[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                       THE REAL COST OF AN OPEN BORDER: HOW 
                           AMERICANS ARE PAYING THE PRICE

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

                             JOINT HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                    BORDER SECURITY AND ENFORCEMENT

                                AND THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                   COUNTERTERRORISM, LAW ENFORCEMENT,
                            AND INTELLIGENCE

                                 OF THE

                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                             JULY 26, 2023

                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-26

                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
                                     

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       Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov/

                               __________
                               

                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
54-590 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2024                    
          
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                     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           Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Dan Bishop, North Carolina           Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida           Eric Swalwell, California
August Pfluger, Texas                J. Luis Correa, California
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York        Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia      Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Tony Gonzales, Texas                 Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Nick LaLota, New York                Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Mike Ezell, Mississippi              Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Anthony D'Esposito, New York         Robert Garcia, California
Laurel M. Lee, Florida               Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Morgan Luttrell, Texas               Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Dale W. Strong, Alabama              Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma              Dina Titus, Nevada
Elijah Crane, Arizona
                      Stephen Siao, Staff Director
                  Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
                       Natalie Nixon, Chief Clerk
                                
                                ------                                

            SUBCOMMITTEE ON BORDER SECURITY AND ENFORCEMENT

                   Clay Higgins, Louisiana, Chairman
Michael Guest, Mississippi           J. Luis Correa, California, 
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia          Ranking Member
Tony Gonzales, Texas                 Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Morgan Luttrell, Texas               Robert Garcia, California
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma              Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee (ex     Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi 
    officio)                             (ex officio)
                Natasha Eby, Subcommittee Staff Director
       Brieana Marticorena, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director
                                 ------                                

  SUBCOMMITTEE ON COUNTERTERRORISM, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND INTELLIGENCE

                    August Pfluger, Texas, Chairman
Dan Bishop, North Carolina           Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island, 
Tony Gonzales, Texas                     Ranking Member
Anthony D'Esposito, New York         J. Luis Correa, California
Elijah Crane, Arizona                Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee (ex     Dina Titus, Nevada
    officio)                         Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi 
                                         (ex officio)
               Michael Koren, Subcommittee Staff Director
          Brittany Carr, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               Statements

The Honorable Clay Higgins, a Representative in Congress From the 
  State of Louisiana, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Border 
  Security and Enforcement:
  Oral Statement.................................................     1
  Prepared Statement.............................................     4
The Honorable J. Luis Correa, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of California, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on 
  Border Security and Enforcement................................     5
The Honorable August Pfluger, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Texas, and Chairman, Subcommittee on 
  Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence............     7
The Honorable Seth Magaziner, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Rhode Island, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on 
  Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence:
  Oral Statement.................................................    10
  Prepared Statement.............................................    12
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress 
  From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on 
  Homeland Security:
  Prepared Statement.............................................    14
The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Representative in Congress 
  From the State of Texas:
  Prepared Statement.............................................    14

                               Witnesses

Mr. Todd Bensman, Senior National Security Fellow, Center for 
  Immigration Studies:
  Oral Statement.................................................    19
  Prepared Statement.............................................    21
Mr. Javier ``JR'' Ramirez III, Private Citizen:
  Oral Statement.................................................    28
  Prepared Statement.............................................    29
Ms. Elisa Tambunga, Private Citizen:
  Oral Statement.................................................    31
  Prepared Statement.............................................    32
Mr. David J. Bier, Associate Director, Immigration Studies, Cato 
  Institute:
  Oral Statement.................................................    33
  Prepared Statement.............................................    35

                             For the Record

The Honorable Clay Higgins, a Representative in Congress From the 
  State of Louisiana, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Border 
  Security and Enforcement:
  Letter From Emilio Tambunga....................................     2
  Letter From Virginia L. Jespersen..............................     2
  Letter From Honorable Clay Higgins.............................    95
The Honorable J. Luis Correa, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of California, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on 
  Border Security and Enforcement:
  Statement of UMP & Colibri.....................................    90
  Statement of Ari Sawyer, U.S. Border Researcher, Human Rights 
    Watch........................................................    92
  Article, Wall Street Journal...................................    95

 
   THE REAL COST OF AN OPEN BORDER: HOW AMERICANS ARE PAYING THE PRICE

                              ----------                              


                        Wednesday, July 26, 2023

             U.S. House of Representatives,
                    Committee on Homeland Security,
                       Subcommittee on Border Security and 
                                       Enforcement, and the
                     Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law 
                             Enforcement, and Intelligence,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittees met, pursuant to notice, at 2:23 p.m., in 
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Clay Higgins 
[Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border Security and 
Enforcement] presiding.
    Present from the Subcommittee on Border Security and 
Enforcement: Representatives Higgins, Guest, Greene, Gonzales, 
Luttrell, Breechen, Correa, Jackson Lee, Thanedar, Garcia, 
Ramirez.
    Present from the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law 
Enforcement, and Intelligence: Representatives Pfluger, Bishop, 
Gonzales, Crane, Magaziner, and Goldman.
    Mr. Higgins. The Committee on Homeland Security's 
Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement and the 
Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and 
Intelligence will come to order.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare the 
committee in recess at any point.
    Without objection, the gentleman from New York, Mr. LaLota, 
is permitted to sit on the dais and ask questions of the 
witnesses.
    The purposes of today's hearings are to examine the ways in 
which an unsecure border poses a significant threat to human 
life, and, as such, should be handled with the utmost 
seriousness and expediency.
    For the protection of safety and human life, we must come 
together to develop a better understanding of how lax border 
policies have affected American communities, and how we can 
develop effective solutions to this immediate threat.
    I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Without 
objection, I have letters from Emilio Tambunga and Virginia 
Jespersen to be submitted for the record. So, ordered, without 
objection.
    [The information follows:]

                      Letter From Emilio Tambunga
                                     July 22, 2023.

    My name is Emilio Tambunga, I am the husband of Maria ``Coke'' 
Tambunga and grandfather of my only grandchild 7-year-old Emilia Brooke 
Tambunga. My wife and I have been married for 38 years and were 
together for over 40 years. I am a 13-year Marine veteran and 25-year 
retired law enforcement officer.
    I need for maximum actions to be taken, not only by local officials 
but from this administration. I pray the murderer gets the maximum 
penalty allowed without parole, but even that will not compare to the 
horrible sentence he has given my family.
    I now live alone, no longer able to hold my wife's hand, hear her 
voice. I cannot laugh, play with or take walks with my granddaughter, 
who called me her partner. My first dance with her at 3 months old to 
George Strait's ``I Cross My Heart'' song. This year she took me to her 
schools Valentine's Day Dance, that was my last with her. For the rest 
of my lonely life, I will cry every day for them. I see her mother, my 
daughter Elisa living in pain but there is nothing I can do to help 
her. The horror he has inflicted on me, my two daughters and son-in-law 
and entire Ozona community, it is a wound that wjll never heal.
    For me, the only peaceful death at my age will be knowing the 
murderer stays in prison, unable to harm any more lives and that my 
government has finally put the bickering aside and taken action to 
protect its citizens.
                                 ______
                                 
                   Letter From Virginia L. Jespersen
                                     July 24, 2023.
Homeland Security Committee,
U.S. House of Representatives, H2-176 Ford House Office Building, 
        Washington, DC 20515.

Attention: Chairman Mark Green
Matter: Murder of Maria Socorro Tambunga & Emilia Brooke Tambunga
Location: Crockett County, Ozona, Texas/1 hour North of the Texas/
Mexico border.

    As we all know, the current Administration has allowed narcotics 
smuggling, human smuggling and other criminal activity. It has become 
permissible for illegal activities to take place all along the border 
and across the United States.
    On March 13, 2023, my Mom, ``Coki'' and my 7-year-old niece, Emilia 
Brooke, were murdered by a human smuggler carrying 11 illegal 
immigrants. The 22-year-old from Louisiana was recruited on Tik-Tok. 
And while this murderer proudly drove 105 mph playing music and video 
recording himself live on Facebook while being pursued by law 
enforcement, the Biden administration (Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas 
and Merrick Garland) turned their heads and disregard their own U.S. 
citizens. The murder weapon was a 7,000-pound truck that killed my Mom 
and niece. They were slammed.
    We implore you to take immediate action by passing the Emi-Coke 
Accountability. It will be a start to ensuring that the Texas DPS, 
Crockett County Officials and Border officials begin to collaborate 
with Homeland Security officials/Department of Justice so that U.S. 
citizens can move out of the way when law enforcement have to pursue to 
stop criminal activity.
    Now we press forward to protect others. The purpose of this letter 
is to address the lack of security and to protect U.S. citizens from 
unsafe and unpredictable police car chases of illegal smugglers and 
illegal immigrants. We are all witnessing an assault on our country. As 
aforementioned, I reemphasize that on March 13, 2023, our family was 
assaulted, and our loved ones brutally murdered by a 22-year-old who 
known ties to a drug cartel.
    Yes, we are victims. However, we are also advocates of our U.S. 
citizens that endure criminal activity daily along the Southern Border. 
Today, we implore you to pass the Emi-Coke National Alert System that 
would be established through the DOJ and would require the coordination 
of the communication network among law enforcement.
    We'd like to thank Texas Congressman August Pfluger and his team 
and we would like to thank Congressman Tony Gonzales and his team for 
helping us drive change.
    We are adamant that you hold each other accountable. This is our 
reminder to you all that Congress serves us, the PEOPLE of these United 
States and those that have died under this administration. We elect you 
to protect us.
            Sincerely,
                                     Virginia L. Jespersen,
               Daughter of Maria Socorro ``Coki'' Alvarez-Tambunga,
                                    Aunt to Emilia Brooke Tambunga,
         Sister to Elisa Tambunga, mother to Emila Brooke Tambunga,
                                       Daughter of Emilio Tambunga.

    Mr. Higgins. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and 
welcome to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, 
Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and 
Intelligence joint hearing entitled ``The Real Cost of an Open 
Border: How Americans are Paying the Price.''
    Today's hearing will examine how the Biden administration's 
open border policies have caused incalculable human cost, not 
just to American citizens, but also to those driven to make the 
treacherous journey to our Southwest Border.
    Thank you to our witnesses for being here today. The 
stories they will share will be harrowing, but it is important 
that the American people hear the true cost of this 
administration's failure to secure our sovereign border.
    From the impact on our front-line law enforcement officers 
to the increase in illegal alien crime, and record deaths from 
fentanyl poisoning, and a growing number of migrant deaths 
along our borders, the Biden-Mayorkas border crisis has had a 
devastating impact, which is worsening daily. Open border 
policies have wreaked havoc on American communities, tax law 
enforcement resources and morale, emboldened human and drug 
smuggling operations, and directly resulted in a record number 
of alien deaths along our Southern Border region.
    No community has been hit harder than those within the 
border regions. Devastation to private property, particularly 
ranches, represents a daily challenge to those living in border 
communities. One of our witnesses here today, Mr. J.R. Ramirez, 
who manages two commercial cow-calf operations, is bearing a 
financial burden that threatens his ability to operate a 
profitable business that both feeds our Nation and protects 
essential habitats and wild spaces. An inexcusable financial 
burden is placed upon the many men and women who operate 
businesses and have homes along the Southern Border simply for 
trying to live and work, as these migrants force their way into 
the country with no regard for the destruction they are causing 
in many cases to property along the way and the lives that they 
impact.
    The cost of the border crisis extends to the men and women 
of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As the 
administration's open border policies enable cartels, the price 
is paid by those doing their jobs. Customs and Border 
Protection morale is at an all-time low. State and local 
resources have been unable to keep up with the flood of human 
beings and drugs crossing our border.
    That flood of humans across the border includes a massive 
influx of human trafficking and human smuggling being reported 
recently. We rightly commit law enforcement resources to combat 
this scourge Nation-wide. However, open border policies should 
not exist and our border policies should be in tune with a goal 
toward law enforcement. We should not worsen the problems and 
make it impossible for others to deal with as the years unfold. 
Just last year, Customs and Border Protection officials found 
the bodies of at least 848 aliens along the Southwest Border. 
According to the U.N.'s International Organization for 
Migration, the Southwest Border is ``the deadliest land 
crossing in the world''.
    This administration has touted that their border policies 
are safe, orderly, and humane. But anyone who has been down to 
the border can attest that there is nothing safe and orderly or 
humane about that situation. Safe, orderly, and humane policies 
would not allow a record number of illegals into our country 
and drugs trafficked into our Nation. It would not encourage 
migration across the deadliest land crossing in the world, and 
leave our law enforcement and border communities to deal with 
the crisis on their own.
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today.
    I yield the balance of my time. I now recognize the Ranking 
Member for the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, 
the gentleman from California, Mr. Correa, for his opening 
statement.
    [The statement of Chairman Higgins follows:]
                   Statement of Chairman Clay Higgins
    Good afternoon and welcome to the Subcommittee on Border Security 
and Enforcement and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, 
and Intelligence joint hearing on the Real Cost of an Open Border. The 
purpose of today's hearing is to examine how the Biden administration's 
open border policies have caused incalculable human cost not just to 
our American citizens but also to those driven to make the treacherous 
journey to our Southwest Border.
    I would like to welcome our witnesses for being here today and 
especially those who made the journey from Texas to provide their 
testimony today. The stories you will hear from these witnesses will be 
heartbreaking and gut-wrenching and I can only imagine the heartbreak 
that they and their communities have gone through.
    Today, we will hear how the Biden administration's refusal to 
secure America's border are directly leading to the heartbreak you will 
be hearing about today.
    The Biden administration's open border policies have driven a 
record numbers of deaths from drug poisoning, wreaked havoc on our 
communities, taxed law enforcement resources, driven human and drug 
smuggling operations, and have directly resulted in a record number of 
alien deaths along our Southern Border Region.
    As Border Patrol and Law Enforcement have been overrun with 
migrants at the Southern Border, Transnational Criminal Organizations 
(TCO) have poured fentanyl through our border and directly onto main 
street.
    The United States under the Biden administration have been consumed 
by the fentanyl crisis, as you know fentanyl poisoning is now the 
leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-49 and until this 
administration begins to do its job: more and more Americans will die 
from fentanyl poisoning.
    Since President Biden has taken office, America has seen a record 
number of fentanyl poisonings with both years recording over 100,000 
drug poisoning deaths. According to the CDC the number of poisoning 
deaths linked to fentanyl from 2016 to 2021 have risen by 279 percent.
    Cartels, operating without consequence, have begun to lace fentanyl 
into various other narcotics, pills that resemble legitimate 
prescriptions, and rainbow-colored pills aimed at our youth.
    As TCOs exploit our open borders these death numbers will continue 
to rise, and drugs will continue to flood into our streets.
    As we have seen the entire United States is negatively affected by 
our current open border policies, no community though has been hit 
harder then those within the Border Regions.
    The cost of the border crisis has been catastrophic on the men and 
women of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and all over State and 
local first responders near the Southern Border.
    As our open border polices embolden cartels, the price is paid by 
those actually doing their jobs. CBP morale is at an all-time low and 
State and Local Resources have not been able to keep up with the flood 
of humans and drugs coming across the border.
    The burden of these open border policies ultimately falls onto 
vibrant border communities. These communities have seen human smugglers 
lead police on high-speed chases through their communities, ranches 
have been wrecked, and many have packed up their stuff and left town. 
The economic and social toll on these communities is profound and 
everyday these communities live in fear.
    The human cost though isn't exclusive to the those within the 
United States, as the Biden's administration's policies have 
incentivized migrants to attempt a treacherous journey that has 
directly led to death, exploitation, and deplorable conditions, all the 
while enriching cartels' human smuggling operations.
    As current policies incentive the trek migrant deaths along the 
Southern Border are at an all-time high and we've seen a significant 
rise in human trafficking and child exploitation.
    Just last year Customs and Border Protection officials found the 
bodies of at least 848 migrants along the Southwest Border and the UN's 
International Organization for Migration state the Southwest Border is 
the ``deadliest land crossing in the world.''
    This administration has touted that their border policies are 
``safe, orderly, and humane'' but anyone who has been down to the 
border can attest that there is nothing safe, orderly, or humane about 
the situation.
    Safe, orderly, and human policies wouldn't allow record number of 
drugs into the country. They wouldn't encourage migration across the 
deadliest land crossing in the world, and they wouldn't leave our law 
enforcement and border communities out on their own to deal.
    With that, I yield back the balance of my time and look forward to 
hearing from our witnesses.

    Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank our 
witnesses for being here today. Your stories are important 
because we need to take them into consideration as we make 
policy, not just immigration policy, not just border policy, 
but policy that is best for the United States of America.
    Preparing for this committee hearing on border security 
over the last few months, I thought back on what this country's 
about, what immigrants are about, what refugees are about. I 
sat there and I thought and remembered some of the stories my 
mom, God rest her soul, would tell me about my grandfather when 
he came to this country, 1890's. Got to fact check it, but she 
said, ``Grandpa paid two cents to walk across the border. And 
one of those walks almost cost him his life.''
    The border has been changing, but it always seems to be a 
very treacherous place. It shouldn't be, but it is. Today, we 
talk about the cost of the border, but we really talk about, 
again, drug policy, economic policy, immigration policy, 
refugee policy all rolled into one. That is why your stories 
today are going to be so important, so they are not forgotten.
    You know, when I first took this position on this committee 
in January as Ranking Member of this committee, I made it my 
mission to go to every major border crossing in the Southern 
Border to talk to the men and women in green and blue uniforms 
to find out what they were seeing. You can't know what is going 
on here in Washington, DC, unless you go there and you talk to 
the men and women where the boots are actually worn and what 
they are seeing. I will tell you, I found out that every one of 
those border crossings has a different personality, every one 
of those border crossings, every State has a different set of 
challenges.
    That was right after COVID was over, right about the time 
Title 42 was about to be lifted. That was, if I can bring you 
back a little bit in history, those were the days that we were 
all predicting chaos at the border. Title 42 lifted, it is 
going to be chaotic.
    So, about a week before Title 42 was about to be lifted, I 
went to San Ysidro, our biggest border crossing in terms of 
population in this country and probably the world. Myself and 
our border port chief there, we drove to Mexico, to Tijuana, to 
meet with the stakeholders in Mexico. They called for the 
meeting and said, we don't want chaos at the border.
    We met with Federal, State, local businessmen and women in 
Mexico. Same message: we want order at the border. It is 
obvious because there is a lot of commerce, a lot of lives, a 
lot of jobs, a lot at stake. All of us were kind-of hunkering 
down getting ready for the worst scenario. The next day, the 
next week, nothing really materialized.
    We just had Secretary Mayorkas speak to us in the Judiciary 
Committee. Preparation for his committee hearing and his 
testimony, I delved in a little bit into what his policies 
were. His policies pissed off both sides of the aisle, I think. 
On one side, he put in, you know, punitive measures, Title 8. 
You break the law, walk in between ports of entry, you got the 
law to deal with. On the other side is he created pathways, 
using legal pathways existing now, which are essentially 
parole, to give the opportunity to individuals to come into the 
United States. Carrot and the stick. The other thing he did is 
he worked with our allies around the world, Latin America, to 
address this issue.
    I have a little chart here, the other one, if I can, that 
shows the burden of refugees around the world and where it is 
distributed. You know, surprisingly, Colombia has got right now 
home to about 3 million Venezuelan refugees. Mexico doesn't 
appear, does it? Down here, but it says half a million. I think 
it is way over that.
    What I am trying to say, ladies and gentlemen, is today, 
the challenge of refugees, immigration, economic growth, 
fentanyl, the tragedies at the border are an even bigger 
challenge that are going to ask us as policy makers to step up 
and come up with some good public policy.
    China, OK. Post-COVID-19, the world is in economic 
recession. Even China, OK, is sputtering. Twenty percent 
unemployment rate with the young people. So, I imagine you are 
going to continue to see people coming across the border that 
are young people of working age going through your area.
    So, the challenge is for us as policy makers to figure this 
whole thing out. We have 12 million undocumented workers in the 
United States today. Ten million jobs that are going wanting. 
Employers need workers.
    In my district, a few weeks ago, I went to visit a 
manufacturer who is now manufacturing more than ever because of 
some jobs they brought back from China, some electric 
connectors that they were building. He said, Lou, I need more 
workers, but I can't. I have a choice. Expand my business, 
bring more jobs back to the United States. If I do that, he 
says, I will be breaking the law or I can just not fulfill the 
orders the U.S. Government is asking me to fulfill.
    Immigration policy, refugee policy, and of course the big 
one that all of us feel at home is fentanyl, drugs. I don't 
think there is anybody here that hasn't felt the scourge, has 
heard the death stories in their neighborhoods, in their 
communities from fentanyl.
    Mr. Chairman, I hope we drill down and get some good 
information today that will lead us to some good public policy. 
Because at the end of the day, it is not about the Chinese, it 
is not about the Colombians, it is not about the Mexicans or 
the Canadians. It is about the United States of America 
implementing good immigration policy that will lead to strong 
economic growth to keep us the greatest country in the world.
    So, I do hope to hear the testimony today and work with all 
of you to make sure we come up with good sound public policy 
for America.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield.
    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Ranking Member Correa.
    I now recognize the Chairman for the Subcommittee on 
Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, the 
gentleman from Texas, Mr. Pfluger, for his opening statement.
    Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Chairman Higgins. Good afternoon to 
everyone. Welcome to the joint hearing on the Subcommittee of 
Border Security Enforcement and the Subcommittee on 
Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence.
    I thank my good friend and Chairman Higgins for convening 
this important hearing, a hearing to examine the heartbreaking 
realities and the high cost to Americans and those making the 
treacherous journey to the Southwest Border due to the Biden 
administration's failure to secure that very border.
    This abject failure has unfortunately resulted in tragedies 
across the country, and specifically in my home State of Texas. 
In fact, here with us today is Ms. Elisa Tambunga and her 
family. I thank you for joining us. Elisa is a mother but she 
lost her own mother, her 71-year-old mother, and her 7-year-old 
daughter recently when they were killed in a car crash in 
Ozona, Texas, when a human trafficker smuggling 11 illegal 
aliens was recklessly driving his vehicle, evading capture from 
the local police department, and struck the vehicle of Maria 
and Emilia, the 71-year-old grandmother and 7-year-old 
daughter.
    Elisa, thank you for being here today. The heartbreaking 
story that we face, unfortunately, is not the only one and 
there are far too many. I appreciate you being willing to share 
your stories here, so that others don't have to go through that 
pain and tragedy. When you talk about Emilia and Maria and you 
hear their stories, I have been told that Emilia was an 
outgoing fashionista. She was ready to take on the world. She 
dreamed of being a teacher, a social media influencer. She was 
active in sports, she was a model student at Ozona Elementary 
School. She loved to play with her friends and dance with her 
Aunt Jenny and cook with her grandmother, Maria, who was also a 
dedicated member of the community.
    We also have Mr. Ramirez, who is a ninth-generation Texan 
here with us, a rancher from South Texas, who is in the fifth 
generation of the operations in the ranching business.
    Mr. Ramirez, thank you for being here to share the stories 
about how this tragedy, this crisis, the chaos is impacting our 
agriculture business, the very business that feeds our Nation. 
We look forward to hearing your stories and your perspective.
    But this crisis has also resulted in the suffering and the 
death of so many migrants who make this journey to the border. 
Earlier this month, I led a bipartisan delegation to South 
America, to several countries in Central and South America. I 
provided a first-hand look into some of the issues that are 
being faced there that are also facing us here.
    During this visit, we were able to meet with national 
security and law enforcement leaders in Brazil, Colombia, and 
Panama, to not only discuss the rising threat of the Chinese 
Communist Party's influence in the region, but to investigate 
the evolving and sophisticated threat of transnational criminal 
organizations, and the migration crisis that these countries 
are also experiencing as a result of a massive pull factor from 
the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas' failed 
immigration policies.
    Notably, we were able to visit the Darien region of Panama, 
where we toured a migrant village known as Bajo Chiquito that 
migrants encountered in Panama after a grueling 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-
day journey through a very dangerous jungle known as the Darien 
region.
    There, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 migrants are 
encountered daily. They are coming out of the jungle on this 
treacherous journey. I would like to put this in context. The 
Panamanian National Migration Service has reported that in the 
first 6 months of this year, 200,000 migrants have made that 
journey through the Darien region. From 2015 to 2021, in a 6-
year period, there were only 97,000 total people that went 
through there.
    So, what has changed? When I talked to these people, Sri 
Lankans, Africans from Nigeria, many people from Venezuela, as 
my colleague just mentioned, they all had one thing in common: 
they are headed to the United States because they know that it 
is open.
    We visited several other camps, and the tragedies that we 
saw from these migrants. A small boy, 8 years old, I will never 
forget his face, the cuts, the bruises, the scrapes, the damage 
to his legs from going through that jungle area. Then, to think 
about the psychological damages. This child went through a 
very, very difficult journey. He could hardly walk on his own. 
Not to mention the assaults that are happening to the young 
women and the harrowing stories that each one of these people 
has to tell.
    We were briefed as well by Panamanian officials on Panama's 
operations in the Darien region to include Panama's national 
border services, SENAFRONT, about their work to register 
migrants using what is known as BITMAP, the Biometric 
Identification Transnational Border Migration Alert Program. We 
learned that Panama leads the BITMAP program in enrollments in 
identifications of known and suspected terrorists, recently 
surpassing 100,000 BITMAP checks and identifications of those 
100,000 of over 100 known or suspected terror matches, and a 
dozen INTERPOL criminal matches as well.
    This is extremely concerning, as it is a significant 
increase, as I mentioned earlier, from prior years. According 
to DHS data, so far in fiscal year 2023, U.S. Border Patrol has 
encountered 140 individuals with derogatory information in the 
terrorist screening dataset between ports of entry, in addition 
to 98 individuals encountered in fiscal year 2022. These 
figures compare to only 3 such individuals apprehended in 
fiscal year 2020, zero in 2019, 2 in 2017.
    What has changed? That is why we are here today. Let me 
point out as well that the last Congress, in the 117th 
Congress, the DHS refused to release these numbers of potential 
known or suspected terrorists attempting to illegally cross 
into the United States. Only by holding them accountable were 
we able to ensure that this information was disclosed, as it 
previously was in previous administrations, to the public.
    At the same time, in that period of time, since President 
Biden has been in office, over 1.5 million illegal alien got-
aways, and this is known got-aways, has successfully crossed 
the border undetected or detected but un-apprehended and are 
now in the United States. These known got-aways, they don't 
provide biometric or biographic information to U.S. Border 
Patrol agents. We don't know, in fact when Secretary Mayorkas 
was here, he can't tell us who these people are. He doesn't 
know what their background is, what their intentions are, their 
criminal or terrorist affiliations. There are some who may 
argue against the common-sense reality that individuals on the 
terror watch list streaming across our border at record rates 
pose a threat to America's national security, both those 
apprehended between the ports of entry and those among the 1.5 
million known got-aways since fiscal year 2021.
    These are fundamentally unserious arguments. This is a 
national security issue. Only an administration unserious about 
border security would continue to defend the very policies that 
have encouraged this chaos. There is also no doubt that the 
Biden administration's policies and rhetoric are encouraging 
hundreds of thousands of migrants to make the life-threatening 
journey through this area every single year, just like those 
that I encountered in the Darien region. These same policies 
incentivize millions of people from around the world to place 
themselves at the mercy of transnational criminal 
organizations, trafficking organizations, and other malign 
actors just to get here to the United States.
    Aside from the humanitarian crisis these failed policies 
have created, our Nation is also battling a drug epidemic that 
is fueled by the illicit flow of fentanyl, xylazine, 
methamphetamines, and heroin that are crossing our Southwest 
Border at record numbers. More than 1,500 people per week die 
and are poisoned and die from taking some type of opioid, which 
we have never experienced a number like that in the history of 
this country. Securing our border is a critical first step to 
reversing this trend.
    Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden's failure to lead 
has left our country less secure. We must secure our border. 
This committee will continue to hold the administration 
accountable for their action, and, most importantly, for their 
inaction. The human cost both to Americans and migrants alike 
is far too high to continue to willfully ignore, because doing 
so is politically expedient.
    I would like to thank all the witnesses for being here. You 
are part of the solution to helping us come up with ways to 
hold the administration accountable.
    It is my personal opinion that we have plenty of laws on 
the books for our Border Patrol, our Customs agents, ICE, and 
other agencies to do the job that they need to do to secure our 
border.
    My last thought is it is incredible to think that the 
administration is suing the State of Texas for doing the very 
job that the Federal Government should be doing, according to 
Article IV, Section 4 of our Constitution.
    Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Chairman Pfluger.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member for the Subcommittee on 
Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, the 
gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Magaziner, for his opening 
statement.
    Mr. Magaziner. Thank you, Chairman.
    Migration from South and Central America to the United 
States is a great humanitarian challenge. The migrants coming 
to our Southern Border are escaping poverty and political 
persecution to build a better life. They want to work, 
contribute to our economy, and build a future for their 
children free from fear. Just like my ancestors who fled 
poverty in Ireland and Eastern Europe, just like the Pilgrims 
who escaped persecution and landed at Plymouth, and just like 
the ancestors of many of the people in this room, they see the 
United States as a beacon of hope, because that is what we have 
always been.
    We are the greatest Nation in the world because we are the 
shining city on the hill that has said to the world, ``Give me 
your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be 
free.'' In many cases, the migrants coming to the Southern 
Border in search of a better life are seeking to come to our 
country legally. I will say it again, in many cases, they are 
seeking to come legally because under our laws, in many cases, 
the migrants are entitled to legal asylum.
    Unfortunately, many migrants on their journeys to the 
United States face danger from drug cartels, human traffickers, 
and gun smugglers. Human smugglers charge extortionary fees and 
sometimes leave migrants trapped to die in sweltering cargo 
containers at the side of the road. Women and children have 
been kidnapped and assaulted. Even when the migrants are able 
to avoid abusive cartels, many die on their arduous journey.
    Those fortunate enough to complete the journey to our 
border are met with a system in which it can take weeks or 
months for their legal asylum claims to be processed. Dying of 
thirst, starvation, and disease, and running out of time, some 
seek to enter the country between legal ports of entry out of 
sheer desperation.
    Of course, it is not just migrants who have fallen victim 
to the cartels and the human traffickers and the gun smugglers. 
American citizens have suffered, too.
    Ms. Tambunga, I want to thank you for coming here tonight. 
I want to thank you for sharing your story. What you have 
suffered is unimaginable. I am deeply sorry for the loss of 
your mother, Maria, and your daughter, Emilia.
    I read in an interview you gave that you said, ``I just 
need this to not happen again to anybody else. I need it to not 
happen again to another mother,'' and that you want action, not 
words.
    We could all not agree with you more. Your call to action 
is desperately needed. We owe it to you and to all of the 
victims of the humanitarian crisis at the border to set aside 
politics and work together in a bipartisan manner to pass 
comprehensive immigration reform and border security.
    We need a more orderly and streamlined system at ports of 
entry so that migrants can have their legal asylum claims 
processed without having to wait for weeks or months in squalid 
camps or become dependent on human traffickers to get between 
ports of entry.
    In my conversation with Border Patrol leadership, they were 
clear that they support a more streamlined system for migrants 
to seek legal asylum at ports of entry so that Border Patrol 
agents can be freed up to focus their efforts on the bad actors 
smuggling guns and drugs between ports of entry. I want to make 
sure that their words are heard in this committee. What Border 
Patrol is saying, and we should listen to them, is that we need 
a better, more streamlined system for migrants to be processed 
at legal ports of entry, so that Border Patrol's resources and 
bandwidth can be freed up between ports of entry to focus on 
the bad guys.
    We need to build on the work of the last Congress to 
increase staffing at the border, both at and in between ports 
of entry, and to improve technology to detect illegal crossings 
and contraband.
    The Biden administration has begun this work. New 
technology and enhanced staffing authorized in the 117th 
Congress is being deployed across the border as we speak. 
Illegal crossings are down significantly since the expiration 
of the Trump administration's Title 42 policy. The CBP One app 
is succeeding in creating a more orderly system at ports of 
entry and, in turn, reducing crossings between ports of entry. 
That is the way it is supposed to work.
    There is more work to do, but the path ahead is clear: 
bipartisan solutions instead of political grandstanding.
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses because their 
feedback is vital in how we do this work.
    But first, I have to make one last very important point. We 
will never defeat the evil of the cartels and the traffickers 
by adopting cruel tactics or retreating from our American 
values. At least 5,500 children were separated, and likely more 
that we still don't know about, under the Trump 
administration's family separation policy. Five thousand five 
hundred children that we know about. Of those 5,500 children, 
more than 500 were under 5 years of age when they were forcibly 
separated from their parents. As a new parent myself, this is 
unconscionable and it should outrage everyone here.
    Today, years later, there are still hundreds of children 
who have not been reunited with their parents. One woman named 
Jessica, fleeing El Salvador and seeking legal asylum in 
America after MS-13 beat her and threatened to kill her and her 
children, arrived in the United States in 2018, only to have 
the Trump administration take away her 4- and 10-year-old sons. 
Their story is part of the human cost of the humanitarian 
crisis at the border.
    It is also despicable that the Governor of Florida, Ron 
DeSantis, sent agents to Texas to fool migrants into coming to 
Florida so that he could send them to Massachusetts as a 
political stunt. This article details the story of 22-year-old 
Eduardo, his wife, and their 7-year-old daughter, who endured 
abduction and beatings by a Mexican cartel as they journeyed 
from Peru to the U.S.-Mexico border in search of a better life. 
When Eduardo and his family reached the United States, they 
applied for legal asylum and stayed at a migrant center while 
awaiting the processing of their application. They met a woman 
working for Governor DeSantis who lied to them, promising a job 
and shelter if they would board a flight to Massachusetts. Of 
course, the Massachusetts authorities were never alerted to 
this plot. Florida taxpayers paid for this disgusting stunt by 
the Florida Governor for his political gain. Children taken 
away from their parents by grandstanding politicians looking 
for headlines, grieving parents who still do not know where 
their children are today.
    Now, another grandstanding politician, the Governor of 
Texas, has launched an operation in which agents were allegedly 
ordered to push children into the Rio Grande River and deny 
water to migrants.
    This is not who we are and it does not make anyone safer. 
So, when we talk about the human cost of the border crisis, 
don't forget these humans. Children, parents separated, 
kidnapped, and hurt by politicians looking for headlines.
    So, let me be clear. I and my Democratic colleagues on the 
subcommittee will work with anyone on either side of the aisle 
who is serious about making the border safer for American 
citizens and for migrants. There are real solutions we can work 
toward together and we will work with anyone. But we will not 
stand by and allow selfish politicians to make the humanitarian 
crisis worse by abusing migrants seeking a better life. We can 
build an immigration system that is safe, fair, and orderly if 
we just put politics aside and work together with American 
values.
    I yield back.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Magaziner follows:]
               Statement of Ranking Member Seth Magaziner
                             July 26, 2023
    Migration from South and Central America to the United States is a 
great humanitarian challenge. The migrants coming to our Southern 
Border are escaping poverty and political persecution to build a better 
life.
    They want to work, to contribute to our economy, and build a future 
for their children free from fear.
    Just like my ancestors, who fled poverty in Ireland and Eastern 
Europe. Just like the pilgrims who escaped persecution and landed at 
Plymouth colony. Just like the ancestors of most people in this room. 
They see the United States as a beacon of hope, because that is what we 
have always been.
    We are the greatest nation in the world because we are the shining 
City on the Hill that has said to the world, ``give me your tired, your 
poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.'' And in many 
cases, the migrants coming to the Southern Border in search of a better 
life, are seeking to come to our country legally.
    I'll say it again: in many cases, they are seeking to come legally, 
because under our laws in many cases the migrants are entitled to legal 
asylum.
    Unfortunately, many migrants, on their journey to the United States 
face danger from drug cartels, human traffickers, and gun smugglers. 
Human smugglers charge extortionary fees, and sometimes leave migrants 
trapped to die in sweltering cargo containers at the side of the road. 
Women and children have been kidnapped and assaulted. And even when 
migrants are able to avoid abusive cartels, many die on their arduous 
journey. And those fortunate enough to complete the journey to our 
border, are met with a system in which it can take weeks or months for 
their legal asylum claims to be processed.
    Dying of thirst, starvation, and disease, and running out of time, 
some seek to enter the country between legal points of entry, out of 
sheer desperation.
    And of course, it is not just migrants who have fallen victim to 
the cartels, the human traffickers, and the gun smugglers. American 
citizens have suffered too.
    Ms. Tambunga, what you have suffered is unimaginable. I am deeply 
sorry for the loss of your mother, Maria, and your daughter, Emilia. 
And I thank you for your willingness and bravery to share your story 
with us today.
    I read in an interview you gave you said ``I just need this to not 
happen again to anybody else. I need it to not happen to another 
mother.'' And that you want action, not words. We could not agree with 
you more--your call to action is desperately needed. We owe it to you, 
and to all of the victims of the humanitarian crisis at the border to 
set aside politics and work together in a bipartisan manner to pass 
comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures.
    We need a more orderly and streamlined system at ports of entry, so 
that migrants can have their legal asylum claims processed without 
having to wait for weeks or months in squalid camps or become dependent 
on human traffickers to sneak them between points of entry.
    In my conversation with Border Patrol leadership they were clear 
that they support a more streamlined system for migrants to seek legal 
asylum at ports of entry, so that Border Patrol can be freed up to 
focus its efforts on the bad actors smuggling guns and drugs between 
ports of entry.
    We need to build on the work of the last Congress to increase 
staffing at the border, both at and in between ports of entry, and to 
improve technology to detect illegal crossings and contraband.
    The Biden administration has begun this work. New technology and 
enhanced staffing authorized in the 117th Congress is being deployed 
across the border as we speak. Illegal crossings are down significantly 
since the expiration of Title 42. The CBP One app is succeeding in 
creating a more orderly system at ports of entry and is in turn 
reducing crossing between ports of entry. There is more work to do, but 
the path ahead is clear. Bipartisan solutions instead of political 
grandstanding.
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, but first I have to 
make one last, very important point:
    We will never defeat the evil of the cartels and the traffickers by 
adopting their cruel tactics or retreating from our American values. At 
least 5,500 children were separated under the Trump administration, and 
there is likely more that we still don't know about. Five thousand, 
five hundred children.
    Of those 5,500 children more than 500 were under 5 years old. As a 
new parent myself, this is just unconscionable. And it should outrage 
everyone here. And today, years later, there are still hundreds of 
children who have not been reunited with their parents.
    One woman named Jessica, fleeing El Salvador and seeking asylum in 
America after MS-13 beat her and threatened to kill her and her 
children, arrived to the United States in 2018--only to have the Trump 
administration take away her 4- and 10-year-old sons. Their story is 
part of the human cost of the humanitarian crisis at the border.
    It is also despicable that the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, 
sent agents to Texas to fool migrants into coming to Florida so that he 
could send them to Massachusetts as a political stunt.
    This article details the story of 22-year-old Eduardo, his wife, 
and their 7-year-old daughter who endured abduction and beatings by a 
Mexican cartel as they journeyed from Peru toward the U.S.-Mexico 
border, in search of a better life.
    When Eduardo and his family reached the United States, they applied 
for legal asylum and stayed at a migrant center while awaiting the 
processing of their application. Then, they met a woman, working for 
Ron DeSantis, who lied to them, promising a job and shelter if they 
would board a flight to Massachusetts. Of course, the Massachusetts 
authorities were never alerted to this plot. And Florida taxpayers paid 
for this disgusting stunt by the Florida Governor for his political 
gain.
    Children taken from their parents by grandstanding politicians 
looking for headlines. Grieving parents who still do not know where 
their children are today.
    And now another grandstanding politician, Texas Governor Greg 
Abbott, has launched an operation in which agents were allegedly 
ordered to push children into the Rio Grande River, and deny water to 
migrants. This is not who we are. And it does not make anyone safer.
    So, when we talk about the human cost of the border crisis--don't 
forget these humans. Children, parents, separated, kidnapped, and hurt 
by grandstanding politicians looking for headlines. Cowardly, selfish, 
politicians kidnapping children because they think it would make a good 
tweet.
    So, I and the Democrats on my subcommittee, will work with anyone 
who is serious about making the border safer for American citizens and 
for migrants. We will work with anyone to protect American citizens, 
but we will also not stand by while selfish politicians make the 
humanitarian crisis worse by abusing migrants seeking a better life. We 
can build an immigration system that is safe, fair, and orderly if we 
put politics aside and work together.

    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Ranking Member Magaziner.
    Other Members of the committee are reminded that opening 
statements may be submitted for the record.
    [The statements of Ranking Member Thompson and Honorable 
Jackson Lee follow:]

             Statement of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson
                             July 26, 2023
    As many are aware, the number of border encounters is down since 
the end of Title 42. That's not a shell game, as the Majority has 
alleged. All numbers, including appointments via the CBP One App, are 
publicly reported. They are even reported in the administration's press 
releases!
    Last week, CBP shared that encounters between ports of entry in 
June decreased by 42 percent since May--the lowest number of encounters 
since February 2021. The Biden administration's actions to expand legal 
pathways, establish a more orderly, humane border, and enhance 
collaboration with our regional partners are largely responsible for 
this decline.
    The situation at the border--both under previous administrations 
and the current one--does have a human and economic cost on both sides 
of the border, however. Since this committee was established, I have 
been to the border many times. I have seen it myself, and I've spoken 
with members of border communities. It affects Americans and Mexicans 
alike, in addition to the migrants seeking safety, freedom, and an 
opportunity to contribute.
    The answer to the experiences that today's witnesses have shared in 
their submitted testimony is not to shut off access to asylum or 
reimpose ``Remain in Mexico,'' Title 42, or family separation. Those 
failed policies caused immense harm to migrants, our border, and 
American families.
    That's right--it hurts American families too. We know that the 
majority of migrants coming to the United States are joining family 
here. When they get injured or killed, it hurts Americans. The answer 
is instead to initiate comprehensive immigration reform, which goes 
hand-in-hand with border security.
    Deterrence measures alone do not stop people from coming. They 
drive up the demand for human smugglers and increase the number of 
injuries and deaths at the border. No one fleeing a cartel-controlled 
community, an authoritarian regime, or desperate poverty will get to 
the border and just give up because someone built a wall or installed a 
buoy.
    No one risking their lives to make the treacherous journey across 
thousands of miles to the United States is going to just turn around 
and go home. They are trying to save themselves and their loved ones.
    To our witnesses, I look forward to hearing your testimony. I hope 
that the Members of this committee make it clear today that they are 
interested in a humane and effective solution, not one that turns a 
blind eye to the global migratory crisis and does nothing to make 
Americans safer.
                                 ______
                                 
