[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
PRESIDENT BIDEN'S BORDER CRISIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
=======================================================================
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS
AND THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 15, 2023
__________
Serial No. 118-9
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Published for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
govinfo.gov/committee/house-energy
energycommerce.house.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
53-027 WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
Chair
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio Ranking Member
BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky ANNA G. ESHOO, California
H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio DORIS O. MATSUI, California
LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana KATHY CASTOR, Florida
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland
TIM WALBERG, Michigan PAUL TONKO, New York
EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina TONY CARDENAS, California
GARY J. PALMER, Alabama RAUL RUIZ, California
NEAL P. DUNN, Florida SCOTT H. PETERS, California
JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan
DEBBBIE LESKO, Arizona MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
GREG PENCE, Indiana ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
DAN CRENSHAW, Texas ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California
KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota, Vice LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware
Chair DARREN SOTO, Florida
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia KIM SCHRIER, Washington
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
RUSS FULCHER, Idaho LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
AUGUST PFLUGER, Texas
DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
KAT CAMMACK, Florida
JAY OBERNOLTE, California
------
Professional Staff
NATE HODSON, Staff Director
SARAH BURKE, Deputy Staff Director
TIFFANY GUARASCIO, Minority Staff Director
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia
Chairman
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas KATHY CASTOR, Florida
BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky Ranking Member
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado
GARY J. PALMER, Alabama JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
DEBBIE LESKO, Arizona, Vice Chair PAUL TONKO, New York
DAN CRENSHAW, Texas RAUL RUIZ, California
KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota SCOTT H. PETERS, California
KAT CAMMACK, Florida FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington officio)
(ex officio)
Subcommittee on Health
BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
Chairman
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas ANNA G. ESHOO, California
ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio Ranking Member
H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida TONY CARDENAS, California
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio RAUL RUIZ, California
LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana, Vice Chair DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
NEAL P. DUNN, Florida NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California
GREG PENCE, Indiana LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware
DAN CRENSHAW, Texas ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania KIM SCHRIER, Washington
DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
JAY OBERNOLTE, California officio)
CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
(ex officio)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hon. H. Morgan Griffith, a Representative in Congress from the
Commonwealth of Virginia, opening statement.................... 1
Prepared statement........................................... 4
Hon. Tony Cardenas, a Representative in Congress from the State
of California, opening statement............................... 10
Prepared statement........................................... 12
Hon. Michael C. Burgess, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas, opening statement.............................. 14
Prepared statement........................................... 16
Hon. Marc A. Veasey, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Texas, opening statement.................................... 21
Prepared statement........................................... 23
Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Washington, opening statement..................... 26
Prepared statement........................................... 28
Hon. Angie Craig, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Minnesota, opening statement................................... 31
Witnesses
Urbino Martinez, Brooks County Sheriff........................... 33
Prepared statement........................................... 36
Answers to submitted questions............................... 94
Stuart Archer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Oceans
Healthcare..................................................... 39
Prepared statement........................................... 41
Answers to submitted questions............................... 95
Rochelle M. Garza, President, Texas Civil Rights Project......... 46
Prepared statement........................................... 48
Brandon Judd, President, National Border Patrol Council.......... 54
Prepared statement........................................... 56
Submitted questions for the record \1\....................... 98
Submitted Material
Inclusion of the following was approved by unanimous consent.
Report, ``Drug Seizure Statistics FY2023,'' U.S. Customs and
Border Protection.............................................. 91
----------
\1\ Mr. Judd did not answer submitted questions for the record by the
time of publication. Replies received after publication will be
retained in committee files and made available at https://
docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=115348.
PRESIDENT BIDEN'S BORDER CRISIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
----------
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,
joint with the
Subcommittee on Health,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittees met, pursuant to call, at 7:10 p.m., in
Building D, 301 W. Railroad Street, Weslaco, Texas, Hon. Morgan
Griffith (chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations) presiding.
Members present: Representatives Griffith, Burgess, Latta,
Bilirakis, Carter, Crenshaw, Joyce, Harshbarger, Miller-Meeks,
Cammack, Rodgers (ex officio), Cardenas, and Craig.
Also present: Representatives Walberg, Weber, Allen,
Pfluger, and Veasey.
Staff present: Kate Arey, Content Manager and Digital
Assistant; Sean Brebbia, Chief Counsel, Oversight and
Investigations; Jolie Brochin, Clerk, Health; Sarah Burke,
Deputy Staff Director; Kristin Flukey, Professional Staff
Member, Health; Nate Hodson, Staff Director; Tara Hupman, Chief
Counsel; Emily King, Member Services Director; Tiffany
Guarascio, Minority Staff Director; Perry Hamilton, Minority
Member Services and Outreach Manager; Elysa Montfort, Minority
Press Secretary; Juan Negrete, Minority Professional Staff
Member; and Harry Samuels, Minority Oversight Counsel.
Mr. Griffith. Good evening, everyone, and welcome. This is
the joint hearing of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations and the Subcommittee on Health, and we will now
come to order.
The Chair now recognizes himself for 5 minutes for an
opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Good evening. Welcome to the first joint Oversight and
Investigations and Health Subcommittee field hearing examining
President Biden's border crisis. It is important we convene
here in Texas to shed light on the brutal and unsustainable
conditions this President's administration has caused at our
border. No other country in the world operates its borders in
the manner this administration has chosen.
According to a recent January 2023 Pew Research report,
monthly encounters between U.S. Border Patrol agents and
migrants attempting to cross into the United States at the
U.S.-Mexico border remain at levels not seen in more than two
decades. There were more than 206,000 reported encounters in
November 2022, according to the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection. For context, the highest number reported encounters
in the previous administration was 132,856.
The flood of migrants takes our Customs and Border agents
away from stopping the cartels and narcotics from being
trafficked into our country. Substances such as fentanyl and
fentanyl analogs are killing Americans on a daily basis. In
2022 alone, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency seized
over 379 million doses of fentanyl, which is enough to kill
every American. We must pass the HALT Fentanyl Act I have
championed along with Representative Latta. This bill would
permanently schedule fentanyl analogs as schedule I.
As one McAllen, Texas, Border Patrol representative told
reporters at FOX News, quote, ``We joined to stop all those
statistics, the fentanyl, the rapists, the murderers, the
molesters, and those people are still out there. If I'm over
here with 100 women and kids ... that's going to take hours of
my time and my partner's time,'' which, of course, would take
them away from the border.
While that is understandable that they would take that
time--we want to help these vulnerable people--we must also
address other issues at our southern border. Among those is the
release of unaccompanied minor children.
The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, is responsible
for overseeing and safeguarding the thousands of unaccompanied
children coming across the border. The administration's apathy
to securing the borders has caused the number of children the
ORR is charged with looking after to skyrocket from 1,929
children in October of 2020 to 20,339 children in April of
2021.
I've had serious concerns about what ORR considers to be
appropriate background checks. In 2021, I visited emergency
intake operations at Fort Bliss, Texas, and was both shocked
and disappointed at what I learned there. There was no
collaboration with law enforcement for background checks when
vetting sponsors, and the public records check they were using
were widely available internet search engines.
A September 2022 inspector general study related to the
operation at Fort Bliss solidified my concerns. The study
concluded case managers lacked sufficient child welfare
training and were ineffective at reuniting children with
parents or sponsors. One interviewee informed the inspector
general there was a pervasive sense of despair among children
at the facility who reportedly experienced distress, anxiety,
and in some cases panic attacks. The inspector general reported
on instances of children physically harming themselves due to
case manager negligence.
Additionally, the inspector general's report found that at
Fort Bliss, ORR eliminated critical safeguards from the
sponsor's screening process, thereby potentially increasing
children's risk of release to unsafe sponsors. Further, the
inspector general found ORR supervisors had grown concerned
that policy changes prioritized fast-tracking release of
unaccompanied children to sponsors quickly, rather than taking
the steps to, quote, vet sponsors and protect children from
risks such as trafficking and exploitation. Supervisors also
reported that inexperienced ORR case managers failed to
consider children's significant history of abuse and neglect or
whether sex offenders resided in the potential sponsor's
household.
The administration's border neglect is not limited to
poisoning Americans and undercutting our Border Patrol agents,
but the White House's immigration policies are essentially
printing billions of dollars for Mexican cartels who have
dramatically increased profits in their human trafficking
business. Homeland Security investigations estimated the human
trafficking industry generates about $13 billion today, up from
$500 million in just 2018. According to Border Patrol sources,
criminal organizations trafficking women, children, families,
and single adults over the U.S.-Mexico border earned as much as
$14 million a day in February 2021.
The disastrous impacts of this country's health as a result
of this administration's policies must stop. This committee
will shed light on the national emergency, even if the White
House continues to ignore it.
I appreciate the opportunity to hold this hearing tonight
and look forward to working towards solutions to solve these
issues.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Cardenas for 5 minutes for an
opening statement.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Griffith follows:]
GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TONY CARDENAS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Chairman. Appreciate this
opportunity for us to be here outside of the Capitol to have
this field hearing. A lot of important issues we're going to
hear about today, but I think equally important is that, even
though some of us might have some different perspectives on
what the solutions are, I think that every member of this
committee does care about this country deeply and certainly
wants to make sure that we make good policy decisions so that
we can improve the lives of every American citizen and every
person in our country.
I'm blessed to be a United States citizen, but equally
blessed to be a United States Congressman representing the
community that I was born and raised in. But I'm also proud of
my Mexican parents who raised me in this great country and
taught me the values of being fair and treating people with
dignity and respect. And I know that in our Energy and Commerce
Committee, by and large, we do that by respecting the people
who come before us, witnesses like yourselves. So I also want
to thank all of you for being here today as witnesses to inform
us of what is going on in this part of our country so that we
can be better prepared to make good policies.
When it comes to our borders, one of the things that I like
to point out, the information that I've received is that most
of the fentanyl and other drugs that come through our borders
actually come through ports of entry. They don't come on the
backs of unfortunate migrants or people who are seeking asylum
who are trying to just make a better life or actually flee for
their lives. So hopefully today we'll hear some more of the
facts about what is ailing our country when it comes to why is
it that we have so much illicit drugs on the streets of
America.
And one of the things that is for sure: If we didn't have a
market, these drugs wouldn't be on the streets of our country.
I truly do believe that every person deserves the support that
they need should they find themselves addicted to any
substance. And as I mentioned in one of the hearings just a
couple of weeks ago in Washington, DC, I asked permission for
my son, who goes to NA meetings, that I'm one of the lucky
ones. I'm one of the lucky ones that, now that he has found
help and now that he is trying to better his life, he tells me,
``Dad, every day that I'm sober is only one day. And tomorrow,
I don't know, and I pray that I get the support and the love
that I need.''
I'll tell you what, there's only one good thing that has
come out of the fact that my son at one time was addicted to
substances, and that is not a day goes by--not a day goes by--
that we don't tell each other ``I love you.'' I'm one of the
lucky ones.
We have heard testimony from parents, family members who
love their children, love their family members, and they are no
longer here with us. And one of the things that I want to point
out, that, yes, for people who are selling drugs, there must be
punishment. Being punitive is definitely something that we need
to make sure we do it and do it right. But for those
individuals who unfortunately have found themselves addicted
and cannot help themselves, we need to help them too.
There are many prongs to the solution. There are many
issues that face us as a nation. And pointing at one border is
not going to get us out of our problems. It is only going to
allow us to mask the truth. This is a multiprong problem that
we have. It's not just one border. It's not just one foreign
country. It is our issue as United States citizens to make sure
that we look not only to solutions to our legislatures and our
governments, but also to look into our own hearts and realize
that we can do better.
So on behalf of the people that I represent and the people
who have chosen to send me to Congress, I really do appreciate
this opportunity, not only to my fellow colleagues who made the
trip here today, but also to all the people who are here and
are listening and do want solutions for you, for your
communities, for your families, for everybody in this great
country.
So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cardenas follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman.
I now recognize Dr. Burgess on behalf of the Health
Subcommittee for 5 minutes for an opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS
Mr. Burgess. I thank the chair and just echo Mr. Cardenas'
thanks to all of our constituents for making the trip to be
part of this field hearing. It is a very important hearing, and
it is appropriate that we are doing it here in the Rio Grande
Valley.
So, I'm no stranger to issues regarding border security, no
stranger to problems surrounding the immigration difficulties
and fentanyl. In addition to being a Texan, I practiced
medicine for three decades before coming to Congress to work on
these issues. The Office of Refugee Resettlement that Mr.
Griffith addressed is part of our subcommittee's jurisdiction,
and it is appropriate that we be here on the ground to see
firsthand.
And I will just share with you, it is work done by the O&I
Committee in previous Congresses that has actually made the
Office of Refugee Resettlement stronger than what it was in
2014 when we were faced with a similar crisis with
unaccompanied children coming across our border.
All of us have worked on legislation to combat the misuse
of opioids and to ensure the safety of unaccompanied children
at the border.
This past year, the Office of National Drug Control Policy
released their annual report to Congress regarding High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. Of 33 of these areas, the
three located in Texas--Houston, South Texas, and West Texas--
reported large disruptions of drug trafficking organizations,
as well as seizures. All of the Texas-based high intensity drug
areas, the drugs seized were worth over a combined $100
million.
In addition, Customs and Border Protection reported
approximately 7.8 thousand pounds of drug seizures in October
of fiscal year 2023 and 9,000 pounds of drug seizures in
November of fiscal year 2023. I mean, that's a lot of drugs.
Just this past week, the Dallas Morning News reported that
three teens tragically passed away from fentanyl-laced pills.
Six other teens were hospitalized from exposure to the
substance in the city of Carrollton, Texas, just next to the
district that I represent. These 9 Texas students were all
younger than 17 years of age. After the story broke, and
parents sat waiting to be notified as local authorities began
to take action, but to all of us this is unacceptable.
It goes without saying that the problem has infiltrated our
schools to the point where distribution of these substances
happens unsupervised and oftentimes on social media apps.
While our number-one priority should be securing our border
to protect the unchecked distribution of fentanyl, we must
already accept the problem that is already here. The way in
which we treat patients exposed to opioids and addicted opioids
has drastically evolved in the past decade.
The scourge of fentanyl in our community is a completely
different disease from what it was even 5 years ago. The last
time the committee worked on the SUPPORT Act, which was signed
into law in 2018, our focus was correctly on opioids and opioid
addiction. But since then, the landscape has changed
drastically, to include patients dying from only 3 milligrams
of fentanyl. Basically, we're talking about a pencil tip.
Patients exposed to the high-potency substance often suffer
from other addictions and have severe mental and behavorial
health problems. And I appreciate Mr. Cardenas sharing his
story with us. As he knows, these patients and treating these
patients can be complex clinical situations.
Our committee, our focus, should remain on examining
Federal laws that prevent patient access to care. And one of
those is the IMD exclusion, the Institution for Mental Disease
exclusion, which we addressed in the reconciliation bill.
Unfortunately, it wasn't--an amendment was not allowed to go
forward, but this prohibits Medicaid payments to residential
mental health facilities with more than 16 beds. We actually
can improve our track record by addressing that deficiency. We
should focus on bolstering our workforce and supporting our
providers to ensure that mental health and substance abuse
patients have access to personalized care and medicine.
