Good morning, everybody. Normally we dont start until the Ranking Member is here but people have scheduling problems today and i consulted with the staff and i can go ahead without waiting. Thank you for being here. The topic of todays hearing involves the crisis thats growing and spreading in the communities across the nation. Existence in the 1980s and its made a reputation as a perpetrator of extreme and often gruesome violence. This organization has been dubbed the worlds most dangerous game and some say that it would be a terrorist organization. They kill high rate and control. Unfortunately, over the past two years, this terrifying model. So far this year theyve been publicly linked to dozens of highprofile killings, rapes and assaults across the country for a washington, d. C. To Houston Texas and a lot of other communities as well. There are many, many more that simply havent been reported. Let me give the Committee Just a few examples of this the brutality and the inhumanity. Ms 13 has been responsible for nearly 20 murders on long island just since 2010 with victims including High School Age children as young as 16. The group is also considered responsible for an additional 32 violent acts including eight attempted murders. In january, the gang members both of whom are unauthorized immigrants murdered a 22yearold man from new jersey to maryland with a promise of sex where hed pictured that person and left him in the woo woods. One of them has been described as a satanic ritual. In march and april, the string of murders occurred across southern virginia with the most graphic being the murder of the 17yearold raymond wood. According to the reports, his body was found face down and they cut his hands and throat before stabbing him 16 times. Now while these examples are horrifying, they are far from isolated according to the department of justice and it conducts the activities and at least 40 states the District Of Columbia and their violence touches nearly every Major Community in america. What is even more troubling than the recent surge of the Gang Violence is the fact the organization has a new disturbing recruitment strategy targeting unaccompanied aliens, children. Let me tell you a story of one such targeted by ms 13 and ultimately lost life to their violence. As the Washington Post reported last friday afternoon, a 16yearold was apprehended at the border and traveled to the United States without his parents and like others he was sent by the federal government to live with a sponsor in this case an uncle. He was enrolled in a local school and the rival gangs. This eventually led them in el salvador through the assassination and shocked at a School Bus Stop one morning. The tragic story is all too common of the ruthless targeting of children and is well known that recruits children as young as 8yearsold. Unaccompanied minors are perfect humor prime candidates for their recruitment. The illegal status make them foldable targets for the recruitment. While the illegal status is a key factor of the targeting, the failure for the system is also to blame with systematic aircrews and lack of effective collaboration. Today we will hear from agencies that share responsibility for allowing them to fall through the cracks and become targeted for the recruitment. Weve asked the Justice Department health and Human Services and the department of Homeland Security to appear today. The customs and Border Patrol has allowed many to enter the United States according to the whistleblower documents. Many of the members were unaccompanied children. Once the unaccompanied children are apprehended, the refugee settlement is supposed to find them in an appropriate sponsor often they are in the country in a legally and many of them have criminal backgrounds. Because of that postrelease oversight many are including even prostitution rings. This precarious combination trafficking apprehension and placement with sponsors makes unaccompanied children vulnerable to the gang recruitment. The community has an escape from the isolated Living Conditions at home. They have more than the 10,000 gang members in the United States entered into for recruited as unaccompanied children. At ththe end result of the failo establish the process and meaningful oversight of the placement of the children has led to the current crisis. Today is the first step in plotting a path forward. Today we are going to explore the customs and Border Patrol to better cooperate to ensure the safetsafe and proper placement f unaccompanied children and to the ms 13 recruitment incentive. We will also hear what steps they are taking to limit the organization on the back end. Thank you senator. Thank you for calling the hearing and focusing attentions. Gang violence. Most especially the immigrant communities. After police in los angeles arrested close to 2,000 ms 13 members last month, they explained. The chief also made clear that none of these arrests would be possible. He knows and i expect ms 13 knows as well that members of the communities are less likely to seek help from Law Enforcement if they will check the papers. It doesnt just demand a coordinated effort on the part of state and local Law Enforcement. The Law Enforcement officials have the trust and respect of the communities targeted. I hope todays witnesses are able to speak to how we are working