                  Statement of Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee
    Chairman Higgins, Chairman Pfluger, Ranking Member Correa, and 
Ranking Member Magaziner, thank you for this opportunity to reflect on 
the success of President Biden's policies in reducing encounters and 
creating a humane and orderly process at the U.S. Southern border.
    I thank today's witnesses for their testimony:
   Todd Benson, senior national security fellow, Center for 
        Immigration Studies;
   Javier ``JR'' Ramirez III, private citizen;
   Elisa Tambunga, private citizen;
   David J. Bier, associate director of immigration studies, 
        Cato Institute (*Democratic Witness*).
    I understand that the title of today's hearing is about a border 
crisis, but the reality is that the administration's approach to the 
Southern Border has been successful.
    In June 2023, the first full month since the termination of Title 
42, Border Patrol recorded a 42 percent decrease in encounters between 
the ports of entry (POEs).
    Along the Southwest Border, CBP recorded 144,607 encounters--the 
lowest number of encounters since February 2021--including individuals 
who presented themselves at ports of entry with or without a CBP One 
appointment.
    Although recent data provided to the committee indicates that 
Border Patrol encounters are increasing in July, average daily 
encounters are still more than 50 percent below their peak of 10,800 
prior to the lifting of Title 42.
    Some may argue that malicious encounters and illegal entrance into 
the United States should be noted and accounted for.
    So far in fiscal year 2023, CBP and the National Targeting Center 
have identified 140 watchlisted individuals encountered between 
Southern Border POEs--all of whom were detained.
    Nation-wide, encounters with watch-listed individuals account for 
0.0094 percent of all Border Patrol encounters this fiscal year.
    In addition, preliminary results from CBP data show that there is a 
nearly 70 percent decrease in illegal entries since early May.
    As a former Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Border 
Subcommittee and someone who served as the Ranking Member of the House 
Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, I have a body of legislative 
work that informs me on this topic.
    I along with many of my colleagues, including former Subcommittee 
Chair Candice Miller from Michigan, worked on comprehensive immigration 
reform measures to address the U.S.-Mexico Border, which were blocked 
by the Republican House Leadership at that time.
    I can speak from a long resume of work to bring the Nation's border 
policies in line with our Nation's values and can say that making 
progress has not been easy, and the effort to make changes is made much 
more difficult by stoking fears about immigrants entering our Nation.
    From my view on this committee and my over two decades of work on 
border and migration issues, the Biden-Harris administration has far 
out-stripped expectations and disproved Republican prognostication that 
a disaster was unfolding along the border.
                          title 42 had to end
    DHS and the Biden administration began a whole-of-Government 
approach in Fall 2021 to prepare for the end of Title 42.
    In May 2022, Secretary Mayorkas issued the six-pillar plan that 
outlined preparations to prepare for surges in migration and the 
lifting of Title 42. The six-pillar plan includes:
    (1) Surging resources, including personnel, transportation, medical 
        support, and facilities to support border operations;
    (2) Increasing CBP processing efficiency, mitigating potential 
        overcrowding at Border Patrol stations, and alleviating the 
        burden on the surrounding border communities;
    (3) Administering consequences for unlawful entry, including 
        removal, detention, and prosecution;
    (4) Bolstering the capacity of non-governmental organizations 
        (NGO's) to receive noncitizens after they have been processed 
        by CBP and ensuring coordination with and support for State, 
        local, and community leaders to help mitigate impacts on their 
        communities;
    (5) Targeting and disrupting the transnational criminal 
        organizations (TCOs) and smugglers who take advantage of and 
        profit from vulnerable migrants, and who seek to traffic drugs 
        into our country; and
    (6) Collaborating with international and Federal partners to deter 
        irregular migrations south of our border to ensure that the 
        United States is sharing responsibility throughout the Western 
        Hemisphere.
    The plan was a good one, and it was followed with energy, 
resources, and attention to execution, which gives us another example 
of what the Federal Government can do when its resources are applied to 
a problem.
    Following the termination of Title 42 on March 11, Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) encounters with migrants dropped dramatically.
    For the week ending on May 28th, CBP encountered about 4,500 
migrants per day.
    This is in comparison to the final week before Title 42 ended, when 
CBP reported encounters sometimes exceeding 10,000 encounters per day.
    Encounters were at about 5,200 per day in March 2023.
    The administration attributes the decline to the Biden 
administration's new policies aimed at to deterring migrants from 
crossing between ports of entry, including a new final rule encouraging 
the use of legal pathways.
    Reporting indicates that migrants were fearful that it would become 
harder to stay in the United States following the end of Title 42, 
which potentially contributed to the brief surge in numbers before 
Title 42 was terminated and subsequent decrease in encounters.
    Lawful immigration for those who seek to enter the United States 
has been the mutual goal of Democrats and Republicans.
    The administration has found the formula for increasing 
applications for lawful immigration to the United States though the 
application of sound policy that is backed by a strong communications 
effort that spoke directly to people in countries that are the primary 
source of mass migration to the Southern Border.
    Fentanyl seizures are even higher in fiscal year 2023.
    The administration has strategically placed over 24,000 Border 
Patrol agents and officers, thousands of troops and contractors, and 
over a thousand asylum officers along the border.
    Since the administration announced new border enforcement measures 
to reduce irregular migration, expand pathways for legal immigration, 
and increase border security, the number of people attempting to enter 
our country unlawfully has plummeted.
    Power of immigration reform to reduce unlawful entry is proven 
through the Biden administration method of promoting the largest 
expansion of legal pathways for safe, orderly, and humane migration in 
decades, and put in new rules to encourage people to use those lawful 
pathways instead of making the dangerous journey to try to enter 
unlawfully.
    Yes, the success of the lifting of Title 42 will take away a 
talking point, but it affirms our Nation can manage immigration through 
the appropriate application of laws, regulations, and resources that 
advance people centric immigration that works for immigrants and 
American interests.
    That includes expanding the parole process so that up to 30,000 
individuals per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba who 
have an eligible sponsor and pass vetting
   Let us be clear--our immigration system needs reforms, and 
        we are absolutely interested in bold new ideas to fix it, but 
        this is not one of them.
   It is time we stop the negativity and counterproductive 
        efforts that are ripping apart our country, and to instead 
        focus on coming together to work toward sensible and effective 
        solutions that can work for the betterment and growth of our 
        country.
                             post-title 42
    As soon as Title 42 lifted, the Biden-Harris administration's 
robust multi-agency, multi-country plan to humanely manage the border 
through deterrence, enforcement, and diplomacy went into full effect.
    Since then, the number of unlawful crossings at our Southwest 
Border has dropped by nearly 65 percent.
    Because the administration had Democrats in the House and Senate 
Majority in the first 2 years, the ability to secure funding was not a 
roadblock to progress.
    At the border, we are catching record levels of fentanyl even 
before it crosses our borders, due to the work of thousands of agents 
and officers to secure the border and take thousands of smugglers off 
the streets.
    In the last two fiscal years, fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 
2022, DHS seized more fentanyl and arrested more criminals for 
committing crimes related to fentanyl and precursor chemicals than in 
the previous 5 years combined.
    Fentanyl seizures are even higher in fiscal year 2023.
    The administration has strategically placed over 24,000 Border 
Patrol agents and officers, thousands of troops and contractors, and 
over a thousand asylum officers along the border.
    Since the administration announced new border enforcement measures 
to reduce irregular migration, expand pathways for legal immigration, 
and increase border security, the number of people attempting to enter 
our country unlawfully has plummeted.
    Power of immigration reform to reduce unlawful entry is proven 
through the Biden administration method of promoting the largest 
expansion of legal pathways for safe, orderly, and humane migration in 
decades, and put in new rules to encourage people to use those lawful 
pathways instead of making the dangerous journey to try to enter 
unlawfully.
    Yes, the success of the lifting of Title 42 will take away a 
talking point, but it affirms our Nation can manage immigration through 
the appropriate application of laws, regulations, and resources that 
advance people-centric immigration that works for immigrants and 
American interests.
    That includes expanding the parole process so that up to 30,000 
individuals per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba who 
have an eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks before 
being allowed to come to the United States for 2 years and receive work 
authorization.
    This communicates clearly to all who may seek to come that 
individuals who unlawfully cross the border will be ineligible for the 
parole process and will be subject to repatriation to Mexico.
    Making access available to those who apply and making sure that 
there is an opportunity for those who seek legal migration.
    This includes tripling refugee resettlement from Latin American and 
Caribbean countries--up to 20,000 refugees during fiscal year 2023 and 
fiscal year 2024.
    The administration has made access to the immigration process 
available and access through the launch of an on-line appointment 
portal, the CBP One app, to reduce wait times and ensure fair, orderly 
processing at U.S. ports of entry.
    Diplomacy is also an important component of the success we are 
seeing on the border because the administration has secured agreements 
with our regional partners, including Mexico and Colombia, to quickly 
remove people and crack down on criminal networks operating in the 
Darien.
    In June 2022, the President mobilized 21 leaders to adopt the Los 
Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection representing a 
collective commitment and a coordinated approach to reducing irregular 
migration and expanding legal pathways throughout the region.
    Under the LA Declaration, countries like Colombia, Ecuador, and 
Costa Rica have stepped up to better integrate millions of Venezuelan 
and Nicaraguan migrants they host--many of whom would otherwise make 
the dangerous overland journey to the U.S. border.
    The new border enforcement measures build on prior actions taken by 
the administration to streamline the immigration process and make it 
more effective.
    The final ingredient is a judicial process for immigration courts 
that establishes and sustains a court docket to prioritize the orderly 
and fair processing of asylum claims of certain recent arrivals, while 
ensuring those not seeking protection or who don't qualify are promptly 
returned to their country of origin.
    The administration is continuing to aggressively increase legal 
pathways, enforce our immigration laws, target smugglers who prey and 
profit on vulnerable migrants and seek to traffic drugs into our 
country, and work collaboratively with cities and States that are 
impacted.
    Republicans who have used immigration as a wedge issue attempted to 
derail the President's efforts.
    Hours before Title 42 was lifted, the Attorney General of Florida 
ran to court seeking an order that takes a key enforcement tool off the 
table and threatens to undermine our critically important work to 
secure the border.
    Twenty States filed a lawsuit to block the administration's 
successful expansion of the parole program.
    If their lawsuit succeeds, it will trade a lawful pathway that is 
working for decreasing unlawful crossings that strain our border 
communities.
    Efforts by certain States to challenge DHS's enforcement priorities 
have resulted in courts blocking those common-sense priorities, which 
are consistent with efforts across administrations.
    Republicans should work with the administration to focus scarce 
enforcement resources against criminals and recent border crossers, 
instead of impeding efforts to responsibly manage and secure the 
border.
    In April 2023, the Biden administration announced a whole-of-
Government approach to combating TCOs and Fentanyl. This included:
   Leading a global coordinated effort with international 
        partners to disrupt the illicit synthetic drug trade
   Strengthen coordination and information sharing among U.S. 
        intelligence and domestic law enforcement agencies.
   Accelerating work with the private sector globally.
   Further protecting the U.S. financial system from use and 
        abuse by drug traffickers, including expanding efforts to 
        disrupt illicit financial activities; and
   Continuing to call on Congress to close legal loopholes for 
        illicit synthetic drugs.
    The administration has established task forces to target criminal 
organizations responsible for smuggling migrants across the Southern 
Border.
   Secretary Mayorkas has created Operation Sentinel to work 
        across the DHS, State Department, and DOJ to disrupt logistical 
        network of criminal organizations by revoking travel documents 
        and freezing financial assets.
   AG Merrick Garland created Joint Task Force Alpha to partner 
        with DHS to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against human 
        smuggling and trafficking groups.
    Furthermore, the DOJ has already announced charges against 28 
Sinaloa leaders, including three of ``the Chapitos.''
    Chief Border Patrol agents have expressed their approval of our 
current defense against cartels.
    In an interview in May, Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovina stated 
that ``the current state of morale in the El Centro Sector, the premier 
sector in the U.S. Border Patrol, is one of what I would term optimal 
morale given current conditions . . . ''
    Let us be clear--our immigration system needs reforms, and we are 
absolutely interested in bold new ideas to fix it, but this is not one 
of them.
    CBP officers monitor all traffic coming through the ports using 
technology, such as non-intrusive imaging systems, and canine teams to 
detect the illegal trains of drug hidden on people.
    CBP has also used aircrafts to monitor both the air and the sea to 
combat TCO techniques that often avoid the radar.
    Diplomacy is also an important component of the continued success 
we are seeing on the border because the administration has secured 
agreements with our regional partners, including Mexico and Colombia, 
to quickly remove people and crack down on criminal networks operating 
in the Darien, one of the world's most dangerous migration routes.
    Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has worked to combat TCO 
operations by helping with investigations into human trafficking, drug 
smuggling, and cyber and financial crimes.
    HSI has worked with foreign partners in 13 countries to share 
intelligence and persecute TCOs in various judicial systems.
    Republicans should work with the administration to focus scarce 
enforcement resources against criminals and recent border-crossers, 
instead of impeding efforts to responsibly manage and secure the 
border.
    Transactional Criminal Organizations pose a serious threat to 
homeland security.
    However, this issue is not one at the Southern Border, but rather 
in Central America, where TCOs have led to wide-spread violence, 
resulting in mass migration north to the United States border.
                    what have migrants gone through
    There has been a recent increase in migrants' deaths from exposure 
to extreme weather, as climate change makes the summer even deadlier 
for crossing.
    In addition, a heightened border wall has forced migrants to either 
risk scaling the wall or find a different path to the Southern Border, 
which has resulted in many injuries and even death.
    Just over the July 8-9 weekend, amidst a heat wave in Texas and 
Arizona, Border Patrol found the remains of 10 migrants.
    Tragically, preliminary data shared with the committee by advocates 
point to another 70 deceased migrants recovered along the border in 
June.
    In addition, a total of 853 immigrants died crossing the border in 
2022--a record high.
    Compounding this issue are recent allegations by a Texan trooper-
medic indicating the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) ordered 
officers to push migrants--including children--back into the Rio Grande 
and to not provide water to migrants.
    Some migrants have turned to cartels to assist them with getting to 
and crossing the Southern Border.
    However, this allows cartels to take advantage of migrants both 
physically and financially through abuse, assault, and abandonment.
    Additionally, the number of unaccompanied children crossing the 
border peaked in July 2021, with 18,954 unaccompanied children 
apprehended by CBP.
    The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the Southwest 
Border has dropped by 61 percent from that peak to 7,288 in June 2023.
    Currently, there are 7,220 unaccompanied children in HHS' care.
    Last, we understand how dire the fentanyl issue is to our Nation.
    However, it must be acknowledged that most of the drugs seized at 
POEs are transported by U.S. citizens.
    Specifically, U.S. citizens accounted for 86.3 percent of fentanyl 
trafficking convictions in 2021--which is 10 times greater than the 
convictions for undocumented immigrants.
    In fiscal year 2023, U.S. citizens accounted for over 77 percent of 
fentanyl-related seizures at POEs.
                              what is next
    I ask my colleagues to come together and move past the discord and 
to stand true to our ideals as Americans and see real immigration 
reform.
    Specifically, we should create more legal pathways for immigrants, 
which would allow law enforcement to focus on actual threats along the 
border.
    Additionally, we should focus on harnessing the power of technology 
by ensuring that our technology at the border is up to date.
    Ideally, this would speed up processing times and allow migrants to 
come through U.S. POEs more quickly.
    There are many challenges at the Southern Border, but the Biden 
administration has capably managed the handling, processing, and 
entrance of migrants who are coming to America seeking a better life.
    It is our duty to support the administration in their efforts.
    Thank you, I yield back the balance of my time.

    Mr. Higgins. I am pleased to welcome our first panel of 
witnesses.
    [Witnesses sworn.]
    Let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in 
the affirmative. Thank you and please be seated.
    I would like to now formally introduce our witnesses. Mr. 
Todd Bensman is a senior national security fellow at the Center 
for Immigration Studies and has over 20 years of journalism 
experience covering national security, with a particular focus 
on the Southwest Border. Mr. Bensman also worked for the Texas 
Department of Public Safety's Intelligence and Counterterrorism 
Division.
    Mr. Javier, is it Javier? Mr. Javier ``J.R.'' Ramirez is 
the general manager of Chaparrosa Ranch in La Pryor, Texas, 
where his family has been ranching since 1932. He is a fifth-
generation rancher and manages all ranch business, including 
the extensive wildlife management program. Mr. Ramirez sits on 
the board of directors for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle 
Ranchers Association.
    Ms. Elisa Tambunga is the mother of Emilia Tambunga and the 
daughter of Maria Tambunga, who were both victims of a high-
speed illegal alien pursuit in March 2023, which tragically 
cost both of their lives. We extend our sincerest condolences, 
ma'am.
    Mr. David J. Bier is the associate director of immigration 
studies at the Cato Institute. His research focuses on 
immigration, border security, and interior enforcement.
    I thank the witnesses for being here today. The witnesses' 
full statements will appear in the record.
    I now recognize Mr. Bensman for 5 minutes to summarize his 
opening statement.

  STATEMENT OF TODD BENSMAN, SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY FELLOW, 
                 CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES

    Mr. Bensman. OK. Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me 
here today to discuss the impacts from the worst mass migration 
crisis ever to have stricken the United States at the Southern 
Border.
    This is a single on-going event with a traceable start date 
smashing every record on Government books for 30 months 
straight. Biden administration policies have allowed at least 4 
million foreign nationals, including 1.7 million undetected 
got-aways, to illegally enter and stay in the United States. 
Those millions of needy, uninsured illegal immigrants are 
having transformative impacts on American civil society in 
several ways that we'll hear about soon.
    But one impact that millions of Americans can feel right 
away is rarely addressed, and I want to address that here. That 
is what Biden's border crisis is doing to America's public 
school districts. To degrees that may vary from place to place, 
this will manifest as acute space shortages and classroom 
overcrowding; successive tax-hiking bond elections to purchase 
portable classrooms and build new schools; hiring binges for 
more administrators, janitors, security officers, school 
cafeteria workers, and English as second language teachers; 
language barriers for students who can't read or write but must 
mix in anyway and take standardized tests; declining academic 
performance; and new social problems like gang formation and 
behavioral difficulties.
    A main feature of the border crisis, the Biden border 
crisis, and also of the much smaller earlier Trump swell in 
late 2018 and 2019, is that it is more child-centric than any 
before. Immigrants and family groups began to really pour over 
the border after the world discovered a certain legal loophole 
called the Flores Settlement that got them out of detention and 
deportation and released into America in under 21 days to 
pursue asylum claim for years.
    Another discovered loophole, the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act, let non-Mexican unaccompanied minors go free 
within 3 days. This sparked rushes on the border of 
unaccompanied minors.
    Whether in families or alone and unaccompanied, school-aged 
children poured in until President Trump started expelling them 
under Remain in Mexico and then Title 42. That's the pandemic 
instant expulsion policy added in March 2020. But then the 
Biden administration reopened the spigot by creating exemptions 
in Title 42 for most families, all unaccompanied minors, and 
many pregnant and postpartum women. That set the rush off again 
into our country of children.
    The public is never told how many school-aged children got 
through these policy openings, but I estimate that it is 
probably as high or higher than 1.2 million. No one really 
knows, but it's not going away anytime soon. What we know is 
that school districts across America had to enroll them under a 
1982 Supreme Court ruling regardless of immigration status, 
numbers, costs, or hardships.
    So, to find out what that might look like, last year I 
conducted field research on the Cleveland Independent School 
District, 40 miles northeast of Houston, in Liberty County. 
From between 60,000 and 100,000 mostly immigrant families from 
earlier border surges settled there in an unincorporated 
community called Colony Ridge and sent their kids to CISD. 
Everyone I talked to, including the school superintendent, told 
me most are illegally present.
    Here's CISD's story in a nutshell. Enrollments tripled from 
3,693 K through 12 students in 4 main schools in 2012, to more 
than 12,000 in 2022. CISD is now 12 schools and 60 portable 
classrooms. Plans call for $1.2 billion, that's with a B, 
expansion to 20 more schools over the next decade to 
accommodate a projected student body of 20,000. A decade ago, 
CISD was 40 percent Hispanic. Now, it's 90 percent.
    Here's some findings. The district has repeatedly asked 
voters to approve massive tax-spiking bond elections: $85 
million in 2017, $198 million in 2019, $150 million in 2021, 
$115 million in 2022, and it just goes on. They can't stop.
    The district has suffered declines in academic performance 
due to language barriers. Those with limited English 
proficiency spiked from 20 percent in 2012 to 55 percent in 
2022. English as a second language curricula now makes up more 
than half of all curricula. The entire teaching staff is 
required to attain State ESL certification or an equivalent. 
Many new students were teenagers who couldn't read or write. 
Nearly half of Cleveland high school students and 60 percent of 
Cleveland middle school students were at risk of dropping out. 
Gangs and drug trafficking are problems.
    This is just one school district, maybe an extreme case, 
but scattered media reporting suggests it's emblematic. Many 
are struggling to protect students who are already there from 
degraded instruction, and parents from tremendous new tax 
burdens across America.
    I'm happy to answer any questions about this impact or 
others described in my longer testimony on file. Thank you for 
your time.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Bensman follows:]
                   Prepared Statement of Todd Bensman
                             July 26, 2023
    Messr. Chairman Higgins, Ranking Member Correa, Chairman Pfluger, 
and Ranking Member Magaziner and Members of the subcommittees, thank 
you for inviting me here today to discuss the important issue of 
impacts from the worst mass migration crisis ever to have occurred at 
the American Southern Border. And what is happening at that border is, 
by every possible metric on Government record, the worst such mass 
migration in the American experience, now well into its third year with 
at least 4 million foreign nationals allowed to enter and stay in the 
United States for their illegal crossing efforts.
    I have studied, analyzed, and reported border issues for more than 
17 years. First, during my 23-year career as a journalist for major 
media outlets through 2009. Then for 9 years as an intelligence analyst 
for the Texas Department of Public Safety's Intelligence and 
Counterterrorism Division, and since 2018 as a senior national security 
fellow for CIS.
    In the official capacity of my current role, I have spent a great 
deal of the past 2\1/2\ years on the ground, both sides of the border, 
usually with the immigrants before and after they cross. And from 
thousands of their testimonials, I have written the only comprehensive 
first draft of this historic event's causes and effects, in my book 
OVERRUN.
    In it, I document the genesis of this incredible continuous event 
to specific policies that went into effect on President Joe Biden's 
Inauguration Day, which immigrants unanimously tell me are the main 
reasons they decided to journey across the Southern Border.
    The administration put a freeze on required border enforcement 
measures and fast-tracked release of the majority of illegal crossers 
into the country where they and most experts know they will stay 
forever.
    And on their cell phones, which every immigrant has, they sent word 
of this incredible bonanza down trail, to home villages and all along 
the migration trails. And in this way, those first tens of thousands 
who began crossing on inauguration day quickly became hundreds of 
thousands a month, and then millions a year. Counting an estimated 1.7 
million never apprehended, probably more than 4 million have entered 
the country from the border in a mere 30-month span. Perhaps as many as 
6 million largely uneducated and needy people will be in the country 
before the Biden policies might first be reversed in the 2024 national 
elections and the floodgates closed.
    Those millions of policy-enticed entries in so short a time already 
are--and will have--transformative impacts in the form of unplanned-for 
demands on public welfare and assistance programs, health care systems, 
Social Security, housing, labor markets, schools, and the criminal 
justice system.
    It is too early in the crisis to measure many of these impacts--
assuming anyone is willing to do this politically-aversive work. But, 
despite political reticence to do so, Congress, researchers, media 
reporters, and State and local governments should endeavor to measure 
impacts in three general areas where indicators of consequential change 
are already well-indicated: public school burdens, unnecessary 
preventable crime, and unfunded burdens for local communities.
                         public school systems
    Probably the very first area of civic life where most Americans 
will experience the impact of the Biden border crisis will be in the 
public schools. Local schools face the most immediately visible impacts 
because a main feature of the Biden border crisis, and also of the 
earlier Trump swell of late 2018-early 2019, was that immigrants in 
family groups around the world discovered a certain legal loophole--
known as the Flores Settlement. The 2015-amended settlement requires 
DHS to release immigrant families with young children from detention 
within 21 days to pursue years of mostly ineligible asylum claims while 
living inside the United States, rather than to be deterred by 
detention and deportation.
    Children became extremely valuable as tickets into America. So 
millions of people in family units brought school-aged children in for 
the Flores Settlement quick-release treatment. At the same time, non-
Mexican children traveling without a parent learned they could exploit 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA of 2000) to gain release 
within 3 days, sparking rushes on the border of unaccompanied minors.
    School-aged children poured in over the border with parents or 
guardians, or alone unaccompanied by the hundreds of thousands and then 
the millions to gain the advantage of these quick-release loopholes.
    That mostly ended when former President Donald Trump introduced 
Remain in Mexico and Title 42 instant expulsions for all illegal 
entrances as a COVID control measure.
    But then the Biden administration on Day 1 opened exemptions in 
Title 42 expulsions, and ended the Migrant Protection Protocols, or 
Remain in Mexico. These moves allowed for the quick interior releases 
of a majority of immigrant families, unaccompanied minors, and advanced 
stage pregnant women or postpartum women.
    The public is never told how many advanced-stage or school-aged 
children got in through these exemptions and entered public school 
systems.
    Based on publicly-available data, it's difficult to estimate just 
how many school-aged children brought in over the border joined the 
estimated 49 million children enrolled in American public school 
systems.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ ``Back-to-School Statistics,'' National Center for Education 
Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/- fastfacts/
display.asp?id=372#:?:text=Preliminary%20data%20for%20fall%202021,studen
ts%20- %20(source%2C%20'source).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    But national enrollments would have had to include a bulk of the 
545,000 unaccompanied minors enticed by policy to cross since 2019--
388,748 of them just since 2020. Hundreds of thousands more would 
surely have crossed in to enroll among the 1.9 million foreign 
nationals apprehended as family units from 2018 to date. Up-to-minute 
data is not yet available but, as of 2021, 11 million public school 
students from immigrant-headed households (legal and illegal) accounted 
for nearly 1 out of 4 students in public schools, more than double the 
11 percent in 1990 and more than triple the 7 percent in 1980.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Steven A. Camarota, ``Mapping the Impact of Immigration on 
Public Schools,'' Center for Immigration Studies, 20 June 2023, https:/
/cis.org/Report/Mapping-Impact-Immigration-Public-Schools.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As for the hundreds of thousands that have certainly driven those 
percentages much higher since 2021, school districts across America had 
to enroll them under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling regardless of 
immigration status, numbers, costs, and hardships.
    What might those be?
    Spiking enrollments that force school districts to hold successive 
tax-hiking bond elections to purchase portable classrooms, build new 
schools, expand existing schools, hire more administrators, janitors, 
security officers, school cafeteria workers, and hire more English as a 
Second Language teachers, according to complaints leaching into the 
public realm.
    For instance, in and around New York City, a significant surge of 
5,000 immigrant children flooded into four counties in a single 11-
month span through August 2021, posing a $139 million unplanned burden 
on New York taxpayers to educate them.\3\ The arrivals of mostly 
teenage boys created a classroom crisis that strapped educational 
resources and aided gang-recruiting efforts, the New York Post 
reported. In May 2022, New York City education officials grappling with 
older illiterate teen immigrants who have gone years without formal 
education agreed to launch a pilot program that would all 400 
``newcomers'' fan out to identified high schools where they can learn 
English.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Kerry J. Byrne, ``Border Crisis Hits Classrooms as 
Unaccompanied Minors Flood NY Schools,'' New York Post, October 30, 
2021, https://nypost.com/2021/10/30/border-crisis-hits-classrooms-as-
unaccompanied-minors-flood-ny-schools-border-crisis-hits-classrooms-as-
unaccompanied-minors-flood-ny-schools/.
    \4\ Reema Amin, ``NYC to Expand Transfer High Schools to Help 
English Language Learners,'' Chalkbeat, May 11, 2022, https://
ny.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/11/23067687/nyc-newcomer-immigrants-transfer-
schools-
expansion#:?:text=New%20York%20City%20education%20officials,to%- 
20a%20top%20department%20official.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In Austin Independent School District, teachers protested in April 
2022 about a 400-student influx of immigrant teenagers from Central 
America at its International High School and Eastside Early College 
High School campus.\5\ Teachers complained they were left to give 
instruction in hallways and conference rooms. Similar scenarios are 
unfolding more quietly in school districts across America.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Natalie Haddad, ``Austin ISD Confirms One Campus Is 
Overcrowded, Not All Students Are in Classrooms,'' KVUE ABC News, April 
29, 2022, https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/austin-isd-
campus-overcrowded/269-855e40b4-f0cd-4e96-90df-3758aa5659fe#:?:text- 
=One%20AISD%20campus%20overcrowded&text=In%20a%20'Statement%20to%20KVUE,
- this%20many%20'students%20at%20International.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    For what that may look like in extreme form, parents whose children 
attend public schools across the United States need look no farther 
than Cleveland Independent School District (CISD) in East Texas's 
Liberty County about 40 miles northeast of Houston. A sprawling new 
community called Colony Ridge, whose new and established residents--and 
CISD's School Superintendent--universally acknowledge that many are 
illegally present in the United States, has boomed inside the CISD's 
143 square miles to some 60,000 as of 2021.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ ``Fitch Affirms Cleveland ISD, TX's ULT Bonds and IDR at `AA-'; 
Outlook Stable,'' Fitch Ratings, July 2, 2022, https://
www.fitchratings.com/research/us-public-finance/fitch-affirms-
cleveland-isd-tx-ult-bonds-idr-at-aa-outlook-stable-07-07-2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2019, the growth driven by largely immigrant children prompting 
the Texas Education Agency to label CISD a ``hyper-growth'' 
district.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ ``District Improvement Plan 2021-2022,'' Cleveland Independent 
School District, https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1641917222/
clevelandisdorg/pjko9hhjfvdup4zvppto/District- Plan13.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    CISD Enrollments exploded from 3,693 K-12 students and 4 main 
schools in 2011-2012 to more than 12,000 in 2022. From 4 schools, CISD 
is now 12 schools and 60 portable classrooms funded by continual bond 
elections and with plans for a $1.2 billion expansion to 20 more 
schools over the next decade to accommodate an anticipated student body 
of 20,000 students as Colony Ridge continues a massive migration-fueled 
expansion. A decade ago, CISD was 40 percent Hispanic. Now it is 90 
percent and very different from the old country days.
    In 2022, I traveled to CISD and Colony Ridge as part of research 
for my book Overrun and interviewed students, parents, teachers, and 
the superintendent Stephen McCandless. From them, I learned that the 
district's ills there take many forms. Classroom and school 
overcrowding have required portable classroom farms, sharp spending 
increases to hire new teachers and bus drivers, continual requests for 
voters to approve bonds to build new schools, fallouts from language 
barriers and uneven education levels, less individualized teacher time 
per student, poorer academic performances for all, and public safety 
concerns.
    What I learned from public records and my interviews was that most 
of the new students can't speak English. Those with limited English 
proficiency rose from 20 percent in the 2011-2012 school year to 55 
percent in 2021-2022. English-as-a-Second Language curricula now makes 
up more than half of all school curricula. The entire teaching staff is 
required to obtain State ESL certification or an equivalent one, an 
expensive and time-consuming endeavor requiring constant management. 
The majority of parents speak limited English too and stay away, some 
for fear of deportation.
    Many of the new students were teenagers who couldn't read or write. 
Broad language barriers suppress academic achievement. Student-teacher 
ratios range in the upper thirties per teacher for certain core 
classes. It's crowd control, not education, one teacher told me. Some 
of the statistics are alarming. Nearly half of Cleveland High School's 
students were considered to be at risk of dropping out. Nearly 60 
percent of Cleveland Middle School's 2,238 students were considered at 
risk of dropping out.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ ``Cleveland High School,'' Texas Tribune Public Schools 
Explorer, https://schools.texastribune.org/districts/cleveland-isd/
cleveland-high-school/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ``Texas Education Agency says they have a right to a free public 
education,'' McCanless told me. ``And I can't put a fourteen-year-old 
in a second-grade class, so we put them in an age-appropriate grade 
level and we give them all the supports we can, and then you're like, 
`how do we teach a fourteen-year-old how to read!?' I mean, that should 
have been learned in first or second grade. But we have to do it. We're 
doing it. We have some now. And then the State tells us they're 
expected to take the State test!''
    ``How are they doing on the tests?'' I asked. ``How do you think?'' 
McCanless replied.
    The district has repeatedly asked voters to approve massive tax-
spiking bond elections, an $85 million one in 2017, a $198 million one 
in November 2019, another for $150 million in 2021, another for $115 
million in 2022. Weary voters approve some and reject others.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ ``Bond Elections,'' CISD website, https://www.clevelandisd.org/
about-us/bond-elections.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Keeping up with this problematic growth is a nonstop desperate 
struggle that has left students with sub-par education and caused the 
flight of pre-existing students to other cities and towns. The growth 
has spawned a wide variety of social problems never seen in CISD's 
history.
    McCandless and teachers told me of gang formation, drug 
trafficking, and violence came into the school system with the 
``newcomers.'' ``And we have dealt with them. And I have expelled 
them.''
    No one seems to be systematically tracking these transformative 
kinds of impacts anywhere in America's public schools.
    But while the case of CISD is in many ways extreme, there can be no 
doubt that school districts across America are undoubtedly experiencing 
similar pain to greater or lesser degrees, suffering in silence.
                     a great unnecessary crime wave
    For years, advocates of a borderless United States have pointed to 
academic-seeming ``studies'' that compare illegal alien criminality to 
American citizen criminality and then conclude that Americans commit 
more than the illegal immigrants.\10\ Its progenitors cite the 
comparison to nullify concerns about illegal immigrant crime. They use 
it to argue that the American people should leave the illegal 
immigrants alone and more properly tend to American citizen criminals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Michael T. Light, Jingying He, and Jason P. Robey, ``Comparing 
Crime Rates between Undocumented Immigrants, Legal Immigrants, and 
Native-Born U.S. Citizens in Texas,'' Proceedings of the National 
Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117, no. 51 
(December 7, 2020), https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2014704117.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The result of these comparative ``studies'' is that while America 
keeps busy with the ostensibly more real problem of U.S. citizen crime, 
the Nation's leaders let the illegal immigrant flow continue unimpeded 
since that population is so much less worrisome.
    But this ``comparative research'' diverting concern from illegal 
immigrant crime constitutes one of the greatest academic and 
intellectual frauds in the annals of immigration studies.
    The notion that these two groups should be compared is intellectual 
misconduct of the highest order, a sham campaign that almost surely has 
extended the unnecessary carnage against American citizens and lawful 
residents. The comparison studies factory is a sham because illegal 
immigrants, and especially those with knowable criminal histories, are 
uniquely subject to government deportation and detention, which does 
not exist for American citizens and lawful residents.
    So, unlike every crime committed by American citizens, every crime 
committed by illegally present immigrants with criminal histories was 
avoidable. Because illegal immigrants are constantly subject to entry 
blockage and removal, all of their crimes must be counted as a 100 
percent net-gain increase of a social ill that hurts real people in the 
worst imaginable ways on a consistent, long-term basis.
    Conversely, American citizens and lawful residents, obviously, are 
not subject to a national government apparatus in place to block and 
remove them from American territory so that they are not present to 
commit crime. America is stuck with its criminal citizens before, 
during, and after every crime they commit. The DHS detention and 
removal machine cannot and will not ever prevent a single crime by an 
American citizen.
    That is a Grand Canyon-sized difference between the two groups 
disqualifying them for comparison in crime or anything else, like how 
often both use public assistance. Immigration enforcement will always 
eliminate or reduce the presence of illegal immigrants who commit 
crimes but never American residents. Americans have no choice but to 
suffer every single American citizen-committed crime but should never 
have to suffer one single illegal immigrant-committed crime.
    Illegal immigrant crime is notoriously difficult to measure because 
doing so is politically aversive to government agencies in politically 
liberal precincts. But in addition to sudden painful public school 
enrollments, most Americans will suffer more crime committed by more 
illegal immigrants. Most U.S. States do not keep track of crime 
committed by illegal immigrants, and neither does the Federal 
Government.
    Only Texas tracks much of its crime by noncitizenship and its data 
is likely indicative of crime trends in other large-population States.
    It is too early as of this writing to guess the extent to which 
alien crime that will result from the Biden border crisis.
    But if the past is any indicator of the future and the Texas 
numbers can indicate problem scope, America is in for a sustained 
unnecessary crime wave of preventable murder, rape, child abuse, 
burglary, felony theft, drug trafficking, alien smuggling, and drunken 
driving manslaughter on a higher permanent scale.
    The Texas Department of Public Safety learns the immigration status 
of suspects booked into local jails through a program that submits 
fingerprints to the FBI for criminal history and warrant checks, and to 
DHS, which returns immigration status information on those whose 
fingerprints were already on file (which is not all of them).\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\ ``Texas Criminal Illegal Alien Data,'' Texas DPS website, 
accessed August 26, 2022, https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/crime-
records/texas-criminal-illegal-alien-data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The glimpse is limited and not a reflection of much almost certain 
higher totals, but it is telling about the trend line ahead across 
America. Between June 1, 2011, and July 31, 2022, these 259,000 illegal 
aliens were charged with more than 433,000 unnecessary, preventable 
criminal offenses. Those included 800 homicide charges (resulting in 
374 convictions as of July 2022), 822 kidnapping charges (resulting in 
265 convictions), 5,470 sexual assault charges (resulting in 2,593 
convictions), 6,485 sexual offense charges (resulting in 3,065 sexual 
offense convictions), and 4,945 weapons charges (resulting in 1,723 
weapons convictions).
    What the Texas data show is that hundreds of dead people should be 
alive, thousands of sexual assault and sexual offense victims should 
never have suffered the trauma, and tens of thousands of assault 
charges involving victims would not have been hurt.
    The Texas data also shows that criminal aliens took up police time 
and clogged up the American justice system that could have been more 
dedicated to American criminals. Thousands of drug, burglary, robbery, 
and weapons charges need not have jammed the Texas criminal justice 
systems at taxpayer cost.
    The Texas program found that another 10,590 illegal aliens were 
identified while they were in Texas State prisons over the past decade. 
Among them were prisoners serving time for 119 more unnecessary 
homicides.
    Back to Liberty County's massive settlement of Colony Ridge, legacy 
residents are increasingly alarmed by criminal atrocities never seen 
before. On April 29, a five-time deported Mexican national who owned a 
home in neighboring San Jacinto County allegedly murdered 5 members of 
a Honduran family that lived next door after they complained that his 
firing of a semi-automatic assault-style rifle at 11 p.m. was keeping 
the baby awake. He allegedly killed mothers and children, 2 of whom 
miraculously survived the massacre under the bodies of their parents 
who died shielding them.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ Maria Jimenez Moya, Eduardo Medina, and Jesus Jimenez, ``After 
a Neighbor's Complaint, Gunman Kills Five People in Texas Home,'' The 
New York Times, April 29, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/us/
shooting-texas-san-jacinto.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    That one made national news but many other atrocities and evidence 
of Mexican cartel operations in the area did not, such as the April 
2023 murder of 2 former area middle school students found riddled with 
bullets in a car.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Daniela Hurtado, ``2 former Santa Fe Middle School students 
identified as bodies found in car, deputies say,'' ABC13 News, 11 April 
2023, https://abc13.com/teens-found-dead-in-car-liberty-county-double-
murder-students-shot-to-death-gun-violence/13114684/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2020, an illegal alien from Mexico who settled in Colony Ridge 
chained two house cleaners to a bed and sexually assaulted them in a 
blackmail scheme during which he took nude photos.\14\ The nightmare 
ended when one of the women attempted an escape in her vehicle but 
didn't make it; her assailant managed to shoot her to death and set her 
car on fire with her inside before fleeing back to Mexico. Border 
Patrol caught him trying to cross again in California a short time 
later.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\ Dorian Geiger, ``Man Who Allegedly Killed Woman and Sexually 
Assaulted Another He'd Chained to a Bed Arrested by Border Patrol,'' 
Oxygen True Crime, November 25, 2020, https://www.oxygen.com/crime-
news/jose-soriano-caught-on-mexican-border-after-allegedly-murdering-
maid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2016, owners of a Colony Ridge lot who were clearing it of brush 
discovered the decomposing remains of a single mother of 5 children 
named Esmeralda Pargas-Nunez, 42, who'd been reported missing a month 
earlier. It took 2 years, but homicide detectives tracked down her 
alleged killer to Houston in 2018, another woman named Sabrina Olarosa 
Garcia, and charged her with murder.\15\ This was evidently part of a 
kidnapping scheme in Houston where the alleged murderer first lured her 
victim to a meeting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ Nicole Hensley, ``Houston Woman Arrested for Murder in 2016 
Cold Case,'' Houston Chronicle, 20 September 2018, https://
www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-woman-
arrested-for-murder-in-2016-cold-13240265.php.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In September 2022, passersby in Colony Ridge found the body of a 
16-year-old Honduran girl who'd been shot to death and dumped in a 
ditch by the side of a road, still wearing her uniform from her work 
busing tables at a local restaurant. Gang unit police arrested three 
foreign nationals, all under 21, and charged them with the murder of 
Emily Rodriguez-Avila, citing ``gang overtones'' as a motive. The 
family shipped her body back to Honduras for burial.
    In June 2022, a Liberty County dog brought home a human hand, which 
led to the discovery of a badly decomposed body of a man who had been 
buried with his gun. Police couldn't identify the corpse and were left 
to post photos of the clothing in hopes someone would recognize them.
    The Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels invested in Colony Ridge from its 
earliest inception, they said, financing lots for local operatives to 
run safe houses through which they move smuggled drugs and people from 
the border to interior America. They were using them still to smuggle 
people coming in under Biden.
    Evidence of cartel involvement dates to the earliest days of the 
illegal-alien settlement boom. To at least 2013, when Federal, State, 
and local investigators raided a Mexican drug cartel's marijuana grow 
operation on 300 acres in Liberty County, finding explosives, 6,000 
marijuana plants, worker bunk houses, and guard towers.\16\ Local 
police at the time called it the ``largest and most sophisticated 
marijuana-growing operation'' in the county's history.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\ ``Drug Cartel Linked to Multi-Million-Dollar Pot Bust in 
Liberty County,'' KHOU TV Houston, November 9, 2013, https://
www.khou.com/article/news/drug-cartel-linked-to-multi-million-dollar-
pot-bust-in-liberty-county/285-320664013#:?:text=News-
,Drug%20cartel%20linked%20to%- 20multi%2Dmillion%2Ddollar- 
%20pot%20bust%20in,6%2C000%20fully%20mature%20pot%20- plants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In July 2021, the DEA broke that dubious record with the new 
biggest drug bust in Liberty County history with a raid that broke up a 
multimillion-dollar methamphetamine manufacturing lab operating inside 
one of the Colony Ridge dwellings.
    During a recent trip, a police investigator drove me around several 
town neighborhoods pointing out high-end brick homes where cartel 
management figures lived before they were busted or moved away.
    This kind of criminality grew so problematic by 2021 that the 
fearful town leaders of Plum Grove established a first police 
department that works in concert with two county-paid bilingual 
constables that Liberty County funded to exclusively patrol Colony 
Ridge.
    The addition of several police officers amounts to a drop in the 
ocean, one officer from the region told me. Drive-by shootings, 
stealing, and drug trafficking are rampant, victimizing mostly the new 
community.
    Indeed, a 5-month-long gang and narcotics investigation by the 
Liberty County Sheriff's Office came to a dramatic end in December 2021 
with the arrest of two 15-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy who were 
part of a violent drug-trafficking racket in Colony Ridge.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ Aaron Drawhorn, ``DEA Fighting on the Frontlines: Biggest Drug 
Bust in Liberty County's History,'' KFDM 6,14 July 2021, https://
kfdm.com/news/local/dea-fighting-on-the-frontlines-biggest-drug-bust-
in-liberty-countys-history.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    After 3 or 4 months where the boys would engage in gun battles with 
drug buyers who wouldn't pay on time, local police had to investigate. 
When the day came to make arrests, the armed 17-year-old rammed a 
police car during a pell-mell car chase near Plum Grove, fled home, and 
barricaded himself in his house until a SWAT unit had to extract him 
and a girlfriend inside, who also was arrested amid drugs that were 
found.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ ``LCSO Deputies, Pct. 6 Constable's Office Arrest Suspects in 
Plum Grove Area for Alleged Gang Activity,'' Bluebonnet News, 9 
December 2021, https://bluebonnetnews.com/2021/12/09/lcso-deputies-pct-
6-constables-office-arrest-suspects-in-plum-grove-area-for-alleged-
gang-activity/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If those who committed these crimes were in the country illegally, 
none of this should have happened since they and their parents would 
not be present if immigration laws were followed.
    Within Texas, which probably is emblematic of many other States, 
Liberty County reflects a microcosm of what unnecessary crime can look 
like anywhere large numbers of foreign nationals who are only thinly 
vetted settle. Much more of this is on the way to communities across 
America, whether anyone systematically records it or not.
             american cities and towns feeling under siege
    The pain of unfunded impact from the White House's mass illegal 
immigration crisis can be heard in the ever-lengthening lists of cities 
and towns forced to contend with unmitigated inflows of needy 
immigrants from the Southern Border.
    Cities as far north as Chicago and as far west as Denver are 
squealing in pain from unfunded burdens of having to shelter, feed, 
clothe, medically treat, and support never-ending inflows of needy, 
uninsured, limited English-speaking immigrants from throughout the 
world.
    Cities such as Washington DC, New York, and Chicago have declared 
states of emergency and demanded Federal bailouts that will come at the 
taxpayer expense to feed, house, and care for tens of thousands of 
illegal immigrants allowed into the country to stay under Biden 
policies.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\ Sonnet Swire, Priscilla Alvarez, and Paul Le Blanc, ``DC mayor 
declares state of emergency over migrant arrivals from Arizona and 
Texas,'' CNN, 8 September 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/08/
politics/migrant-bus-public-emergency-washington-dc-muriel-bowser/
index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    No one wants to share the pain of sudden massive influxes of 
dependent, needy immigrants in New York, the ultimate not-in-my-
backyard issue. New York City and 30 State counties are locked in 
litigation over plans to export immigrants to them as 15,000 new 
immigrants a month pour into the city.\20\ Nine New York State counties 
were suing to block New York City's immigrant-export operations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\ Daniel Wiessner, ``New York City sues counties refusing to 
house migrants,'' Reuters, 7 June 2023, https://www.reuters.com/legal/
new-york-city-sues-counties-refusing-house-migrants-2023-06-07/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    American citizens, including veterans, are displaced from city-run 
homeless shelters as towns and cities fill up all available public 
spaces, to include public school auditoriums and college dorm rooms. 
Cities and towns along the Texas border have declared border-related 
disasters and emergencies, to include Brownsville, Laredo, and El Paso. 
One town 400 miles from the border, Cold Spring one county over from 
Liberty, declared a migration-related emergency as recently as June 
because of a ``massive surge of drug and human smuggling'' associated 
with the border crisis.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\ Bob Price, ``East Texas County 400 Miles from Border Declares 
Migrant-Crisis Disaster,'' Breitbart News, 14 June 2023, https://
www.breitbart.com/border/2023/06/14/exclusive-east-texas-county-400-
miles-from-border-declares-migrant-crisis-disaster/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As the Biden border crisis grinds on and on, expect the silent 
majority of cities and towns across America to add their voices of pain 
and protest to the lengthening list. They will do so because their 
leaders have correctly assessed that this massive new population of 
needy foreigners will burden and transform their communities without 
their say-so.

