[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
H.R. 1727; H.R. 5283; DISCUSSION DRAFT OF
H.R. ____, ``TRASHED BORDER ACT'';.
AND DISCUSSION DRAFT OF H.R. ____,.
``ENSURING BORDER ACCESS AND
PROTECTION ON FEDERAL LAND ACT''
=======================================================================
LEGISLATIVE HEARING
BEFOORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FEDERAL LANDS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
Thursday, October 19, 2023
__________
Serial No. 118-70
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
or
Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
53-573 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
BRUCE WESTERMAN, AR, Chairman
DOUG LAMBORN, CO, Vice Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Ranking Member
Doug Lamborn, CO Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Robert J. Wittman, VA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Tom McClintock, CA CNMI
Paul Gosar, AZ Jared Huffman, CA
Garret Graves, LA Ruben Gallego, AZ
Aumua Amata C. Radewagen, AS Joe Neguse, CO
Doug LaMalfa, CA Mike Levin, CA
Daniel Webster, FL Katie Porter, CA
Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, PR Teresa Leger Fernandez, NM
Russ Fulcher, ID Melanie A. Stansbury, NM
Pete Stauber, MN Mary Sattler Peltola, AK
John R. Curtis, UT Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY
Tom Tiffany, WI Kevin Mullin, CA
Jerry Carl, AL Val T. Hoyle, OR
Matt Rosendale, MT Sydney Kamlager-Dove, CA
Lauren Boebert, CO Seth Magaziner, RI
Cliff Bentz, OR Nydia M. Velazquez, NY
Jen Kiggans, VA Ed Case, HI
Jim Moylan, GU Debbie Dingell, MI
Wesley P. Hunt, TX Susie Lee, NV
Mike Collins, GA
Anna Paulina Luna, FL
John Duarte, CA
Harriet M. Hageman, WY
Vivian Moeglein, Staff Director
Tom Connally, Chief Counsel
Lora Snyder, Democratic Staff Director
http://naturalresources.house.gov
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FEDERAL LANDS
TOM TIFFANY, WI, Chairman
JOHN R. CURTIS, UT, Vice Chair
JOE NEGUSE, CO, Ranking Member
Doug Lamborn, CO Katie Porter, CA
Tom McClintock, CA Sydney Kamlager-Dove, CA
Russ Fulcher, ID Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Pete Stauber, MN CNMI
John R. Curtis, UT Mike Levin, CA
Cliff Bentz, OR Teresa Leger Fernandez, NM
Jen Kiggans, VA Mary Sattler Peltola, AK
Jim Moylan, GU Raul M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio
Bruce Westerman, AR, ex officio
---------
CONTENTS
----------
Page
Hearing held on Thursday, October 19, 2023....................... 1
Statement of Members:
Tiffany, Hon. Tom, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Wisconsin......................................... 2
Neguse, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Colorado................................................ 3
Panel I:
Westerman, Hon. Bruce, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Arkansas.......................................... 5
Malliotakis, Hon. Nicole, a Representative in Congress from
the State of New York...................................... 7
Trone, Hon. David, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Maryland, prepared statement of................... 36
Statement of Witnesses:
Panel II:
Heithecker, Troy, Associate Deputy Chief, U.S. Forest
Service, Washington, DC.................................... 8
Prepared statement of.................................... 10
Panel III:
Lewis, George, Chair, C&O Canal National Historical Park
Federal Advisory Commission, Jefferson, Maryland........... 12
Prepared statement of.................................... 14
Hankinson, Simon, Senior Research Fellow, Border Security and
Immigration Center, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC 18
Prepared statement of.................................... 20
Ariola, Hon. Joann, Council Member, New York City Council,
New York, New York......................................... 27
Prepared statement of.................................... 28
LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 1727, TO AMEND THE CHESAPEAKE AND
OHIO CANAL DEVELOPMENT ACT TO EXTEND THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO
CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK COMMISSION, ``CHESAPEAKE AND
OHIO CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK COMMISSION EXTENSION ACT'';
H.R. 5283, TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO PROVIDE
HOUSING TO SPECIFIED ALIENS ON ANY LAND UNDER THE
ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION OF THE FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT
AGENCIES, ``PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES FROM FAILURE TO SECURE
THE BORDER ACT OF 2023''; DISCUSSION DRAFT OF H.R. ____, TO
DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR AND THE SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE TO SUBMIT TO CONGRESS A REPORT ON THE AMOUNT OF
WASTE COLLECTED ON CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND ALONG THE SOUTHERN
BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, ``TRASH
REDUCTION AND SUPPRESSING HARM FROM ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
AT THE BORDER ACT'' OR ``TRASHED BORDER ACT''; AND DISCUSSION
DRAFT OF H.R. ____, TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR AND
THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TO CONSTRUCT ROADS ON FEDERAL
LANDS ALONG THE UNITED STATES BORDER WITH MEXICO, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES, ``ENSURING BORDER ACCESS AND PROTECTION ON FEDERAL
LAND ACT''
----------
Thursday, October 19, 2023
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, DC
----------
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m. in
Room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Tom Tiffany
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Tiffany, Fulcher, Bentz,
Westerman; Neguse, Kamlager-Dove, Leger Fernandez, and Peltola.
Also present: Representative Malliotakis.
Mr. Tiffany. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands will come to
order. My apologies for being late this morning.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a
recess of the Subcommittee at any time.
The Subcommittee is meeting today to consider four bills:
H.R. 1727 from Representative Trone; H.R. 5283 from
Representative Malliotakis, the Protecting Our Communities from
Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023; my legislation,
Discussion Draft of the Trash Reduction and Suppressing Harm
from Environmental Degradation at the Border Act, or TRASHED
Border Act; and a Discussion Draft offered by the Full
Committee Chairman, Chairman Westerman, the Ensuring Border
Access and Protection on Federal Land Act.
I ask unanimous consent that Representative Malliotakis of
New York be allowed to participate in today's hearing from the
dais.
Without objection, so ordered. Welcome, Representative
Malliotakis.
Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at
hearings are limited to the Chairman and the Ranking Minority
Member. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all other
Members' opening statements be made part of the hearing record
if they are submitted in accordance with Committee Rule 3(o).
Without objection, so ordered.
I will now recognize myself for an opening statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. TOM TIFFANY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN
Mr. Tiffany. 5.7 billion, that is the number of fatal doses
of fentanyl that have flowed across our southern border in the
past year. 5.7 billion, enough fatal doses to kill the entire
U.S. population 17 times over.
The Biden administration's failed border policies have led
to record numbers of migrant crossings and drug seizures
reported this year. Since President Biden took office, more
than 6 million illegal immigrants have crossed our southern
border into the United States.
This crisis is now spilling onto our Federal lands, which
make up approximately 35 percent of the total 1,965 miles along
the border. Large piles of trash, unauthorized trails,
wildfires, and even illegal marijuana grow sites are degrading
our public lands and imperiling recreation and access for every
American. Enough is enough.
The bills before us today will secure our porous border,
halt environmental degradation caused by illegal immigration,
and ensure our national parks and public lands remain places
for public enjoyment, not camps for illegal immigrants.
I would like to highlight legislation we will consider
during today's hearing that I am offering: the TRASHED Border
Act. As somebody who has seen and been to our southern border
many times, I can speak firsthand to the amount of trash that
piles up as a result of illegal immigration. It is estimated
that each illegal immigrant will discard between 6 to 8 pounds
of trash as they illegally cross our border. Cartels are also
discarding trash, toxic chemicals, and banned pesticides at
illegal marijuana grow sites on Federal lands. Illegal
immigration is harming wildlife, destroying habitat, and
damaging our natural resources.
My legislation would direct the agencies to implement
protocols to limit the amount of waste discarded on our border,
as well as require public reports about the amount of trash
collected to ensure there is greater attention and transparency
brought to this issue.
I would also like to highlight Representative Malliotakis'
legislation, which would prevent Federal land managers,
including the National Park Service, from housing illegal
immigrants on Federal lands. This bill is a continuation of the
Committee's oversight on this issue, including our Full
Committee hearing last month.
To those who may oppose this legislation, I ask you one
simple question: If you are willing to let it happen in New
York City, are you willing to let it happen in the Grand
Canyon, in Yosemite, in national parks in your district? I
certainly won't allow the National Park Service to set up new
migrant camps at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in my
district.
Each of these bills represents an important step in
securing our border and protecting our parks, and I look
forward to working with my colleagues to expeditiously move
them through Committee.
Before I yield to the Ranking Member, I would like to
express my disappointment at the empty chair at our witness
table for the Department of the Interior, where they are
supposed to be. Following standard practice, this Subcommittee
gave the Department more than 2 weeks' notice for today's
hearing, and we worked diligently to accommodate a witness from
any of the Department's bureaus. Unlike the Forest Service,
they chose not to be here today, and even went so far as to
suggest that the bills on today's hearing, which affect lands
under the Department's jurisdiction, would be best spoken to by
agencies without jurisdiction over those lands. It is
unacceptable.
This Committee and the American people will demand
transparency from the Biden administration and senior officials
like Secretary Haaland, particularly on topics of national
importance such as securing our southern border.
Mr. Tiffany. With that, I will now recognize Ranking Member
Neguse for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOE NEGUSE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO
Mr. Neguse. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am grateful to the
witnesses for being here today and, of course, to members on
both sides of the aisle for joining us for this important
Subcommittee hearing.
I do want to first say, after the chaotic last few weeks, I
am certainly pleased to be back in front of this Subcommittee,
and I do appreciate the inclusion of a bill from one of my
Democratic colleagues for this legislative hearing.
As the Chairman knows, when I chaired this Subcommittee,
this Subcommittee produced hearings on more Republican and
Democratic bills than any other Subcommittee in the U.S. House
of Representatives. This Subcommittee has a long legacy and
history of being bipartisan in nature. Of course, that was the
case when I had the pleasure of serving with Ranking Member
Fulcher. So, I want to thank the Chairman for, I hope,
continuing that practice in upcoming hearings, and perhaps
putting more bills from my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle before this particular Subcommittee.
I am looking forward to hearing more about Representative
Trone's proposal to reauthorize the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
National Historic Park Advisory Committee through 2034. The
Commission works to ensure that local communities have a voice
in the operation, maintenance, and restoration of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Park, which hosts more than
5 million visitors annually.
And again, these are the types of bills and solutions that
I am proud we consider in this Subcommittee, common-sense
legislation introduced by Republican and Democratic Members
that ultimately ensures the continued collaboration of our
communities.
I am concerned that some of the other bills that we are
considering today, and this is in my humble view, seek to score
political points, rather than ultimately solve problems. And I
am even more concerned that some of these bills, I don't know
if we can call them bills, because I believe they are
discussion drafts, which is not something that this
Subcommittee at least was engaged in customarily when I chaired
the Subcommittee, putting forth bills that are not yet ready
for prime time, but nonetheless asking witnesses, including
Administration witnesses, to opine on them.
In any event, there are multiple bills that have no direct
connection to the jurisdiction of this particular Subcommittee.
And I want to be clear, because although we have different
views as to the substance of Ms. Malliotakis' bill, I do
believe her bill does have a connection to this Committee's
jurisdiction. But the two discussion draft bills that we are
considering certainly don't. And in my view, I would think that
this Committee would have a litany of different issues germane
to the jurisdiction of this Subcommittee that we should be
considering.
I, of course, agree that we have a crisis at our southern
border, and it is a policy issue and a funding issue that has
long required comprehensive solutions and increased resources
for our enforcement agencies. I have been disappointed that so
many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, when
faced with this crisis, have instead doubled down on calls from
some Members of their conference to defund law enforcement, to
defund the Department of Homeland Security, to defund the FBI,
to defund the DEA. I certainly don't agree with the position
that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have
taken in regards to that; I think we should be providing more
resources to those law enforcement agencies.
I also think, to the extent that one is arguing, as I
believe the Chairman of this Subcommittee and the Chairman of
the Full Committee are arguing, that the National Park Service
or the U.S. Forest Service should have some role with respect
to these issues, that we shouldn't be cutting funding for those
agencies either. Yet, that is exactly what the Republican House
conference has proposed for the next Fiscal Year, drastic,
deep, draconian cuts to the Department of the Interior, to the
National Park Service, to the Forest Service, and yet
simultaneously proposing, as I said, not bills, but discussion
drafts that would impose a variety of different mandates that
are unfunded in nature.
So, I am disappointed. I know the Chairman made note of the
Department of the Interior and the fact that they don't have a
witness here. I must say, I mean, I was hoping that I might be
able to ask some questions of, I don't know, the Department of
Homeland Security, since they have primary jurisdiction over
our southern border, but they are not at this hearing either.
Why? Well, because Republicans didn't invite them to this
hearing, and it makes sense. This isn't the Homeland Security
Committee. This isn't the immigration subcommittee of the
Judiciary Committee on which I actually have served.
I was hoping I might be able to ask some questions of
Customs and Border Control. CBP might have something to say
about the issues that we are discussing today. But my
understanding from Democratic staff is that they weren't
invited either. They found out about one of these discussion
drafts from Democratic staff.
I know I am out of time, and I appreciate the Chairman's
indulgence, as always. I would just simply say I am hoping that
after we conclude this hearing we can get back to the way in
which this Subcommittee has historically been run, and the way
in which I think it has been run for much of this year.
With that, I yield back.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you to the Ranking Member. I will now
recognize the Chairman of the Full Committee, Mr. Westerman.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. BRUCE WESTERMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS
Mr. Westerman. Thank you, Chairman Tiffany, for holding
this hearing. Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
And the bills we are considering, including Chairman Tiffany's
legislation, are of great importance not only to our Committee,
but to our nation as a whole.
