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Gabinete de los Horrores: Todd Lyons -- Acting ICE Director

Published by: Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Last Updated: 2026-02-12
Confidence: HIGH (40+ independent sources, court records, Congressional testimony, whistleblower disclosures, investigative journalism)

Executive Summary

Todd M. Lyons is a 52-year-old career immigration enforcement officer from South Boston, Massachusetts, serving as the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since March 9, 2025. A former deportation officer who joined ICE in 2007, Lyons was elevated to the top of the agency after his predecessor, Caleb Vitello, was reassigned amid Trump administration frustration over the pace of arrests and deportations.

32 Dead in One Year

At least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 under Lyons' command -- nearly triple the prior year -- with 7 deaths in December alone. At the current pace, 2026 could see more than 80 deaths.

In less than one year as acting director, Lyons has presided over the deadliest period for ICE detainees in two decades. At least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 -- nearly triple the prior year -- with 7 deaths in December 2025 alone. The detained population under his command reached a record 68,440 in December 2025 and later surpassed 73,000 in January 2026, an 84% increase over the prior year, with 72% of the growth driven by people with no criminal record. He authored a secret May 2025 memorandum authorizing ICE agents to enter homes without judicial warrants, leaked by whistleblowers who called it a "flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment." He launched Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis -- which DHS called "the largest immigration enforcement operation ever" -- during which federal agents under his operational command killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. A federal judge found ICE violated 96 court orders in January 2026 alone and threatened to hold Lyons personally in contempt. He halved agent training from five months to 47 days, eliminated Spanish-language courses, and oversaw a hiring binge with loosened standards. ICE stopped paying medical care contractors in October 2025, leaving detainees in detention facilities without dialysis, chemotherapy, prenatal care, or prescription medications. He publicly compared deportation operations to Amazon Prime delivery logistics -- "trying to figure out how to do that with human beings." He announced that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit would investigate anti-ICE protesters, vowing to "track the money" behind "ringleaders" and "professional agitators."

As of February 2026, Lyons has not apologized for any death, retracted any false statement about the Minneapolis killings, or faced personal consequences. He testified before the House Homeland Security Committee on February 10, 2026, declaring: "The president tasked us with mass deportations, and we are fulfilling that mandate."

Position and Authority

What He Controls

As acting director of ICE (formally, "Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director"), Lyons leads an agency with over 27,400 personnel stationed in the United States and worldwide. Under his direct authority:

  • Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO): The component responsible for immigration arrests, detention, and deportation. ERO has approximately 6,500 deportation officers with plans to hire 10,000 more. ERO operates 25 field offices nationwide.
  • Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): Federal criminal investigators conducting transnational crime, human trafficking, and counter-terrorism investigations. Lyons has directed HSI to investigate anti-ICE protesters.
  • Detention Operations: ICE currently detains approximately 68,000-73,000 people daily in nearly 200 facilities nationwide, the highest population in the agency's history.
  • Removal Flights: ICE removal operations conducted over 475,000 removals in the first year of the second Trump administration.

Budget and Resources

Prior to becoming acting director, Lyons managed ERO's $4.4 billion budget. As acting director, he now oversees the agency's full annual budget of approximately $10 billion, plus a massive infusion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act -- roughly $75 billion in multi-year funding on top of the annual budget. ICE's total detention budget for FY2025 surpassed $14 billion, more than 400% greater than detention funding in FY2024. This exceeds the entire federal prison system budget.

Sources: ICE Leadership page, Congress.gov witness biography, WBUR, The Hill, Washington Post, American Immigration Council. Confidence: CONFIRMED.

Chain of Command

Lyons reports to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and works alongside "Border Czar" Tom Homan. He was appointed by Noem, who described him as a "work horse, strong executor, and accountable leader." He was named alongside Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, formerly secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Noem's former aide from South Dakota.

Background

Early Life and Military Service

Todd M. Lyons is a South Boston native who attended Boston College High School. He began his federal career in the U.S. Air Force in 1993, serving in South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Europe. He left active duty in July 1999. After the September 11 attacks, Lyons was recalled to active duty and deployed overseas, serving as the Antiterrorism/Force Protection Liaison for Special Operations Command-Central. He holds a master's degree in criminal justice leadership from New England College.

