We have good at cbp, we have a good, actually excellent relationship with the Texas Department of public safety, and frankly with the state and local lawenforcement across the border. We see them as value added, and we want to make sure we maintain Good Communications and a Good Relationship with those folks. If the Border Patrol is overwhelmed in texas with large numbers of children and families coming over, why not ask the Texas National guard to help out with that . Actually, we are not overwhelmed. I just finished my fourth trip on friday to mcallen. Compared to what i saw the first week, right after i had been confirmed in march, things are much better. The numbers are down. It does not mean anyone should not be very concerned about the numbers that are still coming, but things are much better. The Border Patrol has a range of resources that were not available to them three or four months ago. Fema is there, fema volunteers are there, coast guard, the Public Health service, etc. Contract transportation so the Border Patrol agents are not having to serve as bus drivers. Those are the kinds of things already in place, already being used to relieve some of the pressure. I just want to followup on that. The migration numbers traditionally go down in july and august on the border because of the high heat. What are you doing to prepare for the possibility those numbers will go back up in september and october . A couple things. One is, i think, talking about the fact that traditionally this is what has occurred, and of of the really inhospitable climate that exists than the difficulty of the terrain, it is a very solid reason we think some of these numbers are down. We are glad we have a bit of lull, but for instance, we have opened a process center in the Rio Grande Valley that will hold up to 1000 people. Our Processing Center in no dallas is staffed. Ogales. We have contracted for food service. We have contracted for other kinds of things that are needed. We are not under any naive impression that this could not go back up. Things are not going to miraculously change in those three countries that are going to make it hospitable, safer, better economy, better educational opportunities. So, the draw to come to the United States, for the safety, security, education, and economic reasons, is very strong. Simultaneous to the rise in childhood immigration, you have had families rise in numbers we have not seen in recent years. It was over 9000 families this time last year. We know there is not capacity or there has not been much beyond the pennsylvania facilities to house those families, 97 beds. There are 600 odd so beds in new mexico right now. The math suggests most of those people are not detained. What has caused that from what you guys have seen and what is happening to those people when you encounter them, a family of 3, 4, 5 kids . What is the process for you guys . Now the process is the fact that we have been able to open up facilities at artesia, new mexico, the Border Patrol station, and also lofland air force base. We have been able to hand over to ice, the immigration, Customs Enforcement individuals. And these new facilities like artesia can actually house family units. Youre very correct. In the past, there were no more than 90 beds available for family units, and that was in pennsylvania. People are being detained now rather than being released at a bus station. We are continuing the department and under the secretarys leadership we are continuing to look at other facilities. His working relationship with secretary Sylvia Burwell from health and Human Services is excellent. And also there is the work theyre doing with attorney general eric holder and the increases being asked for immigration judges, etc. And with the volume of families coming in, do they require a different type of facility . How are you screening these individuals . Obviously in recent weeks we have had one notable case, a gentleman from guatemala was released with his children, reunited with his girlfriend, who had been released with her children and months prior. A month prior. He is arrested in texas, two days after she is found dead in a louisiana apartments. He is now in state custody. Processthe screening for these individuals before they are released with a notice to appear, to go back to immigration and Customs Officials within 15 or so days . Having had a long career in law enforcement, seeing people released and having to the two people in seattle who were killed from people released from custody not immigration related, but custody these are terrible things. These are tragedies. To have a Domestic Violence homicide as a result of somebody being released is very difficult for everybody. But that being said, at the time that individual came in to the custody of the department of Homeland Security, with his children, they would be considered a family unit. Family units at that time were filled. There was no indication from either the interviews or the fingerprint check that was done on him that as a father of two he would be dangerous to anyone else, and he was released. That being said, the horrific incident that occurred it is hard for everybody to take. We are halfway through. What is your satisfaction level with the cooperation with your counterparts in the Mexican Government . I have known the ambassador here to the United States for a long time. When i had my job as president obamas drug policy advisor, and he was the attorney general. I have a great deal of respect for him and the government of mexico. I think we have to do everything we can in our government to be supportive