The convictions as a prosecutor, they would have in the reports how long they have been here and what they were doing. Now, last week, in the oval office, President Trump reportedly said the most vulgar and racist things ive ever heard a president of either party utter. In fact, ive never heard any president , republican or democrat, utter anything even similar. Now he denies using the specific word. And there has been some maybe he used a different word, maybe he didnt. Madam secretary, you were in the room. Youre under oath. Did President Trump use this word or a substantially similar word to describe certain countrys . I did not hear that word used, no, sir. Thats nthe question. Did he use anything similar to that stridescribing certain countrys . The conversation was impassioned. I dont dispute the president was using tough language. Others in the room were also using tough language. If i could, the concept and the context, i believe in which this came up was the concept that the president would like to move to a meritbased system, he would like to not no longer look at quotas and he used what would be considered vulgar language referring to certain countrys . The president used tough language in general, as did other congressmen in the room, yes, sir. The others arent president. You imply the president was articulating support for a meritbased immigration system, like those in australia or canada. But when he denigrated haiti, el salvador, africa, a country where we are trying to have some ability to match china and others in influence, he didnt say this because we needed more ph. D. Students or skilled workers, he said he wanted more people from norway. Being from norway is not a skill. And with the standard of living in norway better than ours, what does he mean when he says he wants more immigrants from norway . I dont believe he said that specifically. What he was saying is he was using norway as an example of a country that is what he was specifically referring to is the Prime Minister telling him that the people of norway work very hard. And so what he was referencing is from a meritbased perspective, we like to have those with skills who can assimilate to the United States, moving away from country quotas and to an individual meritbased system. Norway is a predominantly white country, isnt it . I actually do not know that, sir. But i imagine that is the case. Now, the Obama Administration focuses limited enforcement resources and everybody i have to admit enforcement, the ability for enforcement is limited. You cant hit on every single thing. Thats correct. The Obama Administration focuses on those who pose Public Safety threats. President trump has expanded those. Now he has those who could be charged with the crime or a priority. That means millions of undocumented immigrants are subject to removal. They are a priority for removal. One of the things i learned as a prosecutor, if everyone is a priority, nobody is a priority. Because you cant do it all. In texas, Border Patrol agents detained a 10yearold girl with Cerebral Palsy on her way do a hospital for a surgery. What a hell of a threat she was. A caregiver of a 6yearold paraplegic boy facing deportation, just yesterday in michigan, a man brought to this country at the age of 10 was deported after living here for over 30 years, torn away from his wife and children, u. S. Citizens. Hes never committed a crime. He pays his taxes every year. Now, thats how we use our limited enforcement resources, is that to strike fear in the hearts of everybody, whether they have done something wrong or not . They tell them they could be targeted at anytime . Im sure that 10yearold girl with Cerebral Palsy was scared. Sir, first of all, i am not sure where we would agree on the facts of that texas case. But were happy to submit the facts. Pardon me . Submit the facts. She was not detained. We helped her and escorted her to the hospital and turned her over to hhs. To your larger question, what we focus on in terms of enforcement priorities are those who have committed crimes and those with final orders of removal. Our statistics show that that is in fact what were doing. Last year 92 of those that were arrested and taken into custody by ice were criminals. I understand that there will always be exceptions, there is a lot of misunderstandings in the press. I would be happy to work with you at anytime if there is a case of concern to make sure that we understand on that, we do ask questions of your department. And on occasion, on occasion, we have gotten answers. Lets try to get answers to all of them. You know the president says he wants to build a big, beautiful wall, and mexico pay for it. The president s promise mexico to pay for it. And we open an account that mexico can put the money into to pay for it, what im sure the president wouldnt make that promise if he and not tell the truth. What arrangements do we have with mexico to pay for it . As the secretary of Homeland Security, what im concerned about, is getting the front line do you know whether we have arrangements with mexico to pay for it . I know we have arrangements with mexico to secure our border. Do we have arrangements with them to pay for the wall as President Trump promised the American People they would do . Thats an easy answer. Yes or no . I am not aware. I dont know what you mean by arrangement. We have a lot of agreements with them to increase Border Security. Are any of them to pay for a wall . How do you mean, pay, sir . Through fees . Do you mean through a variety of ways . Well