[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
A COUNTRY WITHOUT BORDERS: HOW BIDEN-
HARRIS' OPEN-BORDERS POLICIES HAVE
UNDERMINED OUR SAFETY AND SECURITY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
__________
Serial No. 118-78
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-863 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi,
Clay Higgins, Louisiana Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi Eric Swalwell, California
Dan Bishop, North Carolina J. Luis Correa, California
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
August Pfluger, Texas Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Tony Gonzales, Texas Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Nick LaLota, New York Robert Garcia, California
Mike Ezell, Mississippi Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Anthony D'Esposito, New York Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Laurel M. Lee, Florida Thomas R. Suozzi, New York
Morgan Luttrell, Texas Timothy M. Kennedy, New York
Dale W. Strong, Alabama Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma
Elijah Crane, Arizona
Stephen Siao, Staff Director
Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
Sean Corcoran, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Statements
Honorable Mark E. Green, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Tennessee, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland
Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 3
Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 5
Prepared Statement............................................. 7
Witnesses
Mr. Aaron Heitke, Private Citizen, Former Chief Patrol Agent, San
Diego Sector, U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Oral Statement................................................. 9
Prepared Statement............................................. 11
Ms. Patty Morin, Private Citizen:
Oral Statement................................................. 12
Prepared Statement............................................. 13
Mr. Jim Desmond, County Supervisor D5, San Diego County,
California:
Oral Statement................................................. 17
Prepared Statement............................................. 18
Mr. David Hathaway, Sheriff, Santa Cruz County, Arizona:
Oral Statement................................................. 27
Prepared Statement............................................. 28
For the Record
Honorable J. Luis Correa, a Representative in Congress From the
State of California:
Article, NY Times.............................................. 35
Article, Politico.............................................. 42
Appendix
Mr. Aaron Heitke, Private Citizen, Former Chief Patrol Agent, San
Diego Sector, U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Supplemental Prepared Statement................................ 77
A COUNTRY WITHOUT BORDERS: HOW BIDEN-HARRIS' OPEN-BORDERS POLICIES HAVE
UNDERMINED OUR SAFETY AND SECURITY
----------
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Mark E. Green
[Chairman of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Green, Higgins, Guest, Bishop,
Gimenez, Greene, LaLota, Ezell, D'Esposito, Strong, Brecheen,
Crane, Thompson, Correa, Thanedar, Ivey, Goldman, Garcia,
Ramirez, Menendez, Suozzi, and Kennedy.
Chairman Green. The Committee on Homeland Security will
come to order. Without objection, the Chair may declare the
committee in recess at any point.
The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the
Biden-Harris border policies and how they have undermined the
safety and security of America. I now recognize myself for an
opening statement.
President Joe Biden, his appointed border czar Vice
President Kamala Harris, and Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have sparked the worst border
crisis in American history. Looking back over the nearly 4
years, Americans have witnessed a national security, public
safety, and humanitarian disaster at our borders, and every
day, we continue to feel its devastating consequences.
The flood of inadmissible aliens across our sovereign
border has been unprecedented. Since Biden-Harris' first full
month in office, Customs and Border Protection has recorded
more than 10.3 million encounters of inadmissible aliens
nationwide, compared to 3.1 million between fiscal years 2017
and 2020. In addition, there have been more than 2 million
known gotaways on their watch, illegal aliens who are at large
in our communities, whose intentions and backgrounds are
completely unknown.
Encounters at our ports of entry have exploded from roughly
1 million between fiscal 2017 and 2020 to more than 3 million
since the start of fiscal year 2021. That is largely because
the Biden-Harris administration has devised a host of unlawful
mass parole programs that encourage otherwise inadmissible
aliens to cross at our land, sea, and airports instead of
between them. This solves the terrible optics problem of
overcrowded Border Patrol facilities and overwhelmed agents,
but the end result is the same: tens of thousands of
inadmissible aliens released into the interior of the country
every month against the laws passed by this institution. It is
just a shell game, a sleight of hand to skew the numbers. It is
like when a parent tells their children to clean their room,
only to find the mess simply moved from the floor to the
closet. Things might look cleaner, but the underlying problem
has not been addressed. So it is with the Biden-Harris
administration's border policies.
Other numbers further highlight this crisis. Tragically,
tragically, roughly 200,000 Americans have died from fentanyl
that has been smuggled across the Southwest Border by criminal
cartels. Border Patrol arrests of illegal aliens with criminal
backgrounds have more than doubled on the Biden-Harris watch,
from around 22,000 to more than 53,000. Apprehensions of
Chinese nationals crossing the Southwest Border illegally
exceed 36,000 just this fiscal year, more than fiscal year 2007
through 2020 combined. These are major national security and
public safety concerns.
This unprecedented surge across our borders was made
possible by the Biden-Harris administration. In 2019 and 2020,
Biden and Harris both declared they supported decriminalizing
border crossings. Biden said that suspected criminal illegal
aliens arrested by local law enforcement should not be handed
over to ICE, contrary to the law. Harris called building more
border wall systems ``a stupid use of money.'' Biden encouraged
illegal aliens to surge to our border, his word to flood our
asylum system with illegitimate claims.
Their open borders and anti-enforcement rhetoric soon
became a reality. Upon assuming office, Biden-Harris worked
immediately to end effective border security policies and to
dismantle decades of bipartisan immigration enforcement. For
example, Biden and Harris have gutted detention. For example,
in fiscal year 2013, the Obama administration detained 91
percent of all illegal aliens, 82 percent of them from the time
they were encountered until the case was resolved. In Biden and
Harris' first year in office, that 82 percent dropped to just
10 percent.
Removals have also plummeted from more than 267,000 in
fiscal year 2019 to around half that number last year, and as
low as 59,000 in fiscal year 2021. Even worse, removal of
criminal aliens plummeted from around 173,000 in fiscal year
2019 to just 70,000 last fiscal year. Just yesterday, prominent
border correspondent Ali Bradley reported exclusive ICE figures
showing that since the Biden-Harris administration ended Title
42 in May 2023, the administration has only removed around 23
percent of all inadmissible aliens encountered.
Despite the limitations put on them by the leaders, the men
and women of CBP and ICE have continued to perform their jobs
above and beyond the call of duty, and I commend them for their
unwavering service to the Nation. Yet they know it is not
supposed to be this way. Today you will no doubt hear more
blame shifting and excuses by my colleagues across the aisle,
but all of it is meant to mislead. You will probably hear about
the recent drop in illegal border crossings between ports of
entry along our Southwest Border. However, this does not
account for the thousands of inadmissible aliens coming in
daily through the ports of entry under the scheme I described
earlier. Nor does it undo the damage done by the millions that
have come in over the past 3\1/2\ years.
This evidence also suggests no connection between Biden's
recent loophole-ridden Executive Order and these new numbers,
but rather step up interior enforcement by Mexico. As we saw
recently, that enforcement is waning with the Mexican
government now busing CBP One appointment holders from the
southern Mexico border straight to the southern U.S. border.
Coming almost 4 years into this self-inflicted crisis, the
administration's action is much too little and far too late.
For numerous families across the country, like those of Rachel
Morin, Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, the damage will never be
undone. You certainly won't hear how the Senate's border bill,
which just a single Republican helped write, would have made
the crisis worse. It would have only allowed tough restrictions
once encounters passed several thousand per day, mandated mass
releases through noncustodial detention, improperly expanded
the use of parole, and more. It was a terrible bill, one that
would roughly--that was roundly criticized by former heads of
CBP and Border Patrol and ICE.
Today's hearing is about getting the unvarnished truth from
Americans who have been forced to live out the Biden-Harris
open borders nightmare in their own lives. This administration
has completely undermined border security through a host of
policies and decisions that have overwhelmed and sidelined the
Border Patrol. Biden and Harris have gutted ICE's ability to
conduct immigration enforcement in the interior, making it
harder to detain and remove illegal aliens, including criminal
illegal aliens and innocent Americans are suffering as a
result. The story you will hear from Patty Morin today is sadly
just one of tens of thousands of stories of pain, suffering,
and preventable tragedy.
What you will hear from Jim Desmond is the account of a
major American city that has been overwhelmed and overrun. It
does not have to be like this. Later today, my committee will
release a comprehensive report documenting an even more painful
objective detail how Biden, Harris, and their administration
have thrown open borders--thrown open our borders, and the
chaos that has resulted. I encourage all Americans to read it
at homeland.house.gov.
As we continue to witness Biden and Harris' resistance to
doing anything meaningful about this disaster, we have to ask
why? Why did they let this crisis take place and why have they
let it continue? I hope this hearing provides some answers and
inspires President Biden and Vice President Harris to do what
they so far have refused to: end this crisis and secure our
borders.
[The statement of Chairman Green follows:]
Statement of Chairman Mark E. Green, MD
September 18, 2024
President Joe Biden, his appointed ``border czar'', Vice President
Kamala Harris, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas have sparked the worst border crisis in American history.
Looking back over nearly 4 years, Americans have witnessed a national
security, public safety, and humanitarian disaster at our borders.
Every day, we continue to feel its devastating consequences.
The flood of inadmissible aliens across our sovereign borders has
been unprecedented. Since Biden and Harris' first full month in office,
Customs and Border Protection has recorded more than 10.3 million
encounters of inadmissible aliens nationwide, compared to 3.1 million
between fiscal years 2017-2020. In addition, there have been more than
2 million known gotaways on their watch--illegal aliens who are at
large in our communities, whose intentions and backgrounds are
completely unknown.
Encounters at our ports of entry have exploded, from roughly 1
million between fiscal years 2017-2020 to more than 3 million since the
start of fiscal year 2021.
That's largely because the Biden-Harris administration has devised
a host of unlawful, mass-parole programs that encourage otherwise-
inadmissible aliens to cross at our land, sea, and airports instead of
between them.
This solves the terrible optics problem of overcrowded Border
Patrol facilities and overwhelmed agents, but the end result is the
same--tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens released into the
interior every month. It's just a shell game--a sleight of hand to skew
the numbers.
It's like when a parent tells their children to clean their room,
only to find the mess simply moved from the floor to the closet. Things
might look cleaner, but the underlying problem has not been addressed.
So it is with the Biden-Harris administration's border policies.
Other numbers further highlight the crisis. Tragically, roughly
200,000 Americans have died from fentanyl that has been smuggled across
the Southwest Border by criminal cartels. Border Patrol arrests of
illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds have more than doubled on
Biden and Harris' watch, from around 22,000 to more than 53,000.
Apprehensions of Chinese nationals crossing the Southwest Border
illegally exceed 36,000 just this fiscal year--more than fiscal year
2017-20 combined. These are major national security and public safety
concerns.
This unprecedented surge across our borders was made possible by
the Biden-Harris administration. In 2019 and 2020, Biden and Harris
both declared they supported decriminalizing border crossings. Biden
said that suspected criminal illegal aliens arrested by local law
enforcement should not be handed over to ICE. Harris called building
more border wall system ``a stupid use of money.'' Biden encouraged
illegal aliens to ``surge'' to our border to flood our asylum system
with illegitimate claims.
Their open-borders and anti-enforcement rhetoric soon became
reality.
Upon assuming office, Biden and Harris worked immediately to end
effective border-security policies and to dismantle decades of
bipartisan immigration enforcement.
For example, Biden and Harris have gutted detention. For example,
in fiscal year 2013, the Obama administration detained 91 percent of
all illegal aliens--82 percent of them from the time they were
encountered until their case was resolved. In Biden and Harris' first
year in office, that 82 percent dropped to just 10 percent.
Removals have also plummeted, from more than 267,000 in fiscal year
2019 to around half that number last year, and as low as 59,000 in
fiscal year 2021. Even worse, removals of criminal aliens plummeted
from around 173,000 in fiscal year 2019 to just around 70,000 last
fiscal year. And just yesterday, prominent border correspondent Ali
Bradley reported exclusive ICE figures showing that since the Biden-
Harris administration ended Title 42 in May 2023, the administration
has only removed around 23 percent of all inadmissible aliens
encountered.
Despite the limitations put on them by their leaders, the men and
women of CBP and ICE have continued to perform their jobs above and
beyond the call of duty, and I commend them for their unwavering
service to the Nation. Yet they know it is not supposed to be this way.
Today, you will no doubt hear more blame-shifting and excuses by my
colleagues across the aisle. But all of it is meant to mislead. You'll
probably hear about the recent drop in illegal border crossings between
ports of entry along our Southwest Border.
However, this does not account for the thousands of inadmissible
aliens coming in daily through ports of entry, nor does it undo the
damage done by the millions that have come in over the past 3\1/2\
years.
The evidence also suggests no connection between Biden's recent,
loophole-ridden Executive Order and these new numbers, but rather,
stepped-up interior enforcement by Mexico. As we saw recently, that
enforcement is waning, with the Mexican government now busing CBP One
appointment holders from southern Mexico to our own Southwest Border.
Coming almost 4 years into this self-inflicted crisis, the
administration's action is much too little, and FAR too late. For
numerous families across this country, like those of Rachel Morin,
Laken Riley, and Jocelyn Nungaray, the damage will never be undone.
You certainly won't hear how the Senate's border bill, which just a
single Republican helped write, would have made the crisis worse.
It would have only allowed tough restrictions once encounters
passed several thousand per day, mandated mass releases through
``noncustodial detention,'' improperly expanded the use of parole, and
more. It was a terrible bill, one that was roundly criticized by the
former heads of CBP, the Border Patrol, and ICE.
Today's hearing is about getting the unvarnished truth from
Americans who have been forced to live out the Biden-Harris open-
borders nightmare in their own lives.
This administration has completely undermined border security,
through a host of policies and decisions that have overwhelmed and
sidelined the Border Patrol. Biden and Harris have gutted ICE's ability
to conduct immigration enforcement in the interior, making it harder to
detain and remove illegal aliens, including criminals. And innocent
Americans are suffering as a result. The story you will hear from Patty
Morin today is sadly just one of tens of thousands of stories of pain,
suffering, and preventable tragedy.
What you will hear from Jim Desmond is the account of a major
American city that has been overwhelmed and overrun.
It does not have to be like this. Later today, my committee will
release a comprehensive report documenting in even more painful,
objective detail how Biden, Harris, and their administration have
thrown open our borders, and the chaos that has resulted. I encourage
all Americans to read it at homeland.house.gov.
As we continue to witness Biden and Harris' resistance to doing
anything meaningful about this disaster, we have to ask--why? Why did
they let this crisis take place and why have they let it continue? I
hope this hearing provides some answers, and inspires President Biden
and Vice President Harris to do what they so far have refused to--end
this crisis and secure our borders.
Chairman Green. I now recognize the Ranking Member, the
gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. Thompson, for his opening
statement.
Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I welcome
our witnesses this morning.
But before I start, I want to begin by expressing my
appreciation to the Secret Service for their work protecting
President Trump over the weekend. There is no place for
political violence in our country, and I won't--I am thankful
former President Trump was unharmed.
Turning to today's topic, I want to start by discussing the
situation unfolding in Springfield, Ohio. In recent days, the
Springfield community has received at least 33 bomb threats
against schools, hospitals, and city facilities because of
false rumors about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets
in their community. Elementary schools have been evacuated.
Residents are understandably shaken, and Governor Mike DeWine
has developed--deployed State troopers to reassure the
community. The Governor has tried to dispel the false rumors,
saying, ``There's no evidence at all of anyone eating a dog or
a Haitian doing any of that. These Haitians that are there are
legal. They work every day very, very hard''. City officials
have also repeatedly refuted the lies. Yet former President
Trump and running mate J.D. Vance have pushed the false rumors,
with the former President saying, ``They're eating the dogs.
The people that came in, they're eating the cats''. Apparently,
aware the rumors are false, J.D. Vance nonetheless tried to
justify ``creating stories'' on the matter.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist tropes should have no
place in our public discourse. They are un-American, and too
often they have helped fuel real-world violence against
immigrants and minority communities across the country. We
recently observed the fifth anniversary of the Walmart attack
in El Paso, Texas. A self-described white nationalist targeted
a Hispanic community along the border, shooting and killing 23
innocent people and injuring 22 more. Tragically, similar
violent ideology led to deaths of 10 shoppers in a
predominantly African-American community in Buffalo and 11
members of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We have an
obligation to be responsible with our rhetoric as we discuss
border security and immigration.
Then there is, in fact, a lot to discuss. From the Biden-
Harris administration's successful efforts to bring down the
number of unlawful border crossings to the on-going need for
Congressional action to fix our broken immigration system and
provide more border security resources. While you probably
won't hear it from those on the other side, border encounters
are at their lowest level in years. Since the President's
proclamation on June 4, encounters along the border and ports
of entry have decreased by 55 percent, with Border Patrol
recording the lowest number of border encounters since
September 2020.
The Biden-Harris administration has also removed more than
92,000 individuals to more than 130 countries and conducted
over 300 international repatriation flights. Total removals and
returns over the last year exceed the total removals and
returns for any year since 2010.
The administration has also decreased the number of people
released from detention pending their immigration removal
proceedings by 70 percent. Meanwhile, Customs and Border
Protection has seized more fentanyl than in the last 5 years
combined, keeping the dangerous drug from reaching our streets.
None of these administration actions are a substitute for
Congressional actions to fix our immigration system and provide
resources to law enforcement on the border. Only Congress can
do that, and it is our responsibility to act. Unfortunately, my
colleagues on the other side have refused to move legitimate
border security legislation all Congress. At the direction of
former President Trump, Republicans blocked the Senate
bipartisan border deal, and they are refusing to move necessary
border security funding. Republicans don't want border security
solutions. They want a political issue. Don't believe me. Well,
they themselves have admitted putting partisanship over
progress. As one GOP Member of Congress said he is not willing
to ``do too damn much right now to help a Democrat. Why would
I?'' That is Washington at its worst.
Former President Trump has now called for the largest
deportation program in U.S. history with so-called concepts of
a plan to deport 11 million undocumented migrants ``following
the Eisenhower model''. The Eisenhower model, more commonly
known by a name that includes an ethnic slur, which I won't
repeat here, was a mass deportation begun in 1954 that rounded
up more than 1 million immigrants, as well as brown-skinned
American citizens. The former President even suggested using
the military to sweep people under his plan, which would cause
chaos in border communities, destroy millions of American
families, and leave critical sectors of our economy, like
agriculture, without the workers they need.
Instead of partisan fear-mongering and dystopian
deportation plans, we need real solutions about how we can
strengthen border security, fix our immigration system, and
grow our economy while upholding our American values. Sheriff
Hathaway, an enforcement officer on the border, former DEA
agent, and a fifth-generation Arizonian, I look forward to your
insights today. I know you take great pride in your beautiful,
safe community and have said that the immigrants who live there
are family-oriented people of faith. I want to hear about what
Congress can do to support you in your work. I welcome all of
our witnesses and thank you for being here today.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Thompson follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson
September 18, 2024
a party without shame: republican campaign season stunts ignore the
border and lead to threats on our communities
I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to the Secret Service
for their work protecting President Trump over the weekend. There is no
place for political violence in our country, and I am thankful former
President Trump was unharmed.
Turning to the topic of today's hearing, I want to start by
discussing the situation unfolding in Springfield, Ohio. In recent
days, the Springfield community has received at least 33 bomb threats
against schools, hospitals, and city facilities because of false rumors
about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets in the community.
Elementary schools have been evacuated, residents are understandably
shaken, and Governor Mike DeWine has deployed State troopers to
reassure the community.
The Governor has tried to dispel the false rumors, saying ``there
is no evidence at all of anyone eating a dog or any Haitians doing any
of that. These Haitians that are there are legal, and they work very,
very hard.'' City officials have also repeatedly refuted the lies.
Yet former President Trump and running mate JD Vance have pushed
the false rumors, with the former President saying, ``they're eating
the dogs--the people that came in--they're eating the cats.''
Apparently aware the rumors are false, JD Vance nonetheless tried to
justify ``create[ing] stories'' on the matter.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist tropes should have no place in
our public discourse. They are un-American. And too often, they have
helped fuel real-world violence against immigrant and minority
communities across our country.
We recently observed the fifth anniversary of the Walmart attack in
El Paso, Texas. A self-described white nationalist targeted a Hispanic
community along the border, shooting and killing 23 innocent people and
injuring 22 more. Tragically, similar violent ideology led to the
deaths of 10 shoppers in a predominantly African American community in
Buffalo and 11 members of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We
have an obligation to be responsible with our rhetoric as we discuss
border security and immigration.
And there is, in fact, a lot to discuss--from the Biden-Harris
administration's successful efforts to bring down the number of
unlawful border crossings to the on-going need for Congressional action
to fix our broken immigration system and provide more border security
resources.
While you probably won't hear it from those on the other side,
border encounters are at their lowest level in years. Since the
President's proclamation on June 4, encounters border between ports of
entry have decreased by 55 percent, with Border Patrol recording the
lowest number of border encounters since September 2020. The Biden-
Harris administration has also removed more than 92,000 individuals to
more than 130 countries and conducted over 300 international
repatriation flights. Total removals and returns over the last year
exceed the total removals and returns for any year since 2010.
The administration has also decreased the number of people released
from detention pending their immigration removal proceedings by 70
percent. Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection has seized more
fentanyl than the last 5 years combined, keeping the dangerous drug
from reaching our streets.
None of these administration actions are a substitute for
Congressional action to fix our immigration system and provide
resources to law enforcement on the border. Only Congress can do that--
and it is our responsibility to act.
Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side have refused to move
legitimate border security legislation all Congress. At the direction
of former President Trump, Republicans blocked the Senate's bipartisan
border deal, and they are refusing to move necessary border security
funding.
Republicans don't want border security solutions--they want a
political issue. Don't believe me? Well, they themselves have admitted
putting partisanship over progress. As one GOP Member of Congress said,
he's not willing to ``do too damn much right now to help a Democrat . .
. why would I?'' That's Washington at its worst.
Former President Trump has now called for the largest deportation
program in U.S. history, with so-called ``concepts of a plan'' to
deport 11 million undocumented migrants ``following the Eisenhower
model.''
The ``Eisenhower model''--more commonly known by a name that
includes an ethnic slur, which I won't repeat here--was a mass
deportation begun in 1954 that rounded up more than 1 million
immigrants as well as brown-skinned American citizens.
The former President even suggested using the military to sweep
people up under his plan, which would cause chaos in border
communities, destroy millions of American families, and leave critical
sectors of our economy like agriculture without the workers they need.
