Video: Blumenthal Delivers Opening Statement at Forum on Constitutional Violations by ICE

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), delivered an opening statement at a bicameral public forum on constitutional violations and abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The forum, entitled, “Our Values at Stake (Part III): Terrorizing communities without warrants and no restraint,” featured testimony from Ryan Schwank, a whistleblower who spoke publicly for the first time about his experience as an Instructor for the incoming “surge” of new ICE recruits at the ICE Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (“FLETC”) in Glynco, Georgia. The forum also featured testimony from Teyana Gibson Brown, a U.S. citizen and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota whose home was forcibly entered by ICE agents without a judicial warrant.

“The truth is that ICE and DHS have deliberately and purposely trained their agents to break the law. I am shocked as I say those words, but they are the truth. ICE has trained officers of the United States government to disregard the Constitution and violate people’s fundamental rights—breaking down doors, detaining them with mass sweeps, engaging in brutal and violent conduct that directly contravene our laws,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal continued, “This training to break the law is not a thing of the past. It’s ongoing. It is not accidental; it is purposeful and deliberate. It is not only sanctioned, but it is ordered at the very top of this organization through a memo that explicitly states ICE policy. And Mr. Schwank will testify about it. It is not a momentary lapse. It is not isolated misconduct. It is purposeful and intentional instruction and teaching about breaking the law.”

“Today, we are also going to hear about the brutal reality of policies that the Trump Administration worked so hard to keep secret. Teyana Gibson Brown, who is with us today, experienced the reality of that policy on January 11th of this year. She is here today to share her story of her home being violently invaded and her husband being taken without a judicial warrant in one of the most egregious violations of the Constitution I have seen in America,” Blumenthal said.

“We need more protection for whistleblowers. We need reforms, fundamental and far-reaching, of ICE and DHS. We need America to be as shocked and horrified by what we see here as they should be, because that’s the way we will inspire bipartisan reform. And it must be bipartisan. I hope my Republican colleagues will take note and join us in welcoming whistleblowers and their speaking truth to power,” Blumenthal concluded.

Today’s event is the third public forum Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, have hosted as part of their ongoing inquiry into the lawless and abusive tactics used by federal immigration agents.

Prior to the forum, Blumental released a memorandum and previously undisclosed documents revealing new details about drastic cuts the Trump Administration is making to the training and testing of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) officers.

Video of Blumenthal’s opening statement is available here and the full text is copied below.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thank you so much, all of you, for being here today. Special thanks from all of us to our witnesses who have come from afar, and to my colleague and partner in this effort, Congressman Garcia, who has come from afar, California, and across the Capitol. And to our colleagues on both sides, thank you for being here for this very consequential hearing.

I want to express my thanks to the witnesses today for their courage and strength in coming forward, most particularly to the whistleblower who is with us today, Ryan Schwank, who has a distinguished career even before working for ICE. I hope that his example of courage and strength will inspire others to do the same, to come forward and speak truth to power. That is an overused term, but it is actually very true as applied to what he is doing today.

The truth is that ICE and DHS have deliberately and purposely trained their agents to break the law. I am shocked as I say those words, but they are the truth. ICE has trained officers of the United States government to disregard the Constitution and violate people’s fundamental rights—breaking down doors, detaining them with mass sweeps, engaging in brutal and violent conduct that directly contravene our laws.

Their training has been truncated, and practical tests have been eliminated, reducing them from twenty-five to nine. But the training has been very specific on one point, and that is that no judicial warrant or court authorization is necessary to break down people’s doors and violate their rights.

People should be shocked and horrified by what they will hear today and so should my colleagues—so much so that I am hoping we will have bipartisan support for fundamental and far-reaching reform, that this hearing will be an impetus, among others that we are having, toward reforming ICE in a root-and-branch way, not just cosmetically but fundamentally, so that the kind of misconduct that we are seeing in America’s communities and streets will be stopped.

This training to break the law is not a thing of the past. It’s ongoing. It is not accidental; it is purposeful and deliberate. It is not only sanctioned, but it is ordered at the very top of this organization through a memo that explicitly states ICE policy. And Mr. Schwank will testify about it. It is not a momentary lapse. It is not isolated misconduct. It is purposeful and intentional instruction and teaching about breaking the law.

The truth that we will hear today completely discredits statements and testimony—some under oath—by DHS officials within the last few weeks. And we will see and hear evidence today, both in documents that we are releasing and testimony from Mr. Schwank, about the training of ICE agents and deliberate concealment of illegal ICE policies, directly refuting sworn testimony of Acting Director Lyons and other Administration officials. His testimony shows not only internal chaos and incompetence but intentional, calculated action that accompanied the brutal violence and violation of rights that we have seen on the streets.

A lot of people are wondering “How could this kind of brutality and violence happen at the hands of government officials in America, if they had the right training and the right people?” And the answer is they had the wrong training and, in many instances, the wrong people. The numbers of people have skyrocketed from 500 a year to more than 3500, and the training has been truncated and reduced, both in numbers of courses and substantive policy.

Two weeks ago, the head of ICE sat before members of Congress and promised that no cuts have been made to the contents of officer training. He claimed that fewer days of training are being made up for with extra hours every day. But as Mr. Schwank will share, this contention is simply not true.

The same head of ICE who contended incorrectly about officer training also testified about the memorandum in which he announced the Administration’s new policy to invade American homes based on a permission slip, signed by his own employees in violation of the Constitution, which was distributed to all ICE personnel. When I asked for the email distributing that memo, he assured me that ICE would produce it. They still haven’t responded, because the email doesn’t exist. Clearly that claim was untrue as well.

Today, we are also going to hear about the brutal reality of policies that the Trump Administration worked so hard to keep secret. Teyana Gibson Brown, who is with us today, experienced the reality of that policy on January 11^th of this year. She is here today to share her story of her home being violently invaded and her husband being taken without a judicial warrant in one of the most egregious violations of the Constitution I have seen in America.

For centuries, our government and our courts have recognized the sanctity of people’s homes. John Adams believed that Britain’s warrantless entry into American homes—their breaking down doors and forcibly entering people’s houses—was the spark for the American Revolution 250 years ago.

The hurt and harm caused to Ms. Gibson Brown and other victims of this law-breaking will be deep and enduring. Perhaps most troubling, Ms. Gibson Brown, is that what happened to you was not some isolated mistake or accident. It was the result of a strategy, a conscious and deliberate, purposeful strategy taught to agents carefully with a memorandum that was shown to Mr. Schwank when he was told what to train them about breaking the law and violating your rights. That is unconscionable.

I want to finish by saying that I am hopeful that Mr. Schwank’s example of courage will inspire others to come forward. It has already inspired us on this Committee, and I think that the example of others before him are perhaps one of the reasons why he is here.

We need more protection for whistleblowers. We need reforms, fundamental and far-reaching, of ICE and DHS. We need America to be as shocked and horrified by what we see here as they should be, because that’s the way we will inspire bipartisan reform. And it must be bipartisan. I hope my Republican colleagues will take note and join us in welcoming whistleblowers and their speaking truth to power.

With that, Representative Garcia.

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