I want to read a quote to you. ``There is presently an
acute and immediate need to conduct physical barriers and roads
in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to
prevent unlawful entries into the United States.'' You may be
surprised that I am not quoting myself or any other Republican
Member of Congress for that matter, but rather a Federal
Register notice the Biden administration published exactly 2
weeks ago when they announced they would waive 26 Federal laws,
including NEPA, ESA, and the National Historic Preservation Act
to build roads and a wall along our border in Texas, including
in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
Any of you who have been to our southern border would know
this Federal Register statement is an accurate one and,
ironically, it is the current policies that this Congress and
the Administration could change that have created this crisis
in the first place.
I have been to the southern border, like Chairman Tiffany,
many times, including our Federal borderlands. These are
supposed to be some of our most protected places, wildlife
refuges, national parks, and national monuments. Instead, they
are littered with discarded trash. Unauthorized trails are cut
through sensitive habitat, and they are some of the most
targeted areas for criminals, drug smugglers, and human
traffickers.
Last Congress, Committee Republicans held a forum on the
environmental impacts of illegal immigration on our southern
border. We heard testimony from Border Patrol agents who said
that Federal borderlands are particularly susceptible to
illegal crossings because they are remote, uninhabited, and
less frequently patrolled. Border patrol agents also identified
a lack of reliable access as their top concern for securing our
border and protecting the safety of agents and the public.
I remember the very first trip I made to the border, and I
flew in a helicopter the entire Arizona border and other areas.
And the remoteness of this area is what struck me. But also
what struck me was the Border Patrol agents telling me their
No. 1 concern was they had no access to the border, and
especially on some of the Federal lands, where you couldn't
have wheeled vehicles. So, there were places where our border
was wide open, and the only way a Border Patrol agent could get
there was to either be dropped in by helicopter, to ride a
horse, or to hike. So, you can imagine what kind of lack of
security those areas of the border have.
And according to the National Border Patrol Council, the
inability to build proper border access roads in the Coronado
National Forest diminished agent mobility while patrolling, and
ultimately prevented agents from being as effective as they
could be otherwise. That is why I am sponsoring the Ensuring
Border Access and Protection on Federal Lands Act. This is a
common-sense legislation that will secure our Federal border
lands and stop putting Border Patrol agents in harm's way.
My friend, Mr. Neguse, I am not sure where he went, but if
we are talking about building a road on Federal lands, I think
that has a direct nexus to this Committee. Yes, it has Homeland
Security implications, as well, but we are the Committee with
jurisdiction over Federal lands. We are the Committee with
jurisdiction over NEPA and the permitting process.
This is common-sense legislation. It would require Federal
land managers to construct navigable roads along Federal lands,
which make up 35 percent of the total miles along the border.
The agencies would be required to work with the Department of
Homeland Security to construct fencing, physical barriers, and
surveillance technology to accompany these roads.
There are very tenuous borders around the world that are
protected with high-tech fencing and roads, and it doesn't have
to be a wall everywhere, but you have to be able to have access
to get to these places.
The ironic thing about our legislation is that it requires
the construction of these roads to comply with NEPA, one of the
laws the Biden administration decided to waive this month for
their own construction. You won't find anything in our bill
that waives NEPA.
I look forward to discussion today on this bill, as well as
Chairman Tiffany's and Representative Malliotakis' legislation.
I want to thank our witnesses again for being here, say hi
to my friend, Troy Heithecker.
I am glad to see you up here, Troy, but we really miss you
on the Ouachita National Forest back in Arkansas, where you did
such a fine job. And I would also like to echo Chairman
Tiffany's disappointment at the empty chair next to you that
was reserved for the Department of the Interior. We are
grateful the Forest Service decided to show up and answer
questions about an important topic.
With that, I yield back.
Mr. Tiffany. Yes, thank you, Chairman Westerman. We will
move on to our first panel now, for Members who are sponsoring
bills today. First, I want to recognize Representative
Malliotakis for 5 minutes on H.R. 5283.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Ms. Malliotakis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
thank the Committee for holding this hearing on my legislation,
H.R. 5283, Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure
the Border Act. And I would like to thank this Committee staff
for working with my office in the drafting of this bill.
The Administration's failure to secure the border has
resulted in an unprecedented number of individuals flooding
into our country and ultimately finding their way to some of
our most northern communities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrongfully insists that a
1982 right-to-shelter court decree requires taxpayers to house
an unlimited number of citizens from outside of New York and
the nation. He has since taken over schools, parks, and
assisted living facilities meant for our seniors.
As of the beginning of this month, New York City has taken
on the burden of 118,000 migrants, and currently housing
upwards of 64,000 individuals at tremendous expense and burden
on the taxpayer, so much so that Mayor Adams said that it will
``destroy'' New York City, and proposed a 15 percent across-
the-board cut of city services.
Instead of closing the border, this Administration has
agreed to turn over our national park into a migrant encampment
to accommodate 2,500 migrants at Floyd Bennett Field in
Brooklyn, which is part of the Gateway National Recreation
Area. This is lands under the jurisdiction of the National Park
Service, doing so without going through the proper NEPA process
the Department of the Interior is beholden to.
I want to thank Chairman Bruce Westerman for coming to
Floyd Bennett Field last month and seeing firsthand the issue,
and then subsequently holding a hearing on this.
The week following this Committee's hearing on the issue,
heavy rains flooded Floyd Bennett Field, as much as 10 inches,
proving the point that this is in no way the appropriate place
to house anyone.
Created by an Act of Congress in 1972, 5 months before our
friend, the late Don Young of Alaska, joined this institution,
Gateway National Recreation Area was one of the first urban
parks in the National Park System. I must also point out that
with its creation, Congress prohibited the construction of a
housing development at Floyd Bennett Field. Gateway National
Recreation Area may not be to the scale of our more well-known
parks out West, but it is one of our urban treasures in New
York City.
The portion of Gateway National Recreation Area in my
district contains Fort Wadsworth, which is one of the nation's
oldest military installations, and it currently serves as a
domicile and an operational base for members of the U.S. Coast
Guard and the U.S. Park Police who are tasked with patrolling
not only the park lands, but also New York Harbor from
potential national security threats. That park was also being
proposed as a potential site to house migrants from other
countries.
This is why my legislation, H.R. 5283, is so important and
straightforward. This legislation prohibits the use of Federal
funds to provide housing to migrants on any land under the
administrative jurisdiction of the Federal land management
agencies, specifically naming the National Park Service, the
Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
and the U.S. Forest Service. This legislation protects our
lands nationwide, not just those in New York City.
And before I close, I must remind my colleagues here of the
mission of the National Park Service. The National Park Service
preserves, unimpaired, the natural and cultural resources and
values of the National Park System for the enjoyment,
education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The
National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the
benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and
outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.
Taxpayers of New York City and the United States of America
preserve these lands for their public use, for their
recreational activities and enjoyment.
And I thank you for your time and consideration of my
legislation. I look forward to it moving through the Committee
process. Thank you.
Mr. Tiffany. Yes, thank you very much, Representative
Malliotakis. We are now going to move on to our second panel,
the four that are with us here.
Let me remind the witnesses that under Committee Rules, you
must limit your oral statement to 5 minutes, but your entire
statement will appear in the hearing record.
To begin your testimony, please press the ``on'' button on
the microphone.
We use timing lights. When you begin, the light will turn
green. At the end of 5 minutes, the light will turn red, and I
will ask you to please complete your statement at that time.
At this time, I would have liked to recognize Secretary of
the Interior, Deb Haaland. As you can see, there is an empty
seat at our witness table where she should be testifying.
Therefore, I will move on and introduce Mr. Troy Heithecker,
Associate Deputy Chief at the U.S. Forest Service.
Associate Deputy Chief Heithecker, thank you for being
willing to be here today, and you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF TROY HEITHECKER, ASSOCIATE DEPUTY CHIEF, U.S.
FOREST SERVICE, WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. Heithecker. Thank you and good morning, Chairman
Tiffany.
Full Committee Chairman Westerman, good to see you, as
well, and Ranking Member Neguse, if he returns, and other
members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify today on the proposed legislation related to illegal
entry and associated environmental concerns along the southern
border.
My name is Troy Heithecker. I currently serve as an
Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System. I have
been a career employee with the Forest Service for over 25
years, and have worked from Alaska to Arkansas, and now here in
Washington, DC.
The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public
lands in 44 states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. These
lands play a pivotal role in providing the public with myriad
opportunities and benefits from recreation to forest products.
Law enforcement is an integral part of our mission, and
partnerships are fundamental to our ability to deliver that
mission. These partnerships extend to the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection by providing support to fulfill their mission
to secure the nation's borders.
Border management issues are a significant concern for the
Forest Service. There are 1.5 million acres of National Forest
System lands within 50 miles of the southern border, and 60
miles of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona are contiguous
with the Mexico border. The natural and cultural resources on
the Coronado are of regional, national, and international
importance. There are 12 separate and uniquely distinct
mountain ranges, 8 designated wilderness areas, and
approximately 174 threatened, endangered, or sensitive species
in the Coronado. These remarkable lands welcome between 1.4 and
2.9 million visitors annually.
The Ensuring Border Access and Protection on Federal Land
Act directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of
the Interior to construct roads on Federal Lands along the
United States' southern border to prevent illegal crossings in
areas of high illegal entry, and gain operational control of
the border. Implementation of the bill would require the
construction and reconstruction of 45 to 55 miles of roads
along the Coronado National Forest and Mexico border on steep
and rocky terrain, some not suitable for roads.
With the current annual budget for road construction,
operations, and maintenance, it would be difficult to meet the
proposed timelines it would add to the existing road
maintenance backlog.
Additionally, there are sections of the border inside the
boundaries of the Pajarita Wilderness Area, where the road
construction is not allowed.
The bill also proposes limiting access to U.S. Customs and
Border Protection personnel, law enforcement officials,
emergency response personnel, and other personnel as determined
by the Secretary of Agriculture. This is a popular area for
public recreation, and maintaining public access is important.
In addition, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has
previously requested the Forest Service maintain public access
to existing roads for purposes of not impeding their rapid
access when needed.
USDA has concerns with this draft legislation, and welcomes
the opportunity to work with the Committee to explain these
concerns more fully.
The Protecting Our Communities From Failure to Secure the
Border Act would prevent the Forest Service and other Federal
agencies from providing Federal funds that might be used to
provide housing to certain non-citizens. The Forest Service
does not provide funds to certain non-citizens for any
purposes, including housing. USDA believes that H.R. 5283 is
not necessary, given that the proposed provisions are already
consistent with current Forest Service management practices.
Therefore, USDA does not support this legislation.
The Trash Reduction and Suppressing Harm from Environmental
Degradation at the Border Act would direct the Secretary of
Agriculture to establish and implement policies and protocols
to prevent and mitigate environmental degradation caused by
certain non-citizens on NFS lands along the southern border.
The Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and other laws already
provide the authorities to protect the environment. The Forest
Service currently prohibits activities such as littering,
damaging property, and resource degradation under current
regulations, and therefore does not believe this requirement in
the bill is necessary.
We recognize that litter is a persistent problem on
national forest lands and, despite trash collection efforts of
Coronado National Forest employees, along with the help of
partners and volunteers, the overall amount of trash continues
to rise annually.
This bill would also direct the Secretary to submit to
Congress a report on the amount of waste collected on NFS lands
where certain non-citizens are being housed or sheltered, and
on any sites on NFS lands where certain non-citizens have
illegally cultivated controlled substances.
Nationwide waste deposition, illegal camping, and
encroachment, illegal grow sites, and human-caused wildfires
are caused by non-citizens and citizens. While the agency
tracks the number and extent of human-caused wildfires, the
agency does not currently track these damages by citizenships
or legal statuses, and in many cases it would prove difficult
or impossible to do so.
Section 4 of the bill also directs the Secretary to double
the fines and penalties only for non-citizens for activities
prohibited under applicable fire and sanitation regulations.
USDA defers to the U.S. Department of Justice for its views on
the provision.
USDA would appreciate the opportunity to continue to work
with the Committee as it further drafts this bill.
Chairman Tiffany, members of the Subcommittee, this
concludes my remarks and I look forward to answering any
questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Heithecker follows:]
Prepared Statement of Troy Heithecker, Associate Deputy Chief, United
States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
on Discussion Draft of H.R. ____, ``Ensuring Border Access and
Protection on Federal Land Act'',
Discussion Draft of H.R. ____, ``TRASHED Border Act'',
and H.R. 5283
Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member Neguse, and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the views of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on three bills pertaining to
Southern border security on National Forest System lands.
As an agency in service to the American people, the Forest Service
cares for shared natural and cultural resources in ways that promote
lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality. The agency manages
155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, comprising 193 million
acres in 41 states and Puerto Rico. To accomplish our mission to
sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests
and grasslands, we engage in co-stewardship and cross-boundary
partnerships with Tribes, and work with a wide range of stakeholders
across all levels of government, communities, and non-profit and for-
profit entities. These partnerships extend to our work with U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide support to CBP's efforts
to secure the nation's borders while simultaneously fulfilling the
agency's mission.
The Forest Service does not have jurisdiction over immigration
policy and therefore we defer to the Department of Homeland Security
regarding broader questions about immigration and border security
policy. We are working with other government agencies, including the
Department of the Interior, on a cohesive, cooperative approach to
border security, while Congress and others work to comprehensively
address immigration policies generally.
