Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140711

And it demonstrates what happens when the president unilaterally decides to issue an executive order affecting immigration without securing the border. The number of children more than doubled between fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2013. Yet until just recently, the president did not even speak out to warn their parents and to tell them that the bjojourney wd be horrendous for their children and they would be sent home. We know many of these children have been abused or harmed on their way here. And when the wave became evident two years ago, the president took no action at that time to try to stem the tide. We know that it will take a long time before all of these children have hearings that could lead to their being support home, if they show up at all for the adjudications. So my question is what specifically is the administration doing to propose changes in the laws or regulations right now so that these children can be safely and immediately put on planes and returned to their parents . And wouldnt such an action send the strongest possible message to the people of Central America that they should not allow their children to go with these smugglers and come here . Senator, first of all, i know this from personal conversations with these kids. Ive spoken to dozens of these kids. And i know from talking to Border Patrol officers who have spoken to these kids, first thing they say when you ask them why did you come here, it has to do with the conditions in the three Central American countries. My mother told me that the gang was going to kill me, or my brother was killed. Its always initially that. Second, clearly they know that if they come to the United States, our laws require certain things. That we transfer them to the department of health and Human Services. But its also the case that the criminal smuggling organizations are creating considerable misinformation about the state of our laws and so forth. They are telling, in order to induce the Family Member to pay 3,000, 5,000, whatever it is, they tell them things like, youll get a free pass. And it will expire at the end of june or the end of may. The fact is, and ive been saying this publicly now for weeks, and its being repeated in Central America and the Spanish Press that the Deferred Action Program that was established two years ago, is for children who have been in this country for seven years. Since june 2007. So it is simply wrong to seven june 2007. So, its simply wrong to say youre going to benefit from that program. We continue to repeat that. And theyre saying that and repeating it in those countries. But were dealing with criminal smuggling organizations. They put out considerable disinformation about this. You asked about changes in law. I believe, and i agree that people in Central America need to see Illegal Migrants coming back. The children accompanied by their parents, and the unaccompanied adults. Were doing it, and lessening the time it takes to happen. So, were asking for Additional Resources to turn those people around quicker. Including the children. So, in terms of changing the law, were asking for the ability to treat unaccompanied kids from a Central American country in the same way as from a contiguous country. Senator murray . Thank you, senator, for holding this hearing today. I think everybody in this room is at least in agreement that what were seeing at the border is unacceptable. The numbers of young people and children crossing our border, often by themselves is staggering. And as everyone knows, were not just talking about a few individual cases, were talking about tens of thousands of cases of young minors entering the United States. And the circumstances that theyre facing, these arent people coming to take jobs or get a free ride. These are children. Many of them 7 or 8 years old. Fleeing some terrible violence in their home countries. Theyre being sent oftentimes by desperate mothers and fathers, telling them to run for their lives. I cant imagine what that would feel like as a parent. But this is a refugee crisis. And as americans, we think of refugee crises as something happening far away, but its happening in our country, and its happening right now. This affects every single american community. Weve heard in my home state, in washington, some of these children may be sent to facilities in mccord, just a few miles from downtown seattle. So, all of us need to take the situation very seriously. Im particularly concerned about the condition and care of the young women and girls being detained on our border. Some of them have faced unbelievable abuse, violence, human trafficking, and are trying to avoid some of those fates. So, we need to talk about some of the resources the administration has to fight organized crime on the border. But we also need the resources to protect these children and treat them humanely. And we need to protect the young women and girls from the violence and abuse theyre running away from in their home countries. We cant ignore the legitimate cries for help from refugees. Its our turn, and we need to accept that. Were focused on fighting organized crime on our border, but we cant leave these children behind, and make sure they have valid claims for asylum. I know thats not the focus of this hearing, but weve seen too many tragedies on our borders. Thats one of the ways we can fix this long term comprehensive strategy. My question is, why is the administration pursuing costly detaining of families . Senator, i believe that, excuse me, i believe that in or the der to deal with the current situation, we have to return people, and we have to show others in Central America that we are returning people. That is how to deal with the existing situation. In order to do that and do it qui quickly, were building detention capability for adults that bring their children here. We didnt have that capability until recently. Were turning the adults around faster, and the ones with children around faster in order to send people home. Is the administration making sure that each of the children who are detained can pursue asylum, and have representation from a qualified attorney . It is part of our standard procedure to make sure that people are informed of their rights in this type of situation. And with regard to when the children come to hhs, a number of things happen. They are informed of their rights and the immigration proceedings. And if they have a different status, thats checked again. If that happens, in terms of asylum for the child, then appropriate steps are taken. In addition, with the children, we continue to try and in some cases under 2,000, but over 1,000 cases, we do connect them with pro bono attorneys. Some children have extreme circumstances with what happened to them along the way. And they need special types of help. I appreciate that very much. And when we think about the numbers, 14 of the money that hhs has asked for is for health and Legal Services that are beyond the basic services we provide for children. Some of them have extreme needs, whether its legal or health. And a comment to be made. I know many senators have had to leave because of airplane flights that theyve had to take. I want to protect the rights of every single senator. If any had to leave, i want to make sure that the record is open, they can submit their questions in writing, and ask the departments to respond in two weeks. Its been a long hearing, and i want to make sure that everyone has the chance to do that. Thank you, madam chairwoman. Let me say to the witnesses, thanks for being here. This morning, i was driving into work and listening to npr. You might be shocked by that, but i was listening to npr. And this very wellspoken gentleman, i wish i had gotten his name, he spoke about his travels through Central America. Basically what he was saying is, at the risk of paraphrasing his comments, the coyotes, or smugglers, they go to the family and tell them the chances of being deported or sent back home are slim to none. And then they rip the families off. They hit them for 3,000, 5,000, 7,000. Not small amounts of money. And they starve, abuse, rape these children. And take them through hell on earth. All with the performance that here, the United States government will take care of them. Ive listened to your testimony today, and i believe youre proving their case. No reflection on you, madam secretary. You have to deal with the law given to you on december 8th, 2008. Heres whats resulting. You tell me, mr. Secretary, that 1,800 get deported. Those are pretty darn good odds. Chances are, youre not going get deported. 