[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                    OVERSIGHT OF IMMIGRANT MILITARY
                          MEMBERS AND VETERANS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

              SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

                                 OF THE

                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                        WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-72

                               __________

         Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
         
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               Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
               
                              __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
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                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                    JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chair
                MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania, Vice-Chair

ZOE LOFGREN, California              JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Ranking Member
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee               LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,      DARRELL ISSA, California
    Georgia                          KEN BUCK, Colorado
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida          MATT GAETZ, Florida
KAREN BASS, California               MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York         ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island     TOM McCLINTOCK, California
ERIC SWALWELL, California            W. GREG STEUBE, Florida
TED LIEU, California                 TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin
JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland               THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          CHIP ROY, Texas
VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida          DAN BISHOP, North Carolina
J. LUIS CORREA, California           MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania       VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
JOE NEGUSE, Colorado                 CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon
LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 BURGESS OWENS, Utah
GREG STANTON, Arizona
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
MONDAIRE JONES, New York
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
CORI BUSH, Missouri

         AMY RUTKIN, Majority Staff Director and Chief of Staff
               CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Minority Staff Director
                                 
                                 
                               ------                                

              SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

                     ZOE LOFGREN, California, Chair
                    JOE NEGUSE, Colorado, Vice-Chair

PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          TOM McCLINTOCK, California, 
J. LUIS CORREA, California               Ranking Member
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              KEN BUCK, Colorado
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas              ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin
MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania       CHIP ROY, Texas
                                     VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana

                JOSHUA BREISBLATT, Deputy Chief Counsel
                    ANDREA LOVING, Minority Counsel
                            
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                        Wednesday, June 29, 2022

                                                                   Page

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the Subcommittee on 
  Immigration and Citizenship from the State of California.......     1
The Honorable Tom McClintock, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee 
  on Immigration and Citizenship from the State of California....     3
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Committee on the 
  Judiciary from the State of New York...........................     4

                               WITNESSES

Ms. Debra Rogers, Director, Immigrant Military Members and 
  Veterans Initiative, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  Oral Testimony.................................................     7
  Prepared Testimony.............................................     9
Dr. Jennifer MacDonald, Senior Advisor to the Secretary for 
  Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  Oral Testimony.................................................    16
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    18
Ms. Stephanie Miller, Director, Officer and Enlisted Personnel 
  Management, Office of the Under Secretary for Personnel and 
  Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense
  Oral Testimony.................................................    21
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    24

          LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

Materials submitted by the Honorable Andy Biggs, a Member of the 
  Subcommittee on the Immigration and Citizenship from the State 
  of Arizona, for the record
  Transcript of the May 4, 2022 Senate Homeland Security and 
    Governmental Affairs Committee hearing entitled, ``Resources 
    and Authorities Needed to Protect and Secure the Homeland,'' 
    Bloomberg Government.........................................    34
  Video of the April 28, 2022 Committee on the Judiciary hearing 
    entitled, ``Oversight of the Department of Homeland 
    Security''...................................................    99
Materials submitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Member 
  of the Subcommittee on the Immigration and Citizenship from the 
  State of Texas, for the record
  An article entitled, ``2 men charged in connection with deaths 
    of 51 migrants found inside sweltering semitruck in San 
    Antonio,'' CNN...............................................   110
  An article entitled, ``ICE deported veterans while `unaware' it 
    was required to carefully screen them, report says,'' 
    Washington Post..............................................   116
  An article entitled, ``Military service was once a fast track 
    to U.S. citizenship. The Trump administration keeps narrowing 
    that possibility,'' Washington Post..........................   119
Materials submitted by the Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the 
  Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship from the State of 
  California, for the record
  A statement from The American Legion...........................   128
  A statement from the Honorable Mark Takano, a Member of 
    Congress from the State of California........................   133
  An article entitled, ``Broken Promises,'' The American Legion 
    Magazine.....................................................   134

                                APPENDIX

Materials submitted by the Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the 
  Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship from the State of 
  California, for the record
  A letter from the ACLU to President Biden......................   140
  A statement from David Kinyua Bariu, Secretary, Black Deported 
    Veterans of America..........................................   144
  A statement from Robert Vivar, Executive Director, Unified U.S. 
    Deported Veterans............................................   146
  A statement from James L. Smith II, Co-Director, Black Deported 
    Veterans of America..........................................   148
  A statement from Jeffry C. Merrick, Retired Master Sergeant, 
    USAF.........................................................   150
  A statement from Jan A. Ruhman, Operations Coordinator, 
    National Veterans For Peace, Inc.............................   151
A supplemental statement for the record from Ms. Debra Rogers, 
  Director, Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative, 
  U.S. Department of Homeland Security, submitted by the 
  Honorable Andy Biggs, Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration 
  and Citizenship from the State of Arizona, for the record......   153

                  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR THE RECORD

Questions to Dr. Jennifer MacDonald, Senior Advisor to the 
  Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
  Ms. Debra Rogers, Director, Immigrant Military Members and 
  Veterans Initiative, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 
  submitted by the Honorable Lou Correa, a Member of the 
  Subcommittee on the Immigration and Citizenship from the State 
  of California, for the record..................................   156
Response to questions from Ms. Debra Rogers, Director, Immigrant 
  Military Members and Veterans Initiative, U.S. Department of 
  Homeland Security, submitted by the Honorable Lou Correa, a 
  Member of the Subcommittee on the Immigration and Citizenship 
  from the State of California, for the record...................   157
Response to questions from Dr. Jennifer MacDonald, Senior Advisor 
  to the Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans 
  Affairs, submitted by the Honorable Lou Correa, a Member of the 
  Subcommittee on the Immigration and Citizenship from the State 
  of California, for the record..................................   158