    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Bensman.
    I now recognize Mr. Ramirez for 5 minutes to summarize his 
opening statement.

    STATEMENT OF JAVIER ``JR'' RAMIREZ III, PRIVATE CITIZEN

    Mr. Ramirez. Thank you, Chairman Higgins, Ranking Member 
Correa, Chairman Pfluger, Ranking Member Magaziner, and Members 
of the subcommittees. On behalf of cattle raisers in the 
Southwest, thank you for inviting me to provide an update on 
the state of the border.
    My name is J.R. Ramirez. I live in La Pryor, Texas, where I 
manage two commercial cow-calf operations, each with extensive 
wildlife management programs. My family has been ranching in 
Zapata County since 1932 on Circle 17 Ranch and I am part of 
the fifth generation involved in the operation.
    I am testifying today on behalf of the Texas and 
Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. TSCRA was founded in 
1877 and is one of the largest and oldest livestock 
associations in our Nation. We represent 26,000 cattle raisers 
who believe in the future of the beef industry and seek to see 
it thrive.
    But that reality has become more difficult with the growing 
challenges along our Southern Border. Illegal immigration and 
lack of border security have changed ranching as we know it. 
Damaged fences and gates, high-speed chases, break-ins, stolen 
vehicles, and trespassing are daily occurrences.
    Ranchers like me on the front lines are bearing financial 
burdens that are threatening our ability to operate profitable 
businesses. In the last 12 months, our ranches have 30 
documented cases of our fences or gates being breached by a 
vehicle. The least damaging of those cases cost our operation 
$1,000, while other incidents have surpassed $10,000 in 
damages. A cut fence or open gate allows cattle to escape into 
other pastures or neighboring ranches. When that happens, 
additional hours of work are put in by our entire team to 
gather livestock, often requiring a helicopter to rectify the 
situation, a direct out-of-pocket cost to our ranch.
    These unexpected occurrences mean we may not be able to 
market cattle at the appropriate time or ensure that cattle 
breeding occurs at the right time. Our herd health can be at 
risk if neighboring cattle introduce disease that would 
otherwise not exist on our ranch. My stocking rate for 
livestock is limited when cattle graze sections of land that 
need rest as a result of cut fencing. These all take a direct 
hit to my potential profits on the operation.
    Plastic bottles, jugs, cans, backpacks, clothing, shoes, 
coats, and trash litter our property. I cannot clearly describe 
the amount of trash that now covers South Texas ranches. These 
materials will take hundreds of years to decompose and has led 
to cattle loss, as some items can be consumed and cause 
digestive failure in cattle. This is a long-term defacement of 
beautiful South Texas rangelands that will never be the same. 
Ranchers shoulder the burden of this financial loss.
    It doesn't stop there. Responsible and well-managed hunting 
leases are another way ranchers offset the formidable cost of 
ranching, while also contributing to wildlife conservation 
within the State. High-dollar wildlife escape ranches when 
fences and gates are compromised. The danger along the border 
is so great, hunters and even landowners themselves may deem 
the risk on a property too high, forcing hunters to look 
elsewhere to hunt. When those sources of revenue are taken 
away, the chances of a profitable year greatly diminish.
    Finding employees is becoming more difficult as well 
because most do not want to live where their safety is at risk. 
Many employees who live on the ranch have their homes broken 
into frequently and never know when they may unexpectedly face 
a trespasser on the land, and whether that trespasser is 
friendly or dangerous.
    My family and I cannot leave anything outside. We must hide 
our vehicle keys. We must look over our shoulders every minute 
while in our backyard or out in the pasture.
    My experience is, unfortunately, not unique. TSCRA 
conducted a border security survey of our members last year. 
The results show that the threats and challenges I face are the 
same ones faced by hundreds of my fellow ranchers across the 
State.
    As cattle raisers, we are doing our part to feed the world 
and raise the next generation of ranchers. We consistently deal 
with drought, inclement weather, increased input costs, and 
ever-fluctuating cattle prices. Those factors alone make 
ranching a costly endeavor and challenging livelihood. When you 
add in the cost resulting from the state of our border, it is 
almost impossible to make a profit.
    We cannot allow the situation to continue as it has. We 
must do better for our ranchers, our families, and all of the 
citizens that are living through the crisis along the border.
    Thank you for the opportunity to tell my story.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Ramirez follows:]
            Prepared Statement of Javier ``JR'' Ramirez III
                        Wednesday, July 26, 2023
                              introduction
    Chairman Higgins, Ranking Member Correa, Chairman Pfluger, Ranking 
Member Magaziner, and Members of the subcommittees; on behalf of cattle 
raisers in the Southwest, thank you for inviting me to provide an 
update on the state of the border.
    My name is JR Ramirez. I live in La Pryor, Texas, where I manage 
two commercial cow-calf operations, each with extensive wildlife 
management programs. My family has been ranching in Zapata County since 
1932 on Circle 17 Ranch, and I am part of the fifth generation involved 
in the operation.
    I am testifying today on behalf of Texas & Southwestern Cattle 
Raisers Association. TSCRA was founded in 1877 and is one of the 
largest and oldest livestock associations in our Nation. We represent 
26,000 cattle raisers who believe in the future of the beef industry 
and seek to see it thrive.
    But that reality has become more difficult with the growing 
challenges along our Southern Border.
    U.S. Customs and Border Protection has tracked more encounters in 
2023 than this time last year, putting our border on track to exceed 
the more than 2,300,000 encounters from the 2022 fiscal year.
    Illegal immigration and a lack of border security have changed 
ranching as we know it. In South Texas, our business, operation, 
security, and way of life are threatened daily.
    Damaged fences and gates, high-speed chases, break-ins, stolen 
vehicles, and trespassing are daily occurrences. Ranchers like me on 
the front lines are bearing financial burdens that are threatening our 
ability to operate profitable businesses that raise food for our 
country and to protect essential habitats and wild spaces.
                       the cost of infrastructure
    In the last 12 months, our ranch has had 30 documented cases of 
fences or gates being breached by a vehicle. The least damaging of 
those cases cost our operation $1,000 while other incidents have 
surpassed $10,000 in damages.
    Costs extend beyond the repairs. A cut fence or open gate allows 
cattle to escape into other pastures or neighboring ranches. When that 
happens, additional hours of work are put in by our entire team to 
gather livestock, often requiring a helicopter to rectify the 
situation, a direct out-of-pocket cost to our ranch.
    The breaches of fences and gates involving vehicles are expensive, 
time-consuming, and pose a huge danger to our workers and families on 
the ranch, but they are also added to by an equally difficult 
challenge--cut fence lines. Many times, these breaches to our operation 
are less obvious. Trespassers will cut fences in a manner that does not 
draw attention, creating areas where cattle and wildlife can move 
freely outside of the ranch undetected for extended periods of time.
    For example, on a six-strand barbed wire fence, trespassers have 
cut the middle four strands, leaving the top and bottom strands intact 
so the damage is not obvious. On a net wire fence, trespassers cut a 
rectangle large enough for adults to move through freely. These 
property damages are near impossible to keep up with given the hundreds 
of miles of perimeter and cross fencing that must be monitored. It is 
simply not feasible to check the status of fence daily, despite our 
efforts to be diligent.
    As a result of both drive-throughs and cut fences, a series of 
financial burdens external to the infrastructure is realized. If cattle 
are mixed within our operation or escape to a neighboring ranch, we may 
not be able to market cattle at the appropriate time or ensure cattle 
breeding occurs at the right time. Our herd health can be at risk if 
neighboring cattle introduce disease that would otherwise not exist on 
our ranch.
                        the cost of conservation
    These instances also limit our ability to manage our land. When 
livestock are let outside of the pasture they were to graze, grasses 
may not have adequate rest, damaging plant populations and rangeland 
health. My stocking rates suffer, limiting the head of cattle I can run 
and directly impacting potential profits.
    Responsible and well-managed hunting leases are another way 
ranchers offset the formidable costs of ranching while also 
contributing to wildlife conservation within the State. However, both 
efforts are lost because of trespassing. High-dollar wildlife escape 
ranches when fences and gates are compromised. When those sources of 
revenue are taken away, the chances of a profitable year greatly 
diminish. Hunters look to other areas of the State--or another State 
entirely--when purchasing hunts. The danger along the border is so 
great, hunters or even landowners themselves, may deem the risk on a 
property too high.
    The volume of foot traffic alone is staggering. The ranch I manage 
is about 20 miles from north to south. Every crossroad in between going 
from east to west has fresh tracks daily. Plastic bottles, jugs, cans, 
backpacks, clothing, shoes, coats, and trash litter our property. I 
cannot clearly describe the amount of trash that now covers South Texas 
ranches. These materials will take hundreds of years to decompose.
    We try to clean up what we can see off the roads, but there are 
millions of acres not accessible and, therefore, will never be cleaned 
up. The litter left behind poses a risk to livestock, as well. It has 
led to cattle loss, as some items can be consumed and cause digestive 
failure in cattle. The ultimate result of this litter and pollution is 
harm to animals and the long-term defacement of beautiful South Texas 
rangelands that will never be the same. Ranchers shoulder the burden of 
this financial loss.
                           the cost of safety
    Passing through a remote ranch like ours in the Southwest is 
dangerous. South Texas is known for its extreme temperatures. This 
month temperatures surpassed triple digits each week, and there is no 
real shelter in the middle of brush land. Migrants can quickly find 
themselves dehydrated, seeking water from livestock troughs and tanks, 
which often makes them sick. In these cases, securing the border 
quickly becomes a matter of life or death.
    Unfortunately, we have found ten deceased migrants in the last 2 
years on our ranch. It is painful to think of the bodies across these 
remote landscapes that will never be found or of the individuals that 
are, at this very moment, struggling to find clean water or shelter who 
only have days, if not hours, to live.
    We have been asked today to discuss the cost of impacts along our 
border. How do we put a cost to their lives or the lives of my family 
or my employees?
    Finding employees is becoming more difficult as well because most 
cowboys do not want to live where their safety is at risk. Many 
employees who live on the ranch have their homes broken into frequently 
and never know when they may unexpectedly face a trespasser on their 
land and whether that trespasser is friendly or dangerous.
    I share the same concern. If I come across unexpected guests on a 
ranch, it's my instinct to help. However, I must weigh my personal 
safety, too. I do not know who these people are. I do not know what 
their intentions are. I do not know if I can stop to offer them water 
without endangering myself. I do not know if they will break into my 
home.
    My family and I cannot leave anything outside. We must hide our 
vehicle keys. We must look over our shoulders every minute while we are 
outside in our backyard or out in the pasture. I fear for my family's 
safety when they are home alone.
    I have two daughters aged 8 and 10. They are growing up on a 
beautiful South Texas ranch where they should be able to walk down to 
the tank about 100 yards from our house to fish whenever they want. 
They can't. They should be able to run around our yard freely. They 
can't. They should be able to walk or ride their bikes to the barn to 
feed their horses. They can't.
    My experience is unfortunately not unique. TSCRA conducted a border 
security survey of our members last year. The results show that the 
threats and challenges I face are the same ones faced by hundreds of my 
fellow ranchers across the State.
    As cattle raisers, we are doing our part to feed the world and 
raise the next generation of ranchers to take our place. We 
consistently deal with droughts, inclement weather, increased input 
costs, and ever-fluctuating cattle prices. Those factors alone make 
ranching a costly endeavor and challenging livelihood. When you add in 
the costs resulting from the current state of our border, it is almost 
impossible to make a profit.
    We cannot allow the situation to continue as it has. We must do 
better for our ranchers, our families and all the citizens that are 
living through this crisis along the border.