46 dont show up. I appreciate your comments about, if you dont show up, youre in trouble. When we catch up with you, youre going home. Well, we have 12 Million People in the United States with those circumstances. Madam secretary, i read through the law. I took the time to go through the 2008 law. Look at what you do. Its no reflection on the job youre doing. Its what you have to do under the law that Congress Gave to you in december of 2008. You are responsible for their care and custody. You have to do an immediate age determination. And establish policies and programs to care for these unaccompanied minors. And make sure their placements are safe and secure. So, you have to do assessments of the family, the home, the environment, to determine whether theyre going to be safely placed. You have to make sure theres access to on going information, and legal presentations. Access to counsel. And child advocates can get involved. This strikes me as the kind of law that came along, and people bought into it. I bet it passed with a bipartisan amount of support. But my question is, if the coyotes are promising that the kids will get to the United States, are going to be cared for, isnt your testimony today establishing without a shadow of a doubt that this is, in fact, exactly what youre going to do with the kids in your custody . I think the question of the overarching plan, something that has been raised. We are one piece of the plan. When a child gets here, how we treat the child. And i think thats a reflection of our nation and our values. What were asking for is the support to make the coyotes promise not true. The way we do that is by speeding the time with which people go back. So, the way we break the programs, and the part of the coyote lie, youre right. The numbers are not high. And i think secretary johnson has said, thats our objective. That 1,800 number is not the right one to send the signal thats appropriate to deter. What we want to do is make the promise not correct. Im not sure that what we want to do as a nation, the child is here, and we dont take care of them. 22 are 11 years old or under. So, how one treats, how we believe one should treat im glad you read the law. The requirements are, taking care of the child, making sure theyre safe. But the people that are taking these families down an inappropriate path, we need to make sure were sending an appropriate signal. Well, this is a complex signal. But i dont see anything in what youre requesting here that is going to impact the story theyre telling down here. Theyre coming here believing that if they can just get in your custody, theyre not going to go home. Thank you, madam chair. Senator . Thank you very much. I want to begin with the law which is, i think, the appropriate place the begin and follow up on some of the questions that have already been asked. Everyone is referring to the 2008 law, which i have also reviewed. But i think we need to go back to the base law, the 1988 refugee act. Establishing the basic right of refugees to come to this country. And it was ordered because of the fall of vietnam. And in the late 70s, refugees needed protection. There was an humanitarian crisis, and it was signed and enacted unanimously in 1980. Senator feinstein will recall, because she passed legislation regarding this. And that act separated the Refugee Status for children away from adults, unaccompanied children, because of her concerned about several instances, but one in particular that was gruesome. Chinese children were shipped here in a container, and some of them might have died on the way. So, weve got to go back a long way talking about this law. Its the asylum law. Number two, i want to help, but i also have strong feelings about right now, today, a lack of accountability as to what agency in front of us is ultimately in charge. I want to support one agency, coordinating with the others. Otherwise, its going to be a dis disbursal of funds, and we need to get it correct. We need to secure our borders, spend the taxpayers money well, and protect the families. Number three, we already have a plan. This is for you, mr. Shannon. Youve been very, very quiet. But i have some questions for the state department. I worked for several years with republicans and democrats, and the government of the United States has a plan. Its called the action plan on children and diversity. You may want to get a copy of it. Its very onpoint, because its the state departments plan. And children in adversitiy, it to achieve a world free from exploitation and danger. Its grounded in evidence if failure to do so undermines economic progress. Child development is central to diplomatic efforts. The plan wants to implement good practices into our policies. And we underscored the importance of this plan of children being in families. Families are the basic institution of all governments and societies. So, madam chair, i want to point out to the committee that there are several laws that need to be reviewed. Theres a plan that the gentleman is unaware of. And in closing, because my time is short, to the justice department, i want to make mention, im fairly clear about some of these numbers. You have a backlog of 375,000 kids. The average to deal with them is three to five years. Thats what mr. Tom holton a backlog of over 300,000, three to five years to adjudicate. And we need to make sure were talking about the right amount of money, performance standards, accountability. I am willing to work with you on it, but i still have questions. Senator cochran. Madam chairman, secretary johnson, i address my question to you. The number of children crossing the southwest border of the United States is expected to increase by 2,000 . Yet the administration did not request any increase in funding for any of the agencies responsible for addressing this problem in the 2015 budget. Despite the fact that they were aware of the increasing demand. So, how do you have this as an emergency request . Well, in the last two years, we have definitely seen a rise in unaccompanied children. Weve worked with the mexican government, and worked with the government of guatemala on a task force. Weve known about this issue for some time, but it really spiked in january and also in the period of marchapril. Thats when it really spiked. I saw it myself in mcallen, texas, in may. But it is the case that it has been rising, and weve attempted to deal with it in a variety of ways that have been incorporated in prior submissions. What is the outlook in terms of improving the capacity to deal with the increase of numbers, or working with local government as an alternative as a safe haven for these migrants . The assumption is that there will be 145,000 in fiscal 15. I believe well address this tide. And i also believe we need transfer authority in case were more successful to devote to things like increased detection capability. And also money to support repatriation and reintegration to Central America, so we can return people quicker. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. Senator koons . Thank you, madam chair, and vice chair shelby. Thank you for your personal engagement. Hearing the stories of children, and adults who are part of this extraordinary humanitarian crisis at our southern border. I think the children are fleeing dramatically increased levels of violence. And if this increase in refugees was part of a change in american poli policy, we would see it from other countries than just three. So, its my hope that a significant share of the action that will be taken as a result of this emergency supplemental, will be i would love to hear more about the intended increased investment in the three countries. And as a Judiciary Committee member, this request, additional badly needed resources. Because we know we have a significant backlog, we have significant unmet detention costs, i think we need to act now to fix our most urgent problems. So, thank you to our four witnesses for being here. And i look forward to working with you. Ambassador shannon, can you tell us about the state department request, and your plans for processing, what is the baseline funding requested . And why is it not greater . And second, if both you and secretary johnson would speak to the media campaigns. Its a very modest amount of money to ensure that parents understand that their children are most likely not going to be granted a chance to stay in the United States. Thank you very much. I appreciate the questions, and the opportunity to respond. Let me start with the public messaging campaign. Thats been a focus of the president , Vice President , and others in the embassies in Central America. As we attempt to deal with the misinformation from the smuggling organizations, and this is an unprecedented phenomen phenomenon. To have children leaving in these numbers, weve never seen before. And we focused first on the danger of the journey. And secondly, there is no pass to get in. One does go into deportation proceedings. Independent of the outcome of the proceedings. And we are asking for money to accelerate those proceedings. However, that said, its important to know that our public messaging campaign is not just our campaign. Its also a campaign that the governments of other countries have joined. Back to the mothers and fathers, but also in the migrant communities in the United States, and highlighting the misinformation that the smugglers are providing. Weve already spent money announced by Vice President biden, and were asking for 5 million for public diplomacy. And part of it is additional public engagement, but a big part of it is going to be focused on the community of returned