[background sounds] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible] Foreign Affairs will come to order. Everyone welcome. Without objection, representative connolly of virginia and representative ivy of maryland are waived onto the subcommittee for the purpose of questioning the witnesses at todays hearing. Without objection, the chair may do declare a recess e at any time. I recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening statement. On day one of his administration, President Biden signaled to the world through words and actions that our borders are open, and so they were. Our country has since watched the crisis along our southwest border devolve into a catastrophe, a humanitarian and National Security cat my. Catastrophe. The deteriorating conditions along the southwest border and mismanagement of resources have harmed Law Enforcement and made existing staffing challenges even worse. Just last month the department of Homeland Security office of the Inspector General issued a report examining how Law Enforcement and customs and Border Protection and immigration and customs, examining how Law Enforcement and customs and Border Protection and immigration, Customs Enforcement have been negatively impacted by historically high levels of illegal immigration and other operational challenges. For this audit, the dhs office of the Inspector General surveyed over 9,000 dhs Law Enforcement personnel within i. C. E. And cbp. They collected information there Border Patrol agents who protect our border from illegal entries, office of Field Operation officers who guard our points of entry, enforcement and removal operation officers who enforce immigration laws and Homeland Security investigation agents who investigate crossborder criminal activity. What they found is so shocking. 88 of Law Enforcement personnel who were spotted said their work location was not adequately prepared and staffed during migrant surgingses. 71 of cbp personnel and 61 of i. C. E. Personnel stated that their current work location was not add adequately prepared and staffed even during normal operations, but theres nothing normal about the Current Border catastrophe. As noted in the i. G. s report, migrant encounters at its southwest border have risen from approximately a little under a million in fiscal 2019 to 2. 5 million in 2022. This fiscal year through the end of april, cbp has already made 1. 4 million encounters with 1. 2 million of those coming from Border Patrol agent apprehensions of illegal border crossers. Each of these encounters represents Law Enforcement resources expended in arresting and processing those individuals, and those resources are being used up at the expense of enforcement. The Inspector Generals report highlights a 300 increase in the number of known got withaways gotaways, meaning migrant withs who evade apprehension entirely. In fiscal year 2022 compared to 2019. Last year there were more than 600,000 known gotaways recorded by cbp. In one Border Patrol station reviewed by the Inspector Generals audit, 15 of the gotaways over a a 5day period evaded apprehension simply because no agents were available to respond. These think about that. I mean, people are showing up at the southern border even though we mow theyre there, we dont have anybody who can show up and process these people. These challenges have left the men and women on the front lines of this crisis cover whenned and stretched to their limits. To meet mission requirements, dhs implements stopgap measures like increased overtime and temporary details to exacerbate staffing challenges in the long term by roding morale and by eroding morale. Today we hear from Inspector General cafari on his offices findings about the reality of the problem, how dhs is a managing these staffing challenges and recommendations to solve the staffing crisis. Since 2016d 2016, the Government Accountability office have issued 25 reports examining staffing issues at our border, but 80 of the recommendations have been closed without tangible results at dhs. In fact, dhs did not concur with one of the three recommendations in this report, appearing not even will be dog to be willing to acknowledge the impact of temporary details and overtime on the work force. We must hold dhs accountable to enforce immigration laws and facilitate lawful trade and travel, and that means dhs must successfully manage Law Enforcement resources and support the men and women who carry out these essential functions. I want to thank the Inspector General for appearing today, and i look forward to working with his office to insure continued robust investigation of d health care s. Dhs. Ill tell you, ive been at the border several times. Last time i was down there was two months ago. It was shocking, the degree to which we did not have enough people to deal with particularly wouldbe gotaways coming across the border, and thats why we have this drug crisis in our country. But in any event, in any event, id like to recognize the Ranking Member, garcia, for the purpose of making his opening statement. