CD329: Citizens Detained

The Trump administration has overwhelmed all of the internal processes through these politically motivated arrest targets. They are quite literally arresting people more quickly than they can process, which means people are falling through the cracks, procedures are not being followed, and the system is breaking down. Okay, but you make that sound like it's just a mistake. Is that how you interpret this? There are times when ICE may make mistakes. Every agency makes good-faith mistakes. but the problem is when you don't have any interest in fixing those mistakes and when you let the mistakes propagate because all you care about is hitting high arrest targets and hitting your deportation quotas. And that is what we are seeing happen throughout the system in field offices around the country. I am so damn tired of being lied to. I don't think I can deny it anymore. You can't stick to your story if you think it flies But I'm not gonna buy it anymore Hello, my friend, and thank you for listening to episode 329 of Congressional Dish. I'm your host, Jennifer Briney. And this is our last episode of 2025, which was a historic year in many ways. But one aspect in particular I think will be documented harshly in the history books, and that is the violence that's been inflicted upon immigrants, both illegal and legal, and U.S. citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, both of which exist as part of the Department of Homeland Security. These agencies, during the leadership of former House of Representatives member, turned governor of South Dakota, turned secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, have been tasked with conducting mass deportations by the president. But the manner in which they are doing them, I really believe will go down as one of the most shameful chapters in American history. And if that sounds extreme or like an exaggeration caused by my Trump derangement syndrome, well, you need to listen to this episode. because by the end of it, I think it's going to be hard to disagree. Because today you're going to hear testimony that the Republican Party, which is enabling all of the lawlessness, literally did not want you to hear. This testimony was given in what was nicknamed a shadow hearing because the Republicans who control Congress refused to make this an official hearing. Instead, Democrats from both the Senate and the House of Representatives together conducted an unofficial hearing after a report was released that documented the stories of 22 U.S. citizens who have been violently robbed of their freedom by the Department of Homeland Security. Because I hate the word detained. It just smells like propaganda to me. It just, it doesn't describe what's going on. But after an official congressional investigation is concluded and a report released, it's very common for a hearing to then be held. But the Republicans refuse to do that. But you need to hear this testimony. There's a reason they don't want you to. Because these stories prove that we are all in danger. U.S. citizens have been assaulted and jailed at work, while we were driving, while we were waiting to pick up our kids from school, while at the airport with passport in hand, and while on our own property. And the reasons for which we've been targeted? We've been targeted for speaking a language other than English, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and for filming violent assaults being conducted by law enforcement. You need to hear these stories for yourself. And you need to hear the Secretary of Homeland Security in her own testimony to Congress two days after the victims testified when questioned about the actions of the agents under her control. And it's episodes like this, like for real, that make me feel like Congressional Dish is important because this is a real-time documenting of history, for better or worse. But this documentation is being done for you. This isn't being done in order to sell your time to some company. I don't get paid based on how many downloads the show gets, and therefore the number of people who hear ads. I get paid based on the value I provide to you, and to the country, and to the world with this work. And you get to be the judge of what that value is. With episodes like this, I feel like this is more important than ever. Because you know I'm not giving you this information in order to shock you, even if that might be the result. But I have no incentive to do that. I don't produce clickbait because extra clicks do not equal extra dollars with this business model. I'm giving you this information because it's important. And in this case, because I think a lot of us are in danger when the Department of Homeland Security officials experience no consequences for their lawlessness. This is dangerous. And that's why I'm giving you this information. And even by saying this, by providing evidence of lawlessness publicly and calling it so, I actually think that there's a measure of danger in this for me. But fuck it. I love this country and the people in it. And this is what I can do. I can share this information. And you can support me and my team as we continue to do it. In times like these, when our country is so clearly headed in a dark and dangerous direction, each of us as individuals, we can't do everything. But each of us can do something. And if everyone did something, that's how dark times end. I truly believe that supporting the existence of this show and helping us to keep producing it and by supporting others like it, because I pay for all kinds of journalism, both corporate and independent. 