Asssist Law Enforcement at the border. This is just under two hours. This hearing will come to order. I want to thank the witnesses for taking the time for your thoughtful testimony. I want to thank the audience members. It must be paid staff. I appreciate everyone coming here. I would like to start with the decade in review. I refer everybody to my chart. This is a chart i have been updating for the last 3 or 4 years. It is important to lay out what the history has been. Certainly from my standpoint. Some key policy changes. I would argue they contributed to what i consider an ongoing crisis even though we have made some process progress. That chart reflects all minors and people coming to this country as family units. Earlier versions only focused on Central American children and family members. Initially, we had 3000, 4000 unaccompanied children. We werent even keeping track of families because it wasnt a problem. 2012 was a similar moment. It was the issuance of the daca memorandum. It was used by human traffickers to help incentivize people. They would tell them, the u. S. Has changed your policy. That certainly started something. Fastforward forward to 2015. 2014 was the year when president obama very accurately described a humanitarian crisis at the border. 137,000 unaccompanied children crossed the border and overwhelmed customs and Border Protection. We were all singing the praises of customs and Border Patrol. The problem has grown so much more severely. We had to do something. We began detaining those families together. It worked. A court intervened, as courts continue to do. They reinterpreted the flores settlement. Clearly incorrectly. The flores settlement dealt with unaccompanied minors. But now a court said it dealt with the company minors. Now the government was faced with the facts. If we want to enforce the law, we are going to have to detain the adults and release the children or we will have to release the families. The Obama Administration decided to release the families. That began what is called catch and release. It was ramping up. We started talking about caravans. Folks on the other set of the aisle started referring to it as a manufactured crisis. I started producing this chart on a monthly basis. Start pointing out, no, this is not a manufactured crisis. This is Something Real and overwhelming. The courageous men and women of Border Patrol, the compassionate men and women of border control, or trying to deal with something that is overwhelming. We hit the high watermark of the current crisis. 4000 people a day were crossing the border. We no longer heard people talk about a manufactured crisis. In may, i started extrapolating. The end it was 608,000. Compared to 137,000 when president obama declared a humanitarian crisis. I hope we have laid to rest that this is a manufactured crisis. We have brought it down. Bring up the next sheet. This is my weekly report. I come from a manufacturing background, so i like to see statistics. It is not all shown because this is Law Enforcement sensitive but members of the committee have this in front of them. The last week i have figures on, it averaged about1, 372. Less than 1400. I will never forget an interview that secretary jeh johnson gave to msnbc. He would come into the office and he said he knew he had a problem. Why did we go from less than 1400 . What else needs to be done . What threatens the progress that we have already made . I have to say, i go down to the border. The individuals coming across here, the vast majority, they want what we want. Safety and security. I am highly sympathetic with that. But it has to be a legal process, it is far from under control. How can we more accurately and rapidly determine those who come to this country with no documentation who clearly do not have a valid asylum claims . And safely return them to their country . The real contribution that he made to that is if we are going to do something about that, lets gather the data. What i am hoping we will get out of this meeting is some of the data. How many of these claims have been adjudicated from Central America . How many of those individuals actually have valid asylum claims. We have such a low hurdle, that credible fear standard, that we waived everybody in. The courts are completely backlogged. Some of them end up melding into society. We dont know where they go. We dont know where they are. In the end, they dont have a valid asylum claim. We shouldve never let the men. We have to increase that initial hurdle. We need the data to enact public policy. What i am hoping that will come out of this hearing is better data. As we move forward with some of these programs that have shown some success, lets develop the data. You set an achievable goal. You come together on a bipartisan basis. With that, i will turn it over to senator peters. Thank you to our witnesses here today. I am proud to say that over the past year our committee has been able to come together on a bipartisan basis to examine these challenges we are facing our border. In june, we came together to unanimously advance my bipartisan bill to strengthen Border Security. And address Law Enforcement shortages at ports of entry. The full Senate Approved by bill to hire more agricultural inspectors and canine units to protect the food supply from harmful contraband. Just yesterday, i had a chance to see an officer and canine inaction at detroit metropolitan airport. I was stunned to see the number of