homeland security secretary testified on the president's 2025 budget request before the house appropriations subcommittee. he took questions on the department's priorities and concerns over border security

including the detainment of migrants and fentanyl. his testimony on capitol hill comes as the house prepares to deliver articles of impeachment to the senate and accuses secretary mayorkas from complying with laws and in breach of public trust. >> to be joined today by the subcommittee distinguished ranking member my good friend of the gentleman from texas.

welcome, secretary mayorkas. thank you for being here to discuss your departments 2025 fiscal yearr budget request. while it is clear we have profound differences of opinion on how the department should be run and on what policy should be in place especially as it relates to border security and immigration enforcement i would ask members on both sides to keep the discussion civil and focused on the work we need to dodo as appropriators to fund te department of homeland security. additionally on behalf of the entireas committee, i'd like to convey my sincere appreciation for thecu tireless and often thankless work done by the men and women on the daily basis. a turning attention to fiscal year 2025 budget requests come of this proposal is near identical to last year's request and is more disappointing than promising. the budget is not only full of gimmicks that match the cost of protecting the homeland but also fails to address the policy

driven crisis that continues at the border. we have seen skyrocketing illegal immigration of the borders and every corner of the country can see and feel its impact. the american people know the border is not a secure. it is a full-blown crisis this administration has sought to downplay for years. recently the messaging has changed at the 202014 election years the budget shows it is empty words. this request is not a serious if the goal is to fix the problem and secure the border. the request to ask for the resources to remove more than 1.3 million billions on the non-detained docket the cases have already been adjudicated and no longer have a legal basis to remain in the country. to detain aliens who oppose the national security risk for public safety risk. this administration instead asks 7500 less beds than the congress just funded in fy 2024 budget.

the request to ask for policy changes that would help the agency and officers to deter the migration we've seen under this administration, does the barrier request or ask for additional funding for barriers, again the answer is no. instead of building the wall the administration risked every dime that it could a spend and environmental remediationit efforts to clean up the mess it made when it stopped the contracts in place building the wall. what does the administration ask for? $4.7 billion southwest border contingency fund that exceeds that established by the financial responsibly act. this slush fund was on a bipartisan basis because republican and democrats alike recognized giving the department billions of dollars that very little congressional oversight to change course would likely exacerbate the existing situation. again this administration's the border is to manage the chaos. the position that most

fair-minded americans reject. a decrease in detention capacity has not worked. using the system has not worked. catch and release has not worked. executive orders that impedede enforcement have not worked. border security operators have been clear and continue unabashed. these daily numbers of encountersbo are about 5,000 a y despite every single policy this administration has tried. the president has implemented many of the policies that contributed to the crisis with the stroke of a pen. he can reverse them if he chooses. it is our job as appropriators to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and ensure we are not wasting money doing more of the same and expecting a different result. i look forward to working with you in the department to seek solutions to address the border security crisis at hand and a combat of the threats that face our homeland, and i will turn to my colleague for his opening

remarks. i want to thank you end of the members on both sides of the aisle putting together appropriation bills for 2024. i think we will do the same for 525, but i certainly want to say thank you to the secretary. i want to say thank you to the work that you do, the men and women that do the work every single day. as you know, i don't go visit the border, i live at the border. but i did go on a riverboat just last week, less than a week ago with border patrolling and we talked about the importance of getting rid of so they can see river roads which are so important to us and technology is so important. so i want to say thank you for the work that you and your men and women do across the country. i do want to say looking at the numbers for thee last three to1 days, about 3,800 a day.

3,800 a day. maybe add a little bit over a thousand so you are talking about 5,000 a day that 3800 a day coming in, very different. so we are doing something right. i ask you to continue looking at what we need to do to bring those numbers down. 3,800 and between for the last three weeks. so let's continue doing that. i do agree with the chairman. we did fund 41,500 beds. i do support 41,500 beds. i do support the charter and certainly want to ask about that and somewhere down the line i the president is looking at. i always felt the president could do an executive order. my understanding is that. there is talk about another executive order because if you get 100 people that ask for asylum, at

the end of the day they go four, five, six years later. edie seven to 97% so we've got to do something at the very beginning. if the president does that i am sure there will be a case by some folks who don't agree but we certainly have to look at them and i want to say thank you. i hope that on the 22,000 border patrol agents we had i hope you all look at the polygraph that has been a big problem. i talked to the border patrol. whoever the vendor is, hopefully they are listening to me, we've gotth to do something about that and certainly because we don't hire people. i know at one time even under the trump administration we were losing more people than we were hiring border patrol, so we've got to do a better job on that.

the technology we are looking at is very, very important. a recentnt injunction by a fedel judge in my home state who i think as wrongly interpreted the intent of funding provided systems to the fiscal year 2020 and 2021. if you look at the language they show the broader system, the word system language that it was to fund a system and not just a vertical wall that. they are so key to border patrol, border technology and if the funding lapses then we've got to come back and re- appropriatee that.

i hope you all appeal that injunction, and again i have questions but i want to say to all the men and women that are on homeland security, i want to say thank you for the job. 3,800 a day. what comes close to 5,000 between the ports is what we are focusing on and continue and let us know what we need to do to make sure we do that and to close, whatever you need to do to make sure they continue doing, so people come to the northern border and if the numbers go down working with the enforcement levels so i certainly encourage you to continue working on that. with that, thank you so much for being with us here today.

>> without objection, full written testimony will be entered intoth the record and wh that, we please ask you summarize your opening statement in five minutes. >> chairman, ranking member, distinguished members of the committee, every day the 268,000 men and women of the departmentm of homeland security carry out the mission to protect the safety and security of the american people. to protect our shores, the skies, cyberspace, borders and leaders, to stop fentanyl and other deadly drugs from entering the country. they lead the response to maritime emergencies as we speak they are engaged in the response of the tragic francis scott key bridge collapse in baltimore. they help communities recover and rebuild after a natural disaster. they combat the scourges of human trafficking forced labor and online child sexual exploitation and so much more. all this despite an insufficient

budget. the dedicated public servants of dhs deserve full support and the american people deserve the results of the fully resourced dhs can deliver. the funding opportunities outlined in the fiscal year 2025 budget are critical to meeting both goals. to discuss the budget and highlight some of the key proposals with you today. when the department was found in the wake of 9/11 the threat of terrorism against the visibility targets was the primary concern. that one threat persists and the u.s. continues to be atnt a heightened threatth environment. the threat of radicalized loan of vendors and small groups already resident here in the united states the budget provides foren an 80 million-dollar increase to the departments nonprofit security grant program and additional funds for targeted prevention grants so dhs can better help communities prevent tragedies from occurring.

