Transcripts For CSPAN Acting Customs And Border Protection C

From the National Press club, this is about an hour. Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here to todays newsmaker interview. Our guest is mark morgan, who is the acting commissioner of protection,border one of the dhs agencies, the Largest Law Enforcement Agency in the country, and brings in the second highest amount of revenue of any Law Enforcement agency, and i would venture to say, probably more popular than the agency that brings in the most, which is the irs. Thank you for being here. Mark of course. Jessica the acting commissioner has had a long and distinguished career in Law Enforcement, including, he was named to his present post in june of this year. And prior to taking the job of acting commissioner, hes been chief of Border Patrol. Charge ofthe agent in the office in el paso, so plenty of border experience and has plenty of roles in crime,terrorism, violent gang suppression, and a lot of things that relate directly to his job today. And he has been a Deputy Sheriff and a Los Angeles Police officer. Not only that, he has an engineering degree and a law degree. So its my great pleasure to , welcome acting commissioner mark morgan. Thank you for being here. Mark thank you very much. And i also have to say, former marine. Had to get that in there. [laughter] jessica i had that on my list. Semper fi. Thank you for coming. I want to let everyone know that commissioner morgan will be in the hot seat for a while with my questions, but if you have questions that you would like to have asked, please fill out the index cards that we are providing, and i will go firm may be half an hour, 35 minutes, and then we will take questions from the audience. But i think i am going to jump right in with this topic that i think Everyone Wants to know about the most, is can you give us an update on whats happening at the southwest border . Mark sure. I think when we talk about the southwest border we have to put it in two pockets. One is the crisis with respect to immigration, and the other is what i call the National Security crisis. I think as of late, for understandable reasons, we are talking about the Immigration Crisis. So, let me start with that. The drivers really that the focus over the last yearplus has really been the migration flow from the northern tribal countries, specifically the families. And the reason why that has been the focus is something i talked i have talked a lot about, and thats our broken Legal Framework right now. Specifically the forced Settlement Agreement which had a significant loophole that said if you come to our couldnt i with a child we can only hold you 20 days. That wasnt enough to get through the immigration process. That was the genesis of catch and release. With Border Patrol, we would apprehend families entering illegally and release them here in the United States oftentimes within days. So, we really had to fix that. The last six months this president , this administration, c. B. P. , along with our other partner agencies, i. C. E. And a host of others, be really instituted a network of initiatives and policies, and rules and regulations, that really have given us the tools to close those loopholes. Ill give you an example. The height of may, we had 144,000 apprehensions in may alone. Six months later, 42,000 apprehensions. And we really, again, targeted that demographic, the northern triangle country family units specifically. Jessica how do you know thats not just seasonal . Mark the numbers will tell you. In october, seasonally, the numbers go up, believe it or not. Right now in october and november, october timeframe, seasonally in some demographics, the numbers go up. We have seen it decreased. For the past six months, weve seen a steady decline. Seasonal times where weve seen an increase in priest years. What weve seen too, from the height of may to the end of last month, six months, we saw an 85 reduction in families. So on that front, we made tremendous strides. Again, close those loopholes. But what we are seeing though is a change in demographics. You and i talked about this. What happens often, its not a surprise to us. The cartels, human smuggling organizations change their t. T. P. s, tactics, techniques, and procedures. So they saw we were making progress, stemming the flow from northern triangle country, taking billion os out of their pockets and they shift. And they shifted. They shift toward supporting additional migration from extra continental countries, as well as Mexican Nationals. Jessica far away, not just Central Americans or latin america . Mark correct. I mean, indians, africans, haitians, brazilians, i mean the list goes on and on and on. Thats what we refer to as extracontinental. Other than northern triangle countries. Jessica do you have numbers on the extra continental . Mark were seeing thousands of each of those groups, and were seeing from this time last year, were sees an increase, sometimes 200 to 300 of what we saw last year. Now, overall, those numbers are relatively fairly manageable, but when you start combining it, and then again, you start seeing it as an increased issue, we need to get out in front of it. Mexican nationals specifically families, the human smuggling organizations are going to families and telling them, hey the initiatives they have they , dont apply to Mexican Nationals. You grab a kid itll be your passport to the United States. But i can assure you, we are taking the same process with the initiatives that we use to counter the flow from northern triangle countries, and applying it to the extra continental countries. Mean this week, we meaned last week, i this week, we started i. R. I. , interior repay pais tration, were flying Mexican National ints the interior of mexico to other locations. So overall, what i refer to, right now, where we are at, we have all but ended catch and release, specifically for the northern triangle countries. For the northern triangle countries. Jessica its been reported its been remain in mexico or migrant protection protocol policies of having people who apply for asylum wait in mexico for their proceedings. Its been reported that thats been applied to about 55,000, is that individuals . Or household heads . Mark all demographics. Individuals, households. About 55,000 to that program, waiting in mexico as they go through the due process immigration proceedings here in the United States. Jessica but there have been hundreds of thousands of arrives of arrivals who are family units from the northern triangle countries and elsewhere. What happened to the rest . I would estimate, what, 400,000 family units i think . Mark yeah, and again, you go to the height of may, 145,000. 65 to 70 of those were family 144,000. 