Law Enforcement Career

Period Position Details
Aug 1999 Civilian law enforcement State of Florida
Apr 2007 Immigration Enforcement Agent ICE ERO, Dallas, TX
2007-2014 Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer Fugitive Operations, Dallas
Aug 2014 - Mar 2015 Chief of Staff ERO Dallas Field Office
Apr 2015 - Sep 2017 Assistant Field Office Director ERO Dallas; led Criminal Alien Program for North Texas and Oklahoma (205 counties)
2017-2024 Various roles, Boston Field Office Eventually became Field Office Director for ERO Boston
Oct 2024 Acting Assistant Director of Field Operations ICE national leadership
Feb 2025 Acting Executive Associate Director, ERO Led ERO nationally; $4.4B budget, 8,600+ employees
Mar 9, 2025 Acting Director, ICE Named after Caleb Vitello reassigned

How He Got the Job

After Trump won the 2024 election, Lyons was described as a "favorite" for the ICE director role, but Caleb Vitello was initially chosen. Vitello was reassigned on February 21, 2025, amid reported frustration within the Trump administration about the pace of immigration arrests and deportations. Two weeks later, on March 9, Noem named Lyons as acting director. Lyons was "relatively unknown within the department before his rapid ascent," according to two former DHS officials. A former colleague described him as "a deportation officer -- a career professional."

Sources: Wikipedia, Congress.gov bio, WBUR (March 2025, February 2026), The Hill, LegiStorm, Reuters Factbox. Confidence: CONFIRMED.

Key Decisions and Directives

1. The Secret Warrantless Entry Memo (May 12, 2025)

Constitutional Violation by Design

Lyons authored a secret memo reversing decades of Fourth Amendment practice. ICE's own training materials acknowledged this was unconstitutional. Whistleblowers had to leak it because anyone who spoke out was threatened with termination.

On May 12, 2025, Lyons authored a secret memorandum authorizing ICE agents to forcibly enter homes using only administrative warrants -- internal documents signed by ICE agents, not judges. This reversed decades of constitutional practice requiring judicial warrants for home entry.

Key facts:
- The memo states that "the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants" for home entry.
- Although labeled "All-Hands," the memo was not widely distributed. Select officials were verbally briefed; others could view it but not keep a copy. Anyone who spoke out was threatened with termination.
- ICE officers were told to follow the memo's guidance instead of written training materials.
- Two anonymous whistleblowers disclosed the memo to the U.S. Senate through Whistleblower Aid.
- ICE's own training materials as recently as 2025 acknowledged that "a home arrest without a warrant or an exception to the warrant requirement typically violates the Fourth Amendment."
- Whistleblower Aid Senior VP David Kligerman: "No court has ever found that ICE agents have such legal authority to enter homes without a judicial warrant."
- Constitutional scholar Mark Graber (University of Maryland): "The Bill of Rights, we thought, were the first 10 amendments. I guess now we're down to nine."

Congressional response: Democrats led by Jamie Raskin and Pramila Jayapal demanded the memo be rescinded, stating: "ICE does not have the authority to overturn any legal precedent, much less ignore one of the foundational constitutional rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights." Senator Richard Blumenthal called for Lyons and Noem to testify.

Sources: NBC News, PBS NewsHour, Whistleblower Aid, CNN, ABC News, Newsweek. Confidence: CONFIRMED (whistleblower disclosure, memo text published).

2. Training Gutted, Standards Lowered (2025)

Under Lyons, ICE training for Enforcement and Removal Operations officers was cut from the standard 13-week (approximately 5-month) academy to 47-48 days -- reportedly chosen because Trump is the 47th president. Key changes:

  • Spanish-language courses eliminated entirely. Lyons justified this by saying recruits were only getting "moderately" competent, and that "language translation technology can help fill that void."
  • Training schedule compressed to six days per week for eight weeks.
  • Hiring standards loosened with $50,000 signing bonuses.
  • AI screening error led to untrained or undertrained recruits being deployed directly to field offices.
  • Former ICE Director John Sandweg: "We've lowered our standards."
  • Lyons' claim: "I wasn't going to water down training."

Senators Alex Padilla and Cory Booker formally requested information on hiring standards, expressing concern about "the potential deployment of inadequately trained or insufficiently vetted enforcement officers in cities across the country." House Democrats requested a GAO review of the hiring surge in December 2025.