as loan actors and nationstates increasingly target the critical infrastructure and data, the president's budget provides needed funding for the cybersecurity and resiliency. fentanyl is wreaking tragedy inn communities across the country. in the last two fiscal years than in the previous five combined. we must do more. the hemisphere is experiencing the greatest displacement of people since world war ii, dhs toughened the borderer enforcemt is maximizing available resources and authorities in the last 11 months we havee removed or returned more than 630,000 individuals who did not have a

legal basiss to stay and in the fiscal year since 2013. it provides $29.5 billion including funds for hiring more enforcement personnel. a separate $265 million would be used by uscis to bolster the refugee processing as we continue to expand the pathways and ensure the protection remains accessible for those who qualify under the law. the immigration system, however, is fundamentally broken including our asylum system that is so significantly impacted in the security of the borders and the processes that we administer. only congress can address the need for more or border patrol agents. judges, facilities and technologies. our administration workedrd

closely to reach agreement on a national security supplemental package one that would make the system changes that are needed and give dhs the tools and resources needed to meet today's border security challenges. we remain ready to work with yu to pass this top bipartisan agreement. finally, extreme weather continues to devastate communities. last year respondingre to moreh, than 100 disasters. the budget provides $22.7 billion to assist community leaders andem help survivors in the aftermath of armajor disasters and additional funds to invest in resilient strategies that will save lives and taxpayer money in the decades to come. essential to the success across all mission sets is the department's ability to recruit and maintain a world-class workforce. in addition to the front line border workforce i mentioned, the president's budget includes $1.5 billion to maintain the

commitment to compensate the tsa workforce continuing the long-overdue 2023 an initiative that we work together to implement. i look forward to working and further discussing with you these critical missions and the department's needs for both the coming end of the current fiscal years. the recently passed 2024 budget, the welcomed to many of our operations was enacted too late to implement in the surge and it reduced by 20% much-needed support for cities with migrant related to challenges and cutla critical research and development funding the compounding effects of which the department will feelel for year. i am eager to work with you to address these and other shortfalls in thela weeks aheads i am eager to deliver together the sustained funding, resources and support of the extraordinarily talented and dedicated public servants of dhs

need and deserve. thanki you. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i recognize myself for questions. the administration refuses to use authority to deter illegal migration for the chaos and we know the non-detained a docket docketcaseload will continue to. only 1.3 million of them are 7 million cases under the docket have been adjudicated in order removed. the plan to remove the 1.3 million migrants no longer have a legal basis to remain in the country and how long will it taketh for every single removal order? >> mr. chairman, this administration will remove more than 630,000 people more than any fiscal year since 2013. we take the enforcement responsibilities very seriously

and only increased the enforcement efforts over past efforts. i will submit to you mr. chairman as i articulated in my opening statement that the bipartisanth bill that the group of senators worked on and i had the privilege of being seated with of them would have delivered a consequence regime like no other. it would have been the first time since 1996 that the broken have delivered the much-needed fixes that we need to fully enforce the law and to deliver a consequential regime that weli will indeed detour illegal migration. >> that's a great answer but what are you going to do about the people that are still here and do you have a plan to remove those people on an hourly basis? >> we certainly do when we continue to execute on that plan. it's through that ever that we were able to remove or return 630,000 people over the past 11 months. we will continue to accelerate those efforts with of the resources we have. our proposed budget seeks

additional resources, not as many as the bipartisan legislation would have provided to us. >> that you don't have that legislation so how can you justifies using the detention space for the border decompression efforts when the department has such a large volume of the enforcement needs? >> mr. chairman, we always use the capabilities to ensure there are enforcement priorities realized and the greatest enforcement priorities are to ensure that individuals who pose a public safety or national security risk to the american peoplebi are detained. that is our highest stated mission priority. >> the people recently murdered in ohio by aliens, their families aren't goingin to accet that as an answer. i recognize you for any questions you may have. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. secretary, let's talk about the migrantsmi that are released into the country after they've been vetted by border patrol.

one of the tools that you have at your disposalha for the expedited removal and i do agree with you if congress would do its job and pass the bill and i think it is the first time since 1996 that we make some changes especially looking at the asylum criteria, and again as i've said persecution by the state, i was at the institute in laredo talking to the folks there and they said most are coming in for economic reasons even though they say asylum it is economic reasons. so, one of the tools we can provide to the senate deal, that i agree with you. but one of the other ones you have is expedited removal, which is intended to identify those individuals and families seeking asylum and to quickly remove the

rest. as you know, men and women are unable to do that because we lack some of the resources and that doesn't give you the options that i wish we had so what i would ask you if there's not enough space to hold folks through the full duration of the removal proceeding, if there is more a silo officers in capacity, would you put more migrants into the expedited removal proceedings and would that help you manage challenges it gave greater power to the asylum officers which enabled us to move more quickly through the asylum at adjudication process. one major provision of the bipartisan legislation that would have been so incredibly

impactful was to allow us to apply the removal proceedings and much more accelerated removal process to individuals outside of immigration detention. right now for single adults we are restricted to applying the removaloc to those in detention. that bipartisan legislation would have provided us extraordinary enforcement tools and i remain uncertain why it was not unanimously approved. the expedited removal under title eight unless they are detained. >> that is my understanding to the best of my recollection mr. ranking member. >> and we just don't have that processing based to keep all those folks, is that correct?

i think it funded 41,500 detention beds and we are encountering approximately 3800 people in between the ports of entry over the past several weeks as mr. chairman noted so it's not the only delivery that we can issue. what is needed is a swift and fast removal of individuals who do not qualify for relief. the bipartisan legislation would have taken a seven year asylum process, seven plus year asylum process and reduced it to as little as 90 days. that would have been abi game changer. >> so, besides the senate language, which i support,

besides that, but resources would you need to increase the expedited removal operations to meet the demand is set. 3800 for the last three weeks or what resources would you need and how would you close? >> at every stage of the apprehension removal process and everything in between that we would need resources, more border patrol agents, support personnel so we can assure they are out in the field doing the end enforcement work that they signed up and for which they are so skilled to perform. more asylum officers, more immigration and customsn enforcement personnel, more detention capacity including more resources to be

able to execute more removal flights. more legislative authorities so that we could actually fund other countries in enforcing their borders and removing people from their countries before they ever reach the southern border united states. >> my time is up but i want to emphasize what you said, it is only if you have somebody in detention, and if they are out, then we need some changes of the like the steel does. thank you so much.es. >> we now recognized for other purposes. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. sec., thank you for being here. i want to go back to a statement that you made on the question about>> how many people we have deported. you said 630,000 have been returned. that is not accurate. the actual deportation is

142,580. all those other people that you're talking about were rejected at the border. these are not ice deportations and you conflate the two numbers, and it's aggravating to me that you do that. here we are we've got the same problem we had a year ago when you were a year. year. in fact you last testified, since you last testified before us, 2.4 million people across the southern border. that is more than four years of president trump's presidency combined. your immigration policy is in chaos. you don't need congress to do anything. they have the ability to do it you just needed to talk to him to get it done. now in fiscal year 23 there were 294 illegal aliens on the watchlist that were arrested between the ports of entry and those are just the ones we called. how many more are there and the 1.7 million got a ways over the last three years?

last year as i mentioned earlier we deported 142,000 but more than that across the border every month for the last 36 months we have 6.1 million. listen to this number people, 6.1 million people in the interior of the country on a non-detained. almost double what it was in 2020. of those, roughly 13%, 1.2 million of them have orders for removal, mr. sec. why haven't you removed the 1.2 million? you said you deported 640,000. no, you didn't. exhausted the due process, they've been told they have to get out, they'veve got workers o leave the country and you let them stay. migrants and cities across america are waiting to get an appointment at an office and these are the ones on the

non-detained list waiting for years and despite all the evidence, every single time this administration has undermined our safety and security you halted the wall construction, ended u migration protection protocols, you've created this program and are making an adequate request for detention space. this administration's failure is making communities less safe. we have people leaving we don't know who they are. i've talked about this before about the vetting going on and the default policy seems to befe to just let them in. we can't figure out who they are for sure because they are not in any database. just a couple of years ago in my hometown in jacksonville we had a 28-year-old illegal immigrant, i'm sorry, 23, murdered one of my constituents. a cdp encountered and couldn't confirm who he was or how old he

