[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
A REVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET
REQUEST FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME-
LAND SECURITY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
APRIL 27, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-53
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
48-215 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Chairman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas John Katko, New York
James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey Clay Higgins, Louisiana
J. Luis Correa, California Michael Guest, Mississippi
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Dan Bishop, North Carolina
Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey
Al Green, Texas Ralph Norman, South Carolina
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Eric Swalwell, California Diana Harshbarger, Tennessee
Dina Titus, Nevada Andrew S. Clyde, Georgia
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida
Kathleen M. Rice, New York Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Val Butler Demings, Florida Peter Meijer, Michigan
Nanette Diaz Barragan, California Kat Cammack, Florida
Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey August Pfluger, Texas
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
Tom Malinowski, New Jersey
Ritchie Torres, New York
Hope Goins, Staff Director
Daniel Kroese, Minority Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Statements
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 2
The Honorable John Katko, a Representative in Congress From the
State of New York, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland
Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 3
Prepared Statement............................................. 6
Witness
Honorable Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary, Department of
Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 7
Prepared Statement............................................. 9
For the Record
The Honorable John Katko, a Representative in Congress From the
State of New York, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland
Security:
Memorandum, April 26, 2022..................................... 17
The Honorable J. Luis Correa, a Representative in Congress From
the State of California:
Photos......................................................... 47
The Honorable Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Representative in
Congress From the State of Iowa:
Report, Office of the Inspector General........................ 60
Article........................................................ 73
The Honorable Kat Cammack, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Florida:
Letter......................................................... 81
Graphic........................................................ 95
Response, National Border Patrol Council....................... 96
The Honorable Peter Meijer, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Michigan:
Resolution of Inquiry.......................................... 103
Appendix I
Statement of Anthony M. Reardon, National President, National
Treasury Employees Union....................................... 117
Appendix II
Questions From Honorable Nanette Barragan for Honorable Alejandro
N. Mayorkas.................................................... 125
Questions From Honorable Ritchie Torres for Honorable Alejandro
N. Mayorkas.................................................... 125
Questions From Ranking Member John Katko for Honorable Alejandro
N. Mayorkas.................................................... 126
Questions From Honorable Clay Higgins for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas....................................................... 130
Questions From Honorable Michael Guest for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas....................................................... 131
Questions From Honorable Dan Bishop for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayor- kas..................................................... 132
Questions From Honorable Andrew Clyde for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas....................................................... 133
Questions From Honorable Peter Meijer for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas....................................................... 133
A REVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET REQUEST FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY
----------
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:02 p.m., 310
Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Bennie G. Thompson [Chairman
of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Thompson, Jackson Lee, Langevin,
Payne, Correa, Slotkin, Cleaver, Green, Clarke, Swalwell,
Titus, Watson Coleman, Rice, Demings, Barragan, Gottheimer,
Malinowski, Torres, Katko, McCaul, Higgins, Guest, Bishop, Van
Drew, Norman, Miller-Meeks, Harshbarger, Clyde, Gimenez,
LaTurner, Meijer, Cammack, Pfluger, and Garbarino.
Chairman Thompson. The Committee on Homeland Security will
be in order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to
declare the committee in recess at any point.
Good afternoon. The committee is meeting today to review
the fiscal year 2023 budget request for the Department of
Homeland Security. I welcome our witness, Secretary of Homeland
Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and look forward to engaging with
him on the budget request and other matters before the
Department.
Just over a year ago the Biden administration inherited a
Department of Homeland Security beleaguered by 4 years under
President Trump. Vacancies in key leadership positions,
flagging employee morale, and gross mismanagement left the
Department in bad shape and the American people less secure.
The Biden administration has prioritized rebuilding DHS and
supporting its more than 250,000 brave hardworking men and
women.
Under Secretary Mayorkas' leadership, DHS has fulfilled
critical vacancies, strengthened management, and advocated for
pay raises and collective bargaining for front-line workers.
Meanwhile, DHS has faced unprecedented challenges from a rise
in domestic terrorism to escalating cyber threats from Russia
to more frequent and severe natural disasters to push back to
driving migrants to our Southern Border. The President's fiscal
year 2023 budget request responds by investing in the
Department, its people, and programs and prioritizes combatting
domestic terrorism in the wake of threats to religious
institutions and historically black colleges. It builds on
important investment Congress has made to secure Federal
networks and critical infrastructure and strengthens
relationships between Government and the private sector. It
provides over $26 billion in enhanced disaster preparedness
response and resilience and it also adds to the $1.4 billion
Congress recently provided for border security by funding
hundreds of new Border Patrol agents and processing personnel.
As the appropriations process moves forward, I plan to work
with the administration to ensure the Cyber and Infrastructure
Security Agency has the resources it needs to meet urgent
threats.
I was also pleased the Department requested $360 million
for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to help secure
nonprofit organizations at high risk for a terrorist attack. I
will be working with my Congressional colleagues to ensure all
Homeland Security grant programs receive the funding they need.
Finally, I would like to secure a commitment from the
Secretary that the Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity
Fellowship program will be funded from the Department's budget.
Beyond budget matters, I expect to hear from the Secretary
today about the situation at the border. It comes as no
surprise that some are trying to make political hay over this
situation, which has challenged the administration of both
parties over many years. President Trump's border policies were
a National disgrace. Thousands of children were separated from
their parents and kids died unattended in Border Patrol holding
cells. These policies weren't even effective. With no way to
apply for asylum, desperate crossers tried to enter the United
States repeatedly, recidivism rates soared, and thousands were
stranded across the border, where many remain today. Title 42
didn't solve anything, it made conditions more dangerous for
migrants, and left the underlying issues driving migration for
the next administration to address.
Yesterday, the Department shared a Southwest Border
security and preparedness plan for managing the border after
Title 42 authority is rescinded next month.
I look forward to hearing from Secretary Mayorkas on how
the Department will manage our border in an orderly way, while
allowing vulnerable people to apply asylum consistent with our
laws. We can and must do both.
In closing, I would like to express my condolences to the
family of Specialist Bishop Evans, the Texas National Guard
Member who died serving along the border last week. His
sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Again, I thank Secretary for appearing before the committee
and I look forward to our discussion this afternoon.
[The statement of Chairman Thompson follows:]
Statement of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson
April 27, 2022
The committee is meeting today to review the fiscal year 2023
budget request for the Department of Homeland Security. I welcome our
witness, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and look
forward to engaging with him on the budget request and other matters
before the Department.
Just over a year ago, the Biden administration inherited a
Department of Homeland Security beleaguered by 4 years under President
Trump. Vacancies in key leadership positions, flagging employee morale,
and gross mismanagement left the Department in bad shape and the
American people less secure.
The Biden administration has prioritized rebuilding DHS and
supporting its more than 250,000 brave, hardworking men and women.
Under Secretary Mayorkas' leadership, DHS has filled critical
vacancies, strengthened management, and advocated for pay raises and
collective bargaining rights for front-line workers. Meanwhile, DHS has
faced unprecedented challenges, from a rise in domestic terrorism, to
escalating cyber threats from Russia, to more frequent and severe
natural disasters, to push factors driving migrants to our Southern
Border.
The President's fiscal year 2023 budget request responds by
investing in the Department, its people, and programs. It prioritizes
combatting domestic terrorism in the wake of threats to religious
institutions and historically Black colleges. It builds on important
investments Congress has made to secure Federal networks and critical
infrastructure and strengthens relationships between Government and the
private sector. It provides over $26 billion to enhance disaster
preparedness, response, and resilience. And, it adds to the $1.4
billion Congress recently provided for border security by funding
hundreds of new Border Patrol agents and processing personnel.
As the appropriations process moves forward, I plan to work with
the administration to ensure the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency (CISA) has the resources it needs to meet urgent
threats. I was also pleased the Department requested $360 million for
the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to help secure nonprofit
organizations at high risk for terrorist attack. I will be working with
my Congressional colleagues to ensure all homeland security grant
programs receive the funding they need.
Finally, I would like to secure a commitment from the Secretary
that the Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity Fellowship program
will be funded from the Department's budget. Beyond budget matters, I
expect to hear from the Secretary today about the situation at the
border. It comes as no surprise that some are trying to make political
hay over this situation, which has challenged administrations of both
parties over many years.
President Trump's border policies were a National disgrace--
thousands of children were separated from their parents and kids died
unattended in Border Patrol holding cells. These policies weren't even
effective--with no way to apply for asylum, desperate crossers tried to
enter the United States repeatedly, recidivism rates soared, and
thousands were stranded across the border, where many remain today.
Title 42 didn't solve anything; it made conditions more dangerous
for migrants and left the underlying issues driving migration for the
next administration to address. Yesterday, the Department shared a
Southwest Border Security and Preparedness Plan for managing the border
after Title 42 authority is rescinded next month.
I look forward to hearing from Secretary Mayorkas about how the
Department will manage our border in an orderly way while allowing
vulnerable people to apply for asylum consistent with our laws. We
can--and must--do both.
In closing, I would like to express my condolences to the family of
Specialist Bishop Evans, the Texas National Guard member who died
serving along the border last week. His sacrifice will not be
forgotten.
Chairman Thompson. I now recognize the Ranking Member of
the full committee, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Katko, for
an opening statement.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
important hearing today, and thank you to Secretary Mayoraks
for appearing in front of the committee.
It is refreshing to finally have you testify in person
after the Covid time.
Before I start, I would like to echo the sentiments of my
colleague, Mr. Thompson, and take a minute to recognize the
Texas National Guardsman, Bishop Evans, who tragically lost his
life trying to save migrants who were drowning on our Southern
Border last week. It has been reported that the two people he
tried to save are in fact drug traffickers. We don't know if
that is the case, but if that is the case there is not a better
example of the lunacy going on on the border than for a Border
Patrol agent--I mean a Texas National Guardsman down at the
border who dies and two people dealing drugs and bring them
into the country are now on our soil. Something is terribly
wrong.
I felt like I say this every year, but the truth is there
has never been a more important time for this committee and the
Department of Homeland Security. The recent and tragic events
in Ukraine have once again highlighted the range of threats
posed to our homeland from a variety of actors and have
demonstrated how events around the world impact our security
here in the homeland.
We as Members of Congress must ensure the resources we
spend, Americans' hard-earned tax dollars, are spent properly
in securing the homeland. We do not have a dollar that we can
afford to waste, and that is why this hearing is so important.
Before this hearing, I looked at my opening statement from last
year. Unfortunately, many of the critical issues we were facing
a year ago are just as acute, if not worse, today. Sadly, some
of them are much, much worse. This means that we must redouble
our efforts in these key areas, such as border security,
cybersecurity, transportation security, and disaster
preparedness.
Unfortunately, the President's budget proposal seems to be
devoid of logic in addressing many of the crises we are facing.
The requested resources do not meet the realities of the
threats we face or the pressing needs of the Department. The
proposed budget requests a reduction--reduction in funding for
CISA when compared to what they received in omnibus spending
bill and proposed funding to modernize screening at our
airports that would take 17 years to fully implement. By the
time you implement that, the products will be obsolete.
This void between reality and this budget request is even
more apparent in its response, or lack thereof, to the crisis
at the Southern Border. March marked a 13th straight month of
over 150,000 encounters, a trend never before recorded.
Cumulatively, Customs and Border Protections has had more than
2 million encounters at the Southern Border since President
Biden took office and already over 1 million encounters 6
months into this year.
More than 15 months in this administration there is some
unadulterable and truly troubling facts. One, we had the
highest number of border encounters in the past 20 years in
March 22--221,000 people. No. 2, as was most recently reported,
last year 23 people whose names appear on a U.S. terror watch
list were stopped for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico
border, those aren't the ones we know got away because the
chances are many more got through. No. 3, Customs and Border
Protection seized enough fentanyl in 2021 to kill 2.4 billion
people, over 7 times the U.S. population. Again, that is only
what we seize, and it stands to reason that much more is
getting through. In fact, we know it is because this year marks
a very terrible milestone. It is the first time in our Nation's
history that more than 100,000 people have died of drug
overdoses, and a vast majority of those drugs are coming across
the Southern Border. The policies of this administration are
making it that much easier for those drugs to get across.
Unfortunately, President Biden and Vice President Harris'
approach to the Southern Border has not changed. Therefore,
neither has the problem. In fact, it has only gotten worse.
Mr. Secretary, on a trip to the Southern Border a few
months ago you were quoted as say it is worse than frankly it
has been in at least 20 years, if not ever. I couldn't agree
more.
On top of these record-breaking numbers, the Biden
administration earlier this month announced that Title 42
removals will end May 23. The DHS Office of Immigration
Statistics projects that the U.S. Border Patrol could see up to
18,000 encounters a day once Title 42 is lifted--18,000 a day.
We are seeing 7,000 now and it is already a crisis. There is no
question this will cause Customs and Border Protection to lose
operational control over the Southern Border and yet the
Department of Justice has decided to appeal the decision to
lift the mask mandate for aviation and public transportation
systems. I fail to see the logic behind repealing the use of
Title 42 and yet arguing to reinstate a mask mandate on public
transportation. How do you balance those two? How do you
reconcile those two? They are diametrically opposed and they
are both politically instilled.
At the very least, this mixed messaging confuses the
American public. I would like to join many of my colleagues,
increasingly even on both sides of the aisle, in calling on the
President to reverse the decision to lift Title 42 until the
Department has solidified a plan to deal with the impending
surge.
I was at the border just 2 weeks ago for about the sixth
time since I became Ranking Member and I can tell you there
certainly is no real plan for what is about to happen, at least
according to then-Customs and Border Protection folks and
everyone else who works down there. This has left many of our
front-line law enforcement worried and more overwhelmed than
they already have been. They, along with many State and local
law enforcement officers, feel completely abandoned by this
administration and this Department. Mental health issues with
our Customs and Border Protection folks are at all-time high.
In fact, another Customs and Border Protection agent took his
life Sunday. That is the reality of what we are dealing with.
The stress that they are dealing with is unconscionable.
What we are going through now is a self-inflicted disaster,
but there are simple steps that the Department of Homeland
Security and this administration can take now to deal with the
crisis at the border. Protect Title 42. Effectively reinstate
the Remain in Mexico Policy and stop fighting it tooth and
nail. Use already-appropriated funding to continue building the
border wall. Then pull factors that you have created that are
making migrants from all over the world,--not just the Northern
Triangle, not just Mexico--in fact, 70 percent of people
outside that area are coming to this country now. That is a
pull factor that this administration has created.
Homeland Security Republicans have multiple bills that have
not been marked up by this committee that we believe are
common-sense solutions and can help. I have a bill, The Border
Security for America Act, and several of my other colleagues,
including Representatives Meijer, Guest, and Higgins, have
introduced bills that provide relief for the situation at the
border.
Mr. Chairman, I am going to thank you again for holding
this hearing today. I very much appreciate it.
Mr. Secretary, I thank you for appearing before us today.
Look forward to your testimony and I look forward to the
questions from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
I yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Katko follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member John Katko
Thank you for holding this important hearing today, Mr. Chairman,
and thank you to our witness, Secretary Mayorkas, for appearing in
front of the committee. It is refreshing to finally have you testify in
person.
Before I start, I would like to take a minute to recognize the
Texas National Guardsman (Bishop Evans) who tragically lost his life
trying to save migrants who were drowning on the Southern Border last
week.
I feel like I say this every year, but there truly has never been a
more important time for this committee and the Department of Homeland
Security. The recent and tragic events in Ukraine have once again
highlighted the range of threats posed to our homeland from a variety
of actors and have demonstrated how events around the world impact our
security.
We, as Members of Congress, must ensure the resources we spend--
Americans' hard-earned tax dollars--are spent properly in securing the
homeland.
We do not have a dollar that we can afford to waste, and that's why
this hearing is so important.
Before this hearing, I looked at my opening statement from last
year. Unfortunately, many of the critical issues we were facing a year
ago are just as acute today--and sadly, some of them are much, much
worse.
This means that we must redouble our efforts in these key areas
such as border security, cybersecurity, transportation security, and
disaster preparedness.
Unfortunately, the President's budget proposal seems to be devoid
of logic in addressing many of the crises we are facing, and the
requested resources do not meet the realities of the threats we face or
the pressing needs of the Department. The proposed budget requests a
REDUCTION in funding for CISA when compared to what they received in
the omnibus spending bill and proposes funding to modernize screening
at our airports that would take 17 years to fully implement.
This void between reality and this budget request is even more
apparent in its response, or lack thereof, to the crisis at the
Southern Border. March marked the 13th straight month of over 150,000
encounters, a trend never before recorded.
Cumulatively, Customs and Border Protection has had more than 2
million encounters at the Southern Border since President Biden took
office and already over 1 million encounters 6 months into this fiscal
year. More than 15 months into this administration:
We just had the highest number of border encounters in the
past 20 years--221,000 in March 2022;
As it was most recently reported, last year 23 people whose
names appear on a U.S. terror watch list were stopped for
illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border;
CBP seized enough fentanyl in 2021 to kill 2.4 billion
people, over 7 times the U.S. population.
Unfortunately, President Biden and Vice President Harris's approach
to the Southern Border has not changed, and therefore neither has the
problem--and in fact it has only gotten worse.
Mr. Secretary, on a trip to the Southern Border a few months ago
you were quoted as saying, `` . . . it's worse now than it frankly has
been in at least 20 years--if not ever . . . ''.
On top of these record-breaking numbers, the Biden administration
earlier this month announced that Title 42 removals will end May 23.
The DHS Office of Immigration Statistics projects that the U.S. Border
Patrol could see up to 18,000 encounters per day once Title 42
authority is lifted.
There is no question that this will cause CBP to lose complete
operational control over the Southern Border. And yet, the DOJ has
decided to appeal the decision to lift the mask mandate for aviation
and public transportation systems--I fail to see the logic behind
repealing the use of Title 42, and yet arguing to re-instate a mask
mandate on public transportation. At the very least, this mixed
messaging confuses the American public.
I would like to join many of my colleagues, increasingly even on
both sides of the aisle, in calling on the President to reverse the
decision to lift Title 42, until the Department has solidified a plan
to deal with the impending surge.
I was at the border just 2 weeks ago, and I can tell you, there
currently is no real plan for what is about to happen. This has left
many of our front-line law enforcement at the border worried and more
overwhelmed than they already are. They, along with many State and
local law enforcement officers along the border, feel completely
abandoned by this administration and this Department.
What we are going through now is a self-inflicted disaster--but
there are simple steps that DHS and this administration can take NOW to
deal with the crisis at the border. Protect Title 42, effectively
reinstate the Remain in Mexico Policy, use already-appropriated funding
to continue building the border wall, and end pull factors for
migrants.
Homeland Security Republicans have multiple bills that have not
been marked up by this committee that we believe are common-sense
solutions and can help--I have a bill, the Border Security for America
Act, and several of my other colleagues, including Representatives
Meijer, Guest, and Higgins, have introduced bills that would provide
relief for the situation at the border.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for holding this hearing. Mr.
Secretary, thank you for appearing before us today--I look forward to
your testimony.
Chairman Thompson. Other Members of the committee are
reminded that under the committee rules opening statements may
be submitted for the record. Members are also reminded that the
committee will operate according to the guidelines laid out by
the Chairman and Ranking Member in our February 3, 2021
colloquy regarding remote procedures.
I now welcome our witness, Secretary of Homeland Security,
Alejandro Mayorkas.
Without objection, the witness' full statement will be
inserted in the record.
I now ask the Secretary to summarize his statement for 5
minutes.
STATEMENT OF HONORABLE ALEJANDRO N. MAYORKAS, SECRETARY,
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Secretary Mayorkas. Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member
Katko, distinguished Members of the committee, thank you for
giving me the opportunity to join you today. Chairman Thompson,
Ranking Member Katko, I join you in mourning the loss of
Guardsman Bishop Evans, as does the entire country.
Every day the 250,000 extraordinary personnel of the
Department of Homeland Security interact with the public on a
daily basis more than any other Federal agency. While created
to respond to a single threat in the aftermath of 9/11, our
Department has remained agile, adapting to new challenges as
they arise, as responsibilities grow, and as our role increases
in scale and scope.
The fiscal year 2023 budget is a $97.3 billion investment
in our capacity to meet the shifting threat landscape. The
resources will give us the tools to protect our communities
from terrorism, enhance border security, invest in the safe,
orderly, and human immigration system, counter cyber attacks,
safeguard our transportation networks, strengthen disaster
preparedness and resilience, and much more.
On terrorism-targeted violence, the threat has evolved over
the last 2 decades and we meet this challenge by equipping
every level of government, the private sector, and local
communities with the tools and resources they need to stay
safe. In 2021, for the first time, we designated domestic
violent extremism a National priority area in our FEMA grant
programs, enhanced training opportunities for law enforcement,
and increased our intelligence and information-sharing efforts.
We are asking for additional funds to expand these operations.
In the wake of incidents like the hostage crisis in
Colleyville, Texas, we have increased our resources for the
vital Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $250 million, thanks
to the support of this committee in 2022 and we are increasing
our request for 2023 to $360 million to protect houses of
worship and other nonprofits from terrorist and targeted
violence.
Under this administration our Department has also been
executing a comprehensive strategy to secure our borders and
rebuild our immigration system. With a Title 42 public health
order said to be lifted, we expect migration levels to increase
as smugglers seek to take advantage of and profit from
vulnerable migrants. We will continue to enforce our
immigration laws. After Title 42 is lifted non-citizens will be
processed pursuant to Title 8, which provides that individuals
who cross the border without legal authorization are processed
for removal, and if unable to establish a legal basis to remain
in the United States, promptly removed from the country.
We started our planning last September and we are leading
the execution of a whole-of-Government strategy which stands on
6 pillars to prepare for and manage the rise in non-citizen
encounters.
No. 1, surge resources, including personnel,
transportation, medical support, and facilities.
No. 2, increase efficiency without compromising the
integrity of our screening processes to reduce strain on the
border.
No. 3, administer consequences for unlawful entry,
including expedited removal and criminal prosecution.
No. 4, bolster the capacity of NGO's and coordinate with
State, local, and community partners.
No. 5, target and disrupt transnational criminal
organizations and human smugglers.
No. 6, deter irregular migration south of our border in
partnership with other Federal agencies and nations.
We inherited a broken and dismantled system that is already
under strain. It is not built to manage the current levels and
types of migratory flows. Only Congress can fix this. Yet we
have effectively managed an unprecedented number of non-
citizens seeking to enter the United States and interdicted
more drugs and disrupted more smuggling operations than ever
before. A significant increase in migrant encounters will
strain our system even further and we will address this
challenge successfully, but it will take time and we need the
partnership of Congress, State and local officials, NGO's, and
communities to do so.