So, our border is important. Our border agents deserve our
respect, and I hope that with this hearing today we can convey
some of that respect.
And, Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back to you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Burgess follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman for yielding back.
I now recognize Mr. Veasey for 5 minutes for an opening
statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARC A. VEASEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS
Mr. Veasey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.
And I think all of us know that Texas has been hit hard by
the opioid crisis. One in four Texans have experienced an
opioid overdose or know someone who has. And as it was just
pointed out, in north Texas recently, we experienced a string
of similar deaths, including in high-school-aged children.
Because of this, I join my colleagues in taking action to
address the opioid crisis and give much relief to people here
in my home State of Texas.
Last Congress, we passed a bipartisan mental health and
substance abuse use treatment package, H.R. 7666, that is,
Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022,
and it was later signed into law as part of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2023. This historic piece of legislation
ensures that medical practitioners are prepared to identify and
treat substance abuse disorders and increase access to
medication-assisted treatment. It also authorizes billions of
dollars in public health programs that address the mental
health and substance abuse crisis, including both the substance
use prevention, treatment, and recovery services block grant
and State opioid response grants.
We should be focusing heavily on increasing access to
prevention, treatment, and recovery for those struggling with
substance abuse. I would welcome a field hearing in Texas that
explored bipartisan solutions to this public health crisis. We
were able to work together on bipartisan solutions last
Congress, when Democrats were in the majority. Instead, we are
here discussing things like the militarization of our border.
We continue to hear misinformation that falsely links
illegal immigration with a surge in fentanyl trafficking, and
that is simply not reality. We know for a fact--we know for a
fact, even from very conservative organizations like the Cato
Institute, which is founded by the Koch brothers, we know that
a majority of fentanyl-related convictions do not involve
undocumented immigrants.
In 2021, the number of U.S. citizens convicted of fentanyl
was 10 times higher than the convictions of undocumented
immigrants for the same offense. We also know that a majority
of fentanyl smuggled illegally comes through legal ports of
entry and not at illegal crossings. Instead of acknowledging
these facts and taking constructive action to address the
opioid crisis, Republicans are using misinformation to
encourage excessive incarcerations--which we should have
learned something from, from the '90s--detentions, and
deportations at the border.
This field hearing today is nothing more than a political
stunt targeted at the extreme elements of the Republican Party.
Enough of the misinformation. We need a facts-based approach to
the humanitarian crisis at the border. President Biden has
taken steps to streamline the immigration process by expanding
pathways for safe, orderly, and humane migration without
compromising border security. This has included expanding the
parole process for immigrants from certain countries, expanding
refugee resettlement opportunities, and modernizing appointment
processes at U.S. ports of entry. Such efforts are already
showing signs of success. January 2023 saw some of the lowest
levels of monthly border encounters since February 2021.
In contrast, Republicans seem more interested in political
stunts like this one than working with the President and
Democrats on a humane and lawful approach to border security
and immigration, like passing a comprehensive immigration
reform bill. For example, congressional Republicans have
repeatedly voted against bills funding security at the border,
including most recently a $4.9 billion supplemental funding
request in December of 2022. It is clear that Republicans are
more interested in politics than rolling up their sleeves and
doing the hard work to address this humanitarian crisis at the
border and fixing our broken immigration system and doing
something about this fentanyl problem that is plaguing all of
our communities.
We have had an opportunity to talk about evidence-based
approach to address substance use--substance abuse use, but we
were denied testimony from an expert witness who has worked
directly with communities affected by fentanyl along the
border. This is a huge missed opportunity that really could
have made a difference in the lives of people in the
surrounding communities. If Republicans are serious about
addressing illicit fentanyl, I would hope that they would work
with us on real solutions rather than dodge opportunities from
witnesses with firsthand experience.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle to address the opioid crisis in our communities
and this humanitarian crisis at our border.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Veasey follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman.
And now the Chair recognizes the chair of the full Energy
and Commerce Committee, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, for her 5-minute
opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And a big thank you
to everyone for being here as we roll up our sleeves to go to
work to address the border crisis, the fentanyl crisis that's
been driven by President Biden's open borders agenda. It is
putting Americans all across this county at risk, turning every
town into a border town.
More people than ever are dying from fentanyl poisoning.
You know, most heart wrenching is that fentanyl is an attack on
the young generation. The number-one leading cause for death
for Americans between ages 18 and 45 is fentanyl poisoning.
Last month in my hometown of Spokane, Washington, law
enforcement from drug enforcement agency, DEA, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and the Spokane Police Department
seized 35 pounds of meth and 50,000 fake pills believed to be
laced with fentanyl.
It takes just one pill to kill. That was Molly Cain's
message to us when she testified before our committee a few
weeks ago. She is pleading for action and for justice for her
son, Carson. He should be alive today, but one pill he
purchased off of Snapchat killed him instantly. No parent
should have to feel Molly's pain.
Most illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogs being smuggled
across the border are being produced by cartels in Mexico, with
precursor ingredients sourced by China. Criminals and drug
dealers are selling these deadly substances in communities that
are killing a record number of Americans--71,000 in 2021.
Nearly two-thirds of drug overdose deaths in the United States
in 2021 involves synthetic opioids. So far in 2023, DEA has
seized 4.5 million fake pills laced with fentanyl, and Customs
and Border Patrol seized more than 1,400 pounds of fentanyl.
And this is just the amount that's been seized. How much is
being missed?
The U.S.-Mexico border is close to 2,000 miles long. How
many pounds of fentanyl are coming across the areas that are
scarcely monitored between the ports of entry? That is why we
need to secure the border, secure the southern border and stem
the follow of these weapons-grade poisons.
The Biden administration is set to do the opposite and
create more chaos if the President ends Title 42 protections.
That cannot happen. Republicans are offering alternatives to
keep people safe and save lives. For example, Representative
Lesko has legislation to update Title 42 so that it can be used
in cases of situations we see with the fentanyl crisis.
We also must pass the HALT Fentanyl Act, led by
Representatives Griffith and Latta, to permanently place
fentanyl-related substances into schedule I of the Controlled
Substances Act. This will ensure that our law enforcement
officials have the tools that they need to keep these poisons
off our streets. As DEA has told us, this permanent scheduling
is their top priority.
In addition to discussing the fentanyl crisis, we will
examine today how the influx of migrants is straining hospital
capacity and making it harder to treat patients.
Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona has already had to
delay care for patients because of the surge they see. They've
had to hire additional staff to keep up with demand. El Paso,
Texas, declared a state of emergency. The mayor said hundreds
and hundreds of people are living in unsafe conditions because
of the migrant surge.
These challenges created by President Biden's open border
agenda have only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and
workforce shortages from vaccine mandates. The status quo is
unworkable, and it is harming patient care.
I look forward to hearing from each of our witnesses. Thank
you for being here on the ground, on the front lines of this
border crisis. We want to know what more we can be doing to
ensure that our future is secure and that our communities are
safe.
Thank you, and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mrs. Rodgers follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. Thank you very much.
The Chair now recognizes Ms. Craig for 5 minutes for her
opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ANGIE CRAIG, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
Ms. Craig. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I really
appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight on behalf of all
Minnesotans.
You know, this hearing is not political theater to me. We
have a mental health and addiction crisis in America, and that
is making our communities less safe. Folks are dying, and
families are being absolutely torn apart, and yes, it's leading
to more crime.
My constituents aren't interested in a blame game. They're
interested in solutions. This shouldn't be a partisan circus or
a political wedge issue. We owe that to the families of people
we've lost to this epidemic. My sincere hope is that we can
have an honest conversation in America at the border tonight
with each of you.
How is illicit fentanyl entering our Nation? We just told
you that 97 percent of it is coming across legal ports of
entry. I see absolutely no testimony on that fact here in this
testimony tonight.
What resources can we give law enforcement at the border to
stop it? Is it more technology? Is it more Customs and Border
Patrol officers? How can we disrupt these flows? How else are
these raw materials getting across our Nation? What can we do
to support DEA as they work to disrupt the cartels responsible
for this criminal activity? What can we do to educate young
people on the dangers of buying any drug on a social media
platform? What responsibility do social media companies have in
helping safe lives?
We have a real problem, America, and it does nothing for
our constituents if we revert to the kind of politics that is
pretending to care about a problem but really thinking about
who we can pin the blame on in the next election.
I have the privilege of representing Minnesota's Second
Congressional District. My constituents are some of the most
engaged and compassionate and resilient people in this Nation.
Devin Norring was one of them. He was an honors student at
Hastings High School who loved playing football, making music,
and skateboarding. He was an adventurer, and he took every
chance he could to enjoy life. He loved his family. He was a
protector to his siblings, and he would give a stranger the
shirt off his back.
I never got to know Devin. What I know comes from his
parents and, sadly, his obituary, because on April 4th, 2020,
Devin died in his sleep as a result of a fentanyl overdose.
Seeking relief from blackout migraines and dental pain, Devin
had bought what he thought was a Percocet pill from a drug
dealer on Snapchat. That pill turned out to be 100 percent
fentanyl. He was 19 years old.
You know, sometimes we get lost in these numbers, but we
need to keep in mind that the real cost is a human cost. Devin
didn't want to die. Devin was killed. He had a full life ahead
of him,and it was cut short.
In November of last year, I was on a ride-along with the
Shakopee Police Department. The first call of that night, a
young man was brought back to life by Narcan on the floor of a
family restaurant. It's just another night for law enforcement
in my community, but addiction, mental illness, and other
challenges have stretched us all thin, and especially them.
I came face-to-face with the intersection of mental
illness, addiction, and crime late last week. There are no easy
answers. If there were, we wouldn't be still sitting here
talking about it, and people wouldn't be dying. But the reality
is that this is a complex problem that requires bipartisan
solutions, and political theater and grandstanding and ignoring
the facts gets us nowhere.
We absolutely need to permanently schedule fentanyl-related
substances as a class I drug, but FRS has been emergency
scheduled since 2018, and fentanyl overdoses have only
increased. That tells me that permanent scheduling alone is not
enough. We must continue to invest in resources for those who
are suffering from substance use disorder, bolster mental
health, and stem the flow of fentanyl coming across the United
States border through legal ports of entry as well as through
other illicit means.
We also must address the common avenues of distributions to
social media and make sure that parents are taught the signs,
that young people understand you cannot take anything bought on
a social media platform. We need our law enforcement officers
in our Nation's schools making sure that they know that.
You know, my colleagues, you titled this hearing ``Biden's
Border Crisis.'' Even the title of the hearing is political. I
hope our actions today are aimed at finding real policy
solutions, not just scoring political points.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, because that's exactly
what I intend to do, is find real solutions. And I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentlelady.
We now conclude with Members' opening statements. The Chair
would like to remind Members that, pursuant to the committee
rules, all Members' opening statements will be made a part of
the record.
I want to thank our witnesses for being here today and
taking the time to testify before the subcommittees.
Each witness will have the opportunity to give an opening
statement followed by a round of questions from Members.
Our witnesses today are Mr. Urbino Martinez, Brooks County
Sheriff; Mr. Stuart Archer, CEO, Oceans Healthcare; Ms.
Rochelle Garza, president, Texas Civil Rights Project; and Mr.
Brandon Judd, a current 25-year veteran Border Patrol agent and
current president of the National Border Patrol Council.
We appreciate all the witnesses being here with us today,
taking your time out to share with us and the Nation.
We will now swear in the various Members. As you know, the
testimony--the various witnesses. As you know, the testimony
you're about to give is subject to Title 18, Section 1001, of
the United States Code. When holding an investigative hearing,
this committee has the practice of taking testimony under oath.
Do any of you have any objection to taking testimony under
oath--or, to testifying under oath?
Seeing no objections, we will move forward.
The Chair also advises you that, under the rules of the
House and the rules of the committee, you're entitled to be
advised by counsel.
Do any of you desire to be advised by counsel during your
testimony today?
All right. And I see all saying that they do not require
that.
In that case, if the witnesses will please rise and raise
your right hand.
[Witnesses sworn.]
I now recognize Mr. Urbino Martinez for 5 minutes to give
his opening statement.
STATEMENTS OF URBINO MARTINEZ, BROOKS COUNTY SHERIFF; STUART
ARCHER, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, OCEANS
HEALTHCARE; ROCHELLE M. GARZA, PRESIDENT, TEXAS CIVIL RIGHTS
PROJECT; AND BRANDON JUDD, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL
COUNCIL
STATEMENT OF URBINO MARTINEZ
Mr. Martinez. Good afternoon, Chairman--Ranking--Chairman
Griffith, Chairwoman Rodgers, ranking members, subcommittee
members. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this
committee to discuss this important issue.
There are three issues that I face in Brooks County. It's a
national security issue, a public health issue, and a
humanitarian issue.
My name is Benny. I work for the Brooks County Sheriff's
Office. I have just started my 44th year in law enforcement. I
have a command staff and 5 deputies are responsible for 943
square miles of Brooks County, which is actually just an hour
north of here. The ranchlands, they're privately owned
ranchlands. The population of that is about 7,400, population
of Brooks County.
Brooks County is one of the largest--has one of the largest
checkpoints in the Nation, known as the Falfurrias checkpoint,
approximately 70 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border and
281. It is a major north/south artery from the Rio Grande
Valley area that leads to Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas,
and other destinations throughout the interior of the United
States.
U.S. Highway 281 is part of the Gulf Coast corridor, which
is one of the most active drugs, human smuggling corridors in
the United States. The Falfurrias checkpoint is one of the
busiest checkpoints in the southwest corridor in regards to
undocumented crossers, apprehensions, and narcotic seizures.
Because of Brooks County's geographical location and Falfurrias
checkpoint, it has very unique challenges. In most cases, the
smugglers and coyotes drop off undocumented crossers. They are
led by smugglers and made to walk east to west of United States
Highway 281 to circumvent the checkpoint, moving through north
private ranchlands, then to get picked up on Texas 285 and
other roads by other smugglers who will then transport them to
the Gulf Coast corridor to cities north, usually Houston,
Texas.
In other cases, local gang members and others seeking
financial gain who live in the county drive their human and
drug loads through private ranchlands property by cutting
locks, fences, causing untold private property damage. The sad
reality is that many of those who are being led through the
brush by the smugglers do not survive the demanding journey.
Since 2009, Brooks County has recovered 929 bodies of
undocumented crossers, to include 119 in 2021 and 90 in 2022--
over 200 in 24 months. We estimate that we recover less than
half of all those who perish. Since 2009, the costs to the
county of dealing with these who have perished have totaled
almost a million dollars.
In addition, Brooks County emergency services are greatly
impacted. Ambulances are being pulled from day-to-day
operations to answer calls to remote areas where turnaround
time is roughly 4 to 5 hours, leaving our constituents without
emergency medical services. This has put a strain on the local
health system.
Last year, there were 115 EMS calls for the undocumented
and 3 deaths en route to the hospitals. Fire related to
immigration in Brooks County consists of 36,208 burned acres,
which cost the county 75,000 to our fire department in fuel,
breakdowns, equipment, and related costs. The cost to only 1 of
the area's heli-flight services was approximately 320,000, and
only 45,000 of that was reimbursed. Two area hospitals used for
undocumented services wrote off thousands of dollars for direct
cost of unpaid services, further burdening small rural
hospitals.