Sources: PolitiFact, Al Jazeera, Police1, Washington Post, WTTW, Padilla/Booker Senate letter. Confidence: HIGH (Lyons himself confirmed 8-week schedule).

3. The Amazon Prime Speech (April 2025)

Todd Lyons, Border Security Expo, April 2025

"We need to get better at treating this like a business, where this mass deportation operation is something like you would see and say, like Amazon trying to get your Prime delivery within 24 hours... So trying to figure out how to do that with human beings."

At the 2025 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Lyons outlined his vision for mass deportation in corporate logistics terms:

"We need to get better at treating this like a business, where this mass deportation operation is something like you would see and say, like Amazon trying to get your Prime delivery within 24 hours... So trying to figure out how to do that with human beings and trying to get them pretty much all over the globe is really something for us."

He also called for incorporating AI into immigration operations to "free up bedspace" and "fill up airplanes," and praised Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as "amazing." He told the audience of military-industrial contractors: "We need to buy more beds, we need more airplane flights and I know a lot of you are here for that reason."

Sources: Rolling Stone, PBS NewsHour, Common Dreams, Snopes (verified), Arizona Mirror (original reporting), The Guardian, Bloomberg. Confidence: CONFIRMED (on-record remarks at public conference).

4. Vowing to Investigate Protesters (2025)

In an interview with Glenn Beck, Lyons announced that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit would investigate anti-ICE protesters:

"We are going to track the money. We are going to track these ringleaders... and... professional agitators."

He characterized anti-ICE protest activity as "domestic terrorism," citing the presence of shields, rocks, and tear gas grenades at protests, and said combating it would fall under HSI's remit. ICE has been expanding its surveillance capabilities, including:
- A multimillion-dollar contract with Zignal Labs for social media monitoring (claiming to ingest 8+ billion posts daily)
- Millions paid to Penlink for monitoring tools covering social media, the dark web, and location data
- Clearview AI facial recognition contracts for investigating "assaults against law enforcement officers"
- Expanded fleet of small drones used to film protesters

The Brennan Center for Justice warned that ICE "wants to go after dissenters as well as immigrants."

Sources: Brennan Center for Justice, Boston Globe, ICE official X/Twitter account. Confidence: HIGH.

5. Operations Patriot and Patriot 2.0 (May and September 2025)

Lyons personally announced two major enforcement operations in his former territory of New England:

  • Operation Patriot (May 2025): 1,461 people arrested across Massachusetts.
  • Operation Patriot 2.0 (September 2025): 1,406 people arrested from September 4-30.

Lyons stated: "Patriot 2.0 exposed the grave consequences of sanctuary policies and the urgent need for local leaders to prioritize their constituents' safety over politics."

However, the Boston Globe reported that approximately half of those arrested in Patriot 2.0 had no criminal record. Even by ICE's own figures, only about 600 of the 1,406 arrested "had significant criminal convictions or pending criminal charges."

Sources: ICE press release, WBUR, CBS Boston, Boston Globe, NBC Boston. Confidence: CONFIRMED (ICE's own data).

6. Restricting Congressional Oversight

Under Lyons' leadership, ICE has actively restricted Congressional access to detention facilities:

  • DHS imposed a policy requiring Members of Congress to give at least seven days' advance notice before visiting facilities, effectively ending unannounced oversight visits.
  • Three Minnesota representatives were denied entry to a federal building in Minneapolis on January 10, 2026, where detainees were being held.
  • Federal law explicitly grants members of Congress the right to make unannounced visits to ICE detention facilities.
  • A federal judge blocked the policy twice (December 2025 and February 2, 2026), finding it caused "irreparable harm" to Congressional oversight.
  • Despite court orders, DHS Secretary Noem readopted the restrictions verbatim, claiming funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act exempted them from the access requirement.

Sources: NPR, CBS Colorado, Roll Call, Axios, federal court rulings. Confidence: CONFIRMED.

Connection to Deaths

The Numbers

Under Lyons' operational command (from March 9, 2025 onward):

  • 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 -- the highest since 2004, nearly triple the 11 deaths in 2024.
  • 7 people died in December 2025 alone -- the deadliest single month on record. Four died within a four-day span.
  • 6 more died in the first three weeks of January 2026.
  • At the current pace, 2026 could see more than 80 deaths -- more than double the prior all-time record.
  • Three of the 2025 deaths were apparent suicides.
  • Two detainees were killed by a gunman at an ICE facility in Dallas.

