Spending bills in a bipartisan way and im working closely with vice chair collins on this and i believe we have the opportunity and responsibility to Work Together to make our country more safe, more competitive, and do good for the people we represent and the risk of sounding like a broken record while it is currently in infraction. Title several help and the abuse of immigration parole. Since President Biden took office as part of casualties, he has paroled in and around the million aliens who for humanitarian purpose. Administrations have been abusing Parole Authority for many years has by congress attempts to raided. In most, recently the biden ministration has created categorical pearl programs for several countries make the chaos of the border less noticeable. Title seven points use of pearl back to its intended purpose to allow foreign nationals to enter the u. S. For an emergency purpose for a short period of time. Finally, title eight films and the job might have hurt legal migration. It faces then used to be verify to check the employment eligibility for new hires over a period of three, is starting with the largest employers unending with agriculture employers. Weve worked closely with many of our folks from the district on that language. He verifies at the quick and efficient way to electronically to a colonel of requires of employees check the employments ability of their new. Hires occur insistent this objective and illegal aliens routinely fake identity employment eligibility requirements to get jobs in the United States. Titillate also reveals to Biden Administration regulations that makes the catch to a agricultural guesswork program burdensome for employees to use. H. R. 2 who put an end to it. The open borders policy of joe biden. With, that mister chairman, i yield back. Thank you very much, Ranking Member nadler, youre recognized for opening testimony. Thank, you mister chairman, members of the committee. A cruel, extreme, and workable piece of legislation. The socalled secure the border, act which would wrecker economy, destroy the asylum system, criminalize visa over days, send unaccompanied children back to dangerous situations and jail children indefinitely. Once, again my republican colleagues show that they are not interested in finding Real Solutions to tough issues. With bill attempts to combine a variety of different bills. Each want more cruel and heartless than the last. Its a one contradictory and overlapping mess. This bill has no chance of being enacted into law. Republican senators have expressed their opposition. It is nothing more than pure political theater. My republican colleagues are trying to take us back to the failed, legal and moral policies of the trump administration. Former president trumps radical, inhumane and racist immigration actions weekend the u. S. Economy, undermined our moral standing in the world and did not make us any safer. While trampling on some of our most deeply held american values, his erratic approach also failed to stem the flow of migrants across our borders. Lets be very clear about what this legislation would do. When taken together, this bill serves as a wholesale ban on asylum. No one would be able to seek asylum in the United States if the cross between points of entry or they add or could have had even temporary status in a third country. We offered a variety of amendments to the most vulnerable from these draconian requirements. Its included those fleeing communist totalitarian regimes and unaccompanied children. The majority was not even willing to exempt children under a year old. The one place where we were able to make some bipartisan headway was on the issue of e verify. He verify is an electronic employment verification system began as a voluntary Pilot Program and is currently used by a small percentage of the nations employers. This bill would make that a system editorial for all employers in the United States. Without providing other reforms, including a meaningful opportunity for undocumented workers to regularize their status. This title would damage the u. S. Economy, harm American Workers and result in billions of dollars and lost government revenue. Mandatoryy verified witness made the agriculture industry, putting u. S. Farms out of business, shipping millions of american jobs overseas and increasing u. S. Reliance on imported food. Mandatory e verify would result in hundreds of thousands of unfilled farm jobs and would leave unpicked crops rotting in the field as we saw in georgia in 2011, when the military he verify law in the state resulted in over 11,000 farm jobs going unfilled during the peak harvest season. That is why i have submitted an amendment to the rules committee which would strike the eve verified title from this bill. This amendment gained bipartisan support in the judiciary committee, and i hope my colleagues will ensure against the vote on the house floor. These are just a few of the problems with this bill. I did not even have time to go into detail into how this bill strips all protections from unaccompanied children and requires all families who come to our border seeking protection to be detained indefinitely. Or the extreme lengths it goes to narrow the eligibility grounds for asylum. Or how this bill would severely restrict this and any future administrations ability to probably individuals into the United States, and the current crow initiatives for ukrainians fleeing russia and certain military families. I might add ending the parole that has been