The Falfurrias checkpoint reported that, in 2022, there was
a hundred percent increase in firearm seizures from 2021, a 400
percent increase in checkpoint vehicle circumventions, 150
percent increase in cocaine, 1,743 percent increase in meth,
175 percent increase in gang members, 67 percent increase of
sexual offenders, and a 222 increase in alien smuggling cases.
I have to advise also that we do have a high number of sexual
assault cases that occur on these females that are crossing
with the males through the ranches.
On the national level, in 2022, there were 2.2 million
encounters from 171 different countries. In the current year of
2023, there has been 775,000 encounters with 3,000 of those
having seriously criminal history with national security and
public safety concerns. There have been 1.2 million getaways
reported, and these are people that we'll never know who they
are or what they carry, et cetera. We have no idea if they are
cartel, other criminals, or terrorists because the Federal
Government has failed to enforce border security efforts.
Borderer Patrol has been taken up processing the majority of
migrants giving themselves up at the border.
From March through October of 2022, Brooks County is part
of the Texas Operation Lone Star Coalition, of which Brooks
County is part of--OK--has reported 322 smuggling pursuits, 204
bailouts, recovered 181 stolen vehicles, seized 31 firearms,
seized over half a million dollars in bulk cash going to
Mexico, recorded 286,000 of property damage, and have charged
179 people for engaging in organized crime activity.
In the last----
Mr. Griffith. Sheriff, if you could wrap up.
Mr. Martinez. Oh, sorry. OK.
The funding--we had two Aerostats, and those Aerostats were
removed because they actually just shift those monies over to
something else. So--OK. The border crisis is a result of not
securing the border. Where there are no consequences for
unlawful entry of the United States and DHS does not adjudicate
asylum cases in a timely manner and removing those that don't
have valid claims, transnational gang organizations will
continue to be able to recruit migrants to come up here and
overwhelm the Border Patrol rescues.
With that, I close. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Martinez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman.
I now recognize Mr. Archer for his 5 minutes of opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF STUART ARCHER
Mr. Archer. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the
Health Subcommittee and Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee for holding this hearing today.
My name is Stuart Archer. I'm the president and CEO of
Oceans Healthcare, a system of behavioral health facilities
located throughout Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
Oceans Healthcare prides itself on six core convictions:
dignity, comprehensive care, quality, integrity, advocacy, and
teamwork. These values are the foundation of our company and
what drives our employees to provide the highest quality of
care.
Oceans Healthcare was founded in 2004, specifically to meet
the behavorial health needs of the underserved, including our
specialized programs for our Nation's military and first
responders. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Oceans Healthcare
has 33 locations, 23 hospitals, and employs over 2,000
caregivers and serves over 24,000 patients a year. Our
centralized support model provides Oceans' hospitals and care
teams with the operational resources and expertise they need so
they can focus on what they do best: providing high-quality,
compassionate behavioral health to patients and families.
Furthermore, this model has given us the ability to further
expand into rural and underserved areas. In fact, Oceans often
stands as the only behavioral health provider in the
communities we serve, providing access to quality behavioral
health to those who might not have it otherwise.
At today's hearing, I look forward to discussing access to
behavioral health resources in our Nation's border States.
Oceans Healthcare has 18 facilities throughout the State of
Texas and is certainly no stranger to the struggles that care
providers in Texas have been facing.
You know, safety and compassion, we believe, are not
mutually exclusive. Our hospitals have a duty to provide
quality behavioral healthcare to our communities, but this has
been challenging because the resources are so limited.
Healthcare providers have a moral obligation to care for those
in need, including those coming across our border, but this
presents a challenge when we don't have sufficient staff,
resources, or are treated in a way that behavioral health
providers are treated many times.
Oceans is experiencing the same challenges as other
hospitals across the State of Texas. In particular, finding
clinicians has been extremely challenging for some time, and
this challenge has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic and further escalated by the border crisis.
To say it's challenging to incentivize behavioral health
professionals to work in rural and underserved areas is an
understatement. These behavioral health professionals know that
when they choose a role in behavioral health, they often find
that their pay is far greater in urban areas. And many times,
instead of selecting the specialty of behavioral health
altogether, these healthcare professionals can make
significantly more by simply choosing a different healthcare
specialty.
Oceans Healthcare is working hard to provide care in areas
that might not otherwise have access, yet we are facing
challenges due to a lack of parity within reimbursement. Not
only is there competition between various hospitals and
specialties, but there's also competition within our border
States, as hospitals must also compete with the Federal
Government to staff border facilities.
Furthermore, it's been my experience that our law
enforcement and first responders have been particularly
impacted by the mental health and substance abuse issues
they're confronted with daily in their jobs. Instead of
allowing our law enforcement to do what they do best, we have
instead depended on them to also serve as healthcare providers
and mental health specialists. We have to work on increasing
partnerships with local law enforcement. And I'm proud to say
that all of our hospitals partner with local law enforcement to
work with their mental health deputies.
Finally, taking a broader approach to understanding why our
behavioral health resources are so scarce and finding ways in
which to improve access, we must understand that many of our
Federal laws and policies surrounding behavioral health are
antiquated. And while parity is a laudable goal, this crisis
has made the inequities in behavioral health all more evident.
For example, we must follow the precedent many States are
setting by implementing innovation waivers and phasing out the
Institutes for Mental Health disease exclusion to provide
greater access to the populations needing impatient behavioral
healthcare.
I'm honored to have this opportunity to testify in front of
this committee and hope to offer an important voice
specifically to those working to improve our Nation's mental
health. I also would like to thank this committee for its work
in passing the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being
Act last Congress.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic, our border crisis, and a
mental healthcare crisis, strain on our Nation's public health
resources has been building. It is the duty to assess the
effectiveness of our current policies and work together to find
ways to make improvements that will expand access and to ensure
those who need care can receive it.
Thank you for this opportunity.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Archer follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. Thank you.
I now recognize Ms. Garza for her 5 minutes for an opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF ROCHELLE M. GARZA
Ms. Garza. Thank you very much.
Good evening. My name is Rochelle Garza, and I am the
president of the Texas Civil Rights Project. I'm also a mother
to a 10-month-old daughter, a fifth-generation Tejana, and a
civil rights attorney from Brownsville right here in the Rio
Grande Valley.
My goal in providing this testimony is twofold. First, to
dispel misconceptions about two separate issues: the public
health crisis related to fentanyl and the humanitarian crisis
at the border. Second, I want to share how the current approach
of heavyhanded policies that prioritize military force as the
only solution have not and will not address either crisis.
The families at our doorstep are seeking safety and refuge.
They have fled persecution, war, famine, climate disasters, and
other horrors. They are not the source of fentanyl entering
this country. I know this is contrary to what you've been told.
Our Governor, Greg Abbott, has done all he can to lay blame on
vulnerable people, including women and children, that are
requesting asylum.
The fentanyl crisis is a very real public health crisis,
and it has claimed the lives of over 107,000 Americans last
year and has been felt across our country. Lives are being
lost, and we need evidence-based public health solutions to
address the problem of opioid addiction.
Unfortunately, our Governor is wrong about how fentanyl
enters the United States. The vast majority of fentanyl seized
at the border is intercepted at either U.S. ports of entry or
through U.S. mail, with most smugglers being U.S. citizens. The
facts do not lie. The overwhelming majority of migrants who
have crossed into the United States do not attempt to smuggle
drugs in their crossing.
Despite this, we have dedicated unprecedented amounts of
money to prosecute migrants. We must call out the attempt to
conflate fentanyl with migrants for what it is. It is a cheap
political trick to use public health crisis as a justification
to waste public resources on the same ineffective border
policies that simply do not work and have harmed communities
just like mine.
Requesting asylum is a right guaranteed by U.S. law. Border
communities have seen an unprecedented amount of people fleeing
desperate situations in their home countries to seek asylum.
The lack of humanitarian solutions to address this increased
need has led to a humanitarian crisis. People are in desperate
need of aid. People need shelter, food, medicine. These are all
needs that cannot be met with a military response.
In less than 2 years, Governor Abbott's Operation Lone
Star, or OLS, has spent over 4.4 billion in Texas taxpayer
dollars. As a result, border communities have been flooded with
additional law enforcement, military-style weapons, and even
right-wing nationalist militia groups, which has led to serious
consequences for residents.
For example, Gage Brown, a resident of Bracketville, told
us that high-speed chases have become the norm in her sleepy
town. After law enforcement crashed into a building off the
main street, the local school put boulders around the perimeter
of the campus for safety.
Local residents are also getting ticketed and stopped more
often, bringing surges of stops, searches, and ticketing of
Latino drivers, which the rest of the State does not
experience. In Kinney County alone, the rate of ticketing has
gone up by over 400 percent, which translates to roughly $2
million of additional fines.
Then there are those who have been locked up under OLS who
have experienced mass violations of civil and due process
rights. In extreme cases, we are aware of sexual and physical
violence against those in overcrowded facilities.
None of what I just described addressed either the
humanitarian needs at the border or the fentanyl public health
crisis.
Aggressive enforcement policies along the border are
harmful, ineffective, and will not end the mass migration. We
must change course. What we're asking for is simple:
accountability for the failed policies that have led us to this
point, relief for the humanitarian needs at the border, and
real solutions that are going to move us forward.
We're at a point where for almost 2 years now, our Governor
has been operating an illegal State-based immigration
enforcement scheme, contrary to Supreme Court precedent. And in
response, we have submitted complaint after complaint with
stacks of evidence to the Department of Justice to highlight
OLS' illegality, including mass civil and human rights abuses.
And unfortunately, Texas is expanding, not ending, its efforts.
Congress can and must hold Texas to account. Texans at the
border have been left to muster a humanitarian response largely
without Government aid. Our friends and neighbors have
fundraised for shelter, cooked warm meals, listened to those
who've endured severe trauma, or provided legal orientation.
These border-led relief efforts treat immigrants with dignity.
They enhance public safety, and they save lives.
We need to turn toward real solutions that are going to
move us forward. By focusing on strategies that advocates on
the ground have been leading, we can find real meaningful
solutions that benefit all of us.
And I am happy to answer questions. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Garza follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. I thank the lady.
And we'll now recognize Mr. Judd for his 5 minutes of--for
an opening statement.
STATEMENT OF BRANDON JUDD
Mr. Judd. Chairman Griffith, Chairwoman Rodgers,
distinguished members of this committee, I would like to thank
you for inviting me to testify before you today in order to
communicate how the executive actions taken by President Biden
and his administration have directly resulted in an increase in
illicit fentanyl coming across our southern border with Mexico
and into our communities in all 50 States.
Since he took office in January of 2021, the policies
enacted by President Biden have directly resulted in the least
secure border in my 25-year career. Due to the Biden
administration's border and immigration policies, we have seen
historically high numbers of people crossing the border
illegally, forcing more than 50 percent of patrol resources to
be dedicated to administrative duties such as, but not limited
to, processing, transport, hospital watch, and detention
security.
The dedication of such a high percentage of resources to
duties other than actively patrolling the border allows cartels
to create gaps in our coverage, facilitating the highest number
of known gotaways in our history. In a short 2 years, there has
been a minimum of 1.2 million gotaways. These gotaways are
individuals doing everything in their power to avoid detection
and apprehension. We do not know who they are. We do not know
where they came from. We do not know what they're bringing
across the border, and we do not know what their intentions are
here in the United States. What we do know is that these
individuals pose a significant threat to public safety, public
health, and national security.
Each and every day along the entirety of the southwest
border, criminal cartels dictate when and where illegal border
crossers enter our country. The cartels have figured out the
loopholes in our laws, and they know that our agents are forced
to process--and they know when our agents are forced to process
huge numbers of illegal border crossers, we are unable to
properly patrol the border. When agents are unable to patrol,
huge gaps are created in our first line of defense, and that's
when the cartels can run the people and things they don't want
us to catch because they know they will get away.
Under our current border security policies, criminal
cartels have become incredibly successful at bringing their
high-value products into our country illegally. And these
circumstances have contributed to a huge increase in the flow
of hard narcotics making their way into the U.S. and wreaking
havoc on our communities.
According to a Washington Post report, more than 107,000
people died from a drug overdose in 2021, and fentanyl was
responsible for two-thirds of those deaths. The amount of
illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, pouring into our country
across our southern border is staggering and, frankly,
terrifying, knowing that just 2 milligrams is considered a
lethal dose.
According to publicly available data from Customs and
Border Protection, the Border Patrol alone seized 949 pounds of
fentanyl along the southwest border from February 2021 through
January 2022. CBP just recently released narcotic seizure data
for President Biden's second full year in office, February 2022
through January 2023, and the amount of illicit fentanyl seized
by just the Border Patrol has more than doubled to 2,294
pounds.
To give some perspective on those statistics, 2,294 pounds
of fentanyl converts to over 1 billion milligrams, enough to
kill over 500 million people.
In September of 2021, 8 months after President Biden's open
border policies went into effect, the Drug Enforcement
Administration issued a public safety alert warning of the
sharp increase in fake prescription pills containing fentanyl
and meth. President Biden's DEA Sdministrator appointee, Anne
Milgram, stated in the alert that the United States is facing
an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally
manufactured fentanyl.
The alert goes on to state, ``The vast majority of
counterfeit pills brought into the United States are produced
in Mexico, and China is supplying chemicals for the
manufacturing of fentanyl in Mexico.''
The DEA's ``Facts about Fentanyl'' web page further states,
``Illicit fentanyl primarily manufactured in foreign
clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through
Mexico is being distributed across the country and sold on the
illegal drug market.''
This reality--the reality is this: President Biden has made
the securing of our border impossible. Instead, his policies
have allowed criminal cartels to advertise their services
throughout the world with the promise that illegal border
crossers will be allowed to remain in the United States without
fear of deportation.
Until we end catch-and-release, which would allow our
agents to actually do their jobs and patrol in the field, we
will never come close to achieving a secure border. And without
a secure border, illicit fentanyl will continue to flow into
the U.S., devastating families in every single corner of our
great Nation.
We are, in my opinion, the greatest Nation in the world. We
are the most compassionate Nation in the world. On average, we
take in more refugees and more legal immigration than any other
country. This is compassion, and this is who we want to be.
Unfortunately, we're not talking about legal immigration. We're
discussing illegal immigration and how that fuels the fentanyl
crisis here in the United States.
I appreciate this time to testify, and I look forward to
any of your questions. Thank you, sir.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Judd follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman.
I thank you all for your testimony. We will now move into
the question-and-answer portion of the hearing. I'll begin the
questioning and recognize myself for 5 minutes.
Mr. Judd, fentanyl and fentanyl analogs are produced using
precursor chemicals, and most of these precursors come from
China, you just testified, that are shipped to Mexican cartels
who then produce fentanyl and its analogs.
Do the cartels in Mexico have the capability to produce
these precursors themselves?
Mr. Judd. They do, but it's much cheaper to get them
through China. The cartels are all about generating a profit,
and they're going to do the things that are cheapest--in the
manner that's the most cheapest. The problem is, is once China
has its hooks into anything that's illegal, they will stay, and
that's scary.
Mr. Griffith. All right. To your knowledge, are other
countries supplying precursors for fentanyl or its analogs?
