Jim speaks with John Sandweg, a former acting director of ICE, about the agency's tactics and future
One-on-one with John Sandweg
Under President Donald Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill," more than $80 billion in new funding is heading to ICE, allowing the agency to double in size. ICE will now become the predominant law enforcement agency in the country. It is also becoming one of the most controversial, with masked agents conducting wholesale raids. But is it making us safer? Jim interviews John Sandweg, the former acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, about the agency's tactics and its future.
Guest: John Sandweg/Former Acting ICE Director
More on ICE
In an exclusive interview with CBS News, Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he's not a "proponent" of agents wearing masks during arrest operations, but said he will allow the practice to continue due to concerns about his officers' safety.
He also confirmed ICE plans to use data from government programs like Medicaid to locate immigrants suspected of living in the U.S. illegally, including those with criminal histories.
Pressed on concerns about masked ICE officers and the possibility that imposters could exploit the practice by posing as immigration agents, Lyons said, "That's one of our biggest concerns. And I've said it publicly before, I'm not a proponent of the masks."
A group of immigrants and legal advocates filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday that seeks to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from arresting migrants who appear at immigration courts for previously scheduled hearings and placing them on a fast-track to deportation.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department and ICE says the arrests of thousands of people at court have stripped them of rights afforded to them under U.S. immigration law and the Fifth Amendment.
The large-scale immigration court arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants. In what has become a familiar scene, a judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant while ICE officers wait in the hallway to take them into custody.
