He has multiple fractures in his face. And nasal cavity. His throat and his voice box are crushed. He was kicked so hard in the stomach that it sent his spleen into his spine and sliced it in two. So it was painful. The medical examiner said it was torture. This body has significant skin loss on his buttocks, abdomen, penis, hands and his face. He has one stick of gum and a tardy slip in his pocket. This was our family costs 9 11 terrorist attack by foreign invader whether you want to recognize it or whether you do not. This government continues to fail or even recognize that we have an issue. Americans are dying daily at the hands of criminals that we dont even know are here. You are officially notified today there is a problem when this happens. You cant deny it any longer. You cant ignore our families, our american families. You are elected by americans not any other country. You should be for americans. If you want to sit quietly on the sidelines, you have thrown your hat into the ring already. Your silence speaks volumes. Youre either for americans or youre not. I will not give up control another one of my children so , that a foreign person can have a nicer life. I am not going to do it. You dont understand the pain. Its so deep in the soul in the place that you dont even recognize you have. There arent words to describe the pain to someone who has gone who has not gone through it. Im not giving up another kid. City policy screamed to the criminal element of all illegals in this country, there is a criminal element, it screams to them come to our town u. S. A. Well protect you from our terrible policemen, well protect you from these tough american laws that you, because you had a hard life, are not able to go through the same motions that an american did. They are buying into that fact. Its going to take another life lost by senator, congressman the president , even another of todays heroes, someone from hollywood, before someone in a position moves on this. I urge you youre in a position to do something about this for americans. I thank you to mr. Trump for getting a message out about the nation in two minutes that for 4 1 2 years solidly Maria Espinoza at the remembrance project and countless families like my own have been trying to say for five to six years. It feels good to be heard, whether you love him or whether you dont, i felt heard. Our family is shattered. Its shattered. It will never be the same. Well manage. Well go on. We function. We put on a happy face. My kids have changed, the surviving kids. Everything about us has changed. Its by the grace of god that in our broken hearts we have a stream of memories of the loving relationship that we had with joshua. Joshua had a very deep, intense spiritual relationship, leaving us four, five scriptures in the weeks before he died. Im ok with where josh is at today. I dont its not just about missing josh. Its about what youre doing to the entire family. Not just our immediate family. His friends, the teachers, the community, our extended family. Its incredible. I cant even explain it to you. America lost that day. You lost a good citizen that was on the brink of becoming who knows what . He mentioned going into the air force like his older brother who had to come home for two weeks and bury was out defending this country, americans, and we had to bring him home for two weeks to bury his little brother when he wasnt being defended , right here at home. Its absurd to me. Thank you for your time. I do want to say, too, just a little bit of rebuttal about they are not scared to come , here. We are inviting them. Sanctuary cities say come on down. You can have a pass in our city. Youre tying policemens hands. Im not mandating to ask them where they are from. But if they pull somebody over for a reason valid cause, and , they are investigating vetting them for something, they have a right to ask them. They have a right to ask me , stop me on the freeway where , are you going, where are you coming from . Do you have drugs . Im going to answer those. In 15 minutes it will come out in the wash im ok to leave. Why are you creating a class of people who seem to say we cant do that. They are not afraid to come here. They are not afraid to traipse across the desert. I have been to the border. I stood there with Border Agents and watched them come across from jet skis. I will finish quickly. Sympathy has never trumped a law in this country, ever. You sympathize with me. Can i go break a federal law . Anyone . Anyone here like to let me do that . Every one of them here threaten National Security because we dont know who they are. So they are a threat. We dont know who they make a decision to come here. They are not scared. They are invited by sanctuary city policies. They are not scared to stand in line for a handout that every american here has paid into the system for our children. If need be. They mistrust police because they come from countries that mistrust police. They are not scared here. I want you to know that our family is broken forever. We are forever broken. Thank you. I thank you for your time. I dont want the sympathy. I want you to do something about it. Everybody sitting here is in a position to do something. Just throw your hat into the ring for americans. Quit sitting silent because its going to help you get a vote. Throw your hat into the ring and take care of american families. Thank you. Thank you. Senator grassley first of all thank you for your testimony. , i heard frustration and anger about our immigration policies. We can learn a lot from you about how our immigration system needs fixed. And for me that starts with Border Security. Can i ask my members, because we are here for oversight of the administration. How many of you have