Mr. Judd. No. Only China.
Mr. Griffith. Only China. Now, isn't it also accurate to
say that before we did the temporary scheduling of the analogs,
that they were looking at--cartels were looking at ways to
change the formula so that it wouldn't be illegal to cross the
border or even to distribute in the United States?
Mr. Judd. Yes. So what they were looking at is they were
looking at how could they mask the fentanyl, because again, if
we have drug dogs, they can detect the precursors. And if you
can mask that, then it becomes a lot easier to get the products
across the border.
Mr. Griffith. And haven't we seen--since the temporary
scheduling of fentanyl analogs, haven't we seen that they just
stuck with the basic fentanyl instead of trying to come up with
cute ways to get around it? I shouldn't say cute because it's a
poison. I couldn't help but think of that when we heard
testimony earlier about Devin, that he thought he was getting a
Percocet. That's not an overdose, as Mr. Carter often points
out to us. That is a poisoning.
All right. Let's talk about the ports of entry. One of the
things that we heard today in some discussions down on the
border was that it is true more fentanyl and other drugs are
captured at the ports of entry, but that what's happening is,
is that the cartels are using the migrants that they're
bringing across, the illegal aliens or immigrants that they're
bringing across the border, to distract the Border Patrol, so
that if you've got 100 people over here or 50 people over
there, then that creates gaps where we don't have walls and
where we don't have Border Patrol agents, that they can then
run whatever in through that area?
Mr. Judd. I'm not aware of any intel report that says 97
percent of the drugs that cross into the United States come
through ports of entry. It stands to reason that more seizures
are going to take place at ports of entry. Those are secure
locations.
CBP can schedule how many vehicles are going to come
through a port of entry at any given time, and with the
resources, you can go through more of those vehicles.
So, again, at a secure location, it stands to reason that
you're going to seize more drugs.
Between the ports of entry, if people are able to evade
apprehension, we have no idea what they're bringing in. What we
do know, however, is that we are constantly seizing backpacks
filled with fentanyl.
In fact, it is my understanding that today in Yuma,
Arizona, a person that crossed the border illegally had a
backpack that contained 90 pounds of illegal drugs, including
fentanyl.
Two nights ago, a Border Patrol canine handler apprehended
smugglers coming between the ports of entry that was carrying
fentanyl, meth, and cocaine. This happens on a regular basis.
But if we can't detect it or apprehend it, how do we know where
it came across?
We also know that in 2021, the ports of entry were largely
shut down except to essential traffic, and during that time
they had a lot more resources to go through all vehicles, yet
seizures dropped exponentially. But the amount of drugs on the
streets were more than any police agency had ever seen before.
It did not just magically appear on the streets. It comes
between the ports of entry just like it does at the ports of
entry.
Mr. Griffith. And isn't it also true that, even if they're
American citizens who are transporting these goods, they're
working for the Mexican cartels?
Mr. Judd. Yes. I have yet to apprehend somebody
transporting drugs into the United States that was a United
States citizen. Every single person that I have seen
apprehended between the ports of entry have been persons that
entered the country illegally and are not United States
citizens.
Mr. Griffith. All right. Sheriff Martinez, you testified
about transnational criminal organizations being able to
continue to recruit migrants to come up here and overwhelm the
Border Patrol resources while they run narcotics and criminals
around the back.
Are we getting any help from our friends in the Mexican
Government to try to put a stop to this?
Mr. Martinez. No, sir, that's the major problem we're
having, getting the Mexican Government to step up their
enforcement actions on their end.
Mr. Griffith. All right. I appreciate that. Thank you all
for being here this evening, and I look forward to hearing the
rest of your answers. I now yield back and recognize Mr.
Cardenas for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Wow. Very distinct perspectives coming from the different
witnesses that we have here today. But one of the things that I
want to make sure that I point out, this is an official hearing
of the United States Congress Energy and Commerce Committee to
talk about issues that are facing us as a Nation, literally
happening today.
And on my way over here today, I remembered what I was
taught as a child and how the information that I believed for
too many years of my life, because I trusted the sources, were
actually wrong.
I was told that the reason why the buffalo almost became
extinct across this great Nation was because people wanted them
for their pelts.
Well, they did want them for their pelts, but really what
was going on at the root of that was, they said, how can we get
rid of Native Americans and starve them out? Well, let's take
the thing that they need the most--the buffalo. They use them
for food, for clothing, for shelter, et cetera, and that was a
way to starve them out.
So I believe that when you step back and look at history
and you actually get an honest perspective of what happened,
then you really understand why the buffalo almost became
extinct and also was part of a genocide process against people
who lived in these lands far longer than most of us and our
relatives lived.
I mention that in the context of, like I said earlier,
different perspectives talking about the same issues. When it
comes to fentanyl, when it comes to opioid addictions, when it
comes to the crisis that we have in the United States of
America, one of the things we speak very little about in this
committee, or in Congress, is how some American individuals and
American companies have actually contributed far more to this
crisis than perhaps people with backpacks crossing our border.
For example, when you look at the Sackler family, they were
punished a bit, but when you really look at the truth is, they
got away with creating a crisis that came to 10,000 or more
deaths a year. Now, we're looking at the latest numbers at a
hundred thousand or more in our great Nation.
These are the kinds of things that I'm hoping this
committee will do, is to make sure that we get an honest
perspective on the record about what the real issues are and
the real ways in which we can actually create solutions to make
sure that we improve the lives and the conditions and the
safety of the American citizen and in every community across
our country.
One of the things that I wanted to ask you, Ms. Garza, is,
when it comes to using punitive responses to the opioid crisis
that we have in our country, the fentanyl crisis, is being
punitive the answer, or are there other solutions?
Ms. Garza. We need to have an holistic approach. Look, the
opioid crisis is very real. We need to approach it as a public
health issue, because it is. And so we need to provide
treatments to people that are addicted. And once we do that,
once we address that root issue, we're going to stop the demand
for these drugs.
And we'll prevent deaths. I mean, people are losing their
families, their parents, their children, and we need to take
that as a real thing and separate it from what we're doing here
today. This is--this is--I don't understand why we're here at
the border, because there is really no connection between what
is happening with the opioid crisis in this country and
immigrants that are just seeking refuge in our country, that
are seeking protection.
Mr. Cardenas. Yes, thank you. And many people who come to
our border, Ms. Garza, that you're familiar with, are they
seeking asylum?
Ms. Garza. The vast majority of people that I have
encountered--and I started off as an immigration attorney, I'm
a border Native, I have been here for years, I have been here
through several administrations practicing immigration law,
I've represented hundreds of children and families--the vast
majority of people that are coming here are fleeing very
horrific experiences in their home country, and if we want to
address migration, if we want to stem the flow of migration, we
need to build up the rule of law in foreign countries.
We need to ensure that we are protecting people in their
home countries and ensuring they feel they can stay in their
home country and not go on this perilous journey into the
United States.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Garza. My time
having expired, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman. I now recognize Dr.
Burgess for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Burgess. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And, Sheriff, let me just ask you something because earlier
this afternoon we were at the Central Processing Facility down
on Ursula Avenue, and the deputy chief patrol agent showed us a
graphic of where the location of the remains of people who had
perished coming across, presumably illegally, and sure enough,
there were a number of dots along the border, along the river.
But it was startling how many dots there were up north
toward Falfurrias in your area. Can you help us understand
what's going on there?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, sir. What's happening, they're coming
across between the port of entries. They're being held at stash
houses which they're not being fed, there's no water, they're
provided nothing for their health issue. OK?
Then they're traveled up to--up to maybe a mile south of
the checkpoint, get dropped off, and they're walking through.
They get injured, they get hurt, whatever the case may be.
Maybe they get intercepted by law enforcement. They all run
different directions. The only one that knows which direction
to go is going to be the coyote, the smuggler.
So at the end of the day, if they don't get the assistance
they need, they're going to die. And it's a slow death. But I
might say, though, we have over--close to 2,000 placards in
Brooks County alone. We have maybe three or four beacons in
Brooks County alone, but they're told not to utilize that by
the smuggler, OK?
Mr. Burgess. Well----
Mr. Martinez. I think I'm the only sheriff with a morgue in
the county, and I'm holding bodies for Zavala County because
they don't have a place to hold them. So I think it's--it's
important to understand the fact that they're getting smuggled,
and they have to pay to get smuggled, and they shouldn't.
Mr. Burgess. Yes, sir. And it's hardly compassionate----
Mr. Martinez. Yes, sir.
Mr. Burgess [continuing]. Is the bottom line.
Mr. Archer, let me ask you, you and I have both referenced
the Institute for Mental Disease exclusion. When,
interestingly, we had Secretary Becerra in front of our
committee last Congress, and I asked him a question about that,
he actually spoke favorably about perhaps revisiting that.
In your opinion, would that be helpful with some of the
problems that you're facing?
Mr. Archer. Yes, sir, it would. We--at Oceans today, in
over half the hospitals we're in, in over half the hospitals in
Texas, we're the only behavioral health hospital for,
sometimes, a hundred miles.
And because of a rule that's almost 50 years old on the
books, we can't accept Medicaid patients, patients that we're
willing to accept, that we have a contract with. And, you know,
unfortunately, the behavioral health Federal laws are riddled
with old rules. They point to State hospitals that either
haven't existed or have lost beds tremendously over the last 20
years, and so we've got willing providers, willing to take
patients, and accept their rates, and we simply can't because
of some of these antiquated rules.
Mr. Burgess. Let me ask you this: What are you doing--we
all hear about the workforce issues, and every hospital that I
represent will tell me about that--what are you doing to
incentivize providers to stay at your facilities?
Mr. Archer. You know, what I would say is all of the above,
you know, whatever it takes these days. It's the number-one
stressor for us in hospitals and I'm sure in healthcare and in
many industries. You know, the problem is, and the deep-seated
problem in behavioral health is, you know, it's now fashionable
to say good things about behavioral health, but from a parity
perspective and from a payment perspective, a psychiatrist, a
therapist knows that they're going to make 20 to 30 percent
less than their peers.
So institutionally we've got a lot of work to do to value
the work that they do when they come out of school. One of the
most, I think, things that scares me the most is, you look at
new graduates, you look at new psychiatrists, you look at new
therapists, I'm sure many of you may have had a family member
or loved one you know try to find one that will take an
insurance, try to find somebody that will take your insurance
in network.
And the problem is, is that the barriers for behavioral
health providers have been stacked so high that a lot of folks
have just tapped out and said, ``Hey, we're just going to opt
out of taking insurance.''
And so, from a workforce perspective, we are doing
everything we can to attract and retain the best and brightest,
and part of that is inviting folks in earlier in their career,
to understand what an engaging career in behavioral health is
and how rewarding it can be.
Mr. Burgess. You're right, we don't value it, and then as a
consequence it becomes a cash-only business. And certainly
Medicare and Medicaid, extremely hard to find a provider who
will accept that.
Let me just ask you, Mr. Judd, in the few seconds that I
have remaining, we've heard a lot about the influence of social
media, Snapchat, on the sale of fentanyl, but TikTok also plays
a role in illegal immigration, does it not?
Mr. Judd. It does. It does. All social media platforms
plays a role in illegal immigration. That's one of the ways the
cartels advertise their services throughout the world and
convince people to put themselves in their hands to come to the
United States. The cartels use all social media platforms.
Mr. Burgess. Well, we're going to have a hearing with
TikTok later, maybe we can bring that up to them. Thank you,
and I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize
Ms. Craig for her 5 minutes of questions.
Ms. Craig. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I want to start
with Ms. Garza. Even though fentanyl-related substances have
been scheduled as a class I drug on a temporary basis--which by
the way I agree with--since 2018, cases of fentanyl overdoses
and deaths have continued to rise.
For Ms. Garza, and perhaps Mr. Archer as well, clearly that
rescheduling, scheduling at it as a class I one drug, is not
the silver bullet that some politicians would have us think
that it is.
And, of course, it feels a little bit like Groundhog Day
here in Texas because we've had these conversations on heroin,
on cocaine, and so many other drugs.
Do either of you have any input on some of the mistakes
that Congress might have made in our approach to the opioid
crisis?
Ms. Garza. I will go first. You know, I think--I think it's
very clear that criminalizing this is not going to create a
solution. We, again, have to have a public health response to a
public health issue. And providing counseling, which I'm sure
Mr. Archer can speak more to, providing treatment to
individuals that are addicted to opioids is the right course. I
mean, this is what we should be focusing on, is treatment, as a
public health issue.
Ms. Craig. Mr. Archer, anything to add to that?
Mr. Archer. Sure. I mean, look, I would agree. I mean, I
think that we, from an addiction perspective, and I'm sure some
of the stories you've heard today, patients with addiction
carry a lot of shame, and it's--and it's not needed. It
shouldn't be that way.
You know, an addiction patient has typically a biological
and a genetic disposition for this.
But, you know, I would say this: As also a father of four
and someone who has been unable to remove social media from my
daughters' phones, I do worry deeply about these other forces
that are moving around.
So I would, you know, I would say, I think both sides of
this are important, and I would continue, I think this
committee has done some, I think, very meaningful work around
medication-assisted treatment, parity, and other areas.
But I would just say, look, more needs to be done, because
the education efforts, starting as early as elementary school,
junior high, and high school, those things have to continue.
Ms. Craig. Thank you so much.
Mr. Judd, maybe I misheard you, but I thought you sort of
took issue with this number of 97 percent coming through our
legal ports of entry at our Nation's border. I guess I'm just
stunned because I'm sitting here holding a report--and Mr.
Chairman, I'm going to ask unanimous consent that this report
from the Customs and Border Protection be entered into our
hearing record--I'm just stunned that there is so little
discussion today, since I'm holding the report that says that
is the case, and specifically with fentanyl, 97 percent seems
to be seized at legal ports of entry, that you're not here
representing your officers, asking for more equipment, more
resources, more officers, more of anything to detect and seize
the actual fentanyl that's coming into our country.
And I realize that doesn't fit the political narrative that
some people are trying to offer up here today, but that's how
it's coming into our country, and, yes, it's coming through the
mail, it's coming through lots of places in other ways.
And I'm looking here, and, you know, several hundred pounds
were also found on people who were coming across illegally on
our border, I understand that, but 97 percent, and we're having
a conversation here about the 3 percent. That doesn't save a
damn single life in my congressional district, most likely.
So I'm just concerned that you don't have that data since
you represent the officers.
Mr. Judd. If I misheard you, I apologize, but I thought
that you said 97 percent comes through the ports of entry. I
did not hear you say 97 percent is seized at the ports of
entry. Again, I will point to, ports of entry are secure
locations. That's what they are. You can schedule traffic to
come through. CBP can even shut down lanes if they need to, and
they can go through all of the vehicles.
Just because that's where it's seized does not mean that
more is not coming between the ports of entry. And we have seen
that time and time again. So if you said that 97 percent is
seized at the ports of entry, I apologize. But I heard you say
97 percent is coming through the ports of entry.
Ms. Craig. So let me just ask you this then. We don't know
how much is really coming through our ports of entry. We just
know how much is seized there.
Mr. Judd. Absolutely.
Ms. Craig. Why aren't you asking for more equipment to
seize more----
Mr. Judd. I'll be happy to----
Ms. Craig [continuing]. That they're trying to get through
the ports of entry?