migrants. So they can talk to them about what went on. Im out of time, but if you have a brief response, are we doing enough . Well, we need to do more. Weve addressed some of the issues, but 300 million will allow us to focus on a few new areas. But this will be a down payment. Madam chair, may i add to that, please . Yes. Public messaging is critical here. When i was in guatemala a few days ago, it was an awkward moment standing next to the president of that country, we will send you back and dont do this. But its critical. And the population in Central America and the parents need to see that were sending people back. Thank you very much for your testimony. Senator . Thank you. Id like to ask secretary johnson and mr. Shannon, is mexico helping stem this flow and secure the border . If not, why not, and what are we doing to get them to help stop the flow of illegal aliens from Central America. Let me take the first crack at that. This has been the subject of conversations at the highest levels of both governments. President to president. Me to my counterpart. I believe the mexicans will step up and assist us in the security of our southern border. They announced on monday a plan to deal with the migration and to put in place a Guest Worker Program for guatemalans. And border security, ill defer to ambassador shannon. We announced a Mexican Border initiative. All the migrants have to cross there, and its the first point at which they can be interdicted in a meaningful way. And the mexicans have created a threetiered security, and attempting to address the Human Networks of smuggling routes moving up the coast by bus and train, in an effort to stop them and turn, especially the children, around. Mexico removed over 8,000 unaccompanied children last year. And its difficult because of the vastness of the terrain, but they understand that this is a problem, and they dont want the children to be caught between our borders. Especially to have them grouped in some areas where they would be subject to criminal gangs that operate in that part of mexico. And mexico has built a network which has facilitated our ability to remove them from the country in quick fashion. And mexico has been working with the Central Americans about this challenge. So, its been positive, and i think its going to bear fruit. The plan was announced on monday. And it is being implemented as we speak. We are spending 86 million of merit Initiative Money to enhance the Border Patrols. And were working with the guatemalans as well. And were going to judge our metrics in terms of who is being returned. And we will be following this very closely. In fact, secretary johnson and i were there just yesterday. Isnt the most effective deterrent actually having the people in those countries, seeing the young people returned . Isnt that the most effective deterrent . And how can you assure us that these funds will be used to accomplish that . To secure the border, and to be sent back to their home country . I agree that they need to see people coming back, that they wasted their money, giving the smuggling organizations 3,000, 4,000, 5,000. And a large part of the money will go to expediting requests. Can you do it without repeal of the 2008 law . I believe we can. Yes, sir, i believe the 2008 law reflects the fundamental values and commitments of this country that we should adhere to. But i also believe that with increased capability and resources we can turn people home. So you can do this even with the 2008 law in place . I believe that we will get at this problem. Thank you, madam chair. I was glad to hear that. I agreed with president bush when he signed the 2008 law. I think it speaks to our moral values as a country. Just as we dont tell jordan, because theyre being overwhelmed with refugees, just send them back to syria to be killed. We have to set a good example. I was stopped by someone in the press on the way over, we heard from a republican member of the house, we should be changing immigration laws. I reminded them we came together in the body last year, republicans and democrats, a year ago, and we ended the evening, and a long debate on the floor. All 150, 160 amendments, we passed an immigration law, with both republicans and democrats voting for it. The Republican Leadership in the house, im tired of the sniping about changing the immigration laws. Its a lot easier to snipe rather than vote. If you snipe, than say yes or no, then its not on record. They get paid the same as i do, they ought to pass a law. Now, i dont believe that, of course, i agree with you. You said in your testimony, our border is not open to illegal immigration. And i agree with you on that. And i dont believe all those children qualify for immigration protection. But some do, and we should give them that. Theyre fleeing violence, rape, and human trafficking. The distinguished senior senator from california worked on this law. T the children, fleeing extreme violence should be interviewed by Child Welfare specialists, and have a opportunity to tell their story to a judge who can identify them as victims of violence, or persecution. Im willing to help. I know, two or three hours before the Vice President arrived to guatemala, you were planning to announce money we may want to look a little bit further than that. But i can assure you that i will fight tooth and nail, changes in the trafficking victims protection act. We have to do the right thing. We can and should work with you. We will help you. But, when you have an 8 or 9yearold girl being raped by gangs sending her up here. Or being sent by her parents to escape that kind of violence, im not sure americans all really feel that we should immediately send them back. We routinely ask these other countries to support refugees fleeing violence, lets do it ourselves. And look for the funding in a longrange plan. In the meantime, i hope the body will pass an immigration law. Anybody want to respond . I do. I have a letter written by a number of senators, including senators on this committee. And theres a sentence in the second paragraph that i agree with. We strongly believe that in responding to this crisis, we must not set aside our fundamental commitments as a nation. Thats the bedrock of my public service. Dealing with this or responding to a terrorist attack, we should not jettison the law or bend it. And its at times like this, when adherence to our laws, in my view, is very important. Im very familiar with that letter, as you know. Thank you. Senator . Thank you, madam chair, and thank you all for being here. Ill be honest with you, i feel like youre going to have a lot of problems with the proposal youre giving us because its not balanced. Theres been concern over the cartels advertising falsely, if you get here youre going to get amnesty, those kinds of things, and the ability to administratively deal with the people here. You mentioned you had, i guess, 2,000 people that you sent back last year. How many administrative judges did you have to do that . We have 243 judges. How many additionally are you asking for . An additional 25 judge teams that could take us up to about 40 with other teams. 270 . 283. So, a 273,000 backlog . And were in the process of hiring through fiscal year 2014 appropriations well, if you multiplied your judges by ten, youd still be in trouble. Theres no question, there are a large number of cases that going to be lasting for a long time. What about the people that have been in detention already . Are we going to do the new people first . Whats the well, the people in retainer right now, theyre our priority. What were doing, adding the recent Border Crossing cases to that priority. Th th that doesnt make sense to me, increasing by 40 administrative judges, working through the backlog plus the additions were talking about are coming, if we dont develop a plan. And how long are the kids going to be out there . Well, part of the reasons we need the money and soon is because permanent facileliitiese much cheaper. Permanent facilities, a bed can cost between 250 up to 1,000. We can make a plan, and go into Grant Agreements with people, that affords us to do this in a much more costeffective fashion. Right now, with the department of defense, we had 120 days we renewed that for 120 days. How do you educate them . Through guarantees on the facilities. These are often religious organizations that do Child Welfare services. Licensed organizations that enter into Grant Agreements and agree to provide the care. What i would like is, again, not pie in the sky. When you look at it logically, theres no way we can adjudicate these people. And im also concerned about how theyre being housed. I hope its not pie in the sky like the adjudication process is. And it sounds like were going to be keeping some people for a long time. As far as education, health care, ive got to see it on paper, so we truly can provide the money its going to take. But the biggest deterrent is, if they come to this country, theyre going to be sent back. The children in our care in 2011, it was about 75 days that it took for placement with a sponsor that we believed was safe, and appropriate. And several weeks ago, we