On February 3, 2026, Rep. Robert Garcia and Sen. Richard Blumenthal held a public forum about ICE/DHS agents’ use of excessive force on American citizens. No Republicans attended the forum to hear the hair-raising stories of citizens impacted by the extreme violence Americans are enduring at the hands of unaccountable, armed, masked and poorly trained federal agents. It is worth noting that this could not be considered an official Congressional “oversight committee hearing,” but just a public forum, because of Republicans’ refusal to attend the hearing.
The testimony of two people who came before the committee are cited here, although seven people gave wrenching testimony about their violent experiences at the hands of federal agents and how these experiences have impacted them.
Above is the 21 minute testimony of Marimar Martinez, a 30 year old Montessori school teacher and U.S.-born citizen who lives in Chicago and has no criminal history, not even a parking ticket. Border Patrol agents shot Ms. Martinez five times on Saturday, 10/4/25. Ms. Martinez survived the ordeal and came before members of Congress to describe her experience.
———–
Above is the 6-minute testimony of Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi-American woman born in Wisconsin who is autistic, has a traumatic brain injury, is disabled and was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when her car got boxed in by federal agents. She describes multiple agents giving her confusing instructions and then reaching into her car, cutting her seat belt with a knife, dragging her from her car, throwing her face down on the ground, and then being detained, mistreated, denied medical care and later hospitalized with a concussion. In her testimony, she spoke about the fear, confusion, and lasting trauma she experienced from this incident.
You can see the testimony of additional witnesses at this link. I recommend also listening to the 9-minute testimony of Martin Daniel Rascon.