To build on our on-going work in this budget, we have
requested funding to hire 300 new Border Patrol agents, the
first increase since 2011, to ensure the safe and humane
treatment of migrants and to operationalize the new rule on
asylum processing. We are requesting additional funds to
counter human and drug smuggling operations, combat the heinous
crimes of child exploitation and human trafficking and stop
goods produced by forced labor from entering our markets.
Finally, our mission set includes a series of other
essential priorities. DHS, through the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency, protects our critical
infrastructure from malicious cyber activity, a threat
heightened due to Russia's unprovoked and brutal invasion of
Ukraine. Our budget will expand our cybersecurity services,
bolster our ability to respond to cyber intrusions, and grow
our cyber operational planning activities. DHS, through TSA,
protects the traveling public. Our budget invests in paying
TSA's dedicated personnel commensurate with their Federal
colleagues and ensuring they receive employment protections.
DHS, through FEMA and other agencies, continues to answer the
risks posed by climate change and natural disasters growing in
ferocity and frequency. Our budget invests in adaptation,
resilience, improved response and recovery, and more.
We cannot do this alone. DHS is a department of
partnerships. I look forward to working with this committee to
carry out our wide-ranging mission on behalf of the American
people.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Secretary Mayorkas follows:]
Prepared Statement of Alejandro N. Mayorkas
April 27, 2022
introduction
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and distinguished Members
of the committee: I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you
today to discuss the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) fiscal
year 2023 President's budget.
Every day, our Department interacts with the public more than any
other Federal agency. While DHS was created in response to a singular
threat, among the Department's most impressive achievements in the two
decades since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 is its
ability to evolve to address multiple complex challenges at once.
Through it all, our work force of more than 250,000 dedicated public
servants has demonstrated exceptional skill and an unwavering
commitment to keep every community across our country safe. The breadth
of our mission and the scale of our impact requires organizational
agility and appropriate resourcing to meet the dynamic and evolving
threat landscape faced by our world-class work force.
The fiscal year 2023 President's budget requests $97.3 billion for
DHS. Of this amount, $56.7 billion is discretionary funding, $20.9
billion is for mandatory funding and fee collections, and $19.7 billion
is for the Disaster Relief Fund to support response, recovery, and
resiliency during major disasters. This budget will help ensure that
the DHS work force has the tools necessary to safeguard the American
people, our homeland, and our values. These resources will protect
American communities, enhance border security, invest in a fair and
orderly immigration system, protect our Nation's networks and
infrastructure from evolving cybersecurity threats, safeguard the
transportation system, and strengthen disaster preparedness and climate
resilience.
Thanks to the resources provided by Congress, the Department's
extraordinary personnel have been able to accomplish highly impactful
work throughout the Biden-Harris administration to date. The fiscal
year 2023 President's budget request for DHS will enable us to continue
delivering for the American people.
combating terrorism and targeted violence
Combating all forms of terrorism and targeted violence is a top
priority for DHS, and one that we cannot accomplish alone. As I have
said several times before, the Department of Homeland Security is
fundamentally a department of partnerships. Our ability to execute our
critical mission relies on ensuring our partners across every level of
government, in the private sector, and local communities have the tools
and resources they need to stay safe.
Since the inception of this Department, the threat landscape has
evolved dramatically and DHS has remained vigilant against all
terrorism-related threats to the homeland. In the years immediately
following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Department focused on
foreign terrorists who sought to harm us within our borders and
threaten our interests abroad. This threat evolved to include home-
grown violent extremists (HVEs)--the individuals in America who are
primarily inspired by a foreign terrorist organization's ideology--and
has continued to evolve to include those fueled by a wide range of
violent extremist ideologies and grievances, including domestic violent
extremists (DVEs). DVEs are U.S.-based lone actors and small networks
who seek to further political or social goals wholly or in part through
unlawful acts of force or violence, without direction or inspiration
from a foreign terrorist group or foreign power. These actors are
motivated by various factors, including biases against minorities,
perceived Government intrusion, conspiracy theories promoting violence,
and false narratives often spread on-line.
Today, U.S.-based lone actors and small networks who are inspired
by a broad range of violent ideologies, including HVEs and DVEs, pose
the most significant and persistent terrorism-related threat to the
homeland. The intelligence community assesses that racially- or
ethnically-motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) who advocate for the
superiority of the White race, including White supremacists, and
militia violent extremists (MVEs), present the most lethal DVE movement
in the homeland. Per a March 2021 DVE assessment by DHS, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Counterterrorism Center
(NCTC), RMVEs are most likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks against
civilians, while MVEs typically target law enforcement, elected
officials, and Government personnel and facilities.
In recognition of the gravity of the threat, I designated domestic
violent extremism as a ``National Priority Area'' in our FEMA grant
programs for the first time, while simultaneously increasing training
opportunities for law enforcement partners through domestic violent
extremism threat assessment and management programs. The fiscal year
2023 budget increases funding for the critically important Nonprofit
Security Grant Program to $360 million, to protect houses of worship
and other nonprofit organizations from terrorism, targeted violence,
and other violent extremist attacks. The hostage crisis in Colleyville,
Texas earlier this year, alongside other recent tragic incidents, makes
clear the need for this critical resource.
Further, DHS has renewed its commitment to share timely and
actionable information and intelligence to the broadest audience
possible. The fiscal year 2023 budget includes an increase of $10
million for our Office of Intelligence and Analysis to enhance
information sharing, analytic capabilities, and intelligence production
to combat emerging threats and better collaborate with public and
private-sector partners.
securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws
DHS works to secure and manage our borders while building a safe,
orderly, and humane immigration system.
Violence, food insecurity, poverty, and lack of economic
opportunity in several countries in the Western Hemisphere are driving
unprecedented levels of migration to our Southwest Border. The
devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region has
only exacerbated these challenges, while human smuggling organizations
peddle misinformation to exploit vulnerable migrants for profit.
The Biden-Harris administration is committed to pursuing every
avenue within our authority to secure our borders, enforce our laws,
and stay true to our values. Yet, a long-term solution can only come
from long-needed legislation that brings lasting reform to a
fundamentally broken system.
On April 1, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) announced that, as of May 23, 2022, its Title 42 Public Health
Order will be terminated. Title 42 is not an immigration authority, but
rather a public health authority used by the CDC to protect against the
spread of communicable disease. Until May 23, 2022, the CDC's Title 42
Order remains in place, and DHS will continue to process families and
single adults pursuant to the Order. However, beginning on May 23,
2022, DHS will return to processing families and single adults using
Title 8 authorities.
Under Title 8 of the U.S. Code, those who attempt to enter the
United States without authorization, and who are unable to establish a
legal basis to remain in the United States (such as a valid asylum
claim), will be removed. They are also subject to long-term
consequences beyond removal from the United States, including bars to
future immigration benefits.
In September 2021, DHS began planning in anticipation of the
eventual lifting of the Order. DHS is leading a whole-of-Government
plan to prepare for and manage projected increased encounters of
noncitizens at our Southwest Border. Several elements of this plan are
already being executed as we manage a historic number of encounters. In
doing so, our objective continues to be the safe, orderly, and humane
processing of noncitizens, consistent with our laws, while protecting
National security and public safety.
The six pillars of our plan are as follows: (1) We are surging
resources, including personnel, transportation, medical support, and
facilities to support border operations; (2) we are enhancing United
States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing efficiency and
moving with deliberate speed to mitigate potential overcrowding at
Border Patrol stations and alleviate the burden on the surrounding
border communities; (3) we are administering consequences for unlawful
entry, including removal, detention, and prosecution; (4) we are
bolstering the capacity of non-Governmental organizations to receive
noncitizens after they have been processed by CBP and are awaiting the
results of their immigration proceedings, and we are ensuring
appropriate coordination with, and support for, State, local, and
community leaders to help mitigate increased impacts to their
communities; (5) we are targeting and disrupting the transnational
criminal organizations and smugglers who take advantage of and profit
from vulnerable migrants, and who seek to traffic weapons and drugs
into our country; and (6) we are deterring irregular migration south of
our border, in partnership with the Department of State, other Federal
agencies, and nations throughout the Western Hemisphere to ensure that
we are sharing the responsibility throughout the region.
DHS has deployed unprecedented numbers of personnel, levels of
technology, and expanded resources to the Southwest Border. The
Department has also made critical security improvements along the
Northern Border, and invested in hiring additional U.S. Border Patrol
personnel, fielding new technology, and bolstering infrastructure while
also strengthening efforts to increase the security of the Nation's
maritime borders. We have developed an integrated and scalable plan to
activate and mobilize resources, increase processing and holding
capacity while improving efficiency, and are implementing COVID
mitigation measures. We are continuing to process migrants in
accordance with our laws, including expeditiously removing those who do
not have a valid basis to remain in the United States. With partners,
we have launched a counter-network targeting operation focused on
transnational criminal organizations affiliated with the smuggling of
migrants, and in close coordination with the Department of Justice
(DOJ), we will refer border-related criminal activity to DOJ for
prosecution when warranted, including that of smugglers, repeat
offenders, and migrants whose conduct warrants such a law enforcement
response.
We must continue to leverage our dedicated work force and cutting-
edge technology to continue to secure our borders. The President's
budget requests $1 billion for investments in effective and modern port
and border security, including the modernization of facilities;
investments in risk-based border security technology and assets; and
efforts to ensure the safe and humane treatment of migrants. The budget
funds the hiring of 300 new Border Patrol agents and 300 new Border
Patrol Processing Coordinators to respond to migration along the
Southwest Border. The additional Processing Coordinators will allow
agents to focus on their core law enforcement mission in the field. If
enacted, this would be the first increase in the number of Border
Patrol agents since 2011.
In addition to our work to secure our borders, we are building a
fair, orderly, and humane immigration system. United States Citizenship
and Immigration Service (USCIS) administers the Nation's lawful
immigration system. Last year, USCIS received approximately 9.1 million
applications, petitions, and requests that spanned more than 50
different types of immigration benefits. USCIS welcomed 855,000 new
U.S. citizens and has already naturalized 429,000 individuals this
year. USCIS also approved over 172,000 employment-based adjustment of
status applications in 2021 and completed approximately 39,000
affirmative asylum cases and 44,000 credible fear determinations.
Earlier this year, DHS and DOJ published an interim final rule to
improve and expedite the processing of asylum claims for recently
arriving migrants. The fiscal year 2023 budget includes $375 million
for USCIS to support asylum adjudications, including resources to
operationalize this transformative rule, ensuring that those who are
eligible for asylum are granted relief quickly, while those who are not
can be promptly removed. In addition, the fiscal year 2023 budget
requests approximately $389 million for USCIS to continue to reduce
application and petition backlogs, process refugee admissions, and
administer international programs.
On the first day of the Biden-Harris administration, DHS issued new
immigration enforcement priorities for the Department, instructing DHS
officers and agents to prioritize the apprehension and removal of
noncitizens who pose threats to National security, public safety, and
border security. On September 30, 2021, I issued a superseding
memorandum entitled Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration
Law. These updated enforcement priorities, which went into effect on
November 29, 2021, instruct DHS officers to prioritize the apprehension
and removal of noncitizens who are threats to National security, public
safety, or border security. To grow and innovate the tools DHS employs
to enforce our immigration laws and ensure related compliance, ICE will
expand the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program to enable it to
supervise a larger population of noncitizens in immigration enforcement
proceedings. The budget includes an increase of $87 million to
accommodate this continued expansion of the ATD program.
combating human trafficking, forced labor, child exploitation, and
protecting victims
The DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) oversees the
DHS mission to combat human trafficking and the importation of goods
produced with forced labor. In 2021, the CCHT reduced the processing
time for Continued Presence authorizations from 30 days to 15 days,
better serving victims of human trafficking by affording them a legal
means to temporarily live and work in the United States. CCHT also
worked closely with ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to
initiate more than 1,100 human trafficking investigations, make more
than 2,300 criminal arrests related to human trafficking, and assist
over 720 victims of human trafficking. Additionally, ICE continued, and
in some instances strengthened, its valuable relationships with foreign
law enforcement partners to facilitate the arrest of fugitives with
active criminal arrest warrants from their home countries.
The DHS Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEIU)--part of the
HSI Cyber Crimes Center (C3)--leads the Nation in the fight against on-
line child sexual abuse. CEIU detects and apprehends producers and
distributors of child sexual abuse material and perpetrators of
transnational child sexual abuse; identifies and rescues child victims
around the world; and trains domestic and international law enforcement
partners in cutting-edge investigative practices. In fiscal year 2021,
CEIU identified and/or rescued 1,177 child victims in child
exploitation investigations. CEIU also arrested 3,776 individuals for
crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children and helped to
secure more than 1,500 convictions. Additionally, CEIU's Angel Watch
Center issued 1,722 notifications regarding international travel by
convicted child sex offenders, resulting in more than 600 denials of
entry by foreign nations.
The fiscal year 2023 President's budget requests $18 million in
dedicated funding for the CCHT, which would be the first appropriated
funding for this critically important Center. The budget would also
enable the permanent relocation of the DHS Blue Campaign to the CCHT,
ensuring organizational alignment of the Department's anti-human
trafficking efforts. Additionally, the budget includes $59 million to
support the DHS Cyber Crimes Center, including its Child Exploitation
Investigations Unit, which is leading the fight against the horrific
epidemic of on-line child exploitation. To support these critical
operations, the budget also provides $25 million to expand the efforts
of the Victim Assistance Program, which delivers essential support to
victims encountered during HSI investigations. This funding will allow
HSI to hire 59 new victim assistance specialists and will enhance HSI's
victim-centered approach as it takes on investigations of a wide range
of Federal crimes, including human trafficking, child sexual
exploitation, financial scams targeting the elderly and other
vulnerable populations, white-collar crimes, and human rights abuses.
In response to the Federal requirements under the Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law by President Biden on
December 23, 2021, DHS is leading the development of a whole-of-
Government enforcement strategy as the chair of the Forced Labor
Enforcement Task Force. In the fiscal year 2023 President's budget, DHS
requests $70 million to secure the necessary personnel, technology,
training, and outreach that CBP needs to enforce the UFLPA and prevent
the importation of goods made with forced labor from China. This
investment will strengthen CBP trade enforcement activities and expand
capacity due to anticipated workload increases at U.S. ports of entry.
protecting the traveling public
The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) key mission is
to keep our traveling public safe. In fiscal year 2021, TSA screened
more than 491 million travelers and prevented a record number of
firearms from being carried past security checkpoints into secure areas
of airports and onto airplanes. On average, almost 98 percent of
passengers waited less than 20 minutes at airport security checkpoints,
while 96 percent of passengers in a TSA PreCheck lane waited less than
5 minutes. These wait times evidence TSA's on-going efforts to improve
the customer service and air travel experience for the traveling
public, while protecting National security and public safety.
Since the inception of TSA 20 years ago, the screening work force
that keeps the American traveling public safe has been paid at a
substantially lower rate than the rest of the Federal Government. TSA's
strategic success depends upon how well we attract, hire, train,
develop, promote, and retain our work force. This budget invests a
historic $992 million for expanded labor relations support capability,
equal access to the Merit Systems Protection Board, and pay equity to
ensure the TSA work force is provided employment protections and pay
commensurate with other Federal employees.
Further, passenger volume projections and workflow analysis for
fiscal year 2023 have determined, as passenger volume approaches pre-
pandemic levels, an increase in personnel is required to ensure
security standards at airport checkpoints are met and the traveling
public does not experience excessive wait times. The fiscal year 2023
budget includes $243 million to address these projections and hire the
personnel TSA needs to meet this critical mission.
building resilience to disasters and climate change
DHS continues combating the climate crisis and mitigating climate
change-related risks, which pose a grave threat to the safety,
security, and prosperity of our communities. It is vital for the
Department to lead by example by minimizing its own environmental
impact, promoting resilience against the risks posed by climate change,
and facilitating adaptation to reduce international and domestic
climate change-related threats. From extreme heat and fires in the West
to extreme storms in the Southeast, flooding in the Midwest to ice
melting in the Arctic, DHS is on the front lines of helping communities
develop resilience and respond to these threats.
To this end, DHS is investing in adaptation to support community
resilience, increasing response and recovery capabilities, and making
the disaster assistance process more accessible and equitable. The
fiscal year 2023 budget provides $3.4 billion for Hazard Mitigation
grants, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants, and
the Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis program to mitigate the
effects of climate change through community partnerships, improved
disaster resilience, and preparedness strategies. In addition, the
Department's investments in several climate change initiatives will
include a total of $76 million to transition our vehicle fleet to
electric vehicles and $50 million for various projects in resilience,
energy, and sustainability. These investments will ensure DHS missions
and support structures can both adapt to the impacts of climate change
and mitigate the Department's greenhouse gas emissions impact on
climate change.
The fiscal year 2023 budget request includes $19.7 billion for FEMA
to assist State, local, Tribal, and territorial partners and
individuals affected by major disasters and provides a total of $3.5
billion in Federal assistance to support local preparedness
stakeholders through grants, training exercises, and other support
activities.
protecting our maritime security
Since its founding, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has
protected National and economic security in a complex and evolving
maritime environment. In fiscal year 2021, the USCG saved nearly 4,750
lives and prevented more than $61 million in property loss. While
executing their counter-drug law enforcement mission, they removed over
381,000 pounds of cocaine and over 71,000 pounds of marijuana worth an
estimated $7.2 billion in wholesale value.
The fiscal year 2023 budget provides $817 million for the Coast
Guard's two highest acquisition priorities, the Offshore Patrol Cutter
(OPC) and the Polar Security Cutter (PSC). The OPC will replace the
Coast Guard's fleet of Medium Endurance Cutters that conduct missions
on the high seas and coastal approaches. The PSC supports National
interests in the Polar Regions and provides assured surface presence in
those ice-impacted waters. The budget also requests $125 million to
acquire a commercially-available polar icebreaker to increase near-term
presence in the Arctic until the PSC fleet is operational.
The fiscal year 2023 budget also provides the necessary resources
for the Coast Guard to conduct today's highest-priority operations in
support of National objectives and continue investments in USCG
readiness. The budget invests $124 million to support the operations,
maintenance, and crewing of new assets to include 5 Fast Response
Cutters, National Security Cutters No. 10 and No. 11, OPCs No. 2 and
No. 3, a commercially-available icebreaker, and 3 C-27J aircraft.
Administration priorities include increasing operations in the Indo-
Pacific and Atlantic Basin, and the budget invests $88 million to
promote Coast Guard missions in these regions, along with strengthening
cyber resilience and investing in the work force.
strengthening our nation's cybersecurity
Cyber threats from nation-states and state-sponsored and criminal
actors remain one of the most prominent threats facing our Nation. This
threat has been heightened by the on-going Russia-Ukraine crisis. On
March 21, 2022, President Biden warned that evolving intelligence
indicates the Russian government is exploring options for potential
cyber attacks against the United States. Within the past year-and-a-
half, we have seen numerous cybersecurity incidents impacting
organizations of all sizes and disrupting critical services, from the
SolarWinds supply chain compromise to the exploitation of Log4j
vulnerabilities found in Microsoft Exchange Servers and Pulse Connect
Secure devices. Further, ransomware incidents--like those impacting
Colonial Pipeline, JBS Foods, and Kaseya--continue to rise, as high-
impact ransomware incidents against critical infrastructure
organizations have increased globally, impacting organizations of all
sizes. The rate at which cyber incidents occur is rapidly increasing,
and it is the Department's responsibility to help protect our Nation's
civilian networks and critical infrastructure from these attacks.
DHS, through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
(CISA), continues to work closely with partners across every level of
government, in the private sector, and with local communities to
protect our country's networks and infrastructure from malicious cyber
activity.
CISA has since taken several steps to increase our Nation's
cybersecurity and resilience, including by creating the Joint Cyber
Defense Collaborative (JCDC) to develop and execute joint cyber defense
planning with partners at all levels of government and the private
sector; launching the Shields Up campaign in February 2022, recognizing
the heightened risk of malicious cyber activity related to the Russia-
Ukraine conflict, to amplify on-line free cybersecurity resources and
guidance for how organizations of every size and across every sector
can increase their cybersecurity preparedness; and working with
Federal, State, local, and election technology partners to protect
election systems from interference.
The President's fiscal year 2023 budget request includes $174
million for CISA to continue the work established through the American
Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to expand cybersecurity service offerings that
protect Federal networks and critical infrastructure against evolving
cyber threats. These funds will allow CISA and its partners to adapt to
new systematic risks and maintain the progress gained in taking actions
to bolster critical operational and strategic cyber risk mitigation
capabilities. In addition, the budget also provides $425 million for
the CISA Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program to strengthen
the security of Federal Government civilian networks and systems. These
efforts will close the crucial gaps that exist in large agency
enterprises and provide CISA with visibility into unauthorized,
potentially malicious activity targeting Federal networks. The budget
further includes $68 million for the JCDC, an increase of $15 million,
to ensure CISA can continue expanding critical cyber operational
planning and partner engagement activities.
additional authorizations
In addition, there are two reauthorizations that the Department
requires to continue its work in critical mission spaces.
First, the authority to establish and operate Joint Task Forces
(JTFs) sunsets at the end of this fiscal year. JTFs provide a direct
operational coordination layer to enhance the multi-faceted challenges
facing DHS. JTFs remove stove-piped approaches to meeting challenges.
They do this by developing and implementing an integrated approach that
maximizes resources and capabilities within the Department for long-
term missions and challenges. Today, JTF-East is responsible for
ensuring Departmental unity of effort in the southern maritime approach
to the United States and demonstrates the tangible, positive impacts
that JTFs can have on enhancing DHS operations.
Beyond setting cross-Department wide goals and planning in a
unified manner, JTFs further the Department's maturation by empowering
Department officials to focus the Department's resources to achieve DHS
goals. This realizes the promise in the Homeland Security Act and
subsequent creation of DHS to bring together organizations with
homeland security roles in a coherent whole to achieve comprehensive
security.
Last, the Department appreciates Congress providing authority for
DHS to conduct counter unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) operations.
Detection efforts and C-UAS deployments during the past 2 years have
confirmed the threat from unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is real and
significant. Components are combating a multitude of threats from
malicious and errant UAS operators, including thousands of illegal
cross-border flights every year, surveillance of our agents and
operations, conveyance of contraband across the border, and the
potential for drones to cause disruptions at airports and other
critical infrastructure with great economic and impact. DHS has
deployed C-UAS equipment over 250 times to protect senior Government
leaders, Special Event Assessment Rating events, National Special
Security Events, the Southern Border, and other sensitive Federally-
protected facilities.
We look forward to engaging with you, your staff, and other key
stakeholders in the near future regarding the recently submitted C-UAS
legislative proposal.
conclusion
It is among the greatest privileges of my career to represent and
work alongside the dedicated public servants who are DHS and who work
tirelessly, selflessly, and often at great personal sacrifice to
execute our critical mission. The fiscal year 2023 President's budget
requests the necessary funding and authorities for the Department to
carry out its wide-ranging mission and remain vigilant to defend
against and combat a dynamic threat landscape, while protecting
privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and discuss the
Department's fiscal year 2023 budget request. I look forward to taking
your questions.