started a pilot for the group of children we feel we can place most quickly. And the variables are about cost, number one, the amount of children coming across the border. Number two, the amount and type of beds, what we have to pay for them. And number three, the speed in which we can appropriately place. And quickly, you dont have any props with congressmen showing up and looking at facilities in their districts or their states unannounced . With regard to the question of visiting the facilities, we welcome members of congress to visit our facilities. And i speak on behalf of my colleagues, but we need to be able to handle our guests when we come, providing the information they need, and protecting the children. So, the one thing we do ask, we do ask there is scheduling. Right now, since weve opened the temporary facilities, there have been visits from elected officials. We want to schedule them as quickly as we can. And we want to be able to manage the work of the people on the ground. We welcome it, and we want to make sure that we respect the children as well as respecting the border agents. Were sorry if there were misunderstandings. Let me be clear, we welcome members to come. I couldnt say it any better. Were now going to turn to senator feinstein. But i want to respond to senator bozeman. I want to point out, where we are here, which is my senator shelby and i are passionate about an order. This is supplemental to fiscal 14 appropriations. In ord in other words, to get us to october 2014. Some would be paid out in 15, and it would be above the current levels in terms of what the president has proposed. But isnt that like, if you do a contract with the Catholic Charities or the Baptist Charities we need to be able to, if we enter a Grant Agreement with someone, two weeks before october 1st, we have to take the beds down, about 1,600 beds remember this, we have to pass our appropriations for fiscal 15. If you want more immigration judges, we need to pass the corresponding bill. Thats where the judges are. And anybody that has other amendments, let us alone. Let us get our bills done. Were ready to move on Homeland Security. Foreign ops, ready to go. We have the infrastructure for fiscal 15. Let us come to the floor. Senator feinstein. Thank you. I want you to know im fully in support of this supplemental. I would like our distinguished heads and secretaries to know, i started this legislatively back in 2002. I was home, i turned on the tv, and saw a 15yearold chinese youngster shackled, handcuffed, tears rolling down her face in front of a judge. In interpreter, no counselor, she was one of the survivors from a container of chinese that came to this country. One of the very few. And i believe her parents died coming across the ocean. And i thought at the time, im going to take a look at the law and see what we can do. So, i introduced this unaccompanied minor bill. And the purpose is pretty much as secretary johnson has elucidated. Unaccompanied minors traveling alone, they would have a process that is different. Transferred to hhs, and would have help, with pro bono counsel, an advocate, if we can bring them back to their country, or whether there was a place for them. The numbers at that time was about 5,000. Now, we have 60,000. I want to thank you both. Ive had my staff go to all the facilities starting up in california and arizona. And they come and tell me that they are really wellrun. And that people are moving quickly, alertly, whether its customs, Border Patrol, i. C. E. , any other staff. Im grateful for that. Youve moved, secretary johnson, you are a man of your word, and i find you a very impressive secretary of Homeland Security. Madam chair, ive known you. But its clear from your discourse today, you know what youre doing. From 2002, we were not able to move the bill through. And we worked with large numbers of groups. Church groups, other groups. And i think the bill grew somewhat. And it was signed by president bush in 2008. To secretary johnson, who said he thought he might need added discretion, i would like to refer you to section 235 b3, which says the following. Except in the case of exceptional circumstances, any department or agency of the federal government that has an u u unaccompanied child in custody, shall send it to hhs within 72 hours. What this does is trigger a number of other provisions. But what i would say is, the exception is the case of exceptional circumstances. I would suggest that you sit down and go through the exceptional circumstances. And how the process might be modified to give you more time. I agree very much with what you said, secretary johnson, about the values of this country. And i think if people see the children, if they know the growth of crime, and particularly in honduras, which today, the reportedly the murder capital of the world. The fear that people have. I dont think a mother in this country necessarily acts the same way as a mother in hondu s honduras, guatemala, or any other place. Because their options are so limited. So, i hope this exception is enough to give you want you need, mr. Secretary, in terms of added time. And from 5,000 to 60,000, i really offer to work with you. I hope the bill does not need amending. Because it took six years to get where we are. But i thank you for your good work, and i wanted an opportunity to say that. Thank you, madam chairman. Excellent. Senator . Thank you. And thank you each for your testimony here today. I have to tell you, i have been looking at the handout that senator collins had presented in terms of the numbers that we have seen over the years. Since 2009. And the very dramatic rise, beginning in 2012. And i come back to the fact as the chairman has noted that we are here today presenting this as an emergency supplemental. This is a humanitarian crisis, and i think it pulls at the heart strings of all of us. These are not numbers, these are lives and these are childrens lives. I find it very troubling we areo get our hands around this and weve seen these numbers grow from 24,000 in 2012 to 38,000 in 2013 to 52,000 in 2014 and now 57,000. And so im frustrated and im concerned as im sure that all of you are but i just cant understand why we have not had you before us prior to this time. Why it is now part of an emergency supplemental request and to hear the testimony from both secretaries about the very immediate need to act before august or the consequences in terms of how these children will be cared for when theyre here in this country. Are quite dire, as you have stated. So secretary johnson, you have said that doing nothing is not an option and you outlined some things. Some additional detention facilities being built. But its not translating in terms of what were skiing so the proposal is that we build out more permanent detention facilities. More permanent because those are less expensive. I want to believe you when you all say we need to stem the tide. We all want to stem the tide. Thats what were trying to drill down on. How do we reduce these numbers . How do we reduce these bar charts . That are reallife children . The queer successful we have places on the board that we can gear up. And if you do what youre hoping and we fund what youre hoping for, we have in place facilities that would seemingly no longer be necessary if we have done what we all hoped we would do before this became a crisis. So im trying to reconcile what is being asked for here in this emergency supplemental. And as much as i can lament about we shouldnt be where we are, we are where we are and thats a shame. But i guess my question to you is do we truly understand what the strategy and the plan is Going Forward beyond august . We havent seen legislation from the administration where were making the assumption that the numbers are going to continue to grow and thats why were going to need the request that you have within your budget. But if were doing what were all talking about doing which is to reduce the times and to have a process that is better expedited, is this the right answer . I think there are two things. One is, at the beginning of your comments with regard to the numbers, the chart that senator collins handed out, i think an important thing we need to distinguish is that it includes the mexican numbers. Because theres a different process and procedure for the mexican numbers the vast majority of those never come. But in fairness knows mexico numbers are actually going down. Right. If we take the numbers out and look at the numbers that weve received as unaccompanied children in 2011 to 2013, 6500 to 13,600. Thats 108 increase. The increase from 12 to 13 was to 25,000. Thats an 81 increase. If you take, lets say we all bought at a might be a minimum of 90 and were working off a higher base. Any time you say theres 100 increase off of 24,000, youre estimating something big. What this congress and the administration funded in the f yooimpblt ch 14 appropriations was enough money for 54,000. The transfer, secretarial transfer that the secretary before me did was 44 million. That got us to a place where we would have had 60,000. Last year we had about 25,000. We had planned for 60,000. That