Discussion Draft of H.R. ____, a bill to direct the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to construct roads on
Federal lands along the United States border with Mexico
On H.R. ____, ``Ensuring Border Access and Protection on Federal
Land Act,'' a bill that seeks to improve security in our southern
border, USDA has significant concerns with this draft legislation and
welcomes the opportunity to work with the Committee to explain these
concerns more fully.
H.R. ____ directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of
the Interior to construct roads on federal lands along the United
States border with Mexico to prevent illegal crossings in areas of high
illegal entry and gain operational control of the border within 5 years
after the enactment of the Act. The roads would need to be contiguous,
with line-of-sight visibility, no more than one mile from the southern
border and accessible to passenger cars. It specifies road
requirements, access, maintenance, fencing, surveillance, and other
related technology. Accessibility would be limited to U.S. Customs and
Border Protection personnel, law enforcement officials, emergency
response personnel, and as otherwise determined by the Secretaries. It
also requests compliance with all applicable laws, including the
National Environmental Policy Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act of
2023.
Currently, the Forest Service has approximately 22 miles of road
along the Coronado National Forest and Mexico border that meet most of
the bill requirements. The implementation of the draft bill would
require the construction and reconstruction of 45 to 55 miles of roads
on steep and rocky terrain not suitable for roads within a 1-mile
visibility of the border and would require these roads to be
contiguous. There are sections of the border inside the boundaries of
the Pajarita Wilderness area in the southwest portion of the Coronado
National Forest where road construction would not be allowed. An
important consideration is the initial investment of over $40-$60
million and an annual maintenance cost of $240,000-$280,000.
The associated costs of proposed road construction, operations, and
maintenance would exceed current financial and personnel capacity of
the Agency to undertake and would add to the current maintenance
backlog. In addition, the time required to conduct the road location
analysis, design, and construction would likely exceed the time frame
specified in the bill. Finally, we note that in accordance with the MOU
entered between the Forest Service, Department of Homeland Security,
and Department of the Interior, the identification, review, approval
and maintenance of new roads along the southern border is managed by
CBP, in coordination with the applicable land management agency.
The bill proposes limiting access to the area along the Coronado
National Forest and Mexico border. However, it is a popular area for
the public to recreate and maintaining public access is important. In
addition, CBP has requested Forest Service not close existing roads to
public access as they want quick access along these roads, which would
be hindered by closures.
H.R. 5283
H.R. 5283, ``Protecting Our Communities from Failure to Secure the
Border Act of 2023,'' would prevent certain federal land management
agencies, including the Forest Service, from providing federal funds
that might be used to provide housing to certain noncitizens (as
defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) on
any land under their administrative jurisdiction, including through
leases, contracts, or agreements. Section 2(b) defines the term
``housing'' as a temporary or permanent encampment used for the primary
purpose of sheltering certain noncitizens.
USDA does not believe that H.R. 5283 would change the Agency's
current management of public lands under its administrative
jurisdiction. We do not believe it is necessary and therefore do not
support this legislation.
Discussion Draft of H.R. ____, a bill to direct the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to Congress
a report on the amount of waste collected on certain Federal
land along the southern border of the United States
USDA shares the Committee's concerns with impacts associated with
deposition of waste, illegal camping and encroaching, illegal grow
sites, and human-caused wildfires. We would like to work with the
committee to further discuss our concerns described below.
Section 2 of the draft bill would direct the Secretary of
Agriculture to establish and implement policies and protocols to
prevent and mitigate environmental degradation caused by certain
noncitizens on NFS lands that share an exterior boundary with the
southern border. The Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and other
environmental laws provide the authorities to protect the environment.
The Forest Service currently prohibits activities such as littering,
damaging property, and resource degradation under current regulations
(e.g., 36 CFR Part 261-Prohibitions) and therefore does not believe
this requirement in the bill is necessary.
Only one National Forest, the Coronado National Forest, shares a
boundary with the southern border. Sixty non-contiguous miles of the
international border with Mexico are managed by the Forest. Law
enforcement officers working on the Coronado National Forest conduct
general patrols and investigations associated with national forest
recreation and other uses. A considerable focus of their work is on
wildfire prevention, wildfire investigation, and security details for
fire management and wildland firefighting operations.
Litter is a persistent problem on National Forest System lands.
Coronado National Forest employees collect trash periodically
throughout the year with the help of partners and volunteers to address
litter in the Forest. Despite these efforts, the overall amount of
trash continues to rise annually.
Section 3 of this bill would also direct the Secretary to submit to
Congress a report on the amount of waste collected on the Coronado
National Forest, on sites on any NFS lands where certain noncitizens
are being housed or are sheltering, and on sites on any NFS lands where
certain noncitizens have illegally cultivated controlled substances. In
addition, the report would include acres of wildlife habitat impacted
by the waste, information on associated unauthorized trails and roads,
and information on number of wildfires started by certain noncitizens.
Nationwide, waste deposition, illegal camping and encroachment,
illegal grow sites, and human-caused wildfires are caused by both
citizens and noncitizens. While the agency tracks the number and extent
of human-caused wildfires, illegal grow sites, and pounds of waste
removed from grow sites, the agency does not currently track and cannot
determine with any certainty whether these damages are caused by
citizens or noncitizens. In most cases it would be difficult or
impossible to do so. Section 4 of the bill also directs the Secretary
to double the fines and penalties--only for noncitizens--for activities
prohibited under applicable fire and sanitation regulations. The
Secretary would also be directed to submit a report detailing the total
amount collected in penalties and fines under this section. The USDA
defers to the U.S. Department of Justice for its views on this
provision.
Chairman Tiffany and Ranking Member Neguse, that concludes my
statement. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
______
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you, Mr. Heithecker. I would like to now
introduce Dr. George Lewis, the Chair of the C&O Canal National
Historical Park Federal Advisory Commission.
Dr. Lewis, you have 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF GEORGE LEWIS, CHAIR, C&O CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL
PARK FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMISSION, JEFFERSON, MARYLAND
Dr. Lewis. Thank you and good morning to the entire
Subcommittee. I am Dr. George Lewis, Chair of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission, here today
in response to your kind invitation to testify on behalf of
H.R. 1727, a bill which simply proposes to extend the
Commission's life until September 2034.
The park is enormous in length, 184.5 miles, having been
cobbled together way back in 1971 from private, state, and
Federal holdings along the shoreline of the Potomac River.
Congress at that time envisioned correctly that with this
diverse acquisition would come considerable controversy. And
Congress was right, and thus concurrently authorized a
Commission that could provide the diverse jurisdictions
bordering this new park a seat at the table on topics involving
the park and its environs.
The Commission, therefore, is composed of local folks, is
composed of 19 volunteers, 2 each from 4 Maryland counties
bordering the park; 2 each recommended by the Governors of
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of
Columbia; and 3, including the Chair, are appointed directly by
the Secretary of the Interior. Commissioners serve for 5 years
or until replaced.
The Commission is apolitical, and its commissioners bring
with them a vast treasure of public and private sector
experience and expertise to draw upon when advising the
Secretary of the Interior on matters involving the
administration and the development of the park. The duties of
the Commission are solely advisory. The Commission reports
through the Superintendent of the C&O Canal Historic Park up
its food chain to the Secretary of the Interior. The Commission
holds public meetings, at best, two to three times a year to
receive input from the public and to address public concerns as
appropriate.
The Commission's high value to the Park Superintendent, the
National Park Service, the Secretary of the Interior, and the
park's neighbors, visitors, and congressional constituents lies
not only in its vast experience and diverse expertise, but as
well as in the Commission's ability to communicate successfully
with each and all of these entities.
For your convenience, I have provided the Committee with
three supporting documents: a brief description of the park, a
brief description of the mission of the park, and very
importantly, in my opinion, the professional expertise of each
of the Commissioners. It is a multiple-page document, but it
gives you a pretty good idea of all the expertise that we get
free.
And each of these volunteers, they are associated with the
park also by using it, whether it is hiking, biking,
birdwatching, or whatever.
I envision this Commission as like the old Leatherman
pocket knife, a multi-faceted, multi-tool that is there to be
used in multiple ways, both as the Superintendent, as the
Secretary of the Interior, as Congress, tools with screwdrivers
that can unscrew things, can sharpen things, can file things,
et cetera. And it is a tool that is easy to use by everyone.
I want to thank you for your consideration and your time. I
encourage this august body to act favorably on H.R. 1727. I am
now available to answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Lewis follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. George E. Lewis, Chair of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission
on H.R. 1727
Testimony
Good morning, I am Dr. George Lewis, Chair of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission, here today in response
to your kind invitation to testify on behalf of H.R. 1727, a bill which
simply proposes to extend the Commission's life until July 2034.
The park is enormous in length; 184\1/2\ miles, having been cobbled
together in 1971 from private, state and Federal holdings along the
shoreline of the Potomac River. Congress envisioned correctly that with
this diverse acquisition would come considerable controversy, and thus
concurrently authorized a commission that could provide the diverse
jurisdictions bordering the new park a seat at the table on topics
involving the park and it's environs.
The Commission is composed of 19 volunteers (2 each from the 4
Maryland counties boarding the park, 2 each recommended by the
Governors of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of
Columbia, and 3--including the Chair--are appointed by the Secretary of
the Interior). The Commission is apolitical and its Commissioners bring
with them a vast treasure of public and private sector experience and
expertise to draw upon when advising the Secretary of the Interior on
matters involving the administration and development of the park.
The duties of the Commission are solely advisory.
The Commission holds public meetings two/three times a year to
receive input from the public and address public concerns as
appropriate.
The Commission's high value to the Park Superintendent, the
National Park Service, the Secretary of the Interior, and the park's
neighbors, visitors, and Congressional constituents lies not only in
its vast experience and diverse expertise, but as well in the
Commission's ability to communicate successfully with each of these
entities.
I encourage this august body to act favorably on H.R. 1727. Thank
you for your time and consideration.
I am available to answer any questions you may have.
*****
ATTACHMENT
Description of the Park
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) began as a dream in the
1820s to access new fortunes in the West, at a time when U.S.
prosperity depended on its waterways. Stretching 184.5 miles along the
Potomac River from Rock Creek at Georgetown in Washington, DC, to
Cumberland, Maryland, the canal served as a major transportation
corridor. Construction on the canal began in 1828, which was intended
to connect the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. Falling short of the
original vision for the canal, construction ended in Cumberland in 1850
and the canal remained in operation until 1924.
C&O Canal became a national monument in 1961, and in 1971, Public
Law 91-664 established the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National
Historical Park ``to preserve and interpret the historic and scenic
features . . . and develop the potential of the canal for public
recreation.''
Today, the remnants of the C&O Canal route, the spirit of its
builders and operators, and a legacy of outdoor recreation and
educational opportunities endure in this national park unit. Spanning
roughly 20,000 acres, the park provides a place for millions of annual
visitors to explore one of the most biologically diverse natural areas
in the national park system, recreate along its historic towpath or in
watered sections of the canal, and experience the rich history of the
Potomac River Valley.
Mission Statement
To preserve and interpret the 19th-century transportation canal
from Washington, DC, to Cumberland, Maryland, and its associated
scenic, natural, and cultural resources, and to provide opportunities
for education and appropriate outdoor recreation.
Federal Advisory Commission
The Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park Federal Advisory
Commission was established by Section 6 of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal Development Act (16 U.S.C. 410y-4). Public Law 91-664, January 8,
1971, as amended, and in accordance with the provisions of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C. Appendix 2. The
Commission is to meet and consult with the Secretary of the Interior on
general policies and specific matters related to the administration and
development of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
Commissioners
Joseph A. Adkins, Frederick County, Maryland
Joseph A. Adkins is serving as the Deputy Director for Planning for
the City of Frederick. Mr. Adkins is in charge for current and long-
range planning for the city. Under his leadership, the city formed its
first Sustainability Commission and started to have serious
conversations about resource conservation. Mr. Adkins is very familiar
with serving on boards being on the Heart of Civil War Heritage Area
Commission since 1998. In addition to serving on HCWHAC, he has served
on the State's Task Force on Sustainable Growth & Wastewater Disposal
as a liaison for the Maryland Municipal League. In addition to the
basic requirements for this position, Mr. Adkins have actively used the
C&O Canal for past 45 years with such activities as camping with the
Boy Scouts, running the JFK (completing it 4 times), family activities,
fishing and preparing for his bike trip on the Allegheny Passage.
Thomas L. Birch, District of Columbia
Thomas L. Birch served for more than thirty years as counsel and
legislative advisor in Washington, D.C. to a variety of nonprofit
organizations, developing policy and directing advocacy efforts,
primarily in cultural policy and on issues of child welfare. A former
legislative counsel to members of the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives, he also held elected public office for fourteen years
as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in Georgetown. He was a Peace
Corps volunteer for three years in Morocco and has served as a board
member and officer for charitable organizations, including the DC
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Friends of Georgetown Waterfront
Park, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, the American
Humane Association, and the Ellington Fund of the Duke Ellington School
of the Arts. He is the recipient of the American Psychological
Association's Award for Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy
(2003), the Citizens Association of Georgetown Belin Award for
distinguished community service (2006), the Casey Family Programs
Leadership Award (2006), and the National Assembly of State Arts
Agencies President's Award for Outstanding Advocacy (2012). He holds a
B.A. in American history from Lehigh University and a J.D. from George
Washington University.