 
          OVERSIGHT OF IMMIGRANT MILITARY MEMBERS AND VETERANS

                        Wednesday, June 29, 2022

                        House of Representatives

              Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship

                       Committee on the Judiciary

                             Washington, DC

    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., via 
Zoom, Hon. Zoe Lofgren [Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding.
    Present: Representatives Lofgren, Nadler, Jayapal, Correa, 
Garcia, Jackson Lee, Scanlon, McClintock, Buck, Biggs, and 
Tiffany.
    Staff Present: Aaron Hiller, Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff 
Director; John Doty, Senior Advisor and Deputy Staff Director; 
David Greengrass, Senior Counsel; Moh Sharma, Director of 
Member Services and Outreach & Policy Advisor; Cierra Fontenot, 
Chief Clerk; Casey Lee, Staff Assistant; Merrick Nelson, 
Digital Director; Joshua Breisblatt, Chief Counsel for 
Immigration; Ami Shah, Counsel for Immigration; Julie 
Rheinstrom, Counsel for Immigration; Yasser Killawi, Counsel 
for Immigration; Anthony Valdez, Professional Staff Member/
Legislative Aide for Immigration; Andrea Loving, Minority Chief 
Counsel for Immigration; Kyle Smithwick, Minority Counsel; and 
Kiley Bidelman, Minority Clerk.
    Ms. Lofgren. The Subcommittee on Immigration and 
Citizenship will come to order. A quorum being present.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a 
recess of the Subcommittee at any time.
    Welcome everyone to this hearing, Oversight of Immigrant 
Military Members and Veterans.
    I'd like to remind Members that we've established an email 
address and distribution list dedicated to circulating 
exhibits, motions, or other written materials that Members may 
want to offer as part of the hearing. If Members would like to 
submit materials, please send them to the email address that's 
previously been distributed to your offices and we will 
circulate the materials to Members and staff as quickly as we 
possibly can.
    I also ask all Members to please mute your microphones when 
you're not speaking to help prevent feedback and other 
technical issues and, of course, unmute yourselves any time you 
seek recognition.
    I now will recognize myself for an opening statement.
    I'd like to welcome our Witnesses and the Members of the 
Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee to today's hearing 
which will explore the initiatives by the current 
administration to support noncitizen servicemembers, veterans, 
and their family members.
    Immigrants are important to our society and provide key 
support to our U.S. military. Currently, immigrants account for 
approximately three percent of Active Duty servicemembers. 
Additionally, 13 percent of veterans, or 2.4 million people, 
are of immigrant origin meaning that either they or their 
parents are immigrants.
    Throughout our history, immigrants have been key to some of 
our most critical military victories. For example, the 
Revolutionary War likely could not have been won without the 
essential contributions of two immigrants--the Marquis de 
Lafayette and General Pulaski. In recognition of their service, 
both were posthumously made honorary citizens of the United 
States.
    A more recent example is U.S. Marine Sergeant Rafael 
Peralta, who was born in Mexico and enlisted the day he 
received his green card. In 2004, Sergeant Peralta was severely 
wounded during the second battle of Fallujah, and in his last 
moments, he used his body to shield his fellow Marines from a 
grenade blast saving their lives. Sergeant Peralta obtained his 
citizenship during his military service and was posthumously 
awarded the Navy Cross.
    In 1862, recognizing the important role immigrants play in 
our military, Congress passed a law expediting the pathway to 
citizenship for those who serve in the Armed Forces. Quick 
access to citizenship is good for our servicemembers and for 
the military branches in which they serve.
    As with some other aspects of the legal immigration system, 
the Trump Administration imposed barriers when it comes to 
naturalization for noncitizen servicemembers. Fortunately, the 
new administration has been working to reverse these policies. 
The President cast the Departments of Homeland Security, 
Defense, and Justice to improve access to military 
naturalizations.
    As part of this mandate, the Departments of Homeland 
Security and Veterans Affairs worked to create something called 
the IMMVI, the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans 
Initiative, to assist immigrant veterans with parole 
applications and to facilitate their access to VA benefits.
    The Department of Veterans Affairs mandate is to provide 
care and assistance to anyone who served in our military 
regardless of their citizenship status. This mission gets more 
difficult when noncitizen veterans are removed to their country 
of origin.
    All too often, such removals are due to a conviction for a 
crime stemming from trauma that occurred during the veteran 
service with our military. Estimates indicate that 
approximately 11-30 percent of veterans experience post-
traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Veterans with PTSD are 60 
percent more likely to become involved in the criminal justice 
system than those who are not suffering from this tragic 
illness.
    When American citizen veterans are convicted of crimes, 
their punishments do not include banishment from the country; 
however, even after they have served their sentences, veterans 
who are not yet citizens are subject to removal. This means 
that a veteran who risked their life for our country and 
suffered long-lasting mental health problems as a result, could 
be deported preventing them from accessing the resources 
promised to them when they volunteered to serve.
    We can do better by our immigrant veterans. That is why I, 
along with Chair Nadler and Representatives Takano and Correa, 
introduced the Veterans Service Recognition Act to address the 
issues faced by our immigrant servicemembers and veterans in a 
holistic way.
    I look forward to our discussion today and hearing from all 
our Witnesses. At this time, I would like to recognize our 
Ranking Member, Mr. McClintock, for any statement he may wish 
to offer.
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. In April, 
DHS Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, told this Committee in sworn 
testimony that the southern border is secure. This, of course, 
was untrue. We later discovered that while he was testifying 
the border's secure, his CBP was encountering the highest 
monthly number of illegal migrants in our history, 234,000 in a 
single month.
    In addition, under his orders and policies, more than half 
of them were deliberately trafficked into the United States. 
That's the equivalent of adding a population the size of 
Lansing, Michigan in a single month.
    It's no surprise that the border chaos continued in May 
setting a new monthly record for CBP encounters at 239,000. 
Already, in just 18 months, this Administration's allowed into 
the United States through border releases and evasion, an 
illegal population the size of the State of West Virginia. Now, 
Mayorkas couldn't tell us how it will benefit the American 
people to have their classrooms packed with non-English 
speaking students, their emergency rooms flooded with illegals 
demanding basic care, how their families will be safer with 
increased gang activity, and fentanyl inundating our 
communities or how working families will be made better by 
flooding the labor market with cheap, illegal labor while they 
foot the bill for social services.
    Now, Gallup warns us there are 42 million foreign nationals 
just in Latin America and the Caribbean who intend to come 
here. Nearly 8,000 a day are now illegally entering our 
country, and we're warned of up to 18,000 a day will be 
arriving if the Democrats succeed in dropping Title 42. I'm not 
aware of any civilization in history that has survived an 
illegal mass migration on this scale.
    So, how do my Democratic colleagues on the Immigration 
Subcommittee react to this unprecedented illegal migration 
they've unleashed? Do they call on the Biden Administration to 
stop the releases? Do they call on their President to actually 
enforce U.S. immigration laws, or at least stop incentivizing 
this mass illegal migration?
    No. They call a hearing to discuss immigrant military 
service-members and veterans. There are 31,000 currently 
serving in our Armed Forces. This is less than four days of the 
border incursions that we're currently seeing.
    The IMMVI programs naturalized about 1,000 veterans in 16 
months. That's the number of illegal aliens streaming across 
our border every three hours. Foreign nationals who come to 
America legally, obey our laws, and seek to serve our country 
because of the love for it and for the principles upon which 
it's founded are our greatest strengths.
    Eleven years ago, I spoke at the funeral of Gurpreet Singh, 
whose family had immigrated from India legally 11 years before. 
His father told a reporter that Gurpreet was always a very 
patriotic man for the U.S. From the time he was a little boy, 
he knew he wanted to serve in the U.S. military. Gurpreet was 
very proud of his service with the Marines.
    Corporal Singh was wounded in combat, he chose to return, 
he overstayed his assignment to relieve a friend, and was 
killed in action in Helmand Province on June 22, 2011. Now, I 
pray the majority's not attempting to equate such heroism, 
devotion, and fidelity with the lawless, illegal mass migration 
that they're not only ignoring, but actively aiding and 
abetting with their policies, with the staggering death toll 
that had just saw 51 illegal migrants baked to death by human 
traffickers in a truck on Monday.
    The legal permanent residents who enlist in our military 
are often special avenues for naturalization under the 
Immigration and Nationality Act as they should. About three 
percent of U.S. veterans today are foreign-born. Many have 
chosen to become U.S. citizens.
    Unfortunately, for a while, we allowed nonlegal permanent 
residents, including those who are here on student visas, 
refugee claimants, and DACA recipients to enlist to claim a 
fast track to citizenship called the MAVNI program.
    It was such a debacle that the Obama Administration had to 
suspend it in 2016. One MAVNI enlistment, Ji Chaoqun, was found 
to be a Chinese spy. A number of foreign nationals who enlisted 
in our military were subsequently deported for committing 
crimes. Yet, the Democrats don't seem to differentiate between 
heroes like Gurpreet Singh and those who abuse our system with 
ill-intent.
    So, I look forward to the discussion about these and other 
pertinent issues with the Witnesses today, and I'll yield back 
the balance of my time.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
    I'm now pleased to recognize the Chair of the Judiciary 
Committee, Chair Nadler, for any opening statement he may wish 
to offer.
    Chair Nadler. Well, thank you, Madam Chair.
    Immigrants have served in the U.S. Armed Forces in every 
major conflict since the Revolutionary War. Today, there are 
approximately 45,000 immigrants actively serving in the U.S. 
Armed Services. Every day, brave immigrant servicemembers risk 
their lives in support of our country. We rely on them to keep 
our nation safe and to protect U.S. global interests. In 
return, we must honor their sacrifices by supporting them and 
their families, and by giving them every opportunity to become 
U.S. citizens if they so desire.
    Unfortunately, the previous administration instituted many 
policy changes that made it harder for foreign-born 
servicemembers to naturalize and inhibited our ability to 
recruit and retain highly qualified immigrants for important 
positions within our armed services. Such policy changes also 
undermine Congress' clear intent to provide an expedited 
naturalization process for military service-members and 
veterans.
    For example, the Trump Administration ended naturalization 
at basic training, and made it more difficult to receive a 
certification of honorable service, a document which is 
essential for naturalization based on military service. The 
changes made by the Trump Administration were unnecessary and 
cruel.
    They served no purpose but to make it harder for 
individuals serving our country to become citizens. As a result 
of these changes, military naturalizations declined 44 percent, 
and the number of denials of military naturalization 
applications increased by nearly 50 percent.
    Fortunately, the Biden Administration has been working to 
reverse the harmful effects of these policies. In one of his 
first acts in office, President Biden directed the Departments 
of Defense, Homeland Security, State, and Justice to 
collaborate to facilitate naturalization for noncitizen 
servicemembers.
    Since receiving this directive, DHS and the VA have 
collaborated to create the Immigrant Military Members and 
Veterans Initiative also known as the IMMVI. This initiative 
helps immigrant veterans access VA benefits and when 
appropriate, apply to be paroled into the United States.
    DHS is also working to remove barriers to naturalization 
for servicemembers and veterans. These efforts have paid off. 
In fiscal year 2021, our military naturalization numbers 
returned to the levels previously seen in fiscal year 2016, 
prior to the Trump Administration's intentional targeting of 
this population.
    Members of the military place their lives at risk in 
service of this country each day. We should not prevent them 
from becoming permanent members of our society. I'm pleased 
that the Biden Administration is working to right these wrongs. 
During this hearing, we will discuss the efforts the 
administration has undertaken to help immigrant servicemembers 
and veterans, including those who have been removed from the 
United States as a result of convictions or other 
transgressions tied to post-traumatic stress disorder, brain 
injury, and other physical trauma suffered while on Active 
Duty.
    Such circumstances can make the transition back to civilian 
life extremely difficult for veterans.
    We can all agree that individuals who are rightfully 
convicted of a crime should serve any reasonable sentence 
imposed, but once that sentence has been served, we should not 
simply turn our backs on those who sacrificed so much in 
service to our country.
    I want to thank Chair Lofgren for holding this important 
hearing, and I thank all today's Witnesses for testifying.
    I look forward to hearing about the efforts their agencies 
are undertaking to ensure that we are fulfilling our promises 
to our nation's veterans, regardless of their citizenship 
status.
    I yield back the balance of my time.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
    I don't believe that the Ranking Member has arrived. If he 
does, we will certainly invite him to make a statement at that 
time, or to accept his written statement for the record.
    At this point, I would like to introduce today's Witnesses.
    Debra Rogers is the Director of the Immigrant Military 
Members and Veterans Initiative at the Department of Homeland 
Security. Previously, Ms. Rogers served in a variety of 
leadership roles at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 
including as the Director of the Potomac Service Center, 
Associate Director for the USCIS Field Operations Directorate, 
and as Chief of the Information and Customer Service Division. 
She also served as Deputy Director for the DHS Office of the 
Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.
    Throughout her career, Ms. Rogers has focused on helping 
the military community in the immigration space. Most recently, 
she helped create a USCIS military help line and established a 
USCIS presence at U.S. military basic training sites to assist 
service-
members with their naturalizations.
    Ms. Rogers received her Bachelor's degree from Northeastern 
University.
    Dr. Jennifer MacDonald is the Senior Adviser for Health to 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Dr. MacDonald has held 
several high-level roles at the department, including Senior 
Adviser to the Deputy Secretary, Chief Consultant to the Deputy 
Under Secretary for Health, lead executive for implementation 
of the MISSION Act, and as Director of Clinical Innovation and 
Education.
    Dr. MacDonald is a practicing family medicine physician, 
and a U.S. Army veteran. Prior to joining the VA, she served as 
a White House fellow, and adviser to the Secretary of the U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security. She served 11 years in the 
Minnesota Army National Guard and deployed in support of 
Operation Iraqi Freedom earning a Bronze Star. She received her 
Bachelor's degree from the College of St. Benedict and her M.D. 
from the University of Minnesota and completed her residency at 
UCLA.
    Stephanie Miller is a Director of Officer and Enlisted 
Personnel Management and a Senior Adviser for Senior Officer 
Matters in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Personnel and Readiness. Previously, Ms. Miller served as the 
Director of a session policy from 2015-2022.
    Prior to that, Ms. Miller was a Special Assistant to both 
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Ashton Carter, where she 
was responsible for a broad spectrum of programs, including 
military and civilian personnel policies, military forced 
readiness, defense health affairs, reserve affairs, and defense 
sexual assault prevention and response.
    Ms. Miller received her Bachelor's degree from Villanova 
University and holds a Master's degree from George Washington 
University.
    So, I'd like to welcome all our distinguished guests and 
thank them for participating in today's hearing, and I'll begin 
by swearing in our Witnesses. I ask that each of you turn on 
your audio, make sure I can see your face, and your raised 
right hand while I administer the oath.
    So, do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that 
the testimony you're about to give is true and correct to the 
best of your knowledge, information, and belief so help you 
God?
    Let the record reflect that the Witnesses have answered in 
the affirmative.
    Please note that your entire written statements will be 
entered into the record in its entirety, and therefore, we 
would ask that you summarize your testimony in about five 
minutes. To help you keep track and stay within the time limit, 
there's a timer on your screen.
    So, let's begin with you Ms. Rogers and then we will go to 
Dr. MacDonald and Ms. Miller.
    Thank you for your testimony.