when something is paid for, you pay for it with money. I understand that. But im saying there are many ways to do that and collect that. Are they paying for a wall . My priority is to increase Border Security and to build that wall, that will work. Thats my priority, sir. Thats what im thats then talk about that. Cbp estimates building a wall will result in taking land from 900 ranchers, other landowners two texas counties, thats two counties. Ill insert that letter if i might into the record. Without objection, so ordered. And what is your estimate of the number of imminent domain cases against ranchers and other american landowners that would be required in order to build a wall . Sir, the initial wall that were building right now, as you know for this year, is a replacement wall. I couldnt possibly give you how many people have will decide in the future to have an issue with imminent domain. If you build a wall on the u. S. Side of the border, you have to create a nomansland between the wall and the rio grande river. How many acres of land of america land do we have to cede to mexico to do that . Well, what well have to do is look at the terrain, the traffic, the accessibility and, youre right, we have to tailor the solutions for each part of the border to make sure that we dont have to do anything that is unnecessary, whether that is additional land acquisition. If we dont have an agreement with mexico to pay for it, and if as many say a wall is last centurys technology, would that 18 billion, how many more cbp agents could you hire or tsa screeners to shorten the lines at airports, which have become ridiculous in some places, or how many coast guard cutters could you build in order to rescue those and see drugs and protect our ports . Sir, i can tell you that walls work. We have examples of that. We have documented data and i dont know about anyone saying it is last generations technology. 2006, as you know, we had a bipartisan agreement and the secure fence act, which senators obama, clinton, and schumer all voted for. So i disagree that it is last generation, last centurys technology. And parts of that wall, what was built parts of it. Were talking about a wall the length of our country. Were not. The president has made that clear. Im not going to play back a lot of this Campaign Speeches about a wall, great big, beautiful wall, the length of our southern border paid for by mexico. Ive heard a lot of prime omise my decade here. Im waiting to see this one fulfilled. Thank you for the extra time. I think since you were at the same meeting i was at on tuesday, the president said 700 miles of additional wall. 722, yes. Initial down payment. Senator cornyn. Thank you, madam secretary, for your willingness to take on what is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the United States government. That is the leadership of the department of Homeland Security, but it is also one of the most important jobs in the u. S. Government. I want to continue the line of questioning for my from my friend from vermont about the Border Security. It is no surprise to you that i come from the state that has 1200 miles of common border with mexico. And what were talking about is what measures are going to be put into place to provide that Border Security, which my constituents all want. They want security. Yes, sir. And so i have been struck by your use of the phrase wall system, and just want to explore with you a little bit what you mean by that. One of the people that i take advice from is the Rio Grande ValleyBorder Sector chief manny padilla, who i believe you were with recently, who has told me that in his vast experience, and the Border Patrol, that Border Security is composed of three elements. He said infrastructure is important. You can call it a secure fence as we did in 2006, you can call it a wall as the president does from time to time. But it includes not only that infrastructure, but also technology. And, of course, the Border Patrol agents to be able to respond to sensors when they get they go off or radar and the like. Is that what you mean when you talk about a wall system, some configuretion of those three components, infrastructure, technology, and personnel . Yes, sir. The president has asked us as you know to look at operational control of the border. The wall system, therefore, is infrastructure as you described, technology personnel, and i would add it is also closing those loopholes so you can promptly remove those. But in general we look at forming mission sets, we look at impede ens and denial, which is partly granted through that infrastructure. We look at domain awareness, the sensors, the cameras, et cetera, we look at access and mobility, so that the Border Patrol agents can respond to threats. And we look at mission readiness, having that personnel that we need to be able to do the job. Because of the impact to local communities, and in texas and elsewhere along the border, do you have any objection to consulting with local stake holders as they try to come up with perhaps Innovative Solutions to deal with the Border Security challenge . It is an open invitation. The only way that we will be able to protect the border is by working with both state and local officials as well as those landowners and private sectors. So absolutely. I was at the Rio Grande Valley on friday and saturday and sunday, hunting the ever elusive wild texas quail and i did happen to go over to the to a Wildlife Sanctuary on friday, which is a unique tourist attraction and one that is located within several