seizures that they make to keep our country save every single day. I am proud of those men and women who are leading the nation when it comes to the introduction of harmful biological material coming across the border. Detroit metro has been the number one intercepting port for the last two fiscal years. Metro detroit has also pioneered Training Programs that have been deployed nationally with positive results in boston, new work newark, and dallas. These pests pose a significant threat. These officers are doing phenomenal work to protect michigan and the rest of the country from harm. This past year, we have had many challenges for our Border Security professionals. The situation on our southern border is dynamic. Our Border Security efforts should reflect that fact. Often, this administrations Border Security policies have been shortsighted. If we are going to successfully address the conditions on our border and the root causes that are driving this migration, we need to take a comprehensive approach that looks at the data and finds Commonsense Solutions to address these very serious challenges. I appreciate our witnesses for joining us here today. And for their commitment to serve our country. I recognize that addressing Border Security and humanitarian challenges require stable and effective leadership. I am deeply concerned. By the lack of the lack of Senate Confirmed leaders in nearly all of the top leadership positions in the department of Homeland Security. We have three Senate Confirmed positions in front of us in all three of you are acting, not Senate Confirmed. I will continue to call on this administration to qualify leaders for this. The men and women of dhs and the American People deserve stability, accountability that comes from nominating and confirming qualified leaders. Permanence and stability is critical. I look forward to hearing your testimony. Thank you for your service. Thank you. I completely agree with you in terms of getting individuals nominated and performed confirmed. We do have some highly qualified individuals in these acting positions. It is the tradition of this committee to swear in witnesses. If you could stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear that the testimony you give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Please be seated. Our first witness is mr. Mark morgan, the acting commissioner of customs and Border Protection. He began serving his community as a u. S. Marine. After completing a 20 year career in the fbi, he started serving in dhs before being appointed to the Border Patrol. He served as chief until 2017. He returned to be dhs as acting director of Customs Enforcement in may of this year. Good morning. Thank you members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to inform the American People the truth of what is happening on the southwest border during 2019. As well as the remarkable and noteworthy successes by the Current Administration and the incredible men and women of United States custom and Border Protection. Im honored to speak on behalf of the men and women of cbp. They are defending the rule of law and maintaining integrity of the immigration system and protecting the safety and security of this great country. All while simultaneously playing a Critical Role in ensuring our economic security. Early this year, we sounded the alarm as the border crisis. We asked congress to act to fix the loopholes and a broken immigration system. And close the gaps driving the crisis. Unfortunately, not a single piece of meaningful legislation has been brought forward to address this crisis. The country watched as the crisis worsens. Although we have made great progress, i am here today to respectfully remind the committee and the American People that there continues to be a humanitarian crisis and a National Security crisis. Enforcement action succeeded 1. 1 million nationwide. An increase of 68 over the Previous Year. The total number of apprehensions along our southwest border exceeded 978,000. At 88 increase over the Previous Years apprehensions. Border control apprehended more than 473,000 family units. Representing the highest number for any year on record. The number of unaccompanied children encountered before the ports totaled more than 76,000. 52 higher than any other year. There is no immigration system in the world designed to handle such a massive migration number. Not even the United States. Challenging still is the demographics of those illegally entering our southern border. In 2019, 71 of all southwest Border Apprehensions came from the northern triangle countries. The vast majority being families and unaccompanied children. They are being pulled into the United States by the loopholes in our current Legal Framework. They know if you grab a kid, that is your passport in the United States. It was working. All while the human smuggling cartels exploited them. But the men lifethreatening situations. Treated them as nothing more than a money making commodity. The impact was real. In may of this year, we saw our highest numbers. More than 140,000 apprehensions in a single month. Cbp had to get resources away from critical duties to care for women and children. Up to 50 of resources were pulled off the line to care for the families and children. Leaving areas of the border increasingly vulnerable. Meanwhile, the cartels and smuggling organizations were exploiting those lawenforcement gaps. Increasing threats to our National