Chairman Thompson. I thank the Secretary for his testimony.
I remind each Member that he or she will have 5 minutes to
question the witness. It is my understanding that because we
expect votes, I am going to adhere to that 5-minute rule very
strictly.
I will now recognize myself for questions.
Mr. Secretary, in your testimony you discuss how the 2
decades since 9/11 the homeland threat picture has shifted
dramatically from foreign terrorists to domestic terrorists, in
particular, racially-motivated violent extremists who present
the most lethal threat to the homeland.
What is your current assessment of the domestic terrorism
threat to our country?
Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, it is our assessment that
domestic violent extremism poses the greatest terrorism-related
threat to our homeland. We have taken a number of steps in the
Department of Homeland Security to meet this consequential
challenge.
First, our Office of Intelligence and Analysis created a
separate section in its office to focus on this particular
threat stream.
Second, we have disseminated an unprecedented number of
intelligence and information products to State and local law
enforcement so that they are equipped to recognize and address
the challenge in their respective jurisdictions. We also
created the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnership--we
call it CP3--to equip and resource communities to recognize and
address the challenge within their boundaries. We believe that
empowerment of local communities and State and local law
enforcement is the best vehicle to address this challenge
today.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you.
Recently a number of historically Black colleges and
universities, as well as religious institutions, received
threats. What is the Department doing to address this type of
domestic violent extremism in America?
Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, a few weeks ago I had a
meeting with presidents of historically Black colleges and
universities and a few weeks ago I met with faith-based
institutions in Detroit, Michigan to hear from them with
respect to the resources they need, the challenges they
confront, how they can make their respective institutions
welcoming at the same time as secure. One of the key takeaways
was, again, the need for increased funding through the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which this committee has
historically supported, and we are appreciative of that. To
make sure that those grant dollars, those critical grant
dollars are accessible to all, even those that might not have
the resources or infrastructure to otherwise access our
programs. An equality of access and ease of access are core
principles of ours and we are working to strengthen our
operations in that regard.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you.
Now, the Department is charged with securing the homeland,
not just the border. You released 12 priorities across DHS's
mission space to guide your strategic focus through 2022. Can
you please share with the committee the highlights of these
priorities and how they will advance the Department's critical
mission?
Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, we set out to--I
published 12 priorities for the Department. I did so in March
of this year. Six of the priorities are focused on advancement
of the organization as an institution and 6 are mission-
specific.
I can give some examples of the critical priorities.
Increase the integration and effectiveness of the
Department as an organization, harness technology, ensure that
we are not only espousing but critically implementing the core
principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and opportunity
throughout our work force, including at all levels of
leadership. A mission-specific area. These are just but a few
examples. Of course, fighting transnational criminal
organizations and smuggling operations to better secure our
border, fighting terrorism and targeted violence, combatting
human smuggling and child exploitation. These are some of the
12 priorities that I identified. We developed them in
collaboration with leadership throughout the Department in an
inclusive and open way.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much.
The Chair yields back.
Recognize the Ranking Member from New York.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, thank
you again for your testimony today.
You know, when you were speaking I was thinking of what I
view as two of the major threats to this country right now from
a homeland standpoint, one of them being cybersecurity threat,
which is quite substantial. The only thing I can say about that
is I think you are doing a pretty good job and the
administration is doing a pretty decent job with cybersecurity.
I wish a budget would reflect more funding for CISA, which I
think they need more than what they are getting in their
funding package, but they are going in the right direction and
I am happy for that.
The other threat I think about is the border. I think it is
a very substantial threat. Now, I have spoken to the rank-and-
file agents and officers on the front lines of the border
crisis again and again and they have consistently and
repeatedly told me they are overwhelmed and understaffed.
Border Patrol agents have also told me that once Title 42
authority ends, there will be an even bigger surge of migrants
attempting to cross--in fact, unprecedented surges--and they
will lose operational control of some or all the Southwest
Border, notions that you yourself have acknowledged as well.
According to a Department of Homeland Security document, once
Title 42 restrictions are lifted, Federal law enforcement are
bracing for encounters up to 18,000 migrants per day.
Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit that
document for the record.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Katko. Thank you, sir.
Secretary Mayorkas, do you believe front-line agents and
officers who consistently say that they are poised to lose
operational control of some or all America's Southern Border
once Title 42 is lifted?
Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Katko, it is our
responsibility to maintain operational control of the border.
That is what our personnel are dedicated to doing. That is what
the personnel throughout the Department and I as the Secretary
are dedicated to doing, and we will not lose operational
control of the border.
Mr. Katko. So I just want--one second please.
Secretary Mayorkas. I should also----
Mr. Katko. I wanted to preface what I was saying earlier,
and should have done it, I apologize for that. We have a
limited amount of time and I have directed all of my committee
Members on my side of the aisle to ask pointed questions that
generally require yes or no answers. Respectfully, if you don't
answer the question directly, we will interrupt you. I just
want to warn you of that.
So the question is simply, so your answer is you don't
believe we are going to lose operational control of the border?
Yes or no.
Secretary Mayorkas. We will not lose operational control of
the border. But, Congressman, you have to allow me to answer
fully the question because----
Mr. Katko. No, I understand what you said. You----
Secretary Mayorkas. Because you----
Mr. Katko [continuing]. Will have your opportunities, sir.
But if you don't believe we are going to lose operational
control of the border, what information do you have in your
possession that your front-line agents don't have? Because
there is not a single person on the border today that will tell
you that once Title 42 is lifted they won't lose operational
control of part of the border. So what information do you have
that they don't have?
Secretary Mayorkas. The premise of your question and the--
which you have identified as estimates of what will encounter
at the border are not estimates of what we will encounter. It
is our responsibility----
Mr. Katko. That was a Homeland Security document that I had
that from.
So what just----
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman----
Mr. Katko. Again, the question is, sir, is very simple.
What information do you have in your possession that your
front-line agents who risk their lives every day and who give
their lives every day don't have that will tell you that you
won't lose operational control of some of the border at least
when Title 42 is lifted?
Secretary Mayorkas. We have a plan. We have a plan that we
have developed and that we have been preparing to execute----
Mr. Katko. Your six-pillar plan?
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And have been implementing
since September of this past year.
Mr. Katko. I guess referring to your six-pillar plan?
Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
Mr. Katko. But has that been implemented or is that a
proposal?
Secretary Mayorkas. That is under way in its execution. We
began----
Mr. Katko. Let me ask you a question.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Planning in September
2021.
Mr. Katko. Let me ask you a question. That pillar, the six
pillars, the surge started on January 20 when President Biden
took office. Why didn't you implement the six pillars then? Why
did you wait for 14 or 16 months to implement these things?
Secretary Mayorkas. Many of these lines of effort have been
under way since this administration began. The issue----
Mr. Katko. I thought you just said that they are under way
of being implemented now?
Secretary Mayorkas. The challenge, Congressman, of
migration is not a challenge that the United States faces
alone. What we are experiencing is a migration challenge
throughout the region, throughout the Western Hemisphere and,
in fact, throughout the world. That is why one of the pillars
of the plan is to work with countries south of our border so
that they manage their borders effectively.
Mr. Katko. Right. OK, thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas. Both in----
Mr. Katko. I understand. But the bottom line is the six
pillars came out yesterday. And----
Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, that is incorrect.
Mr. Katko. It was issued April 26, 2022 memorandum. I ask
that you incorporate that into the record, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.*
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* The document was previously submitted for the record by Ranking
Member Katko.
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Mr. Katko. The bottom line is the six pillars is something
you put out yesterday to cover the fact that you guys are
getting--you guys have lost operational control of many parts
of the border already, more is to come. I think I would be
straight with our folks going forward.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Texas for 5
minutes, Ms. Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady is recognized.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
Let me welcome you, Mr. Secretary. Let me first of all hold
up the document dated April 26, 2022. I thank the
administration for recognizing the responsibilities we have at
the border with increased personnel--certainly our staffing at
the border needs that kind of help--increasing the processing
efficiency, particularly interrupting the corrupt efforts of
human smugglers, not creating the havoc of separating
unaccompanied children or children from their families or
taking unaccompanied children so that almost 4,000 under Trump
administration that were separated, many of whom never got
reunited does not occur.
I think it is also important to put on the record very
quickly that the order 42 from the CDC is not under the
jurisdiction of Homeland Security. When I ask you a question
you might just simply say yes or no whether it is.
But let me move forward so that--it is important to look at
the funding. Let me quickly move forward on the question of the
cyber.
Grants were given at $1 billion for FEMA and CISA to
partner with States to implement this grant program about
shoring up their cybersecurity. Can you tell me whether this
effort is going to help avoid the vicious intrusion that we
have seen from Russia?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman, thank you for your
question.
The grant funds that CISA, the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency, as been given to distribute in
collaboration with FEMA is a vital resource to equip others to
strengthen their cybersecurity. In cybersecurity we say that we
are only as strong as our weakest link. So these grants dollars
can be disseminated to really make sure that our weakest link
is strengthened and the overall cybersecurity ecosystem is
strengthened as a result.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you so very much.
Secretary Mayorkas. To provide----
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. The vital tools.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me--one of the grant sources that our
urban areas, small and large, are committed to is the Urban
Area Security Initiative. I notice a decrease. Could you
explain why there is a decrease on $22.5 million? Because of
the desperate need that communities need to have this kind of
Homeland Security grant mitigating threats.
Secretary Mayorkas. What we are doing--yes, the Urban Area
Security Initiative grants, the UASI grants as they are know,
we have been well-funded in that program and we are very
grateful for the funding that we have received. We are working
with FEMA to make sure that those funds are effectively
distributed and we are giving greater latitude to law
enforcement organizations throughout the country to identify
the threats that they confront in their respective
jurisdictions while nevertheless providing them guidance with
respect to the National security priority areas that we see,
given our vantage point, to understand and appreciate the
threats that the Nation faces as a whole. It has been an
instrumental grant program for us.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much.
I have the last two questions. If you can take note of
them, because I will not be able to come back as my time is
running out.
First of all, I join Chairman Thompson in my strong support
for funding for nonprofits, churches, and other under the
threat of domestic terrorism and particularly HBCUs, which I
represent Texas Southern University and in the neighborhood's
purview A&M. That is absolutely imperative. I will just make
that as a statement.
I would like to discuss with you further about that as
relates to the bomb threats.
But I also want to raise a matter of the TSA hope that the
administration can really strongly support the Chairman's
legislation about professionalizing TSA. But a matter of
concern has come to my attention regarding TSA airport
screening and transgender persons. Air travel is an essential
means of long-distance travel and so I want to know about any
training dealing with screening issues for persons who are
transgender and how has the agency conducted the outreach to
the transgender community. It is a practice of TSA to enter
gender selection prior to passenger's entrance screening.
If you could answer that I would appreciate it.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will look forward to talking to you about the hurricane
season that is coming in our region.
Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman, we have developed
advanced technology to improve and strengthen our screening at
the airports through TSA. That does not require identification
of one's gender. So that is sensitive to gender issues.
Its focus was on innovating and strengthening our security
screening and doing so with sensitivities that you have
identified.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. Thank you for your service.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time is expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. McCaul,
for 5 minutes.
Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, you and I have known each other for a while
and I must say this is painful for me.
I have been dealing with the border since 9/11, as have
you. You were a U.S. attorney in a border State, as was I. I
have dealt with the border since 9/11 as a Federal prosecutor,
but also as a Chairman of this very committee. I would have to
say that I have never seen the border more broken. It is not
under operational control. It is out of control. Don't take my
word for it. When I looked at the findings of the Court, the
cause is not climate change or some weird migration phenomenon.
It is the fact that on Day 1 your administration rescinded the
Migrant Protection Protocols and Remain in Mexico because you
didn't like the former President. That is fine, but don't--
don't rescind what was working. This program was working and
the Courts said that. Their findings of fact were that the
Migrant Protection Protocol Program was decreasing the volume
of inadmissible aliens arriving in the United States on land
from Mexico. Further, they said that termination of MPP has
contributed to the current border surge. Most importantly, your
own assistant secretary for border and immigration policy,
David Shahoulian, said since MPP's termination the number of
enforcement encounters on the Southwest Border has skyrocketed.
This is your policy guy at DHS on border and immigration. He
goes on to say based on current trends the Department expects
that total encounters this fiscal year are likely to be the
highest ever recorded. I agree with him. The highest ever
recorded.
My State--we say every State is a border State, my State
has to absorb this and we have to pay billions of dollars when
it is a Federal responsibility. It is the biggest human
trafficking event I have seen in my lifetime--2.5 million
encounters. What are we going to do with all these people that
have no legal status in this country? Not so much in the
fentanyl that have come in that could kill the population 7
times over, not to mention the 23 apprehended that are on the
terrorist watch list that you, sir, will not tell us who they
are. I think the American people need to know who they are.
I have never seen the morale of the Border Patrol this low,
as demonstrated by the fact that when you, sir--this is painful
for me to say--when you visited down there, they turned their
backs on you because they said you have turned your backs on
them.
It is hard for me to say this, sir. I want to quote
somebody that we both know. As you are looking at lifting Title
42, 18,000 per day, we are debating a $10 billion Covid relief
package, what kind of Covid relief package is this? To open up
the border to anybody that could come in that could be
infected? ``This will overwhelm the communities at the border,
it will overwhelm Border Patrol. The crisis will continue to
get worse until we send the message that we will enforce border
security. This is the wrong time to lift Title 42 as the surge
in the summer occurs.'' Those are not my words, those are the
words of your former boss, the Secretary of Homeland Security,
Jeh Johnson, who I have tremendous respect for. He is right
about this, that this is a crisis.
I hope--the Supreme Court held the arguments yesterday on
Migrant Protection Protocol--I hope if they affirm the Fifth
Circuit's decision, that, sir, you will enforce the law as
you're duty-bound to do.
Jay Johnson went on to say if it was 1,000 apprehensions a
day, that would be an OK number, but if it was above 1,000,
that is a really bad number. I knew I was going to be in a bad
mood the whole day. Furthermore, he says we need to send a
strong message to the places where they are coming from, there
is a right way and a wrong way to come into the United States.
I agree. I agree with him.
To end, you know, if I could just say that your
responsibility by law is to protect the United States, both
air, land, and sea. You have failed in this mission when it
comes to our land border. My State and our Texas guardsman that
died saving two narco-traffickers, you are complicit, the
administration is complicit with the last leg of human
trafficking because you end that trip.
I will just close with this.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time----
Mr. McCaul. I must say, sir, with all due respect, I am
disappointed.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr.
Payne for 5 minutes.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak here today.
I would just like to start with I hope our BPP Border
Patrol officers would understand and continue to do their duty
and not engage in political activities. To turn their back on
the Secretary is not helpful or fruitful at all. I would hope
that even if--when they don't agree with some of--that they
understand their duty and continue to answer to the Secretary
and their leadership.
Secretary Mayorkas, I will get right into it.
In recent months we have seen threats to houses of worship
increase. I am particularly concerned about the on-going
threats to houses of worship in the African American community.
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program, or NSGP, is a key tool in
helping houses of worship protect themselves from threats. For
this reason I was pleased to see the budget proposal request
for $360 million for NSGP.
Secretary Mayorkas, how is the Department working to
promote the program to the African American community,
including Black churches, who need these resources?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, thank you very much for
your important word regarding that grant program.
We have engaged and embarked upon a very extensive
communication effort to make sure that we reach otherwise
disenfranchised institutions that very well might need those
funds and otherwise could not access them.
As I referenced earlier, I was in Detroit, Michigan, I
believe it was last month, and met with faith-based groups in
the African American community to understand the difficulties
that they were having in accessing the grant program, the
security needs that they had, and underscoring the importance
of the resources that our grant program distributes.
So really it is all about engagement, the sharing of
information, and improving access to this critical grant
program.
Mr. Payne. OK. Well, I am going to be helping the churches
in my area, in my district access that grant. So working with
you I would appreciate us partnering in helping us access those
grants in my district and around the country. It is a group
that has been left out of that process and we need to bring
them into it.
So thank you.
Also how are you ensuring that FEMA can administer the
program effectively and provide oversight to States as they
play a key role in submitting the grant application to FEMA?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, we have a tremendous
leader of FEMA in Deanne Criswell. The deputy administrator of
FEMA, Erik Hooks, comes to the Department with tremendous
experience in actually managing a grant program and
representing a State that is a recipient of a grant program. We
are engaging extensively, as I mentioned before, with all
communities, including minority communities, to make sure that
our distribution of grant funds meets the Homeland Security
imperatives and honors our obligation of equality of access.
Mr. Payne. OK. Well, sir, I look forward to working with
you.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. Then gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr.
Higgins, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the
Secretary's appearance here today.
Mr. Secretary, what year were you born, sir?
Secretary Mayorkas. 1959.
Mr. Higgins. 1959. I was born in 1961. We are from the same
generation. Have you experienced failures in your life, sir?
Significant enough that you as a man over your 6 decades of
life you have accomplished can help you measure failure? You
know what it is as a man? I certainly do. No shame there. I am
asking you. It is an honest question.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, I am 62 years old. Anyone
who has lived for 62 years has confronted all----
Mr. Higgins. Has experienced failure.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Different types of
challenges, successes, and failures.
Mr. Higgins. Yes, sir. There is no shame in that. It is
part of our journey in life. You get knocked down and we do our
best to stand back up. So I am going to try and help put this
in perspective for you, sir. I have had harsh words for you
over the last couple of years. You know that.
Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, I have heard them, yes,
Congressman.
Mr. Higgins. Yes, sir. I hope you feel my spirit right now.
I am also a compassionate man. I feel that America needs you to
own this thing, good sir. Do you recognize the following
statement? You wrote it, or someone for you wrote it. Under the
Biden-Harris administration the Department of Homeland Security
has been executing a comprehensive and deliberate strategy to
secure our borders and build a safe, orderly, and humane
immigration system. Since January 2021, DHS has effectively
managed an unprecedented number of non-citizens seeking to
enter the United States--effectively managed. You used that
verbiage earlier today again. I suppose that is the tested and
determined talking point.
So I ask you, good sir, tell America, you are a gentleman,
62 years of age, a gentleman of distinguished accomplishment,
the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, like all
of us you have experienced failure in the course of your life.
You should have accomplished to help you recognize it. This
disaster we have at our border, the disintegration of our
National sovereignty cannot be sustained. Anyone that has two
brain cells that could perhaps bump into each other would know
that it is abject failure down there.
So if you would identify our border as effectively managed
right now, how would you identify failure? What would it be?
Five million crossings in a year. Had 2.5 million last year. A
million gotaways? You had 500,000 last year. Crime rate tripled
instead of doubled. No. 1 cause of death in 18- to 45-year-old
Americans right now is overdose. Under your watch. What would
it be, from 5 years old to 50? How would you identify failure
if it is not what you have delivered thus far?
My god, man. Own the moment. You have been called upon to
resign by myself and others.
Next year if we have the Majority in this committee, which
we shall, you are still in office, you will face impeachment. I
ask you as a man, own this thing. Out of respect for you and
the office, I ask you to reflect upon that. I will give you my
remaining 45 seconds to respond.
Please feel my spirit and speak truthfully. Step away from
your talking points and speak to the American people and own
this thing. We are losing our country down there. We need you
to resign. Save the country the pain of your impeachment.
I have 20 seconds, sir. Please respond.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, I couldn't disagree with
you more when you state that our Nation's sovereignty is
disintegrating.
Mr. Higgins. I guess that answers that.
I yield, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Rhode Island for 5
minutes, Mr. Langevin.
Mr. Langevin. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary. Welcome today. I have a vastly different
view on your service and the performance you and your people
are undertaking and doing over at DHS. I thank you for your
leadership. You have a lot on your plate and probably the
toughest issues to deal with outside of perhaps Secretary of
Defense and Secretary of State. So I deeply appreciate
everything you are doing to protect our National security.
Secretary Mayorkas, I want to focus on election security
right now because your Department has significant
responsibilities for election security, both in terms of
managing the risk to election infrastructure and countering
mis- and disinformation that can truly undermine Americans'
confidence in the electoral process. I know that I have
confidence in great leadership at CISA and Director Easterly
and the work that she is doing as well, but I wanted to focus
on the fact that Russia obviously has attempted to interfere
with U.S. elections before. I certainly believe that we
actually have to prepare now more than ever to redouble those
efforts given what is going on in Ukraine. There could be
retaliation for the punishing sanctions that the United States
enacted for Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Secretary, can you tell us what the Department is doing
to shore up election security from Russian cyber interference,
give confidence to the committee and the American people that
we have got this and we are ready to protect and defend our
electoral process?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, thank you very much.
This is one of our priority areas. As a matter of fact,
just a few weeks ago I engaged with secretaries of state from
all over the country to focus our efforts on election security.
We are building upon the great work of the former CISA
director, Chris Krebs. Jen Easterly is leading of course the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in this
effort.
We just established a mis- and disinformation governance
board in the Department of Homeland Security to more
effectively combat this threat, not only to election security,
but to our homeland security. We are disseminating information
to the secretaries of state, we are counseling them and
providing resources to ensure better physical security, we are
addressing all aspects of election security, given of course
the mid-term elections that are upon us, and the fundamental
integrity of our democratic processes that is at stake.
Mr. Langevin. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I appreciate you
outlining those steps that are being taken. They are important
of course. But let me also turn to the fact that of course the
scope of Russian cyber threats extends beyond our elections.
Also we know that the Russian government is exploring options,
potential cyber attacks against the United States and our
critical infrastructure. President Biden warned against that
recently and making sure that we have all hands on deck to make
sure that our critical infrastructure as well is being
protected. But DHS, through the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency under Director Easterly of
course plays a major role in not only securing Federal networks
against these threats, but also coordinating with Government
and private sectors to secure our critical infrastructure.
So in approaching this multifaceted responsibility, DHS
through CISA has generated innovative approaches to
cybersecurity collaboration, both inter-agency and the broader
set of public and private-sector stakeholders in the
cybersecurity ecosystem. I wanted to ask what can we expect
from the Department moving forward to maintain and further
develop this work. Obviously, there is also--there is a
considerable level of variance across our critical
infrastructure. For instance, certain companies have different
inherent cybersecurity capacities, use different technologies,
and have different levels of significance to National critical
functions. How should DHS public-private partnerships account
for such variances?
Secretary Mayorkas. So there has been tremendous work under
way, Congressman, in CISA under Jen Easterly's leadership. In
the wake of the unprovoked and brutal Russian assault against
Ukraine's sovereignty, CISA developed a Shields Up campaign,
which is really an effort to disseminate information throughout
the private sector with respect to the threat landscape so that
the private sector, which really houses the majority of our
Nation's critical infrastructure, can have its shields up, can
be alert to the threat landscape, can understand the
vulnerabilities that exist, and can patch those vulnerabilities
and know how to do so.