65 to 70 of those were family units, families coming from northern triangle countries. Over the last six months because of initiatives we reduced the flow by 85 . Theyre just not coming anymore. This is a really important part. This one thing ive been trying to say, for those individuals, stop listening to the cartels. Stop listening to the human smuggling organizations. Theyre lying to you. Theyre exploiting you. Theyre getting rich off your backs by exploiting vulnerable migrants. And now, because of where were at, because of the initiatives and tools we have, no longer is a child your immediate passport into the interior United States. We have all but shut that down. So im trying to tell families do, not listen to cartels. Theyre lying to you. Its working. Again, 85 reduction. Jessica so, today, if a family arrives, i mean, are they all asking for asylum . Mark no. No. And that is a good point, too. Traditionally they havent all , asked for asylum. One because of our broken system they didnt have. The forced Settlement Agreement said we could not retain you longer than 20 days regardless of whether you claim asylum are not, that still holds now. Congress, and i said, ill continue to say it, were doing all this, the president , the administration, c. B. P. Is executing these initiatives and congress has failed to pass a single piece of meaningful legislation that would address this. They know what to do. They could take a single piece of paper and end 90 , 95 of the Immigration Crisis. Jessica what would that paper say . Mark it would save the it would say three things. It would address the forced Settlement Agreement, and say we could detain them longer than 20 days, we could detain them during their proceedings, which is usually 50 to 60 days. In addition to that, we could also send unaccompanied minors back to their families from where they came. In their home country. Jessica some of the families are here. Mark some of the families are here, some are there. Mexico or canada, if youre an unaccompanied child from mexico or canada, we can send you back to your families. If youre from the northern triangle countries, we cant. We have to keep you. The last thing is the credible fear standard. There is no standard. They are coached what to say. They know what to say. Majority ofthe those credible fears are found not credible. Id probably throw in there, give i. C. E. More bed space and about 85 of the Immigration Crisis will be fixed. Jessica which i. C. E. Did not get in the latest spending bill. Mark that is correct. That is correct. Jessica why did c. B. P. Get . Factor we gottive 1. 375spending bill was billion for the wall. That will be significant for us. We will be able to use that current funding to continue to build a wall. That is really significant for us. One of the tools that im sure well talk about that in a minute. Jessica i do want to come back to one thing with respect to the application of this network of policies. Since we were talking about the migrant protection protocols, stick with that for a minute. I just want to reiterate. To familying to apply units from the northern triangle. It is going to apply to a family unit that arrives from mexico . Mark no. Right now its not applying to , mexico. But we are in negotiations with mexico to expand that. Because again, as i started to explain, although weve addressed greatly, again, that illegal migration for northern triangle countries, were seeing on increase in extra continentals, and in Mexican Nationals, single adults and families. Initiatives to work with mexico arent being applied. Were working with mexico to expand that were also working with the government of guatemala and honduras on the a. C. A. , the asylum cooperative agreement, to expand that so they can receive Mexican Nationals as well. We are working with the countries. The ironic thing is, right now, we have other countries that are stepping up, seeing it as a regional crisis and addressing it as a regional crisis, and are doing more to help us then our own congress. Jessica thats an important statement. Mark eight is. Jessica what about one last mark it is. Jessica what about one last thing on the migrant protection protocols, what about the extra continental families, people coming from africa, middle east, so on . Are those are they waiting in mexico as well . Mark right now, what the current agreement with mexico is spanishspeaking countries, but again, we are in consultation with mexico, as the smuggler organizations change their t. P. P. , were giving them the information and asking for assistance to expand that to accept extra continental countries. And we are confident that they will agree to that. As well, we will have the same conversation, we are, with the government of guatemala, honduras, and el salvador where we have a. C. A. s for them to accept them as well. So we are heading in that direction. Jessica so theyll be detained in an appropriate custodial situation an from there possibly released if it cant be done in 20 days. Mark correct, for families, yes, maam. Jessica ok. Reported today by, i aap, or no, excuse me, reuters reported today that this announcement about interior repatriation that has been done often in the past and is now being launched again, that some of there is a potential for having mexicans actually go to guatemala. Can you explain that . Mark the a. C. A. , the yen sis of of that, i think this is important. If someone has an asylum claim what were trying to encourage is a couple of things. One is reach out and get assistance. If you have a legitimate asylum claim, you should be reaching out and trying to get relief in the first country you come to. Logical. Dont give your life savings to the cartel. Dont listen to the cartels that are lying to you. Dont listen to the cartels and smuggling organizations that are going to abuse you and treat you Nothing Better than a piece of trash, a commodity. The other day, we apprehended a tractor trailer load of emigres of immigrants trying to illegally enter. Each one had a tshirt on with a letter spray painted on it, they had the letter on their hand, they were marked like cattle. When i am trying to do is, dont listen to those organizations that will treat you like a commodity. Asylum,ave legitimate getting get a legitimate claim in the first country. Thats the genesis behind the a. C. A. We have the ability to apply the a. C. A. To Mexican Nationals as well. Were having discussions with guatemala to expand that, to again share in this as a regional crisis. America is not the only country that borders mexico. We should share the Immigration Crisis as regional partners, and that is what i want obama and muzzle guatemala, honduras, and el salvador are stepping up to do. Jessica and do you think these other countries are well equipped to handle those that might be bona fide asylum claims . Mark if you think about it, one, we are working with them every, single day to improve their capacity. We released funding back to the northern triangle countries, millions of dollars specifically designed to improve their asylum capacity, as well as their enforcement ability to go after cartels and smuggling organizations, but keep in mind, during the height of the crisis, the United States of america, we were overwhelmed. Theres no single country in the world that can handle the level and volume and the height of the crisis. Not even the United States. That is why we have to Work Together with the northern triangle countries, mexico, and other countries to address this , as the regional crisis that it is. Jessica and the fact that we had policies in place that enabled and encouraged this flow of people, and have the effect of really enriching the criminal cartels, that is an important issue with huge implications for mexico as well. Its in their interest to try to address this. Because its not just human smuggling. Theres the threat, the criminal threat of the cartels. They dont just smuggle humans. They also smuggle drugs. Gang members are taking advantage of this. I think i read on your website , where your officers are apprehending Something Like 400something ms13 members a year, which is one, and thats just one of the transnational gangs that has exploited this opportunity to take advantage of our policies to get here. Mark jessica, you are right. That dovetails with the second that dovetails with a good segue of the second part we dont talk about which is the National Security crisis. When we talk about the crisis, its not just the immigration and humanitarian crisis, its dual, theres the security crisis. One aspect is gang members. We apprehended over 1,000 gang members, 23 different gangs. And again, that is just who we apprehended. Theyre using the humanitarian effort to draw Border Patrol agents off the line during the patrolover 50 of Border Agents were taken off the line to care for kids and families. What do you think the human smuggling organizations were doing . The were exploiting them. They were doing it by design. They would send large caravans in one area so the Border Police would go and address that. Meanwhile and be distracted. Over 1,000 gang members, drug last year, c. B. P. Seized over 800,000 pounds of drugs. Think about that stat. 800,000 pounds. The four hard narcotics heroin, meth, fentanyl, cocaine, went up last year. Fentanyl, one sector out of nine sectors seized 11 pounds, enough to kill two Million People in the United States. Last year alone, 68,000 individuals in this country died because of direct result of overdose of illicit narcotics. 