questions that you want to ask of this panel . If none of you want to ask questions of this panel, then i will dismiss them after thanking them. Thank youall very much for coming and lending your expertise to this hearing. Ill call the next panel. Senator grassley could we have order. Thousands of people. Senator grassley today costs hearing deals with a very special issue. I trust that members of the public here will act accordingly. I want to note at the outset that the rules of the senate prohibit outbursts, clapping and demonstration of any kind. This includes blocking the view of people around you. Please be mindful of those rules as we conduct a hearing. If it isnt abided by, i would have to ask the Capitol Police to remove anyone who violates the rules. Before our next panels seated i would like, i would ask ms. Saldana and mr. Rodriguez. Before i introduce you, i would like to ask you to affirm. Do you affirm that the testimony youre about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god. I do. Senator grassley leon rodriguez is director of u. S. Citizenship and immigration services. He was confirmed by the senate on june 24, 2014. Director rodriguez was born in brooklyn, new york. Graduated from Brown University and earned j. D. Degree juries doctorate degree from boston college. Sara saldana is assistant secretary for u. S. Immigration custom enforcement. She was confirmed by the senate december 16, last year. She was born in Corpus Christi texas. Graduated from texas a i university and received her juries doctorate from Southern Methodist university. Director rodriguez, would you please begin. And then well call the other director. Director rodriguez thank you, chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member, thank you members of the committee. In august of 1988 i was sworn in as an assistant District Attorney in brooklyn, new york. Kings county, new york. At the time i was sworn in, new york city like many other large jurisdictions throughout the country, was witnessing unprecedented crime rates. High homicide rates, high Sexual Assault rates, high robbery rates, high narcotics trafficking rates. It was into this environment that i started as a young 26yearold prosecutor. Among my assignments as an assistant District Attorney were homicide investigations, sex crime special victims prosecutions, organized crime investigations and prosecutions. During my tenure as an assistant District Attorney, i sat by the side of many hundreds of victims of Violent Crime, Family Members of victims of Violent Crime including homicides. , i witnessed the same kind of grief without limit that i saw among the crime victims families that you saw here this morning. I witnessed the sense of profound injustice that was felt by those families. I did everything i could as an assistant District Attorney to honor the oath that i had taken in august of 1988 and have frequently remembered throughout my many years of government service, frequently remembered and felt the grief and sense of injustice that i saw in those years in brooklyn, new york. I learned another lesson as an assistant District Attorney and that has been in Law Enforcement one size does not fit all. One size fits all is the surest way to let violent criminals go free, to let the worst crimes go unaddressed. It is for that reason that there are homicide detectives who specialize in homicide. Those detectives are not asked to go and arrest the individuals who jump the turnstile at the subway. The daca program, the deferred action for Childhood Arrivals Program, provides a way to take young people who came to this country not of their own volition, but were brought by their parents. It takes such young people who have not been convicted of a criminal offense, who do not present a threat to National Security, who are not members of gangs, and while they are pursuing a course of study or have pursued a course of study and does nothing more than to delay their deportation and to offer them work authorization. Let me be clear about one of the points i made here. Those individuals are not supposed to have committed and been convicted of a prior felony, significant misdemeanors, or multiple misdemeanors, and they may not be or have been a member of a gang. Now, several of you are well aware there were situations in my agency where that policy was not understood. And as a result in a small , number of cases, approximately 20, individuals who were identified in Law Enforcement databases as gang members were afforded deferred action nonetheless. That is unacceptable. We took decisive steps to correct our procedures, to retrain our staff, to ensure that that bedrock requirement of the deferred action for Childhood Arrivals Program was fully understood. As a result, a number of those individuals have had their deferred action terminated. In a small number of cases we determined that the individuals actually were not gang members at all after thorough investigation. But you have my pledge that we will conduct our business at uscis, u. S. Citizenship and immigration service, in a way that prevents gang members from ever receiving deferred action. Now, having said that i realize the topics that we are here to talk about are important and grave ones and i look forward to what i think is the very important dialogue that the chairman, you have convened today. Senator grassley. Thank you mr. Rodriguez. Ms. Saldana. Secretary saldana thank you senator grassley, Ranking Member feinstein, and other members of this distinguished committee. Like youall and everyone in this country i am greatly moved , by the stories i heard this morning antitragedy that is have occurred and the pain, the very palpable pain thats been inflicted on the families that we heard