The December 2025 Dead

The seven individuals who died in ICE custody in December 2025:

Name Age Nationality Died Facility
Francisco Gaspar-Andres 48 Guatemala Dec 3 El Paso Camp East Montana, TX
Pete Sumalo Montejo 72 Philippines Dec 5 Montgomery Processing Center, TX
Shiraz Fatehali Sachwani 48 Pakistan Dec 6 Prairieland Detention, TX
Jean Wilson Brutus 41 Haiti Dec 12 Delaney Hall, Newark, NJ
Dalvin Francisco Rodriguez 39 Nicaragua Dec 14 Adams County, CO
Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir 46 Eritrea Dec 14 Moshannon Valley, PA
Nenko Stanev Gantchev 56 Bulgaria Dec 15 North Lake Correctional, MI

Dalvin Francisco Rodriguez was found without a pulse on December 4 and pronounced dead ten days later -- just one day before his scheduled deportation. Congresswomen Delia Ramirez and Rashida Tlaib noted "numerous complaints from family members and advocates about inhumane conditions and inadequate medical care at North Lake" and demanded an investigation into Gantchev's death.

DHS's Response to Deaths

A DHS spokesperson told Axios there was "no spike in deaths" in ICE custody, arguing the death rate per person had remained stable. This framing was widely criticized: the rate remained "stable" only because the detained population itself had surged 75-84%.

ICE is required by law to report deaths to Congress within 90 days. As of late 2025, ICE had apparently stopped issuing those reports, missing the deadline for at least one death. ICE's own Detainee Death Reporting page had not been updated since October, meaning none of the December deaths appeared on it.

Contributing Factors

Former ICE officials identified multiple factors driving the death toll:
- Overcrowding: The detained population surged from ~40,000 to 68,000-73,000 with inadequate medical infrastructure.
- Medical neglect: ICE stopped paying medical care contractors in October 2025 (see below).
- Reduced oversight: Inspection rates dropped 36% while detentions soared.
- Staffing shortages: "With that kind of spike in population, there's going to be a need for additional staffing both on the medical and mental health side."
- Soaring mental distress: Three deaths by apparent suicide in 2025.

Sources: NPR, Axios, NOTUS, The Guardian, AILA, American Immigration Council, The Appeal, LA Taco, Freedom for Immigrants, Congressional letters, Wikipedia (List of deaths in ICE detention). Confidence: HIGH.

Minneapolis Operations

Operation Metro Surge (December 2025 - ongoing)

Lyons oversaw ICE's largest-ever enforcement operation, launched in December 2025 in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area and later expanded statewide.

Scale:
- DHS called it "the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out."
- On January 6, 2026, DHS announced the deployment of 2,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities.
- More than 3,000 arrests, along with widespread criticism for warrantless arrests, aggressive clashes with protesters, detentions of U.S. citizens, and fatal shootings.

Lyons' statements on the operation:
- Called it the agency's "largest immigration operation ever" (Newsmax interview).
- "The president tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate."
- "We've arrested over 2,500 criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota since starting this operation with DHS."

The Killing of Renee Good (January 7, 2026)

Renee Nicole Macklin Good, 37, a U.S. citizen, was shot and killed in her car by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Good was stopped sideways in the street when Ross circled her vehicle on foot, then fired three shots as her car moved forward and to the right, away from him. Federal officials initially claimed Good "ran over" the agent and that the agent was "recovering in a hospital." These claims were described as "clearly false," with the agent's own cellphone video showing a peaceful encounter.

The Killing of Alex Pretti (January 24, 2026)

Alex Pretti, 37, a U.S. citizen and ICU nurse at a Minneapolis VA hospital, was shot multiple times by CBP agents near 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Pretti had participated in protests against Good's killing. Reuters, the BBC, The New York Times, CNN, and The Guardian all concluded from video evidence that Pretti was holding a cell phone, not a gun, when tackled, pinned to the ground, and shot at least ten times within five seconds, continuing after he lay motionless. Federal officials initially denounced him as a "domestic terrorist" attempting to "gun down immigration officers" -- a narrative that "quickly unraveled" when bystander footage spread.

After both killings, officers did not perform CPR or any other medical aid. When physicians at the scene attempted to help, federal agents delayed or blocked them.