60,000 people. That is more people who died then in an entire vietnam conflict. Theres another thing i say. Every town, city, an state in this country is a border town city and state. Mark my words. If you have a meth overdose in overdose in ohio, mark my words, that methamphetamine came from a southwest border. What mexico is doing, theyre able to produce meth, for example which is skyrocketed up faster, cheaper, and its more potent. In so, a lot of times and so, a lot of times meth was , manufactured in the United States. Thats going down. Mexico is creating super labs. Jessica we have laws to discourage that. Mark that is right, so when we talk about the crisis at the border, when we talk about the need for a wall, its not just about stemming the flow of illegal immigration, its stopping the drugs pouring into this country that killed 68,000 people last year. Jessica yeah, this affects every country, skews me, every community in our country as well yeah, this affects every country, excuse me, every community in our country as well. And its an issue for mexico as well in terms of corruption and the money the cartels have. Mark absolutely. Jessica how much of a threat are the cartels to the National Press<\/a> club, this is about an hour. Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here to todays newsmaker interview. Our guest is mark morgan, who is the acting commissioner of protection,border one of the dhs agencies, the Largest Law Enforcement Agency<\/a> in the country, and brings in the second highest amount of revenue of any Law Enforcement<\/a> agency, and i would venture to say, probably more popular than the agency that brings in the most, which is the irs. Thank you for being here. Mark of course. Jessica the acting commissioner has had a long and distinguished career in Law Enforcement<\/a>, including, he was named to his present post in june of this year. And prior to taking the job of acting commissioner, hes been chief of Border Patrol<\/a>. Charge ofthe agent in the office in el paso, so plenty of border experience and has plenty of roles in crime,terrorism, violent gang suppression, and a lot of things that relate directly to his job today. And he has been a Deputy Sheriff<\/a> and a Los Angeles Police<\/a> officer. Not only that, he has an engineering degree and a law degree. So its my great pleasure to , welcome acting commissioner mark morgan. Thank you for being here. Mark thank you very much. And i also have to say, former marine. Had to get that in there. [laughter] jessica i had that on my list. Semper fi. Thank you for coming. I want to let everyone know that commissioner morgan will be in the hot seat for a while with my questions, but if you have questions that you would like to have asked, please fill out the index cards that we are providing, and i will go firm may be half an hour, 35 minutes, and then we will take questions from the audience. But i think i am going to jump right in with this topic that i think Everyone Wants<\/a> to know about the most, is can you give us an update on whats happening at the southwest border . Mark sure. I think when we talk about the southwest border we have to put it in two pockets. One is the crisis with respect to immigration, and the other is what i call the National Security<\/a> crisis. I think as of late, for understandable reasons, we are talking about the Immigration Crisis<\/a>. So, let me start with that. The drivers really that the focus over the last yearplus has really been the migration flow from the northern tribal countries, specifically the families. And the reason why that has been the focus is something i talked i have talked a lot about, and thats our broken Legal Framework<\/a> right now. Specifically the forced Settlement Agreement<\/a> which had a significant loophole that said if you come to our couldnt i with a child we can only hold you 20 days. That wasnt enough to get through the immigration process. That was the genesis of catch and release. With Border Patrol<\/a>, we would apprehend families entering illegally and release them here in the United States<\/a> oftentimes within days. So, we really had to fix that. The last six months this president , this administration, c. B. P. , along with our other partner agencies, i. C. E. And a host of others, be really instituted a network of initiatives and policies, and rules and regulations, that really have given us the tools to close those loopholes. Ill give you an example. The height of may, we had 144,000 apprehensions in may alone. Six months later, 42,000 apprehensions. And we really, again, targeted that demographic, the northern triangle country family units specifically. Jessica how do you know thats not just seasonal . Mark the numbers will tell you. In october, seasonally, the numbers go up, believe it or not. Right now in october and november, october timeframe, seasonally in some demographics, the numbers go up. We have seen it decreased. For the past six months, weve seen a steady decline. Seasonal times where weve seen an increase in priest years. What weve seen too, from the height of may to the end of last month, six months, we saw an 85 reduction in families. So on that front, we made tremendous strides. Again, close those loopholes. But what we are seeing though is a change in demographics. You and i talked about this. What happens often, its not a surprise to us. The cartels, human smuggling organizations change their t. T. P. s, tactics, techniques, and procedures. So they saw we were making progress, stemming the flow from northern triangle country, taking billion os out of their pockets and they shift. And they shifted. They shift toward supporting additional migration from extra continental countries, as well as Mexican National<\/a>s. Jessica far away, not just Central Americans<\/a> or latin america . Mark correct. I mean, indians, africans, haitians, brazilians, i mean the list goes on and on and on. Thats what we refer to as extracontinental. Other than northern triangle countries. Jessica do you have numbers on the extra continental . Mark were seeing thousands of each of those groups, and were seeing from this time last year, were sees an increase, sometimes 200 to 300 of what we saw last year. Now, overall, those numbers are relatively fairly manageable, but when you start combining it, and then again, you start seeing it as an increased issue, we need to get out in front of it. Mexican nationals specifically families, the human smuggling organizations are going to families and telling them, hey the initiatives they have they , dont apply to Mexican National<\/a>s. You grab a kid itll be your passport to the United States<\/a>. But i can assure you, we are taking the same process with the initiatives that we use to counter the flow from northern triangle countries, and applying it to the extra continental countries. Mean this week, we meaned last week, i this week, we started i. R. I. , interior repay pais tration, were flying Mexican National<\/a> ints the interior of mexico to other locations. So overall, what i refer to, right now, where we are at, we have all but ended catch and release, specifically for the northern triangle countries. For the northern triangle countries. Jessica its been reported its been remain in mexico or migrant protection protocol policies of having people who apply for asylum wait in mexico for their proceedings. Its been reported that thats been applied to about 55,000, is that individuals . Or household heads . Mark all demographics. Individuals, households. About 55,000 to that program, waiting in mexico as they go through the due process immigration proceedings here in the United States<\/a>. Jessica but there have been hundreds of thousands of arrives of arrivals who are family units from the northern triangle countries and elsewhere. What happened to the rest . I would estimate, what, 400,000 family units i think . Mark yeah, and again, you go to the height of may, 145,000. 