David Brickley, Commonwealth of Virginia
David Brickley is the President of the September 11th National
Memorial Trail Alliance, a nonprofit organization developing a national
1,300-mile trail connecting the three national 9/11 memorials. Coming
to Virginia from military service in Vietnam where he was awarded the
Bronze Star as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Brickley served as
Assistant County Executive for Prince William County, followed by 22
years as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. From 1998 to 2002
he was the Director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and
Recreation which in 2001 received the National Gold Medal Award for the
``Best Managed State Park System in America.'' That same year Mr.
Brickley received Environment Virginia's Environmental Legacy Award. He
is a former State Delegate and is the longest continuous serving member
of the Virginia House of Delegates from Prince William County since it
was founded in 1731. He is an attorney and holds a jurist doctorate
from George Mason University's School of Law.
Mark T. Cucuzzella, State of West Virginia
Mark T. Cucuzzella is a Professor at West Virginia University
School of Medicine. He is also a Lt Col in the US Air Force designing
programs to promote health and better fitness in the military with the
USAF Efficient Running Project. In his community and medical school he
has been a tireless promoter of nutritional interventions in patients
with any spectrum of the metabolic syndrome, introducing a low carb
option for hospital patients. He was a lead writer of one of the first
grants supporting education of Medical Students in nutrition and
physical activity through the MEDCHEFS program, now in its 3rd year.
Mark is also the lead on a large USDA grant to double SNAP benefits at
Farmers Markets--the goal is reducing food insecurity as a barrier to
healthier eating. He's also been a competitive runner for over 30
years--with more than 100 marathon and ultramarathon finishes--and
continues to compete as a national-level Masters runner. He has won the
Air Force Marathon twice. He is the race director of Freedom's Run race
series in West Virginia and director of the Natural Running Center, an
education portal designed to teach healthier running. Mark is also the
owner of Two Rivers Treads--A Center for Natural Running and Walking in
his hometown of Shepherdstown, W.Va. Mark's vision of medical care as
it should be is housed in his site www.natureprescriptions.org. Mark's
innovative work and story has been featured in the New York Times, NPR,
Outside Magazine, Running Times, Runners World, Air Force Times, the
Washington Post, JAMA, Blue Ridge Outdoors, and other medical and media
outlets.
George F. Franks III, Washington County, Maryland
George F. Franks III is the President of Franks Consulting Group
and owner of Geo. Franks, Hatter, a global e-commerce business. He is a
former technology executive with extensive international experience.
George is the founder and President of the Battle of Falling Waters
1863 Foundation, Inc. and a member of the Board of Directors of the
Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area. He is a Governor and former
officer of the Company of Military Historians and the former President
of the organization's Chesapeake Chapter. George served as President of
the Capitol Hill Civil War Round Table and is an active member of
Hagerstown Civil War Round Table, Save Historic Antietam Foundation and
the Civil War Trust. He is the author of Battle of Falling Waters 1863:
Custer, Pettigrew and the End of the Gettysburg Campaign and lives in
the 1830 Daniel Donnelly House on the battlefield--less than a mile
from the C & O Canal. George was awarded the 2015 John Frye Historical
Preservation Award by the Washington County (Maryland) Commissioners.
He studied history at the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of
Pittsburgh where he was graduated Magna cum Laude. AT&T selected George
for the executive programs in marketing and international business at
University of Virginia Darden School and Emory University Goizueta
Business School.
Angela O. Hummer, State of Maryland
Angela O. Hummer began her career with the Maryland Park Service as
a Law Enforcement Ranger in 1990. She worked as a ranger at Sandy Point
State Park and Elk Neck State Park. She was promoted to Sergeant Area
Manager at Greenbrier State Park in 1995. Angie spent 25 years of her
career teaching Maryland State Park employees and volunteers First Aid
and CPR. Angie retired as a Park Ranger Lieutenant from Maryland Park
Service after 30 years in December 2019. Her last assignment was Park
Manger at Fort Frederick State Park Complex. Angie holds a bachelor's
degree from Salisbury State University in Leisure Studies and a
master's degree from Frostburg State University in Park and Recreation
Administration. Angie is active in her community. She is a life member
of United Fire Company in Frederick, Maryland where she has served as
Secretary for the past 16 years. She is the Vice President of the
Friends of Fort Frederick. She serves on the Hagerstown Washington
County Convention of Visitors Bureau Executive Board. Angie was born
and raised in Elkton, Maryland. In her spare time Angie enjoys making
wine and quilts and volunteering for Lab Rescue. Angie lives in
Boonsboro, Maryland with her husband Karl and their two Labrador
Retrievers Ranger and Tonto.
Stella M. Koch, Commonwealth of Virginia
Stella M. Koch has been a strong advocate for the protection and
restoration of local streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay for over
30 years. She presently serves as Chair of the Northern Virginia
Regional Park Authority, Chair of the Fairfax County Environmental
Quality Advisory Council (advisory to the Board of Supervisors), and
Chair of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. She
worked for Audubon Naturalist as their Virginia Conservation Advocate
for over 25 years and prior to that taught Biology. She previously
served on the Potomac River Keeper Board and the Choose Clean Water
Coalition Steering Committee.
George E. Lewis, Chair, At Large
George E. Lewis is a Trustee Emeritus of Hood College, founder of
the Catoctin Aqueduct Restoration Fund, and recipient of the 2014
Preservation Maryland Volunteer Award. As an early advisor to the C & O
Canal Trust, a past director of the C & O Canal Association, and
recipient of the Superintendent's Award for Excellence in Citizen
Stewardship (C & O Canal National Historic Park), Dr. Lewis has
demonstrated an abiding and effective commitment to preservation and
promotion of the C & O Canal, its heritage, and its ongoing vitality.
Dr. Lewis served with distinction in the U.S. Army as a Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine for 30 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in
Animal Science from the University of Florida, a Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine degree from Auburn University, and Ph.D. in Microbiology from
the University of Illinois. Dr. Lewis is a 2009 recipient of the
Daughters of the American Revolution National Medal of Honor, and has
twice been awarded the DAR Historical Preservation Medal.
Roderick C. Mackler, State of Maryland
Roderick C. Mackler is an active volunteer in the C&O Canal
National Historical Park. He was appointed to the Park's federal
advisory commission in July 2019. He has served as first vice president
and chair of the environmental committee of the C&O Canal Association.
A retired Foreign Service Officer, he brings an international
perspective to the canal. He has attended 12 World Canals Conferences
on three continents. Finally, he enjoys the opportunity to share his
love of the canal with others, including giving presentations and
writing articles for several canal journals.
Stephen D. Nelson, Allegany County, Maryland
Stephen D. Nelson is the owner of SD Nelson Marketing Solutions, a
publishing and marketing firm in Western Maryland. Mr. Nelson is past
president of the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce, YMCA of
Cumberland, and Rotary Club of Cumberland. He currently is Chairman of
the board of First Peoples Community Credit Union and serves as a
director on the boards of the Rotary club of Cumberland, Boy Scouts of
America Potomac District, and the Tri County Council of Western
Maryland. Mr. Nelson is a Scout master for Boy Scout troop 9 and is the
recipient of the 2012 Allegany County Chamber of Commerce Community
Service award. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Geneva
College. He enjoys the outdoor recreation opportunities available in
Western Maryland including cycling on the C&O Canal where in addition
to being a member of the bike patrol, has cycled the entire length 11
times! Walter S. Stull III, Frederick County, Maryland Walter S. Stull
is a former member of the City Council of Brunswick, Maryland, where he
served for 20 years. During his tenure, Mr. Stull served as liaison to
the C&O Canal National Historical Park, commissioner with the Brunswick
Planning Commission, and chairman of recreation and finance committees
and is now a commissioner on the Brunswick Board of Appeals. Mr. Stull
is a past chair and founding member of Canal Towns Partnership, whose
mission is the economic vitality of towns along the C&O Canal. He was
the Maryland Municipal League's representative to the Tourism Council
of Frederick County and Transportation Services Advisory Committee of
Frederick County. Mr. Stull is a past president of the Brunswick
Heritage Museum which houses the C&O Canal Visitor Center. He is
retired from the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Scott Walzak, District of Colombia
Scott Walzak obtained a dual Bachelor's and Master's Degree in
Architecture from Roger Williams University. Scott practiced
architecture at HOK, an internationally renowned architecture firm
where he received multiple national and international design awards, to
include Metropolis Magazine's ``Next Generation Design Award'' in 2011.
In late 2014 Scott co-founded MakeDC, a Public Interest Design Firm
focused on providing professional design services to underprivileged
and underserved residents within the District of Columbia. Notable
projects included: A Healing Garden for Joseph's House, a hospice
facility for those experiencing homelessness with Aids and HIV; a
mobile digital art gallery for Critical Exposure; and an award-winning
concept design for Net-Zero affordable housing within the District.
Scott further served as the Strategic Director at Engenium Group, a
boutique engineering firm where he led the business development and
assisted in growing the company by nearly 300% within three years.
Scott joined Georgetown Heritage in 2017 as the Director of Planning &
Project Management. As the owner's representative, Scott was tasked
with ensuring a smooth and effective project development process, as
well as leading the coordination and communications across the various
project teams where he provided the day-to-day management of all
design, engineering, and construction projects for Georgetown Heritage.
Currently, Scott serves as an Architect, Project Manager for the
Architect of the Capitol within the Office of the Chief Security
Officer, Security Infrastructure division, where he designs and manages
various projects addressing the security needs for the entire Capitol
Campus.
Evelyn C. Williams, At Large
Evelyn C. Williams is currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at
Frostburg State University, supervising their social studies student
teachers. In July 2015, she retired from Washington County Public
Schools (WCPS) where she served for 20 years as a high school teacher
and then 15 years as an Administrator. Her last position with WCPS
2006-2015 was as the Supervisor of Social Studies for WCPS. Each year
in that position she secured grants to provide buses for every fourth-
grade class in Washington County Public Schools to visit the Cushwa
Basin of the C&O Canal. Additionally, she helped develop educational
materials and a panel of volunteers to support the trips. She serves on
numerous boards in her local community including the Washington
Historical Society, Washington Museum of Fine Arts and Washington
County Department of Social Services. She is also a member of the
Friends of Acadia and the C&O Canal Association where she volunteers as
a level walker. She believes that one of the keys to foster
conservation is through voter education. To this end she has long
served on the Board for the Washington County chapter of the League of
Women Voters, supporting their advocacy for environmental and
conservation measures.
Francis ``Champ'' Zumbrun, Allegany County, Maryland
Francis ``Champ'' Zumbrun served as forest manager of Green Ridge
State Forest (GRSF) until he retired in 2009 after 31 years working as
a professional forester for the Maryland Department of Natural
Resources. During his time at GRSF, Zumbrun also served as a fully
commissioned law enforcement officer, Maryland Ranger, and as a natural
resource manager in the state forest and park public lands system.
Zumbrun holds a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resource Management, a
master of science in Management; and graduated from the Eastern Shore
Criminal Justice Academy. Zumbrun is a published author of a book and
many articles about outdoor recreation and history of public lands
management in Maryland. In 2009, Zumbrun received a national award for
``Outstanding Field Forester'' by the Society of American Foresters.
______
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you, Dr. Lewis. I now recognize Mr.
Simon Hankinson, a Senior Research Fellow at the Border
Security and Immigration Center of the Heritage Foundation.
Mr. Hankinson, you have 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF SIMON HANKINSON, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, BORDER
SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION CENTER, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION,
WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. Hankinson. Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member Neguse, and
members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to
testify today regarding the impact on and use of Federal lands
in our present border crisis.
In my former career as a Foreign Service officer, I
interviewed thousands of foreign applicants for U.S. visas,
from immigrants, to students, and visitors. I was required to
uphold the law and to use my professional judgment as to
whether each applicant was qualified.
Under the Constitution, Congress decides who is admitted
into the country and under what conditions. However, the Biden
administration has failed in its duty to enforce immigration
law. For more than 2 years, over 150,000 foreign nationals have
attempted to illegally cross our borders every month. This
August saw 304,000 such encounters, the highest monthly total
in U.S. history, and September will likely break that record.
These huge numbers don't even include at least 1.7 million
other aliens who are estimated to have entered illegally
without being encountered or identified by U.S. authorities
since January 2021.
The evidence is clear: the Administration's management of
our borders has been disastrous. The Department of Homeland
Security processes inadmissible aliens at a mass scale, and
moves them quickly into the interior, either in nominal removal
proceedings that will take years to conclude, or under made-up
programs that pervert the meaning of immigration parole.
To justify its departure from historical precedent, the
Biden administration has insisted that those whose asylum
applications were denied would be removed from the United
States, consistent with our laws. In fact, the Administration
has removed fewer than 1 percent of the aliens released since
January 2021.
President Biden's border policies have resulted in numerous
failures.
The first failure is allowing illegal border crossers to
enter and remain in the country. This undermines the rule of
law. Millions of foreign relatives of U.S. citizens wait their
turn in the legal immigration system. Allowing millions of
others to short-circuit the process and take all the advantages
of being a legal immigrant without any fee, any weight, or any
background check is simply unjust.
Furthermore, the class-wide use of parole by the Biden
administration violates the law. Immigration should be in the
national interest, not just a political interest.
The second failure is releasing masses of aliens at the
border when we know nothing about them, which results in
preventable crime. There are already over 400,000 convicted
illegal alien criminals walking free in our communities. The
Administration's annual target for deporting them is under
30,000. President Biden thus asks Americans to run the risks
posed by recidivist foreign criminals instead of their home
countries.