Instead of partisan fearmongering and dystopian deportation plans,
we need real solutions about how we can strengthen border security, fix
our immigration system, and grow our economy while upholding our
American values.
Sheriff Hathaway, as enforcement officer on the border, former DEA
agent, and a fifth-generation Arizonan, I look forward to your insights
today. I know you take great pride in your beautiful, safe community
and have said that the immigrants who live there are family-oriented
people of faith. I want to hear about what Congress can do to support
you in your work. I welcome all of our witnesses and thank you for
being here today.
Chairman Green. Thank you, Ranking Member. Other Members of
the committee are reminded that opening statements may be
submitted for the record.
I am pleased to have an important panel of witnesses before
us today, and I ask that our witnesses please rise and raise
your right hand.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Chairman Green. Let the record reflect that the witnesses
have answered in the affirmative. Thank you. Please be seated.
I would now like to formally introduce our great panel of
witnesses. Aaron Heitke served as an agent with the United
States Border Patrol for over 25 years before retiring in July
2023. During his time with the Border Patrol, he was stationed
in Arizona, Minnesota, Maine, Washington, DC, Montana, North
Dakota, and California. He held multiple positions to include
patrol agent in charge, associate chief and deputy chief patrol
agent before finishing his career as chief patrol agent of
Grand Forks sector and San Diego sector. Mr. Heitke earned a
bachelor of science degree in criminology from the University
of Minnesota at Duluth and a juris doctorate degree from the
University of North Dakota School of Law.
Ms. Patty Morin was born in New York City and has 6
children. She was a stay-at-home mom for 25 years and
homeschooled her children. She returned to the work force after
the oldest child graduated high school and entered the mortgage
banking industry for 6 years. She then pivoted and spent 10
years in retail management until she retired. She is currently
retired and works part time as an office administrator for a
church while living in Maryland. She is the mother of Rachel
Morin, who was tragically murdered August 2023.
Mr. Jim Desmond is a San Diego county supervisor, a U.S.
Navy veteran, and a retired 33-year Delta Airlines pilot and
captain. San Diego County Board of Supervisors oversees a
region that spans over 4,200 square miles and includes 70 miles
of Pacific coastline and shares a 60-mile international border
with Mexico. With a population exceeding 3 million, San Diego
County is the fifth-most populous populace in the United
States, presenting diverse challenges and opportunities. As
supervisor, Jim plays a crucial role in shaping policies
impacting the county's urban and rural communities. Prior to
serving as county supervisor, Mr. Desmond served for 12 years
as the mayor of San Marcos, California, in San Diego County. He
has served on many local communities and commissions in his
roles as county supervisor and mayor.
Sheriff David Hathaway is the sheriff of Santa Cruz County,
Arizona. After graduating from the University of Arizona, he
started his law enforcement career as a deputy sheriff with the
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. He then embarked on a
Federal law enforcement career and worked in multiple DEA
offices in the United States and in foreign countries where he
occupied various supervisory positions. His last assignment
before retiring was as the head of the DEA office in Nogales.
I thank all our witnesses for being here today, and I now
recognize Mr. Heitke for 5 minutes to summarize his opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF AARON HEITKE, PRIVATE CITIZEN, FORMER CHIEF PATROL
AGENT, SAN DIEGO SECTOR, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION
Mr. Heitke. Mr. Chairman, distinguished Members, thank you
for this opportunity. The only true consequence we have to slow
down and discourage people from coming into the United States
illegally is sending them back to their country of origin.
Throughout the first 3-plus years of this administration, I saw
a steady decrease in the countries we could send people back
to. For the first time in my 25 years and under 5 different
administrations, whether through neglect or on purpose, I saw a
large-scale lapse in our ability to return people to their
country of origin.
The inability to send people home meant that most people
being arrested for illegal entry would either have to be
detained or released. The current administration, however, from
Day one, made a point of decreasing the amount of detention
space available nationwide. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement's funding for detention has steadily been cut, and
private detention eliminated.
The fact that so many illegal aliens are being released
into the United States spread world-wide very quickly. As this
happened, the numbers the Border Patrol encountered illegally
crossing the border increased exponentially. The impact to me
and my agents were significant. Sectors were ordered to take in
and process all the illegal aliens encountered on the border.
The Border Patrol saw groups of hundreds and thousands coming
into the United States and turning themselves in. These numbers
pulled 80, 90, sometimes 100 percent of the agents on duty away
from the border. Border Patrol zones across Texas, Arizona, and
California had no agent presence for weeks and months at a
time. Those who did not want to be caught could simply walk in.
We have no idea who and what entered our country over this
time.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, I sent agents to Texas and
Arizona to count gotaways. Those sectors could not even put
enough agents in the field to see what they've missed.
Simultaneously, in San Diego, we had an exponential increase in
significant interest aliens. These are aliens with significant
ties to terrorism. Prior to this administration, the San Diego
sector averaged 10 to 15 SIA arrests per year. Once word was
out, the border was far easier to cross. San Diego went to over
100 SIAs in 2022, well over that in 2023, and even more than
that registered this year. These are only the ones we caught.
At the time, I was told I could not release any information
on this increase in SIAs or mention any of the arrests. The
administration was trying to convince the public there was no
threat at the border.
Fentanyl is another issue. The San Diego area sees between
80 and 90 percent of the methamphetamine and fentanyl seizures
annually for our entire country. With little enforcement at the
border, these drugs were coming through en masse. During my
last year in San Diego, the price for a single pill of
fentanyl, for example, went from $10 to 25 cents. To make
matters worse, during 2022 and 2023, I had to shut down San
Diego traffic checkpoints, which are critical for drug
interdiction, because the resources had been diverted to the
process-and-release mission.
The large numbers also had, and still have a negative
impact on the San Diego community. I had to release illegal
aliens by the hundreds each day into communities who could not
support them. To quiet the problem, 2 flights a week were
provided from San Diego to Texas. These flights simply brought
aliens that would have been released in San Diego over to
Texas. Each flight cost approximately $150,000. This was the
administration's way to try and quiet the border-wide crisis.
Once these flights were stopped and the releases continued,
California saw the true economic impact. I received calls from
the Governor's office, local mayors, and hospital
administrators asking me if we could keep injured aliens in
custody so the Federal Government would pay the medical bills.
Through pressure from the administration, my headquarters
became more interested in the fiction that was being portrayed
in the media and not at all concerned with reality. Each time
we asked for help in dealing with a new issue, it fell on deaf
ears. At times in San Diego, we had 2,000 or more aliens
sitting in between the fences asking to turn themselves in. I
was told to move them out of sight of the media.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents are continually forgotten
and neglected by the media and this administration. These
agents deal with death; women and children that have been
raped, abused, trafficked, bought, and sold; families that have
spent months in terrible conditions; sickness and despair. If
you look at the dramatic rise in the number of suicides within
the Border Patrol, it is directly correlated with the migrant
surge. The agents have been pushed beyond their limit and this
has greatly impacted their physical and mental health.
While current numbers of aliens crossing our border are
lower in comparison in recent months, there's a reason for
this. After nearly 4 years, this administration finally started
to ask Mexico for help in slowing down the traffic through
their country. This and other actions make a difference, but
why has it taken so long? All of these tactics were being used
before this administration took office, but this administration
stopped or greatly limited them. I'm also concerned this will
not be maintained.
The problems we are facing at the border have solutions.
These solutions can be quite simple and cost far less than the
mess currently occupying so much time and money. The return to
a policy of enforcing the law and returning illegal aliens to
their home countries is required. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Heitke follows:]
Prepared Statement of Aaron Heitke
Mr. Chairman, distinguished Members, thank you for this
opportunity.
The only true consequence we have to slow down and discourage
people from coming to the United States illegally is sending them back
to their country of origin.
Throughout the first 3+ years of this administration, I saw a
steady decrease in countries we could send people back to. For the
first time in my 25 years and under 5 different administrations,
whether through neglect or on purpose, I saw a large-scale lapse in our
ability to return people to their country of origin.
The inability to send people home meant that most people being
arrested for illegal entry would either have to be detained or
released. The current administration, however, from Day 1, made a point
of decreasing the amount of detention space available nationwide.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's funding for detention space has
steadily been cut and private detention eliminated.
The fact that so many illegal aliens were being released into the
United States spread world-wide very quickly. As this happened the
numbers the Border Patrol encountered illegally crossing the border
increased exponentially.
The impacts to me and my agents were significant. Sectors were
ordered to take in and process all the illegal aliens encountered on
the border. The Border Patrol saw groups of hundreds and thousands
coming into the United States and turning themselves in. These numbers
pulled 80-90 percent, sometimes 100 percent of the agents on duty away
from the border. Border Patrol zones across Texas, Arizona, and
California had no agent presence for weeks and months at a time. Those
who did not want to be caught could simply walk in. We have no idea who
and what entered our country over this time. Throughout 2022 and 2023 I
sent agents to Texas and Arizona to count gotaways. Those sectors could
not even put enough agents in the field to see what they had missed.
Simultaneously, in San Diego we had an exponential increase in
Significant Interest Aliens. These are aliens with significant ties to
terrorism. Prior to this administration, the San Diego sector averaged
10-15 SIAs per year. Once word was out that the border was far easier
to cross, San Diego went to over 100 SIAs in 2022, way over 100 SIAs in
2023 and more than that this year. These are only the ones we caught.
At the time, I was told I could not release any information on this
increase in SIA's or mention any of the arrests. The administration was
trying to convince the public that there was no threat at the border.
Fentanyl is another issue. The San Diego area sees between 80-90
percent of the methamphetamine and fentanyl seizures annually for our
entire country. With little enforcement at the border these drugs were
coming through in mass. During my last year in San Diego the price for
a single fentanyl pill, for example, went from $10 to 25 cents.
To make matters worse, during 2022 and 2023 I had to shut down the
San Diego traffic checkpoints, which are critical for drug
interdiction, because resources had been diverted to the process and
release mission.
The large numbers also had and still have a negative impact on the
San Diego community. I had to release illegal aliens by the hundreds
each day into communities who couldn't support them. To quiet the
problem 2 flights a week were provided from San Diego to Texas. These
flights simply brought aliens that would have been released in San
Diego over to Texas. Each flight cost approximately $150,000. This was
the administration's way of trying to quiet the border-wide crisis.
Once these flights stopped and releases continued, California saw the
true economic impact. I received calls from the Governor's office,
local mayors, and hospital administrators asking if we could keep
injured aliens in our custody so the Federal Government would pay the
bills. Through pressure from the administration, my headquarters became
more interested in the fiction being portrayed in the media and not at
all concerned with reality. Each time we asked for help in dealing with
a new issue it fell on deaf ears. At times in San Diego, we had 2,000
or more aliens sitting in between the fences asking to turn themselves
in. I was told to move them out of sight of the media.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents are continually forgotten and
neglected by the media and this administration. These agents deal with
death, women and children that have been raped, abused, trafficked,
bought and sold, families that have spent months in terrible
conditions, sickness, and despair. If you look at the dramatic rise in
the number of suicides within the Border Patrol it is directly
correlated with the migrant surge. The agents have been pushed beyond
their limit and this has greatly impacted their physical and mental
health.
While current numbers of aliens crossing our border are lower in
comparison to recent months and years, there is a reason for this.
After nearly 4 years this administration finally started to ask Mexico
for help in slowing down traffic through their country. This and other
actions make a difference but why has it taken so long? All of these
tactics were being used before this administration took office, but
this administration stopped or greatly limited them. I am also
concerned they will not be maintained.
The problems we are facing at the border have solutions. These
solutions can be quite simple and cost far less than the mess currently
occupying so much time and money. The return to a policy of enforcing
the law and returning illegal aliens to their home countries is
required.
Chairman Green. Thank you, Mr. Heitke.
I now recognize Ms. Morin for 5 minutes to summarize her
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF PATTY MORIN, PRIVATE CITIZEN
Ms. Morin. Thank you, Chairman, Ranking Members, and
Congressmen. I appreciate this opportunity to tell Rachel's
story.
It started August 6, 2023. I was in Kentucky. We had a
grandbaby that had just passed away from sudden infant death.
We got the phone call and the phone call went something like
this. Hello, Mom? There's somebody here that'd like to speak to
you.
OK. Hello?
Hello, Mrs. Morin, this is Detective so-and-so. There's no
easy way to tell you this. We found your daughter's body.
I had just learned a few hours earlier that she was
missing. We didn't know she was missing. She went on a trail in
our town that's very public, very small, and we've walked it
for over 25 years. She grew up walking this trail. An illegal
immigrant that was a gotaway from El Salvador had waited for
her on the trail. I was told that they grabbed her, dragged her
through the woods, raped her, strangled her, murdered her. We
were told that her body was blanketed in bruises. I can tell
you from looking at her when I went to the funeral home that it
was probably the most graphic thing that I've ever seen. These
murders are very horrendous. He then stuffed her into a drain
pipe. So when the detective called and he said, Mrs. Morin, we
found your daughter's body, you know that she's dead. It was
such a complete shock to our whole family.
It took 10 months for them to find this suspected illegal
immigrant. They used DNA because this man had attacked a 9-
year-old and her mother in Los Angeles. If they had done the
border protocols that were in place, but was set aside, of just
a simple DNA swab they would have known that he had an INTERPOL
warrant for murder in his home country. That's why he was
fleeing to the United States.
They say that the borders are safe. We live 1,800 miles
away from the Southern Border. They're not safe. They're not
safe. If you have a sanctuary city in your State, you're not
safe.
I just traveled up to New England, that's where I hail
from, so I could just go get some rest. I was surprised by the
amount of immigrants from the Sudan and Congo. Tens of
thousands that are up there. We have them coming in our
Northern Border. We're not safe. I just hope and pray that you
will listen to what we have to say.
I'm trying to make my statement as short as I can so I
don't cry. I just--Rachel was--when she was a little girl, she
was like a little spitfire. Tiny little redhead. As an adult,
she was this, like, vibrant, vivacious, outgoing person.
Everybody just loved to know her. She was so compassionate and
kind. She had a stammering problem, so she understood what it
was like to be made fun of as a kid, so she was very
compassionate toward people.
She was a mom to 5 children. She was a businesswoman. She
liked to exercise. She's the American mom. She's not the only
one in our cities that have been murdered. There was another
murder by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador that happened a
year before, and that person was--just pleaded guilty to 4
murders, 2 rapes, and numerous other crimes.
They are bringing criminals into our country. They are
allowing them into our smallest towns, and our people are
dying.
There is a video that we'd like to play. I'll just finish
my statement. Apparently, it's not working. So I just want to
take the time to thank you for allowing me to be here and to
speak my daughter's story. I had planned other things, but it
is what it is.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Morin follows:]
Prepared Statement of Patty Morin
Chairman, Ranking Members, and Members of Congress: Good morning!
My name is Patricia Morin. Thank you for this opportunity to speak
on behalf of my family and my daughter Rachel Morin, who was brutally
raped and murdered at the hands of an illegal immigrant. This is her
story.
The American people need to hear, know, and understand the truth of
the horrendous war zone we call the Southern Border.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris's open border
policy is having a devastating impact across our great Nation. I live
1,800 miles from the Southern Border in a small town in northern
Maryland. Yet a man who was wanted for murder in El Salvador made his
way to my community . . . and ambushed my daughter on a quaint walking
trail in broad daylight.
I'm here today to make sure that my daughter is remembered as more
than a victim. I hope that her story will be the wake-up call that this
country needs to secure its borders and protect American citizens.
As a child, Rachel was imaginative, kind, and upbeat--qualities she
brought with her into adulthood. She was a loving daughter and formed
strong bonds with her siblings. She was funny and exuberant, with an
infectious laugh.
Life wasn't always easy for Rachel. She had a speech impediment
growing up, which led to a lot of bullying. She did not let that
challenge slow her down or define her worth. It made her even more
sensitive and loving toward others who felt unloved.
As a mother, Rachel was playful and silly. She often laughed,
joked, and played with her kids like she was a kid, too. This is pretty
remarkable when you consider that Rachel was a mother of 5, which is a
tremendous responsibility.
Holidays and celebrations were very important to Rachel. She went
all out to decorate and create memorable and magical moments for her
children. Those efforts are especially meaningful now since memories
are all that her children have left of their mother.
Rachel created meaningful connections with her kids through every-
day activities as well. She believed in health and movement. Walks,
swimming, working out, and bike rides were always part of Rachel's
routine.
She grew up walking the quaint ``Ma & Pa'' trail near our house. We
always thought of the trail as a safe haven to get outside and find
peace in nature. It never occurred to us that a predator would target
Rachel while she was jogging on that bright, sunny day in August 2023.
The circumstances of Rachels's death triggered extreme shock and
denial for our family.
We felt heartbroken at the severity and cruelty of the crime.
We experienced extreme terror and nightmares for months. To this
day, we still do not feel completely safe in our own homes and
community.
We are grieving the loss of Rachel's life and the future that was
taken from her. That trauma is different for every member of the
family. I lost my daughter, and I am heartbroken for her children.
Rachel's siblings are mourning the bright light that Rachel brought to
our family. The most traumatic impact is on Rachel's 5 children, each
of whom is struggling to figure out how to cope without their mom.
Rachel's eldest daughter is pregnant and will soon have a daughter
of her own. She is navigating that path into womanhood and motherhood
without her own mother. Her baby's birth is another milestone Rachel
can't share with us, and that sadness underscores every life event now.
The circumstances of Rachel's death compounded our grief. It took
months for investigators to find Rachel's killer. While that process
played out, our family endured false accusations and assaults on our
character. Instead lifting us up, some community members froze us out.
Relatives lost jobs because some community members thought it was bad
business to mix with a family amid a murder investigation.
We felt helpless and defeated as the months passed without an
arrest. Finally, police released a sketch of the suspect, which renewed
our hope. We made commercials, distributed flyers, and did countless
interviews to bring attention to the case. The nationwide manhunt
ultimately led police to an El Salvadoran national. This suspected gang
member was arrested at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and extradited to
Maryland.
We felt relieved when the suspect was finally caught. But that
relief quickly turned to horror and outrage when we learned that the
suspect was an illegal immigrant. This man was wanted for killing a
woman in his home country when he walked into ours.
What's worse is that Border Patrol would have known that if they
had followed the law and swabbed him for DNA the first 3 times he tried
to get into this country. They just turned him around and allowed him
to come back again and again until he finally got through the border.
Border Patrol let a man with an open interpol warrant for murder
walk right into our country to continue his crime spree. The open
border policy of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris caused my daughter's
death. It allowed a dangerous man to flee his home country to avoid
capture and bring his reign of terror to American citizens. Not only
did this man brutalize my daughter. He's also accused of attacking a 9-
year-old girl in California. Who knows what else he did while traveling
from coast to coast?
American citizens are not safe because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
removed the policies and safeguards that keep criminals out of our
country. Their failed open border policies have led to two murders by
illegal immigrants in my small town alone.
I really want you to hear my words and take to heart what I and
other families across America are saying. Please hear our cries for
help! You each have taken an oath . . . an oath to serve our Nation and
the citizens who make it great. Protect Americans by securing our
borders.
We are losing American mothers, daughters, and children to
criminals. These deaths are 100 percent preventable. Let's use our
resources to protect Americans and welcome immigrants who choose to
enter our country legally. This makes much more sense than spending
taxpayer money to feed, house, and provide medical care to illegal
immigrants.
The Biden/Harris administration has turned a deaf ear to the people
they swore to protect. Please don't do the same. It's common sense to
screen the people entering our country to ensure that they are here to
contribute to our society rather debase it and harm our citizens.
Do this for Rachel. Please.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Green. Well, hopefully we get it. Are we close to
getting it figured out here, team? We will definitely do that.
Ms. Morin. OK. Thank you very much.
Chairman Green. Yes, we will get it played here. Hopefully
they will figure that out.
Ms. Morin. OK. Thank you very much.
Chairman Green. Yes. Thank you, Ms. Morin.
I now recognize Mr. Desmond for 5 minutes to summarize his
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF JIM DESMOND, COUNTY SUPERVISOR D5, SAN DIEGO
COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Mr. Desmond. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the
opportunity to speak today.
From September 2023 to June 2024, over 155,000 adults,
predominantly males between the ages of 18 to 35 who crossed
our border illegally were bussed and dropped onto the streets
of San Diego County. That's an average of almost 600 per day, 7
days a week for 9 months. No community, no county, no country
can sustain that type of an invasion, an invasion of people
crossing our borders illegally and being released into our
communities without proper screening or vetting.
I saw first-hand large vans and buses driven by Border
Patrol agents pull into a San Diego County transit station and
unload hundreds of people at a time, people who had just hours
ago illegally crossed our borders, stepped off a shuttle, and
were free to go into our communities ahead of anyone legally
trying to enter our country. The first question for many people
that I approached at the transit stations was, where am I? How
do I get to Virginia, New York, or Denver?
In Jacumba, California, a small border community about 50
miles east of San Diego, I came upon an early morning
encampment of approximately 50 people who illegally crossed the
border the night before. They were waiting for the Border
Patrol to pick them up and process them and then potentially be
dropped in our streets. One man from India traveling with his
friends said he paid $8,000 to an entity in India for the
unimpeded passage across our Southern Border.
That same morning in Jacumba, a Border Patrol agent told us
that a group was coming across the border within the next half
an hour. Soon, a black Suburban on the Mexico side of our
broken fence sped across a dirt road, stopped, and dropped off
about a dozen people, and then sped away. Men, women, and
children wearing backpacks and pulling luggage crossed our
border illegally, merely walking through a hole in the fence,
approached the Border Patrol agent, and asked for asylum.
Our Border Patrol has been reduced to processing agents
standing by, watching people break our laws. One officer told
me with deep frustration that his orders from the Federal
Government were clear. Stand down. Do not engage, just process.
What's more alarming is what teams saw later, was dozens of
Chinese nationals dragging luggage down dirt roads at night.
This is not an isolated incident. This is a daily reality in
San Diego County. Border Patrol has become their Uber driver
from the border into the city of San Diego, and San Diego
County has become their nationwide travel agents at the
taxpayers' expense.
San Diego County itself, we spent $6 million to set up a
migrant receiving center to assist those dropped here to move
them more quickly to other parts of the country. These were
local dollars that could have been spent on roads,
infrastructure, and parks. Migrants slept in San Diego Airport.
They stay in our homeless shelters, and our hospital and health
care systems are strained.
