Immigration and National Security experts to testify on immigration and Transnational Criminal Organizations at a recent Homeland Security hearing this runs just under three hours Homeland Security will come to order. Without objection. Open border policies and how they advanced cartel crime in america. I now recognize myself for an Opening Statement. Southwest border is wide open. The evidence is clear more than 5. 5 million encounters god away since 2021. Nearly 380,000 encounters of unaccompanied minors. A Record Number of retinal poisonings in the United States largely driven by drugs flooding across our southwest border. The crisis is a direct result of the secretaries dereliction of duties. It is being published later today and makes all this clear. Todays hearing and subsequent hearings and the consequences of these policies. Before i get to the subject of todays hearing i want to briefly talk about some of those numbers because i am sure we are in for a few days of unjustified celebration about what they mean every member that you hear the other side of the aisle talking about is still a number far above crisis levels. Even by the measure of president obamas former dhs secretary. We are still averaging more than 3000 a day. Jeh johnson once said that 1000 overwhelms us as demand is a crisis. We are also seeing a number of aliens arriving at the port of entry continuing to skyrocket jumping to more than 45,000 in june. This fiscal year already exceeds last years by more than 100,000. Last june they were around 15,010,000 a year before that. Why the change . Well, tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens are taking advantage of the new patrol parole programs and his illegitimate one policy accepting his no questions asked released into the United States. More than 170,000 people have used the app to schedule an appointment since january alone. Do a numbers are even being released by the administration. Everyone in this room knows these individuals have no basis to enter the country. Everyone else also knows he is playing a massive game by shifting through the ports of entry. Again not disclosing the numbers. The outcome, tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens entering customs and Border Patrol being released into the country. It is the same. Lets just be honest about that. Simple fact. The secretary insistence that this is legal is a lie. It is against the law passed by previous congresses. And as we are going to talk about today, humanitarian cost of the secretaries are still horrific. The most organizations in the western hemisphere. We will hear from our witnesses and lay that out in detail. As you listen these groups are turned our border over to pave the way some president is the level of control easy of organizations that would serve as both are southwest border in the interior of our country for the boldness with which they operate in open defiance of Law Enforcement and the profits they are breaking in. Both americans as well as migrants are suffering from their wrath. It is virtually impossible to cross the southwest border without first paying the cartel. People are killed simply for trying to do so. A secretary mayorkas policies to pull thousands of Border Patrol paid off the line and release them as quickly as possible this is not the work they signed up to do. The former chief of the Border Control recently told us has made many agents feel like smugglers themselves, their words not ours. Cartels purposely overwhelmed Border Patrol agents with illegal crossers in with illegal cross or someone areas the distractions they can smuggle other aliens and drugs across the air is just vacated those agents. Amazingly secretary mayorkas admitted to the senate under oath in march he was not aware of this aware of the strategy. Meanwhile his attorney general did note the tactic lose used by the cartel. Business is so good the cartel had devised a complex system for massive number of people trying to illegal cross the southwest border. For instant cartels use wristbands as im showing here to inventory those who are attempting to cross. Secretary mayorkas told the senate he was unfamiliar with these wristbands too. The violence and atrocities are not just being felt along the border. Our American Communities throughout the country are suffering as well but a lot of violence can be traced back to the cartel because they often subcontract their mayhem to function at the cartels National Distribution network. A recent New York Post headline quote hundreds of migrants working for the cartel brazenly took over San Franciscos drug market thanks to lack of policies end quote and another outlet reported cartels of started offering quote in a largescale unquote in montana hundreds of miles from the border. They are engulfing communities across the country and it can only be tracked back to the cartel. A tidal wave of human smuggling and trafficking has led to an increased number of car crashes on their streets putting Law Enforcement innocent americans and migrants themselves at risk for lunch or told us his Department Arrested 169 human smugglers and is on pace to rest more than 900 this year. Another sheriff said this county deals with three to four chases per day involving groups of 20 or more per the cartels are recruiting american teenagers to drive with them implicating her youth in these