and be helpful and to recognize the sensitivity of the sovereign issues that continue to army eight a lot of the a lot ofue to permeate the discussion. The better mexico does on their border with guatemala, the better the cooperation on law enforcement, the better we share information and have trusted relationships, the better we will be in the United States. But is the attitude one where we want to Work Together . The attitude is one. I will be in mexico city at the end of the week, and that will be my second trip as the commissioner in this role. But we have to continue to work at it. There has been frustration expressed about the practice of shooting across the border at mexican citizens, situations where Border Control agents felt threatened, opened fire and ended up killing mexican citizens who were standing on the other side of the border. What are you doing to review those cases . Those are already being done internally at Border Patrol. Are you changing practices . We are, in a host of ways. Director combing of the fbi has been unbelievably helpful to loan us an individual from their inspections division, a very high level individual, mark morgan, to head up the process. In the Research Report they identified 67 uses of deadly force. It should be or could be examined more closely. All of those cases are being examined by mark morgan and a group he has put together. If any of those cases up year where there was insufficient if any of those cases appear where there was insufficient investigation or questions left lingering, then those cases will be more carefully reviewed, and of course, most people recognize even though i am the commissioner of customs and Border Protection, i do not have all of the authority within the organization, because we also work with the office of Inspector General and the office of professional responsibility and Customs Enforcement. That is an important distinction. When i was chief of police, i had the authority and i had the resources. We have to work in a more collaborative way. Those cases are being examined. We have a new policy on the use of force. We have additional training. We have changed our training procedures for new agents in new mexico, including installing a variety of the international fences that exist, so they can actually practice in a secure environment what they will be facing on the border itself. Will you make the results of the review of those 67 cases public . Theres a lot of frustration among family members who have family killed. Will you make that information public . It is hard for people outside of the federal government to understand that we work through the department of justice, particularly either the u. S. Attorney or the civil rights division. Oftentimes we have our Inspector General or others involved in this. Frankly, when a person is in uniform and uses deadly force their needs to be a level of transparency and accountability about what happened, and i have stressed that. Frankly, it is a little harder for the federal government to move that direction that it was when i was a police chief. There his historically not been that transparency. I think most reporters who have covered the border have repeatedly asked for video. There is a ton of video available to you guys every day, obviously. And many of the incidents have been caught on video. Is there a pledge you can make or a push you can make to begin to release those videos . Knowing of course these are multiagency investigations, involving the fbi. Most of the cases seem to stay open as assault on law enforcement, suspect unknown, case remains open. Is there something you can do to open that window a bit more . At the time in the point we can make information available, we should do everything we can to make as much of that investigation available to the public as we can, including video, etc. The other point is, local jurisdictions, the local prosecutor, the local investigative agency. It can be a large agency. Something happens in san diego. It is a very large organization. The San Diego Police department or sheriffs department. Other places, the investigation can be conducted by a department that has much fewer resources. Border patrol agents have also been criticized and frankly accused of a variety of offenses involving the children at these Detention Centers or Processing Centers allegations of not getting medical treatment early, properly or efficiently, food being scarce, conditions being crowded and so on. A few weeks ago, you said you are reviewing those allegations. You found them troubling, i believe is what you said. What have you found in the intervening weeks . I looked at 116 complaints that have been filed in the vast majority of those complaints were complaints that were essentially environmental. The building is too cold, the food was not sufficient or improperly heated. When i first went there in early march, i saw these order patrol those Border Patrol agent agents making food in microwaves. We did not have contract food services. We had literally hundreds of people sleeping on floors. What i saw them doing was also, of course, bringing in their own Kids Clothing and doing everything they can to try and help in that situation. The majority of the complaints and they have been divided up to be reviewed by the civil rights section of the department of Homeland Security, the Inspector Generals office, and others, and our own internal affairs to take a look at those but the majority of those complaints are environmental in nature. They are not about abuse, use of force. Those Border Patrol stations were certainly no