ProPublica identified the CBP agents who shot Pretti as Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, both assigned to Operation Metro Surge.

96 Court Orders Violated

On January 27, 2026, Minnesota Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz -- a George W. Bush appointee who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia -- ordered Lyons to personally appear in court to explain why he should not be held in contempt.

Schiltz attached an appendix identifying 96 court orders that ICE violated in 74 cases -- all since January 1, 2026:

"ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence."

"This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result."

"ICE is not a law unto itself."

The order was withdrawn after ICE released the wrongfully detained person who triggered the ruling. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin dismissed Schiltz as "just another activist judge" -- despite his conservative credentials.

In a separate case, Judge Sara L. Ellis found that statements by federal immigration officials defending use of force during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago involved "widespread misrepresentations."

Lawsuit Against Lyons

Minnesota leaders filed a lawsuit against DHS Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons to end Operation Metro Surge. A coalition of 20 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief supporting the challenge. Governor Tim Walz said he expected the operation to last "days, not weeks and months of this occupation."

Sources: PBS NewsHour, Wikipedia (Operation Metro Surge, Killing of Renee Good, Killing of Alex Pretti), The Hill, NBC News, CBS News, CNBC, KARE 11, NPR, ProPublica, Fox 9, Washington Post, Common Dreams. Confidence: HIGH.

Inspection and Medical Care Failures

Inspections Plummeted

A major investigation by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop (published January 12, 2026) found:

  • The number of ICE detention facility inspections by the Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) dropped 36.25% in 2025, even as detention rates and deaths surged.
  • ICE is required by a 2019 Congressional mandate to conduct inspections twice per year at facilities with an average daily population of 10 or more. Congress appropriated $6.9 million specifically for this purpose.
  • Not a single facility received more than one inspection in 2025 according to reports on ICE's website.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill Act zeroed out the budget for the DHS Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman ($28+ million cut) and cut nearly $33 million from the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties -- approximately $40 million in total oversight cuts.

Andrew Free, founder of the #DetentionKills project: "All signs point to increasing amounts of suffering, increases in preventable harm and ultimately death that will occur to the ICE detained population."

Sources: POGO, American University Investigative Reporting Workshop. Confidence: HIGH (Tier 1 investigative source).

Medical Care Payments Halted (October 2025)

Seven-Month Gap in Medical Care

ICE stopped paying medical providers in October 2025 with no replacement until at least April 2026. Detainees have been denied dialysis, chemotherapy, prenatal care, and routine prescriptions. Senator Ossoff documented over 1,000 credible reports of human rights abuses.

On October 3, 2025, ICE abruptly ended its contract with the Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center, which had processed medical claims for detainee care since 2002. ICE has not paid third-party medical providers since that date.

The scale of the crisis:
- In 2024, the VA processed $246.42 million in medical claims for ICE detainees. In 2025, despite an 82.5% increase in the detained population, only $157.2 million was processed -- a gap of nearly $300 million in needed care.
- ICE's replacement contractor, Acentra, will not begin processing claims until at least April 30, 2026 -- leaving a seven-month gap with "no mechanism to provide prescribed medication" and no way to "pay for medically necessary off-site care."
- Detainees have been unable to receive dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, chemotherapy, or routine prescriptions.
- Nearly 400 U.S. Public Health Service officers have been deployed on monthlong tours to provide basic care, but staffing remains critically inadequate.
- Some medical professionals have quit, citing "moral distress," life-threatening delays, chaotic screenings, and overcrowded conditions.

Senator Jon Ossoff's investigation documented:
- 85 credible reports of medical neglect (including untreated heart attacks and denied medications)
- 82 credible reports of denial of adequate food or water
- Over 1,000 total credible reports of human rights abuses in immigration detention
- These incidents occurred between January and August 2025 -- before the payment system collapsed.

Federal law requires ICE to provide necessary medical care to people in its custody.

Sources: Popular.info, CBS Atlanta, NPR, New Republic, WOLA, Ossoff Senate office (multiple press releases), PBS NewsHour. Confidence: HIGH.

Notable Statements

On Mass Deportation (February 10, 2026, Congressional testimony)

"The president tasked us with mass deportations, and we are fulfilling that mandate. Thanks to the resources provided by Congress, we are ramping up detention capacity and removal flights daily."

