Usmexico border. Their presence on the border is not new and the alterations have default over the right now it would appear this administration is testing the limits of that relationship. Since the first large group of my grants began traveling in april of last year, fleing violence and persecution. The president and d. H. S. Have relied heavily on d. O. D. To support their Border Operations. It is important to note here that the april of 2018 caravan, the president he is first reason for deploying the National Guard shrunk down from 1,500 to 300. Nfl the president directed the second of defense to deploy as many as 4,000 National Guard troops to the southern border. Today approximately 2,300 National Guard troops remain deployed in texas and arizona to support 16,000 Border Patrol agents. In early october of 2019 there were more reports of another caravan originating in Central America. Despite advanced warning and ample time to plan and scale their response. C. D. P. Did not prepare for the arrival, nor did the Department Ask congress to increase its capacity so that it could more effective process families. No such request was made of congress until earlier this year. Instead the president preferred a show of force and requested the employment of 5,200 active duty military personnel to the southern border a week before the 2018 midterm elections. Most of these personnel were tasked with hardening ports of entry, providing airline surveillance as well as providing medical care, transportation and other services to support border atrol painemile of border barrier in california. Personally its difficult to believe the administration is doing everything in its power to resolve the humanitar it is difficult to believe they are doing everything. In february the president declared a National Emergency after after a 35 day Government Shutdown which was caused over a fundamental disagreement over the necessity of the border wall. After they denied the funding request, the president sought to divert billions of dollars in previously appropriated defense funds to build the wall. And now it seems the administration is planning a multiyear deployment of active duty soldiers to the southern border. Taken together they point to an escalation in the role of the southern border. They will have consequences and longterm effects. While questions remain about whether the actions this administration has taken or an appropriate use of dod and the dhs resources. Continued reliance on the dod for handling the southern border will likely have ramifications on both departments ability to carry out the respective mission. Both departments are accountable to the American People, both departments are accountable to the American People through congress, and i ask them both to commit to transparency by sharing any and all information with the committee and the other Oversight Committee is moving forward. I think the witnesses for joining us for the discussion today and i now recognize the Ranking Member of the subcommittee the gentleman from louisiana. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, gentlemen and madam for your service to the country. The situation of the southwest border is beyond the crisis. Even though liberals New York Times editorial board, the wall street journal editorial board, the Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer were calling on House Democrats to act, unfortunately the majority denied the multiple opportunities t to find the need supplemental humanitarian assistance that has been called for 17 times. House democrats have rejected the immediate humanitarian porter aide. Increasing numbers of migrants have children on the dangerous journey to the border more than ever before with the most significant Inflection Point being the Immigration Law caused by the settlement extension to families. There are more than 17,000 migrant17,000migrants in the cud Border Protection custody along the southwest border and facilities designed to hold 4,000. Our colleagues are quick to point out that people have died, but the majority has repeatedly rejected the effort to provide immediate humanitarian support. Customs and Border Protection have been forced to release more than 77,000 people whove entered the country illegally on a notice to appear. This fuels a Cartel Propaganda if you step foot on u. S. Soil against a. We are seeing an increase in apprehensions of those originating outside of the western hemisphere including africa, underscoring that the crisis has a Global Security scope. More than 40 of Law Enforcement officers tasked with securing the border were tied up during administrative processing tasks. Theyve been pulled away from the primary security mission. Further, six checkpoints to catch a percentage of the narcotics probe into the country have been closed to redirect agent to process migrant. Hundreds of department of Homeland Security employees are now to assist on processing which diminishes the readiness of all of the components worsening the crisis our colleagues across the aisle zero dolphin in the additional Border Patrol agents to provide backup for the men and women on the frontlines. This hearing is welldefined and we have the opportunity to hear more about the National Security aspect of the crisis of the border. Theyve documented the report that the terrorist groups called in to blend in with migrants to gain entry into the United States and we know from the intel sources more than 144,000 migrants were encountered by customs and Border Protection in the mean time frame of the border. Thats more than a billion dollars last month alone potentially slowing criminal cartels. Im encouraged by the dod presence at the border. The efforts to help return agents to the line such a deployment is not a new concept. Cbp and the National Guard have a longstanding working relationship on the Counter Drug Task forces as well as test Operational Deployment through the border under president Obamas Administration and president george w. Bush. They are searching with logistical and administrative support operating the image detection systems providing mobile communications augmenting border related intelligence efforts and many other functions. Separately the response to nearly 8,000 approaching the border november 2018. President trump sent troops from the army corps of engineers, military police, command and control teams, engineering, medical to fly helicopters that fly in areas where the breaches had occurred. They constructed and enhanced physical barriers in some places along the border where it is needed. We need more. The dod personnel also managed to cbp sensors and surveillance equipment to alert the agents of illicit activity. Id like to thank the witnesses before us today and i would ask that they speak to the situation on the ground in the current threat environment resource constrained you are operating under a longterm strategy for the mission. Your service is to be noted in your deeply appreciated, madam chair. I will yield back. Thank you. I now recognize the chairman of the full committeefor an Opening Statement. Thank you for holding todays hearing. Using dod resources for Border Security purposes is not new, but i support the congressional oversight of the evolving use of these resources by the Trump Administration for what appears to be in immigrationbased agenda. I dont think it is any secret that i agree with many of the Administration Policies affecting the border. Some of the policies directly contradict the shared goals of addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the southern border. For example, last summer the administration moved to drastically limit the number of Asylum Seekers processed through land ports of entry along the southern border of the same