The u. S. Southern border. Good morning, everybody. The hearing will come to order. Ill make an Opening Statement and then senator feinstein and i think senator cornyn and durbin would also like to make a statement. Then well swear in the witness and get on with the business before us. Before i make my Opening Statement, there was a meeting last night with senator shelby and senator mcconnell and the republican members of the Appropriations Committee. And theres a lot of talk about the disaster at the border in terms of humanitarian assistance needed yesterday. So i think the game plan is that were going to take the 4. 5 billion that was in the disaster package that was unfortunately taken out and mark it up next week as a standalone proposition to get money flowing to the border to deal with the Housing Conditions and take some stress, not only off the agents, but the migrants. I think it would be money wellspent as 3. 3 billion for humanitarian assistance increases in the shelter capacity for unaccompanied Migrant Children, those in custody, transportation requirements, safe and efficient Processing Centers and other needs. 1. 1 billion for operation and support on the border, which includes personal expenses, voluntary search requirements, detention beds, transportation, investigatory resources dealing with human smuggling and trafficking. 187 million to carry out the needed Information Technology system upgrades and Law Enforcement pay adjustments to manage the ongoing search. So its my understanding that well be marking this up in the Appropriations Committee next week. And that was good news. So today we have acting director mcaleenan. Did i get it right . Close. Kevin. To tell us about whats going on. And i think we all know whats going on. And we all need to come together to fix it. He can tell you better than i, but the numbers are overwhelming. In fiscal year 2019, from october until now, weve had 600,000 people apprehended at the southern border. And all of 2018 fiscal year, it was 300,000. So we have doubled all of 2018 and we have still got months to go. And as you can see from the chart here, theres been 135 increase of apprehensions at the southwest border. 74 increase in unaccompanied minors. 463 increase in family units. That doesnt include everybody, when you include everybody, its 144,278 in may alone. The total in fy19 is 676,315, which is double of what we did in 2018. So somebody needs to ask the question, why . What is happening . What has changed in the last year or so . Heres whats changed. The word is out in Central America, and this is a Central America problem almost exclusively. That if you make it to america, your chances of staying are pretty darn good if you ask for asylum or bring a minor child with you. This is the Spanish Language advertisement. This is how it looks translated in english. How much does it cost to cross the border . In 2016, it was 3 to 8,000. In 2017, its 8 to 16,000 walking through the mountains. If if you take a boat, its going from 10 to 20,000. Small plane, 16,000 to 30. A vehicle utilizing documents belonging to another person is 20 to 25,000. A vehicle utilizing an accompliced immigrant agent is 20 to 25,000. So the market shows the demand is increased. The prices are going up, and people are walking through hell to get here, dealing with smugglers and every known fashion. Thank you. So the bottom line is, until we change our laws in two areas, this never stops, and thats the purpose of this hearing. As to what President Trump was able to negotiate with mexico, i think it will help. But i do not believe its an adequate substitute for us working together in the congress with the Trump Administration to change the laws that create the magnet. And here are the laws we need to change and this is the bill i have introduced and i hope we can get bipartisan support for it. Right now, if you come to america and you claim asylum, youre entitled to a hearing. That hearing is years away. Contrary to what people tell you, most people do not show up for their hearing. We dont have the bed space to hold people, so we dump them out in the country. If you bring a small child with you, since we dont separate families, weve got 20 days to process the claim. We dont have bed space to hold all the families, so we turn them loose by the thousands. So what am i trying to do . Im trying to say, for a period of time here, have a timeout on the current system, and in Central America, you can apply for asylum in the for the United States, but you have to do it in your own country in one of our embassies or consequence latz or set up a facility in mexico or where you can apply for asylum in the United States. But you no longer can do it at our border or in our country. If you change that, i think 90 of this would stop. As to the flores decision, were trying to give 100 days to process family units with a small child. Just cant get it done in 20 days. And equally important, were going to allow sending back unaccompanied minors from Central America as if they came from mexico or canada since these are noncontiguous countries, we dont have the ability to send unaccompanied minors back and we would like to change that. We want 500 new Immigration Judges, because we have a 900,000person backlog in asylum claims. There has to be a breaking point. We have reached the breaking point at the border. I cannot imagine what its like to go to work every are day where half the team are dedicating their time to dealing with family members, minors and