                   STATEMENT OF DEBRA ROGERS

    Ms. Rogers. Thank you, Chair Lofgren, Ranking Member 
McClintock, and distinguished Members of this Subcommittee. 
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
    On July 2, 2021, DHS Secretary Mayorkas and VA Secretary 
McDonough announced the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans 
Initiative, also referred to as IMMVI. The interagency effort 
was established to provide coordinated support to our country's 
servicemembers, veterans, and their families. IMMVI was also a 
call to action for us to really consider the deeper meaning of 
thank you for your service and we support our troops.
    IMMVI has focused on three main objectives: Reviewing and 
updating policies to support our veterans, expanding early 
access to naturalization, and assisting veterans who wish to 
come home.
    As part of the initiative, DHS has extensively reviewed and 
updated policies to ensure military service receives proper 
consideration in all DHS actions. We launched an online 
resource center that centralizes Federal resources available 
for servicemembers, veterans, and their families, and created a 
dedicated online portal for previously removed veterans who 
need help in returning to the United States.
    Through these efforts, we have built trust by responding to 
hundreds of requests for assistance. The law rightly provides 
an opportunity for current servicemembers to apply for and gain 
citizenship when they first become eligible. Often, we hear 
that service-
members and veterans believe they are already citizens by 
nature of their honorable service, and because they swore an 
oath to support and defend our country.
    DHS and DOD are working together to improve outreach and 
educate servicemembers on the steps they need to take to 
achieve citizenship through their military service and to 
assist them in completing their process before they transition 
back to civilian life.
    The circumstances of veterans who have been deported are 
complicated, and often reflect complex societal challenges. 
These veterans are of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, 
and most came to the United States legally as children. They 
all served our country, many in Vietnam, Desert Storm, and some 
more recently in the global war on terror.
    What most have in common is they committed crimes that led 
to their removal from the United States. These veterans 
admittedly made mistakes. For most, the mistakes occurred in 
the distant past. Those who were convicted of serious crimes 
served their sentences in the United States before they were 
deported. Many have accepted responsibility for their actions 
and demonstrate rehabilitation.
    They have succeeded at rebuilding their lives and often 
choose to dedicate their time to supporting other veterans. 
Some are currently suffering from serious medical conditions 
and are in need of treatment that they are entitled to, but 
cannot access at VA medical facilities in the United States.
    These veterans are united in their desire to come home to 
the country they serve and where they grew up and where their 
families are. Through this initiative, I have met many veterans 
who have been removed from the United States. I am moved by 
their loyalty to our country and each other and their 
resilience and optimism.
    I would like to share a story of one Vietnam veteran who I 
had the honor to meet. This veteran immigrated to the United 
States with his family when he was seven years old. He 
honorably served in the Army for two years after being drafted 
in the early '70s. He was deported over 20 years ago after a 
conviction for possession with the intent to distribute 
marijuana. He hoped to return to the United States to help his 
son, also a veteran, who served in many combat missions in Iraq 
and suffers from PTSD.
    The veteran needed support of his father, the father needed 
medical treatment to address his heart condition, a procedure 
fully covered by his VA benefits. Not every veteran is approved 
to return under his initiative. Every request is handled on a 
case-by-case basis. After carefully reviewing this veteran's 
case, DHS granted his request for parole so that he could 
support his son and receive life-saving medical care.
    I am proud to work alongside the dedicated professionals 
from DHS, to VA, and DOD in support of our veterans. Their 
commitment is the very definition of public service. I am also 
very grateful for the partnership with the passionate advocates 
and veteran support groups who have been on the forefront of 
this issue for decades. They call on us to do our best to 
follow through and to leave no one behind.
    I am pleased to report that this interagency effort is 
bringing us closer to real solutions, and we look forward to 
continuing to work with Congress on this important issue.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I look 
forward to your questions.
    [The statement of Ms. Rogers follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very, very much.
    I'd like to hear now from Dr. MacDonald.

              STATEMENT OF DR. JENNIFER MACDONALD

    Dr. MacDonald. Thank you, Chair Lofgren, Ranking Member 
McClintock, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. 
Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss VA's efforts in 
support of the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans 
Initiative, alongside my esteemed colleagues from the 
Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense.
    When this initiative was collaboratively launched in July 
of 2021, Secretary McDonough reiterated VA's mission. ``It's 
our responsibility,'' he said, ``to serve veterans as well as 
they have served us no matter who they are, where they are 
from, or the status of their citizenship.'' We at VA are proud 
to work alongside our Federal partners to make that happen.
    VA operates, according to statute, when determining 
benefits and healthcare eligibility, and we have a 
responsibility to serve veterans regardless of their current 
citizenship or immigration status. To fulfill this 
responsibility, we are working closely alongside DHS and DOD to 
identify eligible deported veterans who may wish to access the 
care and services that they have earned. We are also 
collaborating with veteran service organizations, Congress, and 
nonprofit groups to engage these veterans.
    Notably, our Veteran Benefits Administration, operates an 
office dedicated to providing benefit support services to 
veterans located abroad, and VA's veterans experience office is 
working to contact veterans located abroad who may benefit from 
these focused efforts.
    I personally had the opportunity to witness the positive 
impact of these outreach efforts on September 15, 2021, at the 
San Ysidro Port of Entry, where VA and DHS partnered to provide 
COVID-19 vaccination to veterans. It was a gorgeous, sunny San 
Diego day and we worked side by side with DHS to set up vaccine 
stations, a blue tent to shade the medical observation area, 
and rows of bottled water.
    When everything was in place, the DHS team began to escort 
veterans into the Port of Entry for vaccination. One of the 
first veterans to sit down at my vaccination station had all 
the decorum of a trained soldier. He sat down quietly, with his 
back straight, feet evenly placed, hands set neatly in his lap, 
as if we were both back at basic training. I would recognize 
that Army etiquette anywhere. ``Good morning. I'm Dr. 
MacDonald,'' I said. ``Veteran to veteran, thank you for your 
service and I'm glad you're here today.'' His eyes widened, and 
he shifted for just a moment out of his perfect posture. 
``You're a vet too? What branch?'' I said ``Army.'' He 
responded with a hooah and visibly relaxed.
    As I asked him about allergies and COVID history, he joked 
that he had so many tattoos this vaccine couldn't possibly 
hurt. Then over my shoulder, he saw a group of VA personnel 
with orange Polo shirts just passed the medical observation 
tent. ``Are they medics?'' he asked. ``Actually, that's our 
veterans benefits team. When we're done here, if you're open to 
it, they want to talk to you about benefits you may be eligible 
for while you wait your 15 minutes in the medical observation 
tent.''
    He didn't respond and the silence was so long that I looked 
up. He was looking straight up at the bright blue sky trying 
with all his might to hold back the tears in his eyes and after 
taking a moment to compose himself, he turned to look me in the 
eye and said in a very quiet voice, ``Thank you for not 
forgetting us.''
    That story played out repeatedly over the course of the 
morning, not just at my station, but with the exceptional 
nurses and pharmacists who were coordinating the event that 
day. I also heard the DHS team thank those medical personnel 
for vaccinating their Customs and Border Protection and 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement colleagues, 54,916 of them, 
in fact, through VA's fourth mission.
    Our fourth mission, to support the nation in times of 
national emergency, has long been an essential element to the 
national response to hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural 
disasters. It is thanks to our world-class workforce delivering 
on that fourth mission that we have been able to support the 
nation throughout the pandemic.
    From vaccinating our Federal partners to supporting 
communities across America, communities where veterans and 
their families live and thrive. To date, VA's completed nearly 
200 distinct missions spanning all 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Tribal communities, providing direct 
clinical care, equipment, testing, training, consultation on 
infection protocols, and saving lives.
    In summary, VA remains committed alongside our Federal 
partners to ensuring that veterans receive the benefits and 
services they have earned and deserve in a manner that honors 
their service. They will continue to conduct outreach to 
veterans who may wish to access the care and services they have 
earned, and we will continue to deliver excellence through our 
fourth mission when our Federal partners call upon us.
    This concludes my testimony. Thank you for the opportunity 
to appear before you today, and I look forward to your 
questions.
    [The statement of Dr. MacDonald follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Ms. Lofgren. Thank you so very much.
    Let me turn now to our final Witness, Ms. Miller. You are 
recognized.