    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Ramirez. I apologize. I 
transcribed your name incorrectly on my notes. But I assure 
you, sir, as cowboy to cowboy, it won't happen again.
    Mr. Ramirez. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Yes, sir.
    We now recognize Ms. Tambunga for 5 minutes to summarize 
her opening statement.

          STATEMENT OF ELISA TAMBUNGA, PRIVATE CITIZEN

    Ms. Tambunga. Hi, my name is Elisa Tambunga and I'd like to 
thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be here today.
    I come to you as a young woman who no longer has a mother. 
I come to you as a mother who no longer has a child. I'm a 
United States citizen who has been horrifically failed by my 
own government.
    On March 13, my mother, Maria Tambunga, and my 7-year-old 
daughter, Emilia Brooke, were murdered by a 7,000-pound vehicle 
turned weapon, by a man whose name is not even worth 
mentioning. This man was fleeing from police, going over 105 
miles per hour. He was livestreaming himself on Facebook. He 
had 11 illegal immigrants in that truck, 2 of which were 
killed. Four lives taken in a matter of seconds ultimately due 
to unsecured borders.
    I'm from a small town in West Texas named Ozona. My dad, 
Emilio, and my brother-in-law, Tim, who sit behind me today, 
and I traveled over 1,700 miles today to be here in front of 
you, to stress to you how big of a monster the border crisis 
has become.
    Instead of shopping for school supplies today, arguing with 
my little girl over crop tops or no crop tops for school, I'm 
here in front of you all to ask you to help me. Help American 
citizens feel safe again in our own backyards. I'm asking this 
administration to fulfill your duty to protect American 
citizens first.
    Mr. Pfluger and Mr. Gonzales have been doing their part. 
Congressman Gonzales and his staff have worked with us, the 
victims, to create the Emi-Coke Accountability Act. The Emi-
Coke alert would notify citizens of high-speed chases. The 
night that my mother and my daughter were so violently taken 
from us, there was not one person in our community that knew. 
The first step to keeping citizens safe is to making sure they 
are informed, so that maybe, just maybe, this won't happen to 
another family.
    Incidents as tragic as ours that are caused due to the lack 
of secured borders are not a matter of if this will happen 
again. It is a matter of when this will happen again. So, from 
myself, my father, Emilio, my sister, Jen, and my brother-in-
law, Tim, we are adamant that you all hold each other 
accountable, a reminder that you serve us, the people, and 
those who have died under this administration.
    Our lives will never be the same. My life will never be the 
same. I will never be able just to pick up the phone and call 
my mom when I need some advice. I will never be able to hold my 
daughter and sing her her goodnight song. But I will be able to 
honor them until I take my last breath. I will be their voice. 
I will be the voice of the communities that need it the most.
    Yes, we are a small town, 3,500 in population. But just 
because we're in a rural part of Texas doesn't mean that you 
can forget about us. If you work together, if we work together, 
I believe that we can decrease the chances of another family 
having to describe this pain to you. I believe that we can come 
together to make sure that our communities feel safe again. 
Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Tambunga follows:]
                  Prepared Statement of Elisa Tambunga
                             July 21, 2023
    Hello,
    My name is Elisa Tambunga, I come to you as young woman who no 
longer has a mother, a woman who no longer has a daughter. I come to 
you as a citizen that has been failed by this administration in the 
most horrific way. I come to you to present Emi-Coke Accountability.
    On March 13, 2023, my mother Maria ``Coke'' Tambunga and my 7-year-
old daughter Emilia Brooke Tambunga were coming home from a playdate 
with family when they were murdered. Maria my mom and Emilia my baby 
were 2 minutes away from home, when the Murderer, Coyote, Human 
Smuggler struck my mothers vehicle with a 7,000-lb weapon going over 
105 mph. On this night, around 8:30 pm not only their lives were taken, 
but my life was too.
    Maria ``Coke'' Tambunga was a woman of strong faith, who was 
tender, attentive, and above all loving. Emilia Brooke Tambunga was a 
child who was captivating in not only her beauty, but her mind and 
soul. My mother Maria was an active member of her community. No matter 
who someone was or where they came from, she always found a way to help 
them. Whether that be needing a shoulder to cry on or needing a hot 
meal that night, she was the woman that anyone could count on. She was 
warm and so giving. My mother made our house a home. Up until she was 
taken from my family and I, she continued to give and love. My daughter 
Emilia Brooke lit up the darkest of days and made them bright as could 
be. She was caring, sensitive, intelligent, and determined. In her 
short 7 years on this earth, she made an impact so gigantic that those 
who lived a full life could only dream of making. Emilia was in second 
grade, she participated in UIL, TaeKwon-Do, Softball, Basketball, 4-H, 
Cheer, CCE, Junior Guadalupanas, and more. With all those activities 
she still was an Honor Student. The truth is I could talk about my 
girls for the entirety of my life and never get tired, but today I come 
to you to talk about the reason they are no longer with us.
    Maria and Emilia's life were taken due to the lack of actions being 
taken in our Nation's administration. I am here to continue to hold 
those responsible accountable for their actions. The blood of my little 
girl Emilia and mother Maria are spread among multiple hands in this 
administration. As a citizen standing on the outside I have seen a lack 
of leadership and unwillingness to work as a unit, and this has put us, 
American citizens in danger. Our safety should not be a fight in your 
sandbox, shall I remind you, you work for me, you work for us the 
people, we who elect you to sit in these great offices. This is your 
privilege, not your right.
    The murderer, who is not worthy of being named, had 11 illegal 
immigrants in his vehicle. Of those 11, 2 were also killed. The Border 
Crisis is a monster that is very much alive and thriving. This 
country's borders are NOT secured. Sending multiple resources such as 
Texas DPS to keep it contained is putting our people in grave danger. 
We continue to live in fear. I continue to live in fear that this is 
not a matter of IF, but WHEN will this happen to another family. This 
administration needs to grow a backbone and secure our borders and 
fulfill your duty to protect American Citizens above all else. Law 
enforcement agencies need adequate funding and training.
    Earlier I mentioned I lost my life too. When I was 19 years old, I 
became pregnant with Emilia. I began to live for her, I began to exist 
for her. I do not know how to exist in a world that my daughter and 
mother no longer exist in. Every day of my life I struggle. I breathe, 
hurt, exist. I am alive yet I am dying. If I must exist without the 
centers of my world, then I will make every day count in honor of them. 
The Emi-Coke Accountability Act is the first step to honoring them and 
protecting our citizens. We must begin to start taking care of our own. 
Working alongside Congressman Tony Gonzales and his staff, to 
encourage, enhance, and integrate Emi-Coke Alert plans throughout the 
United States. On the night of my mother and daughter's murder, no one 
in our town was aware of a high-speed chase. How do we keep our 
citizens safe if they do not know what is happening on their own turf? 
This is the answer to that question. By creating the Emi-Coke Alert we 
will be taking a major step toward spreading awareness throughout our 
towns, specifically along the border.
    I Elisa Tambunga should have never had the responsibility of 
burying my 7-year-old little girl. I should never have seen my daughter 
and mother's bodies mutilated. My father, sister, and brother-in-law 
should never have had to experience this tragedy. I should be buying my 
daughter school supplies and watching her grow and learn every day. I 
look at my future and all I feel is indescribable pain. My mother won't 
be here to see me graduate college or see me one day get married. My 
daughter won't be here to achieve her dreams of becoming an FBI agent 
or teacher (big aspirations for a little girl). But I am here. I am 
here to create change.
    We are the faces of the Border Crisis. You cannot turn a blind eye. 
We are here and we demand to be heard, we demand action. I demand you 
all do better.

    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Ms. Tambunga.
    I now recognize Mr. Bier for 5 minutes to summarize his 
opening statement.

  STATEMENT OF DAVID J. BIER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION 
                     STUDIES CATO INSTITUTE

    Mr. Bier. Chairman Higgins and Pfluger, Ranking Members 
Correa and Magaziner, thank you for the opportunity to testify.
    For nearly half a century, the Cato Institute has produced 
original research showing that people are assets in a free 
society. Give people a small window of liberty and they will 
create, innovate, and build.
    Socialists count only a person's costs. Capitalists see 
potential. When I look at this mess of a legal immigration 
system, I see the world's biggest opportunity. Few countries in 
the world can simply choose their demographic destiny like we 
can.
    Since the 1990's, the United States went from accounting 
for most of the increase in the immigrant population world-wide 
to accounting for less than 10 percent of it. We can and must 
reverse course. Without immigrants, our working age population 
would already be in decline.
    Immigrants are the future of America's growth. It's time 
our laws start reflecting that fact. Letting immigrants, many 
of whom are already here without the right to work, legally 
fill America's 10 million open jobs would blow the lid off of 
Congress' tepid economic growth projections. It would have 
added about $2 trillion to America's economic output over the 
last 2\1/2\ years alone.
    The infusion of new consumers would lead to a renaissance 
in entrepreneurship, with immigrants leading the way. 
Immigrants are 80 percent more likely to start a business. In 
several major cities, they already account for half of all 
brick-and-mortar small businesses. They have and will 
revitalize struggling communities.
    Just as they were in the 1990's, immigrants are the 
antidote to the spike in crime that started in 2020. 
Immigrants, legal and illegal, are less than half as likely to 
be incarcerated in the United States. Immigrants prevent homes 
and businesses from going vacant, which further prevents crime.
    They will infuse communities with tax revenue to repair 
failing infrastructure. Immigrants will bring down the 
spiraling costs of child care and give millions of families 
like mine the ability to bring new Americans into this world.
    Americans are getting older. While nursing homes are 
closing for lack of staff and our seniors are being denied the 
care they deserve, there's another path open to us. Immigrants 
want to help. Let them do it legally.
    We know we need workers, from engineers to open the next 
generation of chip manufacturing in Arizona, to seafood 
processors in Louisiana. But if our policies tell people that 
the only way to enter is to enter illegally, that's what's 
going to happen. But that's a policy choice.
    We choose the cost associated with illegal immigration 
every day we don't reform legal immigration. Deadly car chases, 
damaged property, overwhelmed border stations, these are the 
symptoms of not letting people come legally. A refusal to let 
immigrants work legally is the root cause of many of the 
problems we hear in communities across the country. What a 
waste of human potential. Legal immigration would solve these 
problems and many more. We chose disorder. It's time to start 
choosing order at the border.
    We know it can work. The Biden administration has piloted 
legal entry programs that have almost eliminated illegal 
immigration by Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans. This is proof 
of concept.
    Much more needs to be done and Congress should lead the 
way. According to the Congressional Budget Office, if Congress 
had passed comprehensive immigration reform in 2013, we'd now 
be entering a period where budget deficits would have been 
nearly $1 trillion lower cumulatively over the next decade.
    Lives can be saved, our economy revitalized, our border 
secured, at a cost to Americans far less than the alternatives. 
Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Bier follows:]
                  Prepared Statement of David J. Bier
                             July 26, 2023
    Chairmen Higgins and Pfluger, Ranking Members Correa and Magaziner, 
and distinguished Members of both subcommittees, thank you for the 
opportunity to testify.
    My name is David Bier. I am the associate director of immigration 
studies at the Cato Institute, a nonpartisan public policy research 
organization in Washington, DC. As a policy advisor for a former Member 
of the House, I am honored to be invited to speak with you today about 
the costs of America's flawed immigration system.
    For nearly half a century, the Cato Institute has produced original 
immigration research showing that a freer, more orderly, and more 
lawful immigration system benefits Americans. People are the ultimate 
resource. In a free country, immigrants can contribute to their new 
homes, making the United States a better, bigger, and more prosperous 
place.
    But legal immigration is so restrictive that the system punishes 
Americans who want to associate, contract, and trade with people from 
around the world. Americans lose out on the social and economic capital 
immigrants bring. Our system separates friends and relatives, deprives 
U.S. consumers of the goods and services that immigrants would provide, 
and denies our towns and cities entrepreneurs and small business 
owners. This system has caused chaos at the border, harming Americans 
and immigrants alike.
     u.s. policy makes legal immigration impossible for nearly all
    The U.S. immigration system does not facilitate lawful migration. 
It obstructs it. The primary legal framework dates back to 1924; its 
last significant update was in 1990. But the system is not just 
outdated--it fundamentally ignores the needs of the U.S. economy and 
society. The thousands of pages of regulations and statutes, the 
arbitrary Soviet-style caps, the restrictive categories, and the 
ineptitude in processing applications have created an impenetrable 
legal wall to legal immigration.
    To briefly review the four available permanent immigration options:
    1. The Refugee Program.--The population of displaced people reached 
        100 million last year, and the United States accepted barely 
        25,000 through its refugee program--0.1 percent.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ ``Figures at a Glance.'' UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/figures-
at-a-glance.html. State Department, ``Admissions & Arrivals,'' Refugee 
Processing Center, April 2021, https://www.wrapsnet.org/admissions-and-
arrivals/.
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    2. Family sponsored.--The capped family sponsored system has a 
        backlog of 7 million, and 1.6 million immigrants currently 
        waiting will be dead before they can receive a green card.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ David J. Bier, ``1.6 Million Family Sponsored Immigrants Will 
Die Before They Can Immigrate,'' Cato Institute, March 2022, https://
www.cato.org/blog/16-million-family sponsored-immigrants-will-die-they-
can-immigrate.
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    3. Employer-sponsored.--Employer-sponsored green cards have a 
        backlog of over 1.4 million, and they are virtually impossible 
        to obtain for those without very high wage offers.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ David J. Bier, ``1.4 Million Skilled Immigrants in Employment-
Based Green Card Backlogs in 2021,'' Cato Institute, March 2022, 
https://www.cato.org/blog/14-million-skilled-immigrants-employment-
based-green-card-backlogs-2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4. Diversity Lottery.--The diversity green card lottery offers 
        entrants just a 0.2 percent chance of receiving a green 
        card.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ ``Diversity Visa Program Statistics,'' State Department, 
February 2023, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/
immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry/diversity-visa-program-
statistics.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The figure on the next page details the legal requirements to 
immigrate to the United States in a flow chart. Many aspiring Americans 
are excluded in each complicated section until nearly everyone loses 
their chance to immigrate.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    This legal system is restrictive from the perspective of the demand 
for green cards by immigrants and their American sponsors, and it is 
also restrictive compared to America's history. From 1848 to 1914, the 
annual number of people receiving green cards hit 1 percent of the U.S. 
population 22 times. It has never happened since the Immigration Act of 
1924, and only once has it even hit half that rate, when Congress 
waived the caps on behalf of 3 million illegal immigrants in the 
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. One percent of the U.S. 
population today would be nearly 3.4 million people.\5\ The number of 
green card recipients in 2022 was just 1 million.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ ``U.S. World and Population Clock.'' U.S. Census Bureau, 
https://www.census.gov/pop- clock/.
    \6\ ``Legal Immigration and Adjustment of Status Report Quarterly 
Data,'' U.S. Department of Homeland Security, March 2023, https://
www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/special-reports/legal-immigration/
year-end.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Immigration policy is also restrictive compared to our peer 
nations. The United States went from accounting for the majority of the 
increase in the world immigrant population in the 1990's to accounting 
for just 7.5 percent of it from 2015 to 2020.\7\ This happened both 
because more immigrants went to other countries and because fewer 
immigrants went to the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ David J. Bier, ``The United States Does Not Permit More 
Immigration Than the Rest of the World Combined,'' Cato Institute, July 
2022, https://www.cato.org/blog/us-does-not-permit-more-immigration-
rest-world.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Less than 15 percent of the U.S. population was born outside the 
United States. This ranks 56th highest in the world.\8\ It ranks in the 
bottom third of wealthy countries, and the gaps are massive. To catch 
up to Canada (21.4 percent), nearly 30 million immigrants would have to 
arrive this year. To reach the immigrant share in Australia (30.3 
percent), the number grows to 76.4 million. To hit Hong Kong's 
percentage (39.2 percent), it would have to exceed 140 million. These 
totals are unfathomable, but they illustrate how much flexibility the 
United States has to change its immigration policy and remain well 
within the norms for the wealthy world.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ David J. Bier, ``US Foreign-Born Share Ranks Low & Is Falling 
Among Wealthy Countries,'' Cato Institute, July 2022, https://
www.cato.org/blog/us-foreign-born-share-ranks-low-falling-among-
wealthy-countries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The United States also ranks 57th globally for refugees and asylum 
seekers per capita.\9\ Other countries are taking staggering numbers of 
refugees and asylum seekers: 3.8 million in Turkey, 3.4 million in 
Iran, 2.3 million in Germany, and 1 million in Poland. For context, 
Poland has a population about a tenth of the size of the United States. 
Seven percent of Jordan and 15 percent of Lebanon are now refugees or 
asylum seekers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ ``Refugee Data Finder.'' UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-
statistics/download/?url=c1lN2c.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The subcommittees will focus on the harms that stem from this 
unnecessarily restrictive system, and every Member should agree that 
the choice to keep the gates to America shut is the genesis of so much 
unnecessary suffering for immigrants and Americans alike. But this 
inquiry should not end with a tally of death and destruction. It should 
see this broken system as an incredible opportunity. Few countries in 
the world have the ability on a whim to inject new energy and growth 
into our economy and society. America is the most powerful and 
wonderful country on Earth; immigrants can help keep it that way.
        bad border policies strain communities along the border
    This restrictive legal immigration system is the cause of illegal 
immigration. When the law says that the only way to enter is to enter 
illegally, people will follow that message. Forcing migration into 
illegal channels has seriously affected immigrants and American 
communities, particularly along the border.
    Since at least the Border Patrol's 1994 Strategic Plan, Border 
Patrol has intentionally driven cross-border traffic out of urban areas 
and into more rural areas where crossing is more hazardous.\10\ 
Following this shift, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found 
that ``the strategy has increased deaths from exposure to either heat 
or cold.''\11\ As a result of this deliberate and on-going strategy, 
more people cross into rural areas where they trespass on farmland. The 
added dangers also mean more migrants are injured or ill, placing 
strain on rural hospitals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ ``Border Patrol Strategic Plan 1994 and Beyond,'' Immigration 
and Naturalization Service, February 2023, https://
www.documentcloud.org/documents/355856-border-patrol-strategic-plan-
1994-and-beyond.
    \11\ ``INS' Southwest Border Strategy: Resource and Impact Issues 
Remain After Seven Years,'' GAO, August 2001, https://www.gao.gov/
assets/gao-01-842.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The border walls have greatly exacerbated the risks. The Mexican 
government has found that border walls or fences were responsible for 
80 percent of injuries by border-crossing Mexicans returned by the 
United States last year.\12\ In 2021, trauma surgeons in California 
were overwhelmed with hundreds of wall-related injuries, which 
increased by 460 percent following the wall construction.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ Salvador Rivera, ``Taller border wall has led to more migrant 
deaths and injuries, Mexican diplomat says,'' Border Report, January 
2023, https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/the-border-wall/taller-
border-wall-has-led-to-more-migrant-deaths-and-injuries-mexican-
diplomat-says/.
    \13\ Liepert AE, Berndtson AE, Hill LL, et al. Association of 30-ft 
US-Mexico Border Wall in San Diego With Increased Migrant Deaths, 
Trauma Center Admissions, and Injury Severity. JAMA Surg. 
2022;157(7):633-635. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2022.1885
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The last administration constructed a wall so high that rather than 
merely increasing the risk of capture for immigrants, it significantly 
increased the risk of death. The 30-foot height was reportedly based on 
field tests to determine the height at which the average person would 
become disoriented and stop climbing.\14\ But even lower fences are a 
danger. A pregnant woman died from falling from an 18-foot fence in 
2020.\15\ Some of those injured have been in Yuma, Arizona, including 2 
men who died in 2020 and 2021.\16\ In 2018, 2 teenage girls also 
suffered life-threatening injuries after falling from the Yuma 
fence.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\ ``Opinion: Border walls lead to injuries and death. It's a 
sinister way to enforce immigration laws,'' San Diego Union Tribune, 
April 2022, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/
story/2022-04-29/border-wall-death-immigration-laws.
    \15\ Nick Miroff, ``Pregnant Woman Dies after Falling from Border 
Wall,'' Washington Post, March 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/
immigration/pregnant-woman-dies-border-wall/2020/03/12/8519752a-647b-
11ea-912d-d98032ec8e25_story.html.
    \16\ RICHARD MONTENEGRO BROWN AND JULIO MORALES, ``Border Wall 
Falls Claim Two Lives in Imperial County Two Days Apart,'' Calexico 
Chronicle, September 2021, https://calexicochronicle.com/2021/09/10/
border-wall-falls-claim-two-lives-in-imperial-county-two-days-apart/.
    \17\ Jennifer Lothspeich, ``2 migrant teens severely injured after 
fall off border wall near Yuma,'' CBS8, December 2018, https://
www.cbs8.com/amp/article/news/2-migrant-teens-severely-injured-after-
fall-off-border-wall-near-yuma/509-4333071a-7790-4d2c-bf23-
75b07d442619.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    At least 31 deaths have occurred from fence falls from 2019 to 
2023.\18\ But by pushing immigrants out into even more remote areas, 
the wall can also indirectly cause more deaths. A total of 853 
immigrants died crossing the border in 2022--the most on record.\19\ 
This topped the prior record of 560 deaths in 2021.\20\ About 60 deaths 
in 2022 were in Yuma County, Arizona.\21\ In 2022, Border Patrol 
reported that it rescued 22,014 people in serious physical distress, 
four-fold the number in 2019.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ ``Border Militarization,'' Southern Border, July 2023, https://
 www.southernborder.org/border_lens_border_militarization#target.
    \19\ CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ, ``At least 853 migrants died crossing 
the U.S.-Mexico border in past 12 months--a record high,'' CBS, October 
2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrant-deaths-crossing-us-mexico-
border-2022-record-high/ Jeanna Vazquez and Scott LaFee, ``Study: 
Unprecedented Increase in Number of Border Wall Falls and Trauma,'' UC 
San Diego Health, April 2022, https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/
pages/2022-04-29-study-unprecedented-increase-in-number-of-border-wall-
falls-and-trauma.aspx#:?:text=At%20UC%20San%20- 
Diego%20Health%2C%20there%20were%2067%20cases%20of,2019%20to%2016%20'sin
ce%20- then.
    \20\ Joel Rose and Marisa Penaloza, ``Migrant deaths at the U.S.-
Mexico border hit a record high, in part due to drownings,'' NPR, 
September 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125638107/migrant-
deaths-us-mexico-border-record-drownings#:?:text=More%20than%20560- 
%20migrants%20died,border%20are%20largely%20to%20blame.
    \21\ Adam Klepp, ``SPECIAL REPORT: Tracking every migrant death in 
Yuma County,'' KYMA, October 2022, https://kyma.com/news/2022/10/26/
special-report-tracking-every-migrant-death-in-yuma-county/
    \22\ ``Search and Rescue Efforts,'' CBP, https://www.cbp.gov/
newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics-fy22.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Since 1990, when the first fences were built in San Diego, Border 
Patrol has recorded almost 11,000 deaths,\23\ and independent auditing 
of its count by the Government Accountability Office has found that 
Border Patrol systematically undercounts migrant deaths, excluding--for 
instance--half the migrant deaths in Tucson, Arizona, which are tracked 
by local authorities.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \23\ ``U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Sectors Deaths by Fiscal 
Year,'' CBP, March 2019, https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/
assets/documents/2019-Mar/bp-southwest-border-sector-deaths-fy1998-
fy2018.pdf ``Illegal Immigration,'' GAO, August 2006, https://
www.gao.gov/new.items/d06770.pdf ``Border Rescues and Mortality Data,'' 
CBP, February 2022, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/border-rescues-
and-mortality-data#:?:text=In%20FY%202021%2- 
C%20CBP%20components,in%20Custody%20(Not%20Reportable).
    \24\ ``Southwest Border: CBP Should Improve Data Collection, 
Reporting, and Evaluation for the Missing Migrant Program,'' GAO, April 
2022, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105053 ``Border Rescues and 
Mortality Data,'' CBP, February 2022, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/
stats/border-rescues-and-mortality-data ``U.S. Border Patrol Southwest 
Border Sectors Deaths by Fiscal Year,'' CBP, March 2019, https://
www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Mar/bp-southwest-
border-sector-deaths-fy1998-fy2018.pdf ``Illegal Immigration,'' GAO, 
August 2006, https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06770.pdf.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The inability to board lawful transportation options to the U.S. 
border creates treacherous conditions for travelers. The combination of 
homelessness and governmental indifference toward crimes against 
migrants in Mexico has created the ideal environment for predation. 
Abductions of migrants number in the tens of thousands annually, 
according to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission.\25\ Rapes of 
migrant women in Mexico are common, underreported, and rarely 
investigated.\26\ All these factors mean that many migrants cross in 
need of urgent medical attention, and Border Patrol policies force them 
to cross in areas with the fewest resources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \25\ ``IOM and Mexico's National Human Rights Commission Sign 
Cooperation Agreement to Fight Human Trafficking and the Kidnapping of 
Migrants in Mexico,'' IOM, September 2010, https://www.iom.int/news/
iom-and-mexicos-national-human-rights-commission-sign-cooperation-
agreement-fight-human-trafficking-and-kidnapping-migrants-mexico.
    \26\ ``Mexico: Invisible victims. Migrants on the move in Mexico,'' 
Amnesty International, April 2010, https://www.amnesty.org/en/
documents/amr41/014/2010/en/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It is not just taxing for local hospitals. The Border Patrol's 1994 
Strategic Plan treated rural areas' lack of transportation 
infrastructure as a reason to push traffic there.\27\ But when Border 
Patrol releases asylum seekers in small towns along the border, it can 
take days for them to get a bus to their final destinations. The lack 
of buses led to a backup of migrants with nowhere to live and forced 
Yuma's mayor to declare a state of emergency.\28\ If immigrants could 
enter legally, they could arrange transportation in advance, travel 
directly to their final destinations, and fix this issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ ``Border Patrol Strategic Plan 1994 and Beyond,'' Borderdom 
Productions, February 2023, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/
355856-border-patrol-strategic-plan-1994-and-beyond.
    \28\ Alicia Caldwell, ``Yuma, Ariz., Declares State of Emergency 
Over Migrant Crisis,'' Wall Street Journal, April 2019, https://
www.wsj.com/articles/yuma-ariz-declares-state-of-emergency-over-
migrant-crisis-11555534393.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The mere fact that a person entered illegally means that Border 
Patrol must take them into custody for processing. When capacity is 
reached, they unexpectedly release migrants onto the streets--often at 
night with no warning and no transportation lined up.\29\ These types 
of releases have occurred under every administration.\30\ Sometimes, 
pregnant women or nursing mothers are forced to sleep on the 
streets.\31\ These are all avoidable problems if legal migration 
pathways were available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\ Alan Gomez, ``Local governments spend millions caring for 
migrants dumped by Trump's Border Patrol,'' USA Today, September 2019, 
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/09/23/border-crisis-
trump-administration-real-cost-tax-money/1739727001/.
    \30\ Cora Currier, ``HOW A CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY HELPED HUNDREDS OF 
MIGRANTS THE BORDER PATROL DROPPED AT A GREYHOUND STATION,'' The 
Intercept, June 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/06/01/border-
patrol-migrants-greyhound-bus-station/.
    \31\ ``Migrants inundating San Antonio bus station,'' Express News, 
March 2019, https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Migrants-
inundating-San-Antonio-bus-station-13727999.php.
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    Another problem is of greater importance to localities: the 
inability of people to work legally after their release from Border 
Patrol custody.\32\ Although asylum seekers are eligible to receive 
employment authorization documents 6 months after applying for asylum, 
this process can often take much longer, given the time it takes to 
prepare an asylum application and process the employment authorization 
request.\33\ The mayor of New York City has labeled this one of the 
most urgent immigration issues facing his city.\34\ Research has found 
that banning asylum seekers from working has negative employment 
effects long after the ban is lifted.\35\ Lacking the right to work, 
asylum seekers must often either work illegally or depend on charity or 
city services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\ `` `At Least Let Them Work', The Denial of Work Authorization 
and Assistance for Asylum Seekers in the United States,'' Human Rights 
Watch, November 2013, https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/11/12/least-let-
them-work/denial-work-authorization-and-assistance-asylum-seekers-
united.
    \33\ ``Historical National Median Processing Time (in Months) for 
All USCIS Offices for Select Forms By Fiscal Year, Fiscal Year 2018 to 
2023 (up to January 31, 2023),'' USCIS, February 2023, https://
egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/historic-pt.
    \34\ Berndatte Hogan, ``Eric Adams wants to put thousands of 
migrants to work in New York,'' New York Post, September 2022, https://
nypost.com/2022/09/13/eric-adams-wants-to-put-southern-border-migrants-
to-work-in-ny/.
    \35\ Francesco Fasani, Tommaso Frattini, and Luigi Minale, ``Lift 
the Ban? Initial Employment Restrictions and Refugee Labor Market 
Outcomes,'' Cato Institute, November 2020, https://www.cato.org/
publications/research-briefs-economic-policy/lift-ban-initial-
employment-restrictions-refugee-labor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  restricting asylum is not a solution
    Title 42 and restrictions on applying for asylum also create 
additional health hazards for migrants. Returning migrants to Mexico 
has created a flow of migrants more in need of medical attention 
because the policy alerts criminals in Mexico to the fact that they may 
have U.S. connections. When they recross the border, these victims 
often need health care. Human Rights First has tracked over 13,000 
publicly reported incidents of murder, torture, kidnapping, rape, and 
other violent attacks on migrants and asylum seekers who returned to 
Mexico in the last 2 years alone.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \36\ ``TITLE 42: ``HUMAN RIGHTS STAIN, PUBLIC HEALTH FARCE'','' 
Human Rights First, December 2022, https://humanrightsfirst.org/
library/title-42-human-rights-stain-public-health-farce/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Migrants who seek asylum generally turn themselves into Border 
Patrol, avoiding more dangerous crossings in remote areas and making 
themselves easier to process. Evasion leads to more deaths and injuries 
in remote areas. Also, smugglers (usually U.S. citizens) sometimes 
drive recklessly to avoid Border Patrol and risk the lives of the 
passengers and bystanders, leading to more hospital trips.\37\ At least 
93 people have died during Border Patrol pursuits since 2010.\38\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \37\ Rafael Carranza, ``Human smuggling attempt leads border agents 
on chase, ends in crash and barricade in Yuma,'' AZCentral, November 
2019, https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/border-issues/2019/
11/22/smuggling-attempt-ends-chase-barricade/4271538002/.
    \38\ Cindy Ramirez, `` `Severity of crime' must be considered in 
Border Patrol pursuits,'' El Paso Matters, January 2023, https://
elpasomatters.org/2023/01/24/border-patrol-vehicle-pursuit-policy-goes-
into-effect-in-may/.
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    The number of chases doubled from 150 in 2021 to 300 in 2022, and 
deaths during pursuits increased from 2 in 2019 to 14 in 2021 and 22 in 
2022.\39\ From 2015 to 2018, there were about 11 injuries for every 
death resulting from Border Patrol chases, implying that hundreds of 
people have been injured across the border in the last 2 years in this 
way.\40\ Smugglers also abandon migrants in deserts, where they may 
need to be airlifted to hospitals.\41\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \39\ ``Fact Sheet: The Deadly Trend of Border Patrol Vehicle 
Pursuits,'' ACLU Texas, February 2023, https://www.aclutx.org/en/fact-
sheet-deadly-trend-border-patrol-vehicle-pursuits.
    \40\ Kavitha Surana, Brittny Mejia, James Queally, and Agnes Chang, 
``Trapped in a Deadly Chase,'' ProPublica, April 2019, https://
features.propublica.org/border-crashes/death-injuries-in-high-speed-
border-patrol-chases/.
    \41\ Christina Aguayo, ``Border Patrol: Cartels cash in on billion-
dollar human smuggling business,'' Border Report, October 2021, https:/
/www.borderreport.com/immigration/border-crime/border-patrol-cartels-
cash-in-on-billion-dollar-human-smuggling-business/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Anti-asylum policies are not just bad for the safety of immigrants 
and residents--they are also bad for security. Since Border Patrol 
initiated the Title 42 policy that banned asylum for most crossers, 
evasion almost immediately exploded. The number of gotaways--detected 
successful crossings--grew four-fold from 2019 to 2022. The country has 
seen more crossings, arrests, illicit entries, and less security under 
the anti-asylum policy of the last 3 years. Title 42 ended in May 2023, 
and although asylum is still restricted between ports of entry, 
gotaways fell 55 percent from April to June 2023 as more people entered 
through ports of entry.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \42\ Bethany Blankley, ``Southern border apprehensions and gotaways 
total over 135,000 in June,'' The Center Square, July 2023, https://
www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_4a0afad6-2047-11ee-96c6-
8b863db81ee6.html. Bethany Blankley, ``Nearly 285,000 foreign nationals 
apprehended, evaded capture at border in April,'' The Center Square, 
May 2023, https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_990a47e6-
f599-11ed-ae0d-e31e54aafcce.- html.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    A major reason for the increased evasions is that when someone is 
returned to Mexico--and not processed for asylum or returned to their 
home country--they have little choice but to attempt to reenter 
illegally. The recidivism or re-encounter rate started to spike under 
the Remain in Mexico policy, which sent people back to wait for 
hearings. That policy had a re-encounter rate of 33 percent (as of June 
2021), and the only reason it wasn't higher is because the program was 
canceled.\43\ Under Title 42, the situation deteriorated further, with 
a 1-year re-encounter rate exceeding 50 percent in 2021.\44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \43\ ``Explanation of the Decision to Terminate the Migrant 
Protection Protocols,'' DHS, October 2021, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/
default/files/2022-01/21_1029_mpp-termination-justification-memo-
508.pdf.
    \44\ Sean Leong, ''Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2021,'' DHS, 
November 2022, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-12/
2022_1114_plcy_enforcement_actions_fy2021.- pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This is not due to insufficient enforcement of Title 42. Title 42 
encouraged more crossings. Encounters of the demographic group most 
targeted under Title 42--single adults from the Northern Triangle and 
Mexico--had increased four-fold, even though they have been expelled 
more than 90 percent of the time. The number of Southwest Border 
arrests by single adults from the four targeted countries declined by 
57 percent in June 2023.\45\ This accounted for two-thirds of the 
decline in border arrests in June 2023, much steeper than the 22 
percent decline for all other groups.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \45\ ``Nationwide Encounters,'' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
July 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Title 42 and its sibling, the Migrant Protection Protocols 
(``Remain in Mexico''), also had the unintended consequence of causing 
more children from Central America to cross the border alone. Under 
both policies, if children crossed with their families, the parents and 
children had a high probability of being returned to Mexico. By 
contrast, unaccompanied children were--except for a short-lived period 
when Title 42 was first in effect--exempt from return to Mexico under 
both policies.\46\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \46\ ``Migration Protection Protocols,'' U.S. Department of 
Homeland Security, January 2019, https://www.dhs.gov/news/2019/01/24/
migrant-protection-protocols#:?:text=Unaccompa- 
nied%20alien%20children%20and%20aliens,case%2Dby%2Dcase%20basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This discrimination against families meant that parents felt 
compelled to allow their children to enter alone.\47\ The chart below 
shows the share of Central American families with children expelled to 
Mexico and the share of children coming unaccompanied. In the 31 months 
when a majority of Central American families were expelled to Mexico, 
30 of those months saw a majority of Central American children enter 
without their parents. The causal relationship is clear: closing asylum 
to families creates an incentive to send children without their 
parents. After Title 42 ended, a majority of Central American children 
came with their parents for the first time in 20 months.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \47\ David J. Bier, ``DHS Expels Families to Meixco & Kids Come 
Back Alone: La Separacion,'' Cato Institute, March 2021, https://
www.cato.org/blog/dhs-expels-families-mexico-kids-come-back-alone-la-
separacion.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