was because he had no identification, but he said he was a juvenile, used a fake name so under a catch and release policy that you reinstituted after president trump had ended that. you tell him in jacksonville that we find out who he is and he's now serving 60 years in the florida state prison. just last month we saw another one. horrible murder because we failed to properly vent an individual and lincoln riley was murdered by him. look, i want to states and local law enforcement to work with ice. we did in my jurisdiction when i was sure of in jacksonville we had a great program and it's a fantastic program and in fact

i'm not the only one that thinks that. thewe acting director in the program and i quote is the best thing since sliced bread because it acts as a force multiplier so my question for you very quickly is do you agree with of the directors assessment of the program and if so what are you doing to expand it? >> it is our highest priority. congressman, if you will allow me, i believe that when an individual poses a threat to public safety or national security, a local or state jurisdiction should cooperate with immigration and customs enforcement with a swift removal of that individual. do you think the program is a good program and should you work

with us to expand it? >> i continue to believe 287 when executed properly for the enforcement efforts. >> is that a yes? >> when it is executed properly is a force multiplier for the enforcement efforts. >> i see my time is up. i yield back. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. sec., it's good to see you again during a busy week. chmy district in illinois outsie of chicago and as you know for over a year now anti-immigrant extremists coordinated the deceptive and inhumane buzzing of migrants arriving at the southern border to states like new york or illinois including my community. they are using vulnerable people, the vast majority of whom are legally seeking asylum

as pawns in their shameless and shameful political stunt. in contrast i'm so proud to be from illinois where under the leadership of the governor and mayor johnson in chicago our community has come together to provide resources and support in alignment. illinois desperately needs more federal support then we are getting. so today we want to talk about options for the coming months and current political reality. for the shelter and services is largely directed to southernn border states that as the states

like texas, it is time to take a look at how we allocate that moneyth to be dissent in the lat 18 months but just last year they received 11 of the 34 grants awarded. illinois received two. around two, texas received 33 of the 54 grants awarded and illinois received two. the grants awarded with reserve funding texas received 28 of the 35 grants awarded. illinois received none. mr. sec. what specific steps is dhs taking to ensure the fiscal year are directed and welcoming migrants do you commit they will share a greater resource this year? >> the budget includes the reduction in thehe amount of shelter and services program

funding. the immigrations were in and enforcement proceedings in communities thatul initially encountered them. we are working through that allocation right now to distribute to the 2024 fund is at least in the first tranche, and allow me to assure you, congresswoman that we are workingin very closely with of e jurisdictions in the interior and at the border to increase and maximize the effectiveness of the allegations. states will likely always need some dedicated support but it seems contradictory for a states receiving a large portion of the funding dedicated to shouldering and providing services for migrants and then to bust them to other states as soon as possible arrive. the total funding in the

bipartisan 2024 funding package fell short as you mentioned so we need to get creative about the solutions but what other tools are you thinking about utilizing into order to increase the support that the dhs can provide to the communities experiencing the busing this year and then can the personnel improve the processing timeswh r inthe work authorization for example or take any other steps to address those type of delays and can dhs authorize any funding or work with other agencies like hhs? >> a few points. first and most fundamentally is our hope that public officials will coordinate, communicate and collaborate with other public officials to ensure the interest of the nation are properly served and chaos is not deliberately. number two, we have deployed teams to some of the interior citiese to ensure that our

expertise in the processing of individuals and understandingon their eligibility with certain benefits is fully realized. so we are working very closely across the administration and with of the cities to address thee challenges before us. >> and do they include again personnel across the agency's and uscis to be able to increase processing to access funds from other department et cetera and if not consider taking the steps where we have to use more creative strategies because as you know, hope is not a solution and it's certainly not a policy, and we know that some of these extremists in the other states are not going to change their behavior particularly as we approach. i yield back. >> thank you. now recognizing. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member for the hearing

today. mr. sec. thank you for appearing before us. you stated the president's budget request prioritizes staying ahead of the diverse and complex threats facing the homeland and highlights the unwavering dedication protecting the security of the american people. the president's budget also states that strengthening border security and providing pathways for migration remain top priorities for the administration. i want to build on something one of my colleagues asked. how many got a ways have there been? >> congresswoman, i will provide that data for you. >> 1.7 million got a ways, so the past few years have reversed of the secure policies that were working at a stop to the border wall construction expanded and allowed for millions of individuals as we've heard including known inspected terrorists, members unforgivable levels of fentanyl and illicit drugs ande substances into the country. 1.7 million individuals came into the country yet you sit before the committee and ask for

out of touch priorities again and refused to take accountability for the total that you've allowed for atug the southern border, so again i want to build on something one of my colleagues said. and we raised the detention capacity for 41,500 which requests bringing that number down to 34,000. >> congresswoman, my answer is twofold. number one, of course the 2024 budget allocatedre to us postdad the submission of the fiscal year 2025 budget where we remained. we will of course work with his committee and the senate appropriations committee to ensure the 41,500 bed capacity is sustained in the years ahead. >> what we want to see happen is proper accountability and oversight of that deterrence. $4.7 billion for the southwest border contingency fund which we

know as a slush fund that you've had access to because speed you can bid for the committee last year asking for the same out of touch prayer ready. so i think that you have disrespected the hard-working taxpayers and the processes attempting to get this slush fund to circumvent and it is appalling. it is stated to be around border conditions in any given year. waving the green light for the migrants to command cartels and human drug traffickers. there is no excuse to call for billions of dollars of additional slush fund dollars when it is clear and it's very concerning and alarming for a secretary to compromise on this. in your testimony you did state and i'm here to work with congress to deliver for the american people and men and women who deliver the homeland, but you are pointing the finger read congress to fix the very

decisions that the administration made that led to this crisis; correct? >> know that is incorrect. actually, pointing to it everyone agrees is a broken immigration system, congresswoman, you mentioned the 41,500 detention beds that are funded in fiscal year 2024. that is less than the bipartisan senate bill would have provided. the bipartisan senateat bill wod have provided 50,000. >> it also allows the president too much authority in terms of circumventing all of the legal processes we do have in place, and we've seen emergency requests for the crisis that you and the biden administration created purposefully and systematically. i don't think that is a good argument. there is countless policies that were in place that we are working to keep the southwest border underwe control opening flood walls for the security crisis at the southern border and again unprecedented levels of illicit drugs and deadly fentanyl. you speak of ast consequence

regime. mymy constituentswo are feelinge consequence of this regime every single day. pounds of drugs instead of ounces, increased crime, we are seeing a complete overwhelming numberer of illegal immigrant children in the district overwhelming iowa classrooms and teachers everyeq single day. you can try to hide from the american public at how we got to this point and point fingers at congress, but mr. sec. we have seen gamesmanshipgr and gimmicks and i call for the resignation last year and i stand by my request and yield back. >> thank you. wefi now recognize the congresswoman. >> thank you mr. chair, mr. sec. it's been a little over eight months since the incredibly tragic wildfires, some of the worst in the country's history and i want to start by thanking the department of homeland security and emergency management agencies, mr. fenton

and your entire team for the response, which has been a tremendous response. we certainly felt that you have been partners in this recovery. they said you've been in touch with him personally, you met with him and stayed in touch, so thank you for your response. also to the subcommittee including who visited himself to find out what was going on and the committee and subcommittee responded in part by what needs to be done in the last supplemental as well as the actions in fyvi 2024's bill. aside from many positive areas of progress, the one that is the missing piece is housing as you well know. the history here is the displaced about 12,000 people.