That Shields Up effort is really extraordinary and
unprecedented in scope and scale. We also have been assisted
with legislation that does not in any way interfere with the
voluntary public-private partnership, but does now, as you well
know given your championship of it and Ranking Member Katko's
championship of it, create a mandatory reporting regime where
the Federal Government, best equipped to understand the
homeland security landscape, can be informed of cyber incidents
so that we can better protect the private sector.
Mr. Langevin. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time from Rhode Island
is expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi, Mr.
Guest, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, within the last 2 weeks I have taken two
separate visits to the Southwest Border, one with Ranking
Member Katko to El Paso and a second trip led by Leader
McCarthy to Eagle Pass. During our drip to the border we spoke
with Border Patrol agents, local law enforcement officials,
community leaders, elected officials, and everyone that we
spoke to without exception said this, that the situation at the
border is the worst that they have ever seen it. Statistics
tell the same story. Last month 221,000 encounters along the
Southwest Border. Fox News reported that as many as 60,000
gotaways occurred last month. Just cutting that number in half,
it is going to then be over a quarter of a million people who
entered the country illegally last month. Since you have been
Secretary, since the administration has taken over, we have
seen that there have been more than 2.4 million encounters, a
number greater than 15 of our individual States.
Just looking at the last 6 months, CBP reported that they
have arrested 14,150 individuals with known criminal
convictions, 321 known gang members. We know that 23
individuals were encountered who were on the terrorist watch
list.
Mr. Secretary, you have repeatedly lied. You lied to
Congress and you have lied to the American people when you said
that the border is secure. Here in September, a hearing in
which Representative Pfluger asked you this question, is the
border more secure under your leadership than when you
started--your answer, Congressman, the border is secure. We are
executing our plan and I have been very clear and unequivocal
in that regard.
Just over a year ago you were interviewed by ABC, Martha
Raddatz. She said this, we have heard the sheriff say it, the
Governors say it, and the immigrants I have spoken to say it,
they are coming across the border because they believe they
will be welcome under the Biden administration. You yourself 3
weeks ago are not saying don't come, we are saying don't come
now. President Biden had a stronger message later, but the
messages are mixed at the best, Mr. Secretary. Your response,
Martha, do not come, the border is closed, the border is
secure.
So my question to you, Mr. Secretary, are you testifying as
you sit here today that the Southwest Border is secure?
Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I am. We are continuing to work to
make it more secure.
If I can correct one thing about the statistics you are
using and also mention one important factor.
No. 1, please understand that under Title 42, a Title 42
expulsion is not a formal removal under immigration law, under
Title 8 of the United States Code. What happens under Title 42
is because it is an expulsion and not a formal removal, we are
seeing a great deal of recidivism. So the same individual will
try again to enter the United States. So the number of
encounters is different from the number of unique individuals
seeking entry into the United States between the ports of
entry. No. 1. So the encounters does not equal the number of
unique individuals.
No. 2, the transnational criminal organizations, the
smuggling networks, are spreading misinformation to vulnerable
migrants that the border is open. The reality is, the fact of
the matter is, that individuals who are encountered at the
border make claims for relief under our asylum laws. That is
what our law provides. Those whose claims succeed in
immigration enforcement proceedings have established a basis to
remain in the United States, those who do not are removed from
the United States, and therefore the border is in fact not
open.
Mr. Guest. Mr. Secretary, you are wrong. You are not being
truthful with this committee and you are not being truthful
with the American public. I have been to the border twice
within the last 2 weeks. I have spoken with CBP agents, I have
spoken with elected officials. They all say the same thing,
they all say that this administration has abandoned them, they
say that feel like that they are left to deal with this problem
all by themselves. The border is not secure, the border is wide
open. Under your leadership this problem has only gotten worse
and in fact this is the worst immigration crisis that our
Nation has ever seen.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back.
Let me suggest to our colleagues that decorum is the order
of the day and we will enforce it accordingly.
The Chair recognizes----
Mr. Katko. If I may just, Mr. Chairman, when you referred
to decorum, what was the problem with the last question?
Chairman Thompson. Well, just to call somebody a liar is
not decorum.
Mr. Katko. OK. So but you are OK with a false statement,
you are just saying because of----
Chairman Thompson. I am just saying that decorum is the
order of the day.
Mr. Katko. I understand that, but I just--by inferring that
I thought you were inferring that this line of questioning was
out of order. I understand----
Chairman Thompson. No, I----
Mr. Katko. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. I did not--I don't question any Member's
question, but calling a man a liar is out of order.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr.
Correa.
Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you
for holding this most important hearing, you and the Ranking
Member, and Members of this committee for being here.
Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here as well. I agree
with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we have a
major challenge at our borders.
I just got back again from visiting the border. Been to El
Paso many times, San Ysidro many more times. I kind-of grew up
in that area. If I can I am going to have the clerk show some
photos I took at the San Ysidro border crossing of the latest
number of refugees that we have at the border crossing. Drum
roll.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Correa. While we get there, let me say that since my
time is running, what I observed were 1,000 Ukrainian refugees
coming into Tijuana on a daily basis, about 500 of them are
actually passed into the United States under temporary
protective status. Title 42 is also being waived for them right
now to come into the United States.
So my question, Mr. Secretary, how do you distinguish one
group of refugees from another? Why don't you do the same thing
for Afghanistan, Syrians, Africans, Central Americans? I guess
my question--bigger question to you, sir, what is our American
refugee policy? I would ask that of my colleagues here too. The
United Nations yesterday reported that this year 8.3 million
Ukrainians will leave Ukraine. What is going to happen when we
have 1 million to 2 million Ukrainians knocking at our border?
Then, of course, what is going to happen, sir, when we have a
few million starving Russians also knocking at our border?
The question, really not for you, but for us, is what is
our refugee policy in this country? We know what the law is
right now, and Title 42 is really something that has been used
incorrectly to address immigration at our borders.
The refugee issue, this is nothing new. I just read
something today that there is discussion now of a Marshall Plan
for Central Europe to stabilize that region. Good idea. Why we
haven't done that decades ago for Central America? If we have
unstable economies, economies that are crushing, we have
challenges at the border, and those surges, gentlemen, didn't
start this administration. They have been going on there for
20-30 years. Why haven't we acted on those issue?
Folks come to our country the way our ancestors came to
this country--economic refugees or political refugees.
So, Mr. Secretary, what is our refugee policy when we have
a million, 2-3 million Afghanies--excuse me, Afghanistans,
Ukrainians, Russians knocking at our borders? What is our
policy? What is the solution?
I want all of us to answer that question. Or do we turn
them away?
Did we get the photos up?
Please answer the question, sir.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, the President has spoken
very powerfully about what our policy is, and that is that we
are restoring----
Mr. Correa. I can address my colleagues. Here is a picture
of the Ukrainian refugees that--at Tijuana. A baseball field
that the Mexican government graciously made available to these
refugees.
Secretary Mayorkas. We are restoring our leadership in the
world as a country of refuge. In fact, for the Ukrainians who
have left Ukraine in a time of brutal war, we have established
a multi-part plan.
No. 1 is our traditional refugee processing, and we
deployed refugee affairs officers to the region to administer
that. No. 2, the Department of State issued guidance with
respect to the availability of visas for Ukrainian nationals
who qualify. Third, we announced this past Monday Uniting for
Ukraine, a special humanitarian parole program that requires a
sponsor here in the United States, which is another lawful and
orderly and humane for Ukrainians to seek refuge in the United
States.
Those are three different avenues by which Ukrainians
seeking refuge can actually obtain it in the United States.
Mr. Correa. Mr. Secretary, that is in the American
tradition of opening our doors to those that are being
persecuted, fleeing violence and war. That is what we should
do. But it should not be limited just to Ukrainians, Russians,
but it should be a blanket policy for the rest of the world. We
need those workers. Chambers of commerce are saying we need
that work force now.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
New Jersey for 5 minutes, Mr. Van Drew.
Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Secretary Mayorkas, thanks for showing up today. When we
met last March we were beginning to see the drastic
implications of the Biden administration's horrendous immigrant
policies. Within 45 days of you being confirmed as the
Secretary of the Department, this administration has halted
border wall construction that was already funded by Congress,
eliminated the Remain in Mexico policy, implemented catch-and-
release at the beginning of a global pandemic, which allowed
thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants to enter our
country, canceled asylum agreements with Central American
countries. Since all of these actions America has experienced
the worst immigration crisis on our record.
Last month, there were over 220,000 migrant encounters at
the Southern Border, which is almost a 30 percent increase from
March of last year and a 542 percent increase--542 percent--
think of that number--from March 2020. Last month's figures
brought the total number of encounters to over 2.4 million
since President Biden took office. This doesn't happen by
accident.
Furthermore, the fiscal year 2023 budget does not request
funding for a new border wall and does not include a
significant amount of new agent positions. In fact, Mayor
Bowser's budget for Washington, DC requests 347 additional
police officers, which is more than DHS is requesting for the
entire border, which is almost 2,000 miles. CPB's mission
statement is ``protecting American people''--``protecting
American people, safeguarding our borders, and enhancing our
Nation's prosperity.''
Mr. Secretary, I am thoroughly disappointed, I am
thoroughly disgusted, I am thoroughly disturbed about your
performance.
Just a month ago, the Department announced that it was
rescinding--rescinding the expedited removal border policy,
which helped the Department effectively deport hundreds of
thousands of illegal aliens. I, along with 77 other Members of
Congress and with the support of every Republican on this
committee, wrote to you expressing adamant opposition to this
decision, a letter to which I welcome a response, a timely
response some day.
The administration has also announced its decision to
eliminate Title 42, which has allowed the Department to expel
over half a million illegal undocumented aliens. Officials have
even acknowledged that revoking Title 42 will lead to a sharp
increase in illegal migrant crossings, drawing criticism and
concern from Democrats and Republicans in both chambers of
commerce.
Officials within your Department have predicted an average
of 18,000 migrant crossings a day. Everybody think about that--
18,000 migrant crossings a day. I am not saying it, it is
officials within your Department--18,000. Title 42 is lifted,
which is roughly 3 times the already record-setting rate you
have been setting. Since being confirmed as Secretary, you have
broken the records, Mr. Secretary. When you were asked during
an interview whether you thought the administration's policies
were encouraging illegal immigration--and I can't believe that
you said this--you stated I don't think that is the case at
all. I don't know how you could look at us straight in the face
and say that to us. I don't think that is the case at all. Just
look what is going on and process it.
Does this administration have a plan for border security?
Does this administration have a plan for the health issues that
come with all of the undocumented coming over? Does this
administration have a real plan for the huge increase in
fentanyl and the flow of drugs? Does this administration have a
plan for the huge increase in illegal crossing that are going
to occur in our very near future that are going to change the
very substance, structure of our Nation?
How can this happen while you and the administration are
failing to recognize the border crisis? I hate to say this----
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time----
Mr. Van Drew. But I wish that you would resign. I do. I
wish you would resign.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from
Michigan, Ms. Slotkin, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Slotkin. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas, thank you for being here. Maybe it is
because I am just coming from the funeral of Secretary
Madeleine Albright, who was a refugee to this country, fleeing
persecution in Europe and coming here, that it is hard to
listen frankly here and on TV to how politicized both sides of
the aisle are when it comes to the border. I think the answer
is, whether it is this administration or the last or the ones
before that, our immigration system is broken. Democrats and
Republicans own that. Right now Democrats have the House, the
Senate, and the White House and have done nothing to get a
comprehensive immigration reform. Four years ago, the
Republicans had the House, the Senate, and the White House and
did nothing to do comprehensive immigration reform. In
Congress, we are more culpable than anyone because we are the
ones who set the laws.
As a CIA officer and Pentagon official by training, if we
are dealing with security issues on the very border of our
country, we have failed. Our policy is failing. That is the
place of last resort to protect ourselves, not the place we
should be metering out who comes into our country.
So I guess it just feels like whichever party is in power
is going to be--should be responsible and however is not in
power is going to be criticizing the other side. But until we
get at that root problem, we are going to have year after year
these horrible picture of our border officials having to be
overwhelmed and of migrants seeking a better life living in bad
conditions.
Two years ago we all--I think every one of us on this
committee voted on a $4.5 billion supplemental. We sent active-
duty military to the border in addition to the Guard and we put
people in cages and separated them from their children in order
to make border policy something different than it was. Now we
allow people to allow people to come into the country and they
go off and we have no idea whether they are ever going to show
up in a courtroom again. Neither of those policies makes any
sense. It is broken. But every single person here, along with
the Secretary, owns part of that responsibility. If you are
going to criticize what is going on on the border, then put
forward a piece of legislation to make it better, don't just
use it as a political cudgel, Democrats and Republicans.
Sorry. Just going to that funeral and seeing what we can
get when we have a decent immigration policy and allowing
people who are fearing persecution and death legitimately to
come here, and then allow economic migrants, people like my
great-grandfather who came here just for a better life,
allowing them to come and work here in a vetted legal way,
where they can apply from home, not shoving their way through a
border. That is what we should be aiming at.
OK.
The other issue where I think that the American public
feels like they are not being defended is on cybersecurity. I
know that there is a lot that goes on, but help me understand,
that was a surprise to me to open up the budget that you all
submitted and to see a decrease to CISA, to the organization
that I tell everyone is the
9-1-1 operator to call when there is a major cybersecurity
attack. Please help me understand and help the American public
understand decreasing the 9-1-1 operators.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman Slotkin, thank you very
much for your words with respect to the imperative to fix what
has long been a broken immigration system.
So the issue of CISA's funding, we have sought an increase
in CISA's funding year in and year out. The President's fiscal
year 2022 budget requested an increase and the President's
fiscal year 2023 budget requested an increase over his request
of 2022. The timing of it was we were not aware of the budget
that would be enacted by this Congress and we are grateful for
the plus-up--further plus-up of CISA, but we have sought an
increase in our budget as compared to our prior budget year
over year.
I also want to make it clear that we are continuing to
expend the $650 million that we received under the American
Rescue Plan and we are significantly plussing up CISA with
those funds as well. We tremendously appreciate Congress's
support of that agency as a most critical time.
Ms. Slotkin. Thank you.
My time has expired.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr.
Bishop, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, I was struck by my colleague's comments and
by yours earlier, that this--to the--in the direction that this
is a same-old same-old problem. That is not correct. The
experience we are having with illegal immigration in this
country, and have had since the beginning of the Biden
administration, is anything but same-old same-old. It is
historically unprecedented. It is not happening like this
everywhere in the world.
The premise of the Biden policy on immigration has been
that it is more humane. On that premise, Secretary Mayorkas,
you have released 880,000 people into the country, illegal
migrants, another 600,000 gotaways, give or take, many of those
absolutely are criminals, some are drug dealers, some are sex
offenders. You can't guarantee that there aren't or that they
won't commit crimes.
What is your message to Americans who are going to be
murdered, raped, killed by drugs, have their lives destroyed by
flourishing trafficking because of your policies?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, thank you for the
opportunity to answer your question.
First of all, let me address your statement that it is not
happening elsewhere in the world.
Mr. Bishop. But that wasn't my question.
Secretary Mayorkas. No, but that it is an----
Mr. Bishop. My question to you, sir--and I would like you
to answer my question rather than make your own speech, if you
don't mind--what do you have to say to Americans who will
suffer grievous crime, be victims of crime by virtue of people
being allowed into the country and released when you need not
have done so?
Secretary Mayorkas. Individuals who enter the country are
placed in immigration enforcement proceedings. They have the
opportunity to make a claim for relief under the laws that this
Congress has passed.
Mr. Bishop. So your answer to them----
Secretary Mayorkas. If they----
Mr. Bishop. Your answer to the Americans who will suffer
crime is that there is--is that people get to make asylum
claims?
Secretary Mayorkas. If I can finish my answer.
Mr. Bishop. I am not going to give you my time to make a
long-winded answer.
Secretary Mayorkas. No, no, no, I am----
Mr. Bishop. If you want to answer directly to the question
I am asking, which is do you have a message----
Chairman Thompson. Mr. Bishop, just let him answer. If
you----
Mr. Bishop. Mr. Chairman, it is my time and I am not going
to let him filibuster me. I am not going to let him filibuster
me, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Well, he is trying to answer your
question.
Mr. Bishop. If he decides----
Chairman Thompson. You were interrupting.
Mr. Bishop [continuing]. He wants to go on a filibuster,
then I will just ask him another question. My question is do
you have a message to those Americans who will be victims of
crime because of your policy?
Secretary Mayorkas. That we are taking a tougher stand on
criminals who have entered this country illegally. The data
suggests that we are more focused----
Mr. Bishop. Really?
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. On public safety threats,
true public safety threats to the homeland than the prior
administration was. In fact, we have removed more aggravated
felonies, felons, and felons in 1 year than the prior
administration did.
Mr. Bishop. Interestingly----
Secretary Mayorkas. I think it----
Mr. Bishop [continuing]. In all of those----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. It I think it is almost
double actually.
Mr. Bishop. In all of those individual categories of
serious felony crimes, your numbers are lower, but somehow you
have a larger number overall. It is amazing.
Let me ask you this, 100,000 Americans died over overdoses
last year. DEA says 95 percent of the fentanyl that comes in
this country comes across the Southwestern Border. Do you feel
a personal sense of remorse for those Americans who have died
because fentanyl is coming in right and left across a border
that is overwhelmed by illegal migration?
Mr. Bishop. The fentanyl crisis has been building year in
and year out. Of course we mourn the loss of individuals who
have lost their lives. You know that in 2020 it was an
approximately 50 percent increase in opioid deaths in this
country over 2019? 2020 over 2019. The number of opioid
overdose deaths in this country has grown each year, year in
and year out well prior to this administration. What we have to
do as a country is address the fundamental underlying cause,
which is demand.
Mr. Bishop. Sir----
Secretary Mayorkas. I should say also----
Mr. Bishop [continuing]. Let me ask you about the
migrants----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Fentanyl is brought into
this--is sought to be brought into this country through the
ports of entry. The great majority is through the ports of
entry where we have interdicted----
Mr. Bishop. Where your agents have been diverted to
processing illegal migrants. Sir----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And we have interdicted
more fentanyl----
Mr. Bishop. I have got 30 seconds left.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. In 2021 than we did in the
prior year.
Mr. Bishop. Almost 700 migrants have died on American soil
in the process of entering the country. Do you feel personal
remorse for their loss?
Secretary Mayorkas. You realize that under the Migrant
Protection Protocols, according to a human rights organization,
more than 1,500 individuals were murdered, raped, tortured, or
suffered serious crimes in Mexico?
Mr. Bishop. You would rather have the 700 dead?
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri for 5
minutes, Mr. Cleaver.
Mr. Cleaver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here. I believe that
there are 33 nations in the Western Hemisphere. Is that close?
Or wrong completely? I am close. Is it possible for us to
develop a sound immigration plan without cooperation with the
nations in the Western Hemisphere? Or some of them?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, it is extraordinarily
difficult to do so. Migration is a challenge that is being
confronted by countries throughout the region and therefore
calls for a regional solution. That is why Secretary Blinken
and I were in Panama last week, to meet with leaders of
multiple nations throughout the region.
This is not a challenge that the United States alone is
facing. As a matter of fact, contrary to the statement just
articulated, Colombia, as a powerful example, has 1.8 million
Venezuelans within its borders. I was in Costa Rica before I
was in Panama to further advance a regional solution, and
approximately 2 percent of the population of Costa Rica, a
small country, is currently Nicaraguan by reason of the
distress of people in the countries of origin. We of course
have to address the root causes, we have to build safe and
orderly and humane pathways, we have to equip and enable
countries to enforce their borders, to provide humanitarian
relief where it is warranted, to repatriate individuals where
it is not, and fundamentally, to Congresswoman Slotkin's
important statement, we have to fix our broken immigration
system.
Mr. Cleaver. Well, following up on her comments, I played
sports in high school and college, at least the first part of
college, and I am convinced that winning in sports depends in
large part on whether the team plays together. If you watch
basketball right now, the NBA, some of them have amazing
talent, some of them have like four superstars starting, and at
least two of those teams with the superstars didn't even make
the playoffs. The reason is that when a team, and in this case,
Congress, refuses to play together, our worth is not much more
than nail fungus. You know, I sit here and, you know, I have
never said I wanted to impeach anybody. I don't care if they
are Republican, Independent, vegetarian, you know, nobody.
Because want I want to do here and be able for my grandchildren
to feel good about it when they get to the age where they are
interested in what is going on in the world, you know, that we
try to make some things work, we try to solve some problems.
I told somebody earlier today, I was talking about my
father turns--who is 100, turning 100, and when he came up here
for my swearing in, we were walking across the street to my
apartment in the Methodist building, right across the street
from the Capitol, my father turned around and looked up at the
dome and just started weeping. He turned over to me and he
said, man, he said, I was born in this country and I have come
to the conclusion my son may be able to help solve some of the
problems in our country. I will never forget it as long as I
maintain mental dexterity. My call is for us to work--we are
never going to get this right unless we work together. It is
easy to come in here and, even your predecessor, a Republican,
I didn't scream at him or anything, because I realized it
doesn't matter who is in that chair, if we don't work together,
it ain't going to work.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Cleaver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
South Carolina, Mr. Norman, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Norman. Mr. Secretary, I have no hope that--and I will
follow decorum, Mr. Chairman. I won't say you are lying, I will
just say you are untruthful. I have called for your removal, I
will continue to call for it. What you are doing to this
country through your actions are intolerable.
I just heard from a Gold Star mother lunch, husband died
from a terrorist. We heard from Tom Homan last night and Mark
Morgan, the figures that you have all heard, particularly when
Title 42 goes away, anywhere from 15-18,000 illegals per day.
That equates to roughly 539,000, give or take, per every 30
days. That is five football stadiums of Carolina or Clemson--
they hold roughly 79,000--under your watch. You don't know who
is coming in here, you don't know--they are not being vetted,
the diseases that are coming across. But it doesn't matter.
There is no way that--you know, for the statements to be made,
that you made that this is--the system is broke, it is broken
in a way that we have never seen before because you won't--it
is very simple, you build the wall. The steel that is laying on
the ground that is decaying that is paid for, you build the
wall and have orderly entry-level. You are unwilling to do
that.
This is an invasion of this country and under your watch
you are allowing it.
This is creating an economic crisis, this is creating a
drug crisis that has been noted. In my small town alone, the
fentanyl deaths are at record levels, of the ones we know
about. It is astounding that you really even show up today and
just espouse words that have no meaning.
You know, the only thing I would say that could possibly
make sense is the fact that this is something that you think is
good for this country. You are an ideologue that thinks that
letting anybody in under any circumstance is OK. This country
will pay a price as has never before.