But what concerns me even more is our safety as a community
and a country. Border Patrol agents do not have the time or
resources or the ability to properly vet millions coming across
our borders. I have witnessed and have brought samples of torn
and shredded legal ID cards and passports that Mexico requires,
and we do not. These remnants and ID cards are left on the
ground within the first few steps into the United States. With
no documentation our agents cannot be sure of their countries
of origin, restricting background checks and jeopardizing our
safety.
What really keeps me up at night are the gotaways, the one
who illegally cross our borders, who don't ask for asylum. They
bypass our Border Patrol. They come onto our shores smuggling
children and drugs by jet skis and boats. Boats are literally
driven onto our beaches, abandoned, and the occupants run into
our communities unimpeded because we are a sanctuary State. We
have no idea who they are, where they're going, what their
intentions are. They come and, poof, disappear, making our
county and our country unsafe.
I want to close with a warning for those here today. Most
of the people crossing the border illegally do not stay in San
Diego County. We're the doormat. They disperse across the
country. They are headed to States and cities across the United
States with potentially very dangerous nationwide implications.
The Biden-Harris administration created this mess, and they
refuse to acknowledge it. The administration is not properly
vetting the millions of people led into our communities, and
they are making our border counties and our Nation unsafe.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Desmond follows:]
September 18, 2024
Prepared Statement of Jim Desmond
On December 24, 2022, San Diego was caught off guard by the news
that Border Patrol, overwhelmed by the surge of migrants, would begin
releasing them at transit stops across the county. This unexpected
decision required an immediate response to prevent our transit hubs and
homeless shelters from being overwhelmed by the influx of people
seeking refuge.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
This marked the beginning of a broken immigration system playing
out in San Diego County. From September 2023 to June 2024, more than
155,000 adults, predominantly males between the ages of 18 to 35,
illegally crossed our border and were bused into the streets of San
Diego County. That averages 17,000 per month--almost 600 per day. No
community, county, or country can sustain this kind of on-going influx.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
I witnessed, first-hand, large vans and buses, driven by Border
Patrol agents, pulling up to San Diego transit stops and unloading
hundreds of migrants at a time. Many of these individuals, with nothing
more than a small backpack, had no idea where they were or what to do
next. The first question many asked me when I approached them was,
``Where am I?'' This level of disorganization exemplifies the lack of
competence and control at our border.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The process essentially goes like this: ``Welcome to America. Here
are papers that allow you to stay. Show up to your court hearing--
scheduled for 2030--in whichever city you claim you are headed to. In
the mean time, we're dropping you at a trolley stop.''
The situation extends beyond the city limits. In Jacumba, CA, a
small border community 50 miles east of downtown San Diego, I
encountered an early morning encampment of around 50 migrants who had
crossed the border the previous night. They were waiting for Border
Patrol to pick them up, process them, and then release them onto our
streets. One man from India told me he paid $8,000, in his home
country, for passage across our Southern Border.
That same morning, a Border Patrol agent informed me that another
group was crossing the border within the next 30 minutes. Soon enough,
a black SUV sped down a dirt road on the Mexican side, dropped off a
dozen migrants, and sped away. These men, women, and children, carrying
backpacks and luggage, walked through the gaping hole in the fence,
approached Border Patrol, and asked for asylum.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Even more alarming was what my team witnessed later: dozens of
Chinese nationals, dragging luggage down dirt roads at night. This
isn't a one-off occurrence; this is a daily reality for San Diego
County. Border Patrol has essentially become an Uber service for
migrants, and San Diego County has become their travel agent.
Our Border Patrol agents have been reduced to mere processing
agents, standing by as our laws are broken. One officer, speaking with
deep frustration, shared that their orders from the Federal Government
were explicit: ``Stand down.''
San Diego County spent $6 million in local funds to establish a
migrant receiving center to assist in quickly relocating these
individuals to other parts of the country. That's $6 million that could
have been used for roads, infrastructure, and parks.
Migrants now sleep in the San Diego Airport and occupy homeless
shelters, while our hospital and health care systems are stretched to
their limits. Dr. Jay Doucet, division chief of trauma and surgical
care at UC San Diego Health, described the situation as a public health
crisis. ``People are being severely injured or dying at the border, and
this is impacting trauma care availability for San Diegans.''
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The local financial toll is staggering, but the national security
threat is even more concerning. Our Border Patrol agents don't have the
time or resources to properly vet the individuals crossing. Many
countries don't share criminal databases with the United States,
leaving us in the dark about who we are admitting.
This is not just a broken system--it's a threat to our national
security.
San Diego now accounts for 85 percent of all ``Special Interest
Aliens''--individuals with known ties to terrorism. And over the past
year, we've seen an unprecedented number of 30,000 Chinese nationals
enter our region.
California has become a magnet for illegal immigration,
incentivized by free health care, in-State tuition, and now efforts to
provide home loans and taxpayer-funded legal services for deportation
cases. But make no mistake--San Diego County is just the doorstep.
In fact, local law enforcement cannot cooperate with Federal
officials in California. California maintains Sanctuary State laws
that, for example, forbid local law enforcement from communicating and
cooperating with Federal Immigration agents.
I have witnessed and brought samples of torn and ripped legal
documents, that Mexico requires, but the United States does not, left
on the ground as they cross our borders. With no documentation, our
agents can't be sure of countries of origin, and certainly can't do
proper background checks.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
What's worse are the ``got-aways''--those who bypass Border Patrol
entirely. Whether they come ashore by boat or cross the border by other
means, they vanish without a trace. On April 13, 2024, in broad
daylight, a boat carrying a dozen migrants washed ashore in Carlsbad,
North County San Diego. They ran into affluent beach neighborhoods,
where black SUVs waited to take them further into the country. These
individuals chose to evade Border Patrol altogether, leaving us with no
information about their identities or intentions.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Even though the street releases have stopped, the chaos at the
border continues. Border Patrol facilities remain over capacity,
forcing the Federal Government to fly illegal immigrants from San Diego
to McAllen, Texas.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
For decades, the focus has been on Arizona and Texas, but San Diego
has now become the epicenter of illegal immigration, placing an
unsustainable burden on our local communities and endangering
neighborhoods. However, this is not just a San Diego problem. Most
illegal immigrants don't stay in border towns; they disperse across the
country. This is a national crisis.
The Biden-Harris administration created this mess, and now they
refuse to acknowledge it. In the end, it's counties like San Diego, and
the entire Nation, that are left dealing with the fallout.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Green. Thank you, Mr. Desmond.
I now recognize Sheriff Hathaway for 5 minutes to summarize
his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF DAVID HATHAWAY, SHERIFF, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY,
ARIZONA
Mr. Hathaway. Thank you, Chairman Green and Ranking Member
Thompson, for inviting me to testify to your committee.
I am the sheriff of a county in Arizona, a border county.
My county has the largest ports of entry with Mexico of all the
border counties in Arizona: a large commercial port of entry, 2
large pedestrian ports of entry, a passenger vehicle port of
entry, a railroad port of entry. So we have the largest volume
of movement of any border county in Arizona. Our community is
very safe. Crime rates are low. Crime rates are lower than the
average for the State of Arizona, lower than Tucson, lower than
Phoenix.
But I do have concern over the growing police state and
surveillance state in the United States. The Border Patrol has
what is called extended border search authority. We call this
the Constitution-free zone. Any area within 100 miles of the
international border, Border Patrol does not need to have
probable cause to search, to detain you, to interrogate you.
This includes two-thirds of the population of the United
States, cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York,
Seattle, Washington, DC, Miami, Houston.
But, you know, our border community is safe. But there are
things that Congress can do, and you need to act. If you don't
act, Presidential administrations will use Executive action to
solve these problems. In the current and the former
administration, the Executive branch is incentivized to come up
with solutions because Congress has not acted. We have talked
for years about comprehensive, you know, immigration reform.
There are things that can be done.
First of all, we need to have a robust guest worker
program. You know, Title 8 needs to be revamped. Title 8 is the
umbrella United States Code that covers all aspects of
immigration, asylum, visas. I have empathy for our Federal
partners because they don't know what they're allowed to do.
They don't know, do we still have work visas, student visas,
you know, tourist visas? All the protocols with everything to
do with the border are unclear. This is something Congress
needs to define, make these hard decisions.
The asylum program is not the answer. Asylum was meant to
be a little piece of the pie of Title 8, you know, for rare
circumstances. You know, asylum, it's become the de facto way
of issuing work permits. But asylum seekers can't even work for
the first 6 months they're in the country. Canada is smart and
they've realized, hey, they've imported tens of thousands of
cleared asylum seekers into Canada to work there because they
can't work here. They have the same problem we do. They have an
aging population. They lack younger workers, and they've taken
advantage of this kind of broken system to get more workers
into their countries.
So I want to keep my 5 minutes simple here. Two things, 2
clear takeaways that I think Congress needs to do so that the
Executive branch isn't incentivized to take action.
One is a guest worker program. Make that clear. Articulate
that. Figure that out. Consider things like the Farm
Modernization Act that has languished for years. There has been
pressure from the business community on both sides of the
aisle, Republican and Democrat, to pass the Farm Modernization
Act that would allow more H-2A agricultural visas. My family is
a ranching family. We've been on the border of Arizona for 5
generations. It was a lot easier for my grandfather to hire
somebody from Mexico if American workers weren't available. But
now it's unclear what the protocols are for getting work
permits.
Another thing that's needed, and this was in the bipartisan
border bill that wasn't passed, is immigration judges right at
the border. This was in the bill. There were some things in
that bill I did not agree with. But if we're going to be, you
know, infatuated with the idea, everyone needs a piece of paper
approved before they can do a voluntary interaction with an
American, well, get the officials right at the border that can
make those decisions. The bipartisan border bill actually had
in it the paralegals, the immigration judges, and the staff, so
that people can come up to the border, present their piece of
paper, make their claim, and if the answer is yes, it's yes; if
the answer is no, it's no.
This is not a Democrat versus Republican issue. In the
1980's, 1990's, and 2000's, you had record years, over a
million. This included Democrat and Republican administrations.
Then there was a 14-year lull after that that included all 8
years of Obama, last 2 years of Bush Junior, and all 4 years of
Trump. So this is a cyclical thing, and I think it's
disingenuous to try to paint it as a Democrat versus Republican
thing.
My time's up. So thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hathaway follows:]
Prepared Statement of David Hathaway
Both political parties share the blame for the lack of coherent
policies when the United States interacts with visitors or immigrants
from foreign countries. The resultant chaos can then be packaged and
described as a crisis for the benefit of political actors. The blame
lies with Congress as the branch of Government tasked with making laws.
This is not an area that should be left to the Executive branch which
then tries to fabricate solutions through ad hoc Executive action. The
reality is simple. Border areas are safe and we, the residents of
border areas, don't want to turn them into a police state or a war
zone. My wife and I live near the border and we walk every night along
the border. My county has the largest ports of entry with Mexico of all
Arizona border counties. It is peaceful and safe. The vast majority of
people coming to the United States are coming to work. It is
disingenuous to conflate people coming to work with drug dealers or
criminals. They come to improve their lives. Statistically, it has been
shown that migrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born
Americans. They are also less likely to go on welfare or to receive
public assistance than native-born Americans. They often pay in to
systems like Social Security and never take out benefits. They
contribute productivity to the economy which reduces price inflation.
We have an aging population in the United States and we need younger
workers. It makes me laugh when people talk about ``fighting-age
males'' coming to the United States as if they are staging an army
here. Throughout time, men have gone to where the jobs are and have
sent money back to their families. There are ``help wanted'' signs
everywhere. There needs to be an easier way for people to come here to
work.
Asylum seekers that are granted entry while awaiting a future
hearing are not allowed to work for 6 months. We need to stop looking
to the asylum process as a solution for the lack of workers. And many
countries, such as our neighboring Mexico, are largely ineligible for
asylum claims since the United States does not recognize political
persecution as a factor in certain countries, like Mexico. Yet, Mexico
is a very important trading partner with 80 percent of its external GDP
involving trade with the United States and its geographically
accessible work force. It is ridiculous to make a requirement for a
migrant to express ``credible fear'' before they can come to the United
States to work. But, that is the system we have created, so migrants
learn that they must articulate fear in order to come to the United
States to work. We need to re-establish a robust guest worker program
as existed in the past. My family has lived for 5 generations on the
U.S./Mexico border in Arizona coming in the 1800's before Arizona
became a State. It used to be much easier for my grandfather to hire
workers from Mexico if needed. Ranchers and farmers have been clamoring
for years for the passage of The Farm Workforce Modernization Act which
would allow American employers to hire needed agricultural workers via
H-2A visas, but that Act has languished despite pressures on Congress
from the business community.
If anyone from Washington ever asks me what we need on the border .
. . First of all, I say we don't need more ``photo ops'' from
politicians who want to get their ``street cred'' by posing next to the
wall so they can say, ``been there, done that.'' What we really need is
something that was in the Border Bill that was killed for obvious
political reasons. There was a provision in there for immigration
judges and staff to be placed right on the border where decisions need
to be made. We need the judges that can make those decisions at the
border. Then, people wanting to come into the United States can present
their documents and if the answer is yes, it's yes. If it's no, it's
no. It is not working to avoid these issues and to kick the can down
the road forever. Congress needs to make decisions to update Title 8 to
allow decisions to be made at the border that benefit our country with
workers and foreign trade that we need.
This is not a Democrat versus Republican thing. Southwest Border
numbers were high under both Democrats and Republicans for a 24-year
period in the 80's, 90's, and 2000's including the administrations of
Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. Then, there was a 14-year lull
in Southwest Border encounters under both Democrats and Republicans
that included all 8 years of Obama, the Trump years, and the last 2
years of Bush, Jr. with none of those years approaching a million and
most of them under half a million.
And certain policies smack of racism. For example, a wall was never
suggested for the Canadian/U.S. border. Title 42, a COVID policy, was
never implemented aggressively at the Northern Border to keep
foreigners from making claims. And it is odd to me that it has become
fashionable to talk of walls, tariffs, and isolationism. Reagan was not
a fan of walls. When the Soviet Union suggested that they were
embracing freedom in the late 1980's and early 1990's, Reagan told them
to prove it by tearing down the Berlin Wall. Reagan was also not a fan
of tariffs. And yet now, we have outbound inspections of Americans by
U.S. officials at our borders as Americans leave the country. This is
happening in my town now as standard policy. Americans are now being
searched and having their money seized as they leave the United States!
This really smacks of totalitarianism and is reminiscent of East
Germany. I don't think Ronald Reagan would have ever anticipated that
we would reach a point in time when we would be in a wall-building
frenzy and a tariff frenzy and when we would search and interrogate our
own citizens at internal checkpoints and as they leave the country.
When I grew up, I was told that we don't do that in America. Well, we
do now. We might as well tear down the Statue of Liberty and throw it
into the ocean.
Chairman Green. Thank you. Members will be recognized by
order of seniority, with an exception granted due to some
scheduling issues today, as necessary for their 5 minutes of
questioning. An additional round of questioning may be called
after all Members have been recognized. I now recognize myself
for 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Heitke, you served as, the last job, you were the
sector chief of 1 of our 9 Southwest Border sectors. I think
you said you worked for 25 years in the Border Patrol under 5
different administrations. Looking at your statement, you said,
``This was the first time under 5 administrations, whether
through neglect or on purpose, I saw large-scale lapses in our
ability to return people to their country of origin.'' You then
went on and talked about detention and how detention bed space
was intentionally decreased and private detention was
essentially done away with. You said that that word got out and
then the masses came essentially. I am paraphrasing you.
But I want to go back to your comment about whether it was
neglectful or purposeful, because if you intentionally stop
returning people, that is not something you just, oh, well, you
neglect, and you intentionally decrease detention, those things
that actually decrease the incentive for people to come here,
that sounds purposeful to me. So would you answer? I mean, do
you think it is neglect or do you think it is this was
purposeful, designed to be this way?
Mr. Heitke. I believe that the actions were purposeful,
yes, sir. Many people don't understand that we can't simply
fill a plane full of nationals from a certain country and fly
them home. It takes agreements with that country. It takes
diplomacy with the State Department to make those arrangements,
and they're long-term arrangements. It takes diplomacy over
months and years.
Chairman Green. But purposeful.
Mr. Heitke. But purposeful.
Chairman Green. Purposeful. OK. So you mentioned, too, that
there were massive periods of time when the border was just
left completely open because the agents had to be pulled and
you were directed to do this. How long were those agents just
completely off the border and miles of the border wide open?
Mr. Heitke. There were weeks and even months at a time
between Texas and parts of Arizona and California.
Chairman Green. I assume that is--you know, we want to look
at these 8 ISIS folks that were caught in New York. I guess
some of them actually crossed at a crossing. They filled up the
CBP One app, 3 of them, and came into the country and were
going to blow up an LGBTQ place in Philadelphia. But, I mean,
those people that crossed during that time, any guarantees that
they are not out there to do harm to the country?
Mr. Heitke. No, sir, no guarantees.
Chairman Green. Yes. You agree with the FBI director then.
You mentioned twice in your testimony, too, I find it
fascinating, that because it was overwhelming, San Diego, the
administration actually created, for the cost of $150,000,
plane flights to Texas of all these people as a way to keep it
quiet. Then you mentioned, too, there was one point where you
had, like, 2,000 aliens, and the administration directed you
to, like, move them out of sight of the media. Can you kind-of
clarify that a little bit?
Mr. Heitke. Yes. So groups were coming in to turn
themselves over faster than we could keep up. We only had so
much space. We keep people within our stations. There's no
other place to put them while they're being processed. They
were building up, the media was showing them sitting in between
the fences, and it looked bad and they wanted them moved. I had
no place to put them. So they simply told me----
Chairman Green. Why would they want to hide that? Why
wouldn't they want the world to know what is going on? Why
would they want to hide that? Why would they want to spend
$150,000 to fly them to Texas to keep people from seeing the
mass waves? Why?
Mr. Heitke. It looks bad. I was--when I asked about the
flights to Texas, I was very specifically told, there's a
problem in Texas. There isn't a problem in California.
Chairman Green. Wow. So purposeful policies wreaking havoc
on the community, and we will just hide it. Perfect. Thank you.
Ms. Morin, you have previously said that President Biden
hasn't really showed any concern for anything the American
people have voiced on this issue. It is like he is sitting in
an ivory tower and we are just down here. He is not connected
with the every-day person. Can you talk more about your
frustrations with the administration and their handling of the
border?
Ms. Morin. Yes. Since my daughter's death, but also since
we learned that it was an illegal immigrant that they've
accused of murdering her, the Biden-Harris administration has
not reached out to our family to offer condolences. I've
noticed that when speaking about the border policy, they would
rather look in the other direction. Kind-of like a little kid,
you know, if I don't see you, you don't see me. I think that
they are trying to avoid admitting that there is an issue even
though tens of thousands of people a day, women and children
are being attacked. Not all of them are in the news because
some of them are not being murdered, they're just being
attacked.
I have people come up to me all the time because I know I'm
Rachel's mom and they'll say, you know, a guy came up from
behind me, grabbed me around the neck, and tried to pull me
down to the ground. But I got away and I went to the police and
I told the police. When they arrested the person, they found
out that he had already attacked several other women. So it's
happening on a daily basis. Not all of it is in the news. So
this issue is bigger than people think.
It's not just the Southern Border, because we're almost
2,000 miles from the Southern Border. It's every State, every
county, every city. People are living in fear. Just because you
ignore it and don't acknowledge it doesn't mean that it's not
true.
Chairman Green. Thank you. I yield to the Ranking Member
for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Sheriff Hathaway, can you expound a little more on how you
see the use of people coming to this country being integrated
into the economy of our country and whether or not you have
seen a positive impact from their coming to this country?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, definitely, I'd be glad to. The people
coming across are coming across to work. They're not coming as
an invasion, to import an army, to have a secret army embedded
in the United States to attack America and attack American
values. They're coming here to work. They're people of faith.
You know, a lot of them that I see are from Latin America, very
family-oriented people.
They actually reduce price inflation. When you add
productivity to the economy, you see Help Wanted signs all over
the United States. If you add productivity to the economy, it
makes the economy more productive and price inflation is
reduced.
So it is definitely a benefit, overall net benefit to our
country. I hate to say that--you know, I hate to use the R
word, but it's the 800-pound gorilla in the room, the racism
word. There's a xenophobic aspect to this. There was never a
proposal to build a wall on the Northern Border, on the
Canadian border. There was never any intent to aggressively
enforce Title 42 on the Canadian border. So, you know, there is
this kind-of racist component to it that we kind-of all ignore,
but it's there smoldering in the background.
Mr. Thompson. So I represent an agricultural district, and
if it were not for immigrant labor in that district, we would
have difficult times. The majority of the farmers who utilize
that labor, law-abiding citizens, but they will tell you that
we can't gin the cotton, we can't harvest the potatoes, we
can't plant the seedlings for trees. They are just tough labor.
My contractors tell me that the labor necessary to do roofing
and other carpentry kind of skills, it is difficult to get
regular people. So I think we have to put some kind of
comprehensive immigration package together.
In the interim, we have to protect our citizens, and I
agree with that. The Senate took the leadership to try to
fashion a bill that I referenced in my opening statement. We
didn't even get a chance to consider it. That is so
unfortunate. The legislative process says you agree, disagree,
and somewhere in the middle is an agreement. We didn't get to
that point.
Just for the record, let me say that in the last
appropriation bill, we had 22,000 Border Patrol agents in
there. A majority of the Democrats on this committee voted to
support that. However, my Republican colleagues didn't have. I
just think that if we want to help, let's give the men and
women who work the border every day the resources they need. We
continue to do that. We continue to support it.
All of us have been adversely impacted by the criminal
element. I was a county supervisor before I came to Congress. I
understand the burdens you have, but I also understand that
Federal, State, and locals working together can overcome it.
Immigration is primarily a Federal responsibility, and we have
to do what we need to do to make that happen. Some of us vote
to put the resources there at every opportunity, but the
politics override reality, and that is the challenge that a lot
of us have.
So I look forward to legislation being put forward to this
body that we can continue to address the fentanyl challenges
that come. My sheriffs talked to me about it, but we have to
put things in place to offset it.
Mr. Heitke, the challenge for removal is we are a nation of
laws, as you know. You work in the department. You just can't
stop people and send them back. You got to give them that. We
sent back more people during this administration than in recent
memory, so we are trying. But if there are some things we can
do, I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues on
trying to make it happen.
I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. D'Esposito, out of order by request,
due to his time constraints, for 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I may, I think
the video that Ms. Morin wanted to play is available. I would
like to yield her 30 seconds of my time.