The third failure is to make it easy for potential
terrorists to enter the country. In Fiscal Year 2023, over 160
people on the terrorist watch list were caught crossing U.S.
borders. Since 2021, 70,000 special interest aliens from
countries known to harbor terrorists like Afghanistan, Syria,
and Iran were encountered, and often released with no knowledge
of their true histories.
In addition to these policy failures, the American taxpayer
has been saddled with increased burdens, including $78 billion
a year for public schools and $23 billion a year in excess
medical expenses.
Today's hearing is about the use of Federal lands, which
account for nearly 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Building roads along the border to regain operational control
and deter illegal crossing is a judicious use of public land in
the national interest. Assessing the environmental damage
caused to Federal lands by illegal immigration and coming up
with ways to prevent and mitigate that destruction is a
valuable effort to conserve public property. However, using
Federal lands to house inadmissible aliens would both subvert
the public benefit for which the land was conserved and fail to
solve the problem.
From El Paso to Boston, the U.S. cities are paying the
price of mass illegal immigration. New York City alone is
spending more than $5 billion a year housing illegal aliens
and, running out of space, New York now wants to use Federal
land. Allowing such use would be a mistake.
Reports from Guatemala down to the Darien Gap indicate that
mass migration facilitated by this Administration is only going
to grow. With no effort to control the flow from the south,
locals would be deprived indefinitely of the use of public land
that is diverted for migrant shelters. Absent a change in
national policy, U.S. localities like New York are going to
have to deal with increasing flows for at least another year,
and the downstream effects and costs for many years.
There will never be enough taxpayer money or Federal land
to compensate cities and states for Biden's failed border
strategy. The more that U.S. elected officials come to accept
the current chaos as normal, the harder it is going to be to
return to a more sustainable management of our borders. The
Biden administration should reverse its reckless policies in
the interests of national and local security. Legislation to
physically secure the border, ameliorate environmental damage
caused by unchecked illegal immigration, and to stop Federal
lands being diverted for short-term Band-Aid solutions would
move us in the right direction.
Thank you, and I am happy to take your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hankinson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Simon R. Hankinson, Center for Border Security
and Immigration, The Heritage Foundation
on Discussion Draft of H.R. ____, ``Ensuring Border Access and
Protection on Federal Land Act'',
and Discussion Draft of H.R. ____, ``TRASHED Border Act''
Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member Neguse, and Members of the
Subcommittee, my name is Simon Hankinson. I am a Senior Research Fellow
at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are
my own and should not be construed as representing any official
position of The Heritage Foundation.
Introduction
Most Americans agree that legal, limited, and controlled
immigration is of benefit to our economy and society. Conversely, it
seems certain that the unprecedented, mass release of otherwise
inadmissible aliens at the U.S. border since President Biden took
office has had a deleterious impact, spreading from the immediate
vicinity of the border to states and cities far inland.
Before discussing some of these effects, one should understand how
we got here.
According to U.S. law, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is
supposed to detain all inadmissible aliens--that is, foreign nationals
without visas allowing them to request admission at a U.S. port of
entry--who enter the country illegally between ports of entry. Illegal
immigrants detained pending removal proceedings have a high chance of
being deported, while those released are likely to remain
indefinitely.\1\ At various times in the past, DHS has responded to
surges in the number of illegal aliens encountered at the border by
releasing them on their own recognizance, having placed them in removal
proceedings under U.S. immigration law.\2\ Since January 2021, this
formerly expedient and temporary tactic has become the strategic norm
and has reached epic proportions. President Biden has added to the mass
release policy by using the limited parole power in the Immigration and
Nationality Act at an unprecedented scale and not for intended
purposes.\3\
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\1\ Nadwa Mossaad, Sean Leong, Ryan Baugh, and Marc Rosenblum,
``Fiscal Year 2021 Enforcement Lifecycle Report,'' U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, November 2022, p.
13, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-12/2022_1114_plcy_
enforcement_lifecycle_report_fy2021.pdf (accessed October 16, 2023).
\2\ Title 8 U.S. Code, Aliens and Nationality, https://
uscode.house.gov/browse/&edition=prelim (accessed October 16, 2023).
\3\ Texas et al v. Biden, Case 6:23-cv-00007, United States
District Court, Southern District of Texas, Victoria Division, Filed
January 24, 2023.
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From Deter, Detain, and Deport to Process, Parole, and Punt
The Biden Administration claims that today's mass immigration is
the result of unprecedented geopolitical and environmental
circumstances.\4\ Their solution is, first, to use foreign aid and
assistance programs to reduce the ``root causes'' of immigration in
Latin America and then, while waiting for results, to replace the
traditional border control model of deterrence, detention, and
deportation of illegal crossers by creating what they call ``lawful
pathways'' to allow ``safe, orderly, and humane'' entry of illegal
immigrants and allowing them to apply for asylum protection thereafter.
The result has been predictable: The easier it appears to be to enter
the U.S. and be allowed to remain and work, the more people come. DHS
has reported over 150,000 people at the border every month attempting
to enter the U.S. illegally since January 2021. August 2023 saw over
304,000 encounters, the highest one-month total in U.S. history.
September figures are almost certain to exceed it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ ``Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection,'' The
White House, June 10, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/
statements-releases/2022/06/10/los-angeles-declaration-on-migration-
and-protection/ (accessed October 16, 2023).
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The Biden Administration's ``root causes'' approach has not reduced
illegal immigration flows as allegedly intended. Meanwhile, having
fought to eliminate their own ability to remove illegal crossers
expeditiously for public health reasons under Title 42, they came up
with a ``Comprehensive Plan to Manage the Border After Title 42.'' \5\
The intention of the Rule was to expedite the removal of those who were
less likely to qualify for asylum and who had not taken advantage of
the Administration's new parole programs using the CBP One application.
However, as was widely predicted from the beginning, the Rule's wide
exceptions, including for families and certain nationalities, have made
it nearly useless. Even with the new Rule's demonstrable failure to
reduce the flow of inadmissible aliens crossing the border, the
Administration's default position remained to let in as many aliens as
could be processed and nominally put them into the backlogged asylum
system. In most cases, illegal border crossers were released without
any way to track them or ensure that they attended scheduled court
appearances.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ ``Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Border
Enforcement Actions,'' The White House, January 5, 2023, https://
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/fact-
sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-border-enforcement-
actions/ (accessed October 16, 2023).
\6\ Simon Hankinson, `` `Alternatives to Detention' for Illegal
Aliens: Effective with Mandatory Tracking for Entire Process,''
Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 3767, May 12, 2023, https://
www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/BG3767_0.pdf.
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In addition to this ``catch and release'' standard, the
Administration has redirected tens of thousands of illegal aliens whom
the Border Patrol would have ``encountered''--that is, administratively
arrested--crossing between ports of entry by inventing and expanding
programs to allow inadmissible aliens to enter the United States on
immigration parole.\7\ They are paroled on the premise that they are
refugees fleeing persecution who will apply for asylum rather than
economic migrants. The Administration has provided mass, class-wide
parole programs for nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua,
and Venezuela and additional ``family reunification'' parole for
beneficiaries of immediate relative immigrant visa petitions from
Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, or Honduras and their
immediate family members.\8\ Over 50,000 more otherwise inadmissible
aliens are now being welcomed every month into the country at air and
land entry points by inspectors with the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection Office of Field Operations.
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\7\ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services, ``Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans,
and Venezuelans,'' last reviewed/updated September 20, 2023, https://
www.uscis.gov/CHNV (accessed October 16, 2023).
\8\ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services, ``Family Reunification Parole Processes,'' last
reviewed/updated October 3, 2023, https://www.uscis.gov/FRP (accessed
October 16, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The White House continues to maintain that mass release at the
border and invented ``lawful pathways'' using parole are necessary
``unless Congress comes together in a bipartisan way to address our
broken immigration and asylum system.'' \9\ However, what they appear
to mean by ``broken'' is that the current laws do not admit the number
of people they want, and by ``address'' they seek a mass amnesty for
those living here illegally, which would inspire millions more to enter
illegally in the hope of benefiting in the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Press release, ``Border Encounters Remain Low as Biden-Harris
Administration's Comprehensive Plan to Manage the Border After Title 42
in Effect,'' U.S. Department of Homeland Security, June 6, 2023,
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/06/06/border-encounters-remain-low-biden-
harris-administrations-comprehensive-plan-manage#::text=Until%20and%20
unless%20Congress%20comes,in%20migration%20at%20our%20border (accessed
October 16, 2023).
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The Costs of Illegal Immigration in 2023
Legal immigration is the tradition and lifeblood of the United
States, and most Americans support a reasonable amount of it annually.
Illegal immigration has always occurred along with legal, but in the
past two years, it has increased to levels that are both unprecedented
and deleterious to the country as a whole.
I submit that there are five major ways in which illegal
immigration hurts America.
Equity and Sovereignty. Allowing most illegal border crossers to
enter and remain in the country, often on the basis of parole or before
they are even placed into removal proceedings, undermines both the rule
of law and our national sovereignty. Millions of foreign nationals,
relatives of U.S. citizens, prospective investors, and skilled workers
wait patiently in the orderly if slow process Congress has legislated
and funded. To see millions of people--in just a few years--short-
circuit this process and enjoy all the advantages of being a legal
immigrant without any fee, wait, background check, or legal right sends
the message abroad that breaking our laws will be rewarded. U.S.
citizenship must have a value over non-citizenship, or the bonds of
duty between government and governed will wither.
The abuse of parole by the Biden Administration also tests the
separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress
the prerogative to decide who enters the country and on what terms.
Immigration must be in the national interest, not just the political
interest of each successive presidential Administration.
Economic. Open borders are fundamentally incompatible with a modern
welfare state. One credible estimate is that illegal immigration costs
$150 billion a year. The societal costs are difficult to calculate.
Education. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of illegal
alien families with children that have been allowed into the U.S. since
January 2021, over 400,000 unaccompanied alien children (UACs) have
also been released into the custody of family, guardians, or
``sponsors.'' Most will be attending school at taxpayer expense. Public
schools are required to provide a free education to children who are
residing in the United States illegally.\10\ There were around 4.8
million public school students in 2020, 6.5 percent of whom were either
illegal aliens or the children of illegal aliens. Overall, federal and
state funding for these children is estimated to cost around $78
billion annually.
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\10\ Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), https://
supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/457/202/ (accessed October 16,
2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, 5.1 million, or 10 percent, of all students in public
schools have limited English proficiency (LEP). Because the federal
government provides 7.9 percent of total public-school funding but only
1 percent of the cost for LEP students, the additional cost of
specialist teachers for LEP falls on states and localities.\11\
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\11\ Federation for American Immigration Reform, ``The Elephant in
the Classroom: Mass Immigration Imposing Colossal Cost and Challenges
on Public Education,'' Research Report, September 2022, https://
www.fairus.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/FAIR%20Education%20Report
%20Sept%202022_1.pdf (accessed October 16, 2023).
Crime. In the past two and a half years, the United States has
allowed millions of people to enter the country who tend to be younger,
more male, and more uneducated than the national population as a whole.
Because many of those caught and released at the border do not provide
identification documents to DHS when they are processed into the
country, we have no way to know whether they have criminal records in
their home countries or countries they have lived in or passed through
on the way to our border. Even if inadmissible aliens do provide valid
identification, DHS does not have access to the criminal records of
most of these countries--assuming, of course, that such records exist
in the first place. Thus, we have no real criminal vetting on any
released illegal immigrant unless he or she has a record in the United
States.
Based on per-country estimates of criminal activity per given
population, we are probably letting in dozens of thieves,\12\ a few
murderers and rapists,\13\ and a dozen with suspected terrorist links
\14\ every month along with the majority who are simply economic
migrants looking to improve their lot. We find out sooner or later, as
criminals tend to reoffend. A significant amount of crime is committed
by a fairly small percentage of the population,\15\ often
geographically concentrated in areas of our large cities. As Rafael
Mangual writes, ``the vast majority of American prisoners are violent,
chronic offenders.'' \16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ USA Facts, ``Property Crime Rate (per 100,000 Persons),''
https://usafacts.org/data/topics/security-safety/crime-and-justice/
crime-and-police/property-crime-rate-per-100000-persons/ (accessed
October 16, 2023).
\13\ Wisevoter, ``Crime Rate by Country,'' https://wisevoter.com/
country-rankings/crime-rate-by-country/ (accessed October 16, 2023).
\14\ Julia Ainsley, ``Number of people on terrorist watchlist
stopped at southern U.S. border has risen,'' NBC News, September 14,
2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/number-people-
terror-watchlist-stopped-mexico-us-border-risen-rcna105095 (accessed
October 16, 2023).
\15\ Rafael A. Mangual, Criminal (In)Justice: What the Push for
Decarceration and Depolicing Gets Wrong and Who It Hurts the Most (New
York: Center Street/Hachette, 2022).
\16\ Ibid., p. 12.
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Mass release at the border results in preventable crimes. Secretary
Mayorkas's instructions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to limit
interior enforcement \17\ has significantly reduced arrest, detention,
and deportation levels from prior years. There are more than 400,000
convicted illegal alien criminals free in our communities. The Biden
Administration's annual target for deporting them is under 30,000.\18\
President Biden thus asks Americans--not their home countries--to run
the risks posed by recidivist foreign criminals. The steady stream of
arrests by local and federal authorities of recidivist foreign
criminals, often previously deported once or more than once, makes it
clear: The ease with which aliens can cross the border undetected makes
our entire country less safe.
