WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden's pick to run the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency pledged Thursday to uphold the "rule of law" with a goal of improving public safety -- and said he would not end a voluntary program that allows local law enforcement authorities to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.
"The American Dream relies upon the rule of law and a functioning legal immigration system," Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at his confirmation hearing.
Gonzalez, the grandson of immigrants, also praised the role that newcomers have played in the country's history. "America has shown the world that it's not only possible to survive but thrive as a nation that welcomes those seeking a new home and a better life through hard, honest work," he said. "We have proven that people from varied backgrounds cannot just coexist, but rally around common values and a shared dream of always doing better."
Gonzalez would be the first Senate-approved director of the enforcement agency since the Obama administration. A career law enforcement officer, he has faced criticism for withdrawing his sheriff's office from a voluntary program that helps the agency find migrants in county jails who are accused of crimes and subject to deportation. At the hearing, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, the committee's ranking Republican, questioned the decision to withdraw.
"I am concerned from our conversation about whether it would be appropriate for you to lead an agency that you've been so critical of," Portman said, noting that border apprehensions are at 20-year highs.
Gonzalez said his decisions as sheriff reflected local worries about a budget shortfall and community policing in Houston, where immigrants make up nearly 30% of the population. But he said he had an "amicable" relationship with the agency and allowed agents into his jail when they were seeking to take custody of immigrants, as Texas law requires.
"I never declined a detainer" -- the enforcement agency's version of an arrest warrant -- he said.
Under questioning from other Republicans, Gonzalez said he believed unauthorized entry into the U.S. should remain a crime. He said he would not seek to terminate the voluntary program he ended for Harris County, known as 287(g) after the federal law that authorizes it, and would be "aggressive" in pursuing anyone who matches the administration's priorities.
But Gonzalez emphasized that the agency should prioritize arrests of recent border-crossers and serious criminals, rather than immigrants jailed for minor infractions. "We should be strategic and smart in our enforcement," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union called Gonzalez's testimony "deeply disappointing" and "a huge missed opportunity to make it clear to immigrant families and communities that the Biden administration is truly committed to making a decisive break from the Trump administration's racist and anti-immigrant policies."
"Gonzalez seemed more interested in placating anti-immigrant politicians on the committee than laying out a vision for reform," Naureen Shah, a senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said in a statement.
Hundreds of county and local governments known as sanctuary jurisdictions have limited their cooperation with the agency.
Two years ago, Gonzalez tweeted that diverting law enforcement to pursue anyone but a public safety threat "silences witnesses & victims" by making immigrants afraid to report crimes.
"I do not support #ICERaids that threaten to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom do not represent a threat to the U.S.," he also tweeted.
The Trump administration targeted anyone in violation of civil immigration laws for deportation. The Biden administration has limited arrests to recent border-crossers and convicted criminals who pose a threat to public safety, effectively sparing most migrants from being deported.