65 to 70 of those were family 144,000. 65 to 70 of those were family units, families coming from northern triangle countries. Over the last six months because of initiatives we reduced the flow by 85 . Theyre just not coming anymore. This is a really important part. This one thing ive been trying to say, for those individuals, stop listening to the cartels. Stop listening to the human smuggling organizations. Theyre lying to you. Theyre exploiting you. Theyre getting rich off your backs by exploiting vulnerable migrants. And now, because of where were at, because of the initiatives and tools we have, no longer is a child your immediate passport into the interior United States<\/a>. We have all but shut that down. So im trying to tell families do, not listen to cartels. Theyre lying to you. Its working. Again, 85 reduction. Jessica so, today, if a family arrives, i mean, are they all asking for asylum . Mark no. No. And that is a good point, too. Traditionally they havent all , asked for asylum. One because of our broken system they didnt have. The forced Settlement Agreement<\/a> said we could not retain you longer than 20 days regardless of whether you claim asylum are not, that still holds now. Congress, and i said, ill continue to say it, were doing all this, the president , the administration, c. B. P. Is executing these initiatives and congress has failed to pass a single piece of meaningful legislation that would address this. They know what to do. They could take a single piece of paper and end 90 , 95 of the Immigration Crisis<\/a>. Jessica what would that paper say . Mark it would save the it would say three things. It would address the forced Settlement Agreement<\/a>, and say we could detain them longer than 20 days, we could detain them during their proceedings, which is usually 50 to 60 days. In addition to that, we could also send unaccompanied minors back to their families from where they came. In their home country. Jessica some of the families are here. Mark some of the families are here, some are there. Mexico or canada, if youre an unaccompanied child from mexico or canada, we can send you back to your families. If youre from the northern triangle countries, we cant. We have to keep you. The last thing is the credible fear standard. There is no standard. They are coached what to say. They know what to say. Majority ofthe those credible fears are found not credible. Id probably throw in there, give i. C. E. More bed space and about 85 of the Immigration Crisis<\/a> will be fixed. Jessica which i. C. E. Did not get in the latest spending bill. Mark that is correct. That is correct. Jessica why did c. B. P. Get . Factor we gottive 1. 375spending bill was billion for the wall. That will be significant for us. We will be able to use that current funding to continue to build a wall. That is really significant for us. One of the tools that im sure well talk about that in a minute. Jessica i do want to come back to one thing with respect to the application of this network of policies. Since we were talking about the migrant protection protocols, stick with that for a minute. I just want to reiterate. To familying to apply units from the northern triangle. It is going to apply to a family unit that arrives from mexico . Mark no. Right now its not applying to , mexico. But we are in negotiations with mexico to expand that. Because again, as i started to explain, although weve addressed greatly, again, that illegal migration for northern triangle countries, were seeing on increase in extra continentals, and in Mexican National<\/a>s, single adults and families. Initiatives to work with mexico arent being applied. Were working with mexico to expand that were also working with the government of guatemala and honduras on the a. C. A. , the asylum cooperative agreement, to expand that so they can receive Mexican National<\/a>s as well. We are working with the countries. The ironic thing is, right now, we have other countries that are stepping up, seeing it as a regional crisis and addressing it as a regional crisis, and are doing more to help us then our own congress. Jessica thats an important statement. Mark eight is. Jessica what about one last mark it is. Jessica what about one last thing on the migrant protection protocols, what about the extra continental families, people coming from africa, middle east, so on . Are those are they waiting in mexico as well . Mark right now, what the current agreement with mexico is spanishspeaking countries, but again, we are in consultation with mexico, as the smuggler organizations change their t. P. P. , were giving them the information and asking for assistance to expand that to accept extra continental countries. And we are confident that they will agree to that. As well, we will have the same conversation, we are, with the government of guatemala, honduras, and el salvador where we have a. C. A. s for them to accept them as well. So we are heading in that direction. Jessica so theyll be detained in an appropriate custodial situation an from there possibly released if it cant be done in 20 days. Mark correct, for families, yes, maam. Jessica ok. Reported today by, i aap, or no, excuse me, reuters reported today that this announcement about interior repatriation that has been done often in the past and is now being launched again, that some of there is a potential for having mexicans actually go to guatemala. Can you explain that . Mark the a. C. A. , the yen sis of of that, i think this is important. If someone has an asylum claim what were trying to encourage is a couple of things. One is reach out and get assistance. If you have a legitimate asylum claim, you should be reaching out and trying to get relief in the first country you come to. Logical. Dont give your life savings to the cartel. Dont listen to the cartels that are lying to you. Dont listen to the cartels and smuggling organizations that are going to abuse you and treat you Nothing Better<\/a> than a piece of trash, a commodity. The other day, we apprehended a tractor trailer load of emigres of immigrants trying to illegally enter. Each one had a tshirt on with a letter spray painted on it, they had the letter on their hand, they were marked like cattle. When i am trying to do is, dont listen to those organizations that will treat you like a commodity. Asylum,ave legitimate getting get a legitimate claim in the first country. Thats the genesis behind the a. C. A. We have the ability to apply the a. C. A. To Mexican National<\/a>s as well. Were having discussions with guatemala to expand that, to again share in this as a regional crisis. America is not the only country that borders mexico. We should share the Immigration Crisis<\/a> as regional partners, and that is what i want obama and muzzle guatemala, honduras, and el salvador are stepping up to do. Jessica and do you think these other countries are well equipped to handle those that might be bona fide asylum claims . Mark if you think about it, one, we are working with them every, single day to improve their capacity. We released funding back to the northern triangle countries, millions of dollars specifically designed to improve their asylum capacity, as well as their enforcement ability to go after cartels and smuggling organizations, but keep in mind, during the height of the crisis, the United States<\/a> of america, we were overwhelmed. Theres no single country in the world that can handle the level and volume and the height of the crisis. Not even the United States<\/a>. That