Security. More than 150,000 migrants to illegally enter the United States got away. The Transnational Criminal Organizations are not only exploiting the migrants themselves, but also flooding the United States with illicit narcotics. Make no mistake, if you have a methamphetamine in your town or city, they came from the southwest border. An absence of congressional action, the administration has taken action. Engagement with the government of mexico. We have started initiatives and regulations to stem the flow of migration. Together, we are approaching this as a regional crisis that it is. We have seen incredible success. The last four months of fiscal year 2019, we saw noah 65 reduction in the apprehensions. September marks the lowest number of Enforcement Actions in the entire year. By midyear, cbp was holding almost 20,000 detainees in custody. Val, we are averaging less than 3500 today. At the height of the crisis, cbp apprehensions at times exceeded more than 5000 in a single day. Now we are averaging less than 1400. We have all that in the catch and release. Our success at addressing the humanitarian crisis should not overshadow the National Security crisis. Last year, cbp officers seize more than 750,000 pounds of illicit narcotics. Their aaron Marine Operations ceased an additional 285,000 pounds of cocaine. Seizures of the four hard narcotics all increase. Last year, there are more than 68,000 Overdose Deaths in the u. S. We know that methamphetamine has seen significant resurgence as super labs in mexico are taking over production and flooding the u. S. With cheaper and purer forms of meth. Additionally, cbp sees nearly 3000 weapons, 75 Million Dollars worth of illicit currency, and apprehended 16,000 criminal aliens. This is just what we caught. I know i am running overtime. If i could just make a couple of more comments. The apprehension numbers are still unacceptable. As chairman johnson stated, the former secretary of dhs jeh johnson stated, 1000 apprehension was a bad day. He was correct and it still stands today. Im concerned the good story im able to tell this morning regarding the Immigration Crisis has allowed some to take their eye off the ball, but this crisis isnt over. Due in part to the judicial activism from the lower courts, we are one bad Court Decision away from losing a significant ability to continue to mitigate the current crisis. Additionally, we cannot rely solely on our partner nations to resolve our broken immigration system. To obtain a lasting and durable solution, Congress Must act. As i sit here today as a Law Enforcement professional, over 30 years of service to this country, i am absolutely perplexed why congress cannot come together on a bipartisan manner to fix this. We know the cartels and human smuggling organizations are exploiting the migrants as they make their journey here. They are giving up their life savings, turning themselves over, and often their children over to the hands of smugglers. Often abused and deprived of adequate food, water, and medical attention during their trip, we know because we average 71 hospital visits per day in 2019. Add that up, thats roughly over 25,000 hospital visits. The smugglers and cartels leave these immigrants in rivers to die. They leave them in open, harsh trailers to die and in tractortrailers to die. The Border Patrol last year conducted 4900 rescues of immigrants who the smugglers abandoned to die. We also encountered 24 bodies along the southern border including skeletal remains. I have told the story before and i think i told it in front of this committee of a paraplegic man who smugglers threw in the water to avoid apprehension without giving it a second thought. We know children are being rented and recycled and presented as fake families. Last fiscal year, cbp identified over 6000 fake family members impacting over 1834 juveniles. We had a honduran man who bought a child, bought a child, for 80. Why did he do it . Because the loopholes in the system told him and the smugglers made sure he understood, you grab a child, thats your passport into the United States. It is our broken immigration Legal Framework that provides an incentive driving the crisis. I feel like i have been begging for congress to act. If Congress Continues to fail to come together across the aisle, more children and families will be placed in harms way by the cartels and the criminal Networks Domestic and abroad will continue to negatively impact the Public Safety throughout the nation as bad people and drugs make their way into our nation every day. We need your help. We are asking for your help. We have been asking for your help. The only winners here, by inaction, by not passing meaningful legislation, are the cartels as they continue to thrive and increase their multibilliondollar business on the backs of migrants. Please join us in doing everything we can to target these smuggling organizations and the cartels and put them out of business. We can start by eliminating the ability to advance the multibilliondollar business on the backs of migrants and at the cost of american lives. I sincerely thank you for this opportunity and im looking forward to addressing any of your questions. Thank you for that testimony. It is my intention, and hopefully the attention of the members of this committee to do everything we can. We need the information. Please help us get this information. I think you did a good job laying out that reality, which is the first step.