                 STATEMENT OF STEPHANIE MILLER

    Ms. Miller. Good afternoon, Chair Lofgren, Ranking Member 
McClintock, and Members of the Subcommittee. It is an honor to 
be with you today. I serve as the Director of Officer and 
Enlisted Personnel Management within the Office of the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In this 
capacity, I'm responsible for the oversight of all matters 
pertaining to officer and enlisted military personnel policy, 
and by extension, the recruitment and accession of military 
personnel throughout the department.
    Part of my responsibilities also include oversight of the--
    Ms. Garcia. Madam Chair, it's Garcia. I'm having difficulty 
hearing the Witness. It sounds a little garbly. I'm having 
trouble hearing. I wonder if she could get closer maybe to the 
mic?
    Ms. Lofgren. Ms. Miller, could you do that, please?
    Ms. Miller. I can try.
    Ms. Lofgren. It could be on your side.
    Ms. Garcia. It could be on mine, but the other two were 
very clear, so--
    Ms. Lofgren. Okay.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you. Sorry for the interruption.
    Ms. Lofgren. Let's start again, Ms. Miller.
    Ms. Miller. Yes, ma'am. Is this better?
    Ms. Lofgren. Yes.
    Ms. Miller. Thank you. Part of my responsibilities include 
oversight of the department's military naturalization program, 
which is managed in partnership with the Department of Homeland 
Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services.
    Since the founding of America's military, the United States 
has strongly supported and actively promoted the recruitment 
and naturalization of persons who are not U.S. nationals or 
citizens. The department has a long tradition of welcoming 
noncitizens into the profession of arms as critical members of 
our fighting team and supporting their efforts to obtain U.S. 
citizenship on the basis of hard-won, honorable military 
service.
    During my career as an officer in the United States Navy 
and as the Department of Defense civil servant, I have served 
under several Administrations, and in that time one consistent 
attribute has always been the importance of taking care of the 
men and women who serve in the United States military.
    With respect to noncitizen servicemembers, some of my 
earliest experiences in uniform stationed on USS Bunker Hill in 
San Diego, California, included 15 sailors and our legal 
service doctors and the preparation and facilitation of the 
requirements for naturalization.
    Participating in the naturalization ceremonies for both 
sailors and their qualifying family members are some of the 
most meaningful experiences I had while in service myself.
    Today, the military recruits approximately 10,000 
individuals annually who bring unique knowledge, skills, and 
abilities, and directly support national security priorities. 
Most recently, the department is an active participant in the 
Immigrant Military Member and Veteran Initiative, IMMVI, the 
interagency working group which formed after the signing of 
Executive Order 14012 in February of 2021.
    In collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security 
and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the department has 
continued to expand and improve essential services which 
support naturalization of qualifying servicemembers who choose 
to apply for U.S. citizenship. Well prior to the establishment 
of the IMMVI, the department has worked hand-in-hand with USCIS 
to improve the naturalization process. For example, to address 
the challenges associated with the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, 
our two agencies collaborated to establish a pilot process for 
secure virtual video interviews with servicemembers seeking 
naturalization rather than relying on the traditional in-person 
interview requirement.
    By connecting military installation legal service offices 
with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service officials, we 
were able to resume the naturalization process and address the 
backlog of approximately 400 qualifying military applicants 
effectively stalled in the naturalization process by the 
pandemic.
    Through the success of this pilot, secure virtual 
interviews have become a standing option available for 
qualifying applicants to ensure a streamlined means to provide 
citizen opportunities around the world. The completion of the 
1,000th naturalization oath of an overseas military 
servicemember in May demonstrates the value of this innovative 
process.
    The success of this program has recently led to offering 
virtual interviews and oath options to domestic bases and 
installations in the U.S., which will further expedite the path 
to citizenship to members of the Armed Forces and their 
qualifying dependents.
    Within the department, we continue our efforts to refine 
and improve notification to servicemembers of their eligibility 
for naturalization. The department is working to implement the 
requirements in section 523 of the fiscal year 1922 National 
Defense Authorization Act to ensure that a military recruit who 
is not a citizen of the United States receives proper notice of 
options for naturalization, and is informed of existing 
programs and services that may aid in that process.
    We expect to have policy in place soon to standardize best 
practices from across the military services into a consistent 
approach, particularly during recruitment, initial entry, and 
training periods, and prior to separation or retirement from 
service.
    While pursuing naturalization is and always will be a 
personal choice, the department is committed to proactive and 
regular engagement with noncitizen servicemembers about their 
eligibility to naturalize, naturalization pathways for their 
qualifying dependents, and the support services within the 
department to do so.
    As you well know, the process of naturalization 
applications is ultimately the purview of USCIS, and its 
mission is critical to the department and the sustainment of 
the all-volunteer force.
    To that end, I would like to take this opportunity to 
publicly thank USCIS for their years of partnership and 
progress towards improving our military naturalization program.
    Their dedicated employees who work tirelessly to facilitate 
the naturalization of military servicemembers and help support 
and naturalize the immigration for military family members 
makes a difference in the lives of our servicemembers every 
day.
    Thank you for this opportunity to address this Subcommittee 
today and for your continued support of the servicemembers who 
volunteer to serve our great nation. I look forward to 
answering your questions.
    [The statement of Ms. Miller follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Ms. Lofgren. Well, thank you very much, and thanks to all 
the Witnesses for their testimony.
    This is the time now in our hearing when Members can 
address the Witnesses with questions for up to five minutes. 
I'd first like to recognize our Ranking Member, Mr. McClintock, 
for his questions.
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Director Rogers, in your written testimony you said that as 
of May 11, 2021, the IMMVI team had reviewed and decided 24 
requests for parole. How many of those cases was parole 
granted, and how many was parole denied?
    Ms. Rogers. I apologize for not unmuting. Thank you for 
your question, Ranking Member McClintock. Since the initiative 
was started, we've updated the numbers as of June 24th, we've 
made decisions. We've received over 60 requests, and we've made 
decisions on 32.
    Mr. McClintock. How many were granted and how many were 
denied?
    Ms. Rogers. Sure. We have granted 16 cases for humanitarian 
parole, and we have denied eight. We have 32 pending with three 
that are just pending--
    Mr. McClintock. Okay. Were any of the deported alien 
veterans who've been paroled or otherwise allowed back in the 
United States pursuant to IMMVI? Were they convicted of crimes 
in the United States?
    Ms. Rogers. Yes. Yes, Congressman.
    Mr. McClintock. What crimes were each of these aliens 
initially deported for?
    Ms. Rogers. So, Congressman, I don't actually adjudicate 
the applications. We put together a very specialized team to 
review each and every--
    Mr. McClintock. Can you tell me what crimes they were 
deported for?
    Ms. Rogers. I can get back to you on the individual cases, 
but I do have--
    Mr. McClintock. Great. Please do. I'd like to get that 
information.
    When a deported veteran who is deported for committing a 
crime is paroled or otherwise allowed back in the United States 
pursuant to IMMVI, does DHS contact the victim of the crime to 
notify them that the alien perpetrator's being allowed back 
into the United States?
    Ms. Rogers. Every single case is reviewed on an individual 
case-by-case basis.
    Mr. McClintock. Is the victim of the crime notified you're 
letting this person back into the country?
    Ms. Rogers. It--we--
    Mr. McClintock. Yes or no? Do you contact the victims of 
the crimes, notify them that the person who committed the crime 
against them is going to be back in the United States?
    Ms. Rogers. I think it depends on the crimes that the 
individual has committed, and they're individualized--
    Mr. McClintock. If it's a crime, there's a victim involved. 
You notify the victim, yes or no?
    Ms. Rogers. Not all the crimes have victims that are 
involved--not all circumstances are their victims involved.
    Mr. McClintock. Where there's a victim involved, do you 
notify them or do you not know?
    Ms. Rogers. I don't--
    Mr. McClintock. Please just give me a straight answer. If 
you don't know, just say so.
    Ms. Rogers. I will say that I cannot give you a specific 
answer on an individual case because each case is reviewed in 
its entirety. So, it's possible that the law enforcement 
officers may--
    Mr. McClintock. Okay. Were any of these deported veterans 
allowed back into the country? Have they been dishonorably 
discharged from the military?
    Ms. Rogers. Not to my awareness, but I would have to get 
back to you on that.