all that goes with trying to deal with 600,000 people in your custody. Half of our resources are being directed away from Border Security to dealing with housing people and trying to meet their basic health care needs. The breaking point long past at the border. This is not sustainable, its not fair to those who have the uniform at the United States, Border Patrol, health and Human Services and all the other agents. Ngos who are helping, god bless you. So i just want to make one quick statement. If youre on the border dealing with this problem, youre one of the most patriotic people in this country. Youre not the problem. Were trying to help you to give you more resources and take the pressure off you, because if we dont, there will come a point where well have complete, absolute failure to control our border, and were getting there daily. So this legislation is designed to deal with the crisis. If it got out in Central America, you could no longer apply for asylum in the United States. They would stop coming. This would be a death blow to the smugglers. It got out in the United States, if you bring a small child with you, no longer is that a guarantee that you can stay in the United States. I am willing to help Central Americas economy. I am willing to help President Trump build a wall. I am willing to work on daca. Im willing to do almost anything and everything to fix this mess. But doing nothing is off the table. So we will be marking up this bill next week. And were going to hear from the director, his view of what this legislation would do to fix the problem, describe in detail the nature of the problem, what happens if we do nothing, and hopefully, hopefully this body can rally around a couple ideas that we need more money for humanitarian assistance, that we need to change our laws, we need to help people in Central America. But i would end with this. All the money in the world is not going to fix this problem in Central America, as long as you can get to the United States and not be sent back. Life here is always going to be better than life there. Our goal is to improve life there and get people some hope in their own country. Whats odd about this disaster is that people are not trying to avoid being caught. Theyre looking for the first Border Patrol agents they can find to turn themselves in. A wall will not fix this problem. The only way the wall would fix this problem is to build it in mexico so they would never step afoot in the United States. But once you put one foot in the United States and you claim asylum, we have a major dysfunctional system. So with that, ill turn it over to senator feinstein, and i appreciate the director and all under his charge for doing an incredible job and difficult circumstance. Thanks very much, mr. Chairman. And thank you for scheduling todays hearing. And acting secretary, id like to welcome you here. I see a few circles under your eyes, but i guess that comes with the territory. But welcome. In looking at the numbers, going back to 1925 to 2018, there have been 15 years where we have had more than 1 million intrusions. So its my understanding that were on track to remain below the historic levels of apprehensions we saw in the late 90s and 2000s. If i might, mr. Chairman, id like to submit this for the record. Without objection. Thank you. There have been approximately 600,000 crossings of our southern border so far this year. Border patrol predicts, i understand, that well reach about 1 million crossings before the end of the fiscal year. Just as we have in 15 other years. We have had over a decade where the country has faced these crossings in the past, and so its not unusual that that would happen again. But theres a different population. Right now the crisis thats being talked about by the administration is not how many people are crossing the border, but its really a change in who is coming. This year so far, over 84,000 families have arrived at the border, fleeing to seek asylum in the United States. Whereas previously the country faced border crossings from single adults seeking employment. Thats a big change. These vulnerable parents and children have experienced violence, abuse and poverty in their whole home countries. Particularly the Central American countries affected. The journey north. With john sanders, the acting commissioner of border, who explain that border control, apprehended 144,000 people crossing the border every day, including over 11,000. Its 11,000 in one month. On may 30th, the dhs Inspector General found that Border Patrol facilities are overcrowded. One facility in el paso, senator cornyn, is holding 900 people in a space with a Maximum Capacity of 125. The ig was concerned that this overcrowding represented, and i quote, an immediate risk to the health and safety, not just of the detainees, but also dhs agents and officers. End quote. Acting Commission Sanders told me that children in border facilities, in many facilities, have no cots or beds. Instead they sleep on floors or benches with mylar blankets. Often this can be the case for days and even weeks at a time. Acting commissioner sanders also confirmed that only a few weeks ago, babies and toddlers were sleeping outside, under a bridge in el paso. Entirely exposed to the elements. We also saw firsthand last week that conditions are deplorable for adults in immigration custody. On thursday, the dhs ig issued a report that, quote, observed immediate risks or egregious violations of detention standards, end quote. At i. C. E. Holding