is why we have to Work Together<\/a> with the northern triangle countries, mexico, and other countries to address this , as the regional crisis that it is. Jessica and the fact that we had policies in place that enabled and encouraged this flow of people, and have the effect of really enriching the criminal cartels, that is an important issue with huge implications for mexico as well. Its in their interest to try to address this. Because its not just human smuggling. Theres the threat, the criminal threat of the cartels. They dont just smuggle humans. They also smuggle drugs. Gang members are taking advantage of this. I think i read on your website , where your officers are apprehending Something Like<\/a> 400something ms13 members a year, which is one, and thats just one of the transnational gangs that has exploited this opportunity to take advantage of our policies to get here. Mark jessica, you are right. That dovetails with the second that dovetails with a good segue of the second part we dont talk about which is the National Security<\/a> crisis. When we talk about the crisis, its not just the immigration and humanitarian crisis, its dual, theres the security crisis. One aspect is gang members. We apprehended over 1,000 gang members, 23 different gangs. And again, that is just who we apprehended. Theyre using the humanitarian effort to draw Border Patrol<\/a> agents off the line during the patrolover 50 of Border Agents<\/a> were taken off the line to care for kids and families. What do you think the human smuggling organizations were doing . The were exploiting them. They were doing it by design. They would send large caravans in one area so the Border Police<\/a> would go and address that. Meanwhile and be distracted. Over 1,000 gang members, drug last year, c. B. P. Seized over 800,000 pounds of drugs. Think about that stat. 800,000 pounds. The four hard narcotics heroin, meth, fentanyl, cocaine, went up last year. Fentanyl, one sector out of nine sectors seized 11 pounds, enough to kill two Million People<\/a> in the United States<\/a>. Last year alone, 68,000 individuals in this country died because of direct result of overdose of illicit narcotics. 60,000 people. That is more people who died then in an entire vietnam conflict. Theres another thing i say. Every town, city, an state in this country is a border town city and state. Mark my words. If you have a meth overdose in overdose in ohio, mark my words, that methamphetamine came from a southwest border. What mexico is doing, theyre able to produce meth, for example which is skyrocketed up faster, cheaper, and its more potent. In so, a lot of times and so, a lot of times meth was , manufactured in the United States<\/a>. Thats going down. Mexico is creating super labs. Jessica we have laws to discourage that. Mark that is right, so when we talk about the crisis at the border, when we talk about the need for a wall, its not just about stemming the flow of illegal immigration, its stopping the drugs pouring into this country that killed 68,000 people last year. Jessica yeah, this affects every country, skews me, every community in our country as well yeah, this affects every country, excuse me, every community in our country as well. And its an issue for mexico as well in terms of corruption and the money the cartels have. Mark absolutely. Jessica how much of a threat are the cartels to the United States<\/a> . A lot of people make the claim that theres little risk of Cartel Activity<\/a> overflowing into the United States<\/a> because theyre afraid of u. S. Law enforcement, or you know, a number of other reasons they give. Do you agree with that . Mark it depends on how you shake that out. If you talk about violence, thats one thing. But if you talk about Cartel Activity<\/a> impacting this country, heck yeah. I mean, we just described the drugs pouring in, 68,000 deaths. Cartel members dont just operate in mexico. They are here in the United States<\/a>. They operate houses, have a Network Distributing<\/a> drugs to every town, city, state in this country. Jessica working with gangs. Mark absolutely. Absolutely. I worked gangs for a long time. Cartels and human smuggling organizations are alive and well in mexico and here. Violence is another issue. Violence has not spilled over. Again, i was a special agent in charge in el paso, and that city i was special agent in charge in el paso that city was for many years one of the safest cities of its size in america for many years the violence in mexico, the majority of that is cartel against cartel. And this is what the American People<\/a> need to understand. Why is there so much violence in mexico . Why are the cartels warring with each other for control over the plaza, control over the smuggling routs . Routs . Because its so profitable. Its so profitable. Its a multibillion dollar industry for them every single year. We estimate that the cartels, over 60 billion that they have. Its unbelievable. And that is another reason why we are working with the government of mexico to work on operations to try to stop weapons from going in there and also ill list currency from going southbound as well. So, the cartels are alive and well. Jessica i saw figure today, i think it is 4 billion a year in revenue for the cartels. Mark i think that is a conservative estimate. Jessica and this is one reason we need a multifaceted approach to this. What do you think has worked . Has it been mostly the changing of our policies . Or the working with other countries . What is mexico doing to address this influx of people and ill a people and illicit drugs . Mark i think its all of the above. We have to separate a little bit. Human smuggling side, on the illegal migration side, it has been a combination. It has been a combination of this president s strategy, this administrations strategy, the ability of strategy, the ability administrations strategy, the ability of c. B. P. , ice an others to execute on those initiatives, as well as cooperation of other countries. Mexico and northern triangle countries. Were working with panama and other countries as well. Mexico stepped up in unprecedented ways. Established a new national guard. Strengthened their southern border. There are positions their apprehensions have doubled since last year. They strengthened the u. S. Mexico border and their interior enforce. In may we were experiencing 40 or 50 large groups of individuals of 100 or more. Those numbers went down. Last month, i think we had two, so they definitely stepping up our it is a huge difference. So, it really is all that. With respect to the illegal migration crisis. On the drug crisis, we still have a ways to go. Again, 800,000. Plus, that is just what we seized. We know that volumes, greater than we can probably even fathom are still getting through that border and making its way to every town, city, and state in this country. Jessica well, obviously, barriers help in stopping people. Wall has been built . Mark so far, 93 miles. And i think this is important. To address a couple of false narratives out there. This is something that the experts have asked for. This is something that the Border Patrol<\/a> agents and the leadership have asked for. This isnt something that the president asked for. This president asked the experts what they needed, and he is delivering on what they have asked for. And we talk about wall, not just a wall. Its a wall system. Its not just a wall system. It is portable multilayered strategy of infrastructure, part aogy it is a multilayer strategy of infrastructure, technology, and personnel. Everywhere along the southwest border, where those three approaches have coalesced together effectively in strategic locations, its made an impact both on the illegal flow of migration as well as drugs and bad people. Every single place that that has been implemented. We have the data we can show that. Now jessica i have seen it. It works. Mark it does. Now with the new