[Video shown.]
Chairman Green. Reset the clock to 5 minutes. That was
really the committee's fault for not allowing her to play that.
Mr. D'Esposito, I don't expect you to yield that. That was
our failure. You are now recognized.
Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chief, I know that was mentioned in your opening statement
about human tragedies that have been experienced by migrants on
their journey to the border. I would like to specifically talk
about those, especially the female migrants, the ones that have
been taken over by gangs and others trying to get them across
the Southern Border. You said that, quote, ``It's very common
that female migrants are raped during the process. Most of them
believe it's just part of the payment as they go up. It's
unfortunately very regular within the population.''
Can you describe to the committee your interactions with
migrants over the past 3\1/2\ years and share with us some of
the most shocking things that you have learned or are willing
to share?
Mr. Heitke. There's a number of them that I would. One of
the key ones from San Diego is that when we had a large amount
of undocumented minors coming into the country, we started to
see recruiters in Mexico that would go around within the
Tijuana area because the migrants would stage in Mexico before
they came into the United States. Recruiters would go around
within Tijuana and recruit teenage women to come to the United
States, and then they would leave their families. Oftentimes
they had traveled to Tijuana with their families, they would
leave their families behind, come to the United States, claim
they were unaccompanied minors, and they would be put up in the
facilities that the charities had set aside for them in San
Diego.
Once they had been put up, they're not held in detention.
It's just a room. They were given a phone number to call, and
then a recruiter would come down, often from Oakland or Los
Angeles, and pick them up. These young women were then brought
up and forced into prostitution, oftentimes in the Oakland and
Los Angeles area and other places within the country.
We had active cases going on, but because we did not have
the resources, because we were inundated with so many people,
we couldn't follow up. This was actively going on within our
area during the time frame.
Mr. D'Esposito. How many years did you spend in the Customs
and Border Patrol?
Mr. Heitke. Over 25.
Mr. D'Esposito. In those 25 years, is this the worst that
you have seen in the last 3\1/2\ years?
Mr. Heitke. Yes.
Mr. D'Esposito. So it is safe to say that the disastrous
policies that were implemented by both Joe Biden and Kamala
Harris have led to some of the really most disgusting actions
against women migrants along our Southern Border?
Mr. Heitke. It has taken so much time away from the agents
that they can't deal with those issues.
Mr. D'Esposito. Obviously, there is a negative impact to
the agents when they are dealing with situations like this as
well?
Mr. Heitke. Yes, dealing with the absolute despair and the
misery. The vast majority of the people coming are good, normal
people that have gone through extremely bad situations.
Mr. D'Esposito. So Ms. Morin mentioned in her opening
statement that she lives 1,800 miles from the Southern Border,
and she said that in the country that we live in right now, if
your city is a sanctuary city, these are her words, not mine,
but I agree with them, that you are not safe. She said that if
a city is a sanctuary city, you are not safe. Eighteen hundred
miles she lives from the border. We have heard the terrible
story of the murder of her daughter. Every State a border
State. Every city a border city.
We just commemorated the 23rd anniversary of the September
11 attacks. You mentioned, Chief, in your statement, the Border
Patrol zones across Texas, Arizona, California had no agent
present for weeks and months at a time. Those who did not want
to be caught could simply walk in. We have no idea who and what
entered our country over this time. Throughout 2022 and 2023, I
sent agents to Texas and Arizona to count gotaways. Those
sectors could not even put agents in the field to see what they
missed.
What information do we have on the millions of known
gotaways that have entered this country?
Mr. Heitke. None.
Mr. D'Esposito. Zero information of millions of people,
some of which have found to be on the terror watch list. We
have zero information.
Mr. Heitke. Correct.
Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you, Chief. Thank you all for being
here.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize Mr. Correa, the gentleman from California,
for his 5 minutes of questions.
Mr. Correa. I want to thank our witnesses for being here
today. Mr. Chairman, I want to take a moment to also thank our
Secret Service for protecting former President Trump. I serve
on the select committee investigating the assassination
attempt. I can tell you right now that I want to make sure that
all candidates running for Presidency are well-protected.
According to the FBI and DHS, the biggest issue right now
is domestic terrorism in this country. I have a chart here that
shows all of the domestic terrorism attacks in this country
today.
For the record, Mr. Chairman, I also have a couple of
articles. One, just think today from the New York Times saying,
``Second Apparent Assassination Attempt on Trump Prompts Alarm
Abroad.'' People around the world are concerned that our
American democracy is at a breaking point. Another one here
from Politico this morning, ``Russian Election Interference
Targeting Harris Campaign.''
Chairman Green. So ordered.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
------
Article Submitted by Hon. J. Luis Correa
russian election interference efforts targeting harris campaign,
microsoft finds
Story by Maggie Miller, Politico
Russian government-linked efforts to interfere in the upcoming U.S.
Presidential election have increasingly shifted to target the
Presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, Microsoft
reported in findings published Tuesday.
The new effort, which involves spreading fake videos discrediting
Harris and her campaign, is the latest foreign interference linked to
Russia in recent weeks, and shows a speedy pivot by foreign adversaries
to targeting the Harris campaign after she replaced President Joe Biden
on the ticket.
Microsoft found evidence that two ``Kremlin-aligned'' groups have
in recent weeks spread videos including those showing Harris supporters
attacking supporters of former President Donald Trump, and another
video that used an actor to pose as Harris in a fictitious hit-and-run
incident. Each of these videos received millions of views, according to
Microsoft, and one of the videos was put out through a fake San
Francisco news outlet, in an attempt to give the video more
credibility.
The groups also posted videos to social media platforms X and
Telegram showing a fake New York City billboard with false Harris
policies. Microsoft found that this video received more than 100,000
views on X in the first hours after being posted.
The findings from Microsoft were announced 2 weeks after the
Justice Department removed more than 30 websites linked to Russian
election influence efforts. Microsoft experts said Tuesday that they've
already seen efforts by this influence operation to create new sites,
and move content there.
``The shift to focusing on the Harris-Walz campaign reflects a
strategic move by Russian actors aimed at exploiting any perceived
vulnerabilities in the new candidates,'' wrote Clint Watts, general
manager of Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center, in a blog post on the
findings.
Russia is not alone in its activity. Microsoft also saw efforts by
a China-linked group, known as Storm-1852, spreading content on social
media critical of both Harris and Biden. However, Microsoft found that
many of the individuals posting for the group went silent after this
content was spotted. Chinese influence groups were identified earlier
this month spreading content exploiting divisiveissues in U.S. society.
Microsoft warned that this type of activity is likely to continue
ahead of November, particularly from Russia, with the company
predicting that Moscow will use hacking groups to boost its messages
online, which may include propaganda created by artificial
intelligence.
This is the latest threat report released by Microsoft in regards
to the upcoming U.S. elections. The company last month blamed Iran for
targeting a U.S. Presidential campaign, which POLITICO reported was
Trump's campaign.
Mr. Correa. Again, we thank the Secret Service, and I think
our priorities has to be protecting our democracy here in this
country.
Ms. Morin, thank you for being here. I heard your testimony
in Judiciary Committee and I mentioned to you then, as I will
repeat now, that in my district we had a young man, an American
citizen, that we caught. His MO was raping undocumented women
in the local apartment complex. He raped probably 20 women that
reported being raped before he was caught.
You know, I am about to say something I have never said in
public, but my spouse, my wife used to be a marathoner. A good
5, 6 years ago, she went out for a jog at local riverbed and
was attacked by an SOB. I got a phone call about 9:15 in the
morning by local police saying she had been attacked. I don't
know how she did it, but she broke loose from his strangle on
her, on her neck, before she passed out, just enough to scream
for help.
Your story is one that should not be forgotten and should
be remembered by all of us. Because when these heinous crimes
against women, rape, murder, are perpetrated, I don't care
which side of the party you are on, I don't care which side of
the immigration issue you are on. We have to stop this. With or
without documents, these individuals deserve a special place in
hell. So thank you for being here, for sharing your story.
Ms. Morin. Are you asking for a response?
Mr. Correa. No. But you can if you wish. I open it up to
you.
Ms. Morin. Thank you. I just wanted to say at the last
hearing, when I shared about my past, it was because I wanted
people to understand that I know what it's like to be a victim
of violent crime that survived. So I understand, probably more
than anybody in this room, some of the things that my daughter
endured.
I also said in that statement that my grandparents
immigrated here from Europe. My husband, his parents immigrated
here from Europe. I don't believe that the American people are
against immigration. We are against illegal immigration. People
should stay in their own countries, go through the process, and
then be allowed into this country the way that my grandparents
and my husband's grandparents.
Mr. Correa. I am going to put all my notes aside that I
wanted to talk about today. I have less than a minute left. But
suffice it to say that I am with you. I hope we can figure out
how to address legal immigration to this country.
Mr. Desmond, you represent an area in San Diego as a
county. I was also a county board of supervisor in Orange
County. We have a lot of people that have been in this country
20, 30 years and can't find the front door. We need to come up
with a way of processing people to make sure that the MS-13
individuals from El Salvador don't get in. When they are
deported, they go back to jail in El Salvador, not only in the
United States, but that takes work from both sides of the
aisle.
In my opinion, there is basically 3 buckets of individuals
right now: you have the new asylum refugees; you have people
that have been here 20, 30 years, Dreamers, people in the
military; and then you have people that do concern us when it
comes to terrorism. But under the existing legal framework, we
are not solving any of those problems.
Mr. Heitke, I just met with the president of your local
Border Patrol union just 2 hours ago. You know what he told me?
He said they don't even have enough resources at the Border
Patrol to fix their vehicles when they break down. We have a
lot of challenges and fighting here is not going to solve them.
Mr. Chairman, my time is up. But thank the Chair. I thank
all of you being here today. Thank you very much.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. Bishop, the gentleman from North
Carolina, for his 5 minutes questioning.
Mr. Bishop. Mr. Heitke, you are now able to say what you
are saying here today because you are no longer on official
duty, right?
Mr. Heitke. Correct.
Mr. Bishop. You couldn't have made these statements when
you were sector chief, could you?
Mr. Heitke. If asked a question, I would answer it.
Mr. Bishop. Right. But you wouldn't be at liberty to say
whatever you wanted to? You would have to answer questions.
Mr. Heitke. Right.
Mr. Bishop. Mr. Hathaway, you are a sheriff, is that
correct?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, sir, that's correct.
Mr. Bishop. Do you consider yourself a law enforcer or a
lawmaker?
Mr. Hathaway. A law enforcement officer or a lawman? In
Arizona we're called peace officers. The certification is peace
officers. I retired, like Mr. Heitke, as the agent in charge of
a Federal agency. But yes, now I am the elected sheriff.
Mr. Bishop. Did you say that if Arizonans passed their
ballot initiative making border crossing a State law violation,
that you wouldn't enforce it?
Mr. Hathaway. That is correct. There's a issue ballot
proposal on the November ballot, Proposition 314.
Mr. Bishop. Do you consider your role as a law enforcer to
be to decide which laws you are going to enforce and which ones
you are not going to?
Mr. Hathaway. In my county, 95 percent of the people are
Hispanic. It would be----
Mr. Bishop. I didn't ask you that.
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. Disingenuous of me to go through
their documents and see, like----
Mr. Bishop. I asked you about you, what you regard your
role to be as a law enforcer. Do you believe you get to pick
and choose which laws to enforce?
Mr. Hathaway. A similar law was found unconstitutional in
Arizona Senate Bill 1070. I know I would get sued----
Mr. Bishop. Are you a judge?
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. For racial profiling.
Mr. Bishop. Are you a judge?
Mr. Hathaway. I know the history of the laws in Arizona and
there was----
Mr. Bishop. I see.
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. A similar law thrown out.
Mr. Bishop. So you do believe you can pick and choose, even
though you are not a judge?
Mr. Hathaway. You have discretion. You have discretion on
what to enforce.
Mr. Bishop. Let me ask you this. You joined in the debate
that I have heard the rhetoric from my Democrat colleagues
quite a lot, and their witnesses here, who frequently assert
that the problem with the border is that we should have enacted
the Lankford-Mayorkas bill. Now, you said you liked some parts
of it. You liked the fact that it would have immigration judges
and other staff at the border to make asylum decisions. Right?
Mr. Hathaway. Right.
Mr. Bishop. But you also said in your testimony just now,
if you are going to be infatuated with the idea that everybody
needs a piece of paper, then those things would be good. So you
don't think we should be infatuated with the idea that people
need a piece of paper. Is that correct?
Mr. Hathaway. I think what matters is voluntary
transactions, no coerced transactions. If you're----
Mr. Bishop. So, the ultimate of that would be just to let
everybody who wants to come in come in. Isn't that right? In
other words, why do you need a--you say we need a guest worker
program. That is what you think is necessary. Why do we need a
guest worker program? Why not just let everyone come in who
wants to come in?
Mr. Hathaway. Because the asylum program is not working.
Mr. Bishop. Well, no. OK. So you are saying you don't want
to be infatuated with a piece of paper at all. You want to just
let them come in. Isn't that right?
Mr. Hathaway. If we're going to have people doing
processing, they should address the need before it gets worse.
Mr. Bishop. Well, you are saying ``if''. You don't think we
should have anybody doing processing?
Mr. Hathaway. No. If we're going to have people doing
processing, they should issue work permits. That's what people
are coming in here for, is to work.
Mr. Bishop. Ms. Morin, I am just wondering, as you sit
there next to--the sheriff said that his community is safe.
Well, let me ask you one more question, Sheriff. You don't
think we have a border crisis?
Mr. Hathaway. No. I'm investigating 3 homicides now. They
all involve U.S. citizens are the suspects.
Mr. Bishop. I see.
Mr. Hathaway. My city is 95 percent Hispanic. Migrants,
according to FBI statistics, are less likely to commit crimes
than native-born Americans. They're less likely to go on
welfare than native-born Americans.
Mr. Bishop. Ms. Morin, do you agree with what the sheriff
just said? He said that migrants are less likely to commit
crimes than Americans. Do you believe that to be true?
Ms. Morin. No, sir. I think it depends on where the
migrants are coming from.
Mr. Bishop. If a migrant comes from a country where a
hostile or chaotic regime has recognized that the United States
has no effective border control whatsoever by intentional act
of the Presidential administration, and that regime decides to
release a prison population or criminal population so that they
will leave and go to the United States, do you think past
statistics about the criminal disposition of migrants is likely
to remain static, remain the same? Doesn't it make sense that
there are going to be more criminals if those populations are
being released because of the recognition of what the
administration has done to border security, Ms. Morin?
Ms. Morin. Yes.
Mr. Bishop. I think that's common sense. I understand the
argument is always made that we needed that Lankford-Mayorkas
border bill. Well, here is President Trump's favorite chart, as
he said, because as he turned his head, the assassin's bullet
passed by looking at this. But what you see on the left is what
President Trump accomplished, and what you see from 2021
forward is what the current administration accomplished. I
would suggest that anyone who says that that border bill that
wasn't passed is cause and effect should learn what the idea of
cause and effect means, because you can accomplish either one
of these results with our existing law. The result of
accomplishing what is on the right as opposed to what is on the
left is a matter of will and a matter of people who think they
are not law enforcers but lawmakers.
I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. Ivey for 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not sure where to
start.
Wait, leave the chart there, please. I appreciate my
friend, Mr. Bishop from North Carolina. I appreciate the
passion and the intellect he brings to these sorts of debates
and discussions.
I did want to say this, though. I represent a district in
Maryland. Ms. Moran, you and I saw each other last week, and I
will come back to you in a moment. But a lot of my immigrants
are from El Salvador, and I mean, thousands of them. Our
population has grown very dramatically in Prince George's
County with El Salvadoran immigrants. I want to challenge the
suggestion that there are more criminal elements within the El
Salvador immigrant community than the people who are already
here in the United States. That has been the exact opposite of
my experience in Prince George's County. I was the State's
attorney there for 8 years. I mean, I prosecuted these cases.
Ms. Morin, you may recall I talked about a RICO case I did
jointly with Rod Rosenstein, who was a Republican U.S.
attorney. In fact, he ended up being Donald Trump's deputy and
then he was the acting attorney general in the Department of
Justice. You know, there is an issue there for sure of crime
that is committed. But I don't think it is fair to say that the
people who are coming by and large are here to commit crimes.
I think I recall Chip Roy saying at one of the Judiciary
Committee hearings that his sense of it was pretty much the
same. People are coming here to work. They are not coming for
asylum reasons necessarily, but they are coming here to work
and be part of the American dream and live that experience.
So thank you for the chart. I appreciate it. But I did want
to say this, too, the lower parts of the numbers there, and I
don't know what the colors mean or that sort of deal, but I was
State's attorney during the previous stretch, so not during the
Biden-Harris administration, but during the previous period. We
had to address criminal prosecutions during those times, too.
Ms. Morin, you may recall, and this committee knows because I
read Justice Kavanaugh's opinion over and over when we do these
hearings, and that is that this system has been broken down for
the past 5 Presidential administrations, for over 30 years. In
fact, these issues predate the existence of this committee.
But I do want to say this, and my colleague from North
Carolina has left at this point, but he did raise the issue of
the Lankford bill, and I don't think it was a cure-all by any
stretch. I think at the last hearing when we discussed this, I
want to say it was Chairman Jordan that raised H.R. 2. The
problem with both of those bills is that they are not going
anywhere. I think we have a recognition, in fact, your
testimony of everybody on the panel is that there is a problem
with immigration that we need to address. The problem that I am
having with this hearing and the last hearing is that we are
not addressing through legislation any of those concerns.
Now, Ms. Morin, you may recall last week I said that that
legislative hearing wasn't a legislative hearing because there
was no legislation connected to it that was going to move and
address the problem. I will say the same thing here.
I want to just make this point that I didn't know last
week. The Judiciary Committee is going to have a markup
tomorrow on legislation that we want to move to the floor to
address current problems. None of those bills are going to deal
with this particular issue. I think this committee is going to
have a markup in the near future as well, and I think the same
is going to be true there. If you don't like the Lankford bill,
you still have the power to bring it up and amend it and you
can change it. As we saw with H.R. 2 when that came through,
and H.R. 2 was the Republican bill and the fact that it is No.
2 shows that it is one of the highest priorities for the House
Republicans, they marked it up. They didn't accept any of the
amendments that we offered here in the committee, even though I
think, you know, a lot of them would have made the bill
actually better and helped to address the problem.
But I do want to end with this. As I said last week, I
think that there are challenges and issues on both sides'
positions. I think the way to address the issue is to find a
compromise in the middle that actually moves legislation
through. For example, at the table you are sitting at, a number
of the witnesses said, we need more Border Patrol agents, we
need more judges, we need more officials to process these
things. We are not moving those things through.
Ms. Morin, I want to, again, thank you for being the voice
that you are being. I would like to actually meet with you and
discuss some of these issues. I think, as I said last week, you
have got a moral authority based on what you suffered through.
I know you would change it in a second to get your daughter
back. But I would like to see us get something done, and we are
not doing it with these kind of stage performances like this.
But you are in a position, unfortunately, where you have the
voice that can help move things forward. I appreciate the work
that you have done and will continue to do. I want to thank you
for being here again today.
Mr. Chairman, I apologize for running over, but I want to
thank the panel as well. I thank the committee as well for
raising this issue and continuing to look at it. But I hope we
will be able to find a way to address it with legislation that
is actually going to get passed and do something.
With that, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. Gimenez, the gentleman from Florida,
for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This, the chart here
on my left shows the abject--the lies that are coming from the
Biden-Harris administration as to the cause of the immigration
issue here in the United States. It is their policy. You can
see very clearly when policies changed, that is what happened
to the border. There was no difference in resources, there were
no any differences in the number of personnel. It was the
policies, 94 different Executive Orders from the Biden
administration that caused what is happening at the U.S.
border.
I want to turn my attention to you, Sheriff Hathaway. I
believe, I actually agree with you that most of the people
coming through the Southern Border are here to work, try to
make a better life. But I disagree in one sense that you can't
tell me that along with those hard-working people, there are a
number of them that are actually hardened criminals, that there
are a number of them that are actually terrorists. Do you
disagree with that?
Mr. Hathaway. No, I do not disagree.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. So if you allow more criminals into the
United States, you are going to have more crime in the United
States. Correct? Because they are criminals. That is what they
are doing. I mean, we have seen it. I have seen it in my
community.
Tren de Aragua. You know who Tren de Aragua is? You know
who they are? The Tren de Aragua, do you know who they are? You
don't. Really? You are a sheriff? You don't know what the Tren
de Aragua is? That is one of the most violent gangs that is
coming out of Venezuela. It is coming through your town. Those
folks are here in the United States right now. They are
terrorizing people or they actually kidnapped a former
Venezuelan police officer in my town and killed him. So, yes,
we have a problem coming through the Southern Border.
Now, I also, you know, I also find it interesting that you
run to the racist argument. I believe that immigration should
be legal immigration. I disagree with illegal immigration. Do
you think I am a racist?
Mr. Hathaway. No. When we talk about the ballot
proposition, if I was to enforce----
Mr. Gimenez. I am sorry, I am asking you about----
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. Ninety-five percent of them----
Mr. Gimenez. I am asking about me. Do you think I am a
racist because I believe----
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. Are Hispanic. They----
Mr. Gimenez [continuing]. In legal immigration and not
illegal immigration?
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. Speak Spanish. They speak
Spanish, Hispanic last names, Hispanic characteristics. It has
been that way for hundreds of years.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. So do you believe I am a racist? Because I
believe it should be legal immigration? Do you know who I am?
Do you know what my name is? Do you know where I come from? I
come from Cuba. I am an immigrant. I am probably the only
immigrant in this entire committee. Are you an immigrant, too?
Congratulations. OK. All right.
So what if I were to tell you that--oh, I am sorry, you
are, too. Oh, there you go. OK.
Chairman Green. Order. Order. Order. Continue.
Mr. Gimenez. I am sorry. What if I were to tell you that 53
percent of registered Hispanics believe in mass deportation?
Are they racist, too?
Mr. Hathaway. No.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. So what I find offensive is that anytime
that we disagree, you turn to the racist card. No, we just
disagree. We believe in the rule of law. Actually, Hispanics do
believe in the rule of law. We believe, the majority of us
believe in legal immigration. We don't believe in illegal
immigration.
I am an immigrant myself. I love this country.
Mr. Hathaway. Nobody proposes a wall on the Canadian
border. Ninety-two percent of the land borders in the world
don't have any kind of a structure.