If, as you say, the border is more secure, what is your
definition of insecure?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, you have so grotesquely
mischaracterized my position on the issues and my service to
this country for more than 20 years.
Mr. Norman. Your actions prove different, Mr. Secretary.
Your actions prove different.
Secretary Mayorkas. I have laid out----
Mr. Norman. The fact that what you are--hold on, this is my
time. The fact--and you are not going to answer questions, you
avoid them just like you always have. You are going to
accomplish your goal while you can as long as you are in
office. Come January this is going to change with you and many
others. It is my hope and my prayer.
Again, a short answer. What is insecure? If we are secure
in our border, what is insecure? Give me a short answer. I have
got a minute and 27 seconds.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, 250,000 qualified people
dedicate themselves to the mission of our homeland security and
that includes the brave and honorable members of the United
States Border Patrol.
Mr. Norman. I have been twice, Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Mayorkas. And office of field operations.
Mr. Norman. If you talk to the Border Patrol agents, they
feel like the handcuffs are on them. They are as demoralized as
any group. I, unlike the Vice President, unlike the President,
I have been there, as many of the Members on both sides of the
aisle. It is not a laughable matter, it is something that we
will pay a price for for a long time. I pity the law
enforcement that has to stop an illegal, not knowing where he
is from, what background it is. Like has been asked, you tell
that mother whose child or relative is murdered by the
criminals coming in this country. It would be interesting how
you would address them. By your actions under your watch.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, we will continue to
execute the plan that we have devised long ago----
Mr. Norman. It is no plan. It is no plan.
Secretary Mayorkas. We will continue to execute it and we
will intensify our efforts and address the challenges----
Mr. Norman. Let me read your statement, Mr. Secretary. When
the Title 42 public health order is lifted, we anticipate
migrant levels to increase. That is what you want, that is what
you are anticipating, and it is a sad day for this country.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair has talked to the Ranking Member, we have been
notified that we will have 12 votes and we are trying to make
sure at least all our Members an opportunity to ask some
questions. So we are going to pull it down from 5 minutes to 2
minutes.
Mr. Katko. Yes, sir. I think that gives everybody an
opportunity to at least say something.
Chairman Thompson. OK.
Mr. Katko. All right?
Chairman Thompson. Thank you.
Mr. Katko. OK.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green,
for 2 minutes.
Mr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank the
Secretary for appearing today.
I am also very much in sympathy with the families of these
Border Patrol agents who have lost their lives. Always saddened
to hear about lives lost. All life is precious.
But, Mr. Secretary, would you just take my 2 minutes, if
you would, or what is left, about 100--about a minute and 40
seconds, and explain why a wall will not solve the problem at
the border please.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, we have observed
individuals bypassing the wall, intruding beyond it, cutting
it, climbing over it, and the like. The border requires a
layered solution to its security. The greatest force multiplier
there is is technology. That is why we in our fiscal year 2023
budget are requesting that Congress allow us to invest further
in technology. We are also seeking to resource our Border
Patrol agents. We make for the first time since 2011 a request
to increase our Border Patrol forces by 300 personnel, not to
mention additional case processors and the like so we can get
our Border Patrol agents out into the field.
The fact of the matter is that the border is not the right
solution--I am sorry, the wall is not the right solution for
the border. We have to harness innovation and technology as the
most economic efficient means, as a force multiplier to our
extraordinary personnel.
Mr. Green. Well, I thank you for your service. I wish I had
more time to allow you to respond to some of the things that
have infringed upon your character.
But I yield back. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time from Texas has
expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Iowa, Ms. Miller-
Meeks, for 2 minutes.
Ms. Miller-Meeks. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Secretary Mayorkas, if a wall didn't work, Speaker Pelosi
probably disagrees with you because we had a wall up around the
Capitol for, I don't know, over 6 months or so.
But just this month, the Department of Health and Human
Services extended the COVID-19 public health emergency for
another 90 days. As you know, only 12 days earlier the CDC,
which is a component of HHS, decided to terminate its order
under Title 42. I am on multiple pieces of legislation that
would require the implement of Title 42 until the COVID-19
public health emergency is lifted.
As a physician, as a former public health official, I am
interested to know, Mr. Secretary, if Dr. Walensky or anyone
from the CDC contacted you to consult with you prior to their
April 1 announcement? This is a yes or no question please.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, the law requires
consultation and we did consult. What I did was provided data
with respect to the number of encounters, the number of
individuals----
Ms. Miller-Meeks. That is good hear that you are consulting
the experts and I am sure you would be very willing to transmit
to us all emails and phone conversation transcripts of those
conversations with the CDC.
You stated in your testimony that you expect migration to
increase. You have also stated that more than 18 percent of
migrant families and 20 percent of unaccompanied minors who
have recently crossed the U.S. border tested positive for
Covid. So I find it interesting that despite these statements
you still believe that lifting Title 42 is a good idea.
But moving onto another question regarding our immigration
system, I visited the border three times since being worn in, I
have heard of horror stories of children being smuggled, I have
heard of the rape trees, I have heard of the cartels using
children as pawns and people attempting to recycle children. In
fact, one of these incidences in the RGV sector years ago, a
woman and child were apprehended, the woman was then caught
using--spitting into the child's mouth to get DNA samples.
Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to enter the OIG
report and an article, an RGV incident into the record.
Secretary Mayorkas----
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Miller-Meeks. Thank you, sir.
Secretary Mayorkas, as you prepare to lift Title 42
restrictions, will you use DNA testing, as the last
administration did----
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has----
Ms. Miller-Meeks [continuing]. To ensure familial
relationships between----
Chairman Thompson [continuing]. Expired.
Ms. Miller-Meeks [continuing]. Adults and children at the
border?
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, may I have 15 seconds?
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman has 15 seconds.
Secretary Mayorkas. Because the bounds of my consultation
was that I provided data to the CDC with respect to the number
of encounters, the number of individuals that our Border Patrol
facility can house, how many people we were housing at a
particular time, and data with respect to what we were
experiencing at the border.
I am not a public health expert, nor did I provide public
health advice.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from
New York, Ms. Clarke, for 2 minutes.
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank you,
Secretary Mayorkas, for diligence and your commitment to our
Nation.
Congress recently passed the Cyber Incident Reporting of
Critical Infrastructure Act of 2021 as part of the fiscal year
2023 omnibus appropriations. The bill provides CISA with up to
3\1/2\ years to issue a final rule that would require certain
critical infrastructure owners and operators to report covered
cyber incidents to CISA.
First, how is DHS headquarters supporting CISA's efforts to
expeditiously implement the Cyber Incident Reporting
legislation? Relatedly, how is the Department working with the
regulators to harmonize requirements of incident reporting
frameworks? Has the inter-agency council required under the law
been formed yet?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman, thank you so much.
That mandatory reporting piece of legislation is so vital
to advancing our cybersecurity mission. We are engaging with
the public. We are of course going to undertake notice of
proposed rulemaking and we already have started that process.
We need to move very quickly. One of the critical issues with
respect to the effectiveness of that legislation is going to be
when does that 72-hour clock begin to run. Because we don't
want to experience false alarms nor unnecessarily burden
private enterprises that are actually in the midst of
addressing a cyber attack.
So our work has already begun to advance that critical
piece of legislation.
Ms. Clarke. I thank you for your response.
I have an additional question, but will get that to you in
writing.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Tennessee, Ms.
Harshbarger, for 2 minutes.
Ms. Harshbarger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
being here, Mr. Secretary.
I just returned from the Southern Border with several of my
colleagues and I am extremely concerned about the situation
down there. According to DHS personnel on the front lines,
where there have been physical barriers along the Southwest
Border, there has been a significant decrease in drug and human
smuggling as barriers serve as a deterrent and most importantly
provide Border Patrol more time to interdict the illegal
activity. Yet there is nothing in the budget request for border
barrier construction.
Can you tell me how much DHS has paid out or will pay out
due to the fees to cancel or stop the border wall contracts?
That is just a yes or no question, sir.
Secretary Mayorkas. I can with respect to the projects----
Ms. Harshbarger. OK. Can you----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. For which the Department
itself is responsible.
Ms. Harshbarger. Can you send that to me since time is
limited?
Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
Ms. Harshbarger. If you can do that, that would be great.
Do you know that there is, according to the CBP, there is
generally 290 miles of border that is uncontrolled at any one
point at any day--290 miles that is uncontrolled border?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman, we use technology as a
force multiplier to----
Ms. Harshbarger. Well, that is just a yes or no. Did you
know that?
Secretary Mayorkas. To gain visibility of parts of the
border that do not have----
Ms. Harshbarger. That border goes from Atlanta to Maine,
sir. That is almost the extent of the Appalachian Trail. At any
given point on any day there is 280 miles that is uncontrolled.
That is unacceptable.
I will tell you what is unacceptable and a public safety
threat, and that is the seizure of 340,000 pounds of drugs,
which 11,201 pounds are illicit illegal fentanyl, which 2
grains would kill any one person in here. That is a travesty,
sir. Given the 6 months' notice on the removal of Title 42,
don't you think that the drug cartels have just noticed to
increase and change the strategy of the way they send illicit
drugs across the border and human smuggling across the border?
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California for 2
minutes, Mr. Swalwell.
Mr. Swalwell. Thank you. Welcome, Mr. Secretary.
You know, border politics are pretty easy, right. You can
pander to grievances, scare Americans, demonize men and women
who left everything behind, carrying nothing, going to a place
they don't know. Make them the enemy, really fire Americans up.
It is easy to demonize and weaponize that as an issue. It is a
lot harder to solve it. It is a lot harder to fund opportunity
and security in those countries and have right oversight on
that. It is a lot harder to patrol the border and make sure
that, you know, criminals and terrorists aren't coming across,
it is a lot harder to have open arms and open hearts and open
minds in America when they get here. That is hard.
In 2014 68 Republicans and Democrats in the Senate voted
for a comprehensive immigration package that put 20,000 new
border agents at the border. All it needed was to be voted on
and passed in the House. Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the
Republican Party, and his team never allowed it to come up for
a vote. In effect, they defunded the police at the border.
What difference would it make if you had 20,000 more border
agents at the border today?
Secretary Mayorkas. That would advance our mission to
secure the border, Congressman.
Mr. Swalwell. No further questions.
Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia for 5
minutes, Mr. Clyde.
Mr. Clyde. Secretary Mayorkas, would you agree with the
statement that an agency's priorities are evidenced by where it
spends its money?
Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
Mr. Clyde. OK.
Secretary Mayorkas. I just----
Mr. Clyde. All right. Fine. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas. To some extent if we get the money as
we assess it to be----
Mr. Clyde. Where you spend your money--that means you
already have it.
OK. So looking at your budget here, looking at what I see,
I am noticing Customs and Border Protection is down $1.03
billion, a 7 percent decrease. I am also seeing that you are
having an Immigration and Customs Enforcement request down $400
million, a 5 percent decrease, cybersecurity down $83 million,
a 3 percent decrease. That is a total of $1.5 billion in
reduction. But where I see an increase is U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Service, a 55 percent increase over a quarter of a
billion dollars--an increase.
So it appears to me that we are seeing the effect of your
policies right here. It is called the border crisis--221,000
encounters in Marc of 2022, 28 percent increase from March
2021, a 542 percent increase from March 2020. This is the
highest number of monthly encounters in the last 2 decades.
Border security is National security correct, sir?
Secretary Mayorkas. It is a----
Mr. Clyde. It is? OK.
Secretary Mayorkas. It is a part of----
Mr. Clyde. Great. So this is your report card.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. National security.
Mr. Clyde. This is your job review. We are seeing the
effect of your priorities by a massive increase in the number
of illegal encounters at the border. These priorities are not
securing the border. These are focused on increasing illegal
alien processing. That is what I see from your budget. Then for
you tell our Ranking Member that you will not lose operational
control of the border, you have lost it already, sir. Five
hundred thousand gotaways last year alone and you say our
border is secure. I disagree with you, sir.
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The time is expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Nevada for 2
minutes, Ms. Titus.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to go back to the point that was made by Mr.
Langevin about election security. CISA provides a lot of
services free to State and local governments so that they can
use those services and resources to reduce both cyber and
physical risk to our election systems. The election system has
been designated as part of critical infrastructure, and yet if
you look at the budget, that infrastructure research lacks
funding from the science and technology directorate. I wonder
if there are any plans or any funding opportunities through the
Centers of Excellence program to allow the science and
technology division to work with universities or other
organizations so we can leverage what DHS does invest to try to
be sure our election systems are safe and free from attack.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman, we are integrating the
work of science and technology in everything that we do. One of
our organization priorities that I set out for the Department
is to actually harness technology and innovation. The Office of
Science and Technology has acceded the leadership table more
than they ever have. We are indeed using their extraordinary
expertise in varied mission sets, including in election
security.
Ms. Titus. Well, I hope you will reach out to some of our
universities. I know UNLV has a major program in cyber
technology, cyber protection, and I think they would be able to
contribute maybe to some of our--some of your efforts here or
some of the centers where they are focused on terrorism as well
as on elections.
Secretary Mayorkas. Most certainly, Congresswoman. We would
be pleased to follow up with you in terms of the specifics of
how we can most effectively do so.
Ms. Titus. That would be great.
Thank you. I will pass that word on to UNLV.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. The gentlelady's time is
expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida, Mr.
Gimenez for 2 minutes.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Since I only have 2 minutes, I guess I will run through
this.
I have been to the border three times and spoken to a
number of Customs and Border Protection agents, and every
single one of them has said in order for them to do their job,
they needed that wall to be constructed, they needed the
policies that were in place during the Trump administration to
be reinstated, and they needed more people. Every single one of
them, and I have been there three times.
So, Mr. Secretary, one of the first acts that President
Biden was he stopped construction of the wall. One of the also
first things that he did, he stopped the--he reversed all the
Trump-era policies. Isn't it a fact that by doing that, you
have actually--the Biden administration and your administration
of the Biden administration's policies have actually
contributed to this five-fold increase in the number of people
that we have encountered at the borders since March 2020?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman Gimenez, I would disagree
with that. If one takes a look at the landscape across the
region, one would understand----
Mr. Gimenez. Very good, you disagree. That is good, that is
fantastic.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. That the challenges----
Mr. Gimenez. Excuse me, excuse me, you disagree. That is
great. OK, I got it.
All right. I got two more questions.
How many people that are actually crossing the border are
asking for asylum from Mexico?
Secretary Mayorkas. I can provide that data. It will take
me a minute. But if you would like, Congressman, I can----
Mr. Gimenez. Well, I can tell you that in 2020 it was 5
percent. Since only 5 percent of the people are asking asking
for asylum from Mexico, wouldn't it be wiser just to return the
rest of them back to Mexico and go back to Mexico and not
relieve Mexico of its obligations to control its border and
disincentivize other people from coming across our border? I
think that that would be a logical step. Then so if that is the
case, why is the administration fighting the return back to
Mexico policy?
Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, Congressman, individuals who do not
qualify for relief under our laws are removed from the United
States. Individuals who make those claims, make those claims in
immigration enforcement proceedings. So individuals who do not
have a basis to stay are in fact removed.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from New Jersey, Mrs.
Watson Coleman, for 2 minutes.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
Secretary Mayorkas.
I wanted to talk a little about the TSA proposal on your
budget. I appreciate the increase that you are asking for. I
recognize that it is to make these--support these positions and
make them more viable in terms of the--how much they are paid,
et cetera. I also know that you are in favor of expanding
bargaining rights because they have had very limited access to
determine their plight and fighting for their rights.
So my question to you is exactly what are you all proposing
in terms of the expanding of the collective bargaining rights?
No. 2, since we wouldn't want another administration to be able
to turn over the good work that you are doing, would you be
willing to support Mr. Thompson's bill, H. 903, which would
codify some of these things that we find so necessary for the
TSOs?
Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you very much, Congresswoman.
I announced last year a commitment to the personnel of TSA
to provide them with pay commensurate with their Federal
colleagues throughout the Federal Government and also to
provide them with collective bargaining rights. In the
President's fiscal year 2023 budget we are seeking
appropriations to fund both of those efforts. In fact, $871
million to address the disparity in pay that is inequitable for
our wonderful front-line personnel and approximately $120
million to fund the collective bargaining rights so that they
have the rights that so many others have.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Secretary, I tried to acknowledge that
as a good thing. Could you just tell me yes or no if you would
be able to support legislation that would codify these good
things we want on behalf of those so deserving employees?
Secretary Mayorkas. We would and we have been working with
the Chairman's office in that regard.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Florida for 2
minutes, Mrs. Cammack.
Mrs. Cammack. All right. My time has been cut in half, so I
will just jump right in.
Mr. Chairman, first I ask unanimous consent that this
letter from the Republican Study Committee from 133 different
Members be entered into the record.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
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Mrs. Cammack. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas, we ask for a response to the questions
posed in this letter within the next 30 days.
Yes or no, will you commit to giving us an answer within 30
days?
Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I will.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas, according to a 2021 ICE report, there
was a significant drop in the number of arrests and
deportations of illegal immigrants by ICE officers compared to
previous years. You can see from this graphic behind me that--
Mr. Chairman--and I want to ask that we through unanimous
consent enter this into the record as well.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you.
So you can see clearly that there is a clear discrepancy.
Secretary Mayorkas, do you believe in following the laws of the
United States, yes or no?
Secretary Mayorkas. So I can't see the chart, but of course
I do, Congresswoman.
Mrs. Cammack. OK. So do you believe that if an individual
or a group of individuals breaks the laws of the United States
that they should be arrested, yes or no?
Secretary Mayorkas. I do.
Mrs. Cammack. So if an individual is found to have crossed
the border illegally, do you believe that the United States
should exercise its right to arrest and deport that individual,
yes or?
Secretary Mayorkas. I do, but not at the expense of an----
Mrs. Cammack. All right, I am going to reclaim my time----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Individual that----
Mrs. Cammack [continuing]. Because it has been cut in half.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Creates a greater public--
--
Mrs. Cammack. Also I would like to unanimous to enter into
the record a response, a formal response from the National
Border Patrol Council to your six-pillar plan in which I quote,
``you lie''. This is from your Border Patrol agents.
Secretary Mayorkas. So, Congresswoman----
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
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Secretary Mayorkas. Congresswoman, if I could----
Chairman Thompson. You were not here, but calling anybody a
liar is not----
Mr. Katko. Mr. Chairman----
Mrs. Cammack. It was a----
Mr. Katko. Mr. Chairman----
Mrs. Cammack. Mr. Chairman, this is a quote from the Border
Patrol Council.
Chairman Thompson. Oh, OK.
Secretary Mayorkas. So, Congresswoman, if I could address
your point of arrests.
Mrs. Cammack. Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
Mrs. Cammack. I apologize, I have to reclaim my time. I
know in the past, in the last three encounters you and I have
had, you have called me rude and disrespectful. I won't do the
same to you, but I do want to get to the bottom of something
very, very important.
FEMA has allocated and appropriated $130 million for the
Emergency Food and Shelter program. That money has been spent
on illegals in housing and transporting them around the United
States.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time----
Mrs. Cammack. I would request a full audit. Can you commit
to that, yes or no?
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman can answer. The Secretary
can answer the first.
Secretary Mayorkas. I am sorry?
Chairman Thompson. Answer the question.
Secretary Mayorkas. Ma'am, I am--would be--Congresswoman, I
would be very pleased to conduct an audit of the manner in
which those funds have been spent. They have been spent
according to the statutory authorities.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you. I have asked three times, so maybe
the fourth time is the charm.
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from
New York for 2 minutes, Ms. Rice.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Florida, Mrs.
Demings, for 2 minutes.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Secretary Mayorkas, thank you for showing up, because we
haven't always seen that.
Look, we all want to keep dangerous people out of the
United States, but the bottom line is our system is broken. It
has been broken for a while. I really do believe that we could
fix it if we could get politics out of our way. So I am going
to transition from the border with the limited time that I
have.
I associate myself with the remarks of Ms. Slotkin, because
she is absolutely correct and spot on there. But, Secretary,
could you tell us a little bit about the future of UASI program
as it pertains to law enforcement agencies specifically?
Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Congresswoman.
So the Urban Area Security Initiative grant program is a
fundamentally important way to re-source State and local law
enforcement to address the National security priority areas and
other homeland security threats that local communities face. So
it is a way of equipping and resourcing local law enforcement.
Mrs. Demings. We have seen reductions to that program
though, so I would like you to just talk about the future of
it. Where we are going, because they are, as you well know, the
first line of defense in all of our communities.
Secretary Mayorkas. They most certainly are. Thank you for
your service in that regard----
Mrs. Demings. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Congresswoman. So we have
been engaging extensively with local law enforcement to make
sure that the UASI grant program really meets the urgency of
the moment and serves local law enforcement most adeptly to
give them greater latitude with respect to how they spend their
funds, to increase the amount of funds dedicated to terrorism
prevention activities that are conducted by local law
enforcement. So we are looking at the UASI grant program
driving efficiency and effectiveness of it.
Mrs. Demings. You know, many cities fall off of the list
with absolutely no notice. Could you talk a little bit about
better planning to prevent that or at least telegraph to them
that they will no longer receive the funding?
Secretary Mayorkas. So it is a very challenging issue,
Congresswoman, because the money is year to year and it doesn't
really institutionalize stability of spending and
predictability of funding to really invest in law enforcement.
But we are working in those parameters, the parameters of the
program now----
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. To try to make the most of
that grant program.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman----
Mrs. Demings. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson [continuing]. From Kansas, Mr. LaTurner,
for 2 minutes.
Mr. LaTurner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.
Secretary Mayorkas, thank you for being here today. The
fiscal year 2023 DHS budget for ICE includes a significant
increase for the Alternatives to Detention program, which will
accommodate 170,000 participants. Do you really believe that
mass releasing those who illegally cross our borders does not
send the wrong message to human smugglers, cartels, and
migrants? Isn't this yet another message by this administration
that the United States will not enforce our immigration laws?
Secretary Mayorkas. No, that is not the message at all. The
individuals are in immigration enforcement proceedings and if
their claims for relief under the laws of the United States are
not successful, they are subject to removal. The appearance
rate of individuals on our Alternatives to Detention program
have in fact increased.
I should, if I may, respond to the Congresswoman's point,
because individuals who have entered in between the ports of
entry, who make a claim for relief under our laws, under the
asylum laws that Congress has passed, have a right to actually
vindicate those claims in an immigration court. While the
number of arrests might have diminished, the number of serious
felons that have been arrested have increased. We have
exercised our prosecutorial discretion to focus on the greatest
public safety threats, realizing that we do not have the
resources, nor should we seek to remove 12 million undocumented
individuals in the United States, many of whom have been
contributing members of our country.