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\17\ Memorandum from Alejadro N. Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, to Tae D. Johnson, Acting Director,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, et al., ``Subject: Guidelines
for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law,'' September 30, 2021,
https://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/guidelines-civilimmigrationlaw.pdf
(accessed October 16, 2023).
\18\ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Budget Overview Fiscal Year 2024, Congressional
Justification, p. 161, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/
U.S%20IMMIGRATION%20AND%20CUSTOMS%20ENFORCEMENT_Remediated. pdf
(accessed October 16, 2023).
Health Care. Total federal medical expenditures related to illegal
aliens are estimated at $23 billion this year. That is a combination of
uncompensated federal hospital expenditures, Medicaid births, Medicaid
fraud, and Medicaid for U.S.-born children of illegal aliens. The
Medicaid costs for emergency medical services for illegal aliens went
from roughly $3 billion in FY 2020 to over $7 billion in FY 2021.\19\
States like Illinois and New York that have large illegal populations
have attempted to provide Medicaid for illegal alien seniors, causing
their costs to balloon beyond initial estimates.
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\19\ ``Causes, Costs, and Consequences: Why Secretary Mayorkas Must
be Investigated for His Border Crisis,'' Committee on Homeland
Security, Majority Report, June 14, 2023, https://homeland.house.gov/
wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ CHSPreliminaryReport.pdf (accessed October
16, 2023).
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Cost by State and City
The border cities are hit by wave after wave of illegal immigrants
released when DHS capacity is overwhelmed. In El Paso, Texas, twice in
the past year, hundreds of released aliens have slept in the streets
due to full shelters. Although the border bears the brunt of the
initial crossings, the long-term costs mostly move further north.
In Chicago, there were over 400 illegal immigrants sleeping at
O'Hare Airport as of early October. The city had received 10,000
migrants to add to its own homeless population, overwhelming shelter
capacity. Chicago has spent over $250 million this year to support
illegal immigrants. City residents have complained about the use of
schools as migrant shelters and about the disruptive and criminal
behavior of some of the illegal aliens housed by the city.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ Kristine Parks, ``Chicago residents sound off on illegal
immigrants in neighborhood: `They disrespect us, rob us, harass us,' ''
Fox News, July 28, 2023, https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-
residents-sound-off-illegal-immigrants-neighborhood-disrespect-rob-
harass (accessed October 16, 2023).
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New York City receives hundreds of illegal alien arrivals a week,
adding to at least 120,000 who have arrived in the past two years. New
York will spend more than $5 billion housing illegal aliens in FY 2023,
equaling the annual budget of the Fire, Parks, and Sanitation
Departments combined. Mayor Adams has rented hundreds of hotels and
opened dozens of emergency facilities from churches to parking lots to
house illegal aliens.\21\ He has tried to pay private homeowners to
house them,\22\ has handed out flyers at the border to dissuade them
from coming, and in October went to visit countries in Latin America to
try to stem the flow, but to no avail. With the federal government
releasing nearly every illegal alien at the border as long as he or she
is part of a family unit, and with New York's provision of free health
care, food, schools, legal counsel, and even bicycles, there is no
conceivable end to New York's liability without deliberate policy
changes from the White House.\23\
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\21\ Carl Campanile, ``Mayor Eric Adams eyes Aqueduct Racetrack,
Creedmoor Center for new NYC migrant tent cities,'' New York Post, July
16, 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/07/16/eric-adams-eyes-aqueduct-
racetrack-creedmoor-center-for-new-nyc-migrant-tent-cities/ (accessed
October 16, 2023).
\22\ Haley Brown, Bernadette Hogan, and Emily Crane, ``Adams floats
idea of New Yorkers housing migrants in `private residences,' '' New
York Post, June 5, 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/06/05/adams-wants-new-
yorkers-to-house-migrants-in-private-residences/ (accessed October 16,
2023).
\23\ Lionel Shriver, ``The problem with hotels for migrants,'' The
Spectator World, August 1, 2023, https://thespectator.com/topic/
problem-hotels-migrants-new-york-britain/ (accessed October 16, 2023).
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Washington, D.C.'s mayor has complained that the city's shelters
for migrant families are full.\24\ By September, the city had already
spent $55.8 million to house illegal immigrants in 2023, not including
costs of education and health care. In New Jersey, the Biden
Administration proposed sending illegal aliens from New York to
Atlantic City International Airport.\25\ In Massachusetts, the governor
has deployed over 2,000 members of the National Guard to help process
arriving illegal immigrants and help them apply for work permits.
Massachusetts is spending $45 million a month to shelter illegal
immigrants in hotels and, like New York, has asked local people to
house them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\24\ Hector Alejandro Arzate, ``D.C. Has Reached Hotel Capacity for
Newly Arrived Migrants,'' WAMU DCist, May 3, 2023, https://dcist.com/
story/23/05/03/dc-migrants-hotel-capacity/ (accessed October 16, 2023).
\25\ Jake Smith, `` `Wild West': Dem Gov Sounds Alarm Over Massive
Influx Of Illegal Migrants,'' Daily Caller, September 1, 2023, https://
dailycaller.com/2023/09/01/new-jersey-illegal-migrants-phil-murphy/
(accessed October 16, 2023).
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Environmental Costs
A year ago, I visited Yuma, Arizona, to see for myself how easy it
was for foreign nationals to cross illegally into the United States on
foot. I spoke to local Americans, including farmers and ranchers, about
the impact of large numbers of these people on their land. In the early
months of the Biden Administration, illegal immigrants were walking
through and camping in agricultural fields in Yuma, which produces 90
percent of U.S. salad and leafy greens from November to April. Because
of strict food safety regulations, each human trace requires farmers to
destroy all the crops in a given radius from any perceived human
contamination, from mere footprints to feces and menstrual pads,
causing millions of dollars in uninsured losses.
In March, I visited a gap in the unfinished border wall near the
Morelos Dam in Yuma. At about 20 yards wide, it was supposed to be a
vehicle gate when finished. President Biden ordered all work on the
wall to stop shortly after taking office. Ever since, the Morelos Gap
has been one of the most popular places for foreigners to enter the
U.S. illegally on foot. It is one of many places in Arizona where the
border is, for most intents and purposes, wide open. People of unknown
identity from anywhere in the world can simply walk up and come in.
Under Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, the illegal arrivals are
met by the Border Patrol or whatever DHS elements are available and
channeled into a system that is designed to get them into the interior
of the United States as fast as possible. Diverting DHS staff,
including Border Patrol, from regular duty to providing administrative
and social services leaves the border less guarded than usual, allowing
even more illegal drugs, people, and goods into the country.
I visited the Morelos Gap during the day and again at 3:00 a.m.
During the day, I saw clear signs of mass migration. In a few minutes
looking in the sand, I gleaned coins from Mexico, Peru, and the
Republic of Georgia. I picked up a passport from Cuba, debit cards from
Mexico and Turkey, several Peruvian national identity cards, a Mexican
refugee card belonging to an Ecuadorian, and a Polish bank card
belonging to an Indian. Worldwide awareness of our open border, spread
by family, friends, and alien smuggling criminals using social media,
is the real ``root cause'' of the mass rush to the border since January
2021 according to journalists who have spoken with prospective illegal
immigrants to the U.S. from many countries along the Panama-Mexico
route.\26\
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\26\ Todd Bensman, Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest
Border Crisis in U.S. History (Nashville: Bombardier Books, 2023).
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At 3:00 a.m., I witnessed more than 100 people walking or running
through the Gap to join a long line to be ``processed.'' Border Patrol
took their photos, starting the process that in most cases would have
ended with their release into the U.S. interior a few days later. At
one time or another, I have learned and spoken French, Slovak, Hindi,
and Spanish in descending order of ability. That night, I spoke to
people from Cameroon, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Georgia, India, and Russia. When asked, the people in line told me they
were here to look for work and opportunity. As a former consular
officer who has interviewed thousands of visa applicants, it was
surreal to see the same type of aspiring economic immigrants I had
interviewed (and usually denied visas to) in embassies overseas now
lining up for easier entry into the U.S. They get in with no
application, no fee, no criminal background check, and none of the
other inconveniences of having to qualify for a visa as our law
requires before asking to be admitted into the United States.
After Yuma, I rode along with a Pinal County, Arizona, police
officer in an area a few hours to the east. He showed us many spots
where smugglers hide out with drugs and illegal migrants, waiting for
their ride after trekking through the desert from the border. Illegal
immigrants discard piles of carpet slippers (to hide footprints),
backpacks, and plastic water jugs, thousands of which litter the
fragile desert landscape. Those surrendering to Border Patrol are then
placed in federally funded housing with sanitary facilities, but those
attempting to evade detection on entry--informally called
``gotaways''--defecate and litter all along their trail into the United
States until being picked up by smugglers' vehicles or disappearing
into towns and cities. Last May, a thousand or so illegal border
crossers built a camp in California's Jacumba Hot Springs, an ``arid
wilderness,'' while waiting for their free ride to be processed and
released into the U.S. with a ticket to their favored destination. They
came from Colombia, Brazil, Peru, India, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and other
countries. The New York Times reported that the migrants cut tree
branches to make shelters and burn as firewood.\27\
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\27\ Soumya Karlamangla, ``Scenes from a Migrant Camp at
California's Southern Border,'' The New York Times, May 19, 2023,
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/migrants-title-42-jacumba-hot-
springs.html (accessed October 16, 2023).
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According to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, each
alien crossing illegally into the United States leaves behind six to
eight pounds of trash on the U.S. side of the border. Taking into
account the more than 7 million people who have crossed the border
illegally in the past few years, that amounts to millions of pounds per
year.\28\ Between 2007 and 2018, the State of Arizona collected 460,000
pounds of trash discarded by illegal aliens along its 370-mile border
with Mexico.\29\ As I have seen for myself in visits to Arizona, the
Rio Grande Valley, and areas of southern Texas used by alien smugglers,
the landscape is littered with personal belongings like backpacks,
clothes, and documents; prescription drugs; water bottles; and other
detritus left by illegal immigrants.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ Hannah Davis, ``Leftist Hypocrisy: Failing to Criticize
Environmental Disaster of Biden's Open Border,'' Heritage Foundation
Commentary, June 6, 2023, https://www.heritage.org/immigration/
commentary/leftist-hypocrisy-failing-criticize-environmental-disaster-
bidens-open.
\29\ Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, ``Arizona Border
Trash,'' https://legacy.azdeq.gov/obep/waste.html (accessed October 16,
2023).
\30\ Simon Hankinson, ``I Couldn't Believe What I Saw at Biden's
Lawless Open Border,'' The Federalist, March 31, 2023, https://
thefederalist.com/2023/03/31/i-couldnt-believe-what-i-saw-at-bidens-
lawless-open-border/ (accessed October 16, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The human waste and trash produced by the endless foot traffic not
only pollutes crops, but also harms wildlife, taints water, and damages
delicate desert environments. There are 693 miles of federal or
tribally owned land along the U.S. border with Mexico.\31\ This
includes ranches and farms, Indian reservations, and protected areas
such as the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Big Bend National Park,
and Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Mass illegal immigration
exacerbates the environmental impact on these areas.\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ Memorandum to House Committee on Natural Resources Republican
Members from Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Republican
Staff; Sang Yi and Meghan Holland, ``Subject: Republican Forum titled
`The Biden Border Crisis: Environmental and Humanitarian Consequences,'
'' May 24, 2021, https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2021-
05-27_ oi_border_forum_memo.pdf (accessed October 16, 2023).
\32\ Davis, ``Leftist Hypocrisy: Failing to Criticize Environmental
Disaster of Biden's Open Border.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal lands are held in trust for the American people by the
government. Almost 20 years ago, the manager of the Buenos Aires
National Wildlife Refuge south of Tucson, Arizona, said his staff spent
over a third of their time installing protective measures and
mitigating damage from illegal border crossers and alien smugglers
while ``biologists spen[t] precious time documenting and mitigating
resource damage.'' According to the Fish and Wildlife official's
testimony, similar damage was being done in other federal land along
the border.\33\ Given the current mass illegal migration at the border,
it seems unlikely that the percentage of time that Department of the
Interior staff spend mitigating the damage to federal lands caused by
illegal immigrants and smugglers has decreased.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ Mitch Ellis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ``The Impacts of
Illegal Immigration on Public Lands,'' statement before the
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Committee
on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, June 15, 2006,
https://fws.gov/testimony/impacts-illegal-immigration-public-lands
(accessed October 16, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The millions of inadmissible aliens who have been released by DHS
or who have been able to enter the United States illegally without
detection over the past two years will add to the stress on our already
depleted and stressed infrastructure: from roads to schools to
hospitals to housing. By recklessly increasing the population in short
periods, we can expect more urban sprawl, conversion of farmland to
housing, and reduction of natural habitat. According to the National
Wildlife Federation, the ``rapid consumption of land could threaten the
survival of nearly one out of every three imperiled species in the
United States.'' \34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\34\ Reid Ewing and John Kostyack, Endangered by Sprawl: How
Runaway Development Threatens America's Wildlife, National Wildlife
Federation, Smart Growth America, and NatureServe, 2005, https://
www.nwf.org//media/PDFs/Wildlife/EndangeredbySprawl.pdf (accessed
October 16, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Away from the border, using federal lands to house illegal aliens
would fly in the face of the public benefit for which the lands were
conserved, and it would fail to solve the problem. U.S. cities from El
Paso to Boston are paying the price of mass illegal immigration. New
York City alone is spending more than $5 billion a year housing illegal
aliens and, running out of space, has apparently arranged to lease
federal land to house migrants.
