Administration in halted prosecution of some undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children. We will also hear testimony from immigration policy analyst and a medical student protected by tonight. Senator Chuck Grassley chairs this threehour Judiciary Committee hearing. [background noises] welcome everybody. Particularly, to our witnesses on both panels because i know you put a lot of work into preparation we thank everyone for their help. Before i give my Opening Statement for the topic of our hearing i think we all take a moment yesterday and today and for a long time in the future but i do it now on behalf of the committee do offer our collective thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Las Vegas Shooting and their families and their loved ones. As everyone is aware yesterday more than 59 americans lost their lives in more than 500 were injured. The carnage occurred that occurred yesterday is a truly heartbreaking. We are here today to consider how to address the issue created by president obamas on constitutional executive action referred to as deferred action for childhood arrivals. We will probably all use the acronym daca. In september, President Trump gave six months to congress to act in accordance with the constitution on an issue that impacts millions of americans and hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants. We have been debating this issue for 16 years. What type of legal status, if any, that unauthorized immigrants who were brought here as children should have. Since 2001, successive congresses have considered this question and did not address it, in both oh seven and 2013 congress considered what we conr comprehensive Immigration Reform that would have legalized millions of unauthorized individuals however, these efforts and mass amnesty failed and the reason is simple. Remembering what happened in 1986 the American People recognize that legalization without enforcement and a way to address increased demand for cheap foreign labor would only continue a cycle of unauthorized immigration. That is why for Years Congress in a bipartisan fashion Work Together to strengthen our nations Border Security and interior enforcement but has struggled to address some of the thorniest elements of immigration. Nothing better highlights congress a bipartisan commitment to prevent ilLegal Immigration than the secure fence act. That bill authorize the government to construct 700 miles of fencing along the border and it passed with then senators obama biden, clinton and even our Ranking Member, ms. As president george w. Bush said that bill was quote in important step toward Immigration Reform. Why . Because it was an effort to restore Peoples Trust and integrity taking the real steps to have Border Security. As recently as 2010 both democrats and republicans agreed that the only constitutional action that can be taken was for congress to act. President obama summed it up best when he said wasnt a key and was quote again obliged to execute the law and cant just make the laws himself. To paraphrase, novelist th white a king, president obama was not but a king he decided to be. In june 15, 2012, he decided to bypass the constitution and use his words pen and not only did president obama abuse the prosecutorial discretion by staying deportation for these cases he also allowed recipients to apply for work permit and they did in hundreds of thousands. Since 2012, citizenship and Immigration Services have issued more than one. [inaudible] granting these permits was a clear violation of the constitution. From the beginning president obamas executive action was riddled with numerous loopholes that allowed fraud and abuse. Since 2012, victims and whistleblowers of contacted me to expose how even criminal elements benefited from the program. Thanks to the courage of these whistleblowers and victims i, along with several of my colleagues, sent over one dozen letters to the Obama Administration about the programs vulnerability to exploit exploitation and abuse. In one such case a daca recipient was granted a Work Authorization despite being under investigation by Homeland Security and investigation for child exploitation. After receiving his work permit, the beneficiary was fired by a summer camp in california where he was eventually arrested for distributing and possessing hundreds of pages of child pornography and for molesting a child in care. Although considered to be agreed to sleep potential safety months before his arrest he was nonetheless given a work permit. Whistleblowers also reported how one eligible beneficiaries could fraudulently continue employment once they are daca permit was terminated. All the Work Authorization was valid, after benefits are discontinued the recipient could work until the work documents itself expired, unless employers are of unaware of the termination. Despite of this clear abuse of power and the multiple examples of fraud in the program we were at least completed that president obamas assurances that this is not amnesty, this is not a path to citizenship begin and. Even this assurance was untrue. Preliminary data released to my office for citizenship and Immigration Services indicated that by the time the Trump Administration made its announcement on the daca almost 40000 beneficiaries had been adjusted to lawful, permanent resident status and were on a path to citizenship. It is clear that from the beginning president Obama Program while not ill intentioned, never operated in the way it was