    Mr. McClintock. So, none of them were dishonorably 
discharged?
    Ms. Rogers. Not to my knowledge, Congressman, because, 
again, I am not personally reviewing the case.
    Mr. McClintock. Well, please get back to me with an 
accurate answer to that question. How many deported family 
members, military servicemembers have been paroled back into 
the United States under IMMVI?
    Ms. Rogers. I'm sorry, Congressman. Could you repeat the 
question?
    Mr. McClintock. How many deported family members have been 
allowed back in?
    Ms. Rogers. I believe that number is three.
    Mr. McClintock. Okay. Does the Immigration and Nationality 
Act include an exemption from removal based on military service 
for foreign nationals who commit removable offenses?
    Ms. Rogers. No, there is not an exemption.
    Mr. McClintock. Okay. Does the Immigration and Nationality 
Act include an exemption from removal based on a family 
member's military service for foreign nationals who commit 
removal offenses?
    Ms. Rogers. It's not in the Immigration and Nationality 
Act, no.
    Mr. McClintock. I believe you're correct on that.
    Ms. Miller, why did the Obama Administration suspend the 
MAVNI program in 2016?
    Ms. Miller. Sir, the program was subject to continuous 
review--
    Mr. McClintock. No, no. Why did the Obama Administration 
suspend that program?
    Ms. Miller. Over the course of several reviews in 2016, the 
most recent review indicated that there were significant 
counterintelligence and security concerns within the program 
that led to its suspension.
    Mr. McClintock. How many MAVNI recruits were identified as 
having foreign influence for foreign presence?
    Ms. Miller. Sir, I don't have a definitive number or 
percentage. There was a small portion of the overall population 
that was determined to have a foreign influence or foreign 
nexus--
    Mr. McClintock. Would you get back to me on the exact 
number and the details of each case?
    Ms. Miller. Yes, sir.
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you.
    I see my time is expired.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
    I'd now like to recognize Chair Nadler for his questions.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Rogers, as you mentioned in your testimony, the 
Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative, or IMMVI, 
allows DHS to accept and consider on a case-by-case basis 
parole requests under section 212(d)5 of the Immigration 
Nationality Act from certain noncitizen, current, and former 
military servicemembers, as well as qualifying family members 
of current and former military servicemembers who are outside 
the United States.
    This allows these individuals to seek to enter the country 
to better avail themselves of the U.S. legal counsel and 
systems, and to gain access to certain veteran's benefits. 
Knowing that the use of DHS's parole authorities become more 
controversial recently, can you describe in more detail what 
factors DHS uses in making these parole determinations and why 
this is actually a prime example of how DHS should be using its 
parole authority?
    Ms. Rogers. Thank you, Chair Nadler, for the question.
    When I was assigned this responsibility back in July, we 
understood how complex this situation is and the way that we 
approached this initiative was to make sure that we put 
together a really sound process that included specialized 
training, dedicated officers who have a high level of 
experience in law enforcement, as well as the immigration with 
U.S. Citizenship and the USCIS staff that understand the 
eligibility for certain immigration benefits, and we developed 
a policy before we started making decisions on these requests 
for parole.
    In every single case, what we have committed to do for the 
veterans, is to do a case-by-case individualized review to 
consider a number of different factors in their requests, 
primarily that there's an urgent humanitarian consideration or 
a significant public health--public benefit to considering 
their--an exercise of discretion.
    The criteria includes both positive and negative factors 
relating to the decision, and a three-prong process of review 
where the officers from USCIS first review for eligibility for 
naturalization and other immigration benefits, then the 
enforcement and removal officers for review for public safety 
concerns and do a deeper dive into their criminal history. Then 
it goes to a supervisor for another review before the case is 
made--a final decision is made in the case.
    So, I think I would sum it up to say that we're very, very 
careful in the way--
    Chair Nadler. Sounds it. Have there been veterans at DHS 
has denied for parole?
    Ms. Rogers. Yes. Because we have looked at every single 
case individually, the primary consideration when we deny a 
case is whether there is a risk, whether there's a risk to 
public safety, a current public safety risk, and that would be 
an indication of recidivism or a national security concern.
    We always weigh military service heavily in a positive 
category, but unfortunately, sometimes the negative factors 
outweigh the positive in some of the cases.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you.
    Dr. MacDonald, my understanding's that some of these 
veterans who are receiving humanitarian parole are coming in 
just so that the Department of Veteran Affairs can provide 
healthcare services. Is that correct?
    Dr. MacDonald. That is our understanding, Chair, that there 
are veterans who very much wish to receive care and services 
from VA and, therefore, seek that option.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you.
    My last question is for Stephanie Miller. On February 2nd 
of last year, President Biden issued an Executive Order 
directing DHS as well as the State and Justice Departments to 
partner with the Department of Defense to ``facilitate 
naturalization for members of the military.''
    Ms. Miller, what actions has the Department of Defense 
taken as a result of this Executive Order to facilitate 
naturalization for members of the military?
    Ms. Miller. Yes, sir. Thank you for your question. We work 
very closely with our partners in USCIS to ensure the accuracy 
of information that is provided, both in the recruitment, 
accession, and later on, in the service phases.
    One of the more recent activities that we've done is work 
with USCIS to ensure that we have a list of the appropriate 
documentation that the new servicemember may need to initiate 
the process for naturalization consideration such that they can 
bring that material and those documents with them to basic 
training, and so they're not necessarily having to go back to 
family members to try to find these documents.
    Outside of that, we also work closely with USCIS to ensure 
that new servicemembers, whether in basic training or initial 
entry training or out in the field enforce that they have 
opportunities to meet with case officers, both with USCIS and 
with their legal services team to ensure that we are assisting 
them in completing their applications and answering all 
questions, as well as facilitating interviews, making sure that 
we're helping them along the process during that application.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you. My time's expired.
    I yield back.
    Ms. Lofgren. Mr. Buck is next, but I don't see him. So, 
speak up. If not, Mr. Biggs would be recognized for his five 
minutes.
    Mr. Biggs. I thank the Chair.
    Madam Chair, I do ask that we get a classified briefing on 
the MAVNI program. It's been raised here, and I think that some 
Members have not had a chance to get a full classified briefing 
really, quite frankly, on that program and I'd ask for that.
    I'll now go to Ms. Rogers. Ms. Rogers, all the veterans who 
were deported were deported based on an order of removal issued 
by an immigration judge. Is that so? I think you're muted.
    Ms. Rogers. Sorry. Yes, Congressman, that is correct.
    Mr. Biggs. So, I just want to be clear about that, because 
DHS is using parole then to allow individuals to enter the 
United States to circumvent the law. The recent omnibus 
appropriations bill requires DHS to provide quarterly reports 
``on the number of parole requests received and granted and for 
those granted the rationale for each grant in its duration.''
    The first report was due on May 14th, but we haven't 
received that. Do you know what the status of that report is?
    Ms. Rogers. I'm sorry. I don't know the status of that 
report, but I can get back to you, Congressman.
    Mr. Biggs. It was due May 14th. We're over a month late. 
I'm going to ask you if you would commit to get that to the 
Committee by the end of this week. Would you do that, please?
    Ms. Rogers. That report--I'm not familiar with that report. 
It's not within my responsibility, so, unfortunately, cannot 
commit to providing that to you by the end of this week, but I 
certainly can commit to checking and finding out the status of 
it.
    Mr. Biggs. I think that would be appropriate if you all 
would get on that since it's now six weeks old and past due.
    So, I just want to point out that we're having this hearing 
today. We should be having Secretary Mayorkas in, because he 
testified that the border was operationally secure, even after 
reviewing the statute, Secure Fence Act. The problem for 
Secretary Mayorkas is exactly a week later in responses to 
questions from Senator Langford, he then hedged his bet and 
said, well, you know what--and I'm going to quote here, 
``Actually, there's a statutory definition which provides, if 
I'm not mistaken, and I'll double-check to make sure.'' Now, I 
find that interesting since I know I read it too and I know 
Chip Roy read to him, but he went on to say, ``So, under that 
strict definition, this country's never had operational 
control.''
    There's a big difference between what he told Chip Roy when 
he said we had, ``operational control'' and then a week later, 
admitting that he didn't. So, I wanted to submit, Madam Chair, 
transcripts of those two hearings for the record.
    Ms. Lofgren. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]

