Engineering. They have qualifications that i cant imagine. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans q and a. The House Homeland SecurityCommittee Held a hearing on Boarder Security and president trumps executive orders on immigration. County sheriffs and local officials from texas and arizona provided an update on efforts to secure the southern boarder and discuss the implications of the president s boarder wall proposal. The committee will come to order. Well hear from the second panel of witnesses. Our second Panel Includes steve mccraw, director of Texas Department of Homeland Security. He became the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety in 2009. Also serves as the governors Homeland Security advisor. I know him well from my prosecutor days. Its good to have you here, sir. Mr. Joe frank martinez, sheriff in texas. He served as a peace officer for 35 years. In 1999 he was promoted to the rank of sergeant of Narcotics Service in texas. He served in that capacity until his retirement. Mr. Leon wilmont is a sheriff and worked in Law Enforcement for over 30 years. Since completing his service in the United States marine corps and was elected sheriff in 2012 and continues to serve in this capacity. Final witness is the honorable eddie travino, judge in texas. He served in Cameron County for 15 years. Hes a partner and founder of travino law firm. He was mayor from 2003 to 2007. In november of 2016, elected to the bench where he currently serves. I want to thank you for being here today. Statements will appear in the record. I know many of you have flights to catch, with that the chair recognizes mr. Mccraw for his testimony. Thank you, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member thompson. Texas has as you know and weve heard testimony about how big texas is and congressman herd, thank you for pointing that out, but 1,900 miles belongs to texas and its important and it impacts what happens at the board board boarder doesnt stay at the boarder. There are consequences throughout the nation. Some of those consequences are the heroine epidemic thats happening in the northeast. Other things that happen and of course in 2014 when boarder patrol was overwhelmed by the surge and influx of central americans, they were it was a threat from a texas standpoint. The governor and the state legislator who has been proactive about protecting people and theyre concerned about the influx of gangs, cartel operatives, cartel members, heroine, cocaine, and sex trafficking. This is packed throughout the state and nation. We were sent down there to do something and work with our federal partners, but more importantly coordinate with the local and state partners, national guard, also texas game wardens to conduct operations in direct support of the u. S. Boarder patrol to deter, detect and intercept smuggling between the ports of entry. As weve seen in doing so over a period of time that you can influence the amount of drugs coming in and the amount of illegal aliens coming in. Its boarder control physics. You can go back to 1991 to look at this issue and it was it can be done, but what they recommended is what secretary kelley talked about and thats what is so encouraging today and that is prevent it from coming in in the first place. Thats the texas way that weve been obligated to work with the boarder patrol at the river and then the defense weve looked at is the fence and height to be able to stack it. It starts on the water and goes with censors and cameras to the helicopters and of course weve got 14 aircraft dedicated specifically to support boarder patrol agents on the ground. We have a tactical marine unit, which i wouldnt have believed we would have had the opportunity to have a navy, but we do now. Thats what boarder patrol needed at the time. We dont need yesterdays technology for tomorrow. Those kecensors are arrow kayic. We have motion detection cameras to support boarder patrol. Boarder patrol agents install them. They need that technology. I have no question whatsoever and we understand and the governor has been clear about this and so has the legislator that we know the boarder patrol can secure the u. S. Boarder. We have an outstanding boarder patrol chief and we have no question he can do it if given the resources to do so. We look forward to working with the brave men and women of the boarder patrol. On behalf of the state legislator, i get to speak for them a little bit, and the governor because ive talked to his chief of staff last night, theres a concern of the amount of money that we continue to spend at the state level into a federal mission. Its right now theres a price tag is over 1. 4 billion. But our leaders and legislators have said texans are so important that were going to spend this money if it can provide direct support of the boarder patrol. The last thing we want to do is diminish what is out there right now. Im concerned about when i report tomorrow before the Senate Finance hearing is what im going to say. How am i going to explain. Were hoping strategically to get out of the business. Weve had 3,742 deaths on texas highways last year and transnational gangs and we rescued 36 children who were victims of predators on our highways and another 26 by some of our special agents on the highway. We have much to do inwards inside the state of texas, including transnational gangs. Texas is a hub city for the mexican or for the ms 13 simply because of an unsecure boarder. We must deal with those things and