enforced for cuba since the eisenhower administration. Immigration reform is a complicated problem that requires comprehensive solutions, and enforcement only strategy simply doesnt work. Democrats have put forward real proposals and we stand ready to work with serious republicans to pass meaningful solutions. Democrats take this complex humanitarian crisis seriously. Our proposals address the root causes of migration, improve Border Security and create additional legal pathways for people to enter the United States lawfully. But republicans have chosen a narrow path that imposes an extreme hardship on the most Vulnerable People well doing nothing to actually solve the problem. I encourage my colleagues to oppose this wrongheaded bill and i ask a majority to go back to the drawing bird. Thank you mister chairman, i yield back. Thank you. Chairman greene, you are recognized for your opening testimony. Ranking member mcgovern and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the secure the border act of 2023. Theres no doubt to any american paying attention that were in the midst of a severe border crisis. Just over two, years President Biden secretary mayorkas have turned the border into a place of chaos and devastation. A place for cartels are now firmly in control of at least five of our nine sectors, according to the chief of the Border Patrol. Since biden ministration took, office there been over 5 million encounters at the southwest border. 1. 5 million known gotaways and estimates by the chief of Border Patrol of an additional 20 of got a ways that are completely unaccounted for. The numbers paint a horrifying picture. Just the First Six Months of this fiscal, or 80 people on the terrorist Border Patrol arrested over 15,000 individuals with criminal convictions and 14,000 pounds of fentanyl has been seized. Enough to kill over 3. 1 billion people, a third of the world or the entire u. S. Population nine times over. , sadly the true number of cartel and game members, other criminals and trafficked persons as well as the quantity of an licit drugs that have all crossed our borders will never be fully known. But what we do know is staggering. Given these facts, it is imperative that Congress Take the necessary steps to ensure that the law passed by this body are enforced. Our borders are secure and the American People are safe. Im honored to be here with chairman jordan and chairman mccaul as we work towards this goal of the secure the border act. Each of our committees has worked tirelessly over the past several months to craft this legislation. Doing so through regular order. The committee on Homeland Securitys markup two weeks ago extended over 16 hours and considered over 40 amendments. Im grateful to the members of the committee who worked tirelessly to craft our part of this bill. Nature to addresses the Immediate Impact of the crisis by focusing on mitigating and stopping the search of illegal aliens and drugs flowing across the u. S. Borders, mainly between ports of entry. This requires the secretary of Homeland Security was previously appropriated but an expired funding to immediately resume construction of the border wall. It also makes targeted investment in border policy but appoint a most Effective Technology available. Such as advanced surveillance sensors and drones and requires a fiveyear Technology Investment plan to provide one else has of Security Risk and gaps between ports of entry. This bill also depends transparency from dhs by requirement the reporting of critical Border Security data. Including the number of known gotaways and known or suspected terrorists. The American People expect this type of transparency. And also authorizes and increases operations dont garden grants to support state and local Law Enforcement who are bearing the brunt of this crisis, as a federal government continues to fail and its mission. Lastly, the bill addresses the Major Staffing challenges that u. S. Border patrol, which was just recently highlighted and a dhs Inspector General report laying out how the unsustainable conditions that our southwest border are negatively impacting the health and morale of the frontline Law Enforcement. Our brave Border Patrol agents whose frustrations grow daily as they are full pulled off the front line process and tornadoes are leaving at an increasing rate and are greatly struggling with Mental Health issues. To address these, issues this bill includes Retention Bonuses for those frontline agents, made is no fewer than 22,000 fulltime equivalent agents and also provides polygraph Waiver Authority for hiring flexibility. These are just a few of the highlights of this critical legislation. We must have affective physical infrastructure, additional port patrol agents on the front lines to address these growing threats. Combined with the important elements led by the judiciary and Foreign Affairs committee, this bill is a major step into tackling these challenges and delivering for the American People. Left an, addressed the border crisis will continue to spiral out of control. Thank you, mr. , chairman for the opportunity to testify today. I look for to the committees questions and i yield back. Thank you very much, representative ivey, you are recognized for your opening statement. Thank, you mister chairman, mr. Ranking member. Im here to express my strong opposition to h. R. 2 and urge the committee to approve a role to allow for consideration of democratic amendments aimed at addressing serious flaws in this cruel and unworkable