Mr. LaTurner. Secretary, the message that this
administration has sent time and again is that our borders are
wide open. The Border Patrol needs support from you that they
are not getting right now. This program, without question, is
another message that the borders are wide open, come on in, and
this is after the issues with Title 42.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, I respectfully disagree
with you. Our message has been clear that the border is in fact
not open. Those who enter illegally who do not have a valid
claim to remain in the United States are removed.
Mr. LaTurner. Mr. Secretary, as you know----
Secretary Mayorkas. Are removed.
Mr. LaTurner. As you know, you set a record last year and
you are going to do it again this year, and that is because of
your failed leadership----
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time----
Mr. LaTurner [continuing]. Leadership on this issue.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has----
Mr. LaTurner. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from
California for 2 minutes.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you.
Mr. Secretary, can you help clarify where did our drugs
come in from?
Secretary Mayorkas. The drugs are coming in from different
countries of origin. They are coming in through the Southern
Border or the people try to bring them in through the Southern
Border and the majority are sought to be transported illegally
through the ports of entry.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you.
Secretary Mayorkas. Which is why we have used non-intrusive
technology, forward operating laboratories, to increase our
success in interdicting illegal substances and the data
reflects our success with an increase in those interdictions.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Fentanyl seizures increased to the numbers we are seeing
now under the Trump administration. So for those of us who want
to talk straight to the American people, no mention of that.
But the numbers were in fact the highest on month per month
under the Trump administration in October 2020.
Mr. Secretary, we have heard allegations of people being
liars and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, Members can also
say things that are inaccurate and lies as well. So let us try
to clean some of them up right now.
Is the border open? Is the border wide open?
Secretary Mayorkas. The border is not open.
Ms. Barragan. Will the border be open and wide open when
Title 42 is lifted?
Secretary Mayorkas. It will not be. We are planning, as I
articulated publicly yesterday, since September 2021, to
prepared for the eventuality that Title 42 would no longer be
in place under the CDC's authority.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you.
There has been a lot of talk about what failure at the
border looks like. Let me tell you what I think failure at the
border looks like. Failure at the border looks like when kids
were dying under the prior administration, failure looks like
when kids and women and children are being raped because of
this inhumane process of policy, of Remain in Mexico, that you
all think is perfectly fine, that the other side of the aisle
thinks is perfectly fine. OK. So we want to--Mr. Chairman,
they--the--my colleagues said Remain in Mexico, no problem with
the policy----
Mr. Katko. Chairman, I am going to object because she is
directing her discussion directly to other Members. I think
that is inappropriate.
Ms. Barragan. Just because I am looking at you. You all
said it. Just because I am looking at you, doesn't mean it is
inappropriate.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Ms. Barragan. I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Michigan, Mr. Meijer, for 2 minutes.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, in February of this year I introduced a
resolution of inquiry with the support of 39 of my Republican
colleagues requesting all documentation in DHS's possession
regarding border policies be transmitted to Congress. I did
this because in the midst of this crisis we have not seen
transparency with the American people or Congress about the
situation at the border, about the policies, about how things
have changed. My colleague, Mrs. Cammack, referenced some of
the behind closed door meetings that--you know, the contents of
which have come out--in which we are hearing a very different
message. I think it is vital, and I am sure you would agree as
well, that we get on the same page and have a sense of that
transparency because with respect to some of the others who
have offered comments, there is no doubt that we are facing an
unprecedented crisis on our Southwest Border. The number of
encounters alone is staggering and we need DHS to help uphold
our Nation's laws, we need DHS to support our front-line law
enforcement personnel.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit the Resolution in
question for the record and I do hope my Majority colleagues
will allow us to mark up this vital tool and give the American
citizens a complete understanding of just how this
administration has handled the crisis at the border. But, Mr.--
--
Chairman Thompson. Are you submitting something for----
Mr. Meijer. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
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Mr. Meijer. Secretary Mayorkas, on March 31, 2022 DHS
announced with the Department of Labor the administration plans
to make an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary non agricultural
worker visas available for the second half of fiscal year 2022.
We are almost in May, already in the busy season when many of
the American employers and businesses rely on these temporary
workers. I know this is something we have discussed several
times, and I believe I have asked you about every single time
you have come before this committee hearing. So why is this
process taking so long? When can the businesses that depend on
this program expect for these visas to finally be available?
Secretary Mayorkas. So, Congressman, appreciate your
support of the H-2B visa program. We are aiming to promulgate
the regulation that will allow those supplemental visas to be
issued within the next 2 weeks.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
New Jersey for 2 minutes, Mr. Gottheimer.
Mr. Gottheimer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, thank you for being with us today.
I recently introduced the Bipartisan Bicameral Invest to
Protect Act to invest in local law enforcement departments and
ensure the police officers in smaller communities across the
country have the resources and training they need to keep
themselves and our communities safe.
I am aware that may ICE homeland security investigations
task forces operate in and around New Jersey and collaborate
with and rely on local police departments to support their
investigations.
How important is it that we continue to focus on investing
in law enforcement at the local level, like with my new
legislation will do? Do you believe that they have everything
they need right now to protect our communities, especially as
local law enforcement officers work with your Department to
protect our homeland from terrorists?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, it is vitally important
that local law enforcement be fully resourced and equipped to
protect their respective communities. We have been employing
the task force model very successfully. Homeland Security
Investigations is one of the agencies that has been doing so.
The United States Secret Service works very closely with local
law enforcement as well and those resources are extraordinarily
effective and those tools that we employ are extraordinarily
effective in keeping the communities safe.
Mr. Gottheimer. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
One other question, the Port of New Jersey and New York is
an important economic hub for New Jersey and the entire Eastern
Seaboard. I am hearing from many of my businesses who operate
not just in the port off of New York and New Jersey, but also
in some by Houston and some of the other ports, and there are
delays caused by U.S. Customs and Border Protections inspection
process. There is just not enough agents, especially to handle
some of the larger ships that come in.
Did you know anything about this? Is that something you can
look into to make sure we have more flow of commerce, which
obviously affects the supply chain and costs, to address any
unnecessary delays that are going on right now?
Secretary Mayorkas. So one of our primary obligations of
course in the Department of Homeland Security is to make sure
that illegal contraband doesn't enter our country. That is true
through the seaports and that is why U.S. Customs and Border
Protections Office of Field Operations inspects cargo before it
is allowed to enter the United States. I am not aware of the--
--
Mr. Gottheimer. So there are no shortages right--no----
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time is expired.
Mr. Gottheimer. OK.
Chairman Thompson. We got three more people that I am
trying to----
Mr. Gottheimer. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Texas, Mr. Pfluger, for 2 minutes.
Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Secretary, this is one of the most shameful hearings I
have ever seen. The American public is not fooled by the
comments that the border is secure. It is not. The 9/11
Commission said that the system was literally blinking red in
the months that led up to
9/11. I am worried about a terrorist attack, and yet Press
Secretary Psaki has said that it is no big deal that we had 23
encounters last year and 27 encounters with people who have
popped positive on the terror database. Do you agree with the
press secretary? It is not a big deal?
Secretary Mayorkas. The press secretary didn't say it is
not a big deal and of course----
Mr. Pfluger. She said that it is not--it is only a couple
of dozen people, not that big of a deal.
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, it is our fundamental
responsibility to protect and safeguard----
Mr. Pfluger. Do you agree with the press secretary----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. The American people.
Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Secretary, do you agree with the press
secretary saying that it is not that big of a deal, that it is
very common, and it is a few dozen at most?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, we take our obligation to
secure the homeland quite seriously and we--it is our job to
interdict individuals, whether they appear on the TSDB or not--
--
Mr. Pfluger. From 2017 to----
Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. On the terrorist screening
database.
Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. 2020, the average number of
encounters was about 550,000 people, yet this year we already
have 300,000 known gotaways. That is going to double before the
end of the year. That is 6 months. You have literally, with the
number of gotaways, matched 2017 to 2021.
Mr. Secretary, is the Department planning on using
Goodfellow Air Force Base to house 500 or more illegal
immigrants, illegal aliens?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, I will have to get back to
you on----
Mr. Pfluger. You are the Secretary of DHS, this is your
responsibility. You have just told us that you are in control,
that you have operational control of the border. Are you
planning to use Goodfellow Air Force Base to house illegal
immigrants?
Secretary Mayorkas. Congressman, I will ask my colleagues
with respect to the status of those particular plans and
respond to your question as soon as possible.
Mr. Pfluger. The administration has literally abdicated
their responsibility to keep Texas and the United States safe.
I am begging you to secure the border now.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York, Mr.
Torres, for 2 minutes.
Mr. Torres. Mr. Secretary, the New York State health care
system was hit the earliest and hardest by COVID-19, which left
a death toll of more than 67,000 New Yorkers and a cost of
untold billions. COVID-19 has put unprecedented strain on the
health care system. The delay in FEMA's COVID-19 reimbursement
has only served to compound the crisis. FEMA owes New York
State health care providers billions of dollars in
reimbursements. Montefiore, which is the largest health care
provider in the Bronx is waiting for $31 million to be
obligated by FEMA.
On February 17, 2022 the entire Congressional delegation of
New York, both Democrats and Republicans, sent a bipartisan
letter calling for a rapid distribution of FEMA Public
Assistance Program funds. The letter, which was signed by
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, was sent in mid-February. In the
2 months since then there has been no response from FEMA.
Mr. Secretary, can you see to it that FEMA responds to our
request as soon as possible?
Secretary Mayorkas. I most certainly will, Congressman. I
should say that FEMA has done an extraordinary job in setting
up vaccination centers throughout the country, including in
your jurisdiction. I visited one of them at Medgar Evers
College because such a tremendous focus at reaching otherwise
disenfranchised communities and making vaccines accessible.
The point of reimbursement is a very important one and I
will follow up on it.
Mr. Torres. I just want to quickly--just quickly on Puerto
Rico. Puerto Rico saw a massive power outage that led to the
loss of electricity for hundreds of thousands. If the kind of
repeat power failures in Puerto Rico were happening anywhere
else in the United States, it would never be tolerated. In my
estimation, the chronic breakdown of the electric grid in
Puerto Rico points to a broader breakdown of American
democracy. Puerto Rico has long been relegated to the status of
a colony and Puerto Ricans on the islands have long been
relegated to the status of second-class citizens who have been
deprived of something as basic as reliable electricity.
My question to you is what role can DHS play in expediting
the rebuilding of Puerto Rico's electric grid, which has become
a National emergency?
Secretary Mayorkas. So, Mr. Pierluisi of Puerto Rico and I
have discussed one issue specifically, Congressman, and that is
Puerto Rico's need for additional labor. So we are taking a
look at the
H-2B program and how that infusion of labor resources could
actually assist Puerto Rico in rebuilding. We are also and
looking and exploring other avenues to address the labor issue
specifically.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York, Mr.
Garbarino, for 2 minutes.
Mr. Garbarino. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for being here today. I
wish I had more than 2 minutes because first I wanted to--I had
a lot of cyber questions that I wanted to ask. But how--with
everything going on right now internationally, all the cyber
attacks we are facing, how are we requesting--how is the
administration requesting less money for this budget than what
was received by CISA last year? I think it is $100 million
less.
Secretary Mayorkas. So, Congressman, we are asking for more
funds than we asked in our President's fiscal year 2022 budget
and this is an issue of timing, as I explained earlier, with
respect to the preparation of our budget for fiscal year 2023
vis-a-vis the publication of the 2022 enacted budget.
Mr. Garbarino. What is DHS's goal for CISA? Five billion
dollars--what would the goal over the next 5 years--I would
like you to----
Secretary Mayorkas. We are eager--and the Ranking Member
Katko and I have spoken about resourcing of CISA. We are eager
to resource CISA as quickly as we can absorb the funds that we
receive and use them efficiently.
Mr. Garbarino. OK. I just have to second what my colleague,
Mr. Katko said, with what is happening internationally, what
other countries are spending on their cyber. We need to make
sure we double down and CISA gets every resource that it
absolutely needs to protect us.
But I want to switch over. I know you are--a lot of people
have been talking about the border, so I do want to ask a
question. The budget here, DHS's budget decreases ICE's adult
average daily population beds by--the detention beds by 5,000.
It was 30,000, it is dropping down to 25,000. We are currently
seeing the highest--record numbers. You know, I have--my
district has been hit by--have been victims of violence from
MS-13 gang members. Why are we decreasing the amount of
facility beds?
Secretary Mayorkas. So, Congressman, historically the
detention beds have not been used effectively. We are
emphasizing use of Alternatives to Detention. We are seeing
high appearance rate in court proceedings through ATD. We use
the acronym to describe it.
Mr. Garbarino. Are they--oh, am I out of time?
Chairman Thompson. I am going to give you----
Mr. Garbarino. The----
Chairman Thompson. Since you're the last person.
Mr. Garbarino. Thank you. I just want----
Secretary Mayorkas. Detention----
Mr. Garbarino. Are these beds not being used now?
Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, no, they are being used. Their use
is limited by a number of factors. No. 1, the CDC guidelines
and the imposition of social distancing. No. 2, quite frankly,
labor shortages and finding people to work in those detention
facilities. But really what we are using detention for is the
individuals who need to be detained because of public safety
issues, border security, and National security issues.
Then there are the other source and focus of detention in
addition to public safety, is making sure that people appear
for their immigration proceedings. We have separate and
independent efforts under way to achieve that.
Mr. Garbarino. With all the people coming, I just think we
should----
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Garbarino. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Mr. Secretary, I thank you for your
testimony and the Members for all their questions.
The Members of the committee may have additional questions
and we ask that you respond expeditiously in writing to those
questions.
The Chair reminds Members that the committee record will
remain open for 10 business days.
Without objection, the committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:20 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X I
----------
Statement of Anthony M. Reardon, National President, National Treasury
Employees Union
April 27, 2022
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and distinguished Members
of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit this
statement for the record on the fiscal year 2023 budget request for the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)--specifically Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) and personnel at the
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Training Centers (FLETC). As national
president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), I have the
honor of leading a union that represents approximately 700 FLETC
employees and over 29,000 CBP OFO employees, including CBP officers,
agriculture specialists, trade enforcement personnel, and support staff
stationed at the 328 air, sea, and land ports of entry across the
United States (U.S.) and 16 Preclearance stations at airports in
Ireland, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.
CBP OFO employees are responsible for border security at U.S. ports
of entry, including anti-terrorism, immigration, anti-smuggling, trade
compliance, and agriculture protection. CBP's OFO pursues a dual
mission of safeguarding American ports by protecting the public from
dangerous people and materials, while enhancing the Nation's global and
economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel. CBP's
trade mission safeguards America's National security and leads to
economic benefits by protecting revenue and market share for domestic
industry, protecting jobs for American workers. CBP OFO employees at
the ports of entry are the second-largest source of revenue collection
for the U.S. Government, collecting over $40 billion annually.
CBP Staffing at the Ports of Entry.--For years, NTEU has advocated
for the hiring of thousands of new CBP officers and hundreds of new
agriculture specialists and non-uniformed trade operations personnel
that are needed based on the agency's own Workload Staffing Model
(WSM), Agriculture Resource Allocation Model (AgRAM) and bi-annual
Resource Optimization Model for Trade Revenue (Trade ROM).
Pursuant to these models, the final fiscal year 2020 funding
agreement provided $104 million to fund the hiring of 800 new OFO
positions, including 610 CBP officer and CBP agriculture specialist new
hires. Unfortunately, Congress did not continue to fund to the models
in fiscal year 2021 or fiscal year 2022. Even though House
Appropriators approved $171 million for 1,150 new CBP OFO positions
including $91 million for 850 CBP officers, $10 million for 100 support
personnel and $30 million for 200 agriculture specialists, neither the
final fiscal year 2021 nor fiscal year 2022 funding agreements include
any new funding to increase staffing for CBP OFO.
CBP's staffing models are dynamic and reflect the impact of the
pandemic on CBP OFO staffing needs. Despite the decrease in
international trade and travel in the past year due to the pandemic,
CBP's most recent staffing models show a staffing gap of over 900 CBP
officers, 214 agriculture specialists and 200 non-uniformed trade
specialists. However, there has been no additional funding provided for
needed CBP new hires at the ports of entry since fiscal year 2020.
Staffing shortages have been exacerbated by the lifting of the travel
ban in November 2020 ending more than 18 months of restrictions,
allowing in non-essential tourists who had proof of their coronavirus
vaccination and proper documentation to legally enter the United
States, and will be further exacerbated by the upcoming ending of the
Title 42 public health order in May 2022.
While the final fiscal year 2022 funding agreement does not include
funding to increase CBP staffing at the ports of entry, NTEU is pleased
Congress included $650 million to compensate for pandemic-related
reduction in customs and immigration user fee revenue that funds up to
8,000 CBP officer positions. The bill also included $250 million to
offset the loss of Agriculture Quality Inspection user fees that fund
over 2,400 agriculture specialists positions. This $900 million in new
fiscal year 2022 funding was necessary to maintain the current level of
CBP OFO staffing and avoid furloughs. The final agreement also added
$23 million for on-site mental health clinicians and resiliency
efforts. In addition to supporting suicide prevention programs, the $23
million increase will free up funding for other important resiliency
programs, such as one that helps CBP employees with child care
expenses.
The President's fiscal year 2023 budget requests $15.3 billion for
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure U.S. borders and ports
of entry and effectively manage irregular migration along the Southwest
Border, including through $309 million in modern border security
technology. It also requests additional funding to combat forced labor,
including funding for 300 additional OFO positions including 50 CBPOs.
NTEU greatly appreciates the President for including in his budget
request a pay raise for Federal employees for 2023 as well as new CBP
funding to address the annualization of the 2023 pay raises, the
associated FERS contribution increase and funding for certain port
modernization projects.
However, the President's fiscal year 2023 budget request falls far
short in addressing the on-going CBP OFO staffing gap. To address that
need, NTEU will be requesting that House and Senate Appropriators
include funding for CBP OFO new hires up to levels required by the
CBP's dynamic workplace staffing models for CBP officers, agriculture
specialists, and trade specialists in the fiscal year 2023 DHS
appropriations bills. NTEU is asking appropriators to provide
appropriated funding for CBP ``Operations and Support'' in fiscal year
2023 to fund the hiring of at least 600 CBP officers, 200 CBP
agriculture specialists, 200 CBP agriculture technicians, 20
agriculture canine teams and at least 80 non-uniformed trade
enforcement specialists and associated operational support personnel.
Also, in March, a CBP officer authorization bill, S. 3850, the
Safeguarding American Ports Act, stand-alone legislation that
authorizes the hiring of 600 additional CBP officers annually until the
staffing gaps in CBP's WSM is met was introduced in the Senate. NTEU
strongly supports the introduction of an identical stand-alone CBP
officer staffing authorization bill in the House.
In addition to NTEU, a coalition of 23 port stakeholders, including
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Association of Port Authorities,
Airports Council International--North America, and the U.S. Travel
Association strongly support
S. 3850 in a letter dated March 22, 2022 (see NTEU Exhibit A). As the
letter states, funding an additional 600 CBP officers would not only
reduce wait times at ports of entry, but also provide new economic
opportunities across the United States. ``While the volume of commerce
and passengers crossing our borders is on the rise once again, CBP
staffing has not kept pace with demand'' the coalition wrote. ``Long
wait times at our ports-of-entry lead to travel delays and uncertainty,
which can increase supply chain costs and cause passengers to miss
their connections. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, border
delays result in losses to output, wages, jobs, and tax revenue due to
decreases in spending by companies, suppliers, and consumers.''
Temporary Duty Assignments.--Because of the on-going CBP officer
staffing shortage at the ports, CBP again recently found it necessary
to solicit 255 CBP officers for a minimum of 60 days temporary duty
assignment (TDY) to Southwest Border land ports of entry, which began
on April 20. According to CBP, the TDY is necessary to support the
increased workload and operational challenges expected when the Title
42 public health order is lifted in May. CBP does project that this
situation may require an additional solicitation or voluntarily
extending those on this TDY. These TDYs are being filled by CBP
officers currently assigned to air and sea port locations, further
exacerbating staffing issues at these ports.
To end the need for TDYs, it is up to Congress to address the on-
going critical port staffing deficit by authorizing and funding CBP OFO
new hires in fiscal year 2023 and subsequent years until the staffing
gap identified in the workload staffing models are met. Without
addressing the on-going CBP officer staffing shortages, allocating
adequate staffing at all ports will remain a challenge.
CBP Agriculture Specialist Staffing.--Even with the reduction of
trade and travel volume due to the pandemic over the past 2 years,
CBP's own data-driven and vetted Workload Staffing Model shows a
shortage of approximately 214 agriculture specialists Nation-wide. Last
year, Congress approved Pub. L. 116-122, the Protecting America's Food
and Agriculture Act of 2019. The new law authorizes CBP to hire 240 CBP
agriculture specialists, 200 CBP agriculture technicians and 20
agriculture canine teams per year until the staffing shortage that
threatens the U.S. agriculture sector is met. NTEU's fiscal year 2023
appropriations request will include a request for funding to hire the
first wave of CBP Agriculture Quarantine Inspection (AQI) personnel
authorized by this newly-enacted statute.
CBP Trade Operations Staffing.--In addition to safeguarding our
Nation's borders and ports, CBP is tasked with regulating and
facilitating international trade. CBP employees at the ports of entry
are critical for protecting our Nation's economic growth and security
and are the second-largest source of revenue collection for the U.S.
Government--$74 billion in 2020. For every dollar invested in CBP trade
personnel, $87 is returned to the U.S. economy, either through lowering
the costs of trade, ensuring a level playing field for domestic
industry or protecting innovative intellectual property. However, since
CBP was established in March 2003, however, there has been no increase
in non-uniformed CBP trade enforcement and compliance personnel.
Additionally, CBP trade operations staffing has fallen below the
statutory floor set forth in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and
stipulated in the fiscal year 2021 CBP Trade ROM.
We commend the President for requesting funds for 163 Office of
Trade new hires in his fiscal year 2023 budget request to combat forced
labor. To maintain CBP's trade enforcement mission, NTEU supports
Congress providing this number of CBP non-uniformed trade new hires in
its fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill.
User Fee Shortfalls.--One of the most critical pandemic-related
issues facing CBP OFO is the reduction of user fee funding that is
threatening the Nation's economic recovery as international trade and
travel struggles to return to normal. This funding shortfall is a
result of the reduction in customs and immigration user fees collected
due to the drastic drop in international commercial travel, and to a
lesser extent, trade volume since March 2020.
As you know, CBP collects fees under the Consolidated Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) and immigration inspection
user fees to recover certain costs incurred for processing air and sea
passengers and various private and commercial land, sea, air, and rail
carriers and shipments. The source of these user fees are commercial
vessels, commercial vehicles, rail cars, private aircraft, private
vessels, air passengers, sea passengers, cruise vessel passengers,
dutiable mail, customs brokers, and barge/bulk carriers. International
air travel contributes 94 percent of COBRA and immigration user fees.