supposed to. Worst of all, the program created a false sense of hope of and among daca beneficiaries. Thousands of them in reliance on president obamas illconceived pen and foam promises started to work jobs pursuing education, making steps toward productive contribution to American Society and after all is said and done, that is all at risk. On september the fifth this year attorney general session announced the president had decided to rescind the Obama Program in reaching this decision general sessions acknowledged that many of us had known what many of us had known all along that daca was plain and simple and unconstitutional exercise authority by the executive branch. We all have empathy for young people who came here through no fault of their own and for many of them america is the only country they know and the administration isnt without a fee. In it renegotiated fact that almost 700,000 young people rely on the false promises that the Previous Administration didnt immediately terminate the program. Instead they created a sixmonth wind down that allowed anyone who currently had daca to keep their Work Authorization until two years after daca status expires. This wind down is simple. To get this congress a chance to adopt a constitutional longTerm Solution. So, here we are today. Almost a month after the Administration Announcement and a now is the time to start considering a path towards consensus in earnest. First and foremost, any potential daca agreement has to include robust Border Security and by that i dont mean a wall. Force, textural interceptor like fencing is a part of the answer but Border Security is more important than that. Border security is all of the above approach including sensing technology, funding for more Law Enforcement personnel and equipment, changes to substantive laws so that they catch and release and other misguided policies are ended and we need to require that the initiation finally have the exit system that congress has continually demanded and allocated money for over the last 15 years not anything of cost was being done. Second, and equally as important, for robust Border Security we have got to make sure that any deal has meaningful enforcement and the simplest most common sense must be to be ensure that we eliminate the root causes of undocumented immigration to make the everify system mandatory for all employers. This system helps employers confirm that job applicants are here legally. I know that this is a controversial and difficult step in some big corporate interests are going to object but we know that jobs are the number one reason people come here. Everify isnt the only answer. We also need to make it easier for Law Enforcement to deport gang members, dangerous felons, sex offenders and human traffickers. We need to fix the. [inaudible] decision that requires us to release dangerous criminal elements. Finally, we need to take a hard look at our asylum and immigration backlog and take steps to ensure speedy deportation for those who deserve it while preserving lawful claims for those truly in need. It would be a dereliction of our duty if we failed to take steps to end some at least some of the ilLegal Immigration as we know it and kick the can down the road so that future congresses have to address this very serious problem again in another 15 years. I am confident that if everyone is reasonable, we can reach a solution. So, we are here for this hearing today in the first panel is composed of government witnesses and i hope they will be able to provide some insight into what measures the Trump Administration thanks we should take to secure the border in the homeland in the process of helping daca kids. I know the administration is currently engaged in ongoing litigation and witnesses may be restricted in some questions they can answer. I can appreciate that and i hope my colleagues will do the same. However, to the extent questions can be answered and guidance can be given we should expect forthrightness. Then, i will talk about the second panel later on. Now, senator feinstein. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you for your opening comments on october the first in what happened in las vegas. I think this is one of the most difficult kinds of problems that we have to reconcile but i really do believe that we have to find a solution to what is happening. I thank you for your comment in your opening. I would like to begin by welcoming one of our witnesses. Her name is denise rojas and shes a daca recipient and she has an incredible story to share with this committee. I am so proud of her and her competence. She is here from Mount Sinai Medical School in new york city and i just learned that the dean of the school is also here to witness the hearing and i believe his name is doctor muller. I would say welcome to him. I also want to point out that a fox news poll has shown that 83 support the pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants. Particularly, overwhelming majority favor granting work permits an 80 , 12 opposed and us citizenship, 79 , 19 opposed to Illegal Immigrants under the age of 30 brought here as children provided they pass a background check. This is higher than anything i have seen on health care or tax. I hope it means something to the men and women of this body. The last nine months must have been a roller coaster of uncertainty and fear for young denise rojas and the rest of these young people. There are anywhere from 699,000 to 800,000 in unfriend unrolled in the