Local officials have explained the difficulties of managing this
particular facility,\35\ but I would argue more broadly that using
federal lands anywhere for the purpose of housing illegal immigrants
would be a mistake. With no federal effort to control the flow from the
south, there would be no predictable end to the period during which
local people would be deprived of recreation areas for which they paid
taxes. Reports from Guatemala to the Darien Gap indicate that mass
migration facilitated by this Administration is only going to grow.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\35\ Kenneth Spencer, ``Destroying America's Best Idea: Examining
the Biden Administration's Use of National Park Service Lands for
Migrant Camps,'' statement before the Committee on Natural Resources,
U.S. House of Representatives, September 27, 2023, https://
naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/testimony_spencer.pdf
(accessed October 16, 2023).
\36\ Mary Anastasia O'Grady, ``How Colombia Abets the Migrant
Crisis: A jungle smuggling operation could bring 500,000 aliens into
Panama in 2023--and later into the U.S.,'' The Wall Street Journal,
October 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-colombia-abets-the-
migrant-crisis-illegal-immigration-border-international-e376978
(accessed October 16, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Absent a change in national policy, U.S. localities are going to
have to deal with increasing flows for at least another year. They will
ask Washington to compensate them for the costs, but there are no
guarantees that money will be provided. This will leave cities and
states stuck with semi-permanent encampments and no revenue for their
maintenance.
______
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you, Mr. Hankinson. I would like to now
recognize Representative Malliotakis to introduce our next
witness.
Ms. Malliotakis. My pleasure. Thank you again, Mr.
Chairman. I am fortunate to have a good friend from New York
City who is a Republican Councilwoman from Queens.
And to my colleagues, I would like to welcome my fellow New
Yorker, City Councilwoman Joann Ariola, back to this Committee.
She was here recently, where she testified regarding the use of
Floyd Bennett Field being turned into a migrant encampment,
which was last month, and we are happy to have her here again.
She is a lifelong resident of Queens in the district that
she represents. She is a committed civic leader, a wife, a
mother, a grandmother, and she has always focused her activism
on forging positive relationships between the residents of
Queens and government agencies to promote high-quality
education for students, improving the quality of life that
residents deserve, and working with the NYPD on issues related
to public safety.
She is a trusted representative for the communities within
the 32nd Council District. She is someone who has worked across
the aisle, both with Republicans and Democrats, to get things
done. And she is also somebody who has engaged me as a Federal
Representative to see ways that we can work together to improve
New York City for the better. And I would like to take an
opportunity to welcome my good friend, Councilwoman Joann
Ariola.
Thank you for coming again to Washington.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOANN ARIOLA, COUNCIL MEMBER, NEW YORK
CITY COUNCIL, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Ms. Ariola. Thank you, Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member
Neguse, and Full Committee Chairman Westerman, and, of course,
Representative Nicole Malliotakis and the members of this
Committee.
``Protection of public lands must not be a pendulum that
swings back and forth depending on who is in office. It is not
a partisan issue.'' These words were spoken by President Joe
Biden just 2 years ago. In the time since they were spoken,
however, the protection of our public lands seems to have
become a very partisan issue.
As a result of the grave mismanagement of the situation at
our southern border, our cities have now become inundated with
migrants for whom we have no room nor financial means to
provide shelter to. In order to alleviate the situation, there
are some in government who wish to place newcomers in our
national parks, effectively closing those parks to the public
and transforming them into housing compounds. This is something
that we should all be united against.
We should all recognize that the thought of transforming a
place like Yosemite National Park into a sprawling tent city is
something that should never stand. It is something that we need
protection against, and that is the protection that comes with
H.R. 5283. This is a protection that would not only cover
national parks like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, but it is
one that would cover each and every national park in the
country, as well.
As Barack Obama once said, it is not just the iconic
mountains and parks that we protect, it is the forests where
generations of families have hiked and picnicked and connected
with nature. It is the park down the street where the kids play
after school. It is the farmland that has been in the family
longer than anybody can remember. It is the rivers where we
fish. It is the forest where we hunt. Those words are
especially true today, even if that national park is seen by
some as just an old airport in Brooklyn.
That old airport in Brooklyn is Floyd Bennett Field, and it
is especially important for the people of New York City, and to
the people of my district, in particular. In a city which
suffers from a lack of green space, Floyd Bennett Field draws,
on average, nearly 1 million visitors each year to its meadows,
fields, forests, and shorelines. Remote control aviation
enthusiasts make use of the old runways. Students utilize the
sporting fields and wait all year for field trips to the
seasonal petting zoos and pumpkin patches. And families make
use of the campgrounds to enjoy the thrill of gathering around
a campfire and sleeping under the stars without ever having to
leave the five boroughs. Fishermen dot the shorelines,
momentarily forgetting about the stresses of their home lives
while they hope for the next big catch. And birdwatchers patrol
the meadows in search of rare migrant bird species.
All of these things stand to be in jeopardy, should we
allow Floyd Bennett Field to be transformed into a tent city
for those crossing our southern border. Thousands of asylum
seekers being placed in the middle of the park would mean that
the many daily visitors who rely on this urban oasis to get a
fleeting glimpse of the great outdoors would be unable to do
so. Sections of the park would be completely sealed off from
the public, converted into tents and support facilities. The
campgrounds would be made into an administrative center for the
new complex, the runway turned into living space, the meadows
suddenly too busy for activity for birds to arrive.
The list of changes would go on and on, and would radically
alter the park as it is known and enjoyed today. That is why it
is so vital that we act to protect this space and all other
national parks. These places were meant to be enjoyed by all,
not turned into temporary housing as a result of a complicated
immigration issue thousands of miles away. And that is why I
urge everyone to sign on to H.R. 5283, so that we can ensure
our parks remain protected, and that whatever fallout from any
other political issues in the future do not jeopardize the
amazing green spaces that are loved and enjoyed by millions of
Americans all over the country.
Thank you, and I am willing to take any questions from the
panel.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Ariola follows:]
Prepared Statement of Council Member Joann Ariola, 32nd Council
District, NYC City Council
on H.R. 5283
``Protection of public lands must not become a pendulum that swings
back and forth depending on who's in office. It's not a partisan
issue.''
These words were spoken by President Joe Biden just two years ago.
In the time since they were spoken, however, the protection of our
public lands seems to have very much become a partisan issue. As a
result of a grave mismanagement of the situation on our southern
border, our cities have now become inundated with asylum seekers for
whom we have no room nor financial means to provide shelter to. In
order to alleviate this situation, there are some in government who
wish to place newcomers in our National Parks, effectively closing
those parks to the public and transforming them into housing compounds.
This is something that we should all be united against. We should
all recognize that the thought of transforming a place like Yosemite
National Park into a sprawling tent city is something that should never
stand. It is something that we need protections against, and that
protection comes in the form of H.R. 5283.
This is a protection that would not only cover national parks like
Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, but it is a one that would cover each
and every National Park in the country as well. As Barack Obama once
said, ``it's not just the iconic mountains and parks that we protect.
It's the forests where generations of families have hiked and picnicked
and connected with nature. It's the park down the street where kids
play after school. It's the farmland that's been in the family longer
than anybody can remember. It's the rivers where we fish, it's the
forests where we hunt.'' Those words are especially true today--even if
that National Park is seen by some here as ``just an old airport in
Brooklyn.''
That ``old airport in Brooklyn,'' Floyd Bennett Field, is an
especially important area for the people of New York City and to the
people of my district in particular. In a city which suffers from a
lack of green space, Floyd Bennett Field draws on average nearly one
million visitors each year to its meadows, fields, forests, and
shorelines. Remote control aviation enthusiasts make use of the old
runways, students utilize the sporting fields and wait all year for
their field trips to the seasonal petting zoos and pumpkin patches, and
families make use of the campgrounds to enjoy the thrill of gathering
around a campfire and sleeping under the stars without ever having to
leave the five boroughs. Fishermen dot the shorelines, momentarily
forgetting about the stresses of their home lives while they hope for
the next big catch, and birdwatchers patrol the meadows in search of
rare migrating bird species.
All of these things stand to be in jeopardy should we allow Floyd
Bennett Field to be transformed into a tent city for those crossing our
southern border. Thousands of asylum seekers being placed in the middle
of this park would mean that the many daily visitors who rely on this
urban oasis to get a fleeting glimpse of the great outdoors would be
unable to do so. Sections of the park would be completely sealed off
from the public, converted into tents and support facilities. The
campgrounds would be made into an administrative center for the new
complex, the runway turned into living space, the meadows suddenly too
busy with activity for birds to arrive. The list of changes would go on
and on, and would radically alter the park as it is known and enjoyed
today.
This is why it is so vital that we act to protect this space, and
all other national parks across the country. These places were meant to
be enjoyed by all--not turned into temporary housing as a result of a
complicated immigration issue thousands of miles away. And that is why
I urge everyone to sign on to H.R. 5283, so that we can ensure our
parks remain protected, and that whatever fallout from any other
political issues in the future does not jeopardize the amazing green
spaces that are loved and enjoyed by millions of Americans all over the
country.
______
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you very much, Councilman Ariola. We
really appreciate you coming back down to DC to testify once
again.
Next, we are going to recognize Members for questions,
alternating between Majority and Minority, and first we will
have the Chairman of the Full Committee.
Mr. Westerman, you have 5 minutes.
Mr. Westerman. Thank you, Mr. Tiffany. And again, thank you
to the witnesses.
Councilmember Ariola, just over a year ago, on October 12,
2022, President Biden stated that national parks are
``treasures and wonders that define the identity of us as a
nation. They are a birthright that we pass down from generation
to generation, and they unite us.'' In your experience, do you
think the recent actions to establish migrant housing on
National Park Service land in New York City has lived up to
President Biden's ideas for national parks, and has this united
your community in any way?
Ms. Ariola. It is completely contrary to his statement, and
it has not united our community. It has really divided it in
the fact that they will no longer be able to utilize that green
space.
Mr. Westerman. That is my assessment, as well.
Mr. Hankinson, as I mentioned in my opening statement,
Federal lands are the areas that dangerous criminals and drug
smugglers target because they know they are remote and under-
patrolled. Your testimony touched on the impact that illegal
aliens have on the country, including increased rates of crime.
Can you expand on the effects that dangerous criminals who
cross into our country on Federal lands have on our society?
Mr. Hankinson. Thank you. I would say that criminality is
pretty evenly spread among populations. The murder rate in the
United States is about 5 in 100,000. The population crossing
the border illegally skews younger and more male. And we have
no records on them. If they don't have a criminal record in the
United States, even if they surrender to Border Patrol and they
get fingerprinted, we have no idea of what their history is.
And the fact is that if you get the daily CBP reports and
ICE reports of arrests, many of these people that they are
arresting who have committed crimes have been arrested multiple
times and they have been deported once or more than once. And
how do they get back in? They don't surrender at the border.
They cross at one of the many places where it is easy not to be
detected, and they disappear into that statistic of gotaways
that I spoke about.
So, these are preventable crimes. You can't prevent all
crime, but you can certainly make a difference by making an
attempt to patrol the border and to catch people who are trying
to come back in.
Mr. Westerman. Thank you.
And Deputy Chief Heithecker, President Obama's Homeland
Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, wrote in 2009 that
environmental laws and designations such as wilderness areas
that she was talking about, she said, ``Restrictions can impact
the efficacy of Border Patrol operations and can be a hindrance
to the maintenance of officer safety.''
The Forest Service's own testimony cites wilderness
restrictions as reasons why the construction of a patrol road,
which would enhance border security and officer safety, would
be prohibited. Does the Forest Service agree with President
Obama's own Homeland Security Secretary that restrictive
designations like wilderness areas along our southern border
can hurt the efficacy of Border Patrol operations and endanger
officers?
Mr. Heithecker. Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman.
I would have to defer to CBP on efficacy of how they patrol
those borders. As you know, that is not within our mission to
respond to that.
Mr. Westerman. I know you mentioned the terrain would
prevent roads. But if you look at the draft of the legislation,
we are talking about being able to construct roads even as far
as a mile off of the border to account for terrain. And I know
that where there is a will, there is a way you can build a
road. We have built a lot of roads in some very treacherous
terrain around the country. But if you don't have access, you
are just having an open area with no way to enforce the laws
that we have.
Mr. Hankinson, Chairman Tiffany mentioned in his statement
the amount of fentanyl that is illegally flowing into the
country, an astonishing 25,500 pounds, that is what we
confiscated this last year. Under the Biden administration, we
have seen record increases in fentanyl seizures. In your
opinion, will we be able to stop the flow of fentanyl into this
country if we don't secure our southern border?
Mr. Hankinson. No. And I wouldn't suggest that we could
ever stop 100 percent of the flow of contraband and drugs into
the country, but we could make a tremendous improvement on the
situation now, which is that not only are drugs being stopped
at ports of entry, but they are going around through
individuals with backpacks right along the border, where it is
easy to cross. It is a percentages question, and I don't
believe we could do a whole lot worse than we are doing now.
Mr. Westerman. Yes, and I actually was down there and saw
migrants come across with three backpacks full of drugs, and
the Border Patrol caught them. They dropped the drugs, and two
of them made it back across before they could arrest them. And
it happens every day. Every hour, it is happening there.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you, Mr. Westerman. Next, Mrs. Peltola,
you have 5 minutes for questioning.
Mrs. Peltola. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning.
This really is a serious issue, everybody in this room
knows it. The viewing audience knows this. This issue did not
invent itself in 2020. These immigration issues that we have
with South America and south of our border have been going on
since the 1980s, policies enacted in the 1980s or acted upon by
the administrations of that time, and it has only gotten worse.
