Members would like to submit materials, please send them to the email address that has previously been distributed to your offices. We will circulate the materials to members and staff as quickly as we possibly can. Also ask all members to please mute your microphones when youre not speaking, to help prevent feedback and other technical issues and of course, unmute yourselves anytime you seek recognition. I know will recognize myself for an Opening Statement. Id like to welcome our witnesses and the members of the immigration citizenship subcommittee for todays hearing, which will explore the initiatives by the Current Administration to support noncitizen Service Members, veterans and their family members. Immigrants are important to our society and provide key support to our u. S. Military. Currently, immigrants account for approximately 3 of active duty Service Members. Additionally, 13 of veterans or 3. 4 million people, are of immigrant origin, meaning that either they or their parents are immigrants. Throughout our history, immigrants have been key to some of our most Critical Military victories. For example, the revolutionary war likely could not have been won without the essential contributions of two immigrants. The marquis de lafayette and general pulaski. In recognition of their service, both were posthumously made honorary citizens of the United States. The more recent example is u. S. Marine sergeant, rafael peralta, who was born in mexico and enlisted the day he received his green card. In 2004, Sergeant Peralta was severely wounded during the second battle of fallujah. In his last moments he used his body to shield his fellow marines from a grenade blast, saving their lives. He obtained his citizenship during his military service and was posthumously awarded the navy cross. In 1862, recognizing the Important Role immigrants play in our military, Congress Passed a law expediting that pathway to citizenship for those who serve in the armed forces. Quick access to citizenship is good for our Service Members and for the military branches in which they serve. As with other aspects of the Legal Immigration system, the Trump Administration imposed barriers when it comes to naturalization for non citizen Service Members. Fortunately, the new administration has been working to reverse these policies. The president tasked the department of Homeland Security, and defense and justice to improve access to military naturalization. As part of this mandate, the department of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs worked to create something called the immvi. The immigrant military members and Veterans Initiatives to assist immigrant to facilitate their access to va benefits. The department of Veterans Affairs mandated to prepare care assistance to anyone who served in our military, regardless of their citizenship status. This mission gets more difficult when non citizen veterans are removed to their country of origin. All too often, such removals are due to a conviction or a crime stemming from trauma that occurred during the Veterans Service with our military. As was indicated, approximately 11 experience posttraumatic stress disorder, or ptsd. Veterans with ptsd are 60 more likely to become involved in the criminal Justice System than those not suffering from this tragic illness. Once american citizen veterans are convicted of crimes, their punishments do not include banishment from the country. However, even after they have served their sentences, veterans who are not yet citizens are subject to removal. This means that a veteran who risked their life for our country and suffered longlasting Mental Health problems as a result could be deported, preventing them from accessing the resources promised to them when they volunteered to serve. We can do better by our immigrant veterans. That is why i, along with chairman madeleine, and representatives recognition act to address the issues faced by our immigrant Service Members and veterans in a holistic way. I look forward to our discussion today and to hearing from all our witnesses. At this time, i would like to recognize our Ranking Member, mr. Mcclintock, for any statement he may wish to offer. Thank you very much, madam chairman. In april, dhs secretary mayorkas told this committee in sworn testimony that the southern border is secure. This, of course, was untrue. We later discovered, while he was testifying, the border wasnt secure. That cbp was encountering the highest monthly number of Illegal Migrants in our history. 234,000 in a single month. In addition, under his orders and policies, more than half of them were deliberately trafficked into the United States. Thats the equivalent of adding a population the size of lansing, michigan in a single month. Its no surprise that the border chaos continued in may, setting a new monthly record after the encounters, at 239,000. Already, in just 18 months, this administration has allowed into the United States, through border releases and invasions, an illegal population the size of the state of west virginia. Mayorkas could not tell us how it will benefit the American People to have non English Speaking students, Emergency Rooms flooded with illegals demanding basic care, how their family will be safer with increased Gang Activity and inundating our communities. How working families will be made better by flooding the labor market with cheap, illegal labor while they foot the bill for social services. Warns us there are just in latin america and the caribbean who have come here. Nearly 8000 a day are now illegally entering our country. Up to 18,000 a day will be arriving if the democrats drop title 42. Im not aware of any civilization in history that has survived an illegal mass migration of that scale. How do my democratic colleagues on the immigration subcommittee react to this unprecedented illegal migration . Do they call on the Biden Administration to stop, do they call on him, the president , to actually enforce u. S. Immigration laws or at least stop incentivizing this mass illegal migration . No. They call a hearing to discuss immigrant military Service Members and veterans. 31,000 are currently serving in our armed forces. This is less than four days of the border incursions that we are currently seeing in 16 months. Thats the number of illegal aliens streaming across our border every three hours. Foreign nationals who come to america legally, who obey our laws and seek to serve our country because of a love for it and the principles upon which it is founded, are our greatest strength. 