Veronica Escobar
04/16/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/16/2026 16:02
TRANSCRIPT: Congresswoman Escobar Questions Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons
This morning, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) questioned Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Rodney Scott, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Joseph Edlow, Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were also a part of the hearing.
The video can be found here and a (lightly edited) transcript has been provided below:
DHS Subcommittee Chairman Mark Amodei: The gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Escobar. The floor is yours.
Congresswoman Escobar: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member [Cuellar]. And thanks to our witnesses for being here today. Before I get into my questions, I would be remiss if I didn't say that I am very glad that Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and Greg Bovino are no longer a part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The way that they engaged in our communities has been an abomination, and it is my hope that the wreckage which they created, which is immeasurable, can be addressed and that we can go forward in a different way. So I had to get that off my chest.
Mr. Scott, I've asked for a meeting with you, and I know this is a tough week, but I really would appreciate a one on one meeting with you, my team, your team. Can we make that happen in the next week or so?
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott: Yes, ma'am. Within this next week, I'll be out of town after this meeting until Tuesday, but I'll get with you.
CWE: Okay, and we're happy to work with you. Just would really appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you.
Commissioner Scott: Of course.
CWE: Thank you. Acting Director Lyons, I want to thank you for the time that you gave me and my team yesterday. I think it was a productive and fruitful conversation. And, much of what we talked about is Camp East Montana. It is the largest immigration detention facility in the country. It is privately run. It's $1.24 billion. And I have been sounding the alarm about that facility and that contractor for some time now. I am glad that Acquisition Logistics will no longer be the contractor going forward. We are hoping to continue our oversight, our work on oversight as the new contractor situates itself. And to the Chairman's point, thank you for committing to get us the contract with Acquisition Logistics. I'd like it if the Chair, the Ranking Member and I could have the contract - the new contract with Amentum - please.
AD Lyons: Yes, ma'am, 100%.
CWE: Okay.
AD Lyons: And just, yeah, we're committed to making sure that we get you that, that contract will be fully in place by April 17th -
CWE: Okay.
AD Lyons: - fully staffed. But just to, the original statement would work. We inherited that from the Department of War. And unfortunately, under the FAR Act - the FAR Act part two - there was, they listed proprietary information. So I just would refer any questions on the original contract back to the Department of War. [This] was the reason for the delay on the original.
Chairman Amodei: If I might, if you want to redact it, we're not going to the Pentagon to get answers about ICE stuff.
AD Lyons: We'll take care of that for you.
Chairman Amodei: Okay? Thank you.
CWE: Thank you. Chairman. Will there be a - I'm assuming there will not be a similar issue with the Amentum contract.
AD Lyons: No, ma'am.
CWE: Okay. And we can get that in a timely manner?
AD Lyons: Yes, ma'am. Okay.
CWE: Thank you. And we have started to receive the answers to our letters from last fall and earlier this year. So I appreciate that we're starting to get those answers. But as we continue our oversight responsibilities and have more questions, can we expect responses to our questions in a more timely manner than existed under [DHS] Secretary Noem?
AD Lyons: Yes, ma'am. It was - I think yesterday, as we talked, I think my team was actually sending over responses in real time. So we have increased our legislative [affairs] staff, and we are expediting, answering and getting those all back in a more timely fashion. So, you do have the commitment that you will receive those answers.
CWE: Okay, I appreciate that. And as I mentioned, both on the phone, in my letters to members of this committee, to the Chairman, to the Ranking Member: the issues at Camp East Montana have been horrific. And frequently, [ICE] staff on the ground is very dismissive when I raise those issues directly with them. And we have an obligation to treat people in a humane manner and to make sure that we are living up to federal standards. And, the challenges with Camp East Montana have been laid out by our own federal oversight agencies. So I am not the only one who has seen these issues and who has sounded the alarm.
But, we now have in my community another set of ICE facilities that are going up. The Department of Homeland Security has purchased three warehouses in the city of Socorro, Texas - a population of 36,000 people - those three warehouses are going to house 8,500 human beings. Those structures are meant to hold goods. Those structures are meant to hold things, not people.
And the city of Socorro, their city council, has passed a moratorium on any DHS facilities. They do not have the water infrastructure, the wastewater infrastructure, the emergency services infrastructure. They don't have enough for their own community, but now to have facilities - potentially have facilities - for [8,500] human beings and staff. They are very alarmed. There were hundreds of of members of their community who attended the city council meeting to oppose these new facilities. Local leaders are uniformly opposed to any new facilities. And Mister Lyons, the county of El Paso has struggled to get any information from ICE. They've had to sue in order to try to get information. Is ICE or DHS still planning on proceeding with the the three warehouses?
AD Lyons: Well ma'am, Secretary Mullin is, like I said in my, statement before, he is looking at our whole detention plan. We're making decisions based on if we're going to move forward with those locations.
But what I can tell you is, and hopefully when we do go on our trip down to Camp East, to take the opportunity to show you exactly what those facilities will be. I know - I've said I don't like when people use the term "warehouse," but it's if you once you see what the layout will be, it's not going to be any type of cages or anything like that. It's actually to be retrofitted to become a detention facility, one that we'll actually be proud of, one that would actually have standards - held in a humane way. So I welcome the chance, when we go down there to show you exactly what we actually plan to do -
CWE: Mr. Lyons, I am going to urge you to reconsider. The community is uniformly opposed to this. As I mentioned, a city of 36,000 people does not have the infrastructure for a facility of the magnitude that DHS is wanting to build. And there has been zero community consultation, zero community involvement, community engagement.
Before there are any - before there is any forward movement, would you commit to meeting with local leaders to hear directly from them?
AD Lyons: Yes, ma'am, and Secretary Mullin committed to ensuring that we have, not only interaction with yourself and other members of this committee, but local leadership on the ground - state, local municipality level - to have that community engagement, to have those discussions.
CWE: I appreciate that. I'm eager to see that happen. One last question. There have been multiple deaths at Camp East Montana. One of those deaths, Geraldo Lunas Campos, died in ICE custody on January 3rd of this year. The El Paso County Medical Examiner determined that was a homicide. I've read the details of the report. It's pretty horrific. What is the status of that investigation?
AD Lyons: So, ma'am, once we had that information provided to us, we went ahead and referred that case. That case now is with the FBI. So I can't speak to an investigation. But the FBI is investigating that.
CWE: Okay, so it's no longer in [ICE Office of Professional Responsibility]?
AD Lyons: It's with the FBI, ma'am.
CWE: Okay. And I hope that you will evaluate the fact as you are thinking through these facilities and how they are privately run, that the staff on site lied initially about the accounts of that. And there really needs to be - I'd like to engage in a conversation with you about that.
AD Lyons: Yes, ma'am.
CWE: Mr. Chairman, I know my time is up. Thank you, I appreciate it, I yield back.
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Veronica Escobar published this content on April 16, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 16, 2026 at 22:02 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]