Mr. Judd. I'll be happy to answer that question, because I
believe that we have the resources today to do the job. That
has been proven in the past. I do not believe that the taxpayer
should have to shoulder this burden.
I believe that, if we had the proper policies, proper
programs, proper operations, then we could, in fact, secure the
border, and that has been proven in the past.
Again, look at 2021. Seizures at the ports of entry were at
an all-time low. Yet the amount of drugs on the streets were at
an all-time high. Those drugs did not magically appear.
Mr. Griffith. The gentlelady's time----
Ms. Craig. Mr. Chairman, my time is expired.
Mr. Griffith. Thank you. And the gentlelady yields back. I
now recognize the chairwoman of the full committee, Cathy
McMorris Rodgers.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're here today to
look for answers to a border crisis that is driving the flow of
fentanyl--illicit fentanyl--that is pouring into our
communities. I'm from Spokane, Washington, near the Canadian
border, near Idaho, and we are one of 11 cities now DEA has
listed as crisis cities for fentanyl.
I want to go back to the discussion right here. So I've
seen estimates that DEA thinks that they're able to catch about
5 to 10 percent of the fentanyl that's actually coming in to
the United States of America.
So to Mr. Judd and to the sheriff, would you--would you
speak to how the policy of taking away resources to stop
fentanyl from being smuggled in, you know, the policies that
are taking away from border security, to secure the border, and
how that is impacting your ability to stop the flow of fentanyl
coming into the United States?
Mr. Judd. We start any shift with 50 percent of our
resources outside of patrolling the border. That's 50 percent.
We can end the shift with as many as 90 percent of our
resources doing administrative duties rather than patrolling
the border.
And any time that you have that, you have a wide-open
border. In fact, you have sections of the border that are
completely controlled by criminal cartels when you take that
many of our resources out of the field.
And, again, that starts with policy, programs, and
operations, and if we had those, then we wouldn't be doing
that, and we could do a much better job of securing the border.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you.
Sheriff?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, ma'am. Just in the last 31 days of this
year, there's been 1,937 Mexican drones flown between the
United States and Mexico. I say this. Let the Drug Enforcement
Administration do what they're supposed to. Remove their gloves
and let them work how they're supposed to, OK? Everything is in
place. We are just going in circles here. They can do the job.
CBP can do the job.
All you got to do is talk to them. If you need a closed
hearing to do it--but they know what they're doing. Let them
work.
Mrs. Rodgers. And we're talking about the number-one killer
of 18-to-45-year-olds now in the United States of America:
fentanyl, the number-one killer. Enough fentanyl on Lincoln's
ear on a penny can kill someone.
So would you--would you just speak to us about what you
think needs to happen, from a Federal Government perspective,
to help secure the border and stop the flow of the fentanyl?
Mr. Martinez. Yes. We're having this health issue that we
talk about, this fentanyl and everything. We have to secure the
border, put those walls back up. I think the walls need to go
back up. OK? That's important. Because all it is, is a tool.
That's what the wall is, as you would a radar in a patrol car.
It's just a tool, OK? Get Border Patrol back to do what they're
supposed to do, get them on the front line, get them the
equipment, the technology they need.
Even though you have technology, you still have to identify
what you're looking at, OK? I worked for the State police for
29 years. Eighteen years of that I did narcotics, the service.
So I know what happens on the back side. I've been part of
that, OK, so I know what occurs.
The cartels will do everything they can to get their
merchandise across, because that's what they do, you know, and
it's simple. Get Border Patrol back to what it's supposed to
do, put the walls back up, secure some of that, because all it
is, is you got to funnel things through.
This issue about the port of entry, this is what it is.
That's where you get your metrics, OK? Your metrics is being--
OK, everything is the port of entry. That's just a metric. And
the reason I'm passionate about this, because I had another
Representative, a Congressman from California, that questioned
it.
And it really annoys me because I know what we have done,
and I know what the Federal Government has done in operations
that maybe some of you don't know, and you should know. So it's
there, it's occurring, it's occurring now.
Mrs. Rodgers. In December--in December, the Administrator
for Drug Enforcement Agency was in my office, and she told me
that they've identified 160,000 plants in China that are
producing the chemicals that now make their way to Mexico that
are then used to produce the fentanyl-related substances making
their way into the United States.
Would Mr. Judd, perhaps, would you speak to what's going on
just maybe a few miles or right across the border from here
within the cartels?
Mr. Judd. Yes. When you look at the border, there is no
one-size-fits-all to secure the border. The border has many
different dynamics.
If you look at Tucson, Arizona, there is no river. If you
look at McAllen, Texas, there is a large river. The cartels,
they use the different terrain features, they use the different
specific areas. Laredo, Texas, they use a lot of the commercial
to do their smuggling because they're going to use what is
available at the time, the resources that they have. And that's
what we see.
And that's why we have to--I agree with Ms. Garza--we have
to have a holistic approach. There's got to be a look at
everything that we do, but enforcement is absolutely a
necessary issue in this process. And if we don't have the
enforcement, then we're going to continue to see the chaos that
we're currently seeing.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thanks for what you're doing.
My time is expired. I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. The gentlelady yields back. I now recognize
Mr. Veasey for his 5 minutes of questions.
Mr. Veasey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.
Ms. Garza, I don't know the Koch brothers. I've never met
them. I know that a lot of my Republican colleagues around the
table have met them and dealt with them and been supported by
them. And because of your work in the nonprofit world, you
probably are familiar with Cato Institute and know that they
founded that organization.
And there is a very interesting report, if you haven't read
it, that talks about this issue. Ninety-seven percent of ports
are less likely to be stopped than are people illegally
crossing between them.
One of the reasons why we see people going to these ports
is because they know that they're--that drugs are less likely
to be searched there. And so it's only logical that these
people that are bringing fentanyl into this country would go
through these ports.
Just 0.2 percent of the people arrested by Border Patrol
for crossing illegally possess any fentanyl whatsoever. And
contrary to what Mr. Judd just told us, we know that the
Government exacerbated the problem by banning most legal,
cross-border traffic in 2020 and 2021, accelerating the switch
to fentanyl.
And that during the travel restrictions, fentanyl seizures
at ports quadrupled from fiscal year 2019 to 2021. Fentanyl
went from a third of combined heroin and fentanyl seizures up
to over 90 percent. And annual deaths from fentanyl doubled
from 2019 until 2021, after the Government banned most travel
and asylum. So it's pretty logical and obvious where the drugs
are coming from.
And so I want to ask you, how has a militarized border
affected these communities, especially knowing that the drugs
aren't coming in through their communities?
And I just want to say for the record, Mr. Chairman, I've
been to the border many times, and I've visited McAllen for a
variety of different reasons over the last 18 years, and this
is probably one of the safest communities I've ever been in, in
the entire State of Texas. I'm from Fort Worth.
Please.
Ms. Garza. I just--I want to start with the fact that I'm a
fifth-generation Tejana from Brownsville, Texas, and it is one
of the safest communities. I'm raising my 10-month-old daughter
here intentionally. It is not what is depicted in the media.
This is not a war zone. It is a very safe community. It's a
very welcoming community.
And unfortunately we are on the eve of some fiestas that
are happening in Brownsville, the celebration of the
relationship between Brownsville and Matamoros that is
incredibly unique. It's a celebration of the relationship
between the United States and Mexico, of our intertwined
economies, of our families, of our culture, of our congress.
And to have a hearing like this, that isn't focused on the
needs of border communities, we need infrastructure, we need
dollars for healthcare. We don't need a militarized zone. We
have all kinds of enforcement in this region, and it has done
nothing to stem the flow of drugs.
Operation Lone Star has spent billions of dollars in this
region, as I laid out in my testimony, and it has not resulted
in reductions of deaths that you are seeing in your
communities, in the interior of the United States. So throwing
more money into militarizing this region is not going to solve
the problem.
We need to address this as a public health issue, and we
need to treat immigrants that are seeking protection in this
country humanely. And we need to take care of that part because
the people in this community are stepping up even though they
are impoverished. We are still standing up and helping out
these folks that are coming and looking for protection in our
country.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you. In Mr. Judd's opening statement, he
made a comment that he didn't know exactly why the undocumented
are coming here, and I would like to remind Mr. Judd and
everybody sitting around this table, not just him, that the
reason why they're coming here, and the reason why they are
here, they're primarily taking jobs that are very hard to fill
in this country.
And so all of us should remember that the next time we put
food on our table, that that food was probably picked or
harvested or produced by people that were undocumented.
The next time we put gas--we talk about Texas being the oil
and gas capital of the world. The next time we put gas in our
car. And so that's what they're doing. I just wanted to answer
Mr. Judd's question because he said that he did not know what
they were doing here, and I'm telling you what they're doing
here. We're all eating tonight because of them.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman for yielding back. I
now recognize Mr. Latta for his 5 minutes of questions.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you much, Mr. Chairman, and thanks
for holding this hearing, and thanks to our witnesses for being
with us tonight. You know, one of the things I think it's
important to point out is that, you know, in some of the
hearings that we've had, we're no longer hearing the words that
we're having an overdose issue in this country, but we have a
fentanyl poisoning problem in this country.
And it wasn't very long ago at a roundtable that we
conducted that a law enforcement officer said that those that
are lacing narcotics with fentanyl are committing murder.
So I think it's important to point out that, you know, we
really have to see that there's a massive change happening in
this country because, again, it's already been pointed out, but
I'm going to point it out again, that when you think of the
107,735 people that lost their lives in this country in 2021
alone, that over 70,000 of those were because of fentanyl.
So I think it's really important that the legislation, the
HALT Fentanyl Act that my friend, the chairman, and I have
introduced, is so important to get across the finish line
because, again, it will permanently schedule fentanyl-related
substances as a Schedule I drug and enable researchers to
continue to study Schedule I substance for possible medical
benefits.
And I think it's also important to point out, again, that
when the Drug Enforcement Agency's associate administrator for
business operation, Jon DeLena, was before our committee, he
stated that the HALT Fentanyl Act is the agency's top priority.
And, Mr. Judd, if I could start with you, why would Mr.
DeLena say that the HALT Fentanyl Act would be the agency's top
priority?
Mr. Judd. Because the amount of deaths that are occurring
in the United States. It has to be the top priority if we're
going to stem off the number of deaths. Again, 107,000 people
died of overdose deaths in 2021 alone. That number went up, I
believe it's about the exact same in 2022. We cannot continue
to sustain that number of deaths in the United States.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you, and, you know, again, some of
us were able to visit the McAllen CBP facility before we came
here this evening. And let me ask, what trends does CBP have
identified in illicit drug shipments, and especially when you
think about the international coordination on fentanyl
analogues and counterfeit drugs coming in across our borders?
Mr. Judd. What we have noticed and what has become very,
very clear is, the cartels want to pull resources out of the
field. And the way they do that is, they flood specific areas
with illegal border crossers. When they do that, it requires us
to deploy those resources to that area, and when they deploy
those resources, then you have wide gaps that are clearly open.
And when you look at 1.2 million gotaways, if every single
one of them, and I'm not saying that every single one of them,
but if every single one of them was carrying a backpack of 90
pounds of drugs, that's an awful lot of drugs, and that is the
scary aspect of this.
We must be able to detect and apprehend everything that is
crossing the border between the ports of entry. And once we do
that, then we can evaluate where resources need to be placed.
But until we do that, just throwing resources at an issue
is putting the cart before the horse. That's why we have to
have the proper policies, programs, and operations. Then we can
look at what resources are necessary after that.
Mr. Latta. You know, something else that was brought up
this afternoon when we were visiting, the question as to
individuals that in the past might've had some cash on them
that are now--you're finding folks coming up that have no cash.
And so the question then is, you know, is the cartel, out of
the goodness of their heart, allowing these people to go
through their area to bring them up here for free?
Mr. Judd. No. Every person and every thing that crosses the
border illegally goes through the cartels. Whether you're
paying fees on your way up through Mexico, whether you're
paying a fee at the border, every single person or every single
thing that crosses the border illegally, it is in the cartels'
hands.
Mr. Latta. Well, and again, I think what you mentioned
about the distracting of our Border Patrol by the cartel when
they bring large groups of people up into one area is very,
very important.
And also, you know, one of the things, if I could just
finish up with then, is this, is that, you know, the cartels
are producing fentanyl-laced pills that cost about 10 cents
apiece. So that means they're killing Americans for 10 cents.
And that's something that, you know, we've got to stop, and I
think this is one of the things that's so important for this
committee, and why we're here tonight.
So, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to ask the
witnesses, and I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman for yielding back. I
now recognize Mr. Bilirakis for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
In November, I had the opportunity to lead a delegation
visit to the Arizona-Mexico border, having in-depth
conversations--and I also brought some of my local sheriffs
with me as well--but having in-depth conversations with the
Border Patrol agents, custom agents, and, again, local
sheriffs, and also Mr. Judd.
The resounding feedback I received was that our border is
not secure, which continues to allow the surge of illegal drugs
that have made every State a border State.
Florida, like every other State, has seen stark upticks in
fentanyl poisoning deaths. Without question, without question,
fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction. We are at war, ladies
and gentlemen.
Sheriff Martinez, when I visited the Arizona-Mexico border,
I met with Sheriff Dannels, who described the United States'
southern border as a war zone governed by the Mexican cartels.
You have provided similar testimony, sir, today.
He also said that the large policy shifts from the Trump
administration to the Biden administration have emboldened
these cartels and elaborated that these new policies have left
those at the border out to dry. And I've heard this from
residents here in Texas. Do you feel this is a fair assessment,
sir?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, sir, it is.
Mr. Bilirakis. In your opinion, was the Remain in Mexico
policy implemented under President Trump helpful?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, sir, it was. As the wall.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you.
Mr. Judd, again, it's wonderful to see you again. Thank you
for all you do.
Mr. Judd. Thank you.
Mr. Bilirakis. I greatly appreciated the role you played in
helping coordinate the visit in November. The time you spent
with the group was informative, and your frankness continues to
be refreshing. I would like to ask you similar questions as I
did Sheriff Martinez.
Do you agree with Sheriff Dannels' assessment that the
southern border is a war zone?
Mr. Judd. I would agree that the southern border is
controlled by criminal cartels, and large swaths they have
complete control over.
Mr. Bilirakis. OK. Do you believe construction of the
southern wall should be continued and completed?
Mr. Judd. I know it should. All you have to do is look at
history. In one of the stations that I was assigned to,
prewall, we were apprehending a hundred thousand people.
Postwall, that dropped down to less than 10,000 people. We're
able to dictate where illegal activity is taking place if we
have infrastructure like physical barriers.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. What other resources
and technology do you and the 16,000 Border Patrol field agents
need to protect our border from the influx of illicit fentanyl?
Now, I know you said that we got to change the policies,
but can you elaborate the resources that are needed once we
change the policies, sir?
Mr. Judd. So we must retain Border Patrol agents. We can't
do that right now. We're supposed to be at 21,378, and as yet
we're at 19,300. That is the resources that we have to be able
to keep. If we don't have enough agents in the field, we can't
do the job.
CBP, they do an incredibly important job. The ports of
entry are incredibly important, but they don't have an issue of
retaining employees at the ports of entry. We have an issue
with retaining employees between the ports of entry, and we
must be able to retain our employees, and we can't do that
right now.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, sir. Ultimately, this is a public
health crisis, I agree with that.