Doctoral Program at a very young age. This was due no choice of their own. I do want to point out that i commend senator durbin produced a bill and comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2013 which i voted for in the committee and on the floor. It was a very thorough hearing and i believe there was no amendments to daca. It was one of the things that we are all very proud of. He has been joined by senator graham on the republican side now to forge a bipartisan partnership to get this done and i also want to think senator graham for your leadership and help on this key and important issue. The typical person obviously they came at about six years of age and through no will of their own. The United States is really the only home that they know it around a third of these live in my state of california. This program is particularly urgent for me and for my state where it enjoys very strong support. They contribute her my economy in so many ways and we know that 95 of Daca Recipients are working or are in school. They work as doctors engineers and lawyers and the study in high school and college and they are serving in the military. They are on the front lines helping Community Members for recent floods and hurricanes. And they are helping combat Opioid Epidemic today. They have become a part of American Society and efforts to expel them, i believe, are on conscionable. It is not just california but Daca Recipients came out of the shadows contribute to communities all across this country and these people have put their trust they have done everything asked of them and they are counting on us to put aside partnership and find a solution to this problem. They are looking for us to do what is right. This poll is the American People. I like to quickly share the story of just one dreamer i met in august. She was brought to this country when she was just one years old. Today she lives in east oakland. She is a 23 yearold graduate from uc santa cruz with a degree in psychology. After nearly 23 years in this country her parents were recently deported. They had no criminal records and they paid their taxes and they owned their home where i met the family. Her mom worked as an oncology nurse at Highland Hospital and her dad worked as a truck driver. They paid their taxes. Now, she is left a daca recipient, as a major support and caregiver for her two younger us citizen sisters. She is facing the uncertainty that she, too, could lose protection and be deported. Every day we fail to act means one more day that hundreds of thousands of dreamers are forced to live with this cloud hanging over them. No family in america should be faced this fear and uncertainty at the hands of their own government. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting senators graham and durbin in passing the dream act. These youths should not be political balls. They shouldnt be asked to choose between their future and their families and they should have the certainty of permanent immigration status. I have received literally hundreds of letters in support of the dream act which i asked be inserted into the record. Without objection it will be inserted. Thank you. I also want to take a moment to recognize members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who are in attendance today. Mr. Chairman, i appreciate the time and i thank you. We have two members that lead the subcommittee for republican democrats, normally they dont give Opening Statements but i will ask senator cornyn and senator durbin to do that accordingly if they are ready. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Today we are holding an important issue that has been the subject of intense debate for years. What should we do with those who are illegally brought to the United States as children but currently have no legal status. As we all know in 2012 the Obama Administration created through the executive order referred to as daca and if you arrived in the United States before age 16 and met certain criteria you could receive deferred action. Deferred action, horse, is a form of prosecutorial discretion that temporarily protects a person from removal and authorize the individuals work. While the doc daca programs help to help those brought illegally is not created lawfully. I remember this and sitting at the white house with some of the other senators and congressmen employing the president after the election in 2012 not to do this unilaterally but he decided to proceed anyway. On september the fifth, President Trump announced that he was phasing out the daca program by march 5th, 2018. I think President Trump was right to do so. This is a responsibility of the Congress Working with the president and we will embrace that responsibility. By making this announcement the present did what should have been done long ago and he put the decision in the hands of congress to find a solution. I am confident that working together we can do so. Today, approximately 800,000 individuals have benefited from daca. The time is right for congress to develop a solution for these young adults who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents. The very reason they have no legal status is because of the actions of others, not their actions and i believe they should not be penalized for being brought here illegally through no fault of their own. Creating a legislative fix is the right thing to do but there is a big caveat. For we provide legal status to these young people we must reassure and actually regain