Mr. Gimenez. Oh, so you are still saying that we are
racist. You are still--you are doubling down on it, that we are
racist.
Mr. Hathaway. Certain policies have a racist----
Mr. Gimenez. I love it. Go ahead. Go ahead. Tell me I am a
racist.
Mr. Hathaway. Certain policies have a racist element to
them.
Mr. Gimenez. Tell me I am a racist. Go ahead.
Mr. Hathaway. Certain suggested policies have a racist----
Mr. Gimenez. Oh, yes, of course, because we don't agree
with what you think. That is what disturbs you.
Mr. Hathaway. No, we don't propose a wall on the Canadian
border.
Mr. Gimenez. Well, yes, you don't, but you think----
Mr. Hathaway. They're a white country.
Mr. Gimenez. You are still calling me a racist.
Mr. Hathaway. We're talking about policy----
Mr. Gimenez. Oh, we are?
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. That is racist.
Mr. Gimenez. I am Hispanic. You are not.
Mr. Hathaway. I didn't say anything----
Mr. Gimenez. You are not.
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. To disparage you.
Mr. Gimenez. You are not. So I take offense to that. You
know what? Is my time up? No, not yet, but, you know, I think
I've had enough. Thank you.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize another immigrant to this country who
obtained a Ph.D. and is a great, great American. But legally,
right?
Mr. Thanedar. Yes.
Chairman Green. So, Mr. Thanedar, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Ranking Member.
Sheriff Hathaway, in your testimony, you talked about your
family's long history of ranching in Arizona and the importance
of seasonal farm workers to sustaining America's farms and
ranches. Yet Trump's Project 2025 calls for limiting seasonal
workers' visas and the number of legal immigrants eligible for
work authorization. This is exactly the opposite direction we
need to go at a time when grocery store bills are a struggle
for many Americans. We need to support our farmers, ranchers to
make sure they have the work force they need to get their food
into stores at a reasonable price.
What do you want Congress to know about the work force
shortage that Arizona ranchers and farmers are facing?
Mr. Hathaway. I have heard directly from the farmers and
ranchers, and bear in mind, a lot of these are Republicans and
Democrats, that are frustrated that the Farm Modernization Act
has not passed. It has sat there for years. It would allow more
of the visas you are talking about, the H-2A agricultural
visas. It hurts productivity. It raised costs. If the costs go
up to the supplier, they go up to the retailer, the prices in
the grocery stores are higher.
So, as I said in my opening remarks, it helps price
inflation to have a guest worker program, to have seasonal
workers be able to come into the United States and help the
farms with productivity. You know, obviously, it would be great
if they could hire Americans, if they could find enough
Americans to do the seasonal work.
If that's not the case, you know, there's--you know, we
have a border with Mexico. Mexico, for the most part, is not
eligible for the asylum program because it is designated by
countries. There's nothing considered to be political
persecution in Mexico, as there is in other countries like
Venezuela. So they're not designated for the asylum program,
and yet we share a land border with them. Eighty percent of
their external GDP involves trade with the United States. It
would just make sense to focus on a guest worker program to
help reduce cost in the United States, make the cost of living
more affordable for all of us.
Mr. Thanedar. Let me ask you, you know, if we create proper
legal pathways for immigration, what would that do to the
issues currently we are facing at border security?
Mr. Hathaway. Well, I think it would be less pressure on
the asylum program. There would be parameters set by Congress.
You would have less tendency for Presidents, the Executive
branch, to try to dictate policy to the Congress. I think
Congress should take control of this issue, decide whatever
they decide. You're the lawmaking body. Don't just leave it to
the Executive branch to make ad hoc decisions on what should be
done along the border.
So I think this is in the hands of Congress. You should
move with it. The time is right. We've been talking for years
about comprehensive immigration reform. It's in the news. It's
the No. 1 issue. When you poll Americans, what do they care
about the most? The immigration issues. This is something that
Congress needs to handle. It's you're the boss, you run the
policy, and you should tell the President what to do in these
areas.
Mr. Thanedar. So we, the Congress, has the ability to do
the comprehensive immigration reform that is badly needed. You
know, this is something that we need to act on a bipartisan
way.
Mr. Hathaway. That's correct.
Mr. Thanedar. Yes. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Higgins [presiding]. The gentleman yields.
The young lady representative from Georgia, Ms. Greene, the
gentlelady recognized for question.
Ms. Greene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really like this
chart. As a matter of fact, it has become one of my favorite
charts because not only does it speak to the truth of the
serious daily and yearly border invasion into our country, this
chart also saved President Trump's life when he was almost
assassinated in a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a would-
be assassin fired at President Trump. Bullets flying into the
crowd, killing Corey Comperatore, but also grazing President
Trump's ear as he turned his head to look at this chart and
inform the American people about the invasion our country has
been under. But the American people suffering it every single
day.
Sheriff Hathaway, I thoroughly read and listened to your
statement, and you have such an important job as a sheriff in a
county that borders the United States and Mexico. I read where
you said, ``My wife and I live near the border and we walk
every night along the border. My county has the largest ports
of entry with Mexico of all of Arizona border counties. It is
peaceful and safe.''
Ms. Morin, do you feel safe and peaceful?
Ms. Morin. No. I actually have nightmares even still.
Ms. Greene. I am sorry, and I am so sorry for your loss.
Ms. Morin. Thank you.
Ms. Greene. We mourn with you. I was appalled when I read
that, especially given the fact with your port of entry that is
in your county, by the way, Sheriff, let's talk about what that
CBP One app has done. It was introduced in January 2023, and
approximately 813 illegal aliens have been paroled into
American communities in all 50 States, with 96 percent of the
aliens, they are released in, 96 percent of the ones that come
to ports of entry, by making a handy-dandy appointment on an
app that the Biden administration has provided to anyone all
over the world, by the way.
We can carry on and talk about the other outrageous thing
that helps maybe you feel peaceful at night as you and your
wife walk along. People aren't coming across maybe on your
land, because they are able to go to ports of entry.
Another way they are able to get into our country is by
flying in from other countries: 530,000 inadmissible aliens
have flown directly into U.S. airports. Maybe that is why you
don't see a giant flow across your land, Sheriff.
You also said, ``It makes me laugh when people talk about
fighting-age males coming into the United States.'' It is
appalling that you said that, because I would have you know
there have been at least 73,000 special interest aliens
arrested at our border. Seventy-three thousand special interest
aliens are from nations that promote terrorist activity,
harbors terrorists, and pose a security threat to the United
States. Terrorists. That is fighting-age males. Terrorists.
Those are armies. Terrorists. Those are the same people that
want Israel wiped off the map and would like to destroy
America. Seventy-three thousand. Yes, Americans have a right to
fear that. Don't laugh about that. That is extremely serious.
Jobs. Let's talk about jobs. You were saying jobs. They
want to come in, and they are pursuing jobs. Oh, the cartels
are getting jobs, all right. Cartels and coyotes are currently
making around 13 billion a year in human trafficking. Our wide-
open border is definitely providing jobs, 26 times more than
that of the previous administration under President Trump. The
Mexican cartels employ an estimated 175,000 members and have
associates, facilitators, and brokers in all 50 States in our
country. Yes, we are having jobs provided for these people.
You said certain policies smack of racism, for example,
walls. I would have you know, Sheriff, there are 77 major
border walls around the world; 45 countries are planning and
building more. Walls are not racist. Walls keep people safe,
and this country is not safe. People are being murdered every
day. The woman you are sitting next to's daughter was raped and
brutally murdered. That is not funny. Walls are not racist.
Just within the past 2 weeks, there was an illegal alien
driving his car over 100 miles per hour in my home town, struck
another car, critically injuring a baby, killing the baby's
mother and the passenger in the car. That happens almost every
day in our country because of illegal aliens coming in. It is
not funny. It is not racist. The American people have every
right to be fed up, just like they are fed up and disgusted
that our country is not keeping them safe. Guess what? They
freaking pay for it. Their tax dollars pay for it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
Mr. Goldman, the gentleman from New York, is recognized for
questioning for 5 minutes.
Mr. Goldman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have got a lot to
get through because we have got about 4 years to walk through.
That chart, of course, mischaracterizes when Mr. Trump
took--left office, but there is no question that the problems
at our border have significantly increased over the last
several years. We can debate the cause of that and we have
debated the cause of that. There is unquestionably a lot more
climate migration. There is unquestionably a lot more
authoritarianism in Central and South America that is leading
to political persecution and to people wanting to flee. But
there is a problem.
What happened is the administration began to address that
problem as it was increasing. But Republican attorneys general
all around the country filed lawsuit after lawsuit after
lawsuit to stop administrative action. So in response to that,
the Biden-Harris administration went to Congress to say, let's
work on bipartisan legislation to try to solve our border
crisis. Senator Lankford, the second-most conservative
Republican in the Senate, negotiated for months with an
Independent and a Democrat and with the administration to come
to some sort of bipartisan resolution, which they did,
miraculously, because this has notoriously been a very
difficult issue.
Now, that deal was the most conservative border security
immigration bill that has ever been agreed to by any Democratic
administration. It had a number of different provisions, but I
think most importantly would have dramatically streamlined the
asylum process.
Let me just say something about the asylum process because
there is a lot of talk about legal immigration and illegal
immigration. Asylum is legal immigration. It is not illegal
immigration. It is part of our laws that you may seek asylum
under certain circumstances. The problem we have at the border
and the problem we have with our asylum process is that only 20
to 25 percent of people who apply for asylum ultimately get
asylum. But it takes 7 to 10 years for that process to play
out. This border security bill would have dramatically
shortened the asylum process such that it would be over in 6
months. The incentive for someone who knows that they do not
qualify for asylum to come across the border would be
eliminated. Many of those 75 to 80 percent of people who are
not eligible for asylum would not come here and would not be
granted work permits.
The other thing it does is it would increase visas because
we do have a work shortage. We have a job shortage for
agriculture, for construction, for restaurant workers, hotel
workers, home care, nurses, doctors, scientists. This is all
what I hear in my district. We need to increase those quotas.
That bill would have done it.
We need, as Mr. Heitke said, to increase personnel at the
border, to deal with the problems, so that we can address the
women who are being raped, so we can address the cartels that
are fueled by American made guns. We need more personnel. We
need more resources. This bill would have done it.
But what happened? Donald Trump killed the deal. He is open
about it. You know why he killed the deal that would have
dramatically solved our problems at the border? Because he
cares more about his own election than he does about the
problems facing the American people. He wanted chaos at the
border so that he could run on it. When you watch him at the
debate, he answers every single question, it doesn't matter
what the topic is, by going back to immigration. That is what
he wants to do.
I want to put up, finally, this last quote here from James
Lankford, who was the author of this bill and was
understandably very frustrated that it did not pass. ``It is a
very, very clear that the Republicans do not want to solve the
problem at the border.''
So what has happened since Donald Trump killed this bill
that would have dramatically addressed the solutions at the
border? President Biden and Vice President Harris have had no
choice but to implement Executive actions to streamline this
process, so that people coming in have to come in through ports
of entry, so that those 73,000 people who are stopped at the
border, they are not getting in, they are stopped at the
border, have to go through the points of entry so that we can
vet them and check them for their criminal history. That has
reduced border crossings to a level not seen since 2019, more
than 55 percent. But that is not the solution. The solution is
legislation, and the Republicans will not meet in the middle.
I yield back.
Mr. Higgins. The gentlemen yields.
My, my, my. So here we are, a hearing reflecting upon 3\1/
2\ years of incredible injury that has been brought upon our
country because of Southern Border policies enacted by the
Biden administration White House. We had this thing under
control, man. Two-tousand-seventeen, 2018, 2019, we learned a
lot of lessons. But let me tell you, by the time we were deep
into 2019, I was here, I was on this committee, before COVID,
don't talk about COVID. In 2020--we will set that year aside--
in 2019, we had this thing under control, America, Sheriff. It
is the policies of the Biden and Harris administration that
have flipped this thing.
With no additional laws--let me say I am going to address
the cartels who are watching. Pay attention. I am talking to
you now. With no additional laws within 2 weeks of the
inauguration 2025, on January 20, 2025, if President Trump is
inaugurated, within 2 weeks, you are shut down. You will bring
no drugs into our country. You will traffic no human beings
into our country. You are going to have to revisit your
business model. Take some of those billions of dollars you have
sucked out of our country like the lifeblood of our people, and
go build a few more mansions on the beach, because you will not
be running human beings and drugs into our country within 2
weeks of President Trump's inauguration next year.
If things don't go that way, we will see. If a different
President is inaugurated. Very likely, you will be able to
continue your business model. Won't that be tragic for my
country? But she will still have the issues of me and men like
me. Because I will be living on your 1-yard line. But if things
go right, you are done. This will be your last Christmas
sucking the life out of our country, dumping illegals across
our border that you control, and flooding our Nation with the
poisons that are killing our children to the rate of 100,000 a
year.
Chief Heitke, man, it is good to see you. You know, I made
it a point in the years I have been on this committee to get to
the border, I learned very quickly that I would have my most
productive CODELs on my own. One afternoon a few years ago, I
knocked on your gate, just a Congressman with a backpack, and
you were kind enough to let me in at the San Diego sector and
you spent several hours with me. That was one of the most
informative days I had ever had at the border of many.
So can you, sir, would you share with America, talk about
the impact of the policies that were enacted beginning in
January 2021 on the men and women of Border Patrol that were
under your command in your own words? I will yield sufficient
time to you, sir, just please talk about the impact of the
policies that you felt, that your men and women felt, boots on
the ground, on the border.
Mr. Heitke. Ultimately, and as I mentioned earlier, with
the detention and then sending--repatriating people back to
their nations caused a continual release of illegal aliens into
our country. As more and more people were released, more and
more people came. Basically it turns the agents, the Border
Patrol agents, into transport and care and feeding as all the
agents have had time to do. They're well aware of what they
miss: the zones that have been empty, the vast areas across the
border that don't have a presence because they are sitting in
detention processing or they are taking care of feeding people
in processing, that constant awareness of what they're not able
to do.
They're not able to complete their national security
mission. That mission is why they signed on to the job. That
mission is what they do. They're not allowed to get out into
the field and do that. That is what is destroying the morale
across the Border Patrol.
Mr. Higgins. Chief, thank you for being here today. I thank
all the panelists. Ms. Morin, God bless you, ma'am. We are
sorry for your pain. We feel it with you. Sheriff, thank you
for your service.
Gentlemen. My time has expired, but my love for my country
has not.
I recognize the gentleman from California, our colleague,
Mr. Garcia, for 5 minutes for questioning.
Mr. Garcia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank all of
our witnesses for being here. Appreciate your time.
Mr. Chairman, I am wondering if I am able to see your chart
for a minute? Do you mind if I borrow your chart for a quick
second, Mr. Chairman? Do you mind if I borrow your chart for
just a quick second?
Mr. Higgins. I apologize, I had not heard you, my
colleague. But of course, yes, sir.
Mr. Garcia. Thank you. If I can just----
Mr. Higgins. I only used the chart because Mr. Goldman said
he didn't like it, so.
Mr. Garcia. Thank you. So I just want to clarify this
chart. I know that this chart has also been discussed by a few
of my colleagues and Ms. Greene and the Chairman and others.
But I just think this chart is important for us to actually
look at this and actually be accurate.
Right now it says that Trump left office at this point in
the chart. That is actually not when Donald Trump left office.
Donald Trump actually left office right here on this chart. So,
you know, we are talking about charts, we should be very
accurate when Donald Trump actually left office. You can see
that the actual immigration and what was happening with border
crossings was already going up by the time Donald Trump left
office. So I think it is important that when we have charts,
and I appreciate being allowed to use this one, that we are
accurate about actually when this actually happened. So facts
are really important.
But I want to also add one more thing as we are talking
about facts and things that are being said that are truthful is
we are having a conversation about immigration and the border.
I want to go back to what happened last week during the
Presidential debate between former President Trump and the Vice
President. When he was asked about his role, which was brought
up today, about killing the bipartisan border deal in front of
the Congress, and instead of actually discussing that, of
course, he went, the former President, on a--what I consider a
kind-of strange rant about Haitian immigrants in Springfield,
Ohio. I want to repeat what actually Donald Trump said. This is
a quote, ``They're eating the dogs. The people that came in,
they're eating the cats.'' Continuing, ``They're eating the
pets of the people that live here. And this is what's happening
in our country and it's shame.''
Now, I am a cat owner and an immigrant. I take the safety
and security of our pets very seriously. But this notion that
Haitian immigrants are eating pets is not only xenophobic, in
my opinion, but has caused real harm to the people of
Springfield, Ohio. Now, the Republican Governor of the State,
the Republican mayor of Springfield have testified about it,
and they agree that the story was not true. Even the woman who
created the original Facebook post which started the rumor has
disavowed and made up the story. In fact, today it was reported
that she is actually apologizing for what she said. Now,
Governor DeWine and the mayor of the city and the city manager
of the city have all said there is no evidence for the story
that Donald Trump discussed at the debate about immigrants
eating cats and pets.
Now, a better use of our committee's time would be to
investigate the right-wing extremism in bomb threats which have
closed middle, element-,--and elementary schools in Springfield
and targeted local officials. People are scared in this town
because of these threats and these attacks against immigrants.
Now, there is a real threat directly linked to the
extremist rhetoric we are hearing. We know this to be true. We
know that Donald Trump is not the only Republican that is
amplifying these claims about Haitian immigrants. J.D. Vance
claimed, and I quote, this is just a real quote, ``Reports
showed that people had their pets abducted and eaten''. That is
from Senator Vance.
He also claimed that there has been a rise of infectious
diseases, even though the county health commissioner said, and
I quote, ``If you look at all reportable communicable diseases
together for the year ending 2023, you will see that we are at
the lowest rate since 2016.''
Now, on CNN this weekend, J.D. Vance said, again, ``If I
have to create stories that the American media actually pay
attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's
what I'm going to do.'' I want to repeat that, ``If I have to
create stories so that the American media actually pay
attention, that's what I'm going to do.'' We are creating
stories about immigrants eating animals, which is quite a
shame. There are folks on this committee that continue to also
peddle some of these, in my opinion, mistruths and attacks
immigrants.
Now, Donald Trump and his allies, I believe, are trying to
make the American people think that immigrants are strange or
harmful or dangerous. I believe this to be truly un-American as
an immigrant myself.
I want to also close by just saying something that a CEO in
Springfield actually said. The CEO said, ``I wish I had 30
more,'' in speaking about the Haitian immigrants. ``Our Haitian
associates come to work every day. They stay at their machines.
They achieve their numbers, and they are here to work.'' That
is the American story. Immigrants come here to work and to
contribute. I wish we would stop attacking this important part
of what our country is.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Guest [presiding]. The Chair now recognizes my good
friend and the gentleman from Mississippi, Mike Ezell.
Mr. Ezell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your
leadership in highlighting the Biden-Harris administration's
failure to secure our border.
Thank you also to the witnesses who are here today for your
time and, Ms. Morin, for sharing your story and your daughter's
tragic attack and murder. My condolences to you and your
family. Unfortunately, there is a growing list of women and
children attacked and murdered, and the current administration
sits idly by. I agree with you that these deaths are 100
percent able to stop.
Chief Heitke, we have heard in each testimony today that
border agents who fearlessly defend and support our country do
not feel supported or equipped to do their jobs they were hired
to do. You said in your testimony, our Border Patrol agents
have been reduced to mere processing agents, standing by as our
laws are broken. Can you please share some more examples of how
our law enforcement is undermined by this administration?
Mr. Heitke. There's, if you want, trafficking, for example,
within San Diego sector. San Diego itself sits obviously within
California. California has State Bill 54 which makes it illegal
for local--State and local law enforcement to have really
anything to do with us, whether it be immigration or to assist
us on the border.
I mentioned an earlier trafficking situation. Trafficking
within California, coming through California, is a serious,
significant issue that goes throughout our country. But because
of State Bill 54, State and locals are not allowed to call us
when they run into these young ladies, if they're in Oakland or
Los Angeles, when they're trafficked up off of the border or if
they're run into as being transported through the State.
On top of that, when all of the agents within the Border
Patrol are inundated with processing, they're not--they don't
have the chance to actually talk to the people that they're
dealing with for more than seconds at a time. We run into
rapes, abuses that go throughout the journey when people come
to the United States. We have the opportunity to talk to them,
to get them help once they arrive here. The agents don't have
time to do that.
They don't have time to do DNA testing, for example. The
Border Patrol is under a court order to do DNA testing on
people who are brought into custody. We did not have the time
or the resources through 2022 or 2023 to complete that at all
in San Diego. The equipment didn't even arrive.
Often cases, the money that comes from the soft-sided
facilities is another--all of this extra funding comes out of
the Border Patrol budget. So our computer refreshes, our
cameras, our software systems are becoming older and older. As
one of the representatives mentioned, money to fix vehicles is
limited because so much money is going to care and feeding of
masses of people. This all impacts the agents' ability to do
their job. It all impacts their ability to complete their
national security mission.
On another note, many people don't realize how impactful
Border Patrol agents are across all of the Federal and State
and local agencies. We send tax task force officers out through
DEA task force, Safe Streets Task Force with the FBI. In my
time in San Diego, I had to pull all the task force agents back
in order to complete our processing mission. They're not there.
Spanish speakers, Spanish is required within Border Patrol
agents. Many agencies across the Southern Border do not have
Spanish-speaking officers. They rely on us for Spanish
speakers, especially in task forces, to further their missions,
whether it be drugs, even stolen vehicle task forces in San
Diego, things like that. Those are all hampered because we've
had to pull the agents back.
Mr. Ezell. What's this doing to morale?
Mr. Heitke. It destroys morale, the impact of not being
able to do the mission that they were hired to do. Then they
sit behind a desk in the office. Border Patrol agents come to
the mission to be outside. It's outside, it's active, and
they're actively completing a national security mission when
now they sit at a desk and type.
Mr. Ezell. Ms. Morin, how does that make you feel that our
Border Patrol agents are not being allowed to do their job and
the morale is low after what you've been through?
Ms. Morin. It makes me feel very sad, sad that our
Government, you folks that have taken an oath to protect the
American people, to protect our right to liberty and freedom,
and you're not, not pointing fingers, but you're not allowed to
do that because so much money is tied up doing all these other
things, that the things that are really necessary, protecting
the American people, isn't being done. It gives the American
people a feeling of hopelessness that we don't matter and that
you folks are just going to continue with your partisan
politics and not really take to heart the lives of the American
people that put you in office to begin with.