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And I hope that you're sharing the episodes that keep you coming back. We all do our part. And that's why I will still be doing this in 2026. And I hope that you will help me. So let's get started with the shadow hearing, which took place on December 9th in, I think, the Senate somewhere, because it was chaired by a senator and there was a report made by a Senate committee, but it was chaired by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. But because the Republicans who control Congress refuse to chair it or participate, it's not listed in the congressional record. And so I actually don't know where they held this. It was in the shadows somewhere. And that was something that the Democratic Party participants were clearly unhappy about. This is Representative Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia. I hate that we even have to be here in the first place. I hate that this isn't an official hearing, that we have to have this sort of shadow hearing to be able to talk about these issues openly. in this body, but here we are. But like I said before, this hearing was following the release of a stunning report issued by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The report details interviews conducted of American citizens detained between June and November 2025. And here's Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut explaining the report in his opening statement. Our report documents 22 stories, and yours are among them, across 10 different states, all across the United States, containing previously unreported details and new accounts. But we know that these 22 stories are among hundreds, literally among hundreds. And so the report that the Senate has produced had two sections. The first section has short summaries of each victim's account. And then in the second half, the much longer half, each of those stories is told in great detail. In this episode, you are only going to get a small sample of what is in the 67-page riveting report. But also, this report had extensive sources within it with links to articles and videos which prove what the victims say. And you don't even have to go and copy and paste those links. Those links work within the report. This report is worth your time. And of course, I've put it in this episode show notes for you. But before we start listening to the testimony from the victims who are from this report and who were brave enough to testify, I do want to provide some context that's just been floating around in my head, honestly, all year. Because a lot of the victims were attacked by ICE or Border Patrol in Southern California. And I was in Southern California during the summer of 2025. And I actually remember three of these people who were in this hearing from the local news. Also, raids that didn't make the news were happening in the neighborhoods where I was living. In fact, while I was home in Redondo Beach this summer, my stepmom and her sister were having lunch just down the street from where they live when the car wash next to the restaurant was raided. And ICE just took four people. They basically just took whatever Mexicans they could literally catch. And that was the second time that summer that that exact car wash had been raided. My stepmom and her sister were horrified and they were so shaken when they got home. And I guess this is one reason why I want to make this episode because I don't see the mass protests about this that I would expect from us Americans and which this lawless behavior from the Department of Homeland Security deserves. And I wonder if that's because maybe it's not happening everywhere. Like I know it's not happening everywhere. I know Los Angeles has been experiencing this for most of the year. I know Chicago's been a target and there's a few other cities. But are the rest of you in this country aware of this? And so I guess I just want to do my part to make sure that the answer is yes for at least my community. Because my physical community in Southern California, it's all too real for us. And I do wish that the rest of the country would stand up with us and try and get it to stop. But anyway, as our literal neighbors have been disappeared this year in Los Angeles, I keep thinking about Lindsay Lohan and specifically her time in jail in Los Angeles. Now, you might not remember this, and I hate kind of to pick on Lindsay Lohan now because she is a grown woman who's living outside of the country. She has a child. She is sober. But she is the example that is in my head because back in 2007, she was arrested for a DUI after crashing her car, and she was later charged with cocaine possession. Later that same year, she was arrested again for a DUI for driving under the influence and again for cocaine possession. Now, her case resulted in just probation. She was required to go to rehab, and she was given community service rather than jail time. But three years later, after she had violated her probation multiple times, so she had missed court-ordered programs, she failed drug tests. She flaked on community service. After all that, a judge sentenced her to 90 days in jail. But due to overcrowding in Los Angeles County jails, she was released after about 84 minutes. 84 minutes. Lindsay Lohan had repeatedly drove her car while intoxicated. She put every other driver in danger. And after she got arrested, she did it again. And both times, she had like drug drugs in her possession. She is an actual criminal who put others in danger, and she ultimately served 84 minutes in jail. And so just keep that in mind as you hear how long these U.S. citizens have spent in jail this year. And so first up, here's George Redis. I think that's how you say his last name, whose arrest was caught on video on July 10th, 2025, as he was attempting to drive to work on a road that was being blocked by DHS agents. And I watched the video and everything he says here is true. They pinned me down, one kneeling on my back and another kneeling on my neck, while my hands were already behind me. I was first taken to a Navy base where agents collected my DNA, and after that I was taken to a detention center and held for three days without charges. No phone call, no lawyer, no medical care, even though my skin burned from the chemicals. I wasn't allowed to shower. On Friday morning, they placed me on suicide watch. Suicide watch is a yellow concrete room with a concrete bed and a thin mattress. light stays on 24 7 you're stripped naked and put in a hospital gown my guard watches ah a guard watches you constantly I remained in those conditions from Friday morning from Friday morning until