But aside from larger philosophical discussions on policy,
I just want to ask Mr. Heithecker if he could elaborate a
little bit on how this proposal pencils out in terms of both
budget and timelines.
My understanding from your testimony is that the roads will
cost $40 to $60 million. The estimated yearly maintenance costs
would be about a quarter of $1 million a year. And just
recognizing that the major maintenance issues and deferred road
maintenance issues that your Department has now totals $7.66
billion. And I am sure the meter is still running with
inflation costs and all of that, and I believe that that $7.66
billion, already kind of piled-up need, pent-up need, is about
58 percent of your agency's entire deferred maintenance
inventory. Can you explain that or elaborate on that, please?
Mr. Heithecker. Yes. Are you specifically asking about the
percentage of our deferred maintenance budget that is----
Mrs. Peltola. Well, yes, and just the incongruency here of,
this is an important issue, but in other committees there is
talk about making cuts to your agency and having a stagnant
budget because of continuing resolutions and inflation being
the thief in the night. All of these things, and how it just
doesn't pencil out.
Mr. Heithecker. Thank you for the clarification. As I
mentioned in my opening statement, we take these border
management issues very seriously. We obviously have problems
that we need to deal with.
Currently, for road maintenance, we have 380,000 miles of
road that we have to maintain. We are funded at about 20
percent of the level that we need to maintain those roads. So,
adding additional roads just adds to that deficit across the
board nationally.
Mrs. Peltola. Would the Forest Service be able to meet the
requirements of ensuring border access and protection on
Federal lands and maintaining the existing inventory without an
additional appropriation?
And again, we all know this is not an appropriations
committee, but if you could just speak to that.
Mr. Heithecker. Yes. As I mentioned, we only have about 20
percent of the budget necessary to maintain the roads that we
currently have. So, we would just be adding to that additional
maintenance backlog.
Mrs. Peltola. And could you talk about the timeline that is
specified in the bill, and the actuality of meeting that?
Mr. Heithecker. As I mentioned, with the current resources
we have that timeline would be a challenge. We have to go
through NEPA, we have to go through consultation with federally
recognized tribes. And depending on the level of analysis and
the impacts that we recognize, we could be looking at anywhere
from 4 to 7 years to try to get that road analysis and NEPA
completed.
Mrs. Peltola. OK. There have been a couple of comments
about how the Secretary of the Interior isn't here, and I just
wondered if she had confirmed that she accepted the invitation
to appear here, or if there might have been a scheduling
conflict.
Mr. Tiffany. All we know is that she is not here, and no
representative from Interior is here. I am not sure how many
employees there are in the Department of the Interior, but I
suspect they should be able to find someone that would attend a
hearing, especially an important hearing like this.
Mrs. Peltola. I am glad that the Forest Service is here,
and you are under the purview of the Department of the
Interior. So, I mean, I guess that is a good de facto person.
And I guess I am not always in favor of the actions taken
or not taken by the Department of the Interior or the
Secretary, but she is still a member of the Administration's
Cabinet, and I just think it is good of us to maybe give her
some grace in her absence. Thank you.
She might be in Alaska. There is a huge convention going on
up in Alaska right now, so I know she will be there on Sunday,
so it could just be that she is on the other side of the
country.
Mr. Tiffany. Sure. Part of the message we received also is
that they have appeared before this Committee enough.
Mrs. Peltola. And maybe, and I am just guessing here, but
it might also be the treatment when she does appear here, the
hollering, name calling, and things like that.
Mr. Tiffany. First of all, if it is before this
Subcommittee, no one is hollering----
Mrs. Peltola. Yes, good point, thank you.
Mr. Tiffany. No one is name-calling. Now, are there tough
questions? No doubt about it. But there is a lot to be answered
for, and I think that is the case here also.
Mrs. Peltola. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I digress in
these comments, but I thought they were worthy.
Mr. Tiffany. The gentlelady yields?
Mrs. Peltola. Thank you. I do yield.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you. I would like to recognize the
gentleman from Idaho for 5 minutes, Mr. Fulcher.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Ariola, thank you for the testimony, and welcome to the
fight on the challenge to secure the southern border. New York
has some geography between it and the southern border, and so
does my home state of Idaho. And like you, we are impacted, as
well.
And in my state, our governor recently designated a
National Fentanyl Awareness Day, as opioid-related deaths have
nearly doubled in Idaho over the last decade. In 2022, there
were 358 overdose deaths, and 50 percent of those were from
fentanyl. From July to August of this year, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection seized more than 25,500 pounds of fentanyl,
compared with 12,800 pounds over the same period in 2022. And
just as a reminder, that is in Idaho. It is a fair distance
from the southern border, but nevertheless, it is impacting us,
as well. I can only imagine the drastic impact on states closer
in proximity. I have been to the southern border, as well, and
this is just a drastic situation that we have to do something
about.
I do have a question for Mr. Hankinson.
In your testimony, you pointed out five major ways in which
illegal immigration hurts America. I would just want to ask,
with your research, and given the negative effects of fentanyl,
like in my state, what are some of the steps that we can take
to try to deal with that crisis?
Mr. Hankinson. Well, one thing we could do is put the
Border Patrol back on the border. And one of the reasons they
are not there in large numbers is because they are being pulled
off to do processing of illegal, inadmissible aliens who are
then being moved into the rest of the country. So, we need to
address that flow.
We know that about 85 percent of them are not going to
qualify for asylum because they are here looking for a job,
which you can't blame them for doing, but you can certainly ask
them to wait their asylum process in Mexico, under the Migrant
Protection Protocols, or in a country where they have
previously gained asylum or protection, right the way down
through South America. And when we dismantled that, and we
accepted that every person asking to get in would be dealt with
after they already were in the United States, we had to divert
resources off the border.
So, one thing that could be done, a concrete thing, is to
reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols and safe third
country agreements and ways in which to process people outside
the United States so that Border Patrol can get back to
patrolling the border.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you for that. And I shared with you, Mr.
Hankinson, just a little snippet about some of the impacts we
have seen in Idaho. And I know you have looked into this in
depth. Are we unique, or do you see similar ramifications in
other local communities that have impacted other local
communities?
Mr. Hankinson. Well, New York is obviously the biggest
example, but across our big cities--Washington, DC, there are
over 1,000 people in Washington, DC shelters that are
displacing people from Washington. There are tents all over
this town. We have all seen them, including outside my
apartment.
There are 400 people living in Chicago Airport's bus
terminal who are inadmissible aliens who have been let into the
country, presumably to claim asylum at some point. Chicago is
scrambling to figure out what to do with them all.
El Paso has seen people released into its streets, sleeping
on the sidewalks more than, I think, two or three times since
this crisis started.
And then I was hearing yesterday that in Boise there is a
homeless population down by some sensitive areas in the river
that used to be recreational grounds that everybody could
enjoy. And the homeless populations all over the country are
being exacerbated enormously by indigent illegal immigrants
coming to the country who have to be taken care of by local
communities.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you for that.
Mr. Chairman, I do have more questions, but I am going to
use the rest of my time just for a statement because Mr.
Hankinson kind of covered a portion of the next question that I
had.
This is a result of this Administration's policy. No more,
no less. Not only is it critically unfair to Americans, this is
horrifically bad for the immigrants. We legally--legally--
immigrate more than every other nation in the world combined on
an annual basis. To take the border and open it up--I would
argue absolutely for political purposes--is a travesty.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you to the gentleman from Idaho, and now
I will take 5 minutes for questions.
I just want to piggyback on what Mr. Fulcher just talked
about, because it was said earlier that this was not invented,
this issue was not invented in 2020. That is correct. But it
has been put on overdrive here in America.
And yesterday, on the Floor of the House, I think
Representative Cole said it very well, always in his measured
tones. When he talked about Jeh Johnson, who was the Secretary
during the Biden administration, he defined a crisis as 1,000
people a day coming across the southern border illegally. There
are now 10,000 a day.
This is a direct result of January 20, 2021, when President
Biden announced that there will be open borders to the world.
And everyone heard that, and all the maladies that come with
that are happening, including trashing our Federal lands down
on the southern border, and in New York City and many other
places. I mean, it is a direct result of one person's actions
and one administration's actions.
Mr. Heithecker, why are you here today?
Mr. Heithecker. Well, you asked me to be here. That is one
reason, and to represent the stance that the U.S. Forest
Service has.
Mr. Tiffany. To testify on behalf of the Forest Service,
right?
Mr. Heithecker. Absolutely.
Mr. Tiffany. And the Forest Service is testifying today
because you received an invitation from this Subcommittee to be
here today over 2 weeks ago, which you complied with. Correct?
Mr. Heithecker. Correct.
Mr. Tiffany. Can you think of any reason why the Forest
Service was able to show up and testify before us today when
your colleagues at the Department of the Interior were unable
to do so?
Mr. Heithecker. I can't speak to why the Park Service isn't
here, but I am happy to be here and happy to answer your
questions.
Mr. Tiffany. Is the U.S. Forest Service housing illegal
immigrants?
You said something about funds for housing that are being
allocated from the Forest Service. Is the Forest Service using
funds to house illegal immigrants?
Mr. Heithecker. No, we are not.
Mr. Tiffany. Not even indirectly?
Mr. Heithecker. No.
Mr. Tiffany. You said that some of this bill that we
introduced, the TRASHED Act, is already provided under the law,
that it is unnecessary, right?
Mr. Heithecker. [No response.]
Mr. Tiffany. So, why isn't it being enforced?
Mr. Heithecker. If you look at our numbers of law
enforcement, we have roughly 400, a little over 400 law
enforcement officers in the field. That is over 193 million
acres. You can do the math on the challenges there that they
have in patrolling those lands. It is difficult.
Mr. Tiffany. Does the Forest Service ever work with the
Department of Homeland Security in any way?
Mr. Heithecker. We work very closely with Homeland
Security, as well as Customs and Border Protection.
Mr. Tiffany. You say it is already provided under the law.
Shouldn't they be enforcing this if you can't?
Mr. Heithecker. Are you asking should Customs and Border
Protection be providing protection over the environmental laws?
Mr. Tiffany. Should they be enforcing the law to not allow
people to be able to come across the southern border illegally
on Federal lands that are under your jurisdiction?
Mr. Heithecker. Yes, they currently do, and that is part of
an agreement that we have had in place for over 15 years now
with Customs and Border Protection.
Mr. Tiffany. So, they have control of the southern border?
Mr. Heithecker. They have jurisdiction to implement their
laws that they follow on the southern border on National Forest
System lands, yes.
Mr. Tiffany. Because you are not saying what Secretary
Mayorkas said, that yes, we have control of the southern border
when the head of the Border Patrol said this year we no longer
have operational control of the southern border. You wouldn't
be making the same statement as Secretary Mayorkas, would you?
Mr. Heithecker. If I understand what you are asking
correctly, no. We have acknowledged that there is a huge and
significant border management issue down there.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you.
Ms. Ariola, how have things changed since the last time you
were here? How long ago was that, was that 2 months ago?
Ms. Ariola. It was less. It was just a few weeks ago.
Mr. Tiffany. Just a few weeks ago. Have things changed for
the better in New York City?
Ms. Ariola. They have not. Our numbers have risen to
119,600 that we have in our care, and over 126,000 total if you
count the gotaways.
Mr. Tiffany. So, the situation is getting worse in New York
City.
Ms. Ariola. It is getting worse every day. We are getting
anywhere from 800 to 1,000 migrants per week.
Mr. Tiffany. There was a representative from New York who
said just last week that we should allow Palestinian refugees
into America and, in particular, they would be welcomed in New
York City. Do you think that is a good idea to do that at this
time?
Ms. Ariola. I do not. There is no more room in New York
City.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you. My time is up here.
I really appreciate that all of you would share your
testimony. We have no other Members that are here that want to
question, so thank you very much for your valuable testimony,
and Members for your questions.
Members of the Subcommittee may have some additional
questions for our witnesses today, and we will ask that they
respond to these in writing. Under Committee Rule 3, members of
the Subcommittee must submit questions to the Subcommittee
Clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. The hearing
record will be held open for 10 business days for those
responses, if you choose to do them.
If there is no further business, without objection, the
Subcommittee on Federal Lands stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:16 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[ADDITIONAL MATERIALS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. David Trone, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Maryland
on H.R. 1727
Thank you, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Westerman and
Ranking Member Grijalva, as well as Federal Lands Subcommittee Chairman
Tiffany and Ranking Member Neguse, for bringing forth my bill, H.R.
1727, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission
Extension Act, to be heard by the subcommittee. I was proud to
introduce this bipartisan measure to ensure the C&O Canal National
Historical Park Commission continues its critical role of preserving
and supporting the C&O Canal.
The C&O Canal National Historical Park is 184.5 miles long and
covers 20,000 acres winding north and west along the Potomac River from
the heart of Washington D.C. to Cumberland, MD. The watered canal,
contiguous towpath, hundreds of historic structures, and pre-Civil War-
era towns all tell the story of how the C&O Canal once served as a
crucial commercial link while highlighting the canal's lasting
significance to the community. The park also preserves pristine views
of the Potomac River.
First established in 1971, the Advisory Commission operates at a
nominal cost, serving in a purely advisory role to the National Park
Service. Every 10 years, Congress must reauthorize the Advisory
Commission. The Commission has been reauthorized three times with
overwhelming congressional support as the body plays a valuable role. I
urge the subcommittee's support for H.R. 1727 and the safekeeping of
the canal for years to come.
[all]