                        MR. BIGGS FOR THE RECORD

=======================================================================

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Video of the April 28, 2022, Committee on the Judiciary 
hearing entitled, ``Oversight of the Department of Homeland 
Security,'' can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8QE1RjM-Qs
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you. I also think this Committee should be 
investigating why the Biden Administration is violating the 
rights of Americans, particularly members of the military by 
forcing them to get COVID-19 shots. It's troubling that 
Department of Defense is forcing servicemembers out of the 
military who object to COVID-19 shot. It's also troubling the 
Biden Administration is implementing radical woke policies in 
the Department of Defense.
    Let's get to this for a second. The INA has cleared illegal 
aliens, seeking--shall be detained even if they're seeking 
asylum. So, if they're seeking asylum, they should be detained, 
but under the Biden Administration, more than a million illegal 
aliens have been released into the United States since January 
2021. Nearly 100,000 were released just last month, and I think 
we need to be holding that.
    So, Ms. Rogers, it sounds to me like the Biden 
Administration is, once again, misusing one of its favorite 
tools and that is the tool of parole. Secretary Mayorkas 
continues to abuse the limited authority that Congress has 
given him to grant parole. The fact that DHS has paroled nearly 
400,000 aliens into the United States since January 2020 should 
be shocking to every member of this Committee. That's not what 
parole was designed to do.
    How many previously deported individuals have been paroled 
into the United States under the IMMVI program, please?
    Ms. Rogers. Thank you for the question, Congressman. We 
have had 16 veterans.
    Mr. Biggs. I thought that's what you said, yes. I thought--
let me ask you this question: Last Congress, this Subcommittee 
held a hearing, and one of the Witnesses was a veteran who was 
deported after he had fired a weapon at an occupied vehicle.
    So that, in and of itself, is interesting. So, I'll ask 
you, Ms. Miller, are individuals who fire weapons at occupied 
vehicles the types of individuals that your office is 
advocating for to be allowed to reenter the United States?
    Ms. Rogers. Is that question for me, Congressman Biggs or 
is that--
    Mr. Biggs. I'm sorry, yes. I'll ask Ms. Rogers same thing. 
I mean, Ms. Miller, the same thing.
    Ms. Miller first, and then Ms. Rogers.
    Ms. Miller, if you'd answer that, please.
    Ms. Miller. Sir, with respect to any prior criminal 
activity, that's certainly something that is reviewed very 
seriously with respect to qualifications for military services, 
and in most case, if it's an egregious criminal act, then they 
would be prevented from joining the military services.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman's time has expired, but Ms. 
Rogers can certainly answer the question.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Ms. Rogers. Yes, thank you. So, I'm not sure which veteran 
who testified, but--
    Mr. Biggs. Barajas.
    Ms. Rogers. Okay. If it's who I think--I thought that may 
have been who you were referring to. He actually was eligible 
for citizenship and is a U.S. citizen today because he 
qualified under section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act for citizenship.
    Mr. Biggs. Madam Chair, I'll yield back.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
    Ms. Jayapal is recognized.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Immigrants have defended the United States in every major 
conflict since the Revolutionary War, yet anywhere from a few 
hundred to a few thousand immigrant veterans are estimated to 
have been deported. That is unacceptable, and I'm very proud 
that President Biden has taken steps to not only stop 
deportations of veterans, but also to allow deported veterans 
to return and to ensure immigrant servicemembers and their 
families can become citizens and have access to military 
benefits.
    So, I have a number of questions. If you wouldn't mind just 
keeping your answers short so I can get through all of them, I 
would certainly appreciate it.
    Ms. Rogers, the first several are for you. Would you agree 
that it's in the best interest of our national security to 
naturalize immigrants serving in the military?
    Ms. Rogers. I would say that my opinion doesn't--is really 
not relevant because under section 329 of immigration law, 
they're eligible to apply and become citizens.
    Ms. Jayapal. We've heard from previous Witnesses that this 
is very important. For instance, if we had someone with a green 
card from South Korea who enlists and is stationed in South 
Korea, this person could be subject to arrest because there's 
mandatory military conscription for men in South Korea. So, we 
put our own military folks in danger by not ensuring 
citizenship.
    In your opening statement, Ms. Rogers, you mentioned that 
USCIS cannot complete a naturalization application from an 
Active Duty servicemember without certification of their 
service from DOD. Can you briefly discuss some of the 
interagency obstacles that currently exist to making 
naturalization at basic training a reality for all noncitizen 
servicemembers?
    Ms. Rogers. Yes. USCIS and DOD, as my colleague, Ms. 
Miller, stated, worked very closely in partnership to support 
members of the military in accessing citizenship. The form 
you're talking about, the certification of service, is required 
before USCIS can proceed with an application, and I would defer 
to my colleague, Ms. Miller, to discuss that process further as 
it is a DOD function.
    Ms. Jayapal. Would you like to respond to that, Ms. Miller, 
briefly?
    Ms. Miller. Yes, ma'am. As a result of a court order in 
August of 2020, the department currently is certifying N-426 
requests. In as little as the first day of qualification at 
basic training, the individual has the opportunity to request 
that certification and ensuring that the proper requirements 
are met, an 06 officer or higher, goes through the process of 
certifying that. Then working closely with USCIS who ensure the 
next steps in the process are facilitated between the two 
agencies.
    Ms. Jayapal. Are there additional authorities, Ms. Rogers, 
that you or DOD require to make this happen or make it happen 
more quickly?
    Ms. Rogers. There are other requirements to naturalization, 
is that what you're referring to, Congresswoman, or other 
obstacles? I'm not sure--
    Ms. Jayapal. It's really more broadly. The question for you 
in terms of how do we ensure that we are being most efficient 
and quick with these applications?
    Ms. Rogers. Well, first, the most important thing is the 
partnership between USCIS and DOD, and the communication with 
the servicemember, because when the servicemember--it's really 
important for our servicemember, as I stated in my opening 
remarks, to understand that there's a process to becoming a 
U.S. citizen. There's an application that needs to be filed. 
They have to get the certification from their commanding 
officer and it's very, very important that we continue to 
foster our partnership with DOD, and as a matter of fact, we 
have started to enter into discussions about putting together a 
formal agreement about where the touch points will be for the 
servicemembers.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. I have a question for Ms. Miller. 
Only the Navy has facilitated naturalization for its 
servicemembers, correct?
    Ms. Miller. No, ma'am. All services facilitate 
naturalization on behalf of qualifying servicemembers and have 
legal service officers who are trained to help expedite that 
process.
    Ms. Jayapal. Well, what I meant to say is, has facilitated 
naturalization at basic training. Is it only the Navy that has 
done that at basic training?
    Ms. Miller. The Navy is working to determine if it would be 
appropriate to establish a permanent office within their basic 
training location, the other basic training locations within 
the other services work with USCIS case officers and bring them 
in on a periodic basis rather than having a permanent 
establishment.
    Ms. Jayapal. I would like to come back to this. My time is 
expired, but our understanding is that it's only the Navy that 
has been doing this, and so, I want to make sure that we are 
working with DOD to expand naturalization among servicemembers.
    Madam Chair, I yield back.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady yields back. Mr. Tiffany is now 
recognized for five minutes.
    Mr. Tiffany. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Director Rogers, we just heard in previous testimony that 
there were some significant counterintelligence concerns with 
the program that was set in place during the Obama 
Administration.
    Can you guarantee us that we will not allow someone to 
enter who has those significant counterintelligence concerns, 
in particular, in regard to China, which is extremely 
aggressive in trying to mole into our Armed Services?
    Ms. Rogers. Congressman, are you referring to the MAVNI 
program?
    Mr. Tiffany. That is correct.
    Ms. Rogers. So, I would, of course, defer to my colleague 
at DOD to respond to the security checks that went--
    Mr. Tiffany. Ms. Miller, would you please--thank you very 
much for that, Director.
    Ms. Miller, would you care to comment on that?
    Ms. Miller. Yes, sir. We certainly have a tremendous amount 
of lessons learned with respect to the outcomes of the MAVNI 
program, which we worked very hard to build in to revised 
background investigation and screening protocols with our 
colleagues in intel and security.
    A few years ago, we did establish a new protocol called the 
expedited screening protocol. It's a program that optimizes 
data sources from the classified and unclassified data systems 
for multiple point of identity detection efforts--
    Mr. Tiffany. Ms. Miller, I really appreciate the answer, 
but I have a limited amount of time.
    Can you guarantee us no one is going to get in as a result 
of this new program that's going to jeopardize our intelligence 
here in America?
    Ms. Miller. Well, sir, since this is a new program and 
while I certainly am not in a position to guarantee that there 
will be absolutely no one in the forthcoming future, I do know 
that our current expedited screening protocol procedures are a 
much improved process and has had positive results.
    Mr. Tiffany. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks.
    That's very clear. You can't guarantee it, and it's part of 
the reason we should be so circumspect here. It's no different 
than Afghanistan, when the Department of Defense or--excuse 
me--Department of State said: ``Just get them on the planes. 
We'll worry about the immigration stuff later. ``
    We've already lost 50 people according to the inspector 
general using the parole program here by the Department of 
Homeland Security.
    Americans' national security is being jeopardized every 
day. We're certainly seeing it down on the southern border. 
Unfortunately, we've got the right issue here today, but it's 
the wrong topic. It should be about securing our southern 
border.
    We heard about root causes by the Vice President, who is in 
charge of securing the border, about a year ago, but this 
nonenforcement of our immigration laws just appears it's going 
to continue on pace. What do we get as a result of that?
    We have the largest human trafficking operation, possibly 
in the history of the world, being conducted by or complicit--
the United States government is complicit in that as a result 
of the Biden Administration. We're seeing it. I was down in 
Panama. I've been down to the southern border. I've seen how 
it's operating. The United States government is complicit in it 
at this point. What do we see? We see 51 people that were 
broiled to death this week down in Texas.
    These are the type of things that are happening. One in 10 
people, they estimate, going through the Darien Gap trying to 
get to America from Panama are dying en route. This has turned 
so deadly, and it all started on January 20, 2021, with the 
Biden Administration. The Biden Administration has done this.
    What I would say, Madam Chair: Why don't we do something 
about it? How about in this Committee right here? How about if 
we take action? What if we stop dealing with things--while this 
is an important issue certainly to a few of the people, as we 
see with the numbers, this is--what I'm referring to is 
important to all Americans. We have no controls on the border. 
We have no idea who is in our country.
    Fentanyl is flowing freely into our communities. In fact, 
Madam Chair, you just saw it in your State in the last week 
where a district attorney allowed people off on bail that had 
enough fentanyl to kill tens of thousands of people. Taxpayer 
funds are being used to move illegal immigrants across our 
country. That's what Americans can continue to expect under 
this administration.
    We can do better. Madam Chair, we're prepared to roll up 
our sleeves and get solutions, so we don't have another 51 
migrants broiled to death down in Texas. You can be assured, 
though they may die in another manner, there is going to be 
many more because that's what we've been seeing since January 
20, 2021.
    I yield back.