was a worst case scenario. That was far greater than the increases we had seen in percentage terms off of a larger base. What were seeing now is numbers as has been reflected in everyones comments, that are far beyond. So the planning element, i think, in terms of the question of why weir here, with regard to your second question, which i think is a very fair one, it is related to how we make sure we stay in front. Were extremely hopeful that you are correct. That the plan were putting in place will not lead to the numbers we need more than a hope for a policy. And part of what we asked for in the supplemental is the ability to have transfer authority. If the needs arent there and we are trying to plan ahead so we dont have the backup at the border, and in the needs are not there, were hhs as the secretary mentioned in his opening comments, were willing and happy to transfer any funds that are not needed to the other departments to increase the transfer would occur to any of the departments, most likely, to dhs but could occur to any and we think thats an important part of trying to balance the planning ahead with what youre rightfully pointing to. We need these numbers to come down. And so were trying to balance that need for what you said in your earlier comments. You dont plan for the worst making sure that we do that at the same time, created a space for the success we hope we have. Okay thank you very much, madam chairwoman. Ambassador, in your remarks you said that part of the strategy is to, quote, attack criminal gang structures. That implies someone is responsible to coordinate that effort. That it would also imply, i think, intelligence operations and i will prosecutions. So can you give us sort of the outline of the plan . Who is in charge . And what intelligence assets you need and are they a reflected in the budget or where athey coming from . In the supplemental request you asked for 100 million for security. Which would augment activities were already undertaking under the Central American security initiative. Some of that has to do with Law Enforcement capacity training and Community Policing in order to address the structure of gangs in communities. And to work in communities to find alternative to gangs, especially for atrisk youth. Theres no specific money aimed at intelligence activities related to gangs. And most of the work around immigration studies, around immigration security related issues would be done by i. C. E. And by our operations here. But we have intelligence activities that are focusing on that. I can not discuss this in this environment. But most of the activities focused on breaking down the Smuggling Networks and working with the local police and the local authorities, would fall within the range of Homeland Security. We are, however, work through the judiciaries and toe enhance it and to imtheir ability to prosecute these cases. Secretary johnson, if Homeland Security has the responsibility for identifying the smuggling rings and disrupting those rings, do you have the resources to do that . It seems to me that what the ambassador is saying is theres money to go in and try to do Gang Activity as much as we do in Major Urban Centers in the United States, et cetera, which is important. But these children are getting here because its a business. These are pretty hardnosed people who are weve got to take a more put them out of business to be blunt. And does this plan or these funds or your efforts at Homeland Security specifically go after these people . Part of our request will go to not only working with the Central American governments on the Law Enforcement effort there but our own hsi, doj efforts. Which is something weve already begun in the month of may. We made 163 arrests of those attached to smuggling organizations and im actively working with doj right now to get at the money flow, the intradiction of money from the United States and senator, to simply underscore your point, i want to read from, briefly, from my Operations Report that i got this morning which is unclassified. Hsi, and special agents reported the rescue of a Honduran National who was reportedly held against her will and threatened by human smugglers. And the arrested two citizens of mexico for violating the alien smuggling statute and the smugglers demanded 2,000 for the release of the victim and the smugglers stated to the rel five they didnt pay the money they would decapitate the victim or sell her to a brothal. Those are the groups were dealing with. Its crucial to not only return people but to get at these smuggling organizations and i think we can and we should. In terms of priority that has to be at the same level as the humanitarian treatment of these children. And heres the final question ill raise. In some respects these are unavoidab unavoidable. What were talking about is creating a standard which were maintaining these young, people. We cant, for many reasons, some are basic values as a nation, allow, you know, afacility suitable for 12 children to be inhabited by 100 children. These secretary johnson, i think what happens then, if we dont do in youre going to have to find some monies from tsa, from cybersecurity efforts, from a host of the different functions because, again, we have a problem now. Well have a much greater problem if were seen as basically, you know, mistreating these children who are in the custody of the United States. Is that fair . Senator, thats a very fair statement, yes, sir. Thank you. Madam secretary, if one of these children are placed with the relative in the United States, do we check the legal status of the relative . Thats not part in terms of the legal status with regard to immigration status thats not something we do with regard to the legal status thats relevant to what we do is the safety of the child and theres a number of conditions that were guided with regard to that. So are we, in fact, turning children over to people who are here illegally . We do not know the answer to that question. But we can assume i think we should know the answer to that because the likelihood showing up for a hearing is zero if the person who is taking care of them is illegal, i doubt if theyre going to bring them to deportation hearing or any other kind of hearing. So id like to see that changed in our law. Is this problem a about of failure to pass the Immigration Reform or is it Something Else . Senator graham, if i may, to your prior question, also, before i answer this one, i do not think that removal of the parent who probably has been in the interior for years is the answer to dealing with this current situation. Mr. Secretary, its all about signals here. Youre right. Were going to tell people back in the countries, stop this and the best way to stop this is to send the kids back. I dont think youre youre reinforcing another bad problem when you dont check the legal status of the person, theres zero hope theyre ever going to get into the legal system because the person yao turned the child over to is illegal themselves and youre just compounding the problem. Im pretty far out there on reforming immigration but youre reinforcing bad behavior. To my point, is this problem a result of the failure to pass illegal Immigration Reform or is it Something Else . This has nothing to do with Immigration Reform . The reality of how we treat these kids pursuant to the 2008 law which has nothing to do with Immigration Reform. And the misinformation thats being put out there by the smuggling organizations about the current state of legal i agree with you with all three and it has zero to do with but senator, if i may i want to pass Immigration Reform but i want to stop that narrative that if we pass some law we wouldnt have this problem. This is a result of believer that if you can get here you can stay. I dont know whats driving this. Senator made a good point. A kid gets a better deal then anybody else. It goes back to the 2012 change by the president but theres no use debating that. Lets go forward. Knowing what we know today, knowing what we know today the problem we have in front of us would we write the 2008 law the way we the . Senator, i cant clearly we wouldnt. Senator feinstein is one of the worlds best senators and nicest people but she addressed wraas real problem. Shes talking about a. And were dealing with b. . 