The heads of the agencies carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda defended immigration enforcement operations before Congress on Tuesday.

Trump administration officials said federal immigration officers are properly enforcing the nation's laws during congressional testimony Tuesday.

The leaders of ICE, Customs and Border Protection and and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appeared for their second oversight hearing this week and as lawmakers tussle over their funding.

It was a tense confrontation at a Senate hearing that was called to scrutinize the immigration chiefs as they carry out one of Trump’s signature policy and after the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis over recent weeks at the hands of federal officers.

Maryland leaders have repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement, pushing back with legislation including a measure banning local cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado discusses ICE detainers, emergency call concerns and recent student walkouts at a Tulsa community forum.

The Mississippi House passed legislation Thursday requiring state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents, but the debate revealed deep concerns about what happens when those agents operate unlawfully.

Congressional Democrats have a list of demands to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But tensions between the two parties are high and the timeline is short — the stopgap bill funding DHS runs out Friday.