             immigrants are not driving the fentanyl crisis
    The subcommittees are right to pay particular attention to the 
scourge of fentanyl overdoses. But immigrants are not the cause. 
Fentanyl trafficking is funded by fentanyl consumers, and nearly 99 
percent of the users are U.S. citizens.\48\ It is not surprising that 
research has shown that ``increases in immigration are associated with 
significantly lower homicide and lower overdose death rates overall and 
across substance type.''\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \48\ Altekruse SF, Cosgrove CM, Altekruse WC, Jenkins RA, Blanco C. 
Socioeconomic risk factors for fatal opioid overdoses in the United 
States: Findings from the Mortality Disparities in American Communities 
Study (MDAC). PLoS One. 2020 Jan 17;15(1):e0227966. doi: 10.1371/
journal.pone.0227966. PMID: 31951640; PMCID: PMC6968850.
    \49\ Ben Feldmeyer, Diana Sun, Casey T. Harris, Francis T. Cullen, 
``More immigrants, less death: An analysis of immigration effects on 
county-level drug overdose deaths, 2000-2015,'' Criminology, September 
2022, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1745-9125.12318.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    U.S. citizens are also the primary smugglers of fentanyl. In 2021, 
they made up 86 percent of convicted fentanyl traffickers.\50\ Cartels 
employ U.S. citizen traffickers because smuggling is significantly 
easier at ports of entry than between them, and U.S. citizens have 
legal access to the United States and are subject to less scrutiny at 
ports of entry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \50\ David J. Bier, ``Fentanyl Is Smuggled for U.S. Citizens By 
U.S. Citizens, Not Asylum Seekers,'' Cato Institute, September 2022, 
https://www.cato.org/blog/fentanyl-smuggled-us-citizens-us-citizens-
not-asylum-seekers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    For this reason, from fiscal year 2019 to June 2023, 93 percent of 
fentanyl seizures by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have occurred 
at ports of entry or vehicle checkpoints, not along illegal migration 
routes.\51\ The graph below displays the available data on seizure 
locations for fiscal year 2023. About 96 percent was seized from 
vehicles at checkpoints, traffic stops, or ports of entry, while one-
half of a percent was seized on people carrying the drug over the 
border. Another 4 percent was not reported.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \51\ CBP, ``Drug Seizure Statistics fiscal year 2023,'' February 
2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Although CBP's data obviously does not include the fentanyl that 
escapes their detection--both at ports and between them--CBP's seizures 
provide a sample to estimate the rate at which people who evade 
detection are carrying fentanyl. As of June 2023, Border Patrol had 
arrested about 9,000 people for every single event where fentanyl was 
seized at a location away from vehicle checkpoints. The people who are 
crossing between ports of entry are primarily seeking safety and 
opportunity, not seeking to smuggle fentanyl.
    CBP has not estimated the quantity of fentanyl successfully 
smuggled through ports of entry, but for several years, it has 
calculated the probability of seizure of cocaine at ports of entry. In 
2020, CBP estimated that it seized just 2 percent of the cocaine 
entering the country at ports.\52\ Given its potency, significant 
amounts of fentanyl are even easier to conceal than cocaine. By 
contrast, CBP estimates that it interdicts a majority of the people 
crossing the border illegally.\53\ Thus, it is more than 90 percent 
easier to enter the country legally with hard drugs than cross the 
border illegally with them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \52\ Department of Homeland Security, ``Department of Homeland 
Security Border Security Metrics Report: 2021,'' April 2022, https://
www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/
2022_0427_plcy_border_security_metrics_report_FY2021_%282020_data%29.pdf

    \53\ Department of Homeland Security, ``Department of Homeland 
Security Border Security Metrics Report: 2021,'' April 2022, https://
www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/
2022_0427_plcy_border_security_metrics_report_FY2021_%282020_data%29.pdf

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Border Patrol also does not seize more fentanyl when arrests fall. 
Notably, despite a 42 percent drop in arrests in January, Border Patrol 
seized almost no fentanyl (just 4 pounds) outside of vehicle stops and 
checkpoints, the same amount as the prior month.\54\ In June 2023, 
arrests again fell 42 percent, and the amount of fentanyl seized by 
Border Patrol outside of checkpoints went down 67 percent.\55\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \54\ Customs and Border Protection, ``CBP Enforcement Statistics 
Fiscal Year 2023,'' February 10, 2023; CBP, ``Drug Seizure Statistics 
fiscal year 2023,'' February 8, 2023; CBP, ``Border Patrol Seizes $4 
Million in Narcotics in One Day,'' January 27, 2023; CBP, ``Border 
Patrol Agents Seize Over $500,000 Worth of Fentanyl,'' October 19, 
2022; CBP, ``Del Rio Sector Agents Seize over $100,000 in Mixed 
Narcotics,'' October 24, 2022; Chief Agent Gloria I. Chavez, Twitter, 
November 15, 2022; John Modlin, U.S. Border Patrol Chief TCA, Twitter, 
November 21, 2022.
    \55\ CBP, ``Drug Seizure Statistics fiscal year 2023,'' February 
2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Qualitative assessments based on law enforcement intelligence also 
indicate that trafficking organizations understand that hard drugs are 
more easily smuggled through ports. The Drug Enforcement 
Administration's (DEA) National Drug Threat Assessment for 2021 has 
said that drug traffickers ``exploit major highway routes for 
transportation, and the most common method employed involves smuggling 
illicit drugs through U.S. POEs in passenger vehicles with concealed 
compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor-
trailers.''\56\ DEA testified that its investigations have found that 
``the vast majority of fentanyl is coming in the ports of entry.''\57\ 
CBP and other agencies have made similar assessments.\58\ It is 
precisely because these ports of entry are both scarce and incredibly 
valuable that cartels war for control over them.\59\
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    \56\ DEA, ``2020 National Drug Threat Assessment,'' March 2021, 
https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-02/DIR-008-
21%202020%20National%20Drug%20Threat%20Assessment_- WEB.pdf.
    \57\ Foreign Relations Committee, ``COUNTERING ILLICIT FENTANYL 
TRAFFICKING,'' February 2023, https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/
countering-illicit-fentanyl-trafficking.
    \58\ Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, 
Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, ``Federal 
Government Perspective: Improving Security, Trade, and Travel Flows at 
the Southwest Border Ports of Entry,'' November 17, 2021, https://
www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/Federal-government-perspective-improving-
security-trade-and-travel-flows-at-the-southwest-border-ports-of-entry.
    \59\ Salvador Rivera, ``Murders pile up as cartels battle for 
control of Tijuana's drug-trafficking corridor,'' Border Report, August 
2022, https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/border-crime/murders-
pile-up-as-cartels-battle-for-control-of-tijuanas-drug-trafficking-
corridor/.
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    The reasons for the ease at which drugs enter through ports are 
multifaceted. Only as much as 17 percent of commercial trucks and 2 
percent of passenger vehicles are scanned for any drugs.\60\ CBP 
reports of drug interdiction arrests indicate that it is most often the 
driver's behavior that tips off agents to conduct a search, meaning 
that interdiction is dependent on a factor almost entirely outside of 
the agency's control.\61\ The motivation for traffickers to innovate to 
evade detection is much stronger than the motivation to innovate to 
detect drugs crossing, which results in increasingly sophisticated 
smuggling techniques that quickly defeat interdiction efforts.
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    \60\ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-116srpt267/pdf/CRPT-
116srpt267.pdf. ``The White House will work to add 123 new large-scale 
scanners at border crossings by September 2026. This would increase the 
number of scanned personal vehicles from just 2% to 40%, while 
expanding the number of cargo vehicles from 17% to 70%, CBP said.'' 
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/070323_border_scanners/in-
nogales-white-house-official-touts-vehicle-scanners-combat-fentanyl-
smuggling/.
    \61\ Angelina Hicks and Alex Riggins, ``Border Patrol seizes $3.7M-
worth of fentanyl hidden in truck near Campo,'' San Diego Tribune, 
2022, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/
2022-07-19/border-patrol-seize-3-7-million-pounds-of-fentanyl.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Even when a drug is easier to detect, the massive difference 
between the cost of production abroad and its value in the United 
States means that trafficking organizations can respond to greater 
interdiction simply by increasing production and smuggling more. From 
2003 to 2009, for instance, Border Patrol more than doubled its 
staffing and built hundreds of miles of fences. As a result, Border 
Patrol marijuana seizures doubled, but cartels simply smuggled more to 
compensate, and the effort made no difference to the availability of 
Mexican marijuana in the United States.\62\ In fact, the effort 
backfired. During Border Patrol's hiring surge, the potency of 
marijuana increased by 37 percent.\63\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \62\ ``Marijuana smuggling into the United States has occurred at 
consistently high levels over the past 10 years, primarily across the 
US-Mexico border'' https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-
017-13%20NDTA%20Summary%20final.pdf.
    \63\ U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ``2013 National 
Drug Threat Assessment Summary,'' 2013, p. 12, https://www.dea.gov/
sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-017-13%20NDTA%20Summary%20final.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fentanyl trafficking itself developed as a border-evasion measure 
to supply the market for heroin and other opioids. It initially had 
little natural demand because the fentanyl experience is so 
fundamentally different from heroin.\64\ Fentanyl has the advantage of 
being 50 times more powerful than heroin, which means that the same 
weight can supply 50 times as many consumers. This creates a massive 
economic incentive for smugglers to prefer it to heroin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \64\ Mars, S.G., Ondocsin, J., & Ciccarone, D., ``Sold as Heroin: 
Perceptions and Use of an Evolving Drug in Baltimore, MD,'' Journal of 
Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 50, no. 2, p. 167-176, December 2017, https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6114137/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite fentanyl's built-in economic advantage, it took the massive 
restriction on imports and travel during the pandemic--particularly the 
U.S. policy of limiting travel with Mexico--to force U.S.-Mexico border 
traffickers to shift from heroin to fentanyl. Within 2 months of the 
pandemic, fentanyl seizures overtook heroin by weight, and by the time 
the restrictions were lifted, fentanyl accounted for over 90 percent of 
the seizures.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Tragically, the shift toward fentanyl and away from heroin caused a 
spike in fentanyl deaths. From 2019 to 2021, fentanyl deaths nearly 
doubled as trade and travel were restricted with Mexico. Unfortunately, 
additional efforts to restrict the trade in fentanyl will likewise 
backfire. There are already synthetic opioids many times more powerful 
than fentanyl that cartels could switch to if fentanyl trafficking 
becomes more difficult. For instance, the Tennessee Department of 
Health reported a four-fold increase in deaths in 2021 from Nitazenes--
synthetic opioids 10 to 20 times more potent than fentanyl.\65\
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    \65\ Roberts A, Korona-Bailey J, Mukhopadhyay S. Notes from the 
Field: Nitazene-Related Deaths--Tennessee, 2019-2021. MMWR Morb Mortal 
Wkly Rep 2022;71:1196-1197. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/
mmwr.mm7137a5.
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    This process of enforcement increasing the potency of prohibited 
items is called the ``Iron Law of Prohibition.'' It occurred under 
Alcohol Prohibition when liquor dominated wine and beer, and it has 
repeatedly played out under drug prohibition: crack cocaine as a 
substitute for powdered cocaine, heroin as a substitute for 
prescription drugs, and fentanyl as a substitute for heroin. To stop 
drug deaths, policy makers must focus on demand, not supply.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The drug war and restrictive border policies have failed people 
with addictions and their families. Government should stop 
criminalizing drug users, which pushes them away from services that 
could help them, and Congress should legalize overdose prevention 
sites, places where people can intervene to reverse an overdose.\66\ 
States should allow users to protect themselves against overdoses by 
legalizing fentanyl test strips, which most States criminalize as 
``drug paraphernalia.''\67\ Physicians should be empowered to treat 
addiction by weaning addicts off these potent drugs and by issuing at-
home prescriptions for methadone.\68\ These are all ideas that have 
worked in other countries to reduce deaths.\69\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \66\ Jeffrey A. Singer, ``Overdose Prevention Centers: A Successful 
Strategy for Preventing Death and Disease,'' Cato Institute, February 
2023, https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/overdose-prevention-centers-
successful-strategy-preventing-death-disease?au_hash=4jaxI1ucCsjQ6Jr- 
B3YilVA9nAl4Whs3s425lPUjvKIM.
    \67\ Jeffrey A. Singer, ``Fentanyl Test Strips Save Lives, Yet Most 
States Ban Them As `Drug Paraphernalia','' Cato Institute, January 
2023, https://www.cato.org/blog/fentanyl-test-strips-save-lives-yet-
most-states-ban-them-drug-paraphernalia.
    \68\ Jeffrey A. Singer, ``New Evidence That Take-Home Methadone Is 
Safe and Effective,'' Cato Institute, July 2022, https://www.cato.org/
blog/new-evidence-take-home-methadone-safe-effective. Jeffrey A. 
Singer, ``Harm Reduction: Shifting from a War on Drugs to a War on 
Drug-Related Deaths,'' Cato Institute, December 2018, https://
www.cato.org/policy-analysis/harm-reduction-shifting-war-drugs-war-
drug-related-deaths.
    \69\ Methadone is prescribed on a take-home basis by primary care 
providers since the 1960's in the United Kingdom, Australia, and 
Canada. Rebecca A. Clay, ``How Portugal is solving its opioid 
problem,'' APA, October 2018, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/10/
portugal-opioid.
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    Restricting immigration also has another side benefit for 
smugglers: they can charge immigrants to cross illegally into the 
United States.\70\ Two migrants in Tijuana were stoned to death, and 
another was shot for failing to pay a fee in February.\71\ Migrant 
smuggling has now become a $13 billion industry.\72\ The United States 
could immediately remove this profit from the cartels by creating legal 
ways to enter the country.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \70\ Christina Aguayo, ``Border Patrol: Cartels cash in on billion-
dollar human smuggling business,'' Border Report, October 2021, https:/
/www.borderreport.com/immigration/border-crime/border-patrol-cartels-
cash-in-on-billion-dollar-human-smuggling-business/.
    \71\ Salvador Rivera, ``2 migrants stoned to death by smugglers 
along border wall in Tijuana,'' Fox 5 San Diego, February 2023, https:/
/fox5sandiego.com/news/border-report/2-migrants-stoned-to-death-by-
smugglers-along-border-wall-in-tijuana/amp/.
    \72\ Miriam Jordan, ``Smuggling Migrants at the Border Now a 
Million Dollar Business,'' New York Times, July 2022, https://
www.nytimes.com/2022/07/25/us/migrant-smuggling-evolution.html.
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        immigration creates wealth for immigrants and americans
    Immigration benefits immigrants and Americans. In their home 
countries, immigrants usually lack the freedom to achieve their full 
potential. Immigrants want little more than to participate in the 
freedom that the U.S. Constitution offers to improve their lives. For 
many nations, a majority of their people who live above the poverty 
line (by developed world standards) live in the United States.\73\ They 
achieve this higher standard of living not through theft or welfare but 
through hard work.
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    \73\ David J. Bier, ``Immigrating to the U.S. Is The Main Way To 
Escape Poverty in Dozens of Countries,'' Cato Institute, February 2023, 
https://www.cato.org/blog/immigrating-us-main-way-escape-poverty-
dozens-countries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Why do immigrants command higher wages in the United States than in 
their home countries? Because the United States has free institutions 
that create incentives for work and investment that empower workers to 
be more productive. In other words, immigrants produce more and better 
goods and services here than in their home countries. It is easy to 
understand why. Here, American capitalism incentivizes investment in 
technology that increases the productivity of workers, while socialism, 
corruption, and crime make those investments impossible in many 
countries. The result is that U.S. immigrants commonly command wages 
that are between 2 to 15 times the wages in their home countries for 
doing the exact same work.\74\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \74\ Michael A. Clemens, Claudio E. Montenegro, Lant Pritchett, 
``The Place Premium: Bounding the Price Equivalent of Migration 
Barriers,'' The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 101, no. 2, p. 
201-213, 2019, https://direct.mit.edu/rest/article-abstract/101/2/201/
58518/The-Place-Premium-Bounding-the-Price-Equivalent-
of?redirectedFrom=fulltext.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Of course, higher incomes are not the only motivating factor for 
migration, but these massive wage differentials make stopping 
immigration a fool's errand. The benefits are simply so great that 
desperate people will continue to put their lives on the line to 
achieve the freedom and opportunity that they lack at home. But the 
fact that so many people from around the world are willing to uproot 
their lives and join us--to contribute to our Nation and to make our 
lives better--is the most profound opportunity for the United States. A 
better legal immigration system would harness this massive potential to 
fulfill the needs of an America on the verge of demographic decline.
                   america benefits from immigration
    Immigrants can succeed in the United States precisely because the 
country needs workers. Immigrants are more likely to work than U.S.-
born citizens overall and at every education level--a difference that 
grows significantly among the least skilled--and about 97 percent of 
immigrants who looked for jobs in 2022 found them.\75\ This should not 
be surprising, given that the United States is currently experiencing 
an unprecedented labor shortage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \75\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``FOREIGN-BORN WORKERS: LABOR 
FORCE CHARACTERISTICS,'' 2022, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/
forbrn.pdf.
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    From January 2021 to May 2023, the United States averaged 10.5 
million job openings per month. Every single month after January 2021 
had more job openings than any month before it, back to the start of 
the job openings data series in the year 2000.\76\ The average number 
of job openings during this period was double the number of job 
openings before 2021.\77\ Filling these jobs over the last 2\1/2\ years 
would have increased U.S. Gross Domestic Product cumulatively by about 
$2 trillion.\78\ As of May 2023, the number of open jobs exceeded the 
number of unemployed workers by nearly 4 million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \76\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings: Total Nonfarm 
[JTSJOL], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; 
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSJOL, July 18, 2023.
    \77\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Level 
[UNEMPLOY], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; 
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNEMPLOY, July 18, 2023.
    \78\ World Bank Data, ``GDP per capita (current US$)_United 
States,'' July 2023, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/
NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=US.