the moment I was released My family had no idea where I was I was released without explanation and without a single charge. Next up is Wilmer Chavaria. Wilmer is an American citizen who is traveling back from Nicaragua after a visit to his mother, a trip he takes at least once a year and which is clearly very important to him. As a frequent international traveler and a U.S. citizen, he registered for and was approved for the Global Entry Program. And yet this is what happened as he and his white husband landed and made their way through customs in Houston on July 23, 2025. But I have never stopped going to Nicaragua to visit my mother. I understand the requirements agencies place on travelers coming into the country, and I have always cooperated without hesitation in the two decades since my mother first said goodbye to me at age 16. This past summer, however, I was separated from my spouse for hours, taken into a detention area with several officers in plain clothes, and all my devices, along with their pins and passwords, were demanded. I verbally asserted my rights as a U.S. citizen and requested a lawyer or a phone call, all of which were denied. I was told that I have no constitutional rights at a port of entry and that I should be grateful that they were even bothering to ask me nicely. As a superintendent, it is my duty to protect the information of our students and families contained in some of those devices and I was not simply going to release this data to third parties without a warrant. To this, the officers responded with threats, including referring me to the FBI, a warning that they could make me lose my job if they wanted to or destroy my reputation so as to damage my prospects for future employment. My devices were taken and searched out of view and I was never given a reason for my detention. Several hours later and after interrogations that questioned everything from my marriage to my work, I was finally released to find my spouse in the baggage claim area, still shaken from the verbal assaults he had suffered when asking for my whereabouts. Since this incident, I do not feel free to travel. I am fearful that a visit to my mother could mean extended detention or a fabricated plot to destroy my life like they threatened to. If the goal is to make some citizens feel like they are of a second class, with only some of the rights but not others, then they have succeeded. And one reason that I found in the report for his fear of traveling in the future is that the next morning, his global entry was revoked. The next story is that of Andrea Velez, who is a 4-foot, 11-inch tall Los Angeles resident whose arrest was also caught on video by multiple people from multiple angles. On Tuesday, June 24, my mother and sister dropped me off at my workplace in downtown LA's fashion districts. Seconds later, the street was swarmed by on-marked cars Masked men in plain clothes began chasing and attacking people without identifying themselves as ICE One of them ran towards me He was large and aggressive Terrified, I used my work bag as a shield But he grabbed me and slammed me onto the sidewalk And accused me of interfering I asked for his badge or warrant He refused He told me I didn't need to know who he was And that I should just look at his vest He handcuffed me without checking my ID. They ignored me as I repeated again and again that I am a U.S. citizen. They did not care. They took my belongings and placed me in an on-marked car. I was unaware that my mother and sister had witnessed everything unfolding and felt powerless to intervene. They feared that if these men could do this to me, they could just as easily do the same to them. They called 911 for help. LAPD did not protect me that day. They aided ICE instead. As helicopters hovered and Cyrus closed in, I trusted LAPD would protect us. I managed to escape the Unmarocard and run towards the officers, pleading for help and telling them that I didn't know who these masked men were. I begged to be taken by them rather than by masked strangers, yet the officers allowed the masked men to take me and parade me. As another U.S. citizen, Luis Ippolito, was detained that day for recording. Ice pepper sprayed him, jumped him, beat him, restrained him by the neck, and still pointed a taser gun at him. Ippolito kept asking for medical assistance, but they minimized his pain as not a big deal, despite convulsing, bleeding, and struggling to breathe. while being held at our temporary holding Ippolito thought he was not going to make it out alive and only after he went into shock did I finally decide to call an ambulance in the chaos of ISIS disorganization I spent most of the first day handcuffed and shackled in a van watching people arrive distraught and take it against their will while ambulances came and went for those attacked requests to use the bathroom or asking for food were met with hostility and anger inside I was denied the right to call my family or speak to a lawyer I just refused to disclose my whereabouts to my family and my colleagues no one could locate me they later forced me to stand in front and center surrounded by officers with their backs turned stage like a mugshot DHS likes to use to brand us as criminals stripping us of our dignity they want to paint us as the worst of the worst but the truth is we are human beings with no criminal record While detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center, I was unable to access drinking water without first purchasing a cup. I was thirsty. Thankfully, a detainee lent me theirs, and later another detainee leaving that day donated a cup and a sport, allowing me to eat dinner. Officers told me I would be held for one night, yet it extended to two without explanation, and I was issued a uniform as if my stay would be longer. I remained in custody until Thursday, and it was only at my court hearing that I first learned of the charges against me. In disbelief, I read the alphabet falsely claiming I had struck an ice agent on the face and that I belonged to an organized group that attacks him. Two weeks later, my case was dismissed for lack of evidence. Since that