2008 law never envisioned the problem. It envisioned the Chinese People and others that have been sexually exploited. I understand not wants to throw somebody back to the hell they came from but were now being overrun by folks. This hell to get here and if you gae agree, i agree with yao to stop it, you got to let somebody down there know stop doing it. If we dont change the 2008 law, were never going to get a handle on this problem because the 2008 law had nothing to do with this problem. So i think we should adjust our laws to meet the needs in front of us so im very disappointed to hear that the administration believes, after everything weve been dealing with for the last two years, theres no reason to change the law. I just find almost impossible to understand. But lets get to this point about mexico. The difference between mexico and these three countries substantively different. The time to get somebody back to mexico is because its contiguous is different. Is that correct . Yes. Plus we have the Legal Authority to offer an uncompanied compiled voluntary return to mexico. So theres a jeanning process when you turn somebody to mexico we dont just throw them over the border we look to see if they apply for refugee or asylum status . Thats true. So i think youre on to something trying to create similar conditions for these countrieslike mexico. In that regard i think youre pursuing a good solution. B i think you are we have to change this law and were nuts if we dont and as senator reed said were nuts if we dont go after these groups. We need to get the mexicantion and every other group, form a task force and hunt these guys down and put them in jail. It should be like a military jail. A humanitarian threat that i havent seen in a long time and i think our response and our sense of urgency is woe fringe inadequate. Its not just a money problem. Its a will problem. Stronger than those who are abusing the law and, using these children. Thank you. Let me thank my colleague senator durbin for letting me go ahead of him. I very much appreciate that. I want to follow up on what senator graham said about whats happening in those three countries in Central America. And i wonder, if you could talk a little bit about whats changed in the last three years or two yourself in those countries to encourage this influx of children and families and, also, whether were seeing that same kind of influx into other neighboring countries from honduras, guatemala and el salvad salvador . Weve not seen the same flowing from other Central American yeses. Costa ree kwa nicaragua and el salvad salvador. Maybe i wasnt clear in my question. I appreciate that. What im asking is, are we seeing people from those three countries going into neighboring countries close to them at the same rate or in similar rates . We are seeing that. As i noted in the testimony, the u. N. High commission on refugees notes that asylum requests in surrounding countries are up 400 . And what i noted is its not obviously at the same rate or same number but, in fact, the number are quite small in comparison but theyre much, much higher than historically, they have been and that indicates that there are groups of children who are fleeing. And when they determine that they can not flee the United States, either because they dont have the money or not prepared to take the risks but they must flee, they go to the nearest place possible. So from our point of view, although the vast majority of these children are moving toward the United States, this is a regional problem and for that reason it needs to be addressed regionally. And as senator landry noted, is a problem related to children and what happens to children when theyre caught in environments in which the breakdown of state authority and the presence of gangs in communities and controlling the communities puts these children at risk. Now, in terms of whats happened over the last three years, its going to take socialologists a long time to dig through that data. But i think whats evident is, as mexico has become more successful in his activities with the merit initiative and as colombia has become more effective in attacking the farc and changing the nature of drug production and trafficking out of colombia, the burden has fallen largely in Central America and its largely fallen in the three countries that offer easy jumpingoff point into mexico and into the Drug Trafficking routes that lead to the United States. But in the process of mexican cartels moving into the honduras and guatemala and looking for ways to facilitate the movement of drugs through the region, the theyve obviously built relationships with gangs. And this has provided gangs with levels of wealth and weapons and Communications Equipment historically they have not had and has allowed them to take over and control parts of communities which puts at risk, teenagers. And what were seeing in the groups that are leaving these three countries and moving northward is that 75 of them are between the ages of 14 and 17. Which means that they are in recruitment age. Both males and females. Thank you. Im going to cut you off that the point. Im sorry to do that but i have a question for secretary burrwell that i would like to have answered. One of the things that im hearing from organizations in New Hampshire is concern about the movement of money out of the office of refugee resettlement. And concern that once, if this appropriation goes through, that that money might not be replaced and that the services that are offered through that office might not be available. Thats a concern that were hearing about refugees in New Hampshire. Can you speak to that . Because we actually take the concerns that it sounds like folks at home are articulating. Thats why we actually asked for the back fill for the 94 million. I think you know we sent reprogramming up to the hill and weve started in on that reprogramming. Those funds that weve taken out of the office of refugee resettlements you have a sense of what those funds do, a number of those funds go to schools that are impacted by high refugee populations. A number of those funds go, actually, to affect haitian and cuban refugees that affects florida disproportionately and the third category of that money is money thats sometimes going to states to help where there are disproportionate numbers of refugees and what is our other refugee program. We had to make choices in order to continue on a path of making sure we can move children from the border. And from vhs to hhs. They were difficult choices. And choices that we hope that in the supplemental can be taken care of. Thank you. And thank you all very much for your efforts to address this crisis. Thank you, madam chair. Senator durbin. Thank you, madam chair. Each year under president s republican and democrat, the United States of america issues a report card on human rights to the world. Where we grade other nations. As to their record on human rights. Thats pretty bold of us, isnt it . To hold ourselves out in judgment of other nations . And one of the things we ask is how those nations treat refugees and children. We dont have a very long record when it comes to refugees in this country. Primarily because of location. Haitians, cubans, weve had some but certainly, when you look at the state of the world, with 2. 3 million refugees coming out of syria and fewer than 200 coming to the United States, we are kind of on the periphery of this issue until now. Now, we get to face it. Our backyard. Our border. I just got a report about two children. It came from young center for immigrant childrens rights at the university of chicago law school. Samuel and emily are siblings. Amazingly, ages 3 and 6. 3 and 6 years old. They got here from honduras. I dont know how. When they initially arrived in the United States, it was very quiet and they didnt open up. They were clearly victims of trauma. After two months of care and custody of these 3 and 6yearold children by hhs, emily revealed that both children had been raped by members of a local drug cartel. I think about those children when i think about this debate. Are they the exception . I pray they are. But im afraid there are many more with similar stories. So mr. Secretary, secretary johnson, i think youre a good person. I even have evidence youre a good father because i got to meet your son and i know youre a good lawyer. When you ask for added discretion, so that we can voluntarily deport some of these children, i think about these two. Where i grew up, in down state illinois, you wouldnt ep enter a courtroom with a 3 or 6yearold without someone standing next to them, representing them, explaining to them, trying to speak up for their rights. And i worry about what were asking for here. And heres why i worry. Lets get down to dollars. Theres a request for 15 million in this multibillion dollar appropriation for direct legal representation. To contract with lawyers to represent approximately 10,000 children, 10,000 children in immigration proceedings. Were dealing with 50 to 90,000 children. And it strikes me that this number is grossly inadequate. To make sure these children have someone standing next to them to protect them. Maybe to explain this to them. Thats the first thing that crosses my mind. The second thing is, who are we returning them to . Honduras, the murder capital of the world . Where it is not safe to even have your children outside of your home . Where garbage is piled in the street so they can go through it and maybe, find something to eat because thats all theyve got . What kind of social Service Agencies are we referring these kids to when we return them to honduras . Beds. I get it. I want they kids to be in the safest, cleanest place possible. I couldnt live with it any other way. But as i understand it, 85 of these children are reunited with family, 55 with parents. 