Transcripts For CSPAN2 Oversight Hearing Of ICE Detention Fa

Today to receive testimonies on oversight of i. C. E. Since are they doing enough. Good afternoon. We should discuss the enforcements and detention his abilities and both of dhs is doing enough to enter i. C. E. His own detention standards are being met. Before we start, lets take those moment to acknowledge some of the challenges the subcommittee had in arranging todays hearing. Or holding two channels this afternoon because i. C. E. Declined to sit on the same panel with the contractor. For the purpose and lack of cooperation makes it more challenging for congress to do his job. The meeting with dhs leaders, is important to the subcommittee to bring everyones voices together. That is how we can best identify challenges and find ways to solve them. This issue is particularly important to me as to advices facilities, detained towards a part of 1300 migrants in my home district. I have visited these facilities. I have concerns about some of the conditions of confinement. Im not alone in these having these concerns. The Office Inspector last year found that these processes, for oversight of confinement were insufficient and being in compliance with i. C. E. His own standards. It might be that inspectors are set up to fail. For example, i have a contractor which conducts about 100 inspections annually is responsible for evaluating compliance with up to 42 standards composed of over 600 elements. Over the course of just a few days. As a result, these inspectors end up missing some clear violations at that detention standards. The phone not working properly. They also observed inspectors misreporting the detainees knew how to obtain a system or a sentence i. C. E. Officers when the detainees had indicated the exact opposite. Additional concern is the fact that even when these deficiencies are identified, isys processes have not insured that they are corrected. For example i. C. E. Has Detention Service monitors onsite at several detention facility to monitor compliance with detention standards. However these monitors told the eid that when they identified the violations, they have no means of enforcing corrective actions. Instead of pressuring facilities to correct deficiencies or issuing financial penalties for noncompliance, in some cases i. C. E. Granted waivers of the facilities dont have to abide by these standards. For example reported from 2015 to june 2018, i. C. E. Only issued to financial penalties and granted 65 waivers. Sixtythree of which those waivers had no entities. One of these waivers in my district permitted low custody individuals with no criminal history to go mingle with those individuals with more serious criminal records. The standards that typically keep these detainees separated is an important one the directors impact the safety of people in detention. Finally i have concerns that inspection site isys contractor announced far in advance, giving an example of continued to clean up just in time for inspection. I understand that they made several recommendations for isys to correct these issues. I look forward to hearing what steps advices taken and both of they are needing to sustain compliance with standards. I also look forward to hearing about the oversight elliot g connects. The oversight work in the state is the thin critical in shining light in the conditions of confinement. Recent reports have identified serious reports. Endangering health of detainees and inappropriate segregation practices infringing on the safety. However the scope of the inspections is limited by his lack of subject Matter Experts. Like medical dodgers. Im encouraged by the fact that the oig is developing a plan to contract with such experts who could engage in this oversight work. I hope to hear that this plan is bringing and putting into action. I want to think that witnesses who are here today and i look forward to your testimonies. The chair noun recognizes Ranking Member denman from texas. For an Opening Statement. Thank you. Also pleased able to Work Together as a result some of the problems correlating witnesses and panels to have the Key Stakeholders necessary for the protective hearing this issue deserves. It should be noted that in this longstanding practice not to have the agency and the contractors for the gc on the same panel which is why we ended up having two different panels. Im also hopeful that the office of civil rights and Civil Liberties will still provide the testimony prepared for this hearing even though they were disinvited earlier this week. I hope that in the future that the agency over which we are conducting oversight, in this case i. C. E. Would be the first to be invited to testify. This is an important issue to examine. I sure the majority of the regarding the necessity of enforcing the standards for safety and security of i. C. E. Detainees. Health and mobility a visit detained in the United States its not a partisan issue. Have been very public in my praise for the department of Homeland Security and the individuals who work each day to keep our country safe. Men and women of u. S. Immigration and customs enforcement, are some of the toughest jobs in the department. Isys task of enforcing u. S. Immigration law and removing individuals who pose a threat to the National Security Public Safety or speak to exploit our immigration system. The job is made even more difficult when they are publicly and unfairly vilified by public figures. Pauls narratives spread about i. C. E. Are utterly upper and prehensile full. Individuals targeted by i. C. E. Include gang members repeat violations. Those order to be removed by a judge. Opposed to increases, the job of