Mr. Ezell. Thank you for that. Again, I am very sorry for
your loss. As a former law enforcement officer myself, my No. 1
priority was protect my county and my citizens. I think our
Border Patrol agents should be allowed to do the same thing.
Thank you.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mrs. Ramirez from the State of Illinois.
Mrs. Ramirez. The State of Illinois and a daughter of
immigrants, yes. So thank you, Chairman.
Over the last few months, my Republican colleagues, you
could tell when it happened, have transitioned from using
Secretary Mayorkas as a scapegoat for a global migration crisis
to now Vice President Harris, who they have wrongfully labeled
the border czar. They claim that they want today's hearing to
be about policies. So I want to spend time talking about
policies, certainly not charts, because we get the dates and
the charts wrong here.
At the taxpayers' expense, Republicans want to use mass
deportation to rip families apart. They want to
unconstitutionally strip citizenship from U.S. citizens who
have immigrant parents. They want to expand this border wall
that has already cost about $45 million per mile. Folks, we
have been talking about this in the last almost 2 hours here.
None of this will fix our outdated immigration system that we
haven't fixed since 1986 when I was 3 years old or increase our
ability to stop fentanyl trafficking, stem the unlawful flow of
weapons across our border, and certainly it won't dismantle
these cartels that we should be dismantling.
Talking about immigration specifically, we have more than
30 years of data on enforcement-only proposals and policies
based on deterrence work, and they simply don't work. Even
these cruel actions of the former administration didn't
actually reduce migration or improve order at the border.
Instead of they have resulted in chaos and people forced to
wait in unsafe places and women and children going through the
worst cases and experiences, much like my own mother
experienced when she crossed the border.
So folks, we should be talking about creating legal
pathways. I understand that is Committee on Judiciary and I
wish that you and I were working on that. That is actually what
we should be doing together, creating legal pathways. But it
doesn't seem like that is what we want to do because vilifying
immigrants seems to be the only priority in this committee and
certainly with most of my colleagues on the other side.
So, Sheriff Hathaway, I want to hear from you in the next
minute or so. What should Congress be focusing on to secure the
border and support border communities like yours?
Mr. Hathaway. Well, specifically, there is a dividing line
between Federal and State law enforcement. You know, the
Federal agencies in my town, Federal officers outnumber 30 to
1. There's 30 Federal officers for every 1 local officer. So
that includes one of the largest Border Patrol stations in the
United States and the third-largest that are both in my county;
large contingents of CBP, OFO, those are the guys in the blue
uniforms on the border that do the inspections at the ports of
entry. You know, frankly, I don't want to do their job and they
don't want to do my job.
I do the same job as the 3,000 other sheriffs in the United
States. There's about 3,000 counties and 3,000 elected sheriffs
in the United States. I treat everybody the same. Our focus is
violent crime and property crime.
So, you know, as far as it's up to you what you decide on
the Federal issues that have to do with the border. But to me,
I don't see a bigger impact of, you know, crime or property
damage with anything to do related to the border.
So financially, I don't need more support. I don't need
more legal support. But I do think you need, Congress needs to
solve the issues on the border to create legal pathways for
workers.
Mrs. Ramirez. So, Sheriff, you think that this Congress
should be focused on creating legal pathways, yes or no?
Mr. Hathaway. That's correct.
Mrs. Ramirez. You think that this Congress should do the
thing it hasn't done in almost 40 years, which is actually fix
the immigration system, is that yes?
Mr. Hathaway. Fix immigration. Look at the Farm
Modernization Act, and consider getting these agricultural
visas in place.
Mrs. Ramirez. Got it. Well, I agree with those two things
here, and I think that vilifying immigrants is really
dangerous. It actually reminds me that it reveals to me that we
have a short memory here. In the 18- and early 1900's,
Italians, Irish, Germans, and others from parts of Europe, who
are the ancestors of many of the people in this room, whom you
carry their last name now with pride, were treated as less than
human. If our country today were to suddenly face increased
migration from that region, I would be with you protecting them
like hell.
So it is really hard for me to watch the very same
grandchildren of these people who were harmed, who were
neglected, who were abandoned and starved, doing the same thing
to others that were done to their grandparents. Which is why
every single chance that I am in this committee, I am going to
remind you of your roots, and I am going to remind you that our
job is to create a kind of policy so that we create legal
pathways, so that people that come to this country from Europe
or from Latin America are able to come here, yes, the legal
way, without experiencing the things they do at the border.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
I now recognize Mr. Strong, a gentleman from Alabama, for 5
minutes.
Mr. Strong. Thank you, Chairman Green.
Chairman Green. Two, maybe 2.
Mr. Strong. We will go quick.
Chairman Green. Five minutes for his questioning.
Mr. Strong. We will go quick.
Mr. Desmond, you recently wrote that millions of local
taxpayer dollars have been diverted to cover the cost
associated with the massed immigration of asylum-seeking
immigrants, money that could have been better spent on our
residents and vital services. Like you, I have serious concerns
about the burden communities face as a consequence of this
administration's border crisis, especially small and rural
communities.
News outlets in Alabama have reported that several
communities have expressed concern over a steady increase in
Haitian immigrants, especially in rural areas which stretch
thin resources. I have heard this very sentiment myself. There
are countless examples of this administration's policies and
failures that have gotten us to this point. One that has come
to the forefront, and, of course, it is Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua,
and Venezuela, which at the end of July this year had paroled
over a half a million migrants into the United States. I sent
my concerns about the CHNV to Secretary Mayorkas over a month
ago. I wish I had an answer to share here today, but I have yet
to receive a response from the Secretary.
Barring that, Mr. Desmond, you, unfortunately, have first-
hand experience with the border crisis this administration has
brought on all of us. Can you speak to the cost your community
has incurred as a result of the surge of migrants and how it
has impacted the services provided to your residents?
Mr. Desmond. Well, thank you. The cost is kind-of hard to
monetize because there's so many different agencies and so many
different elements to it. But I can tell you specifically the
San Diego County itself, we spent $6 million to set up a
migrant receiving center for those being dropped here. We only
had it open for 4 months because we ran out of money. Yes, that
money could have been spent on our roads, infrastructure, and
parks.
But we also have our hospital systems. Many people come
across the border, they're injured because of their long
journey. I'm sure most of you have seen in graphic, you know,
YouTube videos of people dropping their children or their loved
ones over the fence. Many people have broken limbs, things like
that. So we have many paramedic calls that actually go to the
border.
We also have fire calls. When people come over in the cold
of night, they'll burn just about anything they can get their
hands on to stay warm, which is, you know, I understand, but we
all have fire calls and potentially fires and structures that
catch fire along the border. Also, you know, just kind-of the
fear factor itself of people driving boats up onto our beaches
and just walking unimpeded into our communities.
So monetarily, you know, also our San Diego Airport has
migrants sleeping and staying there. So that hurts--you know,
we're a tourist town. That hurts our tourism when you see
migrants sleeping in the airport coming and going.
So there's many, many factors. I don't have an exact
number, but I know it's in the several millions of dollars that
is costing our local taxpayers and that that money should be
staying in San Diego County, not being spent on migrant and
immigration issues. That's the purview of the Federal
Government.
Mr. Strong. I understand what you are talking about. I
served 26 years in local government, 40 years as a firefighter
EMT. I know first-hand what you are talking about, and I
appreciate you being here.
I also find it ironic that those responsible for this
situation that you are in today, Vice President Harris,
Secretary Mayorkas, are 2 of California's finest. It sends a
clear message to every American that if they had allowed this
to happen in their own communities, if they don't care about
what is happening in their own backyards, why would they care,
care about what is happening in Alabama? I think the evidence
is obvious.
Mr. Desmond, you also mentioned witnessing mass street
releases, which buses dropped off hundreds and thousands of
illegal aliens at a time in your communities, many of whom have
no idea where they are or where they are going. It is not just
happening in California. What advice would you give to other
communities, local leaders, county commissioners, mayors, city
councils, facing this exact situation throughout our country?
Mr. Desmond. Well, please speak up and stop it from
happening. I mean, there's not much we can do because we
actually--when they started the drop-offs back in 2022, it was
like 3 days before Christmas. We got a heads-up that the Border
Patrol was there. We're at capacity and we're going to be
dropping migrants at our transit stations. We had to make sure
that, you know, our shelters nearby were not going to be
impacted. We had to make sure local police was there. One of
the drop-off stations didn't even have a bathroom. So we had to
make sure all those types of facilities were there and
available. Local communities, small business--small cities and
communities don't have the resources to immediately write those
kinds of checks. So beg and plead and ask, you know, the
Federal Government to stop this.
We all want to have an immigration system that works. I
take offense to the sheriff's racist comments made earlier, but
we need a system that works. I really think the focus should be
on vetting the people that come across the border. Most people
want to be here and they want to work here. I get that. But we
got to be able to vet and make sure we keep the bad people out.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. Would it be fair to say that the
Biden-Harris administration's policies have better served the
interests of criminal cartels than the American people?
Mr. Desmond. Yes.
Mr. Strong. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. Suozzi, the gentleman from New York,
for 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Suozzi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Morin, I am so sorry. What you have been through.
Nobody knows how you feel. Appreciate you being here and coming
to talk to us like this. Sheriff Hathaway, thank you for your
service. Mr. Desmond, I can only imagine how frustrated you are
as a local official. I was a mayor, I was a county executive.
This is all out of your control and it is being dumped on you
and it is really frustrating. Mr. Heitke, thank you for your
service for so many years. I know you have devoted your life to
your job and your public service. It must be so frustrating to
you as well to see these things happening beyond your control.
We talk about the border crisis, but it is really a
Washington, DC, crisis, because this is not a new phenomenon.
This has been going on for decades. We can go back and forth
about the numbers going up and down. You know, a big impact on
those charts is COVID. When COVID is over, it started going
back up again. You know, now the numbers are down. Mexico is
enforcing its border because the President did his Executive
Order.
So we got to figure out how to get Democrats and
Republicans to work together to address the very real concerns
that every one of you have and that America--what you see in
this room is what is happening all over America every day.
People are just like, what the hell are you guys doing? We are
sick of hearing you just attack each other instead of solving
the problem.
So it is not one thing. It is not one or the other. It is
both sides. We got to secure the border. We have to fix the
broken asylum system, and we got to treat people like human
beings. I mean, those--everybody wants that. I don't care
whether you are the Republican witness, the Democratic witness.
Everybody wants those 3 things. Secure the border. We need more
agents. We need more judges. We can build more wall. We can do
more technology. We can do all the things we have heard the
back and forth here today. We have got to secure the border.
That is a very real thing that has to be done.
No. 2, we got to fix the asylum system. You know, asylum
used to be like, you know, we were happy when the Soviets
sought asylum in America. That was like, yes, they are coming
to us. They are not going to the other guys. Asylum, you know,
you came from Cuba or from Soviet Union. Like, yes, asylum. Now
it is being abused by the cartels and by the organized crime
and the coyotes and teaching people--you know, these people are
all coming here because they want a better life, but we can't
just let everybody in. But people are abusing the asylum
system, and they are gaming the system, saying the right
keywords so they can get into this bureaucratic mess that takes
6 or 7 years to resolve. Eighty-five percent of the people get
denied, ultimately, but people are abusing the system.
We got to fix the asylum system. We got to change the
standards with asylum. We got to stop allowing asylum in
between the ports of entry, which is what the President did in
his Executive Order. It is what the Lankford bill that we have
heard about today, the Lankford-Murphy bill would have done,
but they had these--you had to get 4,500 people and then the
President's Executive Order is 2,500 people. Got to say no,
just no, no asylum in between the ports of entry. Just stop it.
Make you go to a port of entry or make you go to a safe
mobility office somewhere else in the world.
No. 3, you got to treat people like human beings. I think,
I don't know your politics or you know, but most people think
the Dreamers who have been here 20, 30 years, we came as little
kids, you know, they should have a pathway, at least to
legalization. TPS recipients, we invited them here after an
earthquake or a civil war. Give them a pathway to citizenship
or don't even give them citizenship. Give them legalization so
they don't have to worry about being deported tomorrow so they
can go to work.
The Farm Worker Modernization Act, it has been negotiated
bipartisan. Let's make the deal. We got both sides worked it
out.
The Afghan Readjustment Act. There is so many things that
we have worked out to say, yes, let's treat people like human
beings. Well, we got to put these 3 things together.
We have to stop. Every problem we face in America, and
certainly this issue, is complicated. Nothing is simple. But
you cannot solve complicated problems in an environment of fear
and anger when everybody is just yelling and screaming at each
other. You can only solve complicated problems when you get
people on one side and people on the other side to say, I think
this; well, I think that. Well, how about we do this? Well, how
about we do that? You try and find a compromise somewhere in
the middle. That is what I know all of you want to see happen.
That is what I think most people up here want to happen.
I heard Mr. Heitke. Nobody paid attention to what he said
before. He said most of the people are coming over are good
people. You know, most of them just want to go to work. So
let's fix this broken system that we have had for decades. Stop
the BS and try and find common ground so that people like
yourselves who are sitting there and saying to yourselves I am
so sick of these guys going back and forth, can't they just
work it out? That I know you are all thinking in the back of
your heads, like everybody in America is thinking, let's work
it out. Let's work together, let's get it done. I am prepared
to do it. I know lots of Republicans are. Let's try and get
that--make that happen.
Thank you very much. I yield back.
I am sorry I didn't ask any questions, but I had to just
say that. Thank you.
Chairman Green. Thanks. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize the Vice Chair of the committee, Mr. Guest,
for his 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Sheriff, I want to thank you for being with us today and
start a couple questions with you. I see in the statement that
you have prepared, you talk about the fact that you not only
are an elected official there in Arizona, but live very close
to the border, that you and your wife will often go out at
night and walk there along the U.S.-Mexican border.
I have before me from the CBP website some recent
statistics about addressing border encounters along the
Southwest Border and then breaking those border statistics down
into certain sectors. It shows that overall, over the last 12
months, that in many sectors we have begun to see a brief
decrease in the number of border encounters. But the statistics
put out by CBP show that in the Tucson sector, which
encompasses a large portion of the Arizona border, we have seen
a dramatic increase in the last year. The numbers for fiscal
year 2023 were 322,000; for fiscal year 2024, it is 452,000. So
a 40 percent increase in that sector as we have seen the
numbers decrease in the other sector.
So since that is an area of your State, wanted to see if
you can shed any light before the committee as to why we have
seen such a substantial increase. Again, that is one of the
only 2 sectors that we have seen increased numbers over the
last year. So do you have any insight as to why there in the
Tucson sector we've seen a 40-plus percent increase in
encounters within the last 12 months?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes. As Ms. Taylor Greene alluded to,
Nogales, which is in the Tucson sector, is the designated
reporting accumulation area for the CBP One app. So it's the
only place, the primary place for people who are claiming
asylum. They're told to go to Nogales. Whether they show up in
Ciudad Juarez and El Paso or Tijuana, they're told apply via
the CBP One app and go to Nogales. So a lot of people go there,
then they can't get their appointment. The appointment system
is full. They walk across and they self surrender to Border
Patrol. So to me, that's been the main reason for the steady
numbers in that sector.
Mr. Guest. So they are being directed there by the
administration, is that correct?
Mr. Hathaway. By the administration. The CBP One app, which
is a smartphone app for asylum seekers, is not available along
the border, but in Nogales it is. So they're all directed
there, whether they start out making contact in Texas or
Southern California, they're directed to that sector.
Mr. Guest. The testimony of Chief Heitke, he stated that
one of the things that he thought that one of the things that
had driven some of the surge in immigration was the decrease in
detention beds. I know that you had mentioned in your
testimony, Sheriff, about the need for additional immigration
judges, which I support. I support additional immigration
judges because I know the statistics show that in some parts of
the country that there's a 4-5-year backlog. Individuals, once
they come across their country, their first court date at times
can be as long as 4 or 5 years. There is a substantial need for
immigration judges. So I don't disagree with that assessment.
But I also agree with Chief Heitke that detention beds are
an important part of that solution, that as we have immigrants
who are coming across the country, particularly many of which
we are not, in my opinion, properly vetting, and I think that
we have case after case of immigrants who have not been
properly vetted, who have been allowed in the country that
never should have been in. If we had detention beds available
so that we could properly vet those immigrants and then have a
process for those claims to rapidly be heard, that some of the
situations that we see would not have occurred.
So what are your thoughts on additional detention beds? Is
that--and I am not saying that is the only solution. I am not
saying that there is one silver bullet, because I don't believe
that. I believe that there are a multitude of factors that
Congress must take into play if we are going to try to solve
this problem. But do you support additional detention beds for
the proper vetting and to expedite those individuals who are
incarcerated and in those detention beds to be quickly brought
before an immigration judge?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes. If I can speak a little bit on behalf on
the current sector chief and the Tucson Sector Chief Modlin, he
has properly stated that, you know, look, my officers aren't
trained to be detention officers and babysitters, and they've
had to do this detention function. They've also been moved
oftentimes on TDYs to the Rio Grande Valley and to different
areas. So it's not really a function that Border Patrol was
trained for. I'm sure Chief Heitke could attest to the same
thing. It really should be handled by another agency.
Yes, that is a valid concern, but it's not something that
Border Patrol is trained for. Like Secretary Chief Modlin has
always told me, I want my officers back on the line, not
sitting here functioning as detention officers.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am out of time and
now yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. Brecheen for 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Brecheen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Morin, did I pronounce your name correctly? Is it
Marin?
Ms. Morin. Morin. It's French.
Mr. Brecheen. Morin. Thank you very much for being here.
The fact that your daughter was killed by an illegal alien,
sexually assaulted, do you think that the media is paying
attention to these stories to the level that they need to?
Ms. Morin. I do not. The reason why I say that is because
there's been 4 or 5 that have really hit the media and it's
because there are mothers that are speaking out and not
stopping. But there are a lot of women that are assaulted every
day. I think because they're assaulted, but maybe perhaps
because of shame or fear, they're not reporting the assault, or
it's a local police matter that doesn't necessarily hit
national news, so it might just be local news, and/or they
don't have DNA because they're not able to track these
immigrants that have come into the country. Because they don't
know their name, they don't know where they're from, they
don't--they collect DNA from the crime, but then they don't
know where else to go with it, that they just kind-of, like,
hang in limbo.
But there are women that are being attacked every day. I
get letters from across the country. Just in my own, you know,
city, we had 2 murders by illegal immigrants from El Salvador.
I do realize the man that was here earlier that said he was
from Prince George's County, he was a State prosecutor during
Trump's time in office. So he may have seen lower numbers, but
that's not necessarily the state of the country at this moment.
I think that--I'm trying not to take up your time.
Mr. Brecheen. No, I appreciate your response. You know, no
one would want to find themselves in a situation that you have
experienced and, you know, genuine heartfelt condolences being
extended to you. We are so sorry. This committee is so sorry.
Ms. Morin. Can I just say one more thing?
Mr. Brecheen. Of course you can.
Ms. Morin. I think that they hear us speak as mothers, and
they think because we're mothers, you know, that we're
emotional, yes, and we're more attached. But if you actually
saw the bodies and the crimes that are actually being committed
against a human being, it's like an animal dragging a prey into
the woods and attacking them. If they could see how violent
these crimes are. I'm not saying that all immigrants are like
this, but if people are willing to come into the country
illegally, there's something that they're hiding because an
upstanding person would come legally.
Mr. Brecheen. Mr. Heitke, you--San Diego sectors, former
Border Patrol chief there, several decades of experience. Do
you think the American family, the average American family who
hears these stories, has a right to feel less safe? You think
it is justified the feeling across America, of just regular
people sending their sons or daughters into a public space, a
public sphere, where they are not present with that child, that
this validates a heightened concern for their children's
safety?
Mr. Heitke. I do.
Mr. Brecheen. Is this something that you experienced in
your decades of experience, this heightened level of concern?
Was it experienced under the Trump administration at this
level? Or is there something to be said, direct correlation to
this current administration's position on the border?
Mr. Heitke. In my time with the Border Patrol, I have never
seen entire zones that were left without agent presence. I've
never seen that before.
Mr. Brecheen. Mr. Desmond, you are over the San Diego
sector. What is interesting is in 2023, with 1,200 miles of
border wall, of a 2,000-mile border wall, Texas has more than
the majority of the border wall. We know by reports of what
Texas is doing to secure their border, they went from being 60
percent of the encounters to last--first half of this year, 40
percent, even though they have more than half. So that is being
shifted. We know San Diego is being one of the areas that
population is going because Texas is having to do what the
Federal Government should be doing. You all are seeing this.
Are people--the feel of the average American who feels less
safe, are they misinformed?
Mr. Desmond. No, they are not misinformed. Many of them
see, you know, the effects of it, particularly our beach
communities. We get 3 or 4 boats every week that just beach
themselves and people walking into the communities, without law
enforcement even able to do anything.
Unfortunately, California is a sanctuary State, and our law
enforcement, as the chief had mentioned, is prohibited from
enforcing any immigration law. They're actually prohibited from
even asking someone what their immigration status is. So even
though somebody just jumped off a boat and is walking through
your neighborhood and you know is there illegally, our local
law enforcement can't do a thing and people are upset about it.
Mr. Brecheen. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize Mr. Crane, the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. Crane. Thank you.
Chairman Green. From a border State, for his 5 minutes.
Mr. Crane. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Morin, thank you so much for coming here. I want to
thank the panelists for coming as well.
Ms. Morin, in your opinion, how many more beautiful young
Americans must be brutalized, raped, and killed by people who
weren't supposed to be here in the first place before this
administration does anything about it?
Ms. Morin. There should be none. They should have--my
goodness. When, in February 2023, media blasted all over
national TV stations, all over the United States, pictures of
hundreds of thousands of immigrants swarming toward our
Southern Border, Harris--the Biden and Harris administration
could have stopped it before they even reached the border. They
could have said, stay in your country or stay in Mexico, and
then vet them one by one. So they saw them coming and they
opened the doors and just allowed everyone to come in.
Mr. Crane. Thank you. Sheriff, why do you believe that
border walls are racist?
Mr. Hathaway. Well, Reagan was against border walls. He
told Mikhail Gorbachev, tear down this wall. The Soviet Union
said they were emerging into an era of freedom, and he said,
prove it, tear down the walls. Only 8 percent of the world's
land borders have any structure at all. Not a wall, not a
fence, not even a line of rocks. If you go through Europe,
Asia, Africa, Latin America, even the Canadian border.