4,000 of them went into some other form of housing, very unsatisfactory and 8,000 into hotel rooms. of the 8,000, we have still today about 2,800th individuals they don't want to be there anymore and neither does fema. very unique circumstances of the market make it very difficult for you to follow your kind of standard approach. they've made choices between rehousing and rebuilding. even though that isn't going to bedi all of the solution here yu actually do need some form of rebuilding to pull this off over time. it's not going to do the job. the federal allegation in the state of hawaii and the county

asked to come off of the rehousing exclusively here and instead moved to the actual construction of at least some temporary housing on land at the state making available for you to do that. either the actual housing itself which would be transitional or infrastructure for that housing so other people can take care of it and put about a thousand units that are desperately needed to cover in the housing availability, the gap is caused not only byg the shortage but e fact that there are many people that are being housed in hotels and otherwise that are not eligible. they've been disqualified for many reasons and so there's two solutions here. the rehousing exclusively is not going to work. the rebuilding has to happen in some way, shape or form. a combination of rebuilding the transitional housing and ord te

exercise of the waiver authority to allow the people that are being disqualified from the housing to actually get into that rehousing market i think this would be good all around. you are spending a lot of money that you don't need to be spending on some of these housing options that you pursued in a very tight market. so what can you tell us about the thoughts of the maui fire overall and again i say this in the context of sincere appreciation for thehe efforts. >> thank you very much for recognizing the extraordinary work in close partnership with state and local officials. we are also eager to work with congress to assess what additional authorities they might need. we are working across the administration not just the department of homeland security

but also housing and urban development with economic experts to understand what is the right solution whether it's an adequate and therefore we have to rebuild the challenges of rebuilding are difficult because of its status and its unique situation and extraordinary tourist destination, the price of the pricing of housing is different than many others. >> i appreciate that. my time is almost up so apologies for interrupting you. i commend you on all those efforts, but we don't have time. the answers are pretty straightforward. you're never going to be able to satisfy this on the strict rehousing approach. there's not enough housing in the overall market. you can't leave people in hotel rooms for another six months to a year while you figure this out with economic experts. some decision needs to be made on some form of rebuilding

and/or the waiver authority, so i commended you and we will follow-up with you and stay in touch. >> thank you. i look forward to it. >> thank you, sir. thank you, mr. chairman. i'm going to start with a very simple question. what's the name of your department that you are the secretary of? >> the name of the department. >> the department of homeland security. your department was stood up when 19 foreign nationals misrepresented who they were and used our infrastructure and resources to bring a? catastrophic attack on septembe. your department is tasked with protecting the homeland, and you've done more to turn it into a prioritized processing the end you have protection. when you talk to the border

patrol agents they are doing everything they can with what they are being faced with and they are very frustrated that they've taken off their job of protecting their burgers and instead put in the role of processing. can you speak to any authorities congress has from you or the president since taking office? .. >> congressman, the point you make to border patrol. >> the answer is no. i would also make the point you have approximately 20% larger budget than trump had. the president has made a point he cannot secure the border part

he cannot get down to -- he is waiting on congress to move it. i just point that out to believe that and point out the truth every single 30s president trump he is more resources at his disposal than president trump yet he has done everything he can to undermine the security of our border procured the book unrestricted warfare was a pamphlet. >> congressman what is sure? >> it's a report written by two colonels in the chinese army. >> congress and what is your sub sedative question about the department of homelandis securi? >> is that a yes or no? in the pamphlet or brochure it's up a couple hundred pages long for it talks about the fact that a country to take out the united states do not try to use kinetic warfare you do things like abusing our legal system.

terrorism, smuggling warfare, drug warfare economic aid warfare to overuse would beat the soviet union to overspend got an arms race with, them for never wasting and spending money in ways slid into our demise the number one threat against our country is our fiscal house. do you have any concerns that china may be engaged with unrestricted warfare in our country? >> a congressman, addressing the challenges the people's republic of china poses is one of our highest priorities. number of lines of effort to address that. >> how many chinese nationals across report of the next couple years? what seat fight against forced labor where that's battling very quick so is not homeland security.

i appreciate that but that is not homeland security. >> we are tasked with enforcement of the congressman. secondly >> i am asking about the board to help me chinese nationals across our border? or shall be pleased to provide that data perquisites tens of thousands. secondly the threat of cyber attacks crossing our border are not presently and our country they are primarily single agent adult mail, military age they've crossed our border. if not doing anything to counteract that. lawful pathways who makes laws? the congressman if you must asked me questions of the answers of what you know, please allow me too answer it. congress productive not answer the other questions the issue

have in analyzing your budget this is been the difficult part is we look at our budgets we want to spend money to secure our border but we as congress write the check for security you get it and turn it into processing. you get into human trafficking and aiding and abetting cartels. all the various action that is happening. we have hundred thousand biblical from whence it offered the precursor comes from china. a plaint with thread people a day dying in our country. now we have cells within our country who at any moment could check our infrastructure or other ways of unrestricted warfare that i mentioned. i would urge you to get a focus on homeland security. we focus on protection. stop the, funding for the unnecessary processing let secure our border and put back in place the policies that had led to a secure almost secure

border, thank you you back. >> thank you serena recognize the ranking member of the entire committee. >> thank you very, very much mr. i'm sorry to be running in and out but it is the nature of the beast. thank you veryth much. mr. secretary thank you very, very much. thank you for your years of service to this country. i said in a prior meeting to secretary cardona it was shirleo chisholm the first african-american that said public service should directly pay for space on this earth. and as i said to secretary cardona who has been paying the rent, you've been paying that rent over and over again for thinking so much for being here. i have a couple of shema questions. fema is a nonprofit security grant program funding not-for-profit organization making physical security improvements to facilities of

the high risk of terrorist attack. particularly for years jurors and other places of worship. glad to see prioritizing supplemental funding request lastst fall. i do regret the program received a cut as part of very difficult negotiations over the homeland bill just a few weeks ago. a couple of questions here. has the department -assisted increase in threats against the places of worship in the aftermath of october 7? what other types of nonprofit facilities are facing acute stress of violence could be served by this program? canag you speak briefly to the 2025 request level for the whprogram. a $110.5 million increase above 24 funding and what that request would support in terms of meeting that need? >> congresswoman the heightened

threat environment which we currently live has only been exacerbated by the october 7 terrorist attacks against the state of israel. we have seen a dramatic increase in the rise of anti-semitism as well as islamic phobia. the nonprofit security grant program provides a much needed dollars to places of worship and other nonprofitit organizations. such as synagogues, religious state schools, mosques and that is precisely why our fiscal year 25 budget season augmentation of that grant program funding. >> but that allow additional grants these facilities in order for security and protection? what's it would. it's's increasingly target rich resource poor institutions. the increase in funding would

allow us to ensure enfranchisement and or grant program with better inclusivity to build capacity or does not currently exist. we are working very closely with different communities. different safe communities different nonprofit organizations to share best practices and do what we can tolimited funds available to us. >> it is critically important in my community i hear from organizations all of the time for it many small organization but nevertheless under serious threat. let me move on to the fema question if i can't andim i will try to be quick mr. chairman. it's part of the homeland budget as i understand place and expansive role in keeping ourly communities safe. it has firefighters, next additional warning system preventing violence and terrorism, talk about protecting our homeland, homeland security.