wall system, its not just a physical barrier. Lighting,grated technology, and access roads. All those things the leadership asked for, thats all going into this wall system. And i can say, without hesitation, without a doubt, every mile of new wall that is being built, this country is more safe because of it. Because it absolutely increases the Border Patrol<\/a>s operational be able to do with they need to do. Its about impedance and denial. Is it going to be impenetrable and not be able to be overcome . No. But it is going to deny and impede. And again, if you have the technology and personnel, put those things together, personable come in and do the apprehension. And technology is a huge part of this, so we need more technology, too. Again, at the end of the day, we say it kind of tongue in cheek, technology cant make an arrest. So, you still need agents. And again, you need jessica fewer. Mark exactly, but technology is an important part of that as well. All three are its all three together in strategic locations. And that is what we are doing. Jessica i saw in your recent testimony before a Senate Committee<\/a> that you mentioned that there were an estimated 150,000 who evaded our security at the border. How did you come up with how do you know . Mark i think thats a conservative estimate. We call them gotaways. Its not really a Scientific Method<\/a> or super complicated. I will give you an example. A Border Patrol<\/a> agent may go to an area where there was no wall system or technology, and they see footprint in the ground across the border, right . And they can sickly count the footprints, or the see tire tracks. Its not really complicated or scientific. But they are pretty good at that. There are signs. Theyre able to determine by looking at footprints etc. Who and what crossed. So throughout the southwest border, all 2000 miles, we estimated at least 150,000. I think that is conservative. I think its higher. Jessica and we assume those are not families seeking, who are going to these are people who dont want to be entered into our system. Mark that is exactly right, jessica. Thats another element we dont talk enough about. The majority of the families who come across and unaccompanied children, when they make their way to the border, a lot of times, the sitdown weight for Border Patrol<\/a> agent they sit down and wait for Border Patrol<\/a> agents. Its not adverse. Its a Safe Exchange<\/a> and apprehension and processing. Those gotaways are right. Those are the ones running. Why are they running . Right . Those arent the good ones. When were having this discussion, we need to be intellectually honest through our discussion. And not every person who tries to enter this country is a good person. Theyre not all bad either. But theyre not all good. And we are talking about that. We have to be honest about that. Again thousands of gang members , caught. We have also, pedophiles, rapists, murderers. A lot of people say, those numbers are small. Well, how many is acceptable . How many . How many rapists, how many murderers, how many pedophiles are acceptable. . How many gang members, ms13 members are acceptable for us to allow into the country . Thats the question we should be asking. From my perspective, Law Enforcement<\/a> for a lot of decades trying to safeguard the country, the answer is easy. It is zero. Thats why we need to strengthen our borders. Thats why we need the wall along with other things. Jessica customs and Border Protection<\/a> officers, especially the Border Patrol<\/a>, have in recent times been subject to a lot of disparagement, been vilified, and accused of abusing authority. Those whou say to have said that officers , thately are overzealous their mission is inherently inhumane . How do you answer those . Mark i would say it is a lot. People who say that have not been down to the border or have actually seen Border Patrol<\/a> agents and officers do their jobs. I have. Let me give you a couple of facts. Not hyperbole and not emotion, but i do get emotional about this because i know they are lying about the men and women. 4,900 rescues last year. 4,900 rescues. Jessica thats huge. Not apprehension . Mark good point, not apprehensions, rescues. They saw somebody in need. They didnt stop to say wait a minute, are you trying to enter trying to illegally enter this country . They didnt what is your nationality. They saw a human being in need and they immediately went into action with respect to their training and what is in their dna to help and protect people, and the rest their own lives 4900 times. Let me give you another stat. Health care. We average between 70 to 80 hospital visits just along the southwest border every day. A day. That means we got somebody in and got the medical screen and were able to determine right away it exceeded our capability and we immediately took them to the proper ems or medical facility locally. 70 to 80 times a day. 4,900 rescues. Thats who the men and women are. We have individuals, including when we have individuals, including our own political leaders, lie, who say we are running concentration camps and drinking out of toilets, thats a lie. And i do get frustrated by that. What i would say is to come on down. Come on down. These are mothers, brothers, fathers and sisters. I have been there and seen a Border Patrol<\/a> agent and saw a brother who suffered at the hands of smuggling organizations and kneel down and talking to them in spanish, treating those two kids as if they were their own kids. I have seen that. Anyone who says otherwise, i will wishing them a have you been there and have you really seen it . Jessica it is probably a good time to plug our annual order tour, and give people the opportunity to go down to see what is going on and understand the issues better. Mark it is. Jessica i want to touch on a couple of other things before we open it up to some of the questions. Not all illegal immigration is people entering surreptitiously at the border. Some people come on visas and overstay. In 1996, congress enacted a requirement that the government screeningtryexit programs, and took until 20 to ,et the furs part of that done and the agency, dhs, did it very well. Called u. S. Visit where we started collecting biometrics and comparing them to the fingerprints. But not much has happened since 2004. And congress has passed this requirement 608 times. Establishing a comprehensive entryexit system . We are getting passenger manifests, so we can start to know how many people are leaving. Can you update us . Mark sure, i can. There are two good points. One is, there is a lot of privacy issues and groups that have been out there that are very negative towards this, and this was a mandate that is been out there a long time. I will give you one reason. Not an excuse, but a justifiable reason about why the biometrics has been so slow is that the tech has not been there. The last five years, the Industry Standard<\/a> has said that the technology has 12 times better than it was just five years ago. And so, when people are talking about the data, make sure the data is not six month old. If you are using data longer than that, it is probably bad data. Makingides we are inefficiencies has increased. Us at c. B. P. , we are continuing for us at c. B. P. , we are continuing to make progress. Lets talk about airports and the exit and entry and expanded exit, entryirports jessica biometrics . Mark yes. 16 airports. Jessica for all travelers . International . Mark international travelers, at those airports at specific airlines. The airports are doing it not for all airlines. Right now, we have an additional 29 airports that we are continuing to work with to improve. And right now, another key element to this is, what i like to say is we do facial recognition. It takes on a different kind of term. It is facial comparison. That onetoone. And that is important distinction, so we have a database, right . A manifest where we