the ground every day and probably have a lot more credibility with the local population. They're all on the same side, or at least we should be. We just need to calm down the rhetoric."

Background:

In January, Chairman Garbarino requested testimony from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow at a full Committee hearing to conduct oversight of each agency and ensure they are fulfilling their duty to protect the homeland as part of DHS's core mission.

Last month, the Committee convened a hearing to conduct oversight of CISA, TSA, and S&T, featuring testimony from CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala, TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, and S&T Under Secretary Pedro Allende.

In December, the House Committee on Homeland Security convened a hearing to examine how increasingly hostile anti-law enforcement rhetoric is contributing to the rise in threats and targeted attacks against law enforcement officers and personnel.

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