COBRA and immigration user fees together fund 40 percent of CBP's OFO
budget, including 8,000 CBPO positions. That is roughly one-third of
the entire CBP workforce at the ports of entry. Agriculture Quality
Inspection (AQI) user fees currently fund up to 2,400 agriculture
specialists, currently 100 percent of the CBP agriculture specialists
workforce.
Due to the pandemic's continued disruption of fee-generating
international travel and commerce, user fee collections have fallen
precipitously which has necessitated the need for emergency funding to
prevent furloughing CBP OFO personnel at a time when international
trade and travel volume is beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels.
To address the user fee shortfall, we were pleased that Congress
provided $840 million in fiscal year 2021 and $650 million in fiscal
year 2022 appropriations to maintain current staffing of CBP officers.
Congress also provided up to $635 million in fiscal year 2022 and $250
million in USDA funding to cover the user funding shortfall that funds
CBP agriculture specialists staffing.
U.S. businesses rely on the safe and efficient movement of goods
and people across our borders and are all working to safely resume
international travel and travel. Keeping current CBP officer staffing
levels will be necessary to successfully transition into a more robust,
safe, and delay-free travel environment and improve cargo movement.
Losing the hiring and staffing advances that CBP finally started to
gain after years of effort and much-appreciated funding support by
Congress will negatively impact cross-border travel, passenger
processing and trade facilitation in future years as the economy
returns to normal.
The critical issues that American businesses are facing to recover
from this pandemic require quick, decisive action so that our
Government can best facilitate the flow of travel and trade as the
economy recovers. Without Congress again providing supplemental funding
or reprogramming existing funds to support these CBP officers between
now and the end of fiscal year 2022, we are gravely concerned that this
loss of user fee funding will result in furloughs at a time when this
workforce is most needed to facilitate the flow of legitimate travel
and trade as the economy recovers.
NTEU requests that the committee continue to seek funding as needed
to replace user fee shortfalls for CBP OFO salaries and expenses and to
mitigate dependence on user fees to fund salaries and expenses of CBP
OFO personnel through the end of fiscal year 2023. This CBP OFO funding
request will help to ensure that current CBP officer staffing levels
are maintained as trade and traffic volumes increase. CBP employees at
the ports of entry already face many challenges in the course of their
work and concerns about their health and safety or of being furloughed
as the country reopens for business should not be among them.
NTEU also strongly opposes any diversion of COBRA user fees. Any
increases to the user fee account should be properly used for much-
needed CBP staffing and not diverted to unrelated projects. In 2015,
the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act indexed COBRA
user fees to inflation. However, the Act diverted this increase in the
user fee from CBP to pay for unrelated infrastructure projects.
Indexing the COBRA user fee to inflation is projected to raise $1.4
billion over 10 years--a potential $140 million per year funding stream
to help pay for the hiring of additional CBP officers to perform CBP's
border security, law enforcement, and trade and travel facilitation
missions. Diverting these funds has resulted in CBP not receiving this
user fee funding to hire over 900 new CBP officers per year since the
FAST Act went into effect. These new hires would have significantly
alleviated the current CBP officer staffing shortage.
CBP Officer Overtime.--Prior to the pandemic, on-going staffing
shortages resulted in CBP officers being required to work excessive
overtime hours to maintain basic port staffing. CBP officer overtime
pay is entirely funded through user fees and is statutorily capped at
$45,000 per year. All CBP officers are aware that overtime assignments
are an aspect of their jobs. However, extended periods of overtime
hours can severely disrupt an officer's family life, morale, and
ultimately their job performance protecting our Nation. Prior to the
pandemic, CBP officers were required to regularly work overtime hours
and many individual officers have hit the overtime cap very early in
the fiscal year. This leaves no overtime funding available for peak
season travel, resulting in critical staffing shortages in the third
and fourth quarter that coincides with holiday travel at the ports.
To address this issue prior to the pandemic, CBP granted overtime
cap exemptions to over one-half of the workforce to allow managers to
assign overtime to officers that have already reached the statutory
overtime cap, but cap waivers only force CBP officers already working
long daily shifts to continue working these shifts for more days. As
the trade and travel volume recovers, CBP officers may once again be
required to come in hours before their regular shifts, to stay an
indeterminate number of hours after their shifts (on the same day) and
be compelled to come in for more overtime hours on their regular days
off. Involuntary overtime resulting in 12- to 16-hour shifts, day after
day, for months on end significantly disrupts CBP officers' family life
and erodes morale. As NTEU has repeatedly stated, extensive overtime is
not a long-term solution for staffing shortages at the ports and we
need Congress' support to end this practice by funding OFO new hires as
international trade and travel volume continues to rally.
Reimbursable Service Program.--In order to find alternative sources
of funding to address serious staffing shortages, CBP received
authorization for and has entered into Reimbursable Service Agreements
(RSAs) with the private sector, as well as with State and local
governmental entities. These stakeholders, who are already paying COBRA
and immigration user fees for CBP OFO employee positions and overtime,
reimburse CBP for additional inspection services, including overtime
pay and the hiring of new CBP officer and agriculture specialist
personnel that in the past have been paid for entirely by user fees or
appropriated funding. Since the program began in 2013 with 5 pilot
agreements, CBP has entered into agreements with over 236 stakeholders
providing more than 793,000 additional processing hours for incoming
commercial and cargo traffic (see GAO-20-255R and GAO-21-234R).
NTEU believes that the RSA program is a Band-Aid approach and
cannot replace the need for Congress to either appropriate new funding
or authorize an increase in customs and immigration user fees to
adequately address CBP staffing needs at the ports. RSAs simply cannot
replace the need for an increase in CBP appropriated or user fee
funding--and they make CBP a ``pay to play'' agency. NTEU also remains
concerned with CBP's new Pre-clearance expansion program that also
relies heavily on ``pay to play.'' Further, NTEU believes that the use
of RSAs to fund CBP staffing shortages raises significant equity issues
between larger and/or wealthier ports and smaller ports.
Illegal Narcotics Interdiction.--CBP OFO is the premier DHS
component tasked with stemming the Nation's opioid epidemic--a crisis
that continues to get worse. On a typical day, the agency makes over
900 arrests and seizes more than 9,000 pounds of illegal drugs.
According to a May 2018 report released by the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Minority titled Combatting
the Opioid Epidemic: Intercepting Illicit Opioids at Ports of Entry,
``between 2013 and 2017, approximately 25,405 pounds, or 88 percent of
all opioids seized by CBP, were seized at ports of entry.'' The amount
of fentanyl seized at the ports of entry increased by 159 percent from
459 pounds in 2016 to 1,189 pounds in 2017, increased by 54 percent
from 2,579 pounds in fiscal year 2019 to 3,967 pounds in fiscal year
2020, and increased 156 percent from 3,982 pounds in fiscal year 2020
to 10,204 pounds in fiscal year 2021. To continue this level of opioid
seizures, NTEU supports funding for additional CBP canine teams on the
front line, as well as CBP officer new hires in the fiscal year 2023
appropriations bill.
On-going Morale Issues.--Adequate staffing at CBP ports of entry is
critical to our Nation's economic vitality. In order to attract
talented applicants, however, Federal agencies must also recognize the
importance of employee engagement and fair treatment in their
workplace. Unfortunately, low morale has been a consistent challenge at
CBP that is reflected in CBP's ranking in the Partnership for Public
Service (PPS) Best Places to Work in the Federal Government. In 2020,
PPS ranked CBP as 328th out of 411 component agencies surveyed.
The Best Places to Work results raise serious questions about the
CBP's ability to recruit and retain the top-notch personnel necessary
to accomplish the critical missions that keep our country safe. If the
agency's goal is to build a workforce that feels both valued and
respected, these results show that the agency needs to make major
changes in its treatment of employees.
Of particular concern to NTEU is the increase in suicides as the
reported cause of death of Federal employees. Last year, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released data that shows that Federal
employee suicides were at their highest level in at least 15 years,
with suicides accounting for 28 percent of the 124 Federal employee
job-related deaths in 2018. Since 2011, the number of self-inflicted
intentional fatalities among Federal workers has more than doubled to
35, although the Federal workforce has remained approximately the same
size.
Most suicides continue to involve Federal employees in work related
to law enforcement, such as CBP. In 2016, 15 of the 16 reported
suicides were by Federal workers employed at a National security-
related agency. At CBP, 134 employees died by suicide between 2007 and
2020, according to the agency. In 2021, there were 11 suicide deaths
and 6 suicide deaths since the start of 2022. NTEU applauds CBP for
seeking additional funding for their Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
In response to many conversations and concerns regarding the adequacy
of CBP's programs to assist employees who are experiencing mental
health issues. At NTEU's insistence, CBP also agreed to bargain over
the establishment of a union/management Suicide Prevention and
Resiliency workgroup. The purpose of the workgroup is to collaborate on
new and innovative ways to promote, improve current resiliency, and
suicide prevention programs within CBP.
NTEU also applauds Congress for including in fiscal year 2022
budget an increase of $23 million to fund on-site clinicians to support
CBP employee resiliency and suicide prevention programs and urges
Congress to provide at least the same level of funding for fiscal year
2023.
NTEU also strongly supports H.R. 490, the DHS Morale, Recognition,
Learning and Engagement Act or the DHS MORALE Act. The MORALE Act was
approved by the House on April 20, 2021 and is awaiting action by the
Senate. The bill directs the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) to
analyze Government-wide Federal workforce satisfaction surveys to
inform efforts to improve morale, maintain a catalogue of available
employee development opportunities, and authorize the designation of a
Chief Learning and Engagement Officer to assist the CHCO on employee
development.
H.R. 490 also authorizes the establishment of an Employee
Engagement Steering Committee comprised of representatives from across
the Department, as well as individuals from employee labor
organizations that represent DHS employees. Last, the bill authorizes
the Secretary to establish an annual employee awards program to
recognize non-supervisory DHS employees who have made a significant
contribution to the Department. In our collective bargaining agreement
with CBP, NTEU negotiated an extremely popular employee joint awards
program. The agency retains the discretion to determine how much of its
budget will be allocated for awards, but 85 percent of the total awards
budgeted are recommended by a joint union/management awards committee
to be distributed proportionately among bargaining unit employees. NTEU
recommends that DHS look at the negotiated CBP joint awards program as
a model for an agency-wide program.
While a major factor contributing to low morale at CBP is
insufficient staffing and resources at the ports of entry, the
provisions in the DHS MORALE Act will help to address non-staffing
issues that affect employee morale by improving front-line employee
engagement and establishing a statutory annual employee award program.
NTEU commends the House for approving the DHS MORALE Act and will
continue to urge the Senate to expeditiously do the same.
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Training Centers (FLETC).--NTEU
also represents the instructors and support staff at FLETC that provide
career-long training to Federal, State, local, Tribal, and
international law enforcement agency professionals. The program
provides training in areas common to all law enforcement officers, such
as firearms, driving, tactics, investigations, and legal training.
Under a collaborative training model, Federal partner organizations
(POs) also deliver training unique to their missions as part of this
program. FLETC provides training to more than 100 POs, 12 of which
within DHS, and an annual average throughput exceeding 18,000 basic
students.
The President's fiscal year 2023 budget provides 50 percent of the
instructor requirements for basic and advanced training, as well as the
tuition for basic training. FLETC receives reimbursable resources in to
fund the remaining 50 percent of instructor requirements and other
training costs incurred by FLETC. The fiscal year 2023 request seeks
funding for 7 additional new hires, including 4 new training support
staff. According to our conversations with our FLETC members, this
funding does not meet current needs. For example, in the Driver and
Management Division alone, FLETC is 15 instructors short of the 45
instructors needed.
Appropriated funding levels for FLETC has not changed in years and
it shows. FLETC's lack of funding is negatively impacting the mission
and the quality of training for Federal law enforcement officers. Over
the years, the student-to-teacher ratio has diminished and students are
being shortchanged. FLETC has too few instructors to teach students and
instructors' skills are not being regularly updated by FLETC.
Our members are concerned that instructors staffing levels are not
a priority. NTEU has been told by FLETC that the mission is first, the
POs are second, the students third, and last the instructors. If the
permanent instructor cadre is not being fully staffed, the mission
suffers. The instructors are the product that FLETC delivers. NTEU is
seeking to work collaboratively with FLETC management and with Congress
to provide additional funding to address the instructor staffing
shortage issue.
Pandemic Response.--As with every workplace, the COVID-19 pandemic
remains one of the most significant on-going challenges facing CBP
employees. The pursuit of the safest possible working environment for
CBP employees at all ports of entry, trade, and operations support and
FLETC training facilities have been NTEU's paramount concern during the
COVID-19 crisis. Throughout the pandemic, many international air, sea,
and land ports of entry remained open and staffed by CBP OFO employees
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. FLETC facilities
have experienced several lockdowns and closures due to COVID-19
outbreaks.
Despite best efforts to protect essential front-line CBP employees,
over 23,000 CBP employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and
tragically 34 CBP OFO employees have died as a result of the virus. As
leaders, it is important that we continue to do everything we can to
mitigate the risks CBP and FLETC employees face, and we need to
encourage them to do so on an individual basis, for their own safety as
well as the safety of their coworkers and families.
NTEU strongly supports hazard pay for front-line Federal employees.
In addition to pushing for hazard pay in earlier COVID relief bills,
NTEU supports the Hazardous Duty Pay for Frontline Federal Workers Act
(H.R. 2744), introduced by Representative Donald Payne (D-NJ), which
would temporarily provide hazard pay for employees who are exposed to
an individual who has (or has been exposed to) COVID-19. We have also
been working with Members of Congress to craft legislation to provide
hazard pay specifically for DHS employees. It is hoped that this bill,
which should be retroactive, will be introduced shortly.
Along with ensuring protection from the pandemic, the most
important resource that Congress needs to provide for the successful
reopening of the economic driver that is our international ports of
entry is more funding to address on-going CBP OFO port staffing
shortages.
NTEU Recommendations.--To address CBP's workforce challenges and to
improve security, trade, and travel at our Nation's ports of entry,
Congress must first address CBP OFO on-going staffing shortages. It is
clearly in the Nation's economic and security interest for Congress to
authorize and fund an increase in the number of CBP officers, CBP
agriculture specialists, and other CBP employees at the air, sea, and
land ports of entry.
In order to achieve the long-term goal of securing the proper
staffing of CBP staffing and end disruptive TDYs and excessive
involuntary overtime shifts at all ports of entry, NTEU recommends that
Congress take the following actions:
Enact a stand-alone bill to authorize funding for CBP
officer new hires to the level identified in the workload
staffing model,
Support funding for 600 CBP officers new hires in fiscal
year 2023 DHS Appropriations,
Support fiscal year 2023 funding for new CBP agriculture
inspection personnel, as authorized by Pub. L. 116-122,
Support funding for needed trade operations specialists and
other OFO support staff,
Support at least $23 million for on-site mental health
clinicians and resiliency efforts,
Support the Hazardous Duty Pay for Frontline Federal Workers
Act (H.R. 2744), and any new legislation that provides hazard
pay for DHS employees exposed to the public at work during the
COVID-19 pandemic,
Support increased funding for FLETC instructor new hires;
and
Oppose any legislation to divert customs user fees to other
uses, projects, or programs that are collected to fund a
portion of salaries, benefits, and overtime for CBP officers.
The CBP and FLETC employees that NTEU represents work hard and care
deeply about their jobs and their country. These men and women are
deserving of more staffing and resources to perform their jobs better
and more efficiently. Authorizing funding for CBP OFO and FLETC
instructor new hires will start to relieve the stress of excessive
overtime and temporary reassignments that are a strain on these
employees and their families.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement for the
record.
NTEU Exhibit A
March 21, 2022.
Dear Senators Peters and Cornyn: As stakeholders interested in the
facilitation activities of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at air,
sea, and land ports-of-entry around the globe, we thank you for
introducing S. 3850, the Securing America's Ports of Entry Act, which
would increase the authorized number of CBP officers by 600 annually to
help the agency meet its current and future staffing needs. The bill
also would provide better information about CBP's infrastructure needs
at its ports-of-entry, as well as much needed transparency and
accountability regarding the agency's increasing reliance on
reimbursable services agreements and temporary duty assignments to
cover its system-wide staffing shortfalls.
We share your commitment to ensuring that America's borders remain
safe, secure, and efficient for all users, while enhancing our global
competitiveness through the facilitation of legitimate travel and
trade. CBP's most recent workload staffing model, which used data from
the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, still showed a shortage of nearly
1,000 CBP officers across the system. Since the model was most recently
run, the pandemic has subsided, and international trade and travel
volumes are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in many locations.
Current staffing levels already fail to address the growing demand of
travel and trade at our ports-of-entry today, and we anticipate the
workload staffing model will indicate drastically higher CBP staffing
shortages at the ports-of-entry in subsequent runs. Providing
additional CBP officers at this time of growing volumes of
international passengers and cargo in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic
will both reduce lengthy wait times and facilitate new economic
opportunities in communities throughout the United States.
Increasing CBP officer staffing is an economic driver for the U.S.
economy. According to the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), ``every day
1.1 million people and $5.9 billion in goods legally enter and exit
through the ports of entry.'' CBP estimates that the annual hiring of
an additional 600 CBP officers at the ports-of-entry could increase
yearly economic activity by over $1 billion and result in the addition
of over 17,000 new jobs.
While the volume of commerce and passengers crossing our borders is
on the rise once again, CBP staffing has not kept pace with demand.
Long wait times at our ports-of-entry lead to delays and uncertainty,
which can increase supply chain costs and cause travelers to miss their
connections. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, border
delays result in losses to output, wages, jobs, and tax revenue due to
decreases in spending by companies, suppliers, and consumers. The
travel industry estimates long CBP wait times discourage international
visitors, who spend an average of $4,200 per visit, from traveling to
the United States. JEC research also finds border delays cost the U.S.
economy upwards of $5 billion each year.
Thank you for your leadership on these important matters. Please
let us know if we can be of any assistance to your efforts.
Sincerely,
Airports Council International--North America
American Association of Port Authorities
National Treasury Employees Union
American Association of Airport Executives
Airforwarders Association
American Society of Travel Advisors
Borderplex Alliance
Border Trade Alliance
Cargo Airline Association
City of San Luis, AZ
Douglas International Port Authority
Douglas Regional Economic Development Corporation
Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
Global Business Travel Association
Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority
Greater Yuma Port Authority
Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association
National Association of Waterfront Employers
National Maritime Safety Association
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
San Diego--Tijuana Smart Border Coalition
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Travel Association
West Gulf Maritime Association.
A P P E N D I X I I
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Questions From Honorable Nanette Barragan for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1a. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) put forward a new
rule in June 2021 that prevents B1/B2 visa holders from donating plasma
and receiving payment. This rule is having a detrimental impact on
public health and exacerbating an existing shortage of plasma supply.
This decision impacts 10 percent of the overall plasma collection
capacity, which is already down 20 percent due to COVID impacts.
I have been advised that this new rule was implemented by CBP
without input or consultation from the FDA or the Dept. of Health and
Human Services and that it overturned 30+ years of precedent allowing
B1/B2 visa holders to donate plasma and receive payment as part of the
donation process--just as all Americans receive payment when they
donate plasma, whether at U.S. border centers or centers located
throughout the United States.
The new rule is also having an economic impact on towns located at
or near the border. The net result is a loss of $4-5 million dollars
per plasma collection center on an annual basis for the local community
near an impacted collection center (there are more than 50 plasma
collection centers along the U.S.-Mexico border).
Do you agree that this new rule is adversely impacting plasma
supply and potentially leading to a shortage of plasma-derived
therapies? Do you agree that this new rule is having a detrimental
economic impact in border communities? If the answer is no to both or
either question, has your agency talked to communities or businesses
impacted by this rule or data regarding the impacts of this rule?
Question 1b. Will you and your agency work with me and my office to
pause the use of this new rule so that a long-term solution can be
found where the public health is not impacted by a shortage of plasma
and a supply shortage of life-saving therapies derived from such
plasma?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Ritchie Torres for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1. The Transit Security Grant Program, or TSGP, hasn't
reached it previous topline funding level of nearly $350 million since
fiscal year 2009. Would you agree that the TSGP program should receive
more than its current funding level of $93 million in the fiscal year
2022 omnibus and in President Biden's budget which calls for $100
million?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. As I'm sure you are aware, there was a shooting on the
New York City Subway system in Brooklyn on April 12, which left 29
individuals injured. Has your Department been in contact with the MTA
since the shooting? If not, why?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. In light of the shooting, has your agency developed
best practices to prevent and respond to attacks on subways systems and
other public surface transportation systems?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. Mr. Secretary, my friend Congresswoman Barragan
authored a bill, the Strengthening Local Transportation Security
Capabilities Act of 2021, which was enacted as part of last year's
fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Under the bill,
the Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized to develop through the
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, or FLETC, a training program
for law enforcement agencies operating within surface transportation
systems. These systems, like the New York City Subway, present unique
operational challenges to law enforcement given their crowded
environments and enclosed, underground spaces. As we saw during the
recent attack, even critical law enforcement systems like radio
communications can prove challenging to operate underground if officers
are not adequately trained.
Mr. Secretary, in light of the recent attack, have you considered
developing a program as authorized under the bill? If not, will you
commit to doing so and reporting back to the committee on your
considerations?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Ranking Member John Katko for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1. The President's fiscal year 2023 budget includes $4.3
million to create a non-Stafford Act National Incident Management
Assistance Team. Can you please describe the specifics of this Team and
why the request is non-Stafford Act?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. FEMA's 2021 National Preparedness Report highlighted
that the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) was not designed
or intended to be staffed full-time and as a result FEMA was not
prepared to staff the NRCC for a long-duration pandemic incident of
National scale. In your opinion, what role should the NRCC play in
future long-duration disasters? How does the President's fiscal year
2023 budget reflect that vision?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. The President's fiscal year 2023 budget request
reflects a $23 million decrease for the Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction Office (CWMD), a result of the proposed transfer of the
functions and positions of the current Chief Medical Officer (CMO) from
CWMD to a newly-envisioned Office of Health Security and Resilience
(OHSR). Considering that CWMD was created only a few years ago by
combining the Office of Health Affairs and the Domestic Nuclear
Detection Office, pulling the CMO out of CWMD and creating a new OHSR
is a surprising move that seems to revert back to the prior structure.
What capabilities does the CMO currently not have situated within CWMD
that it would gain by being pulled out of CWMD? Why is the creation of
a new OHSR necessary?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. Earlier this month, GAO released a report on the
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD). The report found
that CWMD's radiation portal monitor replacement program is not on
track to meet a key goal of reducing the monitors' nuisance alarm rate.