Mr. Archer, thanks for being here today to provide
perspective of healthcare--the workforce trying to address the
collision of illicit fentanyl and the mental health and
substance use disorder concerns we face as a Nation.
How have the policies of the Biden administration
negatively impacted your facilities, your staff, and ultimately
patient care?
Mr. Archer. You know, I think as a behavioral health
provider today, post-COVID, we are in an environment where, you
know, certain things have been extended during COVID such as
telemedicine flexibility, you know, things that we're hoping
are going to be made permanent in the near future.
Workforce continues to be one of our major concerns. I know
I've shared that numerous times with us tonight. It's what we
wake up to day and night in this industry.
And, again, I'll just say that behavioral health patients
and the caregivers that I represent have not always had the
strongest advocates. And so as we look at the power that
managed care has and other organizations have, parity remains
one of our major desires and needs for our industry.
Mr. Bilirakis. All right. Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman, I appreciate it, and I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentleman for yielding back. I
now recognize our longest-serving pharmacist in the United
States House, Buddy Carter.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I'm going to jump
right into it because I got a lot to go over in 5 minutes.
I want to ask you, Mr. Judd, let's talk about this 97
percent of the fentanyl that is seized is at the border. OK,
I'll accept that. I'll accept that as being a fact, OK? But
it's my understanding that U.S. authorities estimate that we're
only catching 5 to 10 percent that comes across. So if you're
talking about 97 percent of 10 percent, you're still talking
about a minuscule amount. Is that correct?
Mr. Judd. That is correct, yes.
Mr. Carter. Let me ask you something else. We were at the
processing center this afternoon, and I heard something that
was very disturbing, and I need to get clarification on it.
They told us that because fentanyl is an approved drug in
America, that the dogs are not trained to sniff for it.
Mr. Judd. Certain precursors, that is true, but I have
found that--I used to be a canine handler myself--I have found
that the dogs are, in fact, finding fentanyl. How that is, I
don't know. I was a canine handler many years ago, but I do
know that the canine just detected that in Arizona two nights
ago.
Mr. Carter. Well, I certainly hope that's not the case
because even though it is an approved drug, you've got to have
a prescription for it. I'm sure these people don't have a
prescription for it when they're coming across the border.
Mr. Judd. No, they don't.
Mr. Carter. Are we checking to see if they got a
prescription?
Mr. Judd. We check every document that they have, yes.
Mr. Carter. Well, I certainly hope that the HALT Fentanyl
Act, once it's made permanent, that this will make sure that
every dog is trained to detect fentanyl that's coming across
that border.
Let me ask you something else. If you had additional
resources to put into border security, do you believe that more
would be seized?
Mr. Judd. I believe that if we had more personnel on the
border, absolutely. If we were able to put our--if we were able
to deploy our agents to the field, yes, I absolutely believe
that more would be seized.
Mr. Carter. You know, I get so frustrated by this talk, and
with all due respect, Mr. Archer and Ms. Garza, when you talk
about opioid addiction and when you talk about fentanyl
poisoning, you're apples and oranges here.
I could not agree more, we need to do something in this
country about opioid addiction, we need to do more. I've
witnessed it, a practicing pharmacist, I saw it firsthand. I
saw it destroy families, I saw it destroy careers. We do need
to address, but what we're talking about here is fentanyl
poisoning.
You know, I was at a town hall meeting, and I made a
mistake, and as a pharmacist, I made a mistake. I called it
fentanyl addiction. And a mother jumped up and she said, ``Sir,
you were wrong. It's not fentanyl addiction, it's fentanyl
poisoning.'' She said, ``My son took one pill, and he's dead.''
She was right, and I was wrong. It is not opioid addiction. It
is fentanyl poisoning.
Mr. Archer, one of the things that I think that we can do,
and we got--you know, there are two solutions to this problem.
First of all, we got to secure this border and stop these drugs
from coming across the border. That's the first thing we got to
do.
We got a big problem with the amount of drugs that are in
this country already, and one of the things we've got to do--I
tell you, in my pack, in my backpack, I carry Naloxone. I carry
it everywhere I go. Thank God I've never had to use it, and I
pray to God I don't have to use it.
But we need to make sure that Naloxone is available over
the counter. It needs to be in every medicine cabinet in
America. It needs to be like syrup of ipecac. It needs to be
there.
And I call on this committee, we need to have the FDA--and,
look, I'm a big critic of the FDA a lot of times, but I got to
give credit where credit's due. They've already started the
packaging to make this OTC, and now they're waiting on the
pharmaceutical manufacturers to catch up with them. We need to
be encouraging them. We need to have this.
Mr. Archer, have you witnessed this?
Mr. Archer. We have, we have, and I couldn't agree with you
more.
Mr. Carter. Well, you know, look, folks, 200 people every
day. Two hundred people every day. If this--if you put 200
people every day in an airplane and crashed it, we'd all be
walking. They'd stop it immediately. And what are we doing?
We're sitting here arguing about whether it's at point of entry
or whether it's a humanitarian crisis or what--it's drugs
coming across the border. We're not talking rocket science
here, folks. I just--we got to secure the border, and we got to
treat these people.
We need to have this in every medicine cabinet, every
emergency box. It needs to be like defibrillators. Where you
got them, you need to have Narcan--Naloxone.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll yield back.
Mr. Griffith. Appreciate the gentleman. I now recognize Mr.
Crenshaw for his 5 minutes.
Mr. Crenshaw. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
holding this field hearing in my home State of Texas. Thank you
to all the witnesses for being here.
Look, let's be clear. This is a field hearing on the border
because fentanyl comes across the southern border. I heard that
questioned earlier. You can't understand why we're having a
field hearing on the southern border relating to fentanyl.
It's because it comes across the southern border, Ms.
Garza. This is not political theater. This is not
misinformation. It just comes across the southern border, and
we're quibbling, as my colleague just said, we're quibbling
about how much of it comes through points of entry and how much
of it comes between points of entry.
Look, multiple things can be true at once. Most of the
seized fentanyl is seized at points of entry. Another thing can
be true: A lot of fentanyl comes between points of entry, and
we don't find it.
Another thing can be true. It is indeed related to the
immigration crisis because both crises have a common factor,
and that is the Mexican drug cartels. That is a common enemy.
We are not enemies here. This should not be a partisan issue.
We have a common enemy in the Mexican drug cartels.
If you don't believe that there's a connection, I think me
and Mr. Judd, in under a minute of conversation, can help find
that connection.
Mr. Judd, it's true that most fentanyl comes through points
of entry that is seized. Points of entry are run by customs
agents, correct?
Mr. Judd. That is correct
Mr. Crenshaw. OK. How often are custom agents pulled off
the line to assist Border Patrol because of the immigration
crisis?
Mr. Judd. Oh, Border Patrol agents are constantly being
pulled off of the line to assist customs agents, and at times,
customs agents are also being pulled off the line to assist
Border Patrol.
Mr. Crenshaw. Do we have enough customs agents to actually
go through all the vehicles we need to go through?
Mr. Judd. We do not. We need more.
Mr. Crenshaw. There we go. Cartels, are they making money
off of illegal immigration? Do they charge every single illegal
immigrant when they cross that border?
Mr. Judd. Thirteen billion dollars worth, yes.
Mr. Crenshaw. Thirteen billion dollars. Do you think they
reinvest that money in hospitals, in schools, or do you think
they reinvest that money back into their illicit drug trade?
Mr. Judd. El Chapo spent an awful lot of money on himself.
Mr. Crenshaw. Is it also true that what the cartels do is
tie up Border Patrol agents with hundred of migrants who are,
indeed, I'm sure, nice people, but they tie them up, process
them for hours, Border Patrol agents become babysitters and bus
drivers, and then the cartels use that opportunity to then
traffic what they want to traffic in places the Border Patrol
cannot watch?
Mr. Judd. That is 100 percent correct.
Mr. Crenshaw. It is connected. It is indeed connected. The
immigration crisis and the fentanyl crisis are separate, yes,
but they are connected. This is not a partisan comment to make.
And it is true what my colleague just said, the longest-
serving pharmacist in Congress: This is a different problem.
This is not like the war on drugs. This is not cocaine and
heroin. This is a poisoning problem, and it is poisoning almost
80,000 Americans a year, and it is coming from two specific
organizations: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel. It
should be a common enemy for Democrats and Republicans.
By the way, the man who represents this district that we're
in right now, Vicente Gonzalez, he agrees with me. We're
working on legislation together for the authorization of
military force against the cartels because they are a military
force. They are some of the best-equipped, best-trained, best-
funded, most dangerous people in the entire world, and they're
right across the border.
And they're killing Americans by the tens of thousands.
More Americans died just in 2021 from fentanyl than the entire
Vietnam War. They are at war with us.
I've introduced legislation that would go after them,
militarily, financially, and go after the kind of people that
help them, Mexican officials who help them.
You know, on the enforcement issue, Sheriff, can you
effectively prosecute fentanyl dealers? Are your hands tied
there? What can we do better there?
Mr. Martinez. That's a good question. Definitely need to
get the AUSA on board, the United States Attorney on board to
start prosecuting cases. In my case, at the checkpoint, they
pick and choose what cases they're going to accept and file on,
and those cases I'll adopt in the State level. It really is not
going to go anywhere, but----
Mr. Crenshaw. What do you think--I think some States have
looked at making--at classifying fentanyl as a poison. Would
you recommend something like that?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, Schedule I, yes, sir.
Mr. Crenshaw. Well, Schedule I is different than
classifying it as a poison. You classify it as a poison, it
becomes a murder if you give it to somebody.
Mr. Martinez. Absolutely. That'll work.
Mr. Crenshaw. That'll work.
Ms. Garza, would you agree with that? Do you think fentanyl
dealers, not the people who are taking it--I understand you
have sympathy for them, I think we all do--but the dealers who
knowingly give fentanyl to other people when they think they're
taking Adderall or heroin or something else, do you think that
we should vastly increase penalties for them?
Ms. Garza. I will say that I recently had a C-section, I
had a baby, and I was given fentanyl by a physician, and I----
Mr. Crenshaw. That's not my question. That's in an
operating room.
Ms. Garza [continuing]. And I believe that there is a drug
that----
Mr. Crenshaw. We carry fentanyl on our medics' packs
overseas. I understand that. Do you think that fentanyl dealers
trafficking it illicitly, like putting it in Adderall, putting
it in cocaine, and then people died, you don't think that those
dealers should have a higher penalty?
Ms. Garza. I believe that we should be prosecuting people.
I think that we should stop----
Mr. Crenshaw. But should they have a higher penalty than--
--
Ms. Garza [continuing]. The stem of the flow of the drugs
in this country. But we're conflating the issues and what the
real problem is. You are identifying, sir, what the problem is,
and the problem originates not at the border, it originates
further south. And so we need to put efforts into curbing these
drugs coming in, and we need to curb--we need to build up the
rule of law in foreign nations so that people don't feel unsafe
and have to flee.
Mr. Crenshaw. Our solution--our solution----
Ms. Garza. But you are villainizing our community.
Mr. Crenshaw. I'm not villainizing----
Ms. Garza. You are villainizing the border and----
Mr. Griffith. The gentleman's time is up.
Mr. Crenshaw. Well, can I respond to that?
I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Griffith. Thanks. The gentleman yields back. I now
recognize Dr. Joyce for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Joyce. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we're looking for
answers on what can be done to stop the poisonous fentanyl that
continues to enter our country, enter our country here, through
our southern border.
I had an interesting event occur to me as I was traveling
here to McAllen today on an airplane. I'm a physician. Even on
the plane, they called for help. I went back. There was a woman
in respiratory distress.
I'm on a commercial airplane. They had a stethoscope. They
had a blood pressure cuff. They had a tank of oxygen. They had
a whole cadre of medicines, and this woman had a great outcome.
And yet we are not, as government, providing you with the
tools to stop this poison, another medical emergency, from
coming into our country.
Last year, in my home county, in Pennsylvania, there was a
record number of drug poisonings that occurred, largely due to
fentanyl, which has become the number-one killer of Americans
ages 18 to 45.
As we look at these deaths, it is critical that we have an
understanding of how these drugs are entering our communities
and what can be done to prevent that.
Recently we've seen reports that the materials to create
these drugs are produced in China and then shipped to Mexico
where the cartels mix analogues into other drugs and then move
them across the southern border.
It is their business model. They're utilizing those
specific agents and bringing those poisons to us. So I'd like
to address my questions to you, Mr. Judd.
How do you feel the fentanyl precursor chemicals get
through Mexico's Customs and Border inspections?
Mr. Judd. Unfortunately, we can't control what happens in
other countries. Afghanistan has taught us that. Mr. Crenshaw
has clearly--his service has taught us that we cannot control
what happens in other countries. We can only control what
happens right here in the United States.
And what we do know is that this $13 billion that is
generated through human smuggling, that money is going back
into the Mexican economy. Why would they want that to stop?
Then you add on top of that the amount of drugs that are
coming into the United States and all of that, why would they
want to stop that?
I believe the Mexican Government does not want any of this
crisis to end. In fact, the only time that they have ever
become true border security partners is when our Government
threatens them with tariffs.
Mr. Joyce. As we look at this continuation of the crisis--
as we look at this continuation of the poisoning, Mr. Judd, do
you feel that you have access to the appropriate personnel,
policies to stem this tide?
I was in a situation today, I had the appropriate sources,
and I was able to turn things around. Do you, as the Border
Patrol, do you have the appropriate resources, personnel, and
policies to stem what is coming across our border tonight?
Mr. Judd. Congress has allocated enough funds for enough
agents. We just can't keep those agents. So we have to be able
to retain our agents. No, we do not have enough Border Patrol
agents to do what is necessary.
I do not work at the ports of entry, but I know an awful
lot of OFO officers, and I would tell you that they do not feel
that that they are properly staffed even though they are able
to retain their agents.
Mr. Joyce. Mr. Judd, in your testimony you stated that in
your 25 years of service with Border Patrol, right now our
border is the least secure.
Mr. Judd. Yes.
Mr. Joyce. Do you feel that is true?
Mr. Judd. Yes. 1.2 million gotaways clearly shows that.
Mr. Joyce. Mr. Judd, the increased high-value fentanyl
doubled from President Biden's first year in office to his
second year. Do you expect that that's going to continue?
Mr. Judd. I do, yes.
Mr. Joyce. And finally as president of the Border Patrol
Council, do you see this fentanyl poisoning crisis continuing
until government, until Congress, makes the appropriate steps?
Mr. Judd. I believe that there are executive actions that
can be taken, but, yes, for the long run, Congress must address
this issue.
Mr. Joyce. I thank all of the witnesses for their testimony
today, and I yield the remainder of my time.
Mr. Griffith. Thank you, Dr. Joyce. I now recognize Diana
Harshbarger, the youngest of our pharmacists, for her 5 minutes
of questioning.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the
witnesses who are here today.
Mr. Judd, we just talked about this with Dr. Joyce. In your
testimony you mentioned, from your firsthand knowledge and
experience, that the Biden administration's open border
policies have so stretched the Border Patrol agents thin that
the number of gotaways is almost too many to quantify. You said
that there were 1.2 million. How many do you really think have
come across that border?