responding to disasters, helping committees recover and build back stronger. we've got extreme weather events, wild fires, hurricanes, winter storms, threaten the infrastructure that we rely on every day. let me talk about connecticut across new england historic flooding. fleets events put people's livelihood and their lives reallyly at risk and create pubc house and public safety crisis. like to focus on prevention. predisaster mitigation for the sad reality is disasters are going to happen. can we speak to the 2025 request for fema? how do you envision it should be focused on preparedness, protection, and mitigation. where are increases needed in order for you to support this work but what kind of policy changes should congress be considering because yes indeed it's about homeland security. atonement security issues for. >> congresswoman i look for to working with you on what

legislative changes are needed to better address the increasing impacts of climate change. the increasing frequency and gravity of the extreme weather events. i've spoken with mayors around the country about the need to updaten, building codes. rksomething as basic as that. the building codes are addressing the weather up yesterday and not the weather up today or tomorrow. i believe colorado state university just issued a report about its production for hurricane season. it is really looking very, very troubling.d an ounce of prevention today is absolutely vital to preventing calamities in local communities across this country. lee's situation is getting worse from extreme weather perspective. we have to work with every community to ensure it understands what it needs to do with the funds we distribute to it and date themselves in terms

of understanding how houses and residents of all types. >> i think the chair i'd very much like to work with you and homeland security it gets lost in a whole lot of serious issues but a whole lotcu of political rhetoric as well. area at work congress has the opportunity to do something and do something in a bipartisan basis. these kind of conditions affect all of our communities i think you pretty think if you're indulgent mr. chair. >> you are welcome. we now recognize congressman neuhaus. quick think it mr. chairman, mr,

mr. secretary appreciate being with us thisan morning prone to discuss the fentanyl crisis we all know is raging throughout our country. fentanyl floods across the southwest border does not state and border communities however. it spreads throughout the country and is destroying lives, destroying families, it is destroying communities throughout the united states. in your testimony you note the department to stop nor elicit fentanyl and arrested more individuals fentanyl related crimes in the last two fiscal years than the previous five years combined. while this is admirable it's equally disturbing. men and women of cbp and ice do extraordinary work on the frontline. beyond to execute their mission of protecting the homeland could we all appreciate that. vphowever, as border patrol ages are pulled off thear frontline o process and then release the majority of illegal migrants

into the united states, cartels being very clever have shifted their tactics to to exploit the vulnerabilities shifts and shortfalls fiscal year 25 the budget request includes critical investments in the fight against fentanyl. specifically in nonintrusive inspection technology you mention that in your verbal testimony. yet when i reviewed the budget justifications for that program, it says fy 25 budget does not provide procurement funding for this investment. it does request level funding for operations and support. i do not see roughly $300 million reportedly is necessary to install these scanners used to detect drugs and other contraband that havean been purchased and are sitting ioin a warehouse literally collecting dust as you and i are

sitting here. this is something that just totally frustrates and concerns me. when i visited the border in arizona just this last february, one of your, our own border patrol agents in answer to my question told me this directly.r we do not control the border. the cartels control the border. the cartels determine who, when and where people cross our border. even more concerning a local resident told me him and his neighbors do not even lock the doors anymore because smugglers, illegal migrants come through the area, break into homes, take whatever they want. they still clothing, they steal food people have resorted to leaving step out on their patios and leaving their doors unlocked to try to prevent damage of

people breaking in. to have fellow citizens going through that on a daily basis to me is unconscionable. the fentanyl epidemic is fueled through the southwest border put over 50% comes through arizona alone. how can, better yet, why can the department justify this? work with mexican authorities to do two important things. stop until precursors from coming from mexico. and never to prevent waves of migrants from physically rushing the border. what are some of the specific intangible actions? >> congressman l answered very briefly in the limited time we have i would welcome the opportunity to speak with you outside of this hearing to talk about the work that we are doing with mexico both in the fight fentanyl and to ensure

individuals who seek to arrive at our border are interdicted before they reach our border. we are working very closely with mexico and not only with mexico to interdict the flow of precursor chemicals as well as the build process and other equipmentic used to manufacture fentanyl into this hemisphere. i willto share with you i share your concern congressman because for 12 years i was a federal esprosecutor battling the trafficking and substances as serious as cocaine and black tara heroin live seen nothing like the toxicity and fatality of fentanyl we have to battle it together. this is a scourge that has been growing for years i believe it was 2020 there were 57000 overdose deaths. this is not a new phenomenon. it's eight years long phenomenon and we need to work together to address it. >> correct think it mr. chairman

i yield back. >> thank you mr. neuhaus would not recognize. >> thank you, mr. chairman. undersecretary the discretionary budget this year 62-point to billion dollars comes that correct? >> i believe that is correct. >> the request last year 60.4 60.4 billion as a relates to discretionary spending is that correct? >> i believe so congressman. >> you sit in your opening statement insufficient budget we were not giving you the funds necessary for you to be able to carry out your job. and the men and women who served under your letter you requested $60.4 billion congress appropriateded $61.8 billion. we appropriated more money than you asked for. when he looked away you're asking for this year versus what weid appropriated last year, the numbers are very similar there is not a huge discrepancy between 62-point to

$61.8 billion.th as it looked to the individual items you requested one and things brought upward detention beds. congress this year funded 41500 detention beds. yet you are only requesting 34000 detention beds you also reference the senate bill the senate bill, you said the senate belt which never passed out of the senate was a bill in which they were debating is part of the overall funding package you said would have funded 50000 detention beds. i am assuming you supported the senate bill did you not? >> i hope you would have as well for. >> it would've come over here would've been happy to have looked at it. unfortunately never made it out of the senate to the house did not have a chance to review the legislation. so do you support the 50000 detention beds that would have habeen in the senate bill kuestr chris in the context of the bipartisan senate bill, yes. >> yet you are asking for some

16000 less detention beds and 7500 less detention beds of a currently fun? you talk about extra item removal you say people who are in detention often have expedited removal. if the intent is those individuals who do not need to be at remove them from the country sooner rather than later we know about immigration course and the backlog and all of the problems that we face. people in detention express or move from the country generally, does it not? >> congressman a few things. number one, remember it when we fund it detention beds we have to fund personnel. >> do you need more money for personnel? i want to know what yout need because to me it seems asinine mr. secretary we're going to ask for it less detention beds receive a record surge in immigration. a record number of orders of removal that have been issued by the court but yet we are saying

we do not need detention beds if we are going to one, prevent people from coming into the country or if we are not going to prevent them once they are here and once there is a final disposition of their case. if we are going to seek to remove them. i am very concerned about that fact it. i'm very concerned you are asking not only for a less than refunded this year but you are asking for substantially less than the senate bill which you said you agreed with. >> congressman, few points number one is a articulated earlier our fiscal year 25 budget request was submitted before congress passed the fiscal year 2024 budget. >> what number do you need? 34000 is that the number that you need righta now? >> we are committed to working with congress to sustain the 41500 beds. >> if that is the number why didn't you put that in your budget? whatnu are you substantially unr sudley number of detention beds and making congress come in and

bump those numbers up question work of those the numbers you needed those of the appropriate numbers mr. secretary i would ask you put those numbers in your budget. you asked congress to fund tha. you do not expect us were going to plus up those numbers so we leave them artificially low one last thing i know my time is running short in an effort to make sure height save time for other members fox news is reporting there's going to be a possible executive order issued by the president to shut down the border by the end of the month are you in any discussions with the president about executive orders that relate to border security and or immigration? >> congressman we are consistently evaluating what options are available to us. we do that on a regular basis. i will share with you executive action which is inevitably challenged in the courts is no

substitute for enduring. if i may come according enduring solution of a legislation that will fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system for quick as a secretary do you believe the president has the power to issue executive orders that would deal with more security and or immigration? >> we actually have implemented executive orders by way of very critical and effective regulations. i'll be pleased to speak with you about those prefects think it mr. chairman i yield back. >> thank you sir we recognize doctor harris. >> thank you very much. first, at the top i want to make sure you conveyed my thanks to the coast guard for what they are doing in the port of port of baltimore. their response was tremendous. getting that port reopened at the multi agency effort. coast guard is playing a very important role as well as the army corps of engineers i would to convey my thanksar for. >> thank you congressman i'll do so. >> i'm going to ask you a