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. And i want to thank you for keeping this important hearing. I want to just start by just with noting that i hope we can all commend the Bidenharris Administration for their actions to prevent a serious disorder at the border following the expiration of title 42 which i believe was the right decision. As a proud if immigrant myself and a patriotic american, weve certainly got to focus on the border but also have a legal pathway to let people continue to come to this country and be part of our experience. We know that immigrants make our country stronger, and were a nation of immigrants. Congressional democrats and President Biden have taken clear actions to improve Border Security. We have provided unprecedented resources to the men and women who protect our borders, and President Biden has implemented numerous policies to bolster the health and wellbeing of our agents of Border Security. Republicans, on the other hand, have is called the de to defund our federal Law Enforcement agencies claiming often times and weapon nicinging them to further political agendas. We know we have a possibility to support the wellbeing of all federal employees, and as mayor of long beach, california, i was proud to have the support of our local police department. Today im glad were addressing concerns of federal Law Enforcement agencies, the work that they do is very important. But i believe we have a responsibility to support all federal employees who serve our country, and thats everything from dhs to the u. S. Postal service. However, today im very concerned that were holding a hearing today on the basis of a flawed report and with a witness with a problematic record. Now, mr. Cafari has repeatedly refused to comply with this committees requests for meetings and information, and he sought to block congressional oversight at every turn. It is actually ironic that we are dealing with a politicized report given his own Department Staff to morale challenges. In 2022, a letter was published that was drafted and i quote, concerned oig employees representing every Program Office at every grade revel. The letter level. The letter claimed the Inspector General, quote, no longer has the support of his work force, end quote. And the staff fear retaliation if they speak up about the multitude of issues at the office. Staff made e the startling claims that dhs oig, quote, will continue to fail under the i. G. s disastrous leadership, end quote. Now, the concerns about this witness go on and on from his resigning under earth ethical concern ethical concerns, delaying oversight reports and alerting and covering up critical investigatory facts. Now, we all know that the Inspector General is currently under investigation by the counsel of the Inspector General on integrity and efficiency. Rather than cooperate with legitimate oversight is effort, the Inspector General has filed a lawsuit in a desperate attempt to escape scrutiny or consequences for failures and transgressions. Now, it is unacceptable that the individual entrusted to investigate fraud, waste and abuse in our Third Largest executive department believes that he is above the law. Believes that his office is above scrutiny from congress and believes that he is beyond reproach for his own potential perpetrations of fraud if, waste and abuse. Now, under the Inspector Generals leadership, department of homeland office of Inspector General has developed a pattern of flawed and misleading investigations including a tail your to report Sexual Misconduct and harassment at dhs and a failure to investigate and disclose to congress missing secret service Text Messages from the january 6th insurrection. I would also like to briefly address the report on which this hearing is based, a report that is misleading, nonrepresentative of the broader agency and deeply flawed. The dhs office of Inspector General claimed that the purpose of their work was to gain insight into staffing. Instead, the report made sweeping generalizations about morale at cbp and i. C. E. The report has mathematical errors and misleading tables and graphs. Dhs oig can even stated their work was conducted in accordance with, quote, generally accepted government auditing standards with the exception of data reliability. I dont know about all of you, but with the exception of data reliability seems like a pretty big exception to me. Now, we need an i. G. In place whos able to perform audit work with objectivity and independence or well verve have the accountability have the accountability we deserve are this agency. We should expect better. I look forward to this hearing only for the opportunity for our members to raise longstanding concerns. We have serious challenges to address at our borders, and i look forward to Building Solutions to address them. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Im pleased to introduce our witness today, joseph cafari was confirmed by the senate in the department of homeland to be the department of Homeland Securitys Inspector General this july of 2019. He was previously a policy adviser to the governor of arizona, served in the u. S. Air force and spent 20 years at the department of justice. In 2013 he retired from his position as assistant special agent in charge for the office of Inspector General this tucson, arizona. In tucson, arizona. I look forward to his testimony. I was down in tucson sector for, i think, the third time in the last four years, and ill tell you i am glad you are in that position and look forward to hearing, hearing from you in your testimony. Pursuant to Committee Rule 9g, the witness will please stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony youre about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . I do. Let the record show the witness answered in the affirmative. We appreciate you being here today and look forward to your testimony but remind you that we have read your written statement and it will appear in full in the written record. As a reminder, please press the button on the microphone in front of you so that its on and the members can hear you. When you begin to speak, the light in front of you will turn green. After four minutes, the light will turn yellow, and when the red light comes on, your five minutes have expired. I recognize you to, please, begin your opening statement. Chairman grossman, Ranking Member garcia and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss critical oversight of dhs. Prior to my unanimous confirmation in 2019, i served more than 20 years with the department of justice i. G. In various offices along the southwest border. For 10 of those years until the establishment of dhs in 2003, doj i. G. Oversaw the immigration and that muchization Naturalization Service and its component, the u. S. Border patrol. Of i personally observed three operations in which ins detailed agents to the southwest border, and i investigated financial irregularities related to one of those operations. As i promised congress during my confirmation process as Homeland Security i. G. , i prioritized oversight of Border Security and immigration. My first visit to the southwest border was within two months of my confirmation, and since then ive personally traveled to the southwest border nine times to review dhs operations and border conditions. These trips have encompassed all nine Border Patrol sectors from san diego, california, to the Rio Grande Valley in texas. In addition, my senior staff or i have visited the Northern Borders of washington, michigan, new york, vermont and floridas maritime border. During my visits ive engaged with senior Law Enforcement and frontline personnel to better understand how dhs can enhance Border Security and fight corruption. Ive also received situational briefings from northcom, southcom, u. S. Army north regarding active and reserve components assisting at the southwest border. My testimony today will focus on cbp and i. C. E. s management of resources and discuss in our recentlypublished authority about the health and no to real of cbp and i. C. E. Weve conducted this audit to determine the extent do which dhs is effectively managing Law Enforcement staffing resources. Our audit work included analysis of attrition rates, succession plans and physical observations of 31 facilities. We also interviewed and surveyed Law Enforcement personnel. We determined cbp and i. C. E. s current approach to staffing is neither effective nor viable long term. Despite greater workloads, Staffing Levels at both agencies have remained relatively flat since 2019. Cbp and i. C. E. Have relied on the use of temporary duty assignments, overtime shift work to Surge Staffing along the southwest border. The practice that dates back to at least 1994 with the creation of the ins Natural National border strategy. Although cbp and i. C. E. Annually assess their staffing needs, Neither Agency has assessed the impact of these details on their operations. Cbp and i. C. E. Have initiated programs focused on the wellbeing of their agents and officers, both components could benefit from a more strategic approach for resource allocation. We herald from more than we heard from more than 9,000 Law Enforcement personnel. That represents 16 of the 57,00o we surveyed. Our analysis of the survey comments indicated that many recipients felt that current staffs has negatively impacted their health and morale. Cbp and i. C. E. Cannot continue to use temporary duty assignments and overtime shift work effectively to meet the challenges of the southwest with border. We made three recommendations to help dhs strategically assess the issues we identified. Dhs concurred with two of these recommendations and does not concur with one. In total during my tenure, we published 51 reports and made 145 recommendations specifically aimed at improving dhs southwest border ops. Im very proud of the quality and quantity of the work by more than 700 professional career dhs employees have produced under my leadership. As ive reported since the fall of 2021, dhs continues to delay and deny work ig access to information oig access to information dhs is required to provide to us and that we need to do our jobs. I remain hopeful dhs will improve their response i haveness to our request for investigation so that we can continue to provide congress and the public robust, timely oversight like that being featured in todays hearing. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I look forward to the subcommittees questions. Thank you. Right on the button. Ill give you a few questions. Law enforcement staffing at the southwest border is facing a systemic crisis, one that the department of Homeland Security doesnt have a coherent plan to address. Why did you