Cecilia Lei

Good morning.

Immigration officials make a forceful defense of their work on Capitol Hill.

Measles cases are surging and on course to eclipse the highs we saw in 2025.

And why Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Letnick is facing pressure over Epstein encounters.

It's Wednesday, February 11th.

I'm Cecilia Ley in for Shamita Basu.

This is Apple News Today.

The country's top immigration officials testified in Congress for the first time since two high-profile killings of American citizens in Minneapolis.

Their appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee could not have come at a more delicate time for DHS.

Friday is the deadline for Congress to fund the department and avoid a partial government shutdown, and Democrats are holding out for more reforms of ICE.

At the heart of the hearing was the recent fatal shootings of Rene Good and Alex Preddy.

Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell asked Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons about their deaths.

But while Lyons said the loss of any life was unacceptable, he wouldn't get into specifics.

He also said his officers were facing a hostile environment and difficult working conditions.

Lyons wouldn't commit to unmasking ICE agents, a core demand from Democratic lawmakers.

Earlier this week, a federal judge blocked California's law banning masks for ICE, ruling it unconstitutional.

Lyons did say that body camera footage from Minnesota would be released.

He said that about a quarter of ICE's 13,000 officers have been assigned body cameras and another 6,000 are in the process of being deployed.

Body cameras were one area where some Republicans found common ground with Democrats on potential ICE reforms.

The other was the idea of roving patrols, which Republican Representative Michael McCaul brought up.