question that has come. up because the fbi director's testified before congress he was not certain whether there were undercover fbi operatives working on generally six in the crowd. but it undercover journalist found investigations with the video you may be aware of in the last two days of a cia official former fbi member actually say guess their work. i'm going to ask you a simple question. were there undercover officers or agents from the department of homeland security or paid informants in the crowd on january 6? >> congressman i do not know the answer to that question but i you for. >> wow is all i can say was rate apps a paid informant? >> i'm not familiar with those facts i'll be pleased to get them to the. >> thank you very much. is it the policy of the department phone security because i understand is the policy of the fbi to have undercover individuals at these events to keep them in control to allow people to peacefully exert their first amendment

rights what calling attention to people who might interfere that is the policy of the department phone security chip undercover agents or officers or paid informants events like that? >> events like? >> a larger protest summer. work people attempt to exert their first amendment right too. >> congressman that is not a refocus. >> if you get the answers to me on the other and i appreciate that about generally six whether or not you had agents there. okay, let me talk about the oig. the oig has complained they attempt to get things from the department of hunsicker going to ask of this letter to chairman greven gerry 17 from the oig entered into the record where she points out the department over the past few years has use the excuse of the privacy act and the presidential records act to withhold information from the oig. the purpose of the oig as you know we think the oig's are important to keep an eye on the

individual departments and we would hope the departments would always cooperate with oig's because otherwise it looks a little suspicious. so do you agree the privacy act in the presidential records act in fact do not affect the ability of the department to transfer information to the oig? >> congressman let me assure you we cooperate fully with the office of inspector general. we also appreciate the importance of the inspector general's and making sure our department is as efficient and effective as it can be piquant to show inspector general joseph? >> yes he is for. >> in this letter he says you are not cooperating. i will enter in without objection like that entered into the record books congressman i respectfully disagree with the inspector general. [laughter] >> that is what we have inspector general's to actually keep an eye on the departments. we expect with the department is doing something they want to cover up they are not going to cooperate with the inspector general. then they're going to claim they cooperate with the inspector

general. that's our cop on the beat that is our cop on the beat washing the cops on the beach. >> assuredly you are speaking of a department different than ours when you characterize that type of behavior. >> that is now at the letter kind of indicates for it anyway the last thing want to talk about in the last remaining minute is effective offshore wind on search and rescue missions for the coast guard. this is an issue. we have an active port in ocean city we have a lot of commercial fishermen and private people who are worried when they construct these huge offshore wind bills off the coast of maryland that coast guard search and rescue operations will be harmed. i went to asked to enter into an naval institute study offshore wind energy rising challenger coast guard operations. it indicates the potential effects of these on search and rescue missions, clearly an important part of what the coast guard chosen clearly preserving

life and limb in the maritime environment should be one of the first things the government does before it expense huge amounts of money on offshore wind very expensive source of energy for that is a discussion for a different agency. i also want to ask if you could follow up with the coast guard. there is november 25, 2019 a letter which again i will ask to be entered into the record. signed by the director captain jennifer of acting u.s. coast guard sheet suggested ongoing studies are done -- are being done this is now five years ago for a half years ago with regard to the safety of offshore wind, vis-à-vis search and rescue of the coast guard are you aware or that the determination has been made if it saved? what typically is a follow-up with the a quick thank you very much and i asked that be entered in the record i yield back. >> the objection all exhibits

without objection. receive the second round three minutes. >> recognizing myself. congressman provided for that $8 million for the border wall. agencies continue to waste money appropriate in fy 2020 and 2021 explicitly for construction admin but the actual obstruction of the law. finally admit fy 2019 funds were not spent on the wall as congress intended. it would be breaking the law. as a result of the loss that you can no longer waste additional moneyat on big safe projects otr non- wall construction. i will this emaciation in ambiguous intent of congress built additional miles of wall left in the wall accounts. >> i will not speak to texas court decision that is a matter of ongoing litigation. let me assure you we do comply

with the law. the the construction of 70-mile wall but we did that last year. in addition and actually believe it's right 129 gaps closures. and so we are complying with the law. we continue to believe technology advanced capability we need to invest and to ensure the security of our border. i have seen wall parts stacked not being constructed. >> how much money it cost the department to cancel those contracts midstream when taking into account the additional

drainage and other mitigation efforts for. >> congressman, mr. chairman forgive meiz mr. chairman pleasd to provide you with the figures you. >> thank you i know recognize the distinguished ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you have been to texas producing the border wall when someone is asking for asylum all they have to do is touch the riverbank? >> once they step on united states soil, ranking member they have a lawful right to claim asylum. >> of the 1200-mile river, the fences we have are not in the middle of the river. they are not at the riverbanks but a quarter of a mile or even ae longer awake correct? >> in certain places that is indeed correct. >> let me ask you according to the numbers i have seen from you

all most of the drugs we have coming in or coming through ports of entry. fence at all, up to 94% are coming through ports of entry is that correct? >> with respect to the southern border yes that is correct ie believe our data demonstrate approximately 90% or more entering the country through the border arrived through or smuggled in the ports of entry. >> bought that weave out of for technology are nonintrusive. move on that is much as possible so we can have them not only the ports of entry but in the border patrol checkpoints. we asked her to move those as possible. they are smuggling drugs at the ports of entry or the checkpoints are u.s. citizens,

correct? >> we do understand the data evidences the majority of knights and citizens. >> what we sow are 86 or 87 dual citizens.th i am86 a big believer and expedited. what resources, i'll ask again were asylum officers do you need to do expedited removals? in addition to additional legal authority which we would have been provided in the bipartisan legislation many more asylum officers, i am sorry enforcement and removal officers in immigration and customs enforcement. additional personnel. additional customs and border protectionfo personnel. additional facilities.

those are some of the highlights with respect to what we need. underlying it is the additional legal authority be bipartisan legislation would have delivered. >> we certainly would've provided the funding. again i just have to say this mr. chairman, to last appropriation bills we added $1.4 billion to cbp, every single person on the other side of the aisle except for two that are still in congress voted no for that extra money. the last appropriation bill we added the largest amount to cbp less than half of the majority voted for funding. to do to do bipartisan funding forwe the last question expeditd removal i believe in title eight was used very effectively with the obama administration under

secretary jeh johnson but you said the only way to use removal or title eight if there under l cbp custody. what a monitoring system still be under cbp? i guess you can't answer that but think about it to see if you can use title eight expeditedes removal because custody means i sort cbp facility. wec. do use a monitoring. i would ask you whether that will be custody my opinion i would say yes. and he was title eight expedited removal. anything we can change the law i do not know what you all are looking at. we do know at the very beginning a lot of those people don't qualify.op

they do not qualify up with all due respect if they are hungry, they want a job they want to come to the u.s. of the chinese city on top of a hill i understand that but they do not qualify under the five persecution asylum laws. we want to work with you. we want a supportive. you have a very difficult job there so many opinions here who could detect because you did too much or you don't do enough i want to thank you foru your service. want to thank the men and women that work on your department. >> thank you very much, god bless. we don't recognize mrs. hinson for. >> like it mr. chairman. mr. secretary, last year when you came before this subcommittee i did ask about concerning reports of chinese nationals crossing our open border part i brought this concern to you directly mr. secretary because president biden did not do anything to prevent this issue but has brits become worse. chinese and nationals are the largest and fastest growing group attempting into our

country. i am concerned your testimony and budget are directly address it is that correct? >> let me be clear. number one, and the individual who poses a threat to public safety or national security to party for the tension but never to for the first time i had in engagement with my counterpart from the people's republic of china to ensure china would begin to accept removal flights so we can deliver a consequence regime for individuals and people's republic of china who do not have a legal basis for crow's the outcome of that conversation? what to do have a legal basis to remain in the united states for those discussions are ongoing and we did affect one most recently at the first time in a number of years for. >> unfortunately we have to judge the chinese communist party based upon their actions in other words.