30 with relatives. So when were talking about beds, it sounds like for the most part, at least 85 of it, its for temporary beds. I assume thats what were discussing. Finally, before i asked you to comment on this, i authored the dream act. Im proud of it. We passed it in the house and senate and we cant beat the republican filibuster in the senate except the comprehensive of immigration bill. I asked the president , my friend, to sign and im proud that he did and im not going to stand here and let people blame those two acts on what were facinging today because during the same period of time there was a 700 increase in children from those three countries, to neighboring countries not the United States. It had nothing to do, as you said, mr. Secretary, daka which set a 2007 target, couldnt come any later than that. So id appreciate if you could respond to this in the time remaining. Senator, the only thing ill say is a request for discretion, as long as im secretary, means a request for the ability to do the right thing. Thats how i see it. Ive met with enough of these kids now, including a 15yearold two weeks ago, who was three months pregnant, to have a real sense for what these kids go through. Weve heard about before they leave Central America, some of these kids parent also give them Birth Control in case theyre raped along the way. And so whatever we do, whatever discretion im given to address this situation, will be the discretion to do what i believe is the right thing. For the country and for these kids. Theres not enough money being requested to provide the kind of representation and advocacy to protect these kids. Its not even close. 10,000 out of 90,000 . And i think thats secretary burrwells world. There are different portions in terms of sometimes its provided by justice and sometimes by dhs. We do provide the counsel that i jooished in the initial stages and then for the extreme circumstances such as that that you described, hhs does provide council and we try to connect with pro bono counsel. Youre right we dont have the resources to get council for all the children that passion through and go to sponsors but there are a group that we do that for. Senator harkin. Snthank you, madam chair. I want to associate myself with everything senator zur bin just said. He hit the nail on the head. I want to thank all of you for the work that you do. As we hear more and more about the situation of these young people coming across the border, you know what my ears are hearing . Round them up and ship them back. It sounds like were dealing with cattle. Some kind of livestock. Round them up and ship them back. Senator murkowski had it right. This is a humanitarian crisis. Again, senator durbin talked about a couple of cases. I suggest anybody wants to know this, read enriques journey. Its a great book. Read it. Now i have a problem with the administration. This administration. On the one hand they say we want to send kids back as soon as possible. Then they turn around and say, well, but these kids are escaping violence and drugs and sexual abuse and gangs. How do you reconcile those two . Ship them back as soon as possible . And theyre escaping the violence and drugs . That doesnt sound to me like those two statements are compatible. How they exist sidebyside. The focus, our focus had to be simply, im making sure these kids are, first, safe and that theyre fed. Theyre clothed and that theyre shelter and that they get not only Good Health Services but mental Health Services and, under the law, that they have every meaningful thats the key word meaningful opportunity to apply for asylum. Are we a country of laws . Thats what the law says. There are some that want to modify this law and u hear voices from this this administration, wants to modify the law. Secretary johnson, i have no doubt youre a good and decent and honorable person and i think you do a great job but you want president flexibility. Theres danger in flexibility. Not just because of you but everybody that works under you, and the Border Patrol. A lot of these kids that come over there and they see someone in uniform, its a flash back of what they just came from where the people in uniform may have been beating them up. And on the side of the drug lords. Are they going to open up about who they are and what they are . Thats why we have a law that says you got to transfer them in 72 hours to hhs. Hhs is supposed to provide all of these things for these kids, shelter, clothing. Meaningful council. People that stand alongside of them so that they can tell their story. So they can apply, meaningfully, for asylum. You cant do that with the Border Patrol. Im sorry, you cant do it. You cant do it as somebody comes across the border. They need to be taken in. As i said, and given these protections under our laws. Under international law. Under international law. Some people want to modify the law to let dhs ship them back right away. I hear this from the administration. And you may say, secretary johnson, that youre going to be very careful on this. Thats why we have laws. Thats why we set it up this way i dont know whos coming after you and i dont know how long youll be there and i dont know how many people work underneath you and how good they are. They may have in their head, round them up and ship them back. I rely upon health and Human Services to make sure these kids are protected and that they have their full legal rights in this country. Theyre supposed to be transferred in 72 hours and now its, what, six or seven days quarterba, before they get transferred . And now hhs dont have the wherewithal to do it. To take care of these kids. The Mental Health providers. The social workers. Child advocates who can look after not the rounding them up and shipping them back, but the best interest of the child when they arrive here and protecting their rights under u. S. And international law. So, we have a situation where im sorry, i have to disagree with this administration. This administration should be saying, we should follow the law. These kids need to be protected. They need to have hhs protect them. And care for them and give them every meaningful right to apply for asylum. Now, the problem is, hhs doesnt have the money to do it. They should do it but they dont have the money to do that. Thats what this supplemental is about. Its to allow hhs to follow along which they arent right now. But they cant. They cant follow along because they dont have the money to do it. They cant transfer them in 72 hours, my fellow senators, because they dont have the money to do it. So thats why this supplemental, madam chair, as you said, is so critical. We cant hold ourselves up as a paradigm of human rights and then say round them up and shakeup the and ship them ba. Should they say that to the syrians that are escape something round them up and ship them back . Were better than that. I have to disbrae with my friend from south carolina. Were not being overrun by these kids. Were a country of 300 Million People. Were talking about, what, 50,000, 90,000 at the most . Thats overrunning america . Nonsense. We can deal with this. Now, let anyone think, we got to work with those other countries. We have to do things in those other countries. Its a complex issue. As some of you have state. Not going to be solved overnight. Its not going to be sofld with a few military people. But in the meantime, the single, most important thing is to take care of these kids. To make sure theyre save, theyre house and shelter and clothes and fed and they have Legal Protections and they can apply for asylum. Meaningfully, not with the Border Patrol. Not as soon as they come across the border. I read your testimony. But after theyve had due process. And where hhs can take them in and provide the kind of shelter and support that they need. After that, we can talk about returning them. Until theyve had adequate advo their side and let them know what their legal rights are in this country i hate to be so emotional about it. When i hear this coming from the administration, ship them back, do it as soon as possible. But theyre in fleeing violence and drugs and gangs. Now, theyre fleeing violence and drugs and gangs and all kinds of things like that, yes. I disagree with my 23re7bd from south carolina. Reinforcing bad habits with bad habits. I never considered a bad habit for any human being to leave a bad situation where theyre being killed, beat up, sexually violated, denied their basic human rights. Denied the opportunity to live a live and they want to seek it some place else . And thats not a bad habit. Thats in the human spirit. That i thought wed like to extoll in this country. So i guess ive run out of time and ive used up my time. So therefore, i guess i dont have a question. But i hope i made my point. Senator, you can also submit questions for the record. Thank you for your statement. Senator shelby . Mr. Secretary, ive been told that theres currently 162,000 children at the Homeland Security ranch. Is that number about right or wrong . In other words, in this country, that have come in over the years that still pending . I see. I dont know whether that number is accurate. Can you furnish the number for the record, check it out . Yes. Its a lot of children, isnt it . 