Mr. Crane. That is not what I asked you, Sheriff. I said,
why do you believe they are racist? You said in your written
testimony, ``and certain policies smack of racism. For example,
a wall was never suggestion suggested for the Canadian
border.''
Mr. Hathaway. Well, yes, the Canadian border is known as
a--generally a white population, whereas the Southwestern
Border is generally a brown population. So it smacks of racism.
Title 42 was never----
Mr. Crane. Sheriff?
Mr. Hathaway [continuing]. Aggressively enforced on the
Canadian border.
Mr. Crane. Sheriff, do you think that if the mass majority
of illegal immigration coming into the United States of America
was coming from the Northern Border, that Americans would
demand the same thing?
Mr. Hathaway. I don't know.
Mr. Crane. I think you probably do know that, sir, because
it is not about race with the American people. Matter of fact,
most American people support legal immigration. It is the
illegal immigration. It has nothing to do with race.
Sheriff, do you have a wall at your house?
Mr. Hathaway. A what?
Mr. Crane. Do you have a wall at your house, Sheriff?
Mr. Hathaway. No, I do not.
Mr. Crane. Do you have a front door on your house?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, I do.
Mr. Crane. Why not just leave it open, Sheriff?
Mr. Hathaway. I leave it unlocked, but, you know, I do have
a door.
Mr. Crane. Yes, most people have walls and doors on their
house not because they hate the other people on the outside. It
is because they love the people on the inside.
Sheriff, what about prison? What about prisons, Sheriff?
They have walls around them as well. Are those racist?
Mr. Hathaway. No, I would say they're not.
Mr. Crane. Yes, they are not. What about the White House?
It has a wall around it too, as well, doesn't it? Do you think
that is racist? Do you think----
Mr. Hathaway. I didn't say that walls are generically
racist.
Mr. Crane. OK. Well, you said, ``and certain policies smack
of racism.''
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, it does. Proposing a wall on the
Southern Border and not the Canadian border, that's racist.
Mr. Crane. Well, I just told you. Where's the majority of
illegal immigration coming into the United States, sir?
Northern or Southern Border? Go ahead.
Mr. Hathaway. Probably the Southern Border.
Mr. Crane. Yes, you know it is. OK. Thank you. All right.
Sheriff, did you have to swear an oath to the Constitution
of the United States to become sheriff?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, I have, multiple times.
Mr. Crane. Are you familiar with Article IV, Section 4 of
the Constitution, Sheriff?
Mr. Hathaway. Can you remind me what it says?
Mr. Crane. It is often known as the invasion clause. U.S.
Government guarantees the protection of our States from
invasion and domestic violence.
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, I've heard that.
Mr. Crane. OK. So could it be, Sheriff, that part of the
reason we suggested a border wall because anybody that knows
security understands that a wall is just one part of a security
system designed to keep our citizens safe of all races? Could
that be it, Sheriff, and maybe not racism?
Mr. Hathaway. No, I don't think there's an invasion.
There's not a clause been activated in the Constitution that,
you know, suggests that this is an invasion. It's not an
invasion.
Mr. Crane. OK. Yes, well----
Mr. Hathaway. It's the same thing I've seen my whole life.
Mr. Crane. Yes, well, I think Ms. Morin and other moms who
have lost their children, brutally raped, murdered, dragged off
into the woods, would highly disagree with that comment. If you
looked at the data in the graph that has been presented here
today, it is obviously an invasion.
Mr. Hathaway. It's not a matter of----
Mr. Crane. So much so--hold on, I am not done yet. So much
so that Kamala Harris has actually changed her position now on
border security because she realizes what a complete
catastrophe it is.
Mr. Heitke, you have been a Border Patrol chief. Do you
agree with Sheriff Hathaway here that implementing a wall as
part of a security system is racist?
Mr. Heitke. No, I do not.
Mr. Crane. Have you ever seen a wall that stopped one race
of people from getting in and allowed other races of people to
come into the country? Have you ever seen that?
Mr. Heitke. No.
Mr. Crane. Didn't think so.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields. I now recognize the
gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Menendez, for 5 minutes of
questioning.
Mr. Menendez. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Ranking
Member. Thank you to our panelists.
This is my first term in office and I represent a district
where over 40 percent of the people that live there were born
outside the country. So I care deeply about our immigration
policy. The first trip I took as a Member was to our Southern
Border because I care that we get it right there as well for
our border communities and for communities throughout the
country. I care about both parts of this conversation.
The other week, we remembered those who were lost in 9/11.
This was a select committee after 9/11 to make sure that we
protect the homeland from threats, domestic and foreign. I had
great hopes this committee would be a place that we could
engage with our colleagues in a meaningful way to take on these
challenges. I feel like I have tried in my individual capacity
to do that work.
But there is a long history on this committee, this
Congress, of opportunities to come together where we have not
been met halfway. We marked up H.R. 2, the Republican priority
bill on the border, which would have caused the loss of human
life on American soil because of the handcuffs that they would
have put on NGO's that operate along the border to help other
human beings.
We have talked about the funding request the President has
made for more CBP officers to ensure that we have the latest
technology for fentanyl detection. It was ignored.
I know other colleagues have talked about the Senate border
deal that was negotiated with Republicans, one of the most
conservative Republicans in the Senate. Never even got to the
House.
We had and we consumed this committee's staff with an
impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas. I think there were 5
impeachment reports that they put together to try to make the
case. They didn't call 1 constitutional expert to come talk
about high crimes and misdemeanors.
I mean, so when we as Democrats are frustrated, we share
the frustration with the American people who look to us and
want us to get things done. We know we have to work across the
aisle because we are the Minority party. That is what we came
here to do. Every step along the way, we have been frustrated,
even on H.R. 2.
Blue Lotus, an administrative operation to combat fentanyl,
I introduced an amendment to give legislative authority for
future administrations through the same program. Not a
Republican voted for it. On their own bill, a single amendment
that dealt with fentanyl, not one Republican voted for it. Show
me where the good faith effort is. Just show me, because we
have done the work. You have listened to all of our colleagues
who are frustrated. People in the Senate who negotiated a deal,
didn't even get a vote on it.
So we are frustrated. It is not partisan, it is not
political games. It is not political theater. It is not what we
came here to do. I almost didn't even come down to this meeting
because I am so frustrated. I am so sorry. Especially so sorry
for your loss and for so many like you who have experienced
such devastating loss. I am sorry. That is why I signed up for
this job, to try to fix the things that are broken in this
country.
Our immigration system is broken. We feel that no matter
where we live. We have an obligation to do something about it.
I want to do something about it.
I believe we have folks who have worked in CBP. We have
folks who are sheriffs. Do you look to Congress and us as
legislators for solutions to some of the challenges that you're
all facing?
Mr. Heitke. Yes.
Mr. Menendez. Sir?
Mr. Hathaway. Yes, definitely. I consider that to be your
job.
Mr. Menendez. It is. If I were a resident where you are a
sheriff, I would look for you to make sure that our communities
are safe. This is a two-way street. We listen. We show up to
these committee hearings and listen to all the things that you
are facing, that Border Patrol agents are facing, that border
communities are facing. We listen and I just wish we were doing
more.
So just know that I am committed to trying to take on these
challenges. So many of us really are. You may not see that here
in this committee. You may not see that today. Rest assured, we
are going to keep trying, and we are going to try to get to
better places for all residents, both of our districts and
throughout the country. So thank you all for being here today.
Thank you for all that you do to advocate for these issues.
I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
I now recognize the Ranking Member, the acting Ranking
Member, for his closing statement.
Mr. Correa. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Again, I
want to thank the witnesses for being here today.
Ms. Morin, again, my condolences to you and your family. We
are doing everything we can to make sure that we go after those
animals that would do the things that were done to your
children--to your daughter. One is way too many victims.
Mr. Chairman, as I look at this committee, I think today is
the last full committee hearing before the election. I cannot
but say that I am disappointed with today's hearing because we
are 50, 60 days away from an election and a lot of the stuff I
heard today was really focused on the election. Their fault,
our fault. Statistics. Back home, people want solutions from
us. I don't hear a lot of solutions today.
Mr. Heitke, I started talking to you a little bit, just a
little bit, about the resources. You talked about many places
along the border that don't have the personnel. As I told you,
earlier today, I met with the president of one of your local
organizations on the border. We discussed the fact that in
about 2 or 3 years, you are going to have a tsunami of border
agents retiring because most of them were hired after 9/11.
There is a mandatory retirement age. I have not heard any
discussion about how to replace them, how to hire them. We
talked about the fact that this country has a massive debt.
What are we going to do to increase the funding for our border
security when we have a national debt? No solutions discussed.
Mr. Desmond, you are a San Diego County Board of
Supervisors. I was the Orange County Board. A lot of ag in your
area, I think. Should we deport all those undocumented workers
out there? The answer is probably not. But we should give them
a pathway to citizenship or just a pathway to be able to work
in this country because they are the ones that produce our
food. I have not heard of any solutions to fixing the problem
for those that have been waiting in line 20, 30 years. A lot of
them are my constituents as well as they are yours. We haven't
given you a solution.
Mr. Hathaway--Sheriff Hathaway, man, I can only imagine
what you go through at your town, 80, 90 percent Latino. I will
give you a little secret. I know racism doesn't exist, but I
can't tell you how many times I have been pulled over by ICE to
demand what, you know, my citizenship was. That is OK, I will
comply. But it is only folks that kind-of look like me that
have that treatment. I know it is national security. It is
nothing but that.
But you, my friend, are responding to your constituents, to
your taxpayers, to your voters that say we expect certain
respect from the Government, from the sheriff. We want streets
that are safe. We want to make sure there is a--policies that
enable us to live like human beings and not have to fear police
officers. We spent 20 years in the county of Orange trying to
make sure that the people that lived in the shadows didn't fear
reporting crimes to police. That is good policing. We are not a
police state. The United States is not a police state. We have
to have cooperation form our population to make sure we have
safe streets.
You, Sheriff, have a tough job, but you are not alone. The
numbers, that beautiful chart out there, speaks volumes. But
what is not on that chart is the story behind a lot of those
numbers.
We didn't talk about the COVID pandemic that devastated not
only the United States, half the countries in Latin America are
nonfunctional right now. You go to Honduras, that economy is on
life line. Other countries in Latin America, Colombia right now
has about 4 million Venezuelan refugees. Costa Rica, ditto
Mexico, trying to figure out a handle to the problem.
By the way, the other issue nobody talked about today is
Mexico's cooperation with the United States today. They are our
biggest trading partner and they are stepping up to the plate.
It is never enough. But, you know, we want to work on a
solution. For example, safe pathways to the United States to
work and also databases that track those criminals, so Ms.
Morin's situation is not repeated. Those are real solutions
that we are working on and we can continue to work on.
Dreamers. OK? That population of kids who are here, now
adults, some of them that actually have made the ultimate
sacrifice in the military for our country and whose families
are still living in the shadows, it is not an issue for
Homeland Security, but it is connected to Homeland Security.
You know, former Secretary of Homeland Security General
Kelly, who used to be President Trump's chief of staff, would
say border security does not start or end at the border. If
anything negative gets to the border, you are already too late.
He was in charge of SouthCom, which is the Southern Command,
U.S. military in Latin America. He understood that it wasn't
about the border, but it was about the region. I didn't hear
any discussion about these issues today.
Mr. Chairman, we have got a lot of work to do. It is not
your fault. It is not their fault. It is our job to fix these
problems. The American taxpayers are asking us to be practical
and do it. Sixty days out and we are talking essentially
political rhetoric here about the election.
You know, Senator Lankford, he's a guy I talk to a lot. He
put his neck out in the line as an elected official to come up
with an immigration solution. He really worked hard. I looked
at his--and I said, Jim, you are really going to go out on the
limb here, man? Nobody has been able to succeed for 30 years.
He said, this is the right thing to do, an immigration
solution, a border solution. Then former President Trump came
out and said, kill it. He is a conservative Republican from
Oklahoma trying to do the right thing for America, and that is
what his reward is.
We have to change the rhetoric. We are all Americans. We
are all expecting our Federal Government, the U.S. Congress, to
solve the problems. You know, most of us here are married. Do
you ever go home and say, I get 100 percent on the decisions
with my wife, your spouse? Of course not. You negotiate the
deal, and if you get most of it, you have cut a good deal. You
don't agree 100 percent with your wife, with your spouse when
you are cutting the deals. Why do we expect to come to Congress
and agree 100 percent with the other side?
Hope you can move forward. Homeland Security was designed,
this committee, that agency was designed after 9/11 to work
together, not as a partisan committee, but as a committee that
worked across the aisle to protect Americans from foreign and
domestic terrorism. We have to get back to doing our job and
doing it right.
We have got the Secret Service that is also under our
jurisdiction, and they are having a hell of a time protecting
our Presidential candidates. Those 2 articles I submitted for
the record today are a glimpse that the rest of the world is
scared to death because they see our American democracy on the
brink of failure. That does not speak well of the job we are
doing here in Congress. Put partisanship aside and start
working to stabilize this country and do what our taxpayers
expect us to do.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields. I now recognize
myself for a closing statement.
I want to thank you all for attending today. A very
important hearing, and I especially thank our witnesses: Chief
Heitke, Supervisor Desmond, Ms. Morin, Sheriff Hathaway, your
testimonies, they have certainly stuck with me and I know will
continue to deeply affect the American people.
Ms. Morin, my heart is with you and your family. I want to
thank you for your courage today to tell Rachel's story. What
happened is unimaginable. You are right, it was completely
preventable. There are tons of stories like yours. Thousands of
American families. We have to put a stop to this. To hear today
from you that the person who did this to your daughter walked
across our Southern Border, a policy that had been in place to
do DNA testing would have identified him as a murderer fleeing
his own country, a policy that was done away with by this
administration, led to the death of your daughter. It will be
real hard to convince me otherwise.
Mr. Heitke, thank you for your valuable testimony. I want
to thank you for your years of service to the country. You have
kept our Nation safe through 5 administrations. You have got
first-hand experience. What you said today in your 5 minutes,
to me, is devastating to the policy decisions that this
administration has made. You were very clear that they
decreased returning people to other countries. They decreased
detention. It was purposeful policy changes, intentional. It
led to massive increases in migration to our country. Then you
were told to hide it so the media couldn't see it.
You shared stories of human trafficking, sex trafficking of
little girls. Secondary to this wave because you are
overwhelmed with resources, which was secondary to the policy
changes. You told us today of the incredible tragic increases
in suicides amongst Border Patrol. Your exact words in your
testimony correlated directly to the increase in migration
caused by those failed policies and the removal of policies.
You know, Mr. Correa, I love this gentleman. He is a great
man. He talked about resources is the problem. Many, many
people here have talked about, well, we got to have----
Mr. Correa. I am one of them.
Chairman Green. One of many, but OK. But if you implement
policies and refuse to let people do their job, more people
aren't going to solve the problem. Oh, by the way, H.R. 2, the
bill we passed, increased the number of Border Patrol agents,
but, you know.
Mr. Desmond, we appreciate you being here with us today as
well. San Diego County has seen some of the worst of this
border crisis. It does start at the top. It starts with
President Biden and Vice President Harris. I want to thank you
for shedding some light on the situation in California and the
realities of this crisis.
I really appreciated you talking about the fact that your
State has ordered Federal people and other people not to ask
certain legal questions that are in the laws passed by this
body. Ignore the laws. That is like saying, you know that
Constitution that says this body writes the law, this body
executes the law, this body adjudicates the law? We don't care
about that. We are just going to pick and choose which laws we
enforce. You don't like a law, you change it. That is a threat
to democracy as far as I am concerned.
Sheriff Hathaway, I want to thank you for coming and for
your service to your community. I totally disagree with you
that the border wall is racist. I think that is absurd. I
really appreciate the question Mr. Crane had. Is a wall going
to pick and choose which person it blocks? I will tell you, the
last time I was at the border, it was a group, a huge group of
Russians coming in. They are more white than I am. Stupid
actually, it is absolutely stupid to suggest that walls and the
attempt to enforce our laws is somehow racist. But I do
appreciate you coming.
The truth is there are 2 competing visions for our country.
That is it. On the one hand, some of us are fighting like hell
to enforce the laws of our country, to go back to that
Constitution that says this group writes the laws, this group
enforces the laws, and we are prioritizing the well-being and
the safety of American citizens. Yet, on the other hand, we
have an administration led by President Joe Biden and Vice
President Kamala Harris that couldn't care less about those
laws as evidenced by their actions, pure and simple. It is
inescapably clear that the Biden administration, and Harris
along with him, ended effective border policies with no
alternatives in place to secure our border. They implemented an
unlawful policy of mass catch and release, and they gutted
interior enforcement, casting aside their responsibility to
enforce the laws that they swore to uphold. They have continued
to deceive the American people about it. Let's hide these
people. Let's fly them to Texas.
The truth is Americans no longer feel safe in their
communities. A little baby crawling on a floor in a VRBO in
Florida is dead because of the fentanyl brought across our
porous, open Southern Border that a witness today said has been
left wide open so we can process more people into the country.
Millions of Americans have lost loved ones to fentanyl.
Americans who can't afford housing, whose insurance premiums
have shot up, forced to watch as lawbreakers have been rewarded
with free housing and benefits.
One of our--I think it was you, Sheriff Hathaway, earlier,
talked about not impacting inflation. I am sorry. If 12 million
people walk into the country, we can't just suddenly make a
dairy for milk. There is this thing called the supply-demand
curve. Basic economics. If you increase the demand without a
change in supply, the price is going to go up. It is just basic
economics.
You know, I thought spending almost 2 years investigating
this border crisis would have more of an impact on the other
side of the aisle. I thought laying out the human cost of this
crisis, bringing in people like Ms. Morin, especially the cost
of innocent women, children being trafficked, would have an
impact. I thought telling the stories of those who have been
victimized by criminal illegal aliens would weigh on their
conscience. I thought bringing recognition to the memorandum
written by the Secretary telling his people to ignore the laws
passed by Congress and let felons into the country instead of
detaining them would make a difference. I thought laying out
the financial cost of this crisis to the American communities
would make them think twice. I thought explaining how the
crisis is overwhelming law enforcement officers would garner a
little sympathy. I thought laying out in painstaking detail how
this crisis is compromising our national security. Eight ISIS
guys caught in New York, Jordanians trying to storm military
installation, and the ISIS guys used the CBP One app. I thought
it would be a wake-up call to the administration. I was wrong.
Instead, we have been ignored and we have been maligned.
This administration is just as unwilling to end this border
crisis as it was when we began these investigations. That
crappy bill put together in the Senate to give them
justification, that didn't pass the Senate, by the way. So we
talk about how, you know, we should have--it didn't even pass
the Senate.
Of course they bring up the cat story. You know, I don't
care about that. I care about Laken Riley, who is dead. I care
about your daughter, who is dead. Let's talk about that.
Instead, they are talking about all this other stuff that just
doesn't matter.
It is clear to me, to this committee, to Congress, and the
American people that Biden-Harris administration is hell-bent
on keeping our borders wide open. This deception with the CBP
One app just--it is not decreasing the flow. It is
characterizing them in another way. All we are being told is
that the crisis is somehow over because a couple of months of
low crossing numbers, a shell game, as if that fixes the damage
of the past 3\1/2\ years, and ignores the objective reality
that the numbers are still at crisis levels. Millions continue
to enter our country through illegitimate means, like these
mass parole programs.
From Day 1, this administration has refused to enforce the
laws of our Nation and eliminated effective border policies. As
a result, we have members of the most dangerous criminal
cartels streaming into our country, linking up with gangs,
creating a crime nexus, bringing drugs and crime with them. It
is unsustainable. To say, well, we need guest workers, so open
borders are OK, is absurd.
It is also absurd, or at the very least contradictory, the
claim that most of these immigrants are coming to work, when in
reality, most are attempting to claim asylum. So which one is
it? If they come and say, hey, I am here to work, well, cool,
we have this legal pathway. No, they are saying, I am claiming
asylum. So which is it? Are they coming out of credible fear
for their life and safety or are they coming as economic
migrants? You can't have it both ways.
I honestly don't know how anyone can listen to the stories
we have heard today and still stand by Biden-Harris
administration's reckless policies, policies that are killing
Americans and compromising our national security. Exactly 1
week ago, Members of this committee went to Ground Zero, the
World Trade Center, to remember Americans killed on 9/11 and to
honor the first responders who gave their lives. Nineteen men,
that all took--that is all it took to take the lives of nearly
3,000 Americans. Yet our Border Patrol has stopped 384
suspected terrorists trying to get in. How many more of them
are in the 2 million gotaways? Known gotaways, not even the
ones that walked across while chief of the border sector said
there was nobody there watching.
Last, let me just point out how intentional this plan is.
Its expansion of the CBP One app funneled hundreds of thousands
of inadmissible aliens to ports of entry and then into the
interior of this country. This is a major end-around to our
lawful immigration system. As NBC News recently reported, even
individuals with terrorist connections have been allowed in
through this program. Well, we know who those are. Some of
them, anyway.
Additionally, massive fraud was discovered in the Cuban,
Haitian, Nicaragua, and Venezuelan mass parole program which
allowed 30,000 inadmissible aliens into the country each month.
Yet it is back up and running even after reports from the folks
at DHS claim they knew it is against the law and after reports
that the CHNV parolees have committed grave sexual crimes since
arriving here.
Simultaneously, this administration allows border wall
materials to rust in the desert instead of choosing to build
the wall we have already paid for. In short, the Biden
administration, Biden-Harris administration is doing everything
in its power to perpetuate this border crisis. Any claims to
the contrary is misleading at its least.
The truth is that even President Biden--even if President
Biden shuts the border down tomorrow, it will not undo the
damage this administration has caused over the last 3\1/2\
years. Rachel Morin's death can't be undone. Laken Riley can't
be brought back. The heartbreak felt by those who have lost a
loved one because of this border crisis cannot be fixed. How
many times have we sat here and held hearings over the
lawlessness of this administration and its refusal to obey the
laws and secure our borders?
We have passed legislation only to be ignored by Democrats.
We have held Cabinet officials accountable. Again, ignored by
Democrats. It was brought up today by one of my colleagues
about this impeachment. I am sorry, if you have a Cabinet
Secretary who just gets to do whatever they want and not follow
the laws of Congress, why do we have a Congress in the first
place? But I guess Congress shouldn't feel--don't feel
offended, right? Because the President was told by the Supreme
Court he can't pay off student loans. He said, I don't care. I
am going to do it anyway. I guess we don't need a Supreme Court
either. We should just have a king.