from today. To them i say i am so sorry for the loss each of you has experienced and i know many of you have shared those condolences as well. And i say that not only as a director of immigration and customs enforcement, but i say it as a mother, a sister, an aunt, and a grandmother, one of my grandchildren being here today with me. I can only imagine what such a loss would be like. And i want to say that, for over a decade first as a prosecutor then as a United States attorney for north texas and now as the head of immigration and custom enforcement, the largest Law Enforcement agency in the department of Homeland Security, i am committed to do all i can to prevent Violent Crime. I have been and i continue today to do so. I consider myself a Law Enforcement officer and have for several years. And while the things we did as prosecutors will not bring back the victims of any Violent Crime, there is some very small solace that i gained, at least in bringing the perpetrators to justice. And im very proud of that work. As you know, the men and women of i. C. E. Play an integral role in Public Safety and National Security. Tragic situations like the ones that the Family Members find themselves in are deplorable and highlight the need to continue our work to focus on the apprehension and removal of convicted criminals who pose the greatest threat to Public Safety and National Security. This is exactly what our Priority Enforcement Program is designed to do. We spent months talking with all kinds of people from all of the stakeholders that are interested in our program in designing it. And our objective is to take custody of dangerous individuals before they commit further crimes and before the release into the community. As has been said before, its not a one size fits all. We have been working across the country to bring people to the table to work with them to reach their communities and the needs of the communities when it comes to Public Safety. Just as senator feinstein has done in San Francisco, i am asking for the help of each one of you and those other members of the entire senate, to assist us in this effort to try to have jurisdictions who have not cooperated with us in the past to start doing so now. Now. And i urge you, quite frankly, as part of all that to help with respect to a comprehensive change to Immigration Law. It is complex, it is broken, this is the these are the statutes and codes of regulations that our folks have to deal with every day. And it is i implore your help in that regard. Secretary johnson has made it clear that our borders are not opened to illegal migration. As such, i. C. E. Through our enforcement and removal operations directorate, e. R. O. Is dedicating our resources towards the removal of individuals considered enforcement priorities. We are making some progress. Along the southwest border this year, apprehensions are 110 thousand. That i see as significant. 34 from last year at this time. Our interior enforcement efforts are also paying off. Of those people detained in our detention centers, 96 of them meet our top two priorities. 76 of them meet our top priority. I believe our people are doing a good thing and focusing where they should be with respect to these criminals. You know the enforcement work and the investigative work that our other side of the house does, Homeland Security investigations. Very fine work with respect to transnational crime with very good results. One in particular i want to point out with respect to gang enforcement. We have an operation recently called operations all fire which netted 32,000 criminal arrests. And 1,000 gang members in that particular group. Some charged with criminal offenses. And it is very meaningful work as well. I do know we are going to focus on the enforcement and removal side and i stand ready to take any questions of this committee. Senator grassley i thank both of you very much for being here. Most importantly i want to thank you for coming and listening to the testimony of the first panel. Im going to ask questions then senator feinstein will and then because the finance committees meeting on taxes upstairs, im going to have to turn over the meeting to senator sessions, if hell do that, please. Start with you, mr. Rodriguez. You said that certain actions of people in your department was unacceptable in regard to daca. And that so a natural followup of that is, somebody didnt do their job right in this particular case, somebody probably didnt do their job right and we know that people have died as a result of it. So then if its unacceptable whos been fired or disciplined for providing daca to gang members . Director rodriguez senator, there was action taken to correct and counsel individuals who did not understand back in 2013. The proper manner in which to utilize the text database which is the Law Enforcement database that identifies an individual as gang members. We have undertaken extensive efforts to ensure that both the policy, that very clearly excludes gang members from deferred action and the processes of our agency are fully understood. I would also add that we have run the entire population of deferred action Daca Recipients back through the text database to identify all those instances where gang membership was not handled appropriately by our officers. So there has been counseling in appropriate instances. Senator grassley since there were 323 how many were changed , after review . Director rodriguez as i indicated, of the nearly 700,000 Daca Recipients, we identified 20 cases in which an indication of gang membership appeared in the Law Enforcement databases for individuals who had previously received deferred action. Eight of those individuals have already been terminated. Others have been turned o