have those photos and we cant entry compare that onetoone. Jessica like the person who is issued a visa in whatever country . Mark correct. I think sometimes we look at facial recognitions, you think recognition, you think of a Surveillance Program<\/a> and that is not what were doing. Taking the comparison manually to a human being which is failed and flawed. We have done the percentages. We are taking that ability and making it electronic. Its more efficient and a heck of a lot faster and more accurate. We have put millions and millions through this facial an 89 to 90 accuracy rate. And the technology is improving. Every single year, that tech following is improving. And i think we are going to get to close to 100 . Jessica i have to say, having talked to many in private sector in this industry, a lot of people think that the Technology Actually<\/a> is there, but this is another situation where congress has not come through with the money that the agency needs. Mark that is exactly right, too. What we are actually doing is working with their was and airlines to find that ability as well, and we are making progress on this. On the land side, we have instituted that. Of we piloted in a couple areas, where in 2020, we will areas in theour southwest border. We are looking at the flow, and so, we are actually instituting that light now. Jessica that is important because most people enter overland border, and we dont do any kind of biometric matching now for the millions of people who cross. We collect the Border Crossing<\/a> cards. We dont use the information to a great extent. Mark that is exactly right. In just a short time period we have done it at the done it atlanta and we call them , impossible terse and done it at the airport. Jessica i have one last topic and that is the state of new york recently implemented what i consider to be the most egregious law, that not only allows the issuance of drivers licenses to illegal aliens and others who can concoct an identity, but also greatly restricts access of every immigration Enforcement Agency<\/a> to their Motor Vehicle<\/a> databases. This was something new. I wasnt aware of this occurring in any other state. New york is a border state. I know that you are aware of the law and the problems. Can you explain how important this is, and why this is going to impact c. B. P. . Mark yes. It is very important and i cant have enough strong reaction. Its reckless and irresponsible and politics at its worst. I am telling you and im telling the American People<\/a> that this policy, by new york, will absolutely make this country less safe. And it is not just confined to new york. A lot of people have a fundamental misunderstanding. Dontve a car, you just stay in new york, right . You travel anywhere in this country. So we are going to come across people that we run their plate. Think about this. You could be in los angeles or South Central<\/a> los angeles, and have a new york plate, and the Police Officer<\/a> is going to run your plate and get nothing back. Nothing back. Jessica restricted access. Mark restricted access. Jessica sorry charlie. Mark think about this. From a Law Enforcement<\/a> perspective, i will bring break it down. Many time you take a legitimate, Law Enforcement<\/a> tool away from a Law Enforcement<\/a> entity, think about that, you are reducing their ability to safeguard this country every single time you are taking a away a tool. That is exactly what is happening and it is being driven by politics. His reckless, irresponsible, and this country will be less safe. I also believe its against the law. I mean them under the i. N. A. , immigration and naturalization act, a state cannot institute a law or policy that counters our ability to do our job. Jessica in any way that restricts exchange of information. Mark that is exactly right, and this law specifically, not only does it talk about any entity with immigration, but it also mentions c. B. P. And i. C. E. Jessica i dont think they are restricting the state of new fbi. Y or any other the mark that is exactly right. Jessica so, what is the federal government going to do about it . Mark from the moment that that happened, i have been engaged in discussions at a very high level. We are absolutely looking at all options, both within dhs and within components of c. B. P. And and i asked my folks to look at this, what are the options we can do to make sure we close this loophole in any way within our current Legal Framework<\/a>, and im going to push hard to make sure we counteract this horrendous, irresponsible and reckless law by the state of new york. Jessica ok. Thank you. All the right. Well, no shortage of questions here. [laughter] jessica it may take me a while to go through some of these. Here is one. Now that the numbers of the people from guatemala crossing into mexico are down, what are the u. S. Expectations for the Mexican National<\/a> guard deployment on that border, the southern border, in 2020 . Mark so, i think that is a good question. And we are just going to have to continue to watch that. If you look over history, what we have experienced is some every single time we let off the gas pedal, the human cartels and human smuggling organizations take advantage of that. We have to make sure that were sharing information, sharing intelligence, and we need taming steadystate to ensure that they still have a force adequate to handle the current low, but this is very important. Although we have addressed specifically what we kind of sought out to do initially, and 85 in theit is, flow has gone down 70 , we are still crisis numbers. We are averaging 1,400 to 1,500 daily. If you remember, former secretary johnson said that thing, 1000 is a bad day. He was right. 1400, 1500 at levels. Although we made tremendous strides, we arent done yet. So, mexico needs to continue that posture for the foreseeable future. Jessica and as you alluded to before, we still need to address some of these problems in our laws that you described. That is aok you key, too, and thats what this question is going to as well, regardless of how great mexico is stepping up, in the end, the United States<\/a>, we cannot rely on other countries to fix our broken system. To have a durable, lasting solution to fixing our current Legal Framework<\/a>, congress has to act. Failed to do so, and they knew to and they need to. Regardless of what the northern triangle countries do, thats what Congress Needs<\/a> to do. Jessica are there restrictions on funding for next year . Mark yes. Every single time we get funny, regardless of where that funding comes from, there restrictions that, from that. The good news is, restrictions will not impede our ability to build the wall. We already long ago identified where it would go in what the strategic need is. We have had discussion with our army corps and we are on our way 1. 375ll part of that billion. Jessica there was a story on npr this morning, talking about the hurdles for c. B. P. Acquiring land. Do you think that will get in the way of getting the what . 