Mr. Judd. So being a 25-year veteran myself and talking
with agents on a daily basis, I believe that we detect about 80
percent of what actually crosses the border.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes. So there's many more than that?
Mr. Judd. Yes, that's correct.
Mrs. Harshbarger. CBP has apprehended individuals on the
terrorist watch list, correct?
Mr. Judd. That is correct, yes.
Mrs. Harshbarger. So some of these gotaways could well be
on that watch list, on that terrorist watch list. Am I correct?
Mr. Judd. Yes, yes. In fact, just a few weeks ago, DPS
pulled over a vehicle in which an Iranian national was stashed
in the trunk of the vehicle. That person would have evaded
apprehension if it was not for what DPS did.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Absolutely. You know, my stats say that
53 people on terrorist watch lists have been apprehended trying
to enter the U.S. between ports of entry so far this fiscal
year.
We're seeing an increase in Chinese nationals crossing the
border illegally. In the last 3 months of 2022 that skyrocketed
by 700 percent. Do you think the Chinese criminal--
transcriminal organizations are assisting the Mexican cartels?
Mr. Judd. I do, absolutely.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Absolutely. So do I. And as a pharmacist,
Ms. Garza, we do use fentanyl for birthing and a lot of other
things, for cancer therapies. And I don't know if young people
in this room or that are listening to this know, it only takes
two grains of sand--that's how much 2 milligrams of fentanyl
is--to kill you dead. And this is why this is such a critical
issue.
You know, in terms of illicit fentanyl, record amounts of
seizures, as Joshua Sharfstein of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health has said, if you're seizing a lot, it's
because a lot is coming in.
And would you agree with the stat that 5 to 10 percent is
what--that's all that's being intercepted at the border?
Mr. Judd. I believe so----
Mrs. Harshbarger. I do too.
Mr. Judd [continuing]. And the reason why, yes, I believe
that--and the reason why I believe that is all my partnerships
with other law enforcement organizations throughout this
country. And every single one of them will tell you, they have
never seen the amount of product on the streets today as--in
the history of law enforcement.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Well, yes, they're marketing to children,
making them multicolored, now they're doing tie-dyed. It's any
way they can get it.
And this question is to Mr. Judd and Sheriff Martinez: In
your views, should Title 42 be used not just for communicable
diseases but also if there's dangerous substances coming across
the border, sir?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, ma'am.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Do you think we should designate fentanyl
as weapons of mass destruction?
Mr. Martinez. I think it classifies under that, yes.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes, so do I. Do the Mexican authorities
know which specific cartels are trafficking fentanyl? And Mr.
Crenshaw mentioned there's two active cartels in my State of
Tennessee, and the Sinaloa is one of those.
So why can't these authorities--or can they or won't they
stop these cartels, the Mexican authorities?
Mr. Martinez. Because there's a lot of money involved.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes.
Mr. Martinez. And that's--in that particular country, money
kind of carries the rule of law.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Money does carry the rule of law,
exactly.
How would you both, Mr. Judd and Sheriff, describe our law
enforcement intelligence-gathering efforts on cartel members?
Is it good, bad, indifferent?
Mr. Martinez. No, I think they're doing a great job.
Mrs. Harshbarger. OK.
Mr. Martinez. I think we just need to have the Federal
Government do the work, do the job they're supposed to. It'll
take care of it.
Mrs. Harshbarger. OK. Mr. Judd?
Mr. Judd. We know who they are. It's just a matter of
catching them.
Mrs. Harshbarger. You know, I've been on Homeland Security
2 years prior. I was on Homeland Security with several Members
in here, and when we went to the border--and this is the third
time I've been here--to talk to these intelligence gathering,
you know what they ask us to do, they say, ``We don't need
anything, just let us do our job.'' That's all they ask for.
When these cartel members are caught, do they provide you
with good information, or is it a struggle?
Mr. Judd. It's an extreme struggle, that the only reason
that they'll provide us information is if there's something in
it for them.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Same.
Mr. Martinez. I haven't had that experience. They usually
just lawyer up and have the court-appointed attorney to take
care of them.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Absolutely. Should we designate these
cartels as terrorist organizations?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, we should.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes, we should.
Mr. Judd. Yes, but my answer is going to be tempered. I
very much worry that if we designate them as a terrorist
organization, that the gloves come off. Right now, they operate
behind the scenes. And if they operate behind the scenes, we
can go after them behind the scenes. The moment we designate
them as a terrorist organization and we start seizing their
assets, they no longer have to operate behind the scenes. They
are a terrorist organization, make no mistake about that. How
we deal with them, I think, that we have to be very intelligent
in the way we deal with them.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Well, we need to talk about that, Mr.
Judd.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. Gentlelady yields back.
I know recognize Dr. Miller-Meeks for her 5 minutes.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I thank
the members of this committee for the hearing, and I thank all
of our witnesses who are here today.
And let me just say, given some of the testimony I have
heard today from my colleagues, that I am a former director of
the Iowa Department of Public Health, have managed programs
that take care of addiction, a former State Senator and as a
Member of Congress have participated in both healthcare and
bills that have been schools of society service for behavioral
health, no preauthorization for Medicaid-assisted treatment,
addiction programs to help addiction. And for those who cannot
see or connect the dots between the border and the fentanyl
crisis, I find that perhaps minds are closed to what is obvious
to the rest of us.
Ms. Garza, Representative Veasey, I think, contradicted
your testimony and the reasons you said people are coming
across the border. And he very aptly said that people are
coming across the border unauthorized without documents for
economic reasons.
When I had visited the Border Patrol--and I grew up in
Texas, went to San Antonio College, University of Texas for
medical school, nursing school here as well, have never seen
immigration, illegal immigration, at the level we have here now
or to the level that you see with drugs coming across the
border. People are coming here for economic reasons. We also
have a legal immigration system where 1 million people are
supposed to be coming across.
Is it humane that people that are here waiting in line for
decades are not able to come because we are processing through
4.5 million illegal immigrants in 2 years? Is that humane to
those individuals waiting? It's a yes or no answer.
Ms. Garza. I would say that the solutions to these problems
are more complex than your talking points.
Dr. Miller-Meeks. Yes or no. Thank you for your answer.
Ms. Garza. It is a complex issue that we need to address.
Dr. Miller-Meeks. Do you know how many deaths there were
crossing the border in 2020? How many deaths of illegal
immigrants crossing the border in 2020? Do you know the answer
to that? Three hundred forty-seven. In 2021, 546. In 2022, 853.
Is it humane for a government to have pull-factors to bring
people across the border on a perilous journey as you described
with a death rate of that, when March 5th, 2019, the New York
Times claimed that the border was at its breaking point as more
than 76,000 unauthorized migrants in more than a month in
February of 2019. It was at a breaking point under a different
administration. So perhaps there is politics involved.
Are you aware of how much money the cartels make in
smuggling people across the border? Thirteen point five billion
dollars. Does that help to ameliorate any of the poverty or
economic disadvantage or lack of healthcare in any of these
countries? No, it does not. Are you aware that 51.6 billion in
remittances went back from illegal immigrants, migrants in the
United States to Mexico? And does that have anything to do with
why we cannot control our southern border?
Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs have been responsible in 2019
for 28,000 deaths, in 2020 for 38,000--28,000 deaths from flu,
38,000 deaths from auto accidents. For fentanyl, the overdose
deaths in 2020 was 91,799; 2021, 106,000; and this year, which
is not yet available because we are a year behind.
We consider flu at 28,000 deaths a year to be endemic. I
would say that this would classify as an epidemic, our fentanyl
opioid crisis. The Council on Foreign Relations called it that.
The CDC has called it an epidemic, and the Washington Post in
December of 2022 has called it an epidemic.
Mr. Judd, you mentioned--and I just want us to underscore
this point again because there seems to be people who don't
understand the connection between fentanyl coming across our
border.
Again, are illegal drugs coming across the border, and are
illegal immigrants being used as a decoy to allow drugs to come
through places other than ports of entry?
Mr. Judd. Every single day.
Dr. Miller-Meeks. Thank you. Now that we've had the CDC,
the Washington Post, the Council on Foreign Relations call the
opioid crisis, the opioid and fentanyl epidemic an epidemic,
Mr. Archer, currently Title 42 authorizes the HHS Secretary to
restrict persons and importations from foreign countries to
prevent the introduction and spread of communicable diseases.
The purpose of this authority it to protect the public health
from serious danger.
As has been clearly discussed and as I just alluded, by
nonright-wing publications who considered the fentanyl crisis
as an epidemic, as established today, fentanyl analogs are a
clear and present, serious danger to the public health of our
communities and constituents.
Would updating Title 42 to include certain substances, such
as fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, and specific opioids and
narcotics, be helpful to you and agencies, companies, and
communities that you serve?
Mr. Archer. Yes.
Dr. Miller-Meeks. Thank you very much. I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. Thank the gentlelady for yielding back.
I now recognize the gentlelady, Ms. Cammack, for her 5
minutes.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to everyone
for making the trip down here. Thank you to our witnesses.
We'll jump right into it.
Going down the line here, do you believe that we have a
crisis at the southwest border?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, ma'am.
Mrs. Cammack. Doctor?
Mr. Archer. I would say, look, as a healthcare provider, I
am more of an expert about what happens when----
Mrs. Cammack. Just yes or no, please.
Mr. Archer. I can speak to if----
Mrs. Cammack. You personally, just yes or no.
Mr. Archer. I am not an expert on border or policies. I
think I can talk to what happens on the other side if we don't.
Mrs. Cammack. I'm sorry. I have to reclaim my time.
Ms. Garza, do we have a crisis at the southwest border.
Ms. Garza. We have a humanitarian crisis. Yes.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you.
Mr. Judd. I don't just believe, I know we have a crisis.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you.
Ms. Garza, how many shifts or ride-alongs have you done
with Customs and Border Patrol agents or Texas DPS?
Ms. Garza. Actually, a few. I have represented hundreds of
children in----
Mrs. Cammack. When did you do these ride-alongs?
Ms. Garza. 2018, 2017. It's been some time. I have spent
some time at OFO also in the ports of entry and spoken with
people.
Mrs. Cammack. I am going to reclaim my time. So you have
not done a ride-along or worked a shift along Texas DPS or our
Border Patrol agents since the Biden administration been in
office?
Ms. Garza. Ma'am, I've been practicing immigration law
since the Obama administration----
Mrs. Cammack. Correct?
That is just a yes or no. Yes or no?
Ms. Garza. Ma'am, I've been practicing immigration law.
Mrs. Cammack. That's not answering my question.
Ms. Garza. I am an attorney. I'm not a police officer. I'm
not an officer.
Mrs. Cammack. OK. So then you haven't. So you said earlier,
quote, operation Lone Star has not resulted in any sort of
reduction of fentanyl deaths in your respective districts,
talking about our district, end quote. You referenced Operation
Lone Star more than three times today in your testimony and in
answering questions saying that it's essentially a waste of
taxpayer funds.
Ms. Garza. Yes.
Mrs. Cammack. I want to look at the results of Operation
Lone Star to date since it took place in 2021. Three hundred
sixty-one million lethal doses of fentanyl have been
apprehended, have been confiscated. That's just Operation Lone
Star. That doesn't include what CDC or Border Patrol has
actually confiscated.
So going back to what you said, that Operation Lone Star is
not stopping any fentanyl deaths and it's a waste of money, how
do you explain the 361 million lethal doses that have been
confiscated, and I guess in your opinion what is the price of a
life then?
Ms. Garza. We are talking about billions of dollars that
have further militarized this region and the State of Texas. It
has been----
Mrs. Cammack. Three hundred sixty-one million lethal doses
is a waste of taxpayer dollars?
Ms. Garza. Look--look, we both care about a solution here.
We need to address the fentanyl issue.
Mrs. Cammack. I am going to reclaim my time. When I reclaim
my time, that means you have to stop talking. Three hundred
sixty-one million lethal doses is a waste of taxpayer money in
your opinion, yes or no?
Ms. Garza. I believe that Operation Lone Star is illegal,
and it is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Mrs. Cammack. So you think it is a waste of money. Ms.
Garza, you stated, quote, ``I don't understand why we are here
at the border. There is no connection,'' end quote. Let me show
you what the connection is. This is a brick of fentanyl that
was found in my district in Florida, in Marion County. This is
958 grams of fentanyl. The people who had that brick of
fentanyl crossed the border illegally. That is the connection.
And it's not just my district. Every single one of these
Members here today have illegal, illegal substances in their
district as a result of the Biden open-border policies. That is
the connection.
Every single one of us has constituents who have been
poisoned as a result. To say that there is no connection, that
is wildly inappropriate, unacceptable, and to the families that
have lost loved ones as a result of the open-border policies,
you should apologize. There is a direct connection. It's right
here. In my--No. No. No.
Ms. Garza. Ma'am, they are putting it on the backs of
individuals seeking asylum. That is a fact.
Mrs. Cammack. In my county, Marion County--and I represent
12, 12 counties. In Marion County alone, over 70 percent of the
200 monthly overdoses are fentanyl. These are fentanyl
poisonings. And as has been made clear here today by my
colleagues, only 5 to 10 percent of the fentanyl that is being
smuggled over the border into the United States is documented.
That is what we know of. This is a crisis.
I'm going to--I only have 25 seconds. So I am going to end
with this. Do you agree--because I went through your Twitter
feed. I went through several of the things that you posted. You
talk a lot about social justice. Do you believe that social
justice is Biden taking $130 million from homeless veterans'
programs under FEMA and redirecting it to the border crisis
here?
Ms. Garza. I believe that you are using the border as a
political talking point, and we do not appreciate that.
Mrs. Cammack. Answer the question.
Let the record reflect that the witness has declined to
answer the question under oath.
Mr. Griffith. I will.
Mrs. Cammack. I yield.
Mr. Griffith. Gentlelady yields back.
I recognize the gentleman, Mr. Walberg, for his 5 minutes
of questions.
Mr. Walberg. I thank the Chairman, and I thank the
witnesses for being here. And I thank my fellow committee
members for taking the trip down here. Mr. Chairman, I think
this is a good pattern to have on a regular basis of going out
to the places we are finding information from and talking to
the people.
I represent a district that goes from Lake Michigan to Lake
Erie and borders with Canada. We have illegal drugs being
smuggled across Canada and from Canada in interesting ways,
scuba divers come and cross Detroit River, Lake Erie, to our
district, but nothing at the level we are seeing here. I must
admit that.
Last week, I held a teletown hall in my district and heard
from Michiganers across the Fifth District. One community in
Wajack, Michigan, over on the west side of the State, in fact,
told me that a person said that they had had eight fentanyl
overdoses happen in their town in one week this year already.
Eight people in 1 week in a town of 5,000 people, and that is
unacceptable.
In my district, as well, we have as far as I know the only
facility of its kind that provides low-income housing for
individuals who come through treatment centers and are trying
to make it and rather going back to communities from which they
came, they come to Andy's Place and they have a full of
services there, legal services, social services, psychiatric
services, job training services all in the building and the
peer pressure in the positive way that goes with that. We began
to see 2 years ago that facility begin to be able to keep up
with people coming in, and that's all changed now. Waiting
lists have increased.