we know just recently to chinese nationals were arrested in iowa on a nationwide fraud case they were involved in print what was believed to cross the southwest border it was released into the country. they made the reach iowa enjoyed in the national productivity i knowan islands that americans deserve transparency for all of your department's actions which have essentially loaded our adversaries our borders are wide open allowing carlos enter the country i don't think there's an icexcuse from the same conversation two years in a row and i like to see a more stringent action from the administration concerning chinese communist party nationals coming across the board of her other action i find distressing is the administration's diverting a record numberr of federal air marshals to the southwest border to perform administrative duties. this leaves americans unguarded mbon commercial flights. i spoke directly with the air marshals about the safety concerns posed by diverting them to the southern border. a life or shortage of air marshals on flights denying them a sworn duty to protect americans in the air. mr. secretary, you dance around

calling the crisis at our southern border not only humanitarian crisis but a crisis. if you do not see it as that why are you deploying our federal air marshal our fans to the border and other law enforcement agencies to thede border? >> a congresswoman i do understand the challenges at the border and i do not dance around them. if you call it a crisis? >> yes i would as a matter of fact ind work every single day f the men and women in the department per month security. just to strengthen thee securiy of our southern border as well as the northern border. we deploy personnel from different parts of our departmentou would've the situation so warrants in the situation of the borders so warrants progress will getth myo the southern border i went twice. to beat the brave men and women as well as agents. not just ourbu fans but tsa.

again, i am pleased to hear call a crisis but i think that's a person my purge of public acknowledgein it. i think we continue to put american lives at risk by federal air marshals i think the federal air marshals communicated to me they have had enough of this they see it as harmfull absent actions i will continue to prohibit the ability to deploy those necessary air marshals ladies back on flights mr. secretary until you again certify that the border is in a crisis state. thank you so much for appearing before us today i go back. >> thank you. at this point you have any further questions? >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. mayorkas excuse me secretary mayorkas i apologize. i was reported in january of this year at a meeting with border patrol agents use of the

current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southwest border is above 85%. one commented that conversation take place? into, is that number accurate? >> congressman i am not familiar with that number. i am not certain to which conversation you refer. i visited the borders have very many times but purge cap some additional details would guide me in responding to your question accurately. >> yes, sir. i will read from the article to fox news mayor mayorkas tells border patrol agents above 85% of illegal immigrants released in the unitedsp states. it says it was published on january the eighth, 2020 for 204 homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas order border patrol agents the current rate of release apprehended of the southwest border is above 85%. sources toldga foxnews mayorkast

made their marks emitting private with agents and eagle pass, texas according to border patrol sources who were in the room. in her the remarks themselves. >> congressman i'll be pleased to provide you with the data i certainly don't view that article is a transcript for. >> i guess my question is, is that figure of 85%, is it accurate? >> i will have to follow-up with your congressman and provide you the data your request by do not have it at my fingertips thatve data point. but you're not disputing this article? you are not saying that numbers artificially high you're just saying that you don't have thati number here to either admit or deny the 85% that was alleged there in the article? >> i cannot confirm and i will do so. >> mr. secretary in previous conversations discuss title 42, title eight as we know title 42

expired in may. of last42re year. we saw a brief dip in apprehensions late may, early june. resell the numbers to rise significantly that. we saw an december the number of apprehensions about the northern and southern border were roughly 370,000 immigrants have entered the country. if that number is accurate, 85% of those individuals who attempt to enter are released into custody that what the number at roughly threaded 16000 just in december alone. these numbers to me are very troubling. we seem to have a large number ofof immigrants continue to come in the country. after 42 expired their worst conversations testifying you believed once we began

prosecuting with see the numbers drop part of the argument under title 42 who were deported immigrants back to their origin and they were immediately turned back across the border with no consequences. no 42 has expired not in the decrease the numbersd whatsoev. the revolving door coming right back in the country. white we cannot get any relief. why we continue to see what we referred to the first time i have ever heard it referred to it as a crisis but i've heard you repeatedly say this is not a crisis of the border is secure. i think this is a first time you said it. i think the president said in

january it not onlybo you say te border wasn't secure, he said it had not been secure at a decade. which would've been that the entire time of't which he has bn present including time in which she was vice president and the obama administration. net of 42 has expired we are cooperating under title eight where continue to fund the departmental and security in excess of what you asked for, what more do we need tond do to secure the border? is not the first of use that terminology. i will be pleased we do notco he the time right now. i'll be pleased to explain to why the numbers were as high as they were inn december. and why they are significantly lower since then. there are clear reasons for that. and what we need to strengthen the security of thehe border tht legislation would provide the legal tools and the resources to

address what everyone agrees is a broken system. there has not been, and my time in the department of homeland security which is more than 10 years now. approximate 22 years now. it's spent as a federal prosecutor. i have seen a proposal that is so tough on the border. as this bipartisan legislation. >> i yield back. >> i remind everyone on the panel the second round is supposed to be three minutes our clock is showing five minutes. inmi order to take care of everybody. my sincere apologies ms. underwood for skipping over her and be unbiased making equal representation on both sides.

generally 62021? >> january 6 of 2021, was that acting i believe. >> you're not homeland security on that date question. >> know i assumed office on february 2, 2021. >> 's secretary at mayorkas at the apartment onn security has been historic in so many ways. you face so many challenges in a really complicated threaten environment. at the same time during your tenure, dhss seizedat over 43 thousand pounds of fentanyl last year alone in 800 million travelers in 2023 which is a record-setting year in air travel.se you've exceeded your goal of new hires for women in lawaw enforcement. he worked to keep our kids safe by identifying or rescuing over 11000 child victims online sexual exploitation and abuse.

and yet you face on precedent vicious and personal campaign against you and your staff at the department of homeland security. for my colleagues on the right and even a basis impeachment effort. charged with work that is both difficult and essential for keeping americans safe. don't do thank you for your commitment for doing that important job. doing it with focus, care, attention thatit we expect of or leaders in this country. thank you very much for your service, sir. i also want to make a comment about the delayed processing times for applications at the department which is then a in a repeated concern for my constituentsat in northern illinois. everyday our officers more news about real delay work authorization for eligible migrants and that naturalization process for those who are eligible. we encourage people to pursue legal means of immigration.

we must also ensure our processes are timely and responsive throughout the process. last year dhs expected update to the action plan in the update there is a significant gap between annual naturalization rate in the population eligible to nationalize. in that report there are some barriers that were mentioned. lack of understanding of the naturalization process, real or perceived to meet the english language and the lack of ability to pay application fees. migrants from non-english-speaking countries particularly migrants of color are pitfalls internationalization process. u.s. eis to take a look at the naturalization gap for english and non- english speakers. and also take a look at what's going on with the doctorate recipients that we will submit something specific for the record but if you could direct

them to follow up with us that would be very helpful. i yield back. >> the senate would now recognize doctor harris. >> thank you very much for thank you mr. secretary. first of all, to follow up on the generate six saying you were the secretary while the investigation congressional conl investigation went on with the whole question of paid informants and embedded federal agents was brought up, is that right? works that you referred to special committee questioned. >> the quote bipartisan committee. that is what i thought for you are well aware of the controversies involved with the idea of federal agents embedded or paid informants and the whole right abstaining. let me clear up the 212 issue right now. the president is one who raised you because apparently is going to issue some kind of executive order. i'm assuming at the same authority to issue the executive order three years agogo before