to maintain that trust and respect in the rhetoric and policies that weve seen emerge in the campaigns. Sadly the administration. Its also important to acknowledge that some members came to the country to escape the violence and conflict that upon them. The violence targeting children is a significant factor in some families decisions to leave their home country in search of safety and security here in america so i hope todays witnesses were able to help us understand how the activities in Central America force children and families to make the journey here and i also hope they understand how addressing this fits into the federal governments efforts to fight here at home. Thank you mr. Charming and again i appreciate you holding this hearing. I want to go ahead and ask some questions on trade of the finance committee down the hall. We have to remember that the two hour rule will be in place by the time it goes into effect. Im going to introduce the panel and then i would like to swear un after that and then take the testimony. Carla, acting chief of the u. S. Border patrol has a long and distinguished career in Law Enforcement and began in 1997 shes held numerous leadership positions including supervisory Border Patrol agent in 1997 Border Patrol agent in charge in 2009 and 2011 the chief patrol agent in 2013 and a Deputy Commander of the office of professional responsibility 2015. Scott lloyd is the director of the office of refugee settleme settlement. He earned his jd from catholic university. Prior, he served as the chief counsel Public Policy office knights of columbus where he helped shape the organizations humanitarian response and led its policy advocacy of the victims of crisis. He served in the publics sphere on the government reforms drug policy and Human Resources and at the department of health and Human Services. The acting associate director for Homeland Security investigation began his career in Law Enforcement in the Customs Service where he served as the customs inspector marine enforcement officer and special agent prior to his position he served as a special agent for homeland. Executive associate director of enforcement removal operations in this role. To remove individuals that presented a danger to National Security or Public Safety is over 23 years of the Law Enforcement. Its the naturalization service. They have the training academy. Kenneth is the assistant attorney general for the criminal division. He has earned a jd at Georgetown Law Center where he currently teaches as an adjunct professor. He began his career in the miamidade state Attorneys Office and joined the Southern District of florida u. S. Attorneys office 98. They held numerous positions including deputy chief of narcotics and high intensity Drug Trafficking areas acting chief of narcotics and deputy chief of the major crimes sections. Would you please stand. Do you affirm the testimony you are about to get will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Is there an objection to the committees meeting in todays section backs only rumors. That is associated with the protest over the healthcare issue. If i may for those in the audience, it is some thinking that something as important as this shouldnt go as long as it needs to. Arbitrarily cutting it off at noon today this is an important meeting if everyone were here right now we couldnt finish by noon. Somebody at the end of the dais i hope they dont show up so i have an opportunity to ask my questions this is a subject we should be cutting off for arbitrary reasons related to things that have nothing to do with this pressing problem. Each of you will have a longer statement in the fiveminute youve been allocated. The longer statement will be automatically put in the record. I dont cut people off at the last minute but when the light goes on, i would appreciate if you would try to summarize as quickly as you could. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss the role of the u. S. Customs and Border Protection protecting the homeland and securing the nations borders. The hard work of the men and women of cbp we are making significant progress for securing the borders against the threat posed by the Transnational Criminal Organizations such as more commonly known as ms 13. Since taking office intended to secure the borders and enforce immigration laws especially as it relates to the tco. Implementation of policies issued by the secretary and the significant investments we have made and border enforcement Personnel Technology and infrastructure of one of two historical declines along the southwest border. One of the challenges we continue to face along the southwest border, however, such as the International Criminal organization of ms 13. When u. S. Border patrol encounters those that admit to the affiliation, biographical information is collected and reported in the Border PatrolElectronic System of record. A biometric information is collected over the age of 14. The Electronic System collects fingerprint information and runs record checks on detainees helping ensure they are prosecuted to the full ecstatic state of the law fullest extent. Alien children with suspected affiliation such as ms 13 present unique challenges. All are processed in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, court orders and policies. Pursuant to the trafficking