right now our directive is to continue to support boarder patrol as we are and well do everything we can. One of the concerns is how fast can they do it . How long is it going to take them to get those resources in place . With that, mr. Chairman, i conclude my testimony. Thank you, steve. The chair recognizes the sheriff. Distinguished members of the house, Homeland Security committee, thank you for the opportunity to address you today on issues that effect every citizen in my boarder county. The state of texas and the United States of america. I have spent 39 years as a career Law Enforcement professional. As the immediate past chairman of the Sheriffs Coalition and current chairman of the southwest boarder coalition i have dedicated my Law Enforcement career to serving the citizens of the state of texas right on the texas mexico boarder at the state level and as a member of the department of Public Safety and the current sheriff of the county. The Sheriffs Coalition is comprised of 20 boarder sheriffs, all of whom are within 20 miles 25 miles of the mexico boarder. They share approximately 1,254 miles with the boarder of mexico. My county shares approximately 110 miles of boarder with mexico. The southwestern boarders Sheriffs Coalition which includes the states of california, arizona, mexico and texas, combines of 1,999 miles of boarder. Within the boarder from california to texas lie 31 counties. The terrain throughout much of these areas varies from ranch lands to desert and mountain like ranges. Most of these lands are titled to private landowners. Some areas are national or state parks so the need for each of these individual counties is unique in its own way. The texas boarder Sheriff Coalition founded in 2005 to provide a cooperative effort to effect a regional solution to a national problem. We all share common issues, but there is one issue but theres no one issue more important than making sure that we secure our communities in which the people feel safe in their homes and surroundings. Sheriffs have an interest in the quality of life of those that we serve. Sheriffs are unique in the understanding of the pulse of their communities and public that evaluates during election time that determines whether they stay employed every four years. The texas boarder Sheriffs Coalition was organized and represented by the chief Law Enforcement officer of each respective county. Texas sheriffs empowered by the state constitution are committed to protect the lives and rights of the people by maintaining order and security in the United States along the republic of the mexico boarder and enforcing the laws impartially while providing partnership with other Law Enforcement agencies and community partners. The consequences of an unsecured boarder are felt throughout the United States. Each boarder county sits at the g gateway into our country for legitimate and illegitimate trade and travel. The issue here is Public Safety. Immigration, though an important factor, is a separate, but related issue whose responsibilities lie within federal Government Agencies. These federal agencies that we work with every day have had a difficult job in carrying out their duties due to policy issues and changes and laws that are not on our books. Sheriffs only encounter immigration issues as a biproduct of other criminal acts. Some of the problems we encounter are drug smuggling, human smuggling, stolen vehicles, crimes against persons and property, Sexual Assault, and the list goes on. As many of you know, the lower population and Property Values most counties lack a sufficient tax basis to support the sheriffs office. Each and every one of us are effected one way or another by what happens on the boarder and as such boarder states and the federal government are a Natural Resource to support the needs of the boarder as it impacts Public Safety. The problem for most sheriffs is a short fall of resources to address the problems identified here, which are not all inclusive, but are prioritized as manpower, travel and training. The Sheriffs Coalition offers a less expensive approach to Boarder Security based on a partnership of action. The solution offered by the coalition is one of cooperation, being at the table to discuss these issues that effect all our communities on a daily basis. Federal, state and local Law Enforcement needs to Work Together to find a solution in securing our boarders and our future. No one single form of government can do it alone. The plan for security in the communities along the boarder with mexico as presented by the members of the coalition is to provide a regional solution to a national problem. The plan is based on a partnership of action and not rhetoric. Its based on existing cooperating work and the willingness to share Lessons Learned and put into place best practices. The plan is formulated by sheriffs who have ownership in their respective communities they serve and understand how local needs relate to a Law Enforcement, economic, social, health and an environmental perspective. The initiative created by sheriffs with respect to the federal agencies and in support of the men and women working on the front lines each day. The differences are in the solution that are based on the local Community Impact and not on policies enacted by people thousands of miles away. I want to thank the committee for this opportunity to address the needs of our boarder sheriffs. May god bless the United States of america and every Law Enforcement protecting the front lines. Thank you. We appreciate your work along the boarder with all the sheriffs. Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today on this very important subject. From a geographical perspective, the county is at the southwest boarder of arizona and california and we cover the boarder of mexico. We have 110 miles of International Boundary that we share with the state of mexico. Back in 2005, the boarder patrol tallied 272,300 plus illegal bree entries. The adverse effects diminish the quality of life of county residents, but also placed strain upon the budgets and resources of private and Government Agencies in the county. The Community Unfortunately experienced a significant spike in crime such as rapes, robberies, homicides, thefts of property, burglaries, home invasions, thefts, high speed pursuits, assaults on Law Enforcement officers as well as ransom groups. The organizations operating along the boundary were explained by the sheriff when he testified in his own words, they are highly sophisticated and innovative in their transportation methods. Aside from the normal use of human backpackers, which we refer to as mules, they have resorted to the use of aircraft and drones which cannot be detect n dete detected. Theyre utilizing catapults, launchers as well to get the marijuana into the u. S. Ive witnessed the escalation of violence by their assailants on our citizens, but i have seen the successes that can be accomplished through coordinated response with local, state and federal partners working with the prosecutorial agencies. By fiscal year 2008 the number of illegal entries totalled 15,900. This turn around can be attributed to four critical developments. Significant upgrades in tactical infrastructure, to fencing to the barriers and camera systems and surveillance, the implementation of operation stre streamline which was a programmed designed for prosecution of immigrants and operation stone garden which to us has been one of the most major successes of any federal Grant Program that we have ever witnessed before. With this we were able to have a force multiplier along the boarder area that otherwise could not be done within agency budgets. I will tell you that the following comprehensive recommendations are directly linked to our federal leaders. A, need to redefine the plan of the 90s and build upon those successes. Have to have the political will to make boarder secure a mandated program. Boarder security first, Immigration Reform second. Support and embrace the first line agents that work the boarder regions and our federal partners. They have a dangerous job and its no secret their frustration is high based on the unknown complexities referenced in their assignments every day. They have great ideas to share and it was refreshing to see the general speaking about the fact he would go to each geographic location and sit down with those areas, talk with state, local and federal Law Enforcement areas and see what was best for that area. Continued funding to operation stone garden. We need to remove that funding from fema. Theyre a cumbersome to Law Enforcement in being able to do our reporting. Move that funding back into the department of Homeland Security where they know whats best for our mission as we partner and work alongside our federal partners. Restore full reimbursement of the state criminal apprehension program. Its been devastating to our budge budgets. Last year 30 million is what the sheriffs of arizona had to swallow because we only got reimbursed five cents on the dollar for housing Illegal Immigrants that committed crimes in our areas. Our team work and philosophy with our partners has proven to be beneficial in bringing overdue solutions to our unsecured boarder. Unfortunately Boarder Security has become a discretionary program. One would hope that the priority of securing our boarder doesnt become about a price tag, but whether the requirement to safeguard america. Todays opportunity to address this committee instills fresh hope that our voice does matter. Thank you. I agree on all counts. Judge travino. Good afternoon. I want to thank secretary kelley for his distinguished service to our country and for his visit to south texas last week. I hope it was productive. Cameron county is part of the rio grand valley. Were home to the premier Tourist Destination for many throughout the United States and mexico. Given the attention over the past weeks and months this hearing could not have been timelier. Boarder security is a reality that we live with every day. As a locally elected official, i have an obligation to try and inform this panel to make Common Sense Solutions that will be effective for all of us. On the boarder we have had to endure policies and programs put in place by the federal government over the years. After 911 we understood the reasoning afor the sudden changs of life on the boarder. We believe in the rule of law and want our country to be safe and secure. Many residents answered the call to defend our country. Despite the post 911 changes businesses have thrived and our communities are safe. The claims of lawlessness and violence in our boarder communities is wrong and nothing more than an attempt to paint it as something that its not in order to support the misguided rhetoric against boarder communities, mexico and its people and the immigrant both legal and undocumented. I come before you today to request that you seek other opportunities other than the boarder wall proposal put forth by president