day, I no longer feel safe. Though I try to detach from my trauma, our community continues to be targeted simply because of the color of our skin. We are left vulnerable, forced to fend for ourselves. And if this is how U.S. citizens are treated, imagine the cruelty inflicted on those without. And like I said, her arrest was caught on video. And Senator Blumenthal saw that video. Ms. Velez, after detaining you for 48 hours, despite being United States citizens, despite showing them proof that you were a US citizen, you were then charged with assault. They allege that you hit the officer in the face. Now, we saw the video. You never hit that officer. It was a total lie, and after your lawyer requested the officer's body camera footage, your lawyer requested it, the charge against you was suddenly dropped. What did the Department of Homeland Security say happened and what did the video show? They said that I had assaulted an officer that struck them in the face, which is incorrect because they were huge, and I'm really small. You are? I'm 4'11". Not a big person. Not a big person. How tall are you? I'm 4'11". So really pretty tiny. Yeah. So you never get that officer in the face? No, no, I did not. And she's not the only person in the report who was proven to have been falsely accused of assaulting an officer. That was a pattern, not a fluke. And finally, testimony was heard from Javier Ramirez, whose arrest was also filmed by multiple people. And in the video, you can see a group of people, at least four other people, including his brother, surrounding Ramirez and yelling at the federal agents saying that Ramirez is a U.S. citizen as he is handcuffed with a bruised face laying on the ground. On June 12, 2025, precisely 432, my will was turned upside down. agents of Border Patrol Stormont onto my private property at 1537 West Olympic Boulevard in Montabello, California. Armed with high-powered assault rifles, wearing masks, and their only uniform being their bulletproof vest that shielded them from accountability. I have never encountered gunmen in my life and feared griptly and tightly as they approached me. When they spoke to me in Spanish asking, where was I going? I replied, voy pa fuera, meaning I'm going outside. I didn't want to do anything to do with them. This was a terrifying situation. But when I heard a chilling voice declared, get him, he's Mexican. I'm in this thrown down to the ground. Confusing, knowing not what to do. I just feel a knee going on my face and then on behind my neck. My mind raised with disbelief. What have I done to receive such a treatment? I am not a criminal. I am not an illegal immigrant. I plead with them. I'm a U.S. citizen. I was born here, but my words fell in deaf ears. We are not asking for that. They coldly replied. I asked repeatedly, what was I being arrested for? Only to hear the haunting response, we don't know. We're trying to figure it out. As a diabetic, I began to feel unwell, desperately requesting medical assistance. But my cries were met with interference. Even in half-cuffs, I was thrown again to the ground, my heart heavily with the weight of injustice. I found myself questioning, what did I do to disturb this? Why is this happening to me? The nightmare continued as I was handed over to HSI, and by 8 p.m. I was read my rights. Spending five long days in prison, so as a citizen of this great country, I should never have to endure such treatment. I should not have to live in fear of being targeted simply for the color of my skin or the other language I speak. Today, I live with constant shadow of anxiety, fearing that this could happen again. not just to me, but to my children or my loved ones. The streets of my city, once a peaceful and safe community, have become tainted by the actions of those who should protect us, instead installing terror in our community. These arrests, all of them, happened despite information, important information, being given to the agents at the time of these arrests. Here's Representative Robert Garcia of California talking to George Redis, who was the guy who was just going to work and encountered ICE agents blocking the road. You told agents that you had served in the military, is that correct? Yes. And so while you were sitting in the dirt, while your license plate showed that you were a veteran, you told folks that you had served, you clearly stated that you were a U.S. veteran and served this country. Is that correct? Yes. And in all of these stories, there were clear violations of ICE policy. Here's Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Under ICE policy, detained people must be allowed to make a phone call within 24 hours. And usually it's supposed to be within eight waking hours. That means you can alert family members where you are. You can let a legal representative know where you are so that there's someone there to protect your rights. let them know that you're in ICE custody, and give you an opportunity to present evidence of your citizenship. And yet, here's Representative Robert Garcia talking again to George Redis. When you were violently arrested by ICE, you asked if you could make a phone call or talk to someone for legal representation or connect with a family member after serving, being days detained as a U.S. veteran. Is that correct? Yes. You had no contact with your family the entire time that you were in detention by your own government that you served in Iraq. Is that correct? Yes. And this again was a pattern, not a fluke. Here's Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts talking to Javier Ramirez. He's the guy who had armed agents storm his property and arrest him for no reason. Mr Ramirez you were detained for four days during which time as you described you were denied your diabetes treatment When were you first allowed to make your first phone call I never made a phone call. Never? No. So the eight-hour rule, the 24-hour rule, I just decided not to let you make any phone calls? No, no any calls, no messages, no nothing. ProPublica found that since Trump took office, at least, at least 20 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE for more than a day without having an opportunity to call loved ones in violation of ICE's own policy. And beyond ICE's policy, the agents also seem to have broken the actual law. Here's Senator Elizabeth Warren. ICE has prohibited, is prohibited from using its civil immigration enforcement authority to detain Americans. And I just want to quote the law here, must, quote, carefully and expeditiously investigate claims of citizenship and handle them with, quote, the utmost care and highest priority. That is the law in the United States today. ICE's policy is to promptly process people and add them to an online detainee locator system within a matter of hours. During processing, the agency has to account for a person's nationality and it should be obvious if they are holding a U.S. citizen. And yet, here's Senator Richard Blumenthal questioning all four victims. Did you make an effort to tell the agent, masked, unidentified, from an unmarked car, that you were a United States citizen? And did you make an effort to present identification? Mr. Redes? Yes, I made it very clear that I was a U.S. citizen. It was the first thing out of my mouth. They asked me if I had an ID. I told them I did. I told them that I was a citizen. I said I have a license plate that could prove I'm a disabled veteran. I have a sticker on my windshield that says I'm an Iraq combat veteran. I gave them any opportunity they wanted to for me to show them proof Sfigura I I did have a chance to eventually let them know but that was already after I was in FBI custody So maybe like four hours into the assault Yes, I was at an airport they had my passport and everything else they I came through trusted travel programs, the lane that you're supposed to just go through in a few seconds. I've had them for years. I've been extensively vetted. I'm an educator and superintendent. We go through lots of background checks. The government has a lot of information on me. They knew exactly who I was. Ms. Velaes? Yes, I told them multiple times I was a U.S. citizen. I gave them my real ID and my driver's license. Mr. Ramirez? Yes, they do. I told them multiple times, I have my passport. I had my passport with me, and I told them I was born in San Bernardino. They were just replying, you know what, we're not asking for that. And these are just a few of the U.S. citizens who have been treated like this by ICE agents. And here are a few more stories, and I'm reading these directly from the report. So let's start with Julian Cardenas. It says, quote, Julian Cardenas is a resident of Southern California and a father to a three-year-old son. On the morning of July 6, 2025, Julian was dragged out of his car through a broken window by DHS agents who slammed his head into the ground and knelt on his neck and back to hold him down. After being denied adequate medical treatment for his head trauma, Julian was incarcerated in a detention facility where he was not allowed to see an attorney or speak to family. After three days, Julian was released on a $25,000 bond and placed under house arrest, though the charges were later dismissed at a subsequent hearing for lack of probable cause, unquote. And then there was Job Garcia. Here's his story, quote, early in the morning of June 19th, 2025, Job observed immigration agents, most of whom wore masks and plain clothes, raiding a Home Depot parking lot. While Job filmed the raid from a safe distance, he was violently tackled and restrained by five agents without warning. Job was moved to Dodger Stadium and then a detention facility where he remained incarcerated until the following day, even after an agent confirmed his status as a U.S. citizen, unquote. And then there was Miramar Martinez of Chicago, Illinois. Here's her story, quote, Miramar Martinez is a 30-year-old and born and raised in Chicago. On October 4th, 2025, Miramar was on her way to donate clothing at her local church when her car was sideswiped by an unmarked car with an Uber sticker. Three masked agents and camouflage stormed out, and one of them shot her five times. At the hospital, unidentified agents were allowed into her room, and over the next few days, Miramar was moved between the hospital and various detention facilities, eventually charged with assaulting the agents. Unable to clean her gunshot wounds while incarcerated, her wounds became infected. The government's case against Miramar fell apart less than two months after her initial arrest, leading to a dismissal of the indictment with prejudice on November 20th, 2025, unquote. There were 22 stories like that in the report, which included violent assaults of U.S. citizens' children while they themselves were getting arrested, and one U.S. citizen was violently detained twice after two different raids. But the report didn't tell us how many U.S. citizens this has happened to in total because, here's Senator Richard Blumenthal. And by the way, the Department of Homeland Security will not tell us how many U.S. citizens have been detained. Nobody knows, apparently. And so why is this happening? Well, there was a fifth witness in the hearing. Aaron Reichland Melnick is a lawyer who has worked for American Immigration Council for over a decade and who began his legal career working as a public defender. He then worked for the Immigrant Justice Corps as a staff attorney, and he worked for the Immigration Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society of New York City. Basically, this guy is an expert in immigration law. And here's what he had to say about the legality of the actions being taken all over the country against us by ICE agents. I think we've heard a lot of situations today that don't sound legal to me. Each individual case may vary, but certainly, you know, holding somebody for days on end without processing them, without giving them a phone call, only to release them with no charges, that doesn't sound legal to me. And so why does he think all of this lawlessness is happening? Following orders from the White House to hit unreasonably high arrest targets, these at-large arrests in American communities have risen by nearly 600% since January, with the