9 million people entered the country, is that right? is going to issue it tomorrow apartment jump and raised a perfectly valid question our laws did not change in the past three years. congress did not do anything for god knows congress did not do anything on immigration for i'm assuming were operating under the same rule of laws. i find it coincidental seven months before an election the president is down in the polls and immigration is the top issue the president gets religion on this. has the feeling in the administration changed on 212f? wass disordered on our side of the other president had authority on 212f because president trump exerted the authority. as the president sought your opinion on this? on his announcement last size theio presence of the opinion of the secretary on this? >> congressman, let me share with you one fact.

the president seek your opinion on his announcement last night there's going to be executive order regarding his authority under 212? >> is not the president's announcement last night. number one. >> okay onto the next class are not cordial to filibuster that. that was his announcement last night. it's report it actually is, widely reported today. my question was it just did he consult you? i think it is a simple question. i think you're being very evasive about it and i'm going to leave it at that. withbe regards to ice detention scott montgomery county, maryland, montgomery county officials twice had a person who is issue detainers under ice twice released from prison. now charged with the murder of a 2-year-old. twice. the three jurisdictions and convince them to comply with

detainers. as the gentleman with texas indicated, the title of your department's homeland security but i would assume protecting americans illegal immigrants with detainer oils schedule for deportation to go on and kill someone is something the administration might be interested in having. local jurisdictions light montgomery county to actually cooperate not be a sanctuary jurisdiction cooperate with orders to get these dangerous individuals off our streets? >> congressman, we continue to work with local jurisdictions. when individual poses a threat to public safety and the individual has a detainer placed on him or her they honor the detainer and not release the individual onto the streets. but rather turn the individual over to immigration and customs

enforcement for continued detention. mr. chairman, may have a thirty second privilege? to enter question mayorkas the same 32nd privilege. >> the prior administration executed what it believed to be its authority under 212f and the courts joined it. >> claiming my 30 seconds, has a number of jurisdictions in the united states cooperate with 287g program increase or decrease in this administration? >> i am not aware of an increase, any increase. cliques do you think it might've decreased actually? >> i will stand by my story provokes if you could get me the details i would appreciate it. all the bluster about convincing local authorities to cooperate the most obvious assignment would be the number 287g local authorities increased if the

administration and i yield back. >> thank you doctor harris. mr. neuhaus. thank you by statute your agency as well as the department of labor and administer the agriculture program. based on dol rulemaking's farmers across the country are burdened with dol appears to at least not understand or not fully appreciate the importance of the agricultural industry. i for one you understand the importance of growing healthy foods in the united states under ndwhich aligns with your agencys guiding principle and responsibility to preserve and uphold the nation's prosperity and economic security. just real it simply, do you believe the ability of a nation to feed itself is inherently more secure than a nation that relies on imports defeated citizens?

>> i do. i am not an expert in that area but i believe the process. and in fact we are expanding it throughout the hemisphere. making a lawful pathway. quickly ask you a little bit about that earlier this year they finalize a new rule that would increase the cost to employers utilizing h2 a among other programs. while i understand the purpose and utility of a fee based program, the need to update based on increased costs, the rule finalize this overly burdensome and costly to our nation's producers. not only the general filing fee increase but a 600-dollar asyluh program fee was added. requiring ag employers to pay for a program they do not receive any benefit from. initially instead of destroying a one form for all the workers the final rule caps the number of employees that can be listed

on each form at 25. there is no added benefit that i can see foror this policy it ony increases paperwork, burdens and cost to ag employers. now that the rule has gone into effect as of last week we have actual costs associated with this rule. they far out seed the predicted indicated 20% -- 26% increase that was anticipated. so a couple questions here. do you expect producers to absorb this cost are they to pass them onto consumers and producers are expected to absorb these costs how do you expect them to stay in business? if they are no longer in business, how do you in the administration plan to protect our food security at the time the majority of our food served on our tables becomes imported from other countries? >> congressman two points. number one i will allow experts to speak to the downstream

economic implications that we were compelled too issue. i'm very sensitive to the fact additional costs were imposed on applicants and i understand the burden that poses. u.s. citizenship and immigration services was really with its back against the wall have been driven almost to bankruptcy by the prior administration. the legislation burke provides the fees the agency chargers are to be recalibrated according to costs i believe it is every two years i've not been promulgated successfully for over seven i believe my time frames are correct. and so we had to make very difficult decisions with respect to how to bring the agency to a point of financial stability it had been suffering financial instability for too long which created backlogs of the administration of our illegal immigration system.

ii will follow up with experts o address your economic. >> appreciate, thank you thank you, mr. chairman. correct thank you mr. neuhaus. my understanding is ranking member would like to ask you one more question. >> i just want to add when i sit see bpm at dhs custody which should be cbp and of course ice and on to ask you to please look at title eight expert adult remover where they are under custody under. dhs. whether that includes being detained. whether that includes a monitoring. or even a system that allows them to check in. i am trying to see if we can do something we can add funding for asylum officers, et cetera, et cetera to do more title eight expedited removal for the ones

who do not work so i'd ask you to look into that >> and most certainly will and have, ranking member. i know this is an area of extensive litigation. we will follow up so i can be more responsive to you. >> thankte you. >> you are welcome. i would be remiss since were talking about finances here but without addressing it directly with you mr. secretary. after the horrific terrorist attack on israel in october 7, the deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust, one of your employees was exposed celebrating online she previous it were for the palestine liberation organization what's commonly known as the plo it's a very troublesome reputation. according to a public comment she made on linked in two months ago she was still getting paid by the department could you please set the record straight is this person still being paid by the department of homeland security as a status of the

investigation what is the status of the investigation into her behavior? mr. chairman the individual is on administrativert leave not performing the duties or responsibilities for which she was hired. the investigation is ongoing and is cannot speak any further abt it because it is ongoing personal matter. >> who gives a specific date when this verdict is going to be reached? >> i am not in control of the investigation but certainly i will provide you with whatever details i am permitted to do. >> if i understand you correctly she is on administrative leave it still being paid you've got to tell me how many total employees at the department are under investigation for similar purposes after terrorist attack on israel after october 7 the question what's i personally am not aware of any other investigations.. but to provide you with accurate information i will follow-up. >> of any changes been made to make sure people of such

character or not to be employed in your agency from here on out? ask individuals who are hired go throughto a clearance process ad the department of phone security. >> a ticket you'll be tightening up the clearance processes. quester quick sweet review are hiring and retention processes on an ongoing basis. review our retention processes on an ongoing basis. as a matter of fact, i'm meeting with leadership this friday to address one aspect of it. >> well, first off, thank you to the members who are here today. i'd like to get back to the members who have submitted questions, of which you said you would go back and scrutinize your record and report back to them, and if you could do so in the next 15 business days we would be most appreciative. there may be some additional questions that come up with for providing right. we ask you again to provide his answers on a timely basis. i'd like to thank you for being here today, sir, and this

subcommittee stands adjourned. thank you. >> i got it. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> on tuesday homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas testifies and takes questions on immigration and southern bored.

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