11 years ago, i spoke at the funeral of ronil singh, whose family had immigrated from india, legally, 11 years before. His father told reporters that he was a very patriotic man for the u. S. From the time he was a little boy, he knew he wanted to serve in the u. S. Military. He was very proud to serve with the marines. Corporal singh was wounded in combat. He chose to return. He overstayed his assignment to relieve a friend and was killed in action on june 22nd, 2011. I pray the majority is not attempting to equate such heroism, devotion, and fidelity with the lawless, illegal mass migration and they are not only ignoring, but actively aiding and abetting with their policies, with a staggering death toll, that just saw 51 Illegal Migrants baked to death by human traffickers in a truck, on monday. Who enlist in our military are offered special avenues for naturalization under the as they should. Many have chosen to become u. S. Citizens. Unfortunately, for a while we are now allowed non legal american residents, including those who were here on student visas, refugee claimants, and dr. Recipients, to enlist in order to obtain a fast track citizenship. It was such a debacle that the Obama Administration had to suspend it in 2016. One it was found to be a chinese spy. A former number for nationals unlisted were deported for committing crimes. Yet, the democrats dont seem to differentiate between heroes like incorporatesing, and those who abuse our system with ill intent. I look for to discussion about these and other pertinent i yield back the balance of my time. The gentleman yields. Back i now and pleased to recognize the chairman of the judiciary committee, chairman nadler, for any Opening Statement he may wish to offer. Thank, you madam chair. Immigrants have served in the u. S. Armed forces in every major Conference Since the revolutionary war. Today, there are approximately 45,000 immigrants actively serving in the u. S. Armed services. Every day, great immigrant Service Members risks their lives in support of our country. We rely on them to keep our nation safe and protect u. S. Global interests. In return, we must honor their sacrifices by supporting them and their families, and by giving them every opportunity to become u. S. Citizens, if they so desire. Unfortunately, Previous Administration instituted many policy changes that made it harder for foreign born Service Members to naturalize. It inhibited our ability to recruit and retain highly qualified immigrants for important positions within our Armed Services. Such changes undermine the clear intent to provide an expedited naturalization process for military Service Members and veterans. For example, the Trump Administration ended naturalization and basic training and made it more difficult to receive a certification of highlevel service, a document which is essential for naturalization based on military concerns. That changes made by the Trump Administration were unnecessary and cruel. They serve no purpose but to make it harder for individuals serving our country to become citizens. As a result of these changes, military naturalizations declined 44 . The number of denials of military naturalization applications increased by nearly 50 . Fortunately, the Biden Administration has been working to reverse the harmful effects of these policies. In one of its first acts in office, bidens defense, Homeland Security, state, and justice, to collaborate to facilitate naturalization with noncitizen Service Members. Since receiving this directive, dhs and va have collaborated to create that immigrant military members and Veterans Initiative, also known as the i m m v i. This Initiative Helps immigrant access va benefits. When appropriate, apply to be pulled into the United States. Dhs is also working to remove barriers to naturalization for Service Members and veterans. These efforts have paid off. In the fiscal year 2021, and military naturalization numbers return to the levels previously seen in a fiscal year 2016, prior to the Trump Administrations intentional targeting of this population. Members of the military placed their lives at risk in service of this country each day. We should not prevent them from becoming permanent members of our society. I am pleased with the Biden Administrations working to write these wrongs. During this hearing, we will discuss the efforts the administration has undertaken to help Service Members and veterans, including those who have been removed from the United States, as a result of convictions or other transgressions, tied to posttraumatic stress disorder, brain injury, and other physical trauma, suffered while on active duty. Such circumstances can make the transition back to civilian life extremely difficult for veterans. We can all agree that individuals who are rightfully convicted of a crime should serve any reasonable sentence and post. But once that sentence has been served, we should not simply turn our backs on those who sacrificed so much in service to our country. I want to thank chair for holding this hearing. I look forward to hearing about the efforts the agencies are undertaking to ensure we are fulfilling our promises to our nations veterans. Regardless of their citizenship status. I yield back the balance of my. Time the gentleman yields back. I dont believe that the Ranking Member has arrived. If he does, we will certainly invite him to make a statement at that time or to accept his written statement for the record. At this point, i would like to introduce todays witnesses. And debra rogers is the director of the immigrant Veterans Initiative at the department of Homeland Security. Previously, miss rogers served in a variety of leadership roles at u. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including as the director of the Potomac Service center, associate director for the uscis Field Operations field directorate, and as chief of the information and Customer Services division. She also served as Deputy Director for the dhs office of this it isnt ship and Immigration Services ombudsman. Throughout her career, miss rogers has focused on helping the military community in the immigration space. Most recently, she helped create a uscis military outline and established a uscis president at u. S. And military basic training to assist Service Members with their naturalizations. Miss rogers, received her bachelors degrees from northeastern university. Dr. Jennifer macdonald is a Senior Adviser for health to the secretary of Veterans Affairs. Doctor macdonald has held several highlevel roles at the department, including Senior Adviser to the deputy secretary, chief consultant to the deputy undersecretary for health, lead executive for implementation of the mission act, and as director of Clinical Innovation and education. Doctor macdonald is a dissing Family Medicine physician and a u. S. Army veteran. Prior to joining the va, she served as a white house fellow and adviser to the secretary of the u. S. Department of Homeland Security. She served 11 years in the Minnesota ArmyNational Guard and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi freedom, earning a bronze star. She received her bachelors degree from the college of Saint Benedict and her md from the university of missed minnesota and completed her residency at ucla. Stephanie miller is the director of officer and enlisted Personnel Management and a Senior Adviser for senior officer matters in the under secretary of defense, through personnel and readiness. Previously, miss miller served as the director of a second policy from two 2015 until 2022. Prior, that ms. Miller was a special assistant to the secretary of defense and asked jim carter, where she was responsible for Broad Spectrum programs, including military and civilian personnel policy, military force readiness, defense help affairs, reserve affairs, and defense Sexual Assault prevention and response. Miss miller received her bachelors degree from Villanova University and holds a masters degree of George Washington university. I would like to welcome all of our distinguished guests and thank them for participating in todays hearing. I will begin by swearing in our witnesses. I ask each of you to turn on your audio, make sure i can see your face, and your raised right hand, while i administer the oath. So, do you swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the testimony youre about to give is true and correct, to the best of your knowledge, information and believe, so help you god . I do. Let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in the affirmative. Please note that your entire written statements will be entered into the record and instant hi