Clearly, this administration is failing to protect
Americans from the scourge of illicit fentanyl coming in from
the southern border, and we've seen that take place.
Mr. Archer, with eight overdoses in just one small town,
I'm concerned about the ability of our hospitals to keep up and
provide good quality care. Our healthcare workers are already
being stretched thin as a result of COVID, and the shutdowns
and all that went with that. How is the fentanyl crisis
contributing to this issue with hospitals specifically?
Mr. Archer. Thank you for the question. You know, I think
our hospitals in this Nation have never been in a more perilous
position. I think post-COVID, we've got a very brittle
healthcare system with stressed-out workers across the
continuum. In a hospital community's first goal and biggest
focus has to be on its own community. It has to be those that
they call neighbors and loved ones. And so I think any massive
flow of patients of this type would severely strain and have
risk of breaking any of the health systems.
Mr. Walberg. That is a concern, and then the impact that it
has on families trying to deal with that as well.
Mr. Archer. That is right.
Mr. Walberg. The care. The cost. The upheaval in life also.
Mr. Judd, thank you for your longtime service for our
country. You've had an opportunity to talk about some things
you need. Specifically, you said we need more Border Patrol
agents. We accept that. In what we saw today even in the
processing center and how many staff were needed from all--all
aspects of the border protection, and then not on the border.
In a list of priorities, what works best in tools for
securing the border? Could you list it prioritywise, starting
with Border Patrol agents, yes.
Mr. Judd. Look, I never want to put the cart before the
horse. I will always say that we have to have policy. Policy is
the number-one thing that we need. Once we have policy, then we
evaluate what else is necessary. After policy, I would then say
personnel, both at the ports of entry, between the ports of
entry. Once you have the personnel, then I would say
technologies such as infrastructure. Once you have the
infrastructure, you can work down. But you have to see what
works and then work down. Otherwise, all you're doing is
wasting taxpayer dollars, and I don't want to do that.
Mr. Walberg. When we saw infrastructure upgraded just a few
years ago, even on the most eastern edge of this area, the Rio
Grande Valley area, when we saw infrastructure, whether it was
walls or whether it was electronics, did we see significant
downgrading of the influx at the border?
Mr. Judd. So where we really it was in policy. Once
President Trump implemented the migrant protection protocols,
that's when we saw it, but then couple that with everything
else, yes, that's what happened. But even President Trump
struggled with illegal immigration until he implemented the
migrant protection protocols. He created the wheel. We always
say don't recreate the wheel. He did create the wheel because
no wheel existed, and he had to do it.
Mr. Walberg. Thank you. My time has expired, and I yield
back.
Mr. Griffith. The gentleman yields back.
And I recognize Mr. Weber for his 5 minutes.
Mr. Weber. Thank you.
I'm not going to have a whole lot of questions. I'm going
to give you some background. I served in the Texas legislation
with Rick Perry, with now-Governor Abbott. Operation Lone Star
is a huge success. When we were back then the border--2011, the
legislature, Steve McCraw, director of DPS, told me personally
that 5,000 Texans had been injured, violently raped, pistol
whipped, pistol beaten, home was burglarized, cars stolen,
businesses broken into, by people, illegals who aren't even
supposed to be here. That's 5,000 Texans back in 2011. I
shudder to think what it is now, Brandon.
The latest provision on CDC--you all know this--have come
out in January--12 months ending in '22, 80,590 deaths.
Seventy-five percent--66.5 percent were involved in synthetic
opioids, primarily listed manufactured fentanyl. Look at the
CDC's website.
They're on the rise: 2020, it was 50,000 deaths; now it's
71,000 deaths. If you divide 71,450 deaths by 365 days, it's
195 deaths a day from fentanyl. If only 20 percent of deaths
from open border came through the open border instead of those
ports of entry that have been touted here, all right, then 20
percent of 71,450 deaths. Oh gosh. That's only 14,000 deaths a
day. Wow. That's almost one passenger airliner a week crashing
in our country. How long do you think that would go on before
Americans would rise up and say enough is enough?
I was also on the Pub Ed Committee in the Texas
legislature. This is from mypublicschoolTexas.org. I looked up
the stats: 1,026 districts, 5.5 millions students. Divide that
out, the average school district is about 5,360 students, K
through 12. When you brought in 70,000 unaccompanied minors two
summers ago, you just brought in 13 complete school districts
somebody has to pay to educate.
Folks, we cannot be the charity for the world. And if you
want to be gracious about the school district figures--dare I
call it liberal--let's use 10,000 students as the average
school district in Texas, oh gosh, then it's only seven
complete school districts every summer that we're bringing in
that somebody has to continue. We absolutely can't do this.
Your heart goes out to people who are in countries less
fortunate than we are. We cannot be the charity for the world.
There is a system set up for them to seek asylum. Seek
sanctuary if you want to choose that word. Stay in their
system, make the claim that they're persecuted by their
government, they're persecuted for their religion, or they're
part of a group that is persecuted due to their sex or religion
or whatever. Those are the three reasons to claim they need
asylum. Do it in their own country before they come here.
I speak Spanish. [Speaks in foreign language.] Y'all need
to learn Spanish. I have been on the border nine times. Every
single person that I have spoken to in the border in Spanish
since I have been here, they're coming for the jobs. They're
coming for the jobs. Not that they're scared of their
government, not that they're scared of the drug cartel, not
that they're persecuted for their religion or anything else.
They're coming here for the jobs. We absolutely can't continue
to do this.
I am going to go to you, Mr. Brandon--Mr. Judd. If, in
fact, in 2011--and you are taking my words for it. I know what
I learned with DPS when I was in the legislature--that there
was 5,000 Texans who were violently robbed--I mean, violated,
raped, some of them violently raped, in 2011. And you were on
the Border Patrol in 2011, right?
Mr. Judd. Yes.
Mr. Weber. How much would you guesstimate that's increased
in today under Biden's open border?
Mr. Judd. In 2011, I believe that we apprehended somewhere
around 400,000--between 400,000, 500,000. Today, we're
apprehending between 2 million and 2.3 million. So therefore it
stands to reason that it would increase by the exact same
number, so 5 times more.
Mr. Weber. That's unbelievable. And I know that there was a
comment made that we need to separate this into two things. You
know, we want to try to make this a dual--it's about border
security. It's about saving American lives. That's simple, and
I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. The gentleman yields back.
And I now recognize Mr. Allen for his 5 minutes.
Mr. Allen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And we all got up early
and traveled here today. And if what I have learned so far and
what I've learned since serving on the committees starting my
service here in the 118th Congress has made me very aware of a
serious problem that we have in this country. You know, our
Nation is being invaded. Laws are being ignored, and young
people are dying.
We are at war, and we don't even know it. And this is not a
stunt. I mean--and I think the name is appropriate. I mean, the
commander in chief of the United States of America is supposed
to protect the American people. I mean, national security
should be number one. This administration, including Secretary
Mayorkas and Attorney General Garland, are ignoring the current
immigration laws of this land and handcuffing the very people
from enforcing it.
In 1971, then-President Nixon declared war on drugs in
America. Under the Reagan administration, President Reagan
reinforced and expanded many of Nixon's war on drugs. In 1984,
his wife, Nancy Reagan, launched the ``Just say no.'' In 1986,
under President Reagan, Congress passed the Antidrug Abuse Act,
which established mandatory minimum prison sentences for
certain drug offenses, which is the very thing we are talking
about and begging for here today, it is to deal with this
enemy.
You know--and then again, talking about the people in South
America, you know there are a lot of churches in my district
that have missionaries in South America. I've been there. I've
been there with my children. These are good people. Now, we
poured floors in huts that had floors of mud. We built latrines
where they didn't have bathrooms. We planted churches--we built
churches. We built schools, and let me tell you, these people
of faith have the strongest faith I have ever seen in my life.
They love their country, but unfortunately their country is run
by corrupt leaders and cartels who absolutely--it's an
abomination what they do to their people. And they, you know,
they want to stay there in their country.
You know, the thing that--you know, that really gets me is
why can't we solve this problem? I mean, we got good people
that want, I believe, the same thing, but I--you know, it's
like how do we get there?
You know, Mr. Judd, what will it take for you to secure
that border? I mean, if we give you full authority--if I were
President of the United States and I said ``Secure that
border,'' what would you do?
Mr. Judd. I have lived through it already. I know what's
necessary. We need policy.
Mr. Allen. You know exactly what needs to be done?
Mr. Judd. We need policy. Absolutely.
Mr. Allen. Is anybody in the White House listening to you?
Mr. Judd. No. Absolutely not.
Mr. Allen. All right. The cartels, we've already learned
what they're about and whether they should be declared
terrorist organizations. I have cosigned that AUMF to declare
war on those cartels, and I think we need to take your advice,
because they are very, very--I mean, they are bad people.
Mr. Judd. They are.
Mr. Allen. My question is: How many of the cartels have
infiltrated the United States?
Mr. Judd. There is plenty of testimony, there is plenty of
evidence to show that they operate here in the United States.
They don't just operate in Mexico. They don't just operate in
China. They operate here in the United States. Once it crosses
the border illegally, then it's facilitated by those
organizations throughout the entire United States, whether
that's Ohio, whether that's Minnesota, whether that's Michigan.
It doesn't matter. It's everywhere, including Maine.
Mr. Allen. Obviously, there are crime syndicates all over
the country. The FBI has been very successful in dealing with
that through history. And obviously, I think we need to bring
the FBI in and see really what they're doing to help you and
the Sheriff to deal with this. Because we take an oath to the
Constitution to protect the American people against enemies
both foreign and domestic, and we need as a Congress to get it
done.
Thank you for being here and your testimony. And with that,
I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. Thank the gentleman for yielding back.
I now recognize last, but not least, Mr. Pfluger.
Mr. Pfluger. I thank the chair.
You know, this is not my first time to McAllen, it's not my
second time to McAllen, it's not my third time to McAllen.
That's just in 2 years. You know, the Office of Refugee
Resettlement is incredibly busy. In fact, they put 700
unaccompanied minors into my district in Midland, Texas, in the
spring/winter of 2021. You know, the tragedies that these kids
go through. Ms. Garza, I am looking at you because they're
tragic, and I want to find something we can agree on.
Not only the tragedies that we see with the kids being
trafficked, but also the cost to Texans. You mentioned the
cost. I would say last year the reasonable, very conservative,
low estimates to the cost of Texans is around $5 billion.
That's in hospital care. That's in school. That's in the
criminal proceedings. That's what the sheriff has dealt with.
In response to my colleague, Mr. Cardenas, wouldn't we do
anything possible if we had our children who were being
poisoned by these illicit drugs and by fentanyl? You know, when
I was here last time, to Mr. Judd's point, at one of the
processing centers I just happened to be walking through--and I
would encourage you to go on that ride-along, 5 years ago is
way too long--but I just happened to be walking through and I
saw this man with a tattoo on his hand. And it was a skull
being crushed. And I asked the Border Patrol agents, I said
what does that stand for. They said, ``Oh, he's the enforcer.''
I said, ``Where's he from?'' He lives in McAllen. He's an
illegal immigrant that lives in McAllen, and he's responsible
for enforcing the laws of the cartel, the so-called laws, the
rules of the cartel.
You know, even Democrat mayors, including McAllen's own
mayor, pushing back against the nonsense that's being spewed
out of Washington, that there's no connection or link between
illegal immigration and the surge we have in this fentanyl
crisis.
You know, the--Ms. Garza, I think you are right. Most
migrants are not carrying fentanyl, but would you agree that
many of them, if not all of them, are being trafficked
themselves?
Ms. Garza. I think these are desperate people in desperate
situations.
Mr. Pfluger. Agree.
Ms. Garza. And they're seeking the safety of this country.
Mr. Pfluger. Would you agree they're being trafficked?
Ms. Garza. Trafficked is a legal term. I would say that
these folks are being smuggled in.
Mr. Pfluger. I've got lots of questions. I am going to keep
moving. Let's establish some baselines here.
Ms. Garza, would a decrease in the amount of supply of
fentanyl or other illicit drugs help the opioid or the drug
problem that we have in this country? Would it decrease in the
supply?
Ms. Garza. My position is and what I am saying here is that
there is an opioid addiction issue that we have in this
country. And there is demand.
Mr. Pfluger. OK. I understand there is demand. But would
supply----
Ms. Garza. If we decrease the demand, we'll decrease the
demand.
Mr. Pfluger. But not the supply?
Ms. Garza. The supply is meeting the demand that we have.
Mr. Pfluger. I think we are talking on two different fact
sheets here.
The consequences--Mr. Judd, we've talked about this. Are
there any consequences for the trafficking of humans, the
trafficking of drugs, and the trafficking of other materials
into this country?
Mr. Judd. I wish I could say yes, but absolutely not. All
you have to do is look at the number of people that we take
into custody and how many prosecutions are coming out of that.
And there are next to no prosecutions that are coming out of
it.
Mr. Pfluger. Sheriff, in your line of work does deterrence
work to curb criminal activity?
Mr. Martinez. Yes. It sure does.
Mr. Pfluger. What types of deterrence have you seen over
your 40-plus-year a career that works?
Mr. Martinez. Well, actually, whatever is on the
prosecution side of in terms of sentencing, it works. But we
really definitely need to prosecute, though.
Mr. Pfluger. OK. Would you say lack of prosecution of the
activities that are involved and associated with illegal
immigration, whether it's trafficking of people or drugs, is
leading to the crisis we see right now?
Mr. Martinez. Yes, sir.
Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Judd, you kind of just answered this with
my colleague, Mr. Allen, but what's the root cause of this
surge, and what's the connection of the surge of illegal
immigration to fentanyl?
Mr. Judd. There is plenty of evidence that clearly shows
that any time that we release people into the United States
after crossing the border illegally, more people will come.
That has always been proven to be correct. And what we have
seen under this administration, we have seen more people be
released into the United States after crossing the border
illegally. And if you do that--if you reward people for
violating our laws, our laws will be violated.
Mr. Pfluger. Sheriff, if we don't change a single law and
the President stood up today and he said we're shutting down
our border, would that have effect--I mean, we're not talking
about anything other than rhetoric, would that have an effect
on the cartels?
Mr. Martinez. Absolutely. Rhetoric has to do everything
with it.
Mr. Pfluger. So the lack of rhetoric or the rhetoric to say
that we're open--because I was there under the bridge in Del
Rio when 15,000 Haitians were there, and they told me to my
face that the reason they were there was because the border was
open, because there are no consequences, because the punisher
who has a skull tattoo on his hand and who is living in our
communities is the problem, the punisher who is enforcing both
the regulations, the laws of the cartel and us, the United
States of America, who are not able to do that--and I have lots
of questions, but apparently my time is up.
And I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. Appreciate the gentleman yielding back.
Ms. Craig offered a document previously to be entered into
the record. Without objection, so ordered.
Seeing there are no further Members wishing to ask
questions or who haven't already run out of time, I would like
to thank all of our witnesses, again, for being here tonight,
taking your time to be with us to talk to the American people
and us.
Pursuant to committee rules, I remind Members that they
have 10 business days to submit additional questions for the
record, and I ask that the witnesses submit their response
within 10 business days upon receipt of those questions.
Without objection, the subcommittees are hereby adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 8:40 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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