horrendous crimes. Meanwhile innocent americans like maria have been killing crashes by those smuggling illegal aliens on our streets and highways for the transnational whose motto is to kill raped control for taking advantage. The senior Border Patrol agent has said the gang members attempt to evade arrest by exploiting the mpox of migrants into our country. They were close with the cartel to support our persons on both sides of the border. According to issa 40 of them as 13 members them as their team members the rest arrived in the United States unaccompanied alien children. And as 13 forces when the girls into making money for the gang. Cartels amid a record amount of money over the last two years. The cartels made an estimated 13 billion just from Human Trafficking and then theres the fentanyl. It cost as little as 10 cents to produce a fake prescription pill laced with fentanyl that can be sold for 10 to 30 bucks and 10 kilos of fentanyl is worth about 20 million. Only cost 50,000 to produce and every dollar the cartel breaks in covers takes the cost their 109,003 dozen 2022 and 107,041 alone many of them from fentanyl the cartels are continuing to push fentanyl into our push fentanyl and tour country in record amounts stringer comanches one family at a time. Im sure we will hear today the same tired talking points quote most most fentanyls is seized at ports of entry but a couple of things are worth noting the majority of fentanyl the disease has comes to the ports of entry. By definition its apprehended per cartel knows theres a higher risk of getting caught at the borders and secure and we dont know how much the cartel is using to smuggle drugs with my friends of on the other side i want to play while cbp supports a number of drugs they have also said they believe they only catch five to 10 of whats coming through either at or between the ports. Finally the amount of fentanyl being seized is increasing. Mark seizures were up 100 from the beginning of the year according to former chief raul migrants are also victims of cartel atrocities. Once individuals are smuggle into the night states the cartel of and continue to ask extort and use them but according to mayorkas on the part departments than increasing quote alternative forms of payment including migrants who participated in controlled substances across the border or to work off those debts through criminal activity after they arrived in the United States. As many as 60 of unaccompanied minors for kidnappings flooded by the cartel and other migrants are sexually abused and assaulted her and one victim told the New York Times you have to pay with your body end quote. Some have been forced to allow their children to be abused. I cant imagine anything worse. Secretary mayorkas and present bidens policies encourage Record Numbers of people to make the journey to the southwest border that represents a Business Opportunity for the cartel to make thousands on every person they smuggle instead of enforcing the laws written by this body removing for detaining those who have no valid claim to enter mayorkas dhs is flashing the neon sign open. By releasing millions of innocent inadmissible aliens a night States Milito people are willing to bet they won the lottery if they make it to the border under the said administrations policies. The cartels are more than happy to assist. I wonder majority of americans think the cartel have more control of our border than the Biden Administration appeared 61 of america according to a poll last fall for this Border Patrol agents overwhelmed at the historic level of illegal immigration under mayorkas watch the cartel have while mayorkas is implemented his open border agenda spot that the white house has failed a meaningful pressure the impact impacting not just miss new mexico but her country so new mexico but are countries of the United States must the most powerful nation the world and yet we do control her most sovereign southwest border according to chief ortiz. If thats not evidence of mayorkas failures i dont know what is. I now recognize the Ranking Member of the gentleman from mississippi mr. Thompson for his Opening Statement. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman in nearly two decades that i have served on the panel to panel created in the wake of september 112000 attack have seen this committee come together to address some of the most important Homeland Security issues facing our nation. From supporting the establishment of the departed of Common Security in the early days to implementing recommendations for the 9 11 commission and more recently been cybersecurity legislation. Theres a record of bipartisanship service to Homeland Security. Over the past seven months the character of the Homeland Security committee has fundamentally changed from a Bipartisan Solutions focused committee to a platform for the most extreme. To be honest im embarrassed for the republican majority wasting the committees time and socalled investigations that this entire endeavor is nothing more than a political stunt. Patched in backrooms so extreme mother republicans can conflict power for the speaker hearing is yet another attempt to appease the crowd who are demanding. That same goes for the report we are hearing from the press that republicans plan to release today. We begin been given no time to review this document lets less offer any