It doesn't have to be like this. It cannot continue to be
like this. I am going to fight as long as I have the strength
to ensure that we return to some form of law and order and
sanity on this issue. There has to be change. Something has got
to give. We need to secure our border and we need to do it now.
I thank the witnesses for their valuable testimony and the
Members for their questions on both sides. The Members of the
subcommittee may have some additional questions for the
witnesses. We would like to ask the witnesses to respond to
those in writing. Pursuant to committee rule VII(D), the
hearing record will be held open for 10 days for those.
Without objection, this committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:05 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Supplemental Prepared Statement of Aaron Heitke
September 18, 2024
The only true consequence we have to slow down and discourage
people from coming to the United States illegally is sending them back
to their country of origin. Sending them all the way back to their
country of origin not only brings them back to their country of
citizenship but places an enormous financial, physical, and mental
impact on them. They will have to start all over again. That impact
does deter people from trying again and deters those that are thinking
about making the trip. As we have seen over the past 3+ years,
releasing people into the United States regardless of what status they
are released on, has the opposite effect. It encourages people to come
and there is no end to the number of people who want to come here.
Throughout the first 3+ years of this admin, I saw a steady
decrease in countries we could send people back to. As I am sure most
of you know, we cannot simply fill a plane up with citizens from X
country and send them back. We must have an agreement with that
country. This requires coordination with the State Department and the
country involved. Whether purposeful or through neglect these
agreements were allowed to lapse and few to no new agreements were
made. Many different excuses were given for why the numbers of these
agreements continued to decline but this was the first time in my 25
years and 5 different administrations that I saw this large-scale lapse
in our ability to return people to their country of origin.
The inability to send people home meant that most people being
arrested at the border for illegal entry would either have to be
detained or released. The current administration has, from Day 1, made
a point of decreasing the amount of Federal detention space available
nationwide. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's funding for detention
space has steadily been cut. Regardless of the reasons for the cuts in
detention space, these losses meant that more people would have to be
released into the United States. This administration also cut private
detention centers that held Federal prisoners. This not only impacted
Customs and Border Protection, but it also impacted every Federal law
enforcement agency. Throughout my time in San Diego, I had regular
meetings with the U.S. Attorney along with the heads of all the Federal
law enforcement agencies. Our main topic of discussion was jail space.
Cases would not be taken for prosecution because we could not hold the
suspects and/or witnesses for hearings. Again, this wasn't just
immigration cases. It had a dramatic impact on narcotics smuggling
cases. Individuals smuggling substantial amounts of methamphetamine and
even fentanyl were cited and released for lack of jail space.
Information travels faster in our world now than ever before. The
fact that so many illegal aliens were being released into the United
States spread world-wide very quickly. As this happened the numbers the
Border Patrol encountered illegally crossing the border increased
exponentially. It started in Texas and spread across the entire
Southern Border and to some extent to the Northern Border.
With the policies put in place by this administration along with
the systematic decrease in detention and the ability to return illegal
aliens to their countries of origin, Border Patrol Sectors across the
Nation were overwhelmed. To add to this problem this administration,
along with the Border Patrol leadership, made a colossal mistake.
Sectors were ordered to take in and process all the illegal aliens
encountered on the border. Since there was no detention available,
makeshift tents or soft-sided facilities were set up across the border
to temporarily house the masses coming in. Border Patrol saw groups of
hundreds and thousands coming into the United States and turning
themselves in since they knew they would be released. These numbers
pulled 80-90 percent, sometimes 100 percent of the agents on duty away
from the field. All they had time to do was transport people from the
border, care and feed them in detention, process them for release and
finally release them. This went on for years and is still happening
today.
The major problem with this is that there is no one at the border
trying to arrest those people who really do not want to be caught.
Obviously, the narcotic smugglers, terrorists, cartel affiliates and
other people with serious criminal histories do not turn themselves in.
They know that if arrested they will go to prison. However, because
most agents were now otherwise occupied, these criminals had free
passage into the United States. Nationwide Border Patrol zones across
Texas, Arizona, and California had no agent presence. Those who did not
want to be caught could simply walk in. We have no idea who and what
entered our country over this time. We did our best to count gotaways
nationwide, but this is little more than an educated guess. I was
ordered to send agents from California to Texas and Arizona to help
count gotaways. Those sectors simply had no one to even go to the field
and try and figure out what they missed. This occurred throughout 2022
and 2023.
To make things even worse, this administration ordered the Border
Patrol to stop using force of any kind to keep aliens from entering the
United States. This was the first time in Border Patrol history that
force could not be used on the border to keep people out. This meant
that agents had to stand aside and watch as thousands of people
illegally crossed the border. The administration knew that once the
aliens were in the United States they would have to be taken into
custody. This blew open the already overflowing border.
Another significant impact of having all the Border Patrol Agents
transporting and providing care and feeding to the masses of illegal
aliens is that secondary operations are not possible. One example of
this is DNA testing. The Border Patrol has a court order requiring DNA
testing among those arrested. Because of the mass amounts of people, no
resources and Headquarters leadership being more concerned with media
reports and idle complaints, DNA testing has not been accomplished and
still is not today. There simply is not time, space, or money to do it.
I sent requests for additional support and relayed that under the
circumstances we could not test. My requests were ignored. DNA testing
was not performed throughout 2022 and 2023, not because we did not want
to but because we were not provided the necessary resources to
accomplish it. The masses of aliens and lack of resources also
prevented agents from being able to properly talk to people in custody
to find out if trafficking was occurring or if they had suffered abuse
along their journey. We were pushed to move them as fast as possible
for release, which prevented agents from being able to find other
problems and provide help to those suffering.
While all of this was happening in San Diego we had an exponential
increase in Significant Interest Aliens. This trend continues to this
day. These people have potential ties to terrorism or other forms of
organized crime or espionage. Prior to this administration, the San
Diego sector averaged 10-15 SIAs per year. Once word was out that the
border was far easier to cross, San Diego went to just over 100 SIAs in
2022 and way over 100 SIAs in 2023 and more than that this year. These
are only the ones we caught. The SIA's arrested in San Diego were
significant people in the criminal world. They were not recruiters or
fundraisers for terrorism, they were actual operators with histories of
doing bad things and extensive ties to very dangerous people and
organizations. These people were from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Turkey, Afghanistan, China, and Russia just to name a few.
At this time, I was told I could not release any information on
this increase in SIA's or mention any of the arrests. At the time, the
administration was trying to convince the public that there was no
threat at the border. To further this problem, although we continued to
ask for help in questioning and looking more into why these people were
coming, we received no help. As of today, this trend continues and as
of today no help has been sent. No additional assets from the CIA, FBI,
or any other agency. Again, this administration and current Border
Patrol leadership would rather ignore the problem and keep it from the
public rather than admit their mistakes.
Many people think this is only a Border Patrol problem, that the
other law enforcement agencies in these areas, whether local, State, or
Federal, can pick up the slack. What they do not realize is that the
Border Patrol provides detailed agents to task force operations across
the country. This includes State and Federal gang task forces, DEA drug
task forces, FBI safe streets and terrorism task forces, just to name a
few. During my time in San Diego, I had to recall all the detailed
agents. We were overwhelmed with sheer numbers and needed everyone we
had. This impacted all of our partners' ability to perform their
missions successfully. To add to this, the extra immigration traffic
took up more of the limited detention space which meant other Federal
agencies couldn't prosecute as many cases. Finally, the sheer numbers
of people moving through the border area in San Diego and being
released in San Diego itself brought with it more calls for service for
the State and local agencies, taxing their ability to perform their
mission.
During my last year in San Diego, the prices of methamphetamine and
fentanyl on the street decreased drastically. A single fentanyl pill,
for example, went from $10 to 25 cents. This meant that the market was
completely saturated with drugs. With most agents out of the field and
the border being open in many areas the amount of narcotics entering
the country skyrocketed. During my time in San Diego, I hosted United
States Attorneys, Sheriffs, Chiefs of Police, and countless others who
came to our area to see where the narcotics coming into their regions
were crossing the border. San Diego has been the main crossing point
for hard narcotics coming into the United States for many years;
however, with few to no agents able to work the field, the amounts
crossing skyrocketed and leaders across the West and Midwest noticed
the difference. The San Diego area, between OFO and BP, seize between
80-90 percent of the methamphetamine and fentanyl annually in the
United States.
The large numbers of aliens at the border are not only an impact to
Border Patrol. The Office of Field Operations was inundated at San
Ysidro and was forced to limit their inspections of both people and
cargo while they dealt and continued to deal with the influx. OFO also
provided support to us with help processing and holding extra people
again limiting the amount of inspections they could do and further
increasing the amounts of narcotics entering the country.
To make matters worse, during 2022 and 2023 I had to shut the San
Diego traffic checkpoints down because of lack of resources. I needed
every agent to handle care and feeding. These checkpoints are the only
second layer of defense to detect what is missed at the border.
Those moving narcotics took advantage of the lack of security which
was shown by the substantial increase in the size of the narcotic
loads. When the smugglers feel they may lose loads they run smaller
amounts to alleviate the risk. When they are confident, they run
copious amounts. In San Diego and San Ysidro, we started seeing
multiple thousand-pound loads of methamphetamine and multiple 100-
pound+ loads of fentanyl. The smugglers have become confident because
the enforcement is otherwise occupied.
The large numbers also had and still have a negative impact on the
San Diego community. When we were arresting thousands of illegal aliens
a day I had to release them by the hundreds each day into San Diego.
When I was releasing thousands of people into San Diego the local
community could not handle the volume. I received calls from the
Governor's office, local mayors, and law enforcement leaders as well as
the heads of local charities that were trying to find accommodations
for all these people. They all asked that I stop releasing people into
the community. I told them I could not.
Once a person is processed and determined to be a release it is a
4th Amendment violation to keep them in detention. Also, because of
appropriations law, I could not spend any Government funds to house,
transport, or feed them once they were set for release. I then received
calls from my headquarters telling me to stop releasing into the city.
Again, I told them I could not for the same reasons and told them if
they wanted to order me not to, I needed it in writing. That order
never came. I was then told to process the aliens to 99 percent just
leave 1 signature off so the aliens were not completely set for
release, and we could still hold them. Again, I told them if this was
an order, I needed it in writing. Again, that order never came as it
would have been illegal. Since they could not make me stop releasing
people into San Diego they started 2 flights a week from San Diego to
Texas. These flights simply brought aliens that would have been
released in San Diego over to Texas where they were released. Each
flight cost approximately $150,000. When I questioned the waste of time
and money I was told because there is a problem in Texas but there is
not a problem in California. It was the administration's way of trying
to quiet the border-wide crisis.
Once the large numbers started to impact Texas, I started asking my
headquarters why we could not identify each individual as a threat or
not and then simply move on. As Border Patrol we have no obligation to
process each alien encountered. The job of a Border Patrol agent is to
identify and stop threats. If we wanted to keep doing that, we had to
alleviate the time spent with the masses. I suggested that we easily
could, and we would still be well within policy and law. Those aliens
not deemed a threat would move onto ICE and Citizen and Immigration
Services who are responsible for this portion of the process. This is
where the Border Patrol made a huge mistake. It was decided that Border
Patrol could handle the processing and maintain operations. The
attitude was if not us who? I continued to press the issue as the
numbers came across the entire border and San Diego in particular. I
was told that if the aliens were not processed, they could not travel
or apply for benefits. This pressure came down from the administration.
Finally, as I pressed the issue with my headquarters, I was told that I
could easily be replaced. My headquarters simply did not want to hear
any alternative idea and preferred to claim they had things under
control. Once the numbers of aliens being released in San Diego became
more than the area could deal with the State of California and the
Federal Government rented hotels in San Diego to house the people. One
hotel was set up to be the intake center. At this point aliens being
released were given rooms, money, cell phones, and put in contact with
charitable organizations to help them. Those working the hotel refer to
it as the ``migrant experience.'' A one-stop shop for everything the
aliens could need. All at taxpayer expense.
The need for the aliens to be given some kind of United States
paperwork to help them receive assistance was so great that State and
local agencies called me to ask if they could bring illegal aliens into
our stations so they could be processed and given their ``travel
document.'' This obviously violated SB54 but that was brushed under the
rug because the people asking to bring in the aliens were the ones
supporting the law.
The financial cost for health care of all these illegal aliens was
so high I received calls from State and local political offices and
hospital administrators asking if they could bring patients into our
stations so they could turn themselves in and be in our custody so the
Federal Government would pay the bills. We were also asked to keep
those people we brought to the hospital for medical treatment in our
custody again so the Government would pay the bill.
Through pressure from the administration my headquarters became
more interested in the fiction being portrayed in the media and not at
all concerned with reality. At times in San Diego, we had 2,000 or more
aliens sitting in between the fences asking to turn themselves in. We
were running every vehicle we had and every agent available to
transport and process. Yet I received calls from my HQ saying that no
alien should have to sit in the desert for more than 2 hours. This was
not based in reality, as every available resource was being used, but
my headquarters wanted to stem the news reports to make it look better,
not actually make anything better. Knowing they were actually making
things worse for all the agents in San Diego, they pushed to simply
move people and completely disregard the border security operations.
This also extended to our checkpoints. As I mentioned earlier, I had
the checkpoints shut down in 2022 and 2023. As narcotics became more of
a focus in the media and in California I was told to open our
checkpoints. The narcotics flooding the West, and the country was in
great part due to the overwhelming numbers of aliens at the border. I
told them no, either we continue to transport and process the vast
numbers of aliens and keep the checkpoints closed or I pull agents,
open the checkpoints, and have thousands of aliens sitting in the
desert and dying in the desert because agents were not there triaging
the scene. However, to save face with the administration, my
headquarters went around me and spoke to my station leadership. They
asked my station leadership; do you have agents at the checkpoints?
This answer was yes since we were using the checkpoints as processing
and holding centers. Headquarters then passed word up the chain to CBP,
DHS, and the administration that the checkpoints were open. This gave
them the ability to make it look like they had fixed the problem to
their bosses when in fact it was a complete fallacy.
Border Patrol agents went above and beyond through all this chaos.
They are also the ones continually forgotten, put out and neglected by
the media, this administration, and Border Patrol leadership in
Washington DC. These agents deal with death, women and children that
have been raped, abused, trafficked, bought, and sold, families that
have spent months in terrible conditions traveling here, sickness,
despair and the agents are given no relief. The opposite has been the
case. The media villainizes them; their own leadership pushes more
overtime and guilts them into not taking vacation for the benefit of
the leadership, not the agency, the country, the aliens, or the agents
themselves. If you look at the numbers of suicides within the Border
Patrol it is directly correlated with the migrant surge. The agents
have been pushed beyond their limit and this has impacted their mental
health. The Border Patrol attitude of if not us who is a fallacy pushed
by a few Border Patrol leaders for their own benefit and the detriment
of the agents.
Each time we asked for help in dealing with a new issue it was
ignored. When we did not have enough vehicles to transport aliens out
of the field, we received nothing. When we did not have enough agents
to process and patrol the border, we were required to send detailed
agents to Texas to count gotaways. When the NGO's complained that
aliens were sitting in the desert too long, rather than send buses
Border Patrol leadership and the administration formed oversight
committees and hired hundreds of extra contractors to come down to San
Diego and look at how they might improve the situation. Simply
providing vehicles and allowing us to keep our agents would have helped
but instead they spent millions of dollars on committees which simply
came down and suggested nothing, made things more difficult and
overall, more costly and less efficient.
When Border Patrol leadership refused to take responsibility for
their mistake in taking on the complete care and feeding of the masses,
they decided to put up more tents across the country to house the
people. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted on these
facilities and they have done no good, on the contrary they have only
caused more problems. I fought against these facilities from the
beginning and pushed especially hard against them in San Diego.
Eventually I was overruled, and San Diego received a large tent at the
cost of over $1 million per month. This facility is still in use today.
Each one of these facilities is a gross waste of taxpayer money; they
are unnecessary and make things more difficult for the agents in the
field.
First, the Border Patrol is not responsible for the care and
feeding or even the processing of these aliens. That burden was taken
on voluntarily by Border Patrol leadership. There are many other
agencies, both government and private, that specialize in handling mass
movements of people particularly in cases of disasters. The Red Cross
and FEMA are just two examples. However, Border Patrol leadership took
on this task to try and win favor with the administration, to the
detriment of the agents and the country as a whole.
Second, the cost. These facilities are sold as being full wrap,
meaning they come with staff to run them. This could not be further
from the truth. The facilities have staff to run them, keep the lights
on and the air conditioning working but little more. The staff are not
allowed to interact at all with aliens, help with security or any other
movement or care and feeding of the aliens. This means the taxpayer is
spending a million dollars a month on a nice tent completely staffed by
Border Patrol agents. The companies running these tents are making
millions and providing little. I strongly suggest you look at who owns
and runs these companies. They are mostly former DHS employees, from
top to bottom. It is disgraceful to see those who once worked to secure
our country using their former positions to make millions at the
taxpayer expense especially when they are providing little to nothing
to fix the problem. The hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on these
tents could have been used for countless other more effective measures
that would have helped solve the issue rather than pad the bank
accounts of former DHS employees.
This administration has not only neglected and vilified Border
Patrol agents, but they have actively worked against them as well as
the rest of law enforcement within the Federal system. As an example, I
mention the former CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus. I hold no grudge
against him in any way, as a person or a former commissioner of CBP. He
was given a mission by this administration when he was hired, and he
worked hard to complete it. My problem is what that mission was. Chris
Magnus is and was an activist working to adversely change how law
enforcement does their job. His goal was to remove the use of force
from law enforcement.
As part of completing this mission, CBP's Office of Personnel
Responsibility was weaponized against the law enforcement employees
within CBP. We were continually warned in meetings, OPR is looking into
personal social media accounts, employee backgrounds to find anything
they could to discredit the employees to make examples of them. Changes
were made to the use of force review board. Instead of having 2 LE and
1 civilian member on the review board it was changed to 1 law
enforcement and 2 civilians. Use of force in the field can only truly
be judged by someone who has walked in those shoes. Someone who sits
behind a computer cannot understand or judge what level of force was
reasonable. Civilian employees are not familiar with the training or
policies of their law enforcement counterparts and aside from personal
experience, have no background in the actual rules. This change was
done to discipline more agents for using force and pressure the rest
within CBP not to use force.
Although from the outside looking in, this seems like a reasonable
method, as is often the case, the reality of it is quite different.
What this caused, and continues to cause to this day, is agents second-
guessing themselves in the field. Use of force incidents happen without
warning. The agent must decide in a millisecond. If they second-guess
themselves, they get hurt or killed. Having those unfamiliar with what
happens every day in the field take weeks to second-guess what an agent
had to decide in a millisecond is ridiculous. Unfortunately, it did
work.
I saw the impact daily in San Diego. Agents hesitated to use force
and were hurt; other agents were hurt, and aliens and civilians were
hurt. A specific example of the former commissioner trying to make
examples of agents to discourage use of force involved an individual
case I was responsible for in San Diego. As chief of the San Diego
sector, I was the deciding official for all termination cases involving
San Diego-sector employees. I was scheduled to hear a termination case
which involved a deadly shooting by an agent. As was my normal
practice, I reviewed the entire file for the case and was to hear the
oral reply. Two days before hearing the case I received a call from
then-Chief Ortiz telling me that the commissioner was pulling this case
back to CBP for a decision. The following Monday I started asking
questions. I relayed questions to OPR, Office of Inspector General,
Counsel, and LER. I asked first if this was allowed. The answer was
yes. I then pressed hard for a why. I was told by multiple people that
the commissioner wanted to pull high-profile media cases back to CBP
and have them decided by a non-law enforcement decision maker so
examples could be made. I pushed as hard as I could from my position to
no avail. I can say that in retirement I testified on behalf of this
agent in a lawsuit brought against the Government and am happy to say
the agent has been reinstated.
Another significant impact of the former commissioner's attempt to
change law enforcement was that I, as chief, spent a substantial
percentage of my time protecting my agents from our Government. The
desire to look good in the media and otherwise chill the actions of
agents was the priority of the commissioner and Border Patrol
leadership followed suit. This meant that I dealt with constant
questions from Border Patrol leadership on why agents had done certain
things. Border Patrol leadership was more concerned with looking good
to the commissioner and the media than supporting the agents.
The San Diego sector is also unique among Southern Border sectors
because it lies in California. As I stated earlier, when I repeatedly
asked for help from my headquarters, I received none. Unlike other
sectors, those in Texas for example, because of State Bill 54, State
and local law enforcement are prevented from helping or dealing with us
in any way. Because of this the BP, OFO, and ICE were left without any
additional support from State entities.
The current numbers of people crossing our border are low in
comparison to recent months and years. There is a reason for this.
After 4 years this administration finally started to ask Mexico for
help in slowing down traffic through their country. This administration
finally started to use foreign resources in the Darien Gap, Panama,
Brazil, and Ecuador to slow and stop migrant traffic there. An
Executive Order was given limiting some asylum claims. Each of these
does make a difference but why has it taken so long to accomplish? All
these tactics were being used before this administration took office,
but each was stopped or limited once this administration came in. I am
also concerned that these changes will not be maintained. I along with
many other leaders within the Border Patrol asked for help for years,
made suggestions on changes that would help but nothing was done. I
personally briefed every representative, senator and staffer that came
to San Diego on these issues. I continually passed on these requests to
my HQ, CBP, and DHS. I know that information was here in Washington,
but no help came. No changes came.
During my time in the Border Patrol and San Diego sector
specifically I met with leaders from around the world. They came to see
how we were handling the border and what they could learn to better
help them handle their own border. These leaders came from Poland,
France, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Israel just to name
a few. In my discussions with them they all said the same thing. We are
inundated with migrants, and we have no more space or resources to deal
with them. The United States is quickly reaching the same level. At
some point very soon world leaders are going to have to make tough
decisions on how many people their countries can support and stick to
them. The United States is no different. The world has more people than
it can support. It is not nice or easy to do but at some point, each
country will have to send people back to where they came from
regardless of the consequences to them in order to protect their own
people. The flow of people looking for a better life or fleeing
political turmoil will never stop and will only get worse as the years
pass.
The problems we are facing at the border have solutions. These
solutions can be quite simple and cost far less than the mess currently
occupying so much time and money. Agreements must be made with the
sending countries and returns must be accomplished quickly.
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