    Ms. Lofgren. Gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Correa, you are now recognized for five minutes.
    Mr. Correa. Madam Chair, thank you very much.
    I want to thank our Witnesses for being here today.
    This is a very important hearing because this is about 
keeping our country strong. It's about keeping our commitment 
to our veterans, keeping our promise to those that go off and 
fight in foreign lands for our freedom as well as freedom of 
those around the world. When they come back to the U.S., we've 
got to make sure we take care of them.
    General question, if I can have a quick answer. We're 
talking about non-U.S. citizen veterans. Have they been 
promised by their recruiters U.S. citizenship upon honorable 
discharge? Do you know that, yes or no, any of the Witnesses, 
please?
    Ms. Miller. So, sir, it seems appropriate for me to answer 
from the Department of Defense. Our recruiters do not promise 
because the department is not in the position to promise the 
outcome of a naturalization application. They certainly do talk 
to noncitizen recruits about--
    Mr. Correa. If I can interrupt you, because I have very 
little time here. You've got a noncitizen who essentially comes 
into our military, takes the oath to protect our flag and our 
country.
    Many of them don't make it back to the U.S.; many of them 
make the ultimate sacrifice. I have one of them here in my 
district, Jose Angel Garibay; 20 years ago, a noncitizen, was 
the first Orange County casualty of war, made the ultimate 
sacrifice in Iraq. Came back to the U.S.? No, he didn't come 
back.
    We gave him U.S. citizenship posthumously. His mother 
couldn't get a driver's license for another 10-15 years. That's 
how messed up our system is.
    My point to all of you is, why haven't we come up with a 
system where every noncitizen who serves in our--to our 
country, is honorably discharged--why can't we come up with a 
system so, by the time they're out, they get citizenship? 
What's holding us back? Earned citizenship, why can't they get 
that?
    Ms. Rogers?
    Ms. Rogers. I can start. Yes, certainly.
    I think that this is the whole point of this initiative, is 
to make sure that our partnerships with--
    Mr. Correa. Excellent. Excellent. Let me move to the next 
question.
    How many noncitizens serve in our Armed Forces right now? 
What percentage of our military are noncitizens?
    Ms. Rogers. I believe it's three percent, but I certainly 
defer to Ms. Miller on the exact numbers. About 10,000 a year.
    Mr. Correa. Ms. Miller?
    Ms. Miller. Correct.
    Mr. Correa. How many is that in absolute numbers? Do you 
know?
    Ms. Miller. I think, right now--I will make sure I provide 
the Committee the full number. As Ms. Rogers said, we have 
about 10,000 that come in per year, and then they subsequently 
seek to be naturalized.
    Mr. Correa. These are people that swear an oath to protect 
our country.
    How many of those are actually security risks? How many of 
those are working for a foreign country? No answer?
    Ms. Miller. Sir, some of those answers would be at a 
classified level.
    Mr. Correa. Okay. In terms of healthcare, it's my 
understanding--I've gone out to Tijuana, Mexico, to visit with 
deported veterans. They're deported for a number of reasons--
some, battery and drugs. The primary reason they're deported is 
because of drugs. PTSD, and this is what they turn to, and that 
leads to other issues.
    It's my understanding, though, that a lot of these veterans 
are able to access healthcare in Mexico. Is that correct?
    Dr. MacDonald. Congressman, VA does provide a reimbursement 
program called the Foreign Medical Program for Veterans Living 
Abroad.
    Mr. Correa. Okay.
    Dr. MacDonald. With a few exceptions, that is the authority 
that we have to help veterans access healthcare abroad. It is 
only within the U.S. that we are able to provide direct 
healthcare, again, with those limited exceptions.
    Mr. Correa. I'm running out of time, so let me jump around 
to a different issue.
    The immigration judges, one of my colleagues asked 
earlier--these individuals, once they're convicted of a certain 
crime, they're essentially deported. Those immigration judges 
do not have any discretion. If a noncitizen resident versus a 
noncitizen veteran is convicted of the same crime, they're both 
deportable. A veteran who served honorably, that issue is not 
taken into consideration by an immigration judge. Is that 
correct?
    Ms. Rogers. The immigration court procedure is very 
complicated. What we have seen in these cases is that some of 
the attorneys have gone back and requested mitigation of their 
original criminal conviction, which has helped. Every case is 
very complicated, and those veterans really need that--
    Mr. Correa. I'm running out of time, Ms. Rogers. Thank you 
very much.
    I believe that there is no discretion here for judges when 
they have these defendants in front of them. They may have been 
a war hero, gotten medals, and lost limbs. That's not 
considered when they're up for deportation.
    Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I yield.
    Ms. Lofgren. Thank you back. The gentleman yields back.
    Ms. Garcia is now recognized.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for 
hosting this very important--very important hearing.
    As has been said, this is something that many of us have 
been talking about. I know we've had a previous hearing. For 
many years, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has consistently 
advocated for the rights of our immigrant veterans and members 
of our military families.
    As a Member of this Committee and a Member of the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I want to thank the Chair for 
recognizing the great importance of this hearing.
    We have, Madam Chair, a moral obligation to those who have 
served our nation and our armed services. Since the 
Revolutionary War, immigrant servicemembers have continued to 
fight in every major conflict throughout our history. That 
obligation is not limited to our military members. It extends 
also to their families.
    All of us who have family members that have joined the 
service know the pain and sacrifice of seeing our loved ones 
head overseas to fight for our liberty without knowing if or 
when we'll ever see them again. Those who have served our 
country have paid for their actions and who do not pose a 
threat to us, and they should not be condemned to exile simply 
because of their status. They should be allowed to--through the 
process with their pending immigration proceedings within the 
United States, in the nation where they took their oath and 
where they defended our country.
    They should also receive the comprehensive healthcare 
benefits that they richly deserve. I want to commend the 
efforts of the Biden Administration in dignifying our veterans 
and service-
members who have served and sacrificed for our country.
    I want to start to make sure--I want to make sure, Ms. 
Miller. Our notes tell us that there's 45,000 actively serving 
LPRs, legally permanent residents, in the military. You said 
you get 10,000 a year. So, would 45,000 be accurate for the 
number that is currently serving?
    Ms. Miller. Yes, ma'am. That is what we believe is 
accurate. Our systems only really capture either citizen or 
noncitizen. Then, once they naturalize, that system changes to 
citizen. So, it's sometimes difficult to account for the total.
    Ms. Garcia. They are legally permanent residents. They're 
not, as one of my colleagues characterized and--to a word I 
detest, I find very offensive--used the word ``alien.'' These 
are soldiers. A soldier is a soldier. So, they are LPRs. They 
are soldiers, and they are people that we need to honor with 
dignity and respect, because they've taken the oath of office 
to defend our country and our flag. So, just want to be clear 
on the population that we're talking about.
    So, I want to ask Ms. Rogers--and thank you. It's good to 
see you again. I know you've presented to the Congressional 
Hispanic Caucus, and I see you've made some progress. What 
other efforts does your agency make to ensure that the veterans 
that have been deported, that have issues, or have issues with 
their families can receive the attention that they need?
    Ms. Rogers. Thank you, Congresswoman Garcia. It's good to 
see you again, too.
    We have really taken a very holistic approach to this 
initiative. We have a special portal for veterans who are 
outside the United States who are seeking to return home. That 
is staffed with experienced officers who can assist them with 
their cases. We have a really robust website that provides lots 
of resources for veterans, military members, and their 
families.
    I think the best thing that has happened through this 
initiative is the interagency coordination and our ability to 
look at the problem holistically. For example, when we're 
working on a case, we're often--almost daily are reaching out 
to the VA for assistance with verifying the VA benefits 
eligibility and what kind of healthcare a servicemember--a 
veteran might be eligible for. So, this relationship is only 
going to get stronger over the next year, and we're going to 
continue to really improve the services for our veterans.
    Ms. Garcia. Well, thank you. I see some progress even since 
the last time we saw each other.
    I want to go back to Ms. Miller and following up on a 
question my colleague, Ms. Jayapal, asked you.
    You seemed to say that all the military branches under--do 
not have a process or a system or a program in place at the 
basic training level to ensure that the new recruit knows that 
you are there to support them through this process. Did I hear 
that clearly, or did you say the Navy was considering it? What 
about the Army, the Coast Guard, and everyone else?
    What are you all doing to make sure everybody's doing it so 
that the soldier who has the expectation that you would help 
does, in fact, get help?
    Ms. Miller. So, ma'am--
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady's time has expired, but the 
Witness can certainly answer.
    Ms. Miller. Yes, ma'am. In brief, each service has their 
own distinct program by which they work with new recruits at 
basic training to inform them of their ability to pursue 
naturalization and what that looks like and that we have legal 
service officers to help them.
    The difference is that the Navy is looking at permanently 
establishing an office at their basic training location whereas 
the other services have programs where they bring in the case 
workers and the legal services officers. So, same services are 
being provided, and just in different fashions.
    Ms. Garcia. All right.
    Madam Chair, I do have a follow-up to that, and I'll submit 
it in writing. Thank you.
    Ms. Lofgren. Okay. Very good. The gentlelady yields back.
    Ms. Jackson Lee, you are recognized for five minutes.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you to the Chair and the Ranking 
Member for bringing us together on an important matter.
    As I begin--as I begin--there I am.
    As I begin, let me, first, indicate that Texas, because of 
the number of untoward policies and some inadequacies in 
responding to the crisis of smuggling, has seen the largest 
number of deaths of migrants who are coming into this country 
under circumstances of desperation, are coming to be united 
with family, coming for work, coming and fleeing persecution of 
gangs and violence and death, murder, and rape.
    So, in the last 48 hours, 51 dead migrants were found in an 
18-wheeler near San Antonio. I want this Committee to have my 
voice and the record to note that we have acknowledged their 
death, that we are sad regarding their death, and that we are 
taking a mental moment of silence for this heinous and absurd 
tragedy.
    Until America fixes its broken immigration system, passing 
comprehensive immigration reform, which myself, the Chair, and 
many Members of this Committee have filed over and over again 
with vast agreement around the nation from the work on AG 
procedures to help our farmers; to DACA, still undone; to 
Uniting Families, undone, that we've worked very hard. To the 
dismay of those of us who have tried to use the legal system, 
immigration opponents blindly, without thinking, without 
reviewing, without understanding, have blocked this 
legislation.
    So, I want to add into the record ``Two Men Charged in 
Connection With Deaths of 51 Migrants'' and now three. I ask 
unanimous consent to place this into the record.
    Ms. Lofgren. Without objection.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I would hope that we will have an 
opportunity, Madam Chair, to go back to this issue and look at 
the horrors of what happened, and how did it happen? It's not 
just the failure in terms of the individuals who have come out 
of desperation, but there are a whole lot of elements that we 
should address.
    Let me quickly ask to put into the record ``ICE deported 
veterans while 'unaware' it was required to carefully screen 
them.'' I ask unanimous consent, a Washington Post article.
    Ms. Lofgren. Without objection.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I ask unanimous consent.
    Then ``Military service was once a fast track to U.S. 
citizenship. The Trump Administration keeps narrowing that 
possibility.'' These policy changes hurt military recruitment 
and effectiveness.
    I ask unanimous consent to place that into the record.
    Ms. Lofgren. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]