i. C. E. Becomes even more difficult. They must devote their resources to rooting out those files that the biggest threat. The resources are stretched then. A safe and secure detention of individuals prior to removal from the country is one of the most important duties that i. C. E. Devote resources to. Off of detention is primarily done through contractors, the Agency Responsible for these individuals, i. C. E. Messenger the proper care is provided. I. C. E. Must use is oversight authorities as well as its contacting authorities to insurance detention standards are met. I said this out an inspection of three years and hires private contractors to do instructions annually. Additionally they have individuals who are tasked with onsite reveals of the daily operations. All this seems like the recipe for conducting rigorous oversight. Unfortunately it seems as it is frequently the case of government agencies, lack of communication and coordination among the divisions within i. C. E. My understanding that isys agreed with the recommendations of the Inspector General his office, is working towards addressing these issues. I look forward to hearing from our Witnesses Today on how we can ensure i. C. E. Attention standards are met in the future. I yelled back. End of the committee his rules, Opening Statements need to be submitted to the record. I woke my first panel of witnesses and thank them for joining today. Our first witness is ms. Jenny, president and sole owner of the Aquatic Group incorporated. She has provided professional administrative support to the federal government and private industry since 1990. Our family contact with i. C. E. To conduct inspections with isys this abilities. Her second witness, is the senior Legal Advisor for the constitution project at the project for government oversight. Her work focuses on National Security immigration and human rights. Prior to her work logo, she served as the National Security fellow for open the government. That went out an objection the witnesses will be inserted in record. Analysis each witness to summarize her statements for five minutes beginning with ms. Okamoto. [background sounds] thank you for the invitation to appear before this committee. I want to first apologize for what appeared to be our resistance to come to this hearing to discuss the details of our work with i. C. E. Our contract has flaws within the contract they get regulations that forbids the disclosure of these details and we were hesitant to get involved at the risk of our contract. This group is the woman owned minority small disadvantage business in maryland. My great grandparents immigrated to the United States from japan. My maternal bad parents were both born in california making them United States citizens. After pearl harbor, the president ial order was issued to incarcerate all japanese regardless of their citizenship status. My maternal family were living in california, and relinquished all of the property including any business that they had. They were given one trash bag to fill up personal items to take with them and had to leave Everything Else behind. Our family was spread out to different camps across country. My maternal grandparents were incarcerated in japanese in arizona. They were there long enough to meet and fall in love and get married and have a baby our mother, and become pregnant again with my aunt. Since they had to start over, they were offered employment as processing factory before theyre released to make sure to seabrook in new jersey. I was born there. My father was born and raised in hilo hawaii, my grandfather returned to japan soon after he was born. My father was the youngest in a bright large broken home and he was raised by several of his older brothers. My father served for more than 20 years in the United States army. He served two tours during phenomena and served in what the first all japaneseamerican rebate units. Clearfield relocated to federick rycroft. Because my parents did not have a lot of money, i worked during high school and have been working since i was 15 years old. Shortly after high school, and was able to obtain a secretarial job with the government as a department of health and human services. I worked there for over six years before leaving to work for three others successful minority owned Government Contracting firms. I learned about Government Contracting during this seven years and decided to take those chance army and company. I started this company in 2003, it was the same year that i lost my late husband, to suicide. I. C. E. To volunteer for his order of police, and have volunteered for them for over 20 years. Serving as their executive assistant to the executive board. The group is certified in the Small Business administration ada program in 2004. We successfully graduated certification and 2013. The first contract awarded to my company was in 2004 to maintain a hotline entitled americas now. Its a hotline that provides either free or low cast healthcare. Within the United States and his territory, we still maintain that contract after 15 years. And now includes another hotline entitled 311 babies that helps expectant and new mothers providing information via phone. For the last 15 years, we have done obtain contracts with the food and Drug Administration and department of health and human services. From 2,622,007, we had a confronts with food and health and ministration to hire hispanics to increase diversity within the workforce. Our current and longstanding logistics contracts have been Health Policy and the National Advisory committee on rural health and human services. We also provide logistics for policy meetings regarding telehealth and Rural America