place to house people for three and four and five days at a time. Just five minutes left. The administration has said this caught them offguard. Yes, the numbers have been rising but the spike in late spring to early summer was unprecedented, could not have been foreseen though. It would appear Border Patrol agents on the ground did see this. 37,000 unaccompanied children last year. 24,000 of whom went into the health and Human Services and refugee programs. Those numbers have been ticking up since 2011, and it does not seem to be a trend that was easily missed just looking at the rise in numbers. Did your guys miss it . Was there a miscommunication . How did we get to the situation of urgency in march, april, may . What i saw, and i think the Washington Post story lay that out quite a bit, the historical issues and a number of people who commented in the story about how long this had gone on. There was no question the numbers increased, particularly last year. There was also a huge amount of work and planning that was going on involving the department of Homeland Security and their colleagues at health and Human Services about what to do and how to do this. I think there was also great expectation that the government of mexico would actually be doing more along that border with guatemala to prevent and to help some of this. All of that being said, i was confirmed on march 7. I was in the office 40 minutes after the vote, and i have been doing my best to look forward to how are we going to deal with the situation. We are glad that there is a lull right now, but there is no question we are concerned about after the weather cools and what should we be doing in the future to make sure we have enough Attention Space and enough enough Attention Space and detention space and enough resources to treat people not just humanely, but with compassion, until their cases can be resolved. That is where i have spent the majority of my time right now. Any followup questions . Do you see any indication mexico is taking steps on the southern part of the border . I will know more next week. Certainly in my meetings that will be scheduled but i have already listened to announcements. I have already heard information. And i have already seen numbers of people who have been repatriated, entered into mexico, and sent back to guatemala, honduras. El salvador. I guess being optimistic and help is with our probably not as much our help, but our support to the government of mexico, we will be doing a better job of preventing what is occurring now on our border. When you speak to your mexican counterparts, what will you be asking for . I have spent a lot of time on this issue. Developing trust and relationships is particularly important. Oftentimes relationships are a critical issue and i want to use those relationships to work with them and let them know we will be absolutely as supportive as possible were there efforts. Efforts. Ir our focus has been on the southern border. As we close here, i want to ask you you referenced this. We have members of congress declaring isis more dangerous than al qaeda. Can you tell the American Public we have the appropriate safety net at our borders, including ships and the like coming into our harbor, to protect us from those who would want to do our country harm . Customs and Border Protection is an agency of 60,000 some people. A huge amount of knowledge because of biometric information that they collect when people enter the United States lawfully, or if they are apprehended, that biometric information is available. That being said, it is also an incredibly large border throughout this country. So, one of the keys is the information sharing that we have to do and must have with our counterparts, whether it is through interpol, whether it is through the Canadian Border security services, the government of mexico, the federal police. Those are all critical. If youre going to take a number of people and focus on the borders, it has to be riskbased and intelligence based. That cooperation with our foreign partners is the key to our safety and security. To bring us full circle, if money is not allocated, will it impinge these efforts . I am very concerned we will be pulling money away from other programs, other things that are vital to customs and Border Protection in our mission in order to support the Contract Services and the things we have been doing on the border. But i am also very hopeful that congress is going to see that. Frankly, Border Security is such a partisan issue, and during my is not a partisan issue, and during my confirmation, regardless of who was asking a question, i received a lot of support. They know these men and women are working hard and doing their best. Thank you for your time this week. Thank you. Newsmakers is back. After our discussion with gil kerlikowske, the customs and Border Protection commissioner how do you see this playing out, the stalemate with congress over funding, the disagreement over policy with the president. What are the next couple months going to look like, not just in washington, but at the border . They will be tense, to say the least. The president has asked for 3. 7 billion. His democratic leadership has proposed 2. 7 billion. Republicans have said that is too much money. They want a 2008 law on how children from countries outside the u. S. Are treated. He does not seem interested in doing that specifically. Said ainistration has time or two, we will look at those things. There is not a lot of democratic support for. It will be a tense couple of months going into the midterms. You have a lot of factors at p