steepest increase among those who pose no public safety threat. From June through October, a shocking 62% of all people arrested by ICE at large had no criminal record whatsoever. This dramatic expansion has led to a rising number of citizens being caught up in the chaos. ProPublica found that through October, at least 40 U.S. citizens were erroneously arrested during immigration operations, and as you've already heard today, another 130 were arrested for claims of interfering with ICE. Many of those claims, of course, have been proven false in court. The expansion of arrests in American communities has come through three major shifts in policy. First, the widespread use of collateral arrests and roving patrols where agents arrest people who were not targeted by or known to DHS. Second, the expansion of worksite raids, and third, rearrest policies targeting people appearing for court hearings and ICE check-ins. It's these first two major changes which has resulted in the rising number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents being wrongfully arrested and detained. Immigration officers are empowered to stop and question any person suspected of being a non-citizen. But of course, immigration status is not visible to the naked eye. So how can officers determine whether a person is a possible non-citizen? The obvious answer is profiling. As Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino said to a tall white reporter in Chicago, officers used, quote, the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look, how do they look compared to, say, you. In an increasingly diverse nation, these tactics are error prone. And over the last year, DHS officers have aggressively and repeatedly questioned, detained, and arrested U.S. citizens and held them at times for hours or even days in situations which suggest a serious breakdown of discipline. And here's a follow-up exchange later in the hearing between Aaron Reschland-Melnick and Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Trump administration has overwhelmed all of the internal processes through these politically motivated arrest targets. They are quite literally arresting people more quickly than they can process, which means people are falling through the cracks, procedures are not being followed, and the system is breaking down. Okay, but you make that sound like it's just a mistake. Is that how you interpret this? There are times when ICE may make mistakes. Every agency makes good faith mistakes. But the problem is when you don't have any interest in fixing those mistakes, And when you let the mistakes propagate, because all you care about is hitting high arrest targets and hitting your deportation quotas. And that is what we are seeing happen throughout the system and field offices around the country. And so let's fast forward two days and see if these arrests are being acknowledged as mistakes. And if so, if there's any willingness to fix them, which we can do because two days after this testimony was taken by Congress, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. and this was months after these stories were told all over the country by local and national news outlets. She knew. Well, Kristi Noem testified to the House Committee on Homeland Security. And here's what she said about the ICE arrests and detainments when asked by Representative Shreita Nader. We are doing our targeted enforcement operations against criminal illegal aliens. Individuals that are in that area may be detained until we verify who they are and then they are released. This has been done for years and every single law enforcement operation that has always happened. We follow the same protocols and we continue to do that. We have never once detained or deported an American citizen. We have not held them and charged them. When we find out and verify their identity, then that is when they are released. And here's what happened when she was asked specifically about U.S. military veterans. Here is Representative Seth Magaziner speaking to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Madam Secretary, how many United States military veterans have you deported? Sir, we have not deported U.S. citizens or military veterans. I don't believe you served in the military. I haven't either, but I think you and I can agree that as Americans, we owe everything to those who have served our country in uniform, particularly those who have served in combat. Do you agree with that? Sir, I believe that people that are in this United States that our citizens have legal status here. Madam Secretary, we are joined on Zoom by a gentleman named Sejun Park. He is a United States Army combat veteran who was shot twice while serving our country in Panama in 1989. Like many veterans, he struggled with PTSD and substance abuse after his service. He was arrested in the 1990s for some minor drug offenses, nothing serious. He never hurt anyone besides himself, and he's been clean and sober for 14 years. He is a combat veteran, a Purple Heart recipient. He has sacrificed more for this country than most people ever have. Earlier this year, you deported him to Korea, a country he hasn't lived in since he was seven years old. Will you join me in thanking Mr. Park for his service to our country? Sir, I'm grateful for every single person that has served our country and follows our laws. Can you please tell Mr. Park why you deported him? Every one of them needs to be enforced. In case you didn't catch that, she said, quote, laws are important and every one of them needs to be enforced, unquote. She didn't say his deportation was a mistake. She didn't say that it won't happen again. Instead, this was her vibe. These ICE agents and CBP officers that are out on our streets doing God's work live in these communities. They live there. These are their families and their neighbors that they're protecting and they get up every day and do that job because they believe in their mission They take an oath and they are honorable men and women who are serving with greatness during a challenging time When activists and radicals attack them and put their lives in danger