hundred yards of the texas border. What im told there is that the smugglers, the Transnational Criminal Organizations you alluded to before, do see that as a vulnerability and so obviously we need to meet that challenge and i know that chief padilla and others are working hard to do that. We also need to be sensitive to the concerns, i think, that the local community has, about a huge economic element there and something that we entertain a lot of folks from up north. They call it snow birds down there, when it is cold up north, they come down south and it is great for them, great for the economy, great for jobs. So that would be one example of a need to work collaboratively with the local community and local stake holders as well as state and local officials to come up with the right solution. I remember a few years back, in hidalgo, texas, using that same local stake holder input approach we were able to come up with a winwin proposition. Youre familiar with the levee wall . Yes, sir. There was a need to improve the levee system down there and protect Property Values and make Flood Insurance affordable. But in consultation, i remember jd salina, the county judge in hidalgo, texas, they put a bond election on the ballot and came up with a dual use system which actually provided that levee improvement and also provided a wall in critical areas that the Border Patrol that they said they needed in order to slow down the flow of illegal immigration and Drug Trafficking and the like th. That is one example of what i call a winwin proposition and where one size does not fit all. Chief padilla told me the majority of people coming across the border and detained in the Rio Grande Valley sector is from Central America. I cant remember the exact percentage, but a High Percentage as you know. And what these traffickers are doing is exploiting as you point out a vulnerability in our system. We passed the trafficking victims protection reauthorization act years ago in order to protect children from human trafficking. Thats a highly worthy cause. Agree. But the traffickers are now figuring out that since children have come from Central America are treated differently than other people who entered the country illegally, they found a way to exploit it. I believe you mentioned 90 of them who are notified of a future Court Hearing on their claim for asylum, for example, never show up. And thats a real glitch. But i know there has been some attention paid, not enough attention paid in my view, to the threat of criminal gangs that exploit this vulnerability as well. I was told by chief padilla again that they have ms13 gang members as young as 12 years old and, of course, from 12 to 17, still qualify as a minor. And let me ask, if Border Patrol identifies by the tattoos or other signs on somebody under 18, that theyre likely a member of a criminal gang, are they permitted to detain them or required to treat them the same way they would every other minor child and place them with a sponsor ultimately and only to have them never show back up for their Court Hearing in the future. Criminal gang members who happen to be minors treated any differently . Unfortunately, no. We have to treat them the same. We do if we have that information provided to hhs when of course they have them, once we turn them over to hhs. No, sir. It is a problem. We need to look at removeability in general to make sure we can address this gang problem. We see gangs all the way up to new york, recruiting Illegal Immigrants and children to come across the border for the purposes of joining ms13. I know when we talk about unaccompanied children, people think about very young children, children of a tender age they dont think about a 17yearold member of a criminal gang like ms13, which is exploiting this very same vulnerability. I have every confidence that you and the Trump Administration is going to do what you say youre going to do when it comes to Border Security and i believe it is our responsibility as members of congress to provide you the resources and tools and to make the appropriate changes in the law. So that you can do what needs to be done. I know there have been requirements for border assessments in the past. But do you have any objection to Congress Perhaps as part of this negotiated Border Security part of the daca fix, socalled, mandating that the Department Come up with a plan that would provide for 100 Situational Awareness and operational control of the border . No, sir. I dont. I would encourage if you havent had the opportunity to look at the Border SecurityInvestment Plan that we recently provided there is some detail in there. Under domain awareness, one of the four missions i mentioned, absolutely. I think it would be important to put that in the law because, of course, when administrations change, different administrations have different priorities in terms of Border Security and the like. I would like to make sure that the focus of this Administration Remains part of the congressional mandate in the law. And so would look forward to working with you on that. I know there has been some discussion of the daca population and certainly i, together with my colleagues, on a bipartisan basis, want to find a solution for these young adults who came here as minor children and through no fault of their own find themselves in a dead end. I do know that there was a Court Decision which created some confusion the other day. And what strikes me as wildly wrong to say that president obama can create a program and that President Trump cannot e