450some miles done in the next year . Mark no. Land acquisition is a challenge. Activism of lower courts. We gotten joined by a lower court for using d. O. D. Funding. Thats what causes more challenges for us. I can tell you, with this new funding that can, im absolutely company, not only are we going to get somewhere between 400 to 450miles built, but i think we will see that i i think we will exceed that. We will have more miles under contract or ready to be built and exceed it by the end of 2020. Jessica where is most of it going . Mark it is going along all areas of the southwest border. The Border Patrol<\/a> has come up with a Border Security<\/a> Implementation Plan<\/a> that identifies the highest priority. Priorities. The challenging part is that changes. Right . Any time that we go to cartels and shut down one area, they just go down to another area. We are constantly reevaluating the threat area and where we need the infrastructure and technology and the personnel. For right now, the 450 miles is the top strategic miles we needed. Im confident we will have more under contract, that are being built by the end of 2020. Jessica is some of it going into the Rio Grande Valley<\/a> . Mark yes. We have some going into the rio grande right now. Jessica ok. There were accounts that identified that the flow was increasing in certain other areas of the border, as you say, that the loan effect, into arizona, that balloon effect, into arizona and that was because the remaining mexico policies were not in place yet in arizona. Mark thats right. It is a very key point because the human smuggling organizations, they know our laws better than most americans when it comes to immigration and know where we are instituting certain initiatives. We had not expanded to arizona at that time, so the smuggling organizations were broadcasting this is where you need to go in. But it just shows you how adaptive they are and how flexible and resilient they are. Jessica and the price has gone up. That is always a good sign. The human smuggling or drug smuggling prices. Mark thats right. Jessica you alluded to the corps of engineers. Here is a question, why does c. B. P. Have to use the army corps of engineers to build the wall . Why cant they contract direct . Mark there are a couple of nuances there, but you got to remember that some of the funding we are using them the dod funding we are using, it has to be specific funding for military projects. So the majority of the funding , we have is dodrelated funding, so it makes sense to use the army corps of engineers as the overall contractor. But they are subcontracting out with companies throughout the United States<\/a>, just as we would do. But thats the Main Driving Force<\/a> behind it. And to be quite honest, they are better at it and have done this before. It is part of what they do the , corps job. Right . Jessica is it really possible to control the border without fundamental change to our asylum law . Mark so, that is a good question. Is ay answer is, there difference between control of the border, so yes, we can get to a position where we have operational capacity to be able to interdict what is coming to the border. The challenge is addressing the flow. That is addressed by congress. So look, we continue to have loopholes and we could have a Million People<\/a> at the border, and that does not change my want or need to have operational control. Where there are 1000 coming in a day, i want the operational control and capacity to apprehend and interdict that what comes in, and identify. But what we need congress to do is fix and pass the loopholes so less will try to come. Those loopholes which are driving more to come. So, i want both. I want operational capacity and congress to stem the flow to make our job easier to protect this country. Jessica that relates to this question. In may and june, congress was complaining about quote, unquote, kids in cages, children detained in c. P. P. s custody. What role did Congress Play<\/a> in that event . When so, back in 2015, those facilities were built, which by the way, i object to the term cages, but back when the facilities were built, the role that Congress Play<\/a>ed back then, they were thanking us because we had onslaught of unaccompanied children coming in and the border facilities are not designed for children. They have a holding area. Those facilities are designed for single adults to be held for a very short period of time, processed, and then removed. That is the genesis. Thats the core of the mission and how we operated and the facilities worked to function like that. Then all of a sudden, we saw this influx of kids, and everybody, including Border Patrol<\/a>, who are mothers and fathers, said these are not the conditions that these children one in. So what did they do . We spent a lot of money and scrambled fast and built these facilities specifically for families and kids. And back then, including congress, was applauding, saying, wow, it is incredible how fast you were able to build these facilities. Thats why i get so frustrated now. There is chain link fencing there. If you think about that for a second, we have all kinds of demographics. We have babies that are coming in, all the way up to 17yearold kids. Some of them have a mother, some have a father. All these different ages. Jessica some of them have a rented mother and father. Mark right, some of them have a rented mother and father. So you dont want to put a 14yearold male in the same area as a sixyearold female. We scrambled around and you could see through. The reason we have chainlink fencing is so we can see through to provide attention to these individuals. That is how that happened. And it was effective and it worked. Fast forward. Do i want to have facilities that do not have chain link fence . Yeah. I absolutely do. We are moving toward that right now. Jessica all right. In your view, what is the number one reason we must enforce our immigration laws . Protect American Workers<\/a> from unfair competition, american taxpayers, National Security<\/a> or to prevent the entry and reentry of criminals . Mark so, bear our couple ways for me so, there are a couple of ways for me to answer this. I would say do all the above. Just my perspective from a Law Enforcement<\/a> professional, its about the rule of law. We have to enforce the rule of law. If the American People<\/a> dont like the current loss, dont pick at c. B. P. Or i. C. E. , go talk to congress and have them change the law. So right now, the law is i. N. A. Is the law that we are upholding and enforcing, that rule of law. The second thing is to maintain the integrity of the system. If you dont, then you have no system at all and thats the second priority. The third priority is to safeguard and protect the American People<\/a>. That is when when i say, i want the wall, it is not a political statement from me. It is from a Law Enforcement<\/a> perspective. Im honored to be in this position and get the effective tools to the men and women of the Border Patrol<\/a>. Thats what its about. Jessica and this will have to be our last question. To deal witht guatemala on the deportation flights . Are asking, is it only people from el salvador and , or agentsr mexicans being told to carry out this policy . Mark we talked about the initial agreement is to start with the people from honduras and el salvador. It is effective right now. Guatemala is doing a really good job of having an effective system to be able to handle the flights coming in, and now we are talking about expanding it to other demographics, specifically mexicans. But we will continue the dialogue to expend that other countries as well. Again it goes back to the fact , its not a United States<\/a> government problem. But it is all of our problems. Our world is global, our issues are global and solutions should be glole. They should just be that United States<\/a>. So we are looking to expand that , across the board to as many demographics as we can. Jessica all right. Well thank you so much for submitting to this. It is very helpful to hear your responses and your statements, and thank you all for coming today. And i hope you will bought our website but the next newsmaker event we have in the new year. Happy new year. Thank you very much. Mark thank you. [applause] [captions Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] hoist will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers rooms, washington, d. C. January 3, 2020. I hereby appoint the honorable jamie raskin to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. Haplain conroy let us pray. God of the universe, we give you thanks for giving us another day. In the final hour of the first session of the 116th congress, we give you thanks for your faithfulness to our nation. 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