162,000 people, in my book, is a lot of people. Keep in mind of that population, assuming that number is accurate, of that population, a lot of them may have turned 18 by now. 18. And youve only sent home, what, an average is it 1800, period, or about 1800 a year. About 1800 a year. That you adjudicate and sent home . Yae. Up until this recent situation, yes. What if, suppose at the rate theyre going, 52,000 people, children, were detained, came in and were apprehended as you call it, in the country, if this number continues to grow, there could be hundreds of thousands of children coming here, could it not . Which is yes, which is why we believe we fwhoobelieve we no add resources to the process of repatriation and return for uacs while preserving the ability to make a claim for humanitarian relief. Along the border with texas, rio grande, mainly, area, do they just walk across the border . Is the border unprotected . Is it no fence there . Anything . How do they do . Or do they just come up and say, take me into custody . Whatever. The Rio Grande Valley sector is bordered by the rio grande river. And its a windy river that 360 miles long or something . And they swim across. They walk across. And its if you look at a map that the Border Patrol will show you its all tending to concentrate in one particular area. So even if we gave the money thats been requested here, 3. 7 million, it doesnt solve the problem in any way . It helps you deal with the current problem but it doesnt solve the problem, does it . It will well, in my judgment it will definitely stem the tide if we provide this funding. Of the people senator graham asked the question, and i didnt hear a clear answer to it. Maybe you dont know. But these children are most of them that are trying to come to this country, do they have parents or uncles or aunts in this country already . Legal or illegal . Do you know . Yes. When we place the children, the majority of the children are placed with relatives. So they know who their relatives are . Where they are and so forth . The children, in some cases know. In other cases, as part of the hhs process, we learn and make that determination through questions and an interview process in terms of trying to understand the child. Now, if people are here legally, they come as immigrants legally, and theyre children are where they came from, the country of origin, cant they go through the Legal Process and brng their children to this country in the Legal Process for that . I would defer to my colleague for justice on the process. It depends on the current studies if theyre here illegally, senator. If theyre here legally and they wanted to bring their children that are, si, in Central America somewhere. There is one category of the lawful permanent residence who can petition for theyre Family Members. That would be the only category that is currently available, i believe, for them to bring their relatives over. Well, i know money is a humanitarian problem but its an immigration problem, a big one, for this country. Thank you, madam chair. That congress clouds the number of senator that this wanted to ask questions. I think in has been an excellent hearing. The fact that 25 senators came from this committee to participate and the other five had commitments for which theyll submit questions. We also want to thank the witnesses for their straightforward, candid commentary but also, for the work that they do every day. In addition to dealing with this situation, they also have other pretty significant responsibilities and we know that theyre working 36 hour days and tenday work weeks. And i think its pretty impressive. And, also, to the men and women who work under those agencies, its pretty impressive. When you meet the Border Patrol agents and, also, the response of our particularly our vocal faithbased organizations. To me it was very heartening and touching to see the way the baptist Child Welfare agency was running the facility. It was aplus in terms of any standard of Child Welfare. But what was particularly interesting to me was the charities in oklahoma had come to lackland to work with the baptists with to learn what was the most effective way to deal with this. So i think were doing all right. The question is what does it really what are we going to do . The urgent supplemental that meets the needs of today. Every single colleague has said we need to look at the longrange implications of this. Some talk about a more military intervention strategy. Some talk about changing the law on refugees. These are not necessarily my personal direction, because when youre talking to the children you find out why would a mother making minimum wage somewhere, scrape together 3,000 . You can imagine what it took to save that money, to send it to essentially, a scoundrel, to bring her daughter or her son across the border. And to know the h treacherous, dangerous journey that theyre going to do . It will only risk that. The dangers is so severe. We all heard these stories that are so we dont even want to repeat some of them in public. Because of their. Its because in guatemala, honduras and el salvador, the violence is so bad that the violence of the journey, the violence of the journey is less. And the risk that they will take. And then, to say were going to send them back, send them back to what . The gang that tried to recruit a little girl and threatened the family . If the two girls, two young girls didnt join the gang, they would be killed . Mute la mutilated or turned into the something called queens. I wont even talk about what that means. I couldnt bring myself to describe it. What are we going to send them back to . Its not like juan valdez is going to greet them at the airport with roses. I think we need a real strategy to know why they left. Ive said repeatedly, and i will say this again. I have felt over the last decade we have fought four wars. One in afghanistan. Because of an attack on us. We fought one on iraq that members voted for. I did not. Then we fought the cyberwar which continues to be a significant threat. And i dont minimum mieds the threat of terrorism. And then i talked about the war at our border. But i was worried about drug dealers. I wasnt worried about children. But the children are coming because of tdrug dealers so we can talk about root cause and poverty. I dont minimize that but we have to really, now, i think we have to really focus on our hemisphere. I believe that weve had three decades of uneven policy in terms of looking at our own hemisphere and in Central America. Senator harkin knows about eight and senator shelby, we come from a background that heard about the nuns that were assaulted. The assassination of oscar romero. War after war with brutality after brutality and then just when were ready to deal with it some other thing turns our head and were off running with flight jackets visiting some new issue. So i think we need to, in addition to all of the other wars we have to fight, bring to a close swrur jury, you know as mr. Homeland security, theres a lot of threats to this country. I believe that the threats of the children, the children are not threats. The children are coming because of the threat to the children. And i think we need to meet the urgent needs here. We have to then really focus on our hemisphere. And have a focused way that deals with the crime. Deals with the corruption. Deals with exactly where a mother will risk sending her daughter on a perilous journey because its less violent than what she would find staying home with her grandmother. We have a lot of work to do. The record will be opened for two weeks. I invite any nonprofit to submit testimony. Well continue our discussion. The committee stands in recess until the full committee will be marking up on next thursday, the defense appropriations. With the modification that if we can get other things done this week, im sure going to do it. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] several live events to tell you about today a house judiciary tax force test force will examine the over criminalization of the Justice System on cspan three at 9 a. M. Eastern. Health cspan two, the energy and subcommittee on health looks at the role of patients and drug development. Later on cspan two, Vice President biden is expected to talk to the National Governors association about state and federal partnerships. That is at 2 p. M. Eastern. In a few moments, a look at todays headline plus your calls live on washington journal. The house of representatives is actin session at 9 00 eastern. Todays agenda includes a ill that would change part of the tax code regarding business depreciation. In about an hour, we will talk about the criminal Justice System, prison reform, and terrorism with the former new York City Police commissioner. Washington journal is next. All week long on the washington journal, weve been talking about the issues on the u. S. Southern border. Talking about the politics of immigration and some solutions. Today, we want to hear from you. What is were solution for Immigration Reform . What is your solution for whats happening right now on the u. S. Southern border . For democrats. 202 5853881 for i republicans. Independents. For