from 2010 to 2013. In 2005, we obtained a contract that is now office of federal detention trustee. His department of the department of justice. One of place within a blanket of purchase agreements to provide detention experts support services to the office of the federal detention trustee. Using performancebased attention standards, we sent teams to provide expert Specialized Service and consultation by conducting facility reviews of nonfederal contract gels and detention facilities with towels u. S. Marshals service and immigration customs and detainees. In 2007, we were asked to attend a meeting and i. C. E. Headquarters where we were asked to perform onsite Monitoring Services and providing monthly Technical Assistance that included fulltime monitors at for 40 of the largest i. C. E. Detention facilities. Monthly quarterly and biannual reviews of other i. C. E. Detention facilities pair the goal was to ensure that the facilities were in compliance with the standards. On that existing contract that we had at the time of the department of justice and we did this dive boat work for them for 2007, 2010. Your time is up. If you want to include a conclude remark. Just a few seconds. On the rest can be entered into the record. Okay. Ms. Hopkins. Chairwoman, Ranking Member and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Im a senior legal analyst for the constitution project of the project in the government oversight. Of those nonpartisan that investigate government abusive of power. My colleagues and i done it series of investigations of conditions in the i. C. E. Conditions. We found evidence of an independent but medical where and Mental Health care and overuse of confinement. These are problems that have grown worse as i. C. E. Has detained more people. I. C. E. Detention centers are subject to various forms of oversights dhs. Their annual inspections. Onsite monitors and inspections by different offices within i. C. E. Inspections by the dhs Inspector General. This sounds like a lot of inspections. The system is failing to ensure compliance with isis attention standards. The Group Inspections are the only ones that consider a loss of detention facilities contract. But they often fail to uncover serious violations. Other inspections are more served, they also remain hidden from congress and the public and failed to make changes they recommend. As result inhumane and bad conditions remains. In some cases, the violations rise to the levels of unconstitutional medical needs. To illustrate the problems of the findings on three of the largest facilities, in september of 2018, the dhs Inspector General reported on an unannounced inspection of an Inspection Center in california. They found sheets, and adequate care. Overuse of solitary confinement. They conducted their own previously announced inspection. They not only found that it was in compliance with 40 i. C. E. Detention standards but accused the inspection general of writing and that report. To dismiss the nooses of the housekeeping violation, not a suicide risk. Disregarding that a man hung himself in march. We recently uncovered a third investigation by the office of civil rights and Civil Liberties. See rcl in december of 2015, and november of 2017. In 2015, they had one i. C. E. That the medical leadership was not competent. In 2017, they found no evidence that corrections remained to address this issue. This led to in their words, inadequate care that resulted in bone injuries and detainee death. See rcl took on a mentally ill solitary confinement instead of being treated. Sometimes her shockingly long lengths of time. Overuse of solitary confinement as fatal sometimes consequences. In may 2017, and july 2018. They suffered from schizophrenia. Instead of receiving psychiatric treatment, both were placed in solitary environment for weeks. Both hung themselves in their isolation cells. Despite the two deaths, inspectors. And then unequipped medical care led to another death. In colorado or even into methadone withdrawal we need arrived there. For two weeks, his symptoms were grew worse and medical staff exaggerated them. There are many other credible reports of medical neglect. Including one case where detainee untreated bedsores became so bad the infected that is like had to be amputated. Despite all of this evidence, they said that they were in compliance 41. In 2017, 2018. Let me close. Number one, our should require dhs to impose financial site consequences for documented violations of Detention Centers no matter what inspection and covers them. 2017, dhs and suspended a policy that alludes to detention policies to known to be suffering from serious physical or Mental Illness who are disabled elderly pregnant or nursing. They should be reinstated. Number three congress should be ability to transfer funds in order to expand detention. Number four, congress should strengthen the authority and transparency of the office of the Civil Liberties. Thank you very much. I think all the witnesses for their testimony. I will remind each member you have five minutes to question the panel. I now recognize myself for questionings. Thank you for being here today and i recognize your concern about the contracts but your eyes contract does not prohibit you from testifying at the congressional hearing correct . Correct. Thank you. As i noted in my Opening Statement, you are responsible for for reviewing 42 standards that include over 600 elements in just a few days. You are not the only or firstenergy to wait raise concerns about the process. In fact more than three years ago the Homeland Security Council Recommended that eyes move away from abroad checklist. For inspections. Did they allow your co