On Deportation as Business (April 2025, Border Security Expo)

"We need to get better at treating this like a business, where this mass deportation operation is something like you would see and say, like Amazon trying to get your Prime delivery within 24 hours... So trying to figure out how to do that with human beings."

On Investigating Protesters (2025, Glenn Beck interview)

"We are going to track the money. We are going to track these ringleaders... and... professional agitators."

On ICE's Mission (July 20, 2025, "Face the Nation")

"I see it as a law enforcement tool. ICE is really focused on its public safety mission... our main focus is public safety."

On Sanctuary Policies (October 2025, Washington Times)

"Local law enforcement agencies released them instead of handing them over to us in a secure environment, and this puts neighborhoods, law enforcement officers, and illegal aliens at risk."

On Schools

"Yet we're being accused of 'Oh, you're going to schools and rounding up children.' All we're trying to do is locate these poor kids. And that's the last known address we have."

On Training Cuts

"I wasn't going to water down training."

On Apologizing for Minneapolis Killings (February 10, 2026, to Rep. Swalwell)

"No, sir. I welcome the opportunity to speak to the family in private, but I'm not going to speak on any ongoing investigation."

On Protests (February 10, 2026, Congressional testimony)

"We've seen a de-escalation in protests, so our agents can do their intelligence-driven enforcement operations. Just the other night, local law enforcement arrested 54 protestors and ICE officers didn't have to be engaged."

On the Deadliest Operating Environment Claim (February 10, 2026)

"We are facing the deadliest operating environment in our agency's history." He claimed death threats against ICE personnel increased more than 8,000% and assaults on officers surged over 1,400% in FY2025. These figures have not been independently verified.

On Protester Databases (February 10, 2026)

"There is no database of protesters."

(This contradicts ICE's known contracts with Zignal Labs, Penlink, and Clearview AI for social media monitoring, location tracking, and facial recognition.)

On the World Cup (February 2026)

"ICE, specifically Homeland Security Investigations, is a key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup."

Accountability Assessment

  • Contempt of court: Narrowly avoided being held in contempt by Minnesota Chief Judge Schiltz after ICE violated 96 court orders in January 2026.
  • Named defendant in Minnesota state lawsuit to end Operation Metro Surge, supported by 20 state attorneys general.
  • Congressional scrutiny: Testified February 10, 2026, before House Homeland Security Committee. Scheduled for Senate testimony February 12, 2026.
  • Whistleblower exposure: His secret May 2025 memo authorizing warrantless home entry was leaked and is the subject of Congressional demands for rescission.
  • DOJ investigation: The killing of Alex Pretti is under DOJ Civil Rights Division investigation.

What He Has Not Done

  • Has not apologized to any victim's family (refused on record, February 10, 2026).
  • Has not retracted DHS's "domestic terrorist" characterization of Renee Good or Alex Pretti, even after video evidence contradicted official accounts.
  • Has not restored ICE inspection rates to legally mandated levels.
  • Has not restored medical care payments to contractors (seven-month gap and counting).
  • Has not rescinded the warrantless home entry memo.
  • Has not complied with Congressional reporting requirements on detention deaths.
  • Has not fired any officer involved in the Minneapolis killings (refused to address personnel actions on record).
  • Has not acknowledged that the majority of people detained under his command have no criminal record.

Public Opinion

A Quinnipiac poll found that 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws; 34% approve.

What Oversight Remains

  • Congressional subpoena power (limited by majority cooperation)
  • Federal judiciary (Judge Schiltz, Judge Cobb, Judge Ellis have all ruled against ICE)
  • Senator Ossoff's ongoing detention investigation
  • Whistleblower disclosures
  • Investigative journalism (POGO, ProPublica, The Intercept, WBUR)

Sources

Tier 1 (Primary / Gold Standard)

Tier 2 (Reliable)

Tier 3 (Use With Caution)

Government Sources (Documented as Claims, Not Facts per OSINT Protocol)

Court Records

  • Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota -- orders dated January 26-28, 2026
  • Judge Jia M. Cobb, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia -- orders dated December 2025 and February 2, 2026 (Congressional access)
  • Judge Sara L. Ellis -- findings on "widespread misrepresentations" in Operation Midway Blitz

Published by Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Methodology: Bellingcat-standard OSINT -- public sources only
All information derived from publicly available sources. No private systems accessed. No authentication bypassed.
Three-source minimum applied to all major findings.