reauthorization act of 2008 once a child is determined to meet the definition, cbp is required to transfer into the care and custody of health and Human Services within 72 hours except in unusual circumstances. If they are suspected of being a member of or affiliated with a gang, the information is conveyed to the office juvenile coordinator and hhs office of refugee settlement. When a placement request is generated. Secure placement as requested for any that have a known affiliation. We also screened for Human Trafficking indicators including trafficking such as ms 13. Of the more than 250,000 apprehended since 2012, approximately 160 are suspect of having affiliations including ms 13. The departments taskforces have strengthened management processes to enable the component operations to address the tco. The sex offenders and seizing weapons and narcotics. With the support of congress, they will continue to work with our Law Enforcement partners, leverage the capabilities and continue to target individuals and organizations including ms 13 whose conduct undermines the communities, the integrity of the system and overall Border Security. We will take all appropriate steps to implement the provisions of the president s executive orders that support foto support thedepartment effot and dismantle those that are fortifying their Illicit Networks in the border region and beyond. Distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on this important issue. In closing i would like to take a moment to mention that although it is trending downward from assaults and Border Patrol agents are on the rise. June 1 of this year Border Patrol agents were assaulted more than 500 times compared to fewer than 300 in the same last year. The men and women worked tirelessly to protect the borders and the american people. For the hard work and dedication to duty every day to ensure the nations security. Im proud to serve alongside of them went on her first and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Priorities has been to learn the challenges and complexities of the program. I want to come together to tackle safety concern for of children after the release of or custody. We begun work in the area of Community Safety which is one of the administrations top priority. I was confronted with reports of violence against uac. While Homeland Security and juvenile justice are not areas of expertise, we cannot fulfill our mission with neglectful. [inaudible] the goal is to equip them with the tools they need to stay safe against gangs and violence and to make sure they be released without posing a danger to community. We have expanded our inner agency work with the department of Homeland Security and department of justice. They help us improve our current efforts and bac best practices. They provided guidance on gang prevention and training for staff and grantees. Dhs staff are training providers on how to identify ms 13 and other gang colors and signs and whom to notify if they become aware of Gang Activity. We are working to enhance our daytoday communication with dhs. We ask for input regarding the safety of the release for the uac and for their community. We notify them 24 hours after the minors release. We also review the ways we communicate with dhs to strengthen decisionmaking on release of uac. When we release them from our care we now alert sponsors to the potential danger of gang recruitment activity so they can help the uac avoid it. The Safety Initiative will be a top priority for us that in the coming year we hope to refine our screening tools to identify criminal involvement or intent, to further develop our partnerships with juvenile justice entities and put into place gang prevention and Educational Programs in our facilities. The policies now address the policies with gang involvement. In addition, Senior Leadership reviews them at staff secure security and i make the final release decision. Another important step in the safety of release is to improve the assessment of sponsors. They have made a number of improvements in this area. The decrease of sponsors using fraudulent documents and limiting the documents excepted for identity confirmation. They clarify how we determine their address, the child identity and the sponsor child relationship. If we discover a sponsors using fraudulent documents, we reported to hhs office of Inspector General and Homeland Security investigations. We now require home studies for all uac 12 years of age and younger being released to non relatives sponsors. Another step in improving the safety of releases to contact the child and the sponsor shortly after release which is a critical adjustment period. To accomplish this it calls for 30 days after release. If the case manager has a concern they must report all concerns to investigative agency. In closing, i just want to thank you for the opportunity to update you on the recent effort efforts. We look forward to working with you on our Community Safety initiative and all facets of the uac program. I would be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Chairman grassley, distinguished members, thank you for the opportunity does gus the efforts of the frontline men and women of Homeland Security investigations. In their efforts to disrupt and dismantle violent gangs in the United States. I will focus on combating nat