facilities across the country. The inspectors found facilities with moldy vents and concluded that immigrants received contaminated and rotten food. Specifically the inspectors found chicken packets open and leaking in a refrigerator in an essex, new jersey, facility. They found spoiled and unwrapped lunch meat in a facility in otalanto, california. Ultimately, immigrants are held in facilities, and this is a quote, that show disregard for human health and safety, end quote. This is unacceptable. Last week, i introduced a bill to uphold the humanitarian standards our laws require. And ensure that immigration cases can be heard quickly and efficiently. The protecting families and improving immigration procedures act would do the following. End the practice of separating families at the border. And ensure children are not separated from their parents. Ensure that families with children are not forced into prolonged detention in order to remain together. Maintain the protections in flores that require children to be treated humanely, given safe places to stay with adequate food and water. Increase the efficiency of our Immigration Courts, while protecting the basic rights of children by adding 450 staff to our Immigration Courts. This includes 75 additional judges, 75 law clerks and 300 total support staff. This is the number given to us by justice as what they need. Its not a number devised by i or my staff. Conserve resources for all Immigration Judges by restoring judicial discretion to prioritize their cases as needed. And finally, this bill includes a key component of senator her hronos bill, which provides counsel for unaccompanied children. This is important, because too often Young Children, including toddlers, have been forced to represent themselves in Immigration Court. How and by whom this Representation Service is provided still needs to be worked out. The legislation addresses the needs of the system in handling the increase in asylum cases while maintaining the basic rights of children. Thanks again to acting secretary mcaleenan for testifying today. I really hope we can find ways to move forward together. I really strongly feel that whatever we do should be bipartisan. I think for this country to separate children can you imagine how your 4, 5 or 6yearold would remember that for the rest of his life or her life and be affected by it . I can. I have seven grandchildren, and its a trauma ytic experience, particularly if you end up on a freeway with a piece of mylar. So i hope, mr. Chairman, your side would be willing to sit down with us and see if we cant work out some bill of of which we as americans can really be proud. Thank you very much. Thanks, senator feinstein. Senator cornyn. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing and secretary mac aleinonen, thank you for being here and for the work you and the troops are doing along the border, dealing with unimaginable set of circumstances. As i was listening to the Opening Statement of my friend, our friend, the ranking member, she talked about how the numbers historically have actually been higher, and so the numbers are down, but we acknowledge the composition of the migrants coming across is different. And its pretty clear to me that the reason for that as the chairman has pointed out, is that the individuals charging 10, 20,000 a person to smuggle them from Central America across mexico into the United States have found a way to exploit the vulnerabilities in our laws, in our legal system. And they are literally flooding the zone. It is no surprise to me that the detention facilities and the individuals who staff those are completely overwhelmed. And i believe previously you have testified, mr. Secretary, that the Customs Officials that ordinarily are responsible for moving legitimate commerce and traffic across our ports of entry have now been redeployed, trying to take care of the show these children and these families. And thats resulted in congestion, longer wait times, and actually threatening the supply chain of a lot of the manufacturing that goes on cross border with mexico. But even as the New York Times has pointed out recently, on sunday, they wrote, its time for congress to stop dithering and pass emergency funding to deal with this nightmare. So far, weve seen no willingness on the part of our democratic colleagues to meet us halfway and to come up with the spending bill that would provide the ability for you and the people that work with you to address this humanitarian crisis. And thats shame on us. It seems to me that the argument the implicit argument is that we really ought not to detain people, we ought to simply wave them through and across the border into the Great American interior. And that we ought not to have any control over our borders or our immigration system. We are the most generous country in the world when it comes to Legal Immigration. We naturalize 1 Million People a year, roughly. But what we are seeing now as a result of the chaos and the hardship and the crisis that has manifested, because we simply have been unwilling as a u. S. Government to deal with the flow of ilLegal Immigration and the moneymaking machine that this represents for the human smugglers. One of the reasons im very pleased that the president was able to negotiate with the secretary of state and others an agreement with mexico to step up their game and deal with more of a flow of migrants from Central America across their border is because, obviously, congress has failed to act to provide