GAO recommended that CWMD coordinate with U.S. Customs and Border
Protection to reassess its current acquisition strategy for replacement
radiation portal monitors. DHS concurred with this recommendation. How
does the President's fiscal year 2023 budget work to address the
recommendations made by GAO?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 5. The President's fiscal year 2023 budget request
includes $80 million to establish a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency (CISA)-led competitive grant program aimed at
protecting critical infrastructure from cyber attacks. The addition of
this new grant program lowered the request for both the State Homeland
Security Grant Program (SHSGP) and the Urban Area Security Initiative
(UASI) reflecting the funding associated with the minimum investment
requirement for the cybersecurity-related National priority area. Given
the fact that cybersecurity was added as a National Priority Area for
fiscal year 2022, do you think a decrease in the President's fiscal
year 2023 budget request for both SHSGP and UASI is appropriate?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 6. At the beginning of April, shocking news broke that
U.S. Secret Service officers and agents were witnesses in a criminal
case in which individuals impersonating Federal Officers gave them,
among other things, rent-free apartments with a total yearly rent of
over $40,000 per apartment. What plans does the Department have to use
this proposed budget to improve USSS ethics and counterintelligence
training to ensure that a situation like this never occurs again?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 7. With the time between Presidential campaigns seemingly
becoming shorter and shorter, the U.S. Secret Service must be
constantly prepared for the rigorous demands that come with each
election cycle. In the fiscal year 2023 President's budget, the Secret
Service is requesting $2.7 billion in total gross discretionary funds,
with $2.6 billion of that funding aimed at Operations and Support.
Could you please speak in more detail about the needs of the Secret
Service during the campaign season and how their budget requirements
shift given the 4-year election cycles?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 8. The Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness
(OSA), formally known as the Office of Operations Coordination,
facilitates information sharing and a common operating picture for DHS.
The fiscal year 2023 budget decreases OSA funding by $20.4 million and
30 FTEs, realigning several activities, and funding, to other DHS
components. Since OSA plays a key coordinating role in DHS operations,
could you please explain the merits behind dispersing its funding to
components?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 9. There is a notable increase to the Federal Protective
Service, up over 25 percent from the fiscal year 2023 President's
budget. Could you elaborate on what changes you are suggesting and the
reasoning behind those changes?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 10. The fiscal year 2023 budget supports the Coast Guard's
plan to acquire Polar Security Cutters for use in the Arctic. What is
DHS's plan for additional ice breaking capabilities that may be needed
in the Arctic?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 11a. The fiscal year 2023 budget includes $140 million in
funding for a Joint Processing Center along the Southwest Border of the
United States. Have you identified which agencies will be involved?
What will the potential capacity of the facility be? What is the
specific time line on completion?
Question 11b. Does DHS have a specific site it is targeting?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 12. The DHS Management Operations' budget is $657 million,
or 14.8 percent, over the amount enacted for fiscal year 2022. This
seems like a very large increase for headquarters operations. What
specifically will the Department use this funding for?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 13a. The fiscal year 2023 budget calls for $114 million
for ``continued modernization of component financial management
systems[.]'' How would that funding be specifically allocated to
improve these systems?
Question 13b. Is DHS taking steps to accelerate the modernization
given the significant cybersecurity threats we face?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 14. Do you foresee any issues or needing additional
assistance from Congress in the increment 1 replacement of DHS's
Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) with the Homeland
Advance Recognition Technology (HART)?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 15a. CISA needs sustained, robust funding to carry out its
mission and nimbly respond to evolving threats. The CISA funding
request is not nearly sufficient to resource the agency's growing
mission.
Given the alarming increase in attacks and threats to Federal
networks and critical infrastructure, do you agree that CISA should be
a $5 billion agency within the next 5 years?
Question 15b. How would you make sure that CISA's capability scales
up alongside such funding, and if not, how do you expect CISA to
compete against better-resourced nation-state competitors without the
commensurate tools, resources, and workforce?
Question 15c. The fiscal year 2023 President's budget request
includes $2.5 billion for CISA, the fiscal year 2022 Consolidated
Appropriations Act included $2.6 billion for CISA. Can you discuss why
you the President's budget request for fiscal year 2023 is actually
less than what Congress enacted in fiscal year 2022?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 16a. The fiscal year 2023 DHS budget decreases the adult
Average Daily Population (ADP) to 25,000, which is a decrease of 5,000
beds from the prior year. We are currently seeing the highest levels of
illegal border crossings in the past 20 years and not all these
individuals are asylum seekers. In fact, many have extensive criminal
records. My district in particular has been a victim to the violence
brought by MS-13 gang members and since this border crisis began last
year, we've seen an uptick in gang members exploiting the situation.
Why is the administration decreasing ICE's ability to detain
criminal aliens, gang members, and other individuals who would harm the
American public?
Question 16b. How does decreasing detention space promote law and
order?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 17. The President's budget proposal calls for $64.7
million for Protective Security Advisors (PSAs), Cybersecurity Advisors
(CSAs), and Emergency Communications Coordinators (ECCs) to support
proactive engagement with SLTT government mission partners and the
private sector.
How do you envision the expansion of CISA's Regional Advisors and
their support to advise SLTT governments and the private sector will
improve the Nation's cybersecurity posture?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 18a. According to media reporting, there has been a
significant increase in the number of ``gotaways'' which as you know
are border crossers who have evaded law enforcement.
What is the Department's estimated number of ``gotaways'' who have
crossed the Southern Border this year?
Question 18b. Do you see a link between the increasing numbers of
gotaways and increasing drug overdose deaths--especially from fentanyl
or fentanyl-laced narcotics--in American communities?
Question 18c. Who do you think is the major supplier of synthetic
opioids (if not Mexico) and who is physically transporting the fentanyl
across the border?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 19. I am concerned that the DHS budget includes only $105
million for Computed Tomography (CT) technology that screens carry-on
baggage at airport checkpoints. CT is next generation technology that
provides a significant screening capability increase. I'm concerned
that DHS is slow-walking the funding of this deployment. This
technology is especially important given the current threat landscape
that has emerged because of President Biden's botched Afghanistan
withdrawal.
How do you plan to accelerate this important technology so CT won't
be obsolete before it can be deployed to all airports?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 20a. The record-breaking number of unvetted migrants
pouring across our border and being released into the interior of our
country, free to go on domestic flights without a government-issued ID,
has greatly increased the risk to the aviation system and the security
of our Nation.
Our entire aviation screening apparatus depends on knowing the
passenger's identity and risk status. Given that TSA relies on the
identity information that CBP collects from migrants the border it is
very likely that such information is fraudulent, or at best
unverifiable. How can you ensure this committee that DHS is
sufficiently mitigating the increased risk to the aviation system due
to number of unknown and even high-risk migrants boarding flights
across the country?
Question 20b. How does DHS accurately verify a migrant's identity
if they do not have any form of identification and what are current DHS
screening procedures to appropriately determine if a migrant is in
fact, an unaccompanied alien child prior to transfer to HHS?
Question 20c. How many instances are you are aware of that DHS
learned that an individual already released into the interior of the
United States as an unaccompanied alien child has turned out to be an
adult?
Question 20d. What steps has DHS taken, if any, to identify
additional adults who may have fraudulently posed as an unaccompanied
alien child?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 21a. The budget requests $1 billion for investments in
effective and modern port and border security. BUT, this is less than
the President's request last year of $1.2 billion.
Why is this year's request lower?
Question 21b. According to DHS personnel on the front lines, where
there are physical barriers along the Southwest Border, there has been
a significant decrease in drug and human smuggling as barriers serve as
a deterrent and, most importantly, provide Border Patrol more time to
interdict the illegal activity.
Question 21c. Why is there nothing in the budget request for border
barrier construction?
Question 21d. How much has DHS paid out or will pay out due to the
fees to cancel/stop the border wall contracts?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 22. The Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) was
created to allow CISA to lead the development of cyber defense
operations plans and put those plans into action in partnership with
the interagency, private sector, State, and local governments to reduce
risk and unify defensive actions. The fiscal year 2023 request includes
an increase of $12.1 million to scale the JCDC to ensure CISA can meet
the diverse needs and growing demand of multiple stakeholders.
Can you elaborate on how CISA intends to scale the JCDC to improve
coordination and information sharing with the private sector?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 23. How specifically will the funding of $48 million for
the Indo-Pacific be used to increase our presence in the region and
combat Chinese aggression?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 24a. Do you support Border Patrol agents and their
mission?
If you do support Border Patrol and its mission as you said, why
are you constantly undermining and limiting their role in securing the
border?
Question 24b. Why is the administration repealing, removing, or
limiting essential authorities, such as Title 42 and the Remain in
Mexico Policy?
Question 24c. Do you believe the border wall is a deterrent that
prevents individuals from illegally crossing the border in between
ports of entry?
Question 24d. Have you spoken to President Biden, Vice President
Harris, or anyone at the White House about resuming construction of the
border wall?
Question 24e. What concrete steps are you taking to improve morale
and prove that this administration actually supports Border Patrol and
its critical National security mission especially as you seek to
recruit new agents?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 25. Do you believe ICE should be abolished?
Why have you and President Biden repeatedly undermined ICE's
authority to do their jobs?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 26a. It has been widely reported that the Biden
administration has been secretly flying illegal aliens from the U.S.-
Mexico border into the interior of the United States and sometimes
dropping them off in the middle of the night, without notice to State
and local officials and law enforcement.
Why are these flights occurring in the middle of the night? Do you
realize that by operating these ``midnight'' flights, it looks like DHS
is conducting clandestine operations and attempting to hide the number
of migrants being flown and dropped off in the interior of the United
States? Is that your intent?
Question 26b. What attempts have been made, if any, to communicate
with State and local authorities regarding these flights?
Question 26c. How do you expect State and local authorities to have
the capability to handle massive number of migrants when our own
Federal authorities are struggling to maintain operational control?
What attempts, if any, have been made to assist State and local
authorities with the massive number of migrants who are dropped off in
their cities and towns?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 27a. We are on track to see another record year of
encounters at our Southwest Border. The fiscal year 2023 budget does
not request funding for a border wall and does not include a
significant amount of new agent positions. In fact, Mayor Bowser's
budget requests 347 additional police officers, which is more than DHS
is requesting for the entire Border Patrol. The District of Columbia is
68 square miles, whereas the Southern Border is 1,954 miles. What in
the budget request will have a measurable impact on stopping the flow
of migrants and drugs at the border?
Question 27b. Does this administration have a plan for border
security and stopping the flow of drugs and illegal border crossings?
It seems to me that this administration's priorities do not align with
CBP's mission. Please outline the Department's plan to further CBP's
mission of ``protecting the American people, safeguarding our borders,
and enhancing the Nation's economic prosperity.''
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 28. The fiscal year 2023 DHS budget for ICE includes a
significant increase for the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program,
which will accommodate 170,000 participants.
Do you believe that mass releasing those who illegally cross our
borders does not send the wrong message to human smugglers, cartels,
and migrants? Isn't this yet another pull factor by this administration
proving that the United States will not enforce our immigration laws?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 29a. CISA Director Easterly has said that ``If you don't
have great talent, you're going to fail in the mission.''
How many people do you plan on hiring at CISA? Does this include
only what's outlined in the President's budget request?
Question 29b. What steps are you taking to shorten the time to hire
cybersecurity professionals at CISA?
Question 29c. Has DHS transferred the suitability process to CISA
to speed up the process?
Question 29d. Can you tell us what the current time-to-hire is for
cybersecurity professionals at CISA and DHS?
Question 29e. How does the DHS Cybersecurity Talent Management
System (CTMS) fit into that plan and how is this system working since
it went live in summer 2021?
Question 29f. What plans does CISA have to ensure the right level
and quantity of cyber professionals are available and to sustain this
talent in the future?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 30a. The fiscal year 2023 President's budget requested
$109.6 million for USCIS's E-Verify program. That is a reduction from
both the fiscal year 2022 President's request and the fiscal year 2022
Omnibus.
Given the success of the E-Verify program, why is this
administration reducing the funding?
Question 30b. If the program is becoming more automated, why not
expand it to more businesses?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 31. I am pleased to see that the Coast Guard has
emphasized cybersecurity in the maritime sector with the additional
funding it requested in the fiscal year 2023 budget. However, I'm
hearing from stakeholders that there needs to be more information
sharing among DHS and our Nation's ports. What efforts does DHS,
specifically the Coast Guard and CISA, have in place to ensure that
port owners and operators can mount a strong defense against malicious
actors in the cyber realm?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 32. As you know, our Nation has faced an unprecedented
number of cyber attacks at the Federal as well as the State and Local
level over the past year. It is imperative that our State and local law
enforcement partners have the tools they need to lead cyber crime
investigations, and the National Computer Forensic Institute (NFCI) is
a Federally-funded training center dedicated to doing just that.
However, the fiscal year 2023 budget includes a decrease of $7 million
for NCFI. Could you please explain to the committee the thought process
behind this decision?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Clay Higgins for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1a. CBP leverages various crucial technological
capabilities to serve as force multipliers to help mitigate illicit
activities including narcotics and human trafficking and human
smuggling. CBP, similar to other components within the Department of
Homeland Security, has faced challenges in years past related to large-
scale procurements. These challenges can come at the expense of
achieving mission success. Secretary Mayorkas, please answer the
following questions:
How is CBP ensuring that existing procurement strategies account
for sufficient innovation and cutting-edge technology to allow for a
dynamic security environment?
Question 1b. How does CBP weigh costs and benefits of existing
commercial solutions compared to those that may take longer to fully
develop and deploy?
Question 1c. How has CBP improved its overall approach and policies
related to procurement and acquisitions, after previously complicated
efforts?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Within the Department's fiscal year 2023 budget
request, your Department is requesting $527 million to fund
Alternatives to Detention. Specifically, regarding the mobile devices
used under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, if you don't
give participants the monitoring devices, how do you know where they
are? Without monitoring, do you expect people to show up for their
immigration proceedings and court hearings?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. Last, your Department is requesting an increase of $504
million, which is a 55.2 percent increase from fiscal year 2022, for
USCIS. Specifically, this request calls for the hiring of 1,300 full-
time processing employees--not border enforcement personnel. This tells
me that the administration is preparing for a massive wave of migrants
at the border. Wouldn't these funds be better utilized if they used to
hire additional Border Patrol and ICE agents?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. If the use of Title 42 ends as planned, and we see
triple the number of encounters at the Southern Border, does ICE have
what it needs at its disposal to properly process migrants?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 5. ICE is best equipped to do its job when it has all of
its tools available, inclusive of both detention and alternative
monitoring programs. With reports that detention is severely
underutilized, do you feel that you are prepared to handle the historic
flow of migrants crossing our border?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 6. The DHS Inspector General recently released a report
that found ICE last year wasted millions on a no-bid hotel contract
awarded to Endeavors, which had just prior hired a former Biden
Transition official. ICE justified the no-bid contract, stating a lack
of existing capacity. However, the Watchdog report found that ``the
three Family Residential Centers that house migrant families were
underutilized prior to and during the hotels contract with Endeavors.''
The existing ICE Centers were only being used at 6-23 percent of their
contracted capacity, so why did ICE rush a sole-source $87 million
contract for unnecessary hotel beds?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 7. When an illegal crossing occurs and it is determined
that the detainee requires mental health services, what is the process
for determining which State and contracted facility to which a patient
will be sent? What factors play a role in this determination?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 8. What costs are associated with transporting a patient
from the State they were apprehended in to out-of-State facilities?
(This should include transportation costs, lodging costs, and security
costs.)
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 9. For fiscal year 2021 what is the total number of
detainees that were referred to U.S.-based mental health care
facilities?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 10. For fiscal year 2021 what is the total number of
detainees who were transferred out of the region they were apprehended
in to received mental health services?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 11. How many U.S. mental health facilities has DHS
contracted with to provide services for detainees? Please provide the
total number and the regional breakdown for these facilities.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 12. How many of these contracted facilities is DHS
actively utilizing for detainee mental health care services? (Please
provide the total number and the regional breakdown for utilization of
these facilities.)
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Michael Guest for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1a. We understand ICE delayed its November 2021 transition
to RAVEn, a custom in-house developed software platform to manage HSI
investigations, because the system was not ready to go live.
On what date do you expect RAVEn to go live?
Question 1b. What steps is HSI taking to solicit input from the
nearly 3,000 agents and analysts who will use this platform on a daily
basis to process their investigations?
Question 1c. Please provide the amount of money ICE has spent on
RAVEn to date and the projected spending over the next 5 years, with
development costs separated from maintenance and operation, and
designate which year in the 5-year plan RAVEn will be full operational.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. According to a March 2, 2022, Washington Post article,
the border wall along the Southwest Border has been breached 3,272
times by smugglers over the past 3 years (2019-2021) and the Government
has spent $2.6 million to repair these breaches. The article
specifically quotes CBP officials as saying that ``Many of the wall
segments where breaching has occurred lack the sensors, cameras, and
other detection tools called for in original designs,'' and that ``once
those tools are in place, agents will be able to respond faster.'' How
many of these breaches occurred in areas where advanced detection
technology (lighting, CCTV cameras, LGDS, and communications fiber,
etc.) is installed but not yet operational? What is CBP doing to deter
these breaches and achieve operational control of the Southern Border?
What do you need in fiscal year 2023 to ensure that these tools are in
place and Border Patrol agents are able to detect and immediately
respond to these breaches in timely manner?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. There have been 5 migrant deaths in the past 7 months
along the Southwest Border. The undocumented noncitizens have perished
while attempting to illegally enter the United States in areas where
border infrastructure has been installed, but technology is not
installed or operational. The administration has said that addressing
safety issues is a priority for the remaining border barrier funds. How
much of our Southwest Border is protected by fully operational advanced
detection technology? How many miles do we have where no advanced
detection technology is installed?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. As the administration deploys non-intrusive inspection
technology at land ports of entry along the Southwest Border and uses
it to conduct inspections of cargo and conveyances for contraband as
part of its mission to stop illicit imports, the cartels will seek
other routes between these ports of entry. What strategy and plans does
the administration have for securing the border between ports of entry?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 5. I understand that CBP has deployed over 250 additional
officers to the Southwest Border from other ports of entry around the
country in advance of lifting Title 42 restrictions. Given the expected
resurgence in international air travel this summer, is CBP adequately
staffed and prepared to handle passenger and trade volume at airports?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 6. The Secretary testified that the Southwest Border is
closed and secure. How would the Secretary define a ``closed border''
and a ``secure border''?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Dan Bishop for Honorable Alejandro N. Mayorkas
Question 1. During a Senate Homeland Security and Government
Affairs hearing last week, you testified that the Biden administration
is not responsible for drugs and human trafficking streaming across the
Southern Border. On September 26, 2021, during an appearance on Fox
News Sunday, you stated: ``It is the policy of this [Biden]
administration, we do not agree with the building of the wall.'' Please
explain why you believe a wall on our Southern Border would not be an
effective deterrent for drug smugglers.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Last month, you admitted that there were more than
389,000 ``gotaways''--illegal migrants who eluded Customs and Border
Patrol--in fiscal year 2021. This represents 389,000 opportunities for
cartels to smuggle dangerous drugs like fentanyl into our country. What
evidence do you have that these gotaways are not significantly
contributing to drug smuggling into the United States? Please explain
what analysis, if any, DHS has conducted to determine the extent to
which these got-aways may be importing drugs.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. On April 28, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration announced proposed product standards to prohibit menthol
in cigarettes. There are over 18 million Americans who smoke menthol
cigarettes, representing an obvious potential black market. Has the
Department of Homeland Security, including any of its components,
conducted an assessment to determine the likelihood that a ban on
menthol cigarettes will result in transnational criminal organizations
and smugglers attempting to illicitly traffic menthol cigarettes into
the United States?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. If such an assessment has been conducted, please
provide the committee with the results of the assessment and make those
responsible for conducting the assessment available to brief Members of
the committee and their staff.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 5. If such an assessment has not been conducted, please
provide an explanation for why the Department of Homeland Security has
failed to conduct such an assessment and the anticipated completion
date for such an assessment.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 6. Please provide the committee with an exhaustive list of
instances where the Department of Homeland Security has engaged or
otherwise corresponded with the Food and Drug Administration to examine
or consider the implications a ban on menthol cigarettes will have on
the illicit tobacco trade. Please include an explanation of the nature
and subject of the engagement or correspondence. If no instances of the
Department of Homeland Security and Food and Drug Administration
engaging on the topic of a menthol ban exist, please explain why your
Department has not been engaged on this matter.
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Andrew Clyde for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1a. If the use of Title 42 ends as planned, and we see
triple the number of encounters at the Southern Border, does ICE have
what it needs at its disposal to properly process migrants?
Question 1b. ICE has been underutilizing detention beds for the
past year, with use severely under available capacity. Why is this the
case, particularly with historic numbers of migrants coming to this
country? With the volume expected to arrive when Title 42 ends, will
ICE be utilizing the detention beds it already has?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Regarding the Alternatives to Detention program, and
specifically the mobile devices used under the Intensive Supervision
Appearance Program. If you don't give participants the monitoring
devices, how do you know where they are? Without monitoring, do you
expect people to show up for their immigration proceedings and court
hearings?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. Progressives have been pushing for more Alternatives to
Detention contracts to be run by non-profits, and the contracts would
eliminate monitoring capabilities and water down compliance. If ICE
plans to move in this direction, can you describe the accountability
measures that will be in place, and how you can ensure people will
actually show up?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Peter Meijer for Honorable Alejandro N.
Mayorkas
Question 1. Mr. Secretary, in February of this year, I introduced a
Resolution of Inquiry, with the support of 39 of my Republican
colleagues, requesting all documentation in DHS's possession regarding
border policies be transmitted to Congress. I did this because in the
midst of this crisis, I don't feel that DHS is being transparent with
the American people or Congress about the situation at the border and
how the administration is making decisions regarding border policies,
with Title 42 being only the latest example.
There is no doubt that the United States faces an unprecedented
crisis on its Southwest Border, and this resolution seeks to ensure
that DHS is upholding our Nation's laws, securing the border, and
supporting our front-line law enforcement personnel. Mr. Chairman, I
would like to submit the resolution in question for the record, and I
do hope that my Majority colleagues will allow us to mark up this vital
tool, which will give American citizens a complete understanding of how
this administration is handling the crisis at the border.
Secretary Mayorkas, could you explain how this budget request
addresses the border crisis and how it will increase transparency
regarding DHS's border policies as my resolution aims to do?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Secretary Mayorkas, on March 31, 2022, DHS announced
along with the Department of Labor that the administration plans to
make an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas
available for the second half of fiscal year 2022. However, we are
almost in May, already in the busy season when many American employers
and businesses rely on these temporary workers, and the final rule has
yet to be published.
Why is this process taking so long? When can the businesses that
depend on this program expect for these visas to become available?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
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