I think it's shameful to see the defense of individuals who break our laws We are a nation of laws if we are not a nation of laws, we're no nation at all And that is what we are doing every day is following laws. If you guys don't like the law, go change it. That's your job. She said what we are doing every day is following laws. Oh, really? Here's Representative Dan Goldman of New York questioning Kristi Noem. Do you agree that asylum is a lawful pathway to immigrate to this country? Yes or no? There's an asylum program, yes, in place. so immigrants then with ongoing asylum applications are legally in this country correct Excuse me I sorry Your question was Immigrants with ongoing asylum applications are legally in this country There are individuals in this country that have applications that- And they are legally here because it's a lawful pathway, right? It's a lawful pathway. Okay, so if your department then deports anyone with an ongoing asylum application, you are violating the law, correct? Joe Biden left us with... I'm not asking about Joe Biden. I'm asking you a specific question. If your department deports anyone with an ongoing asylum application, you are violating the law. Is that correct? It was greatly violated when they allowed... I'm asking you. I'm asking you. They granted asylum application. Why are you filibustering? Why can't you answer the question? It's a simple question. If your department deports anyone with an ongoing asylum application, you are violating the law. Isn't that correct? The asylum program was broken under the last... Mr. Chairman, I will reclaim my time. She's not answering the question. But the obvious answer is that yes, if you follow a lawful pathway, asylum is a lawful pathway. if you have an open asylum case, you are here lawfully. But the problem that we are seeing around the country is that you are not following the law. Don't tell us to change the law. If you don't like the asylum system, you change the asylum law. Bring it to us. We'll work with you. I think it needs to be changed. But you can't just decide that you're not going to follow the law, and asylum is a law, and deport people who have ongoing applications. And so what I'm hearing is that immigration laws must be strictly enforced upon us, with violence permitted even when not necessary. But immigration laws do not need to be strictly followed by them. They get to choose what laws apply to them and which ones don't, based on their performance review of the prior administration. How else can we interpret her testimony? And so what can we do about this? Obviously, it's Congress that has to do something about this. And there were some ideas given to Congress in the shadow hearing. And so here's a reality that one of the victims would like to see changed. Here's George Redis. It happened because of a gap in the law that allowed it. If these had been state or local officers, I could take them to court right now and demand answers. But because they were federal agents, they are shielded by a blanket of immunity. And, you know, I remember during the George Floyd protests during the last Trump reign, one of the demands that we were making before the protests jumped the shark was for the end of qualified immunity. It was the demand that law enforcement officers be eligible for prosecution for using excessive violence while on the job. And that's essentially what George Redis is asking for here. And just as I did in 2020, I think that is a fair request if we want to be a country where laws mean something. And Representative Ro Khanna of California, he at least is on board. I believe it is time that we have automatic dismissal for any ICE agent who detains and arrests an American citizen and that they should be subject to criminal prosecution. But the expert in immigration law had suggestions that went even beyond that. It's time for Congress to fix the outdated laws that opened the door to this overreach and to codify the norms which this administration has broken. Congress should limit the use of face masks, require officers to wear clear identification, and ensure that immigration officers cannot question based on race. Congress should also support safer public communities through broader reforms which incorporate proportionate, targeted, and humane consequences for violations of immigration law. Because without these changes, enforcement will continue to escalate and even more citizens will be swept up by an administration that has expressed neither contrition nor concern for the issue. And I want to add one more very specific suggestion. Because the big, beautiful bill, specifically Section 90003, provided $45 billion for additional detention of human beings, with the indefinite detention of entire families permitted. The way that provision does this is by allowing people to be detained for as long as it takes for the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether or not that person is here legally. And so if the Department of Homeland Security is saying, we don't know a person's status, or if a DHS agent pretends not to know a person has a passport, or accuses that person of having a fake one, or whatever they want to say, as long as the DHS agents claim that our status is unknown, they can hold us and they can hold entire families if they want to. It's one of the most dangerous provisions of law that I have ever seen. But if you look at it, the permission matches their actions. The Department of Homeland Security is claiming over and over again that they are just checking someone's status while the person sits in a cage. And the big, beautiful bill legalized that as of July 4th, 2025. And it's making me insane how little this is discussed because that needs to be repealed. And it just seems to me that very few people know that that was in that bill. But this Congress, this Congress, it is still controlled by the Republicans who did that proudly. The same Republicans who refused to hold any hearings about the Permanent Select Committee on Investigations report and who refused to even attend the hearing that was held. And for their part, the dinosaur Democrats like