Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons clashed with Rep. Dan Goldman on Tuesday after the New York Democrat compared the agency’s street-level citizenship checks to actions used by authoritarian regimes. This led Lyons to agree under questioning that Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union required similar proof of citizenship.
The exchange happened during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow appeared as lawmakers questioned the administration about enforcement practices, officer behavior, and the political fallout from recent operations.
Goldman focused on reports that immigration agents stopped people in public places and demanded documentation. He told Lyons that agents were “asking people walking on the streets of America to show proof of citizenship.” He then asked what other 20th-century regimes required similar proof. Lyons responded that “various nefarious regimes” did so, according to accounts of the hearing. When Goldman further asked if Nazi Germany was one of those regimes, Lyons answered yes. Goldman then inquired about the Soviet Union, and Lyons again said yes, but then objected that the questioning was improper.
After Lyons attempted to end the exchange, Goldman argued that comparisons to secret police stem from what the public sees agents doing. “If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one,” Goldman said, according to reports on the hearing.
BREAKING: Rep. Dan Goldman just slammed Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “outright fascist,” got ICE Director Todd Lyons to admit that the administration is doing similar things to Nazi Germany and told him:
“If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret… pic.twitter.com/bi3P7ZpcAD
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) February 10, 2026
In his prepared testimony, Lyons criticized elected officials and activists for labeling ICE as “gestapo” or “secret police.” He said this rhetoric has led to threats and assaults against agency personnel. He mentioned that his family had been targeted and warned that intimidation would not stop enforcement operations.
The hearing occurred as Democrats sought tighter limits on immigration enforcement tactics while negotiating funding for the Department of Homeland Security. This included proposals for body cameras, restrictions on masks, and new rules for warrants and investigations of alleged misconduct. Republicans largely defended the crackdown and argued for maintaining resources for DHS as the agency faces a funding deadline.
Lyons told lawmakers that ICE has made nearly 379,000 arrests since January 20, 2025. This includes thousands of suspected gang members and more than 1,400 “known or suspected terrorists,” although he did not provide a detailed definition of those categories during the hearing. In his testimony, Lyons also noted that the agency carried out over 475,000 removals in the last year.
Democrats pressed Lyons about the Minneapolis operation and the two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens, which heightened public anger and congressional scrutiny of federal agents. Lyons declined to discuss details due to ongoing investigations but expressed support for releasing body-worn camera footage once it was available.
The Associated Press described the Goldman-Lyons exchange as one of several tense moments during the hearing, with Lyons resisting comparisons that Democrats said arose from visible enforcement tactics. This dispute is now central to an election-year debate over the extent of immigration enforcement and the standards Congress should set for federal officers operating in U.S. communities.