input. If its anything like their republicans released in the last hearing rife with errors and full of extreme mother rhetoric void effect. Meanwhile the republican jury is squandering time and opportunity to deal with the real work of our committee and seven months since we took her oath in the 18 covers the republican majority has proven itself to be uninterested in legislating in incapable of serious oversight. Instead of holding oversight hearings that will strengthen our nations security improves our department of Homeland Security authorities to carry out its complex mission the majority stuck the southwest border groundhog day. The majority has held variations of this hearing to. Repeating the same hearings over and over again so extreme maga members get their way is not oversight. Dragging Border Patrol chiefs away from their jobs for politicizing is not oversight. Dont get me wrong addressing problems at americas border is a serious task. Oversight is about following the facts and not going on a fishing expedition for the facts dont fit the extreme maga narrative. The fact is this administrations plan to craft the challenges that are southwest border undersecretary mayorkas leadership and entrants to imports of entry in the southwest border since title 42 is terminated on may 11. The number of encounters overall has plunged in that time. Between may 12 in june 2 dhs repatriated more than 38,400,000,000 citizens in more than 80 countries. The Biden Administration has taken unprecedented steps to combat the fentanyl crisis through whole of Government Strategy bent on disrupting the fentanyl trade and addressing substantive abusive home. Operation than to know what secretary mayorkas. Up is disrupted criminal networks and frozen financial assets. An operation established with the ice in june to surge resources to ports of entry to combat fentanyl smuggling and break the fentanyl supply chain. Leveraging intelligence to target precursor chemicals and the movement of illicit fentanyl and operation rolling wave with inspections of the southwest border. Its recently named Border Patrol chief jason owen said in the transcribed interview on may may 5 we have a very robust targeted Enforcement Effort so we work handinhand with our invested partners actively disrupting degrading in dismantling networks and those pipelines of the smugglers. He then went on to say because we have more detection capability, because we have more on the way and additional processing coordinators we are in a better situation than we were in years past. Present bidens secretary mayorkas leadership and hard work have paid off. Our borders are not open to those affecting outside lawful pathways are being sent home. The facts do not support the republicans case. We dont impeach the president or cabinet secretary because you do not like their policies and you surely do not impeach an officer of the United States just to placate the most extreme wing of the Political Party he it is time to move from this sham impeachment effort and do your duty as overseers and legislators. Present bidens fulfilling his duty and secretary mayorkas is doing his job. The republican majority doesnt like what they are doing or how they are doing it then they should get off their soapbox and work with democrats to pass by persons for security and immigration legislation. Mr. Chairman i mr. Chairman i yield back. The gentleman yield. Other members of the committee reminded their statement may be put in the records are pleased to have a distinguished panel of witnesses before us today and they asked that her witnesses please stand and raise their right hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give before the committee Common Security in the United States hope how several president spoke the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in the affirmative. Thank you. Id like now to formally introduce her witnesses mr. Jones is an international respective Border Intelligence expert with decades of experience on the southwest border. He is a retired captain for the Texas Department of Public Safety intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and supervise human intelligence operations in multiple nations including leaving the longest 24 7 order operation in Texas HistoryOperation Secure texas. Is responsible for leading multiple investigations targeting car to leadership in klavern with u. S. Intelligence community to save and numerous lives both mexico and the United States. Ms. Hahn is director of policy studies for the center for Immigration Studies with a d. C. Based in search of attitude that studies the impact of immigration policies. Shes been at the center since 1992 and her area of expertise is immigration policy and operations covering topics such as visa programs immigration benefits and immigration enforcement. Ms. Vaigjam is an expert on Public Safety having been the director of the public director funded project. Prior to joining the center ms. Vaigjam was a Foreign Service officer for the state of art where she served in Belgium Belgium and trinidad. A retired special agent for the Drug Administration he dedicated 28 years of his life to service and currently working as a National Security and Public Safety executive who appears on National News networks and to the subject Matter Expert to mr. Walz was a special agent in charge of United States