                     MS. JACKSON LEE FOR THE RECORD

=======================================================================

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me quickly ask a question to the 
Witnesses on--and note for the record that there are 45,000 
active veterans--active military that are immigrants, and 2.4 
million that are of immigrant origin.
    Let me ask Dr. Jennifer MacDonald: Can you estimate the 
value of having the opportunity to recruit veterans and also 
that happen to have an immigrant history or migrant background, 
and, as well, how important it is to address this question as 
relates to the dealing with the health benefits when they are 
not treated fairly and are screened, or deported, rather?
    What negative impact happens to both the veteran, but also 
military service?
    Dr. MacDonald. Congresswoman, we know that veterans who are 
able to access VA healthcare and benefits do better not just in 
the first year of transition, where challenges arise and many 
veterans face mental health concerns, adjustments to society as 
they exit the military--this is why we've initiated a program 
called Solid Start that aims to contact veterans multiple times 
throughout that first year.
    We, also, know that the benefit of accessing healthcare and 
benefits extends throughout the rest of that veteran's life. 
It's essential to us, and that's why it's a top priority for us 
to make sure that we reach out to each and every veteran who is 
eligible for care and services that they've earned in the 
military.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. We've heard the word ``criminal,'' and 
have you notified the victims, and we are all very concerned to 
make sure our nation is safe. Can you tell us that these 
immigrant veterans that are just randomly deported because of 
the very harsh implementation of the Trump Administration, that 
they're making it harder for them to receive a certificate and 
background checks and other things, that you feel that you can 
put a protocol in place that would vet these veterans and 
ensure that they can get into services that make them safe and 
contributing citizens in the United States?
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady's time has expired, but the 
Witness can answer the question.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I thank the Chair.
    Dr. MacDonald. Thank you, Congresswoman. I will defer to 
Ms. Rogers on that question. The VA does look forward to taking 
care of each and every veteran eligible to seek care with us.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Yes. Ms. Rogers?
    Ms. Rogers. Yes. I would add--and thank you--that you, 
under the IMMVI initiative, DHS is doing everything in its 
power and within its discretion to make fair decisions for all 
the veterans. I do think, at the end of the day, that goal is a 
temporary status in the United States. It is not a permanent 
solution for the challenges that we see with the veterans who 
have been removed.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady's time has expired.
    Ms. Scanlon is recognized.
    Ms. Scanlon. Thank you, Madam Chair, for holding this 
important hearing.
    As we're working to address a variety of immigration 
matters through this Subcommittee, I think it's really 
important that we make sure we're keeping our promises to 
immigrant members of our military and veterans who faithfully 
served in our Armed Forces in every major conflict since the 
Revolutionary War.
    So, I come from a legal services background, and one thing 
that I've worked with over time is helping veterans to receive 
benefits. Often they need legal representation to work through 
the benefits system. They get denied when they shouldn't. They 
have trouble putting together their claim, getting enough 
documentation, et cetera.
    So, Ms. Jackson Lee and I have both been working on 
medical-legal partnership bills to try to make sure we've got 
more services, legal aid services for veterans. In this 
country, we don't provide legal services to immigrants.
    So, I'm curious if each of our panelists could speak to 
whether you think that providing some legal aid to veterans who 
might be seeking legal status would be helpful, maybe starting 
with Ms. MacDonald?
    Dr. MacDonald. Congresswoman, we certainly know that there 
are veterans, both those who are seeking procedures through the 
immigration system and those who encounter the legal system in 
other ways, who need legal aid. To support them, we've made 
available on our website a unification of resources, pro bono 
legal services that they may access.
    This is also available through the resource center that was 
launched in coordination with the portal in February as part of 
IMMVI. We recognize that access to those services is important.
    Beyond that, Congresswoman, I'll defer to my DOD and DHS 
colleagues.
    Ms. Scanlon. Director Rogers?
    Ms. Rogers. Yes. I think that this issue of access to 
counsel is probably one of the biggest challenges that we've 
seen within this program. Just to put it in context, we've had 
about 144 inquiries through the portal from veterans who are 
outside the United States. As a result of those inquiries, we 
have advised them of what the process is, if they're interested 
in filing a request for humanitarian parole, and only 60 
veterans have applied. We do think, through our coordination 
and consultations, our engagements with the stakeholder 
community, that the reason for that low number is because the 
process is so complex, and they do not have access to counsel.
    Ms. Scanlon. Do you have anything to add, Ms. Miller?
    Ms. Miller. Ma'am, we too agree that having access to 
informed and qualified legal support services within the 
Department of Defense has been very helpful for our 
servicemembers who are seeking naturalization.
    Ms. Scanlon. Yeah. I mean, we know that, just generally, 
the immigration system is pretty complex and that having access 
to counsel makes a huge, huge difference in people's ability to 
navigate that system when they have legal claims under our 
system. So, I appreciate that input.
    I had one more question for Ms. Miller. Under the Obama 
Administration, there was a program called the Basic Training 
Initiative, where immigrants who joined any branch of the 
military had the opportunity to naturalize and become U.S. 
citizens at basic training. This seemed as though it was an 
effective way to tick that box and have it happen when people 
were onboarding, as it were, onboard in multiple ways.
    So, we know the Trump Administration ended that initiative 
and made it harder for military members to naturalize. I think 
they about halved the number of military members who were 
naturalizing annually.
    So, I understand the U.S. Navy has reinstituted that 
process, but the rest of the service branches have not. Does 
the Department of Defense plan to coordinate with USCIS to 
bring this initiative back to the other branches?
    Ms. Miller. Ma'am, we continue to evaluate the best method 
to deliver services to qualifying recruits, whether they're in 
basic training, initial entry training, or during their career. 
As we mentioned before, the Navy has brought back some of those 
elements of the basic training program, and the other services 
have partnerships with USCIS where they periodically bring in 
legal services and case workers.
    That appears to be working--both methodologies appear to be 
working, and the feedback we get is good. We continue to 
evaluate whether it makes sense to reestablish those base-level 
offices. We want to ensure that, in addition to support of 
basic training, that we're providing the same level of support 
beyond basic training.
    Ms. Scanlon. Okay. Thank you.
    I see my time has expired, so I yield back.
    Ms. Lofgren. The gentlelady yields back.
    I now recognize myself just for some concluding questions.
    First, I want to thank all the Witnesses and Members for 
their participation today. I do think it's very important that 
we live up to our commitment to the veterans of this country. 
All of us are so lucky that we were Americans just through the 
circumstance of our birth. You know, how lucky we are.
    These are individuals who have decided to volunteer to 
defend the country. They've taken a step beyond just the good 
fortune of getting born in the United States, and the 
recognition of that must be taken.
    As I listen, I'm mindful that we need to make this very 
simple. Obviously, the naturalization at the front would avoid 
other problems at the end. I'm not a veteran. I never went 
through basic training. My husband has talked to me what basic 
training is like and, from what he said, they very rarely ask 
the people in basic training what they want to do; they tell 
them what to do.
    So, obviously, no one will be naturalized against their 
will, but I think that this should be automatic--an application 
should be put in front of a noncitizen soldier, and they can 
decide. If they don't want to follow through, that would be up 
to them. I do think it's incumbent on the Defense Department to 
make that part of the entire system.
    Like the Ranking Member, I'm interested in additional data. 
We did get a rundown of just the 144 requests for assistance 
through the portal. I think it's interesting that, of those who 
inquired, only seven were under 40 years old, and most were 
over 40. Most of the offenses were drug offenses, and some were 
not any criminal offenses.
    The ages of the conviction, all but two were over five 
years old, and 108 were more than 10 years old. So, I think it 
would be good to find out kind of the nature of this population 
just so we understand it.
    Having said that, the real question before us is whether 
someone who has volunteered to serve their country in the U.S. 
military, who gets out and messes up, should, in addition to 
paying the penalty under the criminal law for messing up, also 
be expelled from the United States.
    With unanimous consent, I'll put a statement into the 
record from the American Legion.
    They argue that veterans should not be deported and that, 
for those who have already been deported, that a visa be made 
available to them to come back, that there shouldn't be a 
special penalty for those who have messed up.
    As we all know, those who serve, especially in brutal 
combat, can suffer emotional distress, PTSD, that can lead to 
problems in later life.
    I'd also ask unanimous consent to put into the record a 
statement from the Chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, 
Mr. Mark Takano, in favor of these efforts, as well as a letter 
by Ken Olsen about Broken Promises.
    Without objection, those items will be made part of the 
record.
    [The information follows:]

                       MS. LOFGREN FOR THE RECORD

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    Ms. Lofgren. I hope that we are able to take some action to 
smooth the return of those who served their country in the 
United States military and who ended up outside of the United 
States. I give credit to the administration for the proactive 
action that's been taken using the parole authority that is 
within the Immigration and Nationality Act, but clearly that is 
not the easiest way to proceed to right what I think the 
American Legion would argue is a wrong.
    I'm hopeful that we can move forward to pass legislation to 
honor our veterans, to make sure that they get the respect that 
they earned through their service to our country.
    I would also note that looking at the demographics, the 
vast majority of those who have inquired about the parole 
program have been removed for more than 20 years. Many of them 
are elderly over 60; some between 70-80 years of age.
    These are individuals who served their country in combat, 
who need the veterans' benefits that they earned, and we need 
to do what we can to honor their service to them.
    At this point and without objection, we will note that the 
record will remain open for five legislative days for 
additional written questions that can be sent to the Witnesses. 
We ask, if that does occur, that you answer those questions, 
and other questions that may be sent to you, as well as the 
data that has been asked, we will pursue.
    Without objection, hearing no objection, this concludes 
today's hearing.
    I, once again, like to thank our Witnesses and the Members 
for participating.
    Without objection, this hearing is now adjourned.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Madam Chair, and happy Fourth of 
July.
    Ms. Lofgren. To all of you.
    [Whereupon, at 3:32 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

                                APPENDIX

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                  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR THE RECORD

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