time the dhs secretary asserted that all going through ports was the only legal pathway to claim asylum. Then the secretary nielsen and the department called this effort the management but i call it the asylum law. They do not place a limit on the number of people who can apply for asylum. The dhs requests for assistance to the dod from december, 2018 confirms dhs was seeking to deport people by stating the successful deterrent at the ports of entry resulted in attempted entry between the ports of entry. This is stated as a reason why the dhs would need the dod support on our southern border. This fix the following question. Why has the Trump Administration actively aggravated the challenges on the southern border . The military resource is truly necessary to handle these challenges. I specifically would like to hear from the dhs with us on this matter. In early march of this year but then commissioner stated that the Border Patrol is on track to apprehend more than a Million People this year. This is not a new feed as Border Patrol has accomplished this 19 times over the last 40 years with less agents cut technology, and other tools than congress has provided over the past decade. However, the committee acknowledges the demographics of people at the border, namely families and unaccompanied children present a unique and difficult set of challenges for the Border Patrol. We need to reach a mutually agreeable solution to these immediate challenges and in short order to truly begin addressing the crisis but despite being this growing trend over the past five years, the solution that they continue to implement our one that prevent people from reaching the United States instead of solutions to manage the reality at hand. The most wasteful fall of the president s continued sessions is building a big, beautiful border wall. The president has resorted to testing the bounds by diverting money fro from the department of defense in order to build this wall faster as he phased it in february of this year. The effort to claim a National Emergency used previously appropriated defense funds to build the wall having conquered multiple lawsuits. These continue at the same time the dod manpower and other resources are being deployed through the usmexico border. I am eager to hear from todays witnesses about the coordinated efforts being undertaken by the National Guard and the dod with dhs at the border. I would also like to learn more about the cost, both literally and figuratively of having an extended presence of military personnel in the border communities where we discussed today will help address the issues of the border and in a productive manner. And i think the witnesses for informing our efforts in this fight joining us today. Yield back. Thank you mr. Chairman. Other members are reminded under the Committee RulesOpening Statements may be submitted for the record. Without objection members by sitting on the subcommittee will be permitted to participate in todays hearing. I welcomed the panel of witnesses. Our first witness, the chief needchiefleads the u. S. Border d the chief provost began her career at the Border Patrol in the tucson sector. Since then she served in a number of positions in the yuma, el paso sectors until becoming the deputy chief of the u. S. Border patrol in 2016. Prior to joining the u. S. Border patrol, the chief provost served as an officer in manhattan kansas. The second with this is the Deputy Assistant secretarydefeee integration and support of civil authority. In this position is responsible for the development of National HomelandDefense Security policy and oversees the dod response to the National Emergency operations in support of civilian entities. He has a long history of service athat the federal government including time spent as a deputy special assistant to the Homeland Security task force. He is also a retired green corps officer. I now recognize the gentle lady from arizona to recognize todays minority witness. Thank you very much, madam chairman. I am proud to welcome the nature general mcguire, the general for the great state of arizona from where im from spokane to read thcurrentlyserves as the directe Arizona Department of emergency and military affairs. He is responsible for managing the daytoday activities of arizona army and air National Guard joint programs and the division of emergency manageme management. He leads in 8,000 Member Department of which 2400 or fulltime federal military and civilian personnel in 600 or fulltime state employees. General mcguire received his commission from the air force academy in 1987. He attended undergraduate Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force base in texas followed several operational combat and training assignments in the f16. He joined the arizona air National Guard 162nd fighter wing to the National Airport in 2001 as an Instructor Pilot and the fighter wing is a Fighter WeaponsSchool Graduate and a command pilot for more than 5,000 flying hours and 250 combat combat support flying hours and im proud of them who served the country well and continues to serve the country in the state. Thank you for being here. Without objection the witnesses. Fullstop it will be inserted into the record. I asked each witness to summarize his or her statement and we will begin with the chief provost. Good morning, chairwoman and Ranking Member higgins us was as the distinguished members of the subcommittee. I couldnt be more proud to represent the men and women of the u. S. Border patrol and speak to the critical support our dod partners are providing us each and every day. We know what it takes to secure the border. What we call operational control requires the right combination of technology, physical barriers and manpower to identify and respond to the illegal crossborder activities. As youre all aware, ive been forced to divert 40 to 60 of the Border Patrol manpower away from the border as we process and care for nearly 445,000 families and children that floated across the southern border so far this year. As the chief of the Border Patrol, i know every age and im forced to pull away from Border Security directly harms our ability to achieve the costs. People often ask why we need to secure the border when so many families are turning themselves in, but think about the number of agents who must abandon their post to assist with a group of over 1,000 illegal aliens walk into the u. S. At 4 00 in the morning. This happened just last month and set a record for the Largest Group in the 95 year history of the Border Patrol. With 193 of these large groups so far this year our operations are now being overwhelmed on a daily basis. At the same time the Border Security mission hasnt gone away. Many are trying to evade Law Enforcement and weve apprehended 224,000 single adults on the borde border and increase compared to last year. Theyve arrested more than 6800 criminal aliens and the gang members and we are seeing more highvolume drug seizures, to finbutfind that they are becomie brazen. In just one incident of the Rio Grande Valley we seized more than 700 pounds of cocaine crossing the river and just last week agents again used a large load of methamphetamines with an estimated value of over 5. 6 million. This is why the support weve received is invaluable. With fewer agents available to maintain the Situational Awarenessituational awarenessals contributed to more than 15,600 apprehensions in the seizure of 3800 pounds of marijuana and 2,300 of currency. On the ground and in the air Situational Awareness helps keep the number of agents we have on the border safe and aware of their activity. So far this year we have observed more than 100,000 people who have successfully evaded arrest. A fiveyear high in what we call the dog always. Even w