Richard Blumenthal, you know, Here's him at the end of the shadow hearing. Americans should not recognize the country that you have depicted. It's not America. And my feeling is that it's not the Republican Party either. It may be the Trump administration, but the Republican Party, I knew, the John McCain Republican Party, for example, would not have tolerated this kind of excess. and abuse. But John McCain, he's literally dead. And so is the Republican Party that exists in 79-year-old Dick Blumenthal's head. This is the Republican Party that exists now. This is a small sample of the unanimous sentiment expressed by the Republicans towards Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem two days after U.S. citizens had testified to lawless abuse by her agency. Here's Representative Tony Gonzalez, Michael Guest, August Pflueger, and Michael McCall, all House Republicans. Thank you, ICE. Thank you for keeping us safe by deporting all these people. I want to first thank you. I want to thank the men and women who serve under your command for the incredible job that you have done over the last 12 months. Secretary, despite even members on this committee that have called our law enforcement and ICE and DHS and Border Patrol and other agents' names and slandered them, I support you and I support what you're doing to secure the homeland. This hearing reminds me of the novel A Tale of Two Cities. They see it, the Dems see it as the worst of times, but I see it really as the best. The best of times. These Republicans, they can't say that they don't know what is happening. Not at this point. These stories have been all over the news and social media for many months. And now there is an official congressional report and an unofficial hearing that has taken place with testimony from people who have video proof of their claims. The Republicans know they just don't care. And that's the most disturbing part for me. When I do a year in review of Congress 2025, that's the story. The Republican Party in Congress has been complicit in changing laws to facilitate the capture and release of anyone they want inside the United States. The Republican Party and Congress has completely abdicated their responsibility to do oversight of an administration that is clearly lawless in some really important, impactful, and dangerous ways. The Republican Party has changed, and 2025 proved it. But now we enter 2026, a congressional election year. Every member of the House of Representatives can be fired. And 11 Republican senators representing Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, and Nebraska, and Oklahoma are up for firing. And by the way, that includes Senator Bill Cassidy, who I talked about in the last episode. We can make them pay for this by removing their power to be complicit. At the very least, we can make it crystal clear because they will be campaigning this year. We can make it clear by showing up in person and being loud and telling them in public that we don't support the lawlessness and we want them to stop it. We can give those who do keep their jobs the courage to say no because I'll give him this much. Richard Blumenthal has been in Congress for 14 years. He does know these people and maybe he knows things we don't. Maybe he knows about a behind-closed-doors resistance to Trump's lawlessness that hasn't gone public yet. But 2026 brings opportunity to make big changes. Election years always do. And so if that is true, we need them to know that they will have support if they go against the Trump administration for their most heinous actions, which I think what they have done to these U.S. citizens and so many others, I think that's about as heinous as it gets. And so good riddance to the most dangerous year of the second Trump administration. I look forward to the opportunity that 2026 brings. Happy New Year, indeed. All right, my friend, we have no executive producers to announce on this episode because, to be honest with you, I'm recording this episode the day after I recorded the last one. So we didn't get any executive producers in that 24 hours. But I am taking a break from thinking about this Congress for the rest of this year. And so is my team. We are taking the holidays off for real this year. But we will be back in early January to tell you what went down in December, including whatever gets snuck into the National Defense Authorization Act. But until then, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, all the things. And thank you for listening to this show this year and staying engaged despite the relentlessness of the news cycle. You give me hope. And I'm excited to keep fighting to make our country better with you in 2026. Thank you to Claire, my production and research assistant. You are irreplaceable. Thank you, Mike at Pro Podcast Solutions for making me sound eloquent. Thank you, Mark at podcastbranding.co for designing the website and keeping it working. Thank you, Lauren, for taking care of all of our executive producers and doing our bookkeeping. Thank you, Dad and Robin, for doing our taxes and just being the best moral support. And as always, thank you, Brian Karis. We miss you and will miss you forever. All right. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you in the new year. Bye. We're surrounded now by liars coming at us through our TV screens. We don't have a domestic spying program. They're content to fight in black and white despite the many in-betweens. We got a president who plays with the facts And then he waves a flag to cover his tracks As if a lie is alright If the end will justify the means Now we are so damn tired Of being lied to The polar ice caps aren't going away We don't think we can deny it Anymore You can stick to your story if you think it lies But we're not keeping quiet anymore We are so damn tired of being lied to Government jobs consume the profits of the private sector. We don't think we can deny it anymore. You can't stick to your story if you think it flies. But we're not keeping quiet anymore. Now we're not keeping quiet. These bills represent common sense, bipartisan solutions that actually solve problems.