bill. Although i sit on the Homeland Security committee and the judiciary committee, im here to speak on per half of Ranking Member thompson about division a of h. R. 2. The language in this division, which was voted out of the Homeland Security committee about two weeks ago along partisan lines after a 17hour markup reflects the failure of cooperation and cooperation between the two groups of members. The democrats and the republicans. The majority rejected 43 amendments, even when they expressly rejected the merit and some of the amendments that were offered by the democrats. If, enacted hr to it up and border enforcement operations, Illinois Community and religious organizations working to provide migrants with basic necessities. That is why 136 community and religious organizations oppose this legislation. They have a letter that i would like to submit to make part of the record. H. R. 2 would require dhs to build Donald Trumps border wall, fake clean poised to unspent border wall funds from the trump era as a pay for. Republican colleagues identified no unspent funds as mentioned in the bill that are available to dhs to begin construction on the wall. And the legislation requires that we can i work in seven days after enactment. Moreover, roughly 1900 miles of additional wall construction its estimated to be required to complete the republican mandate. Ive seen estimates of that crossing roughly 46 million per mile. On one, hand we have no funding made available under the legislation, not expressly at least. But an astronomical amount to actually do what they are saying hes to be done. In addition to, that has republicans have adopted a bill that required 22 across the board cuts in dhs funding. I think the Ranking Member estimated that would be somewhere around a reduction of 2400 Border Agents. At the, same time my republican colleagues are saying i know, and the Border Agents themselves are, saying they need more help down at the border. But the bill doesnt fund a single new officer had port of entry to find fentanyl introduction even though administrations have 8 that more than 80 of this deadly drug comes to ports of entry. Last, month i joined with Committee Colleagues to visit with officers and brownsville point of entry in mcallen, texas. The men and women serving at the border are doing important work under very difficult situations. That led us to Ranking Member thompson in particular, top four amendments to try to address additional funding for members of the border. Officer in agents. To try to raise the funding to have them get additional payments. I know there is language in there about adding four bonuses. This would actually elevate their overall pay on an ongoing basis. And allow them to equalize the Civil Service payment. In addition to that, i we also offered language that would allow the officers and agents to unionize, so that they can protect their benefits. It also offered language that would, and it was raised a moment ago, about the spiritual issues and challenges that many of the agents and officers are facing on the border. We offered an amendment to expand that to provide additional counseling, which was contested by the officers and agencies we talked with down at the border. That amendment was rejected as well. We debated a section that targets nonprofits that work with migrants and other immigrants for hours. In the, end the republicans retained language like punishes these community, religious and charitable organizations for carrying out their missions of providing lifesaving services to those in need. Specifically, section 1 15 would place on workable requirements on dhs partners. Including those who dont operate at the border. The broadest of the provisions would mean Disaster Management partners would be required to verify every individual debate where providing critical assistance like shelter in transportation. Edition of that at the hearing, one of our members raised the issue of the requirements that they would face and try to identify the definition of aliens that was put into a new amendment that was offered the night of the markup. It had never been seen by any of the and ceos or had a chance to be vented by any one else. Its pretty, clear i think, weve got the letter that i offered and weve got another one from catholic bishops in el paso, in texas, that raised the same concerns about this provision. I remember, in a letter to member of congress, the bishop of el paso and chair of the u. S. Congress of catholic bishops on migration what, quote, as drafted, these provisions could even be interpreted to prevent schools, houses of worship and other organizations from qualifying for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program amid a rise in Violent Attacks on those places. The bishop continued, quote, dhss ability to rescue persons encountered in the desert and lifethreatening circumstances process unaccompanied children, victims of trafficking, victims of torture and others who even under this bills own terms would warrant such processing would be compromised. Democrats tried to strike a section 1 15 altogether. But the Committee Republicans refused. Alternatively, we offered language that would have created other exceptions to this. We helped our military personal overseas, for pregnant women, women who are survivors of Human Trafficking or Domestic Violence or sexual assault. All of those amendments were voted down. We need an open bill, open ruled to address the very real problems with this bill that we