    The immigrant population increased, according to Census Bureau's 
Current Population Survey, by approximately 2.7 million from January 
2021 to June 2023.\79\ These immigrants found jobs in a wide variety of 
industries--everything from landscaping and construction to computer 
programming and management. Immigrant workers were key to helping 
propel the recovery. They were also helpful in bringing down inflation.
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    \79\ Current Population Survey, Basic Monthly, January 2021, June 
2023.
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    This effect on inflation comes not through lowering wages but 
through increasing production. The purpose of the economy is to produce 
goods and services that fulfill the needs of U.S. consumers. Staffing 
shortages that closed stores, kept trucks off the road and prevented 
ships from being unloaded were critical components of inflation in 2021 
and 2022. Immigrants allow more goods and services to reach consumers, 
which brings down prices in real terms.
    Going forward, the United States is facing a severe population 
challenge, which will cause demand for foreign workers to increase. The 
U.S. population is growing slower than at any point in its history. In 
2022, international migration already accounted for 80 percent of the 
meager 0.4 percent population growth.\80\ Without immigration, the U.S. 
population will start to decline. Already in 2022, about half of all 
the counties in the United States saw declining populations. Over the 
next two decades, the U.S. working-age population will decline without 
new immigrant workers.\81\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \80\ U.S. Census Bureau, ``National Population by Characteristics: 
2020-2022,'' 2022, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/
popest/2020's-national-detail.html.
    \81\ Madeline Zavodny, ``Why the United States Still Needs Foreign-
Born Workers,'' National Foundation for American Policy, July 2023, 
https://nfap.com/research/new-nfap-policy-brief-why-the-united-states-
still-needs-foreign-born-workers/.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

            america needs workers across the skill spectrum
    With a slowing population, the country is also growing older.\82\ 
This will suppress labor force participation among the U.S. population 
and create a need for more workers in industries related to elder care. 
With nearly a million new jobs, home health aides are projected to see 
the largest increase in employment of any single occupational category, 
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).\83\ This example 
highlights how job growth will not just be concentrated among the 
highest-skilled positions but will be broadly available. In fact, the 
BLS predicts that most jobs created this decade will not require a 
college degree.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \82\ U.S. Census Bureau, ``America is Getting Older,'' June 2023, 
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/population-
estimates-characteristics.html#:?:text=JUNE%2022%2C%- 
202023%20%E2%80%94%20The%20nation's,of%20the%20population%20is%20younger

    \83\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``Employment Projections,'' 
July 2023, https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/emp-by-detailed-
occupation.htm.
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    Of course, if these jobs fail to materialize, it would likely be 
because the Government intervened to stop U.S. employers from hiring 
immigrants. That would be devastating for American families that 
desperately need help. Shockingly, despite record demand, the number of 
employees in skilled nursing care facilities has declined from 1.7 
million to 1.4 million from 2011 to 2023.\84\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \84\ Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), ``All Employees, Skilled 
Nursing Care Facilities,'' June 2023, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
series/CES6562310001.
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    Many nursing homes are closing because they cannot properly staff 
their operations--particularly in rural areas. In Minnesota alone, 45 
facilities have closed.\85\ Another 60 have closed in Texas.\86\ The 
Good Samaritan Society facility in Postville, Iowa, closed in September 
2022.\87\ At open facilities, huge numbers of beds remain empty, with 
the vacancies Nation-wide reaching 32 percent.\88\ An analysis of 
nursing homes by researchers from Harvard, MIT, and Rochester showed 
that ``increased immigration significantly raises the staffing levels 
of nursing homes in the U.S., particularly in full-time positions,'' 
which results in better patient outcomes.\89\ The National Council of 
the State Boards of Nursing has found that 800,000 nurses plan to leave 
the labor force by 2027.\90\ Meanwhile, nurses are crossing the border 
illegally, and one died in 2021.\91\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \85\ Jennifer Hoff, ``Nursing Homes Keep Losing Jobs, Leading to 
Closures,'' KARE 11, March 2023, https://www.kare11.com/article/news/
local/nursing-homes-losing-jobs-most-in-30-years-leading-to-closures/
89-1f7fe7f3-5b7f-4ac7-b879-4fa420c3e440.
    \86\ Chantel Barnes, ``Workforce Crisis Plagues Texas Nursing 
Homes,'' KXAN, November 2022, https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/
workforce-crisis-plagues-texas-nursing-homes/.
    \87\ Tony Leys, ``Small-Town Nursing Homes Closing Amid Staffing 
Crunch,'' KFF Health News, January 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/
health/aging/nursing-homes-small-towns-closing-staff-shortages-
rcna66779.
    \88\ CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) LLP., ``Initial Observations of SNF 
Trends Data Illustrates COVID-19 Challenges,'' October 2021, https://
www.claconnect.com/en/resources/articles/2021/initial-observations-of-
snf-trends-data-illustrates-covid-19-challenges.
    \89\ David C. Grabowski, Jonathan Gruber, Brian McGarry, 
``IMMIGRATION, THE LONG-TERM CARE WORKFORCE, AND ELDER OUTCOMES IN THE 
U.S.,'' NBER Working Paper Series, February 2023, https://www.nber.org/
system/files/working_papers/w30960/w30960.pdf.
    \90\ National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), 
``National Nursing Workforce Study,'' April 2023, https://
www.ncsbn.org/research/recent-research/workforce.page.
    \91\ Tom Phillips, ``A Nurse's Journey from Treating COVID in 
Brazil to death in the US Desert,'' The Guardian, October 2021, https:/
/www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/18/brazil-migrant-death-us-border-
desert-dream.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    One reason why Americans are having fewer children is the cost of 
childcare. The cost of childcare not only directly reduces the growth 
in the future labor force but also indirectly reduces the growth in the 
labor force by driving mothers to drop out of the labor force. A 
majority of mothers with young children are not looking for jobs solely 
because of childcare or family responsibilities.\92\ A staffing crisis 
has caused massive wait lists for care in States across the country. In 
Pennsylvania, 7,000 open positions have led to 32,500 kids waiting for 
care.\93\ It's worse in Michigan, where nearly 54,000 kids are 
waiting.\94\
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    \92\ U.S. Department of Commerce, ``Spotlight on Women and the 
Labor Force,'' 2023, https://www.commerce.gov/bureaus-and-offices/
ousea/spotlight-women-labor-force.
    \93\ Jodi Askins, ``New Survey: Staffing Crisis Eliminates At Least 
30,000 Child Care Slots; 32,000 Children Sit on Waiting Lists--Low 
Wages to Blame,'' Start Strong PA, April 2022, https://
static1.squarespace.com/static/5c2e545d0dbda3cf1389658c/t/
6272dffa8acf020b2ea- 34c3d/1651695610873/
Staff_Crisis_Survey_RLS_041222.pdf.
    \94\ Luca Powell & Derek Kravitz, ``Disappearing Day Care,'' 
Muckrock, August 2022, https://www.muckrock.com/childcare/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Researchers Delia Furtado and Heinrich Hock have found that low-
skilled immigrants have ``substantially reduced'' the costs of having a 
child.\95\ Patricia Cortes and Jose Tessada similarly find, ``low-
skilled immigration increases average hours of market work and the 
probability of working long hours of women at the top quartile of the 
wage distribution.''\96\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \95\ Delia Furtado & Heinrich Hock, ``Female Work and Fertility in 
the United States: Effects of Low-Skilled Immigrant Labor,'' September 
2010, https://www.ucy.ac.cy/econ/wp-content/uploads/sites/48/2021/06/
Hock-Furtado_current_2010.pdf.
    \96\ Particia Cortes & Jose Tessada, ``Low-Skilled Immigration and 
the Labor Supply of Highly Skilled Women,'' American Economic Journal, 
vol. 3, no. 3, p. 88-123, July 2011, https://www.aeaweb.org/
articles?id=10.1257/app.3.3.88.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    New home construction--a critical component in family formation--
has also suffered from too few workers. Construction employment has 
reached record highs, while the construction unemployment rate is at 
near-record lows. Construction industry wages are now higher than the 
average wage for workers generally.\97\ The number of job openings has 
repeatedly set records for the industry.\98\ Yet thanks to too few 
workers, it now takes about 8 months to build a new home, which is up 
from 4 to 6 months before the pandemic.\99\ One home builder in Florida 
estimated in 2023 that supply chain issues and the labor shortage were 
adding 20 percent to the cost of a new home in his area.\100\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \97\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``Industries at a Glance,'' 
July 2023, https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag23.htm. U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, ``Real Earnings--June 2023,'' June 2023, https://
www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/realer.pdf.
    \98\ Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), ``Job Openings: 
Construction,'' July 2023, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/
JTS2300JOL.
    \99\ Terry Collins, ``Few workers. Slow supplies. Why you'll be 
waiting a while for that new house to be built,'' USA Today, June 2022, 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/06/16/new-houses-longer-
build-housing-labor-shortages/7572802001/.
    \100\ Tallahassee Democrat, ``Here's How Construction Staff Supply 
Shortages Are Hitting Consumers,'' July 2023, https://
www.tallahassee.com/story/money/business/2023/07/19/heres-how-
construction-staff-supply shortage-are-hitting-consumers/70262091007/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The United States is also facing critical shortages of skilled 
workers. For physicians per capita, America ranks far behind Germany, 
Sweden, Australia, and Switzerland, and it has half the number of 
physicians per capita as Austria--effectively a difference of nearly 1 
million physicians.\101\ In rural areas, the shortages are dire. A 
study in the journal Health Affairs has shown that rural patients are 
far more likely to die because they lack the number of specialists to 
treat them effectively.\102\ This situation would be even worse if not 
for immigrants, who account for a quarter of all U.S. physicians.\103\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \101\ OECD Stat, Accessed July 2023, https://stats.oecd.org/.
    \102\ Kenton J. Johnson, Hefei Wen, & Karen E. Joynt Maddox, ``Lack 
Of Access To Specialists Associated With Mortality And Preventable 
Hospitalizations Of Rural Medicare Beneficiaries,'' Health Affairs, 
December 2019, https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/
hlthaff.2019.00838.
    \103\ Jeanne Batalova, ``Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the 
United States,'' Migration Policy Institute, April 2023, https://
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrant-health-care-workers-united-
states.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Skilled science, technology, engineering, and math workers are also 
in short supply. A major project--funded in part by U.S. taxpayers--to 
build a new microchip manufacturing facility in Arizona is already 
being delayed because of a shortage of skilled workers.\104\ McKinsey 
estimates that chip manufacturers will be short 390,000 engineers and 
skilled technicians by 2030, leading to more production setting up 
offshore.\105\ But the U.S. immigration system is so broken that 
engineers from Venezuela were entering through the border in 2021.\106\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \104\ Yang Jie, ``TSMC Delays Start of First Arizona Chip Factory, 
Citing Worker Shortage,'' The Wall Street Journal, July 2023, https://
www.wsj.com/articles/tsmc-delays-start-of-first-arizona-chip-factory-
citing-worker-shortage-4a9344e5.
    \105\ Ondrej Burkacky, Ulrike Kingsbury, Andrea Pedroni, Giulietta 
Poltronieri, Matt Schrimper, & Brooke Weddle, ``How Semiconductor 
Makers Can Turn a Talent Challenge into a Competitive Advantage,'' 
McKinsey & Company, September 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/
industries/semiconductors/our-insights/how-semiconductor-makers-can-
turn-a-talent-challenge-into-a-competitive-advantage.
    \106\ Joshua Goodman, ``Driven by Pandemic, Venezuelans Uproot 
Again to Come to U.S.,'' Associated Press, June 2021, https://
apnews.com/article/venezuela-immigration-business-coronavirus-pandemic-
health-72e16118a21cf9ae3d0d4c9204f24643.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Because immigrants are working, immigrants also improve government 
finances. Immigrants contributed $736 billion in State, local, and 
Federal taxes in 2018--$220 billion more than they received in 
Government benefits, including cash assistance, entitlements, and 
public education.\107\ Even undocumented immigrants are paying nearly 
$12 billion in taxes every year.\108\ These contributions do not 
consider any complementarities between U.S. workers and immigrants, 
such as when immigrants allow U.S. workers to earn higher wages or work 
longer hours. The Social Security Administration Trustees Report 
emphasizes that immigration improves the Social Security outlook,\109\ 
but the number of workers that it projects will be paying into Social 
Security in 2065 is still 70 million below the level needed to keep 
revenues in line with expenditures.\110\
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    \107\ Alex Nowrasteh, Sarah Eckhardt, & Michael Howard, ``The 
Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States,'' Cato Institute, 
March 2023, https://www.cato.org/white-paper/fiscal-impact-immigration-
united-states.
    \108\ Lisa Christensen Gee, et al. ``Undocumented Immigrants' State 
& Local Tax Contributions,'' Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 
March 2017, https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-state-local-tax-
contributions-2017/.
    \109\ Social Security Trustees, ``The 2023 Annual Report of the 
Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and 
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds,'' 2023, https://www.ssa.gov/
oact/TR/2023/tr2023.pdf.
    \110\ ``With currently scheduled tax rates and benefits, the system 
needs a worker-to-beneficiary ratio of about 2.8 to function at a pay-
as-you-go level (meaning that tax revenue approximately equals benefit 
payments).'' To keep the ratio at the 2.8 workers per beneficiary 
required to continue as pay as you go, you'd need about 70 million more 
workers. Gayle L. Reznik, Dave Shoffner, and David A. Weaver, ``Coping 
with the Demographic Challenge: Fewer Children and Living Longer,'' 
Social Security Office of Policy, Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 66, 
No. 4, 2005/2006, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v66n4/
v66n4p37.html#:?:text=With%20currently- 
%20'scheduled%20tax%20rates,revenue%20approximately%20equals%20benefit%2
0payments).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found in 2013 that 
comprehensive immigration reform would have ``a net savings of about 
$175 billion over the 2014-2023'' and ``would decrease Federal budget 
deficits by about $700 billion (or 0.2 percent of total output) over 
the 2024-2033 period.'' The CBO stated that there would be about 
another $300 billion in savings from the indirect economic effects of 
more immigration.\111\ The United States could already be enjoying 
these benefits had the bill become law.
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    \111\ Doug Elmendorf, ``CBO Reseases Two Analyses of the Senate's 
Immigration Legislation,'' Congressional Budget Office, June 2013, 
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/44345.
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               immigrants make american communities safer
    Immigrants contribute to the safety and security of American 
communities in numerous ways. First, they directly lower the crime rate 
by committing fewer crimes. According to data from the Census Bureau's 
American Community Survey, immigrants have been much less likely to end 
up in the criminal justice system and behind bars for the entirety of 
the last decade (Graph).\112\ This is true, even for immigrants in the 
country illegally, despite thousands of those immigrants being 
incarcerated solely for immigration offenses that U.S. citizens cannot 
commit. The share of illegal immigrants incarcerated has even declined 
by 44 percent from 2011 to 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \112\ Michelangelo Landgrave and Alex Nowrasteh, ``Illegal 
Immigrant Incarceration Rates, 2010-2018: Demographics and Policy 
Implications,'' Cato Institute, April 2020, https://www.cato.org/
publications/policy-analysis/illegal-immigrant-incarceration-rates-
2010-2018-demographics-policy.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The lower crime rates create safer communities for Americans to 
live in. During the 1990's, when the immigrant population grew faster 
than at any time in over a century, crime fell rapidly across the 
country.\113\ Immigrant-dense cities saw crime fall further and faster 
than elsewhere in the country during that time.\114\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \113\ Lauren Brooke-Eisen, Oliver Roeder, and Julia Bowling, ``What 
Caused the Crime Decline?,'' Brennan Center for Justice, February 2015, 
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-caused-
crime-decline.
    \114\ Wadsworth, T. (2010), Is Immigration Responsible for the 
Crime Drop? An Assessment of the Influence of Immigration on Changes in 
Violent Crime Between 1990 and 2000. Social Science Quarterly, 91: 531-
553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00706.x. STOWELL, J.I., 
MESSNER, S.F., MCGEEVER, K.F. and RAFFALOVICH, L.E. (2009), IMMIGRATION 
AND THE RECENT VIOLENT CRIME DROP IN THE UNITED STATES: A POOLED, 
CROSS-SECTIONAL TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS OF METROPOLITAN AREAS. 
Criminology, 47: 889-928. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-
9125.2009.00162.x.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Immigrants also directly affect the crime rate through their 
participation in or cooperation with law enforcement. There were over 
80,000 immigrants serving as detectives and police officers in 2021 and 
about 350,000 immigrants in protective service roles, including 
corrections officers, bailiffs, private security, firefighters, and 
other similar positions.\115\ Training more police officers is a proven 
way to reduce crime,\116\ yet many cities are finding it difficult to 
fill open jobs. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, for instance, there are 160 officer 
jobs unfilled.\117\ In 2015, Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson 
convinced legislators in Tennessee to open police recruitment to 
noncitizens with military service to help address the shortage, and 
other departments are opening to immigrants as well.\118\
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    \115\ ``MDAT,'' Census Bureau, February 2023, https://
data.census.gov/mdat/#/search?ds=- 
ACSPUMS1Y2021&cv=CIT&rv=OCCP&wt=PWGTP.
    \116\ MacDonald, J.M., Klick, J. and Grunwald, B. (2016), The 
effect of private police on crime: evidence from a geographic 
regression discontinuity design. J. R. Stat. Soc. A, 179: 831-846. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/rssa.12142.
    \117\ Daphne Duret and Weihua Li, ``It's Not Just a Police Problem, 
Americans Are Opting Out of Government Jobs,'' The Marshall Project, 
January 2023, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/01/21/police-
hiring-government-jobs-decline..
    \118\ Simone Weichselbaum, ``Desperate for Recruits, Police 
Consider Non-Citizens,'' The Marshall Project, February 2019, https://
www.themarshallproject.org/2019/02/14/desperate-for-recruits-police-
consider-non-citizens.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Even if they don't or can't serve directly, immigrants aid law 
enforcement through cooperation with authorities. Immigrants to New 
Jersey helped turn around South Paterson, an area once beset by crime 
and corruption. The Paterson police commissioner pointed to the 
willingness of immigrant business owners to work with police as one 
major reason for its lower crime rate.\119\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \119\ Zahra Hankir, ``Immigrants are reviving Paterson, N.J., from 
its difficult past,'' Los Angeles Times, September 2019, https://
www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-25/immigrants-are-reviving-
south-paterson-n-j-from-its-difficult-past.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There are countless examples of immigrants helping law enforcement 
to stop criminals or prevent crimes. Two foreign students stopped a 
sexual assault at Stanford, testifying against the rapist at 
trial.\120\ Another immigrant lost his life stopping a rape in 
Virginia.\121\ A video filmed on a Dominican immigrant's phone was the 
basis of a homicide conviction in South Carolina.\122\ A Colombian 
immigrant in Miami drove his van between an officer and an active 
shooter, saving the officer's life.\123\ A major source of funding for 
local police comes from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 
Grant (JAG) Program. Byrne was a New York city officer killed guarding 
a Guyanese immigrant who had repeatedly reported criminal activity by 
U.S. citizens in his community.\124\ The immigrant then again risked 
his life to testify against Byrne's killers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \120\ Tobias Salinger, ``Hero grad student describes catching 
Stanford rapist: `The guy stood up then we saw she wasn't moving','' 
New York Daily News, June 2016, https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/
hero-grad-student-describes-catching-stanford-rapist-article-1.2664718.
    \121\ Stuart Anderson, ``The Immigrant Who Died Defending A Crime 
Victim,'' Forbes, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/
2018/11/02/the-immigrant-who-died-defending-a-rape-victim/
?sh=3fc89a3c2c0d.
    \122\ ``Feidin Santana, Who Recorded Police Shooting Of Walter 
Scott, Speaks Out,'' NBC News, April 2015, https://www.nbcnews.com/
news/latino/feidin-santana-who-recorded-man-shot-police-officer-speaks-
out-n338171.
    \123\ CHARLES RABIN AND DAVID OVALLE, ``Man who saved Miami 
officer: `How could I not?','' Miami Herald, April 2015, http://
web.archive.org/web/20170318151546/ http://www.miamiherald.com/news/
local/crime/article18631896.html.
    \124\ ``Witness in New York Police Killings Passes Lie Detector 
Test, Leaves Town,'' AP News, September 1989, https://apnews.com/
article/db245e3b1b1b56708d004398c6f90c6c.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Immigrants without legal status also can help stop crimes. An 
unauthorized immigrant acting as a convenience store nightwatchman 
stopped a burglary in Texas.\125\ Another in New Mexico chased down a 
child abductor, returning a 6-year-old girl to her parents.\126\ It is 
not even uncommon. About 100,000 immigrants have obtained legal status 
through their cooperation with law enforcement over the last 
decade,\127\ and local agencies have more than 315,000 requests pending 
for unauthorized immigrants to receive legal status based on their 
cooperation with them right now.\128\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \125\ David Bier, ``Donald Trump Is Wrong--Immigrants Don't Commit 
More Crimes,'' Time, September 2016, https://time.com/4509413/
presidential-debate-donald-trump-immigration/.
    \126\ Jeri Clausing, ``Man who saved girl says he's illegal 
immigrant,'' NBC News, August 2011, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/
wbna44206940.
    \127\ There is an annual cap of 10,000 U visas.
    \128\ ``Number of Service-wide Forms Fiscal Year To Date,'' USCIS, 
October 2022, https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/
Quarterly_All_Forms_FY2022_Q4.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Immigrants also lower crime indirectly. One important mechanism is 
economically revitalizing neighborhoods. Based on data from the Census 
Bureau's Current Population Survey, immigrants increase State and local 
tax revenues by over $250 billion per year--52 percent higher than the 
benefits that they receive and a net fiscal contribution of tens of 
billions annually.\129\ Tax revenue from new arrivals allows cities to 
expand police forces, clean up streets, and make other improvements 
that lower crime.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \129\ ``Current Population Survey,'' Census Bureau, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Research published in the Journal of Criminal Justice has shown 
that just filling abandoned buildings makes residents less likely to 
commit crimes,\130\ and immigration is associated with fewer 
vacancies.\131\ Research by economist Jacob Vigdor has shown that 
immigrants seek out areas where real estate prices are low or falling, 
which prevents community decline.\132\ Over the last two decades, 
refugees and asylum seekers went into the lower-cost and higher-crime 
West Side of Buffalo, for example. They took over vacant lots and 
businesses, and crime fell there by 70 percent.\133\ This pattern has 
been observed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities.\134\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \130\ ``ABANDONED BUILDINGS: MAGNETS FOR CRIME?,'' DOJ, 1993, 
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/abandoned-
buildings-magnets-crime.
    \131\ Domenic Vitiello & Thomas J. Sugrue, ``Immigration and 
Metropolitan Revitalization in the United States.'' University of 
Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, pp. 17-22, 2017, https://
www.google.com/books/edition/Immigration_and_Metropolitan_Revitalizat/
GQu_DgAA- QBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=vacancies.
    \132\ Jacob L. Vigdor, ``Immigration, Housing Markets, and 
Community Vitality,'' Cato Institute, Fall 2017, https://www.cato.org/
cato-journal/fall-2017/immigration-housing-markets-community-
vitality#what-the-data-show-immigration-raises-home-prices-and-creates-
opportunities-for-natives.
    \133\ Emma Sapong, ``Bangladeshis transforming Buffalo, one block 
at a time,'' The Buffalo News, December 2015, http://web.archive.org/
web/20160305082034/ https:/buffalonews.com/city-region/east-side/
bangladeshis-transforming-buffalo-one-block-at-a-time-20151212/.
    \134\ Domenic Vitiello & Thomas J. Sugrue, ``Immigration and 
Metropolitan Revitalization in the United States.' University of 
Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, pp. 17-22, 2017, https://
www.google.com/books/edition/Immigration_and_Metropolitan_Revitalizat/
GQu_DgAA- QBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=vacancies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Immigrants also bring more businesses to these areas as both 
consumers and entrepreneurs. Immigrants are 80 percent more likely to 
start businesses than the U.S.-born population,\135\ and they make up a 
disproportionate 28 percent of brick-and-mortar ``main street'' 
businesses Nation-wide.\136\ In many major metropolitan areas, 
immigrants account for about half of all main street businesses. 
Immigrants own astounding shares of small businesses in New York City: 
90 percent of dry cleaning and laundry services, 84 of grocery stores, 
75 percent of child day cares, and 69 percent of restaurants.\137\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \135\ Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, & Javier 
Miranda, ``Immigration and Entrepreneurs in the United States,'' 
American Economic Review: Insights, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 71-88, March 
2022, https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aeri.20200588.
    \136\ David D. Kallick, ``Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How 
Immigrant Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow,'' Fiscal Policy 
Institute, January 2015, https://www.as-coa.org/sites/default/files/
ImmigrantBusinessReport.pdf.
    \137\ David D. Kallick, ``Immigrant Small Businesses in New York 
City,'' Fiscal Policy Institute, October 2011, https://
fiscalpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FPI_ImmigrantSmall- 
BusinessesNYC_20111003.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Legal pathways, including asylum, would allow Border Patrol to 
focus on true threats to Americans, but these threats should not be 
exaggerated. In fiscal year 2023, as of June, 9,244 convicts were 
encountered.\138\ Of the convictions listed, the most common were 
convictions for illegal entry and reentry with 5,332. As a percentage 
of total encounters, convicts have declined by 89 percent from nearly 6 
percent of encounters in fiscal year 2015 to 0.6 percent in fiscal year 
2023.
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    \138\ U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ``Criminal Noncitizen 
Statistics Fiscal Year 2023,'' 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/
stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics/criminal-noncitizen-statistics. U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, ``Criminal Alien Statistics fiscal year 
2017,'' 2017, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-
statistics/criminal-alien-statistics-fy2017.
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    Encounters with suspected gang members have seen a similar decline. 
The 493 suspected gang members encountered in fiscal year 2023 
represented 0.03 percent of encounters, which was 90 percent below its 
2011 peak of 0.34 percent of encounters. In absolute terms, the number 
of gang encounters fell from 1,203 in 2012 to 751 in 2022.\139\ In 
2023, there was one suspected gang encounter for every 3,097 non-gang 
encounters.
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    \139\ CBP FOIA, 2019; CBP, ``Enforcement Statistics,'' 2023, 
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics.
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    CBP has reported a dramatic increase in encounters whose 
information appears on the Terrorism Screening Dataset.\140\ There were 
98 such encounters in 2022. According to nonpublic data obtained by the 
media, 93 percent of the terrorist database hits were for 
Colombians.\141\ The evidentiary bar for inclusion in this dataset is 
so low that it is impossible to conclude much from this statistic. CBP 
even says that the data include people supposedly associated with 
terrorist groups or activities.\142\ As importantly, matches can occur 
based on biographic information like a person's name and date of birth, 
leading to numerous false positives. One false positive was reported in 
the media just this month.\143\
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    \140\ ``CBP Enforcement Statistics Fiscal Year 2023,'' CBP, 
February 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-
statistics.
    \141\ Anna Giaritelli, ``Nearly 100 FBI terror watchlist suspects 
nabbed at southern border,'' Washington Examiner, October 2022, https:/
/www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/nearly-
100-fbi-terror-watch-list-suspects-caught-southern-border.
    \142\ ``CBP Enforcement Statistics Fiscal Year 2023,'' CBP, 
February 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-
statistics.
    \143\ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin, ``Iranian illegal immigrant 
caught at border not on terror watchlist after further vetting: DHS 
official,'' Fox News, February 2023, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/
iranian-illegal-immigrant-terror-watch-list-caught-southern-border-
sources.
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    Unlike Border Patrol, CBP ports of entry officers encounter 
thousands of people on the terrorist watch list every year.\144\ It is 
telling that none of these encounters have produced any convictions for 
a plot to attack the United States.\145\ In fact, over the last four 
decades, not a single American has died or been injured in a terrorist 
attack carried out by a person who entered the country illegally, and 
no one who crossed the Southwest Border has carried out a terrorist 
attack in the United States.\146\ The threat of terrorism is not a 
reason to eliminate asylum, and the entities that need more resources 
to deal with terror suspects are ports of entry, not Border Patrol 
stations.
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    \144\ Justin Fishel and Luke Barr, ``Fact Check: State Department 
says `no credible evidence' terrorists entering through southern 
border,'' ABC News, January 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/politics/fact-
check-state-department-credible-evidence-terrorists-entering/
story?id=60209995.
    \145\ Alex Nowrasteh, ``Terrorists Are Not Crossing the Mexican 
Border,'' Cato Institute, March 2021, https://www.cato.org/blog/
terrorists-are-not-crossing-mexican-border.
    \146\ Alex Nowrasteh, ``Terrorists by Immigration Status and 
Nationality: A Risk Analysis, 1975-2017,'' Cato Institute, May 2019, 
https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/terrorists-
immigration-status-nationality-risk-analysis-1975-2017.
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    Immigrants have just as much of a stake in safe communities as 
Americans. When immigrants do commit crimes, their victims are usually 
other immigrants.\147\ If we want to root out the bad apples, we should 
want to create policies that make it easier for immigrants to cooperate 
with law enforcement. That means providing a path to citizenship for 
law-abiding immigrants and assuring that future immigrants have a 
lawful way to enter and reside in this country.
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    \147\ ``The Gang Murders in the Long Island Suburbs,'' New York 
Times, July 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/12/nyregion/ms-13-
murders-long-island.html.
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                 illegal immigration is a policy choice
    Creating legal pathways for immigrants to live and work in the 
United States can restore Border Patrol's mission to one of national 
security, not managing peaceful migration. Legal pathways can 
dramatically reduce illegal immigration and related problems. Here are 
six examples:
    1. The Bracero guest worker program from 1954 to 1965 was expanded 
        to direct Mexican farm workers to enter the United States 
        legally. The program reduced border apprehensions by more than 
        the number of Braceros admitted legally because workers were 
        willing to wait to come legally.\148\
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    \148\ David J. Bier, ``How Guest Workers Affect Illegal 
Immigration,'' Cato Institute, December 2022, https://www.cato.org/
policy-analysis/how-guest-workers-affect-illegal-immigration#2-main-
bracero-era-1954-1964-relative-visa-openness-strengthened-enforcement.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    2. Wet Foot, Dry Foot, as applied at U.S.-Mexico land ports of 
        entry from 1995 to 2017, allowed tens of thousands of Cubans to 
        enter the country legally with a status known as humanitarian 
        parole, and the U.S.-Mexico border had almost no issue with 
        Cubans crossing the border illegally. Remain-in-Mexico and 
        Title 42 ended this policy, creating a massive Cuban illegal 
        immigration problem.\149\ However, after implementing the CBP 
        One scheduling app (discussed further below) in January 2021, 
        the situation reversed itself. In June 2023, 87 percent of 
        Cubans at the Southwest Border entered legally. When combined 
        with the parole sponsorship program (discussed further below), 
        over 90 percent of Cubans entered legally in June 2023.
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    \149\ David J. Bier, ``How the U.S. Created Cuban and Haitian 
Illegal Migration,'' Cato Institute, February 2022, https://
www.cato.org/blog/how-us-created-cuban-haitian-illegal-migration.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    3. Following the Earthquake in 2010, the United States stopped 
        deporting Haitians, and U.S.-Mexico land ports of entry stopped 
        detaining Haitians requesting asylum. Instead, it let them 
        enter legally into the United States. As a result, from 2010 to 
        2016, nearly all Haitians entered the country legally. In late 
        2016, CBP reversed the non-detention and non-removal policy, 
        and in 2018, it covertly capped asylum requests at ports of 
        entry, causing more to cross illegally. Title 42 ended all 
        asylum at ports of entry, and nearly all Haitians entered 
        illegally, culminating in the disaster in Del Rio when Haitians 
        were trapped in a detention camp without food for weeks.\150\ 
        In early 2022, CBP began processing Title 42 exception requests 
        at ports of entry, and Haitians resumed entering the country 
        legally as they had before. In 2023, 98 percent of those 
        Haitians processed at the U.S.-Mexico border entered legally.
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    \150\ ``Report of Investigation,'' DHS, June 2022, https://
www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Jul/202112280-
cbp-closing-report-public-redacted-final.pdf.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    4. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians began to 
        show up at the U.S.-Mexico border by the tens of thousands. CBP 
        granted them exceptions to the Title 42 policy and let them 
        into the country legally. In May, it improved on this policy by 
        creating the Uniting for Ukraine parole program, which has 
        already allowed over 117,000 Ukrainians to fly directly to the 
        United States if they lined up a U.S. financial sponsor.\151\ 
        This policy reduced the flow of Ukrainians to the U.S.-Mexico 
        border by over 90 percent.
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    \151\ Julia Ainsley, ``U.S. has admitted 271,000 Ukrainian refugees 
since Russian invasion, far above Biden's goal of 100,000,'' NBC News, 
February 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/us-admits-
271000-ukrainian-refugees-russia-invasion-biden-rcna72177.
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    5. The administration recently created new parole programs modeled 
        on the Uniting for Ukraine program for Venezuelans in October 
        2022 and Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Haitians in January 2022. 
        These programs have also diverted many immigrants away from 
        illegal immigration. Reuters reported in mid-January that 
        Cubans ``previously flocking to Nicaragua to head overland had 
        largely changed strategies, many opting instead to try their 
        luck with the parole program.''\152\ Simultaneously, it 
        implemented the CBP One app, allowing people to schedule 
        appointments at southwest ports of entry to enter legally.\153\ 
        The combination of these different programs has led to huge 
        increases in the percentage of people entering legally from the 
        four countries.
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    \152\ Alexandre Meneghini and Dave Sherwood, ``A Cuban fishing 
village ponders its options as U.S. policy shifts,'' Reuters, February 
2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuban-fishing-village-
ponders-its-options-us-policy-shifts-2023-02-08/.
    \153\ U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ``CBP One Mobile 
Application,'' July 2023, https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-
1701?language=en_US#::text=Effective%20on%20January%20- 
18%2C%202023,the%20CBP%20One%E2%84%A2%20website.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    6. In January 2023, CBP also rolled out its CBP One phone app that 
        allows people to schedule appointments at ports of entry. CBP 
        has capped the number of Title 42 exceptions, but it has helped 
        reduce the number of illegal crossings because people are 
        willing to wait for an appointment rather than cross 
        illegally.\154\ CBP should open more asylum appointments at 
        ports of entry to reduce violations of the law. Since CBP One 
        was implemented, the share of southwest CBP encounters at legal 
        crossing points has increased from 11 percent to 31 percent--
        matching the highs before President Trump came into office. 
        Obviously, there is still much more to do, and the 
        administration could help build on this progress by removing 
        the cap on appointments.
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    \154\ Andrew Castillo, ``Asylum seekers face decision to split up 
families or wait indefinitely under new border policy,'' Los Angeles 
Times, February 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-02-
24/asylum-seeking-families-consider-separation-shortage-mobile-app-
appointments ``DEFENDANTS' MONTHLY REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 
PURSUANT TO THE COURT'S PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION,'' UNITED STATES 
DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE 
DIVISION, January 2023, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/
gov.uscourts.lawd.188754/gov.uscourts.lawd.188754.174.0.pdf.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Although these particular recent programs are discretionary, every 
administration has the mandate to process people seeking asylum under 
sections 208 and 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act at or 
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between ports of entry. Section 208 states in the relevant part:

``Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who 
arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of 
arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States 
after having been interdicted in international or United States 
waters), irrespective of such alien's status, may apply for asylum . . 
 ''

    Section 235 states in the relevant part:

``If an immigration officer determines that an alien . . . who is 
arriving in the United States . . . is inadmissible . . . and the alien 
indicates either an intention to apply for asylum under section 208 of 
this title or a fear of persecution, the officer shall refer the alien 
for an interview by an asylum officer . . . ''

    The administration is subject to a court order that bans it from 
preventing someone from seeking asylum at the ports of entry.\155\ 
Thus, the administration must create programs that enable it to meet 
asylum law requirements. Still, even without these clear mandates, the 
administration should use every legal tool to create humane and orderly 
processing for immigrants to reduce illegal immigration. The parole 
authority has been used 126 times by nearly every administration since 
its creation in 1952.\156\
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    \155\ Al Otro Lado v. Mayorkas, U.S. District Court, Southern 
District of California, 3:17-cv-02366-BAS-KSC, September 2021, https://
ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2021/09/
742%20Order%20granting%20in%20part%20Plaintiffs%20Motion%20for%20Summary
%20- Judgment%202021.08.02.pdf#page=19.
    \156\ David J. Bier, ``126 Parole Orders over 7 Decades: A 
Historical Review of Immigration Parole Orders,'' Cato Institute, July 
2023, https://www.cato.org/blog/126-parole-orders-over-7-decades-
historical-review-immigration-parole-orders.
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    Illegal immigration is a choice that policy makers select when they 
restrict lawful ways to enter the United States. Congress should work 
with the administration to expand on these successful initiatives to 
eliminate illegal immigration and help address the needs of communities 
across this country.

    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Bier.
    We are going to move into questioning and I am going to 
recognize myself for questioning for 5 minutes.
    We have quite a task ahead of us as a Nation to deal with 
what my colleagues have described as a world-wide migrant era 
and an immigration crisis that nations face world-wide. There 
is some truth to that statement, but America is a land of law 
and order or else we are not. This Congress is a body made up 
of 435 elected representatives of citizens of the United States 
of America. This is the legislative body of our government. We 
have a responsibility to serve and protect the citizens of 
America first. This is a simple acknowledgement of the 
foundational principles of our Republic. It would be difficult 
to find disagreement to that precept on either side of the 
aisle.
    What we face on our Southern Border is a disintegration of 
law and order. Now, there has been argument that perhaps we can 
make the absence of law and order more orderly and conduct our 
business of allowing the violation of our sovereign laws in a 
more effective manner. But I would argue that I choose not to 
be a part of a better-managed decline of our Nation.
    I am going to ask Mr. Bensman to give us some insight 
there. But before I do, Mr. Bier, I would like to ask you 
respectfully, sir, have you ever been to court for litigation 
or traffic court or anything like that?
    Mr. Bier. Probably at some point. I don't remember.
    Mr. Higgins. I mean, have you ever had to go before a court 
for any reason?
    Mr. Bier. I'm sure I've had a ticket before, if that's what 
you're asking me.
    Mr. Higgins. The court. Yes. It is not a trap question.
    Mr. Bier. Well----
    Mr. Higgins. The point is we have all experienced that. We 
arrive in front of that judicial procedure according to a 
schedule determined by the judicial system. We don't barge into 
the courtroom and demand that our traffic case be heard first. 
We don't overpower the deputies guarding the door and demand 
that the judge hear our case. This is what is happening at our 
Southern Border. It is overwhelming our system and the backlog 
for judicial procedures is incredible, impact similar to what 
Mr. Bensman talked about with our schools. This is injuring 
America.
    Mr. Bensman, your background gives you tremendous 
experience covering national security issues extensively, 
specifically regarding immigration. How would you count the 
number of illegal aliens that are currently in our country, 
both from prior administrations and for decades of presence 
here in our country? What would you put that number at?
    Mr. Bensman. The Center for Immigration Studies before this 
mass migration crisis held, we agreed with the 12 million 
figure. We can no longer say it's 12 million, though. We have 
to say it's 16 million. We can't just talk about the presence 
of illegals inside the United States as 12 million anymore.
    Mr. Higgins. So, as we move forward as a Congress to 
discuss immigration law and border security enforcement, would 
we not, based upon your experience, is it not the 
responsibility of Congress to get a grasp upon the number of 
aliens actually present in our country so we can stop guessing?
    Mr. Bensman. Sure. Of course. I mean at some point, the 
Government will have to resume interior enforcement operations. 
Interior enforcement operations have been suspended by and 
large for 2\1/2\ years. At some point, we're going to have to--
somebody will decide, well, you know, there are judges' orders, 
removal orders, that have to be enforced again. We'll have to 
be able to----
    Mr. Higgins. Sir, I concur that that would be ideal. My 
time has expired. Let me just close by saying that I believe 
the number is far greater and I think it should be part of our 
narrative that we discuss across the aisle to determine the 
number of illegal aliens in our country so we can get a handle 
on what needs to be done there.
    My time has expired and I recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. 
Correa, for 5 minutes for questioning.
    Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I essentially concur 
with your statements.
    Just wanted to, first of all, Ms. Tambunga, I just want to 
let you know my daughter's name is Emilia as well. So, I can't 
imagine your tragic situation. My heart and prayers go out to 
you and your family.
    Mr. Bier, we are here to address the specific issue of the 
challenges these individuals have at the border. High-speed 
chase, you got somebody, 11 people in that van, did you say? 
How do you stop the cartels? How do you take away the profit? 
How do you stop them from making money off the system?
    Mr. Bier. Well, we know that this is a $13 billion 
industry.
    Mr. Correa. Thirteen billion?
    Mr. Bier. Thirteen billion dollars. That's a lowball 
estimate. You know, we don't see all the money that's 
transferred, we can't measure it. But we can have surveys of 
this is how much people are saying they're paying. It's $5- to 
$10,000 to people who are going to smuggle them into the United 
States.
    We could defund that billion-dollar industry with legal 
immigration reform. We know we can do it because we have now 
examples of it happening.
    Cubans largely entered the country legally for decades at 
the U.S.-Mexico border. For decades, they entered the country 
legally. There was no illegal immigration problem among Cubans.
    Then the Trump administration said, no more, we're not 
going to let them apply legally anymore, shut down the border. 
What happened? We had a huge illegal immigration problem by 
Cubans. They were showing up in Texas. Every single Member who 
studied this issue can remember the problem in 2022.
    In 2023, the Biden administration came out with its parole 
programs and CBP One. The problem has been almost eliminated, 
reduced by more than 90 percent.
    Mr. Correa. It is almost eliminated, but it is still there. 
I mean the parole program, probably, in my opinion, is not the 
answer, but it is a good answer.
    What do these cartels charge right now for somebody coming 
across the border, somebody coming from Central America, 
somebody coming from China?
    Mr. Bier. Well, it's staged based on where you're from. So, 
you're talking somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000 if 
you're from Central America. If you're from China, they're 
going to charge you even more. So, you're talking tens of 
thousands of dollars if you're being smuggled all the way from 
China. So, it is a massive----
    Mr. Correa. The human cost, it is my understanding that if 
you are coming from Central America, 80 percent of the women by 
the time they get to the border will have been sexually 
assaulted or raped. So, a lot of those ladies before they 
actually undertake that trip actually prepare their bodies for 
that eventuality.
    So, taking the profit motive, I mean do you have examples 
of people that you have run across, have you met people in the 
situation?
    Mr. Bier. Yes. Absolutely. I was in El Salvador in December 
and I met with people who had planned to go to the border. They 
ended up getting a visa under the H-2B visa program. They 
abandoned that and they said, now that I have the opportunity 
to go legally, I will never pay anyone to smuggle me or my 
family to the U.S.-Mexico border. So, the opportunity is 
there----
    Mr. Correa. Can you explain to me what an H-2B visa is?
    Mr. Bier. H-2B visa is someone who's coming for nonseasonal 
agricultural employment in the United States. It has to be a 
temporary job. These particular positions were for Alaskan 
seafood. He went to the United States, he made some money----
    Mr. Correa. What nations have that availability to apply 
for these visas?
    Mr. Bier. Well, there's a limited list of about 80 
countries, but almost all of them go to Mexico. The Biden 
administration made a special effort set-aside for the Northern 
Triangle, which allowed this gentleman to have the opportunity 
to get a H-2B visa and come to the United States legally.
    Mr. Correa. Thank you very much.
    I am running out of time here, but I would like to hear, 
later on I will present to you some questions about what other 
ways we can dismantle the cartels and the profits.
    I wanted to go into the fentanyl issue but we will do that 
another time.
    Mr. Chairman, I ran out of time. I yield.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Pfluger, for 
5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, thank the 
witnesses for being here.
    As a reminder, there is another committee in Congress, 
Judiciary, that handles immigration. This is the border 
security hearing and we are talking about the security of the 
United States of America, just to set the stage for some of the 
testimony that we have heard.
    Mr. Ramirez, thank you for joining us. Thank you being a 
member of Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, a very 
proud organization. You mentioned the border security survey 
that the TSCRA has done. Would you be willing to share that 
with the committee?
    Mr. Ramirez. Absolutely. If you find that valuable 
information, I could speak to our leadership and get it to you.
    Mr. Pfluger. I would. Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter 
that survey into the record.
    Mr. Higgins. Without objection.*
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    * The information was not available at the time of publiction.
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    Mr. Pfluger. Thank you.
    You have had five generations of proud ranching history in 
your family on the ranch that you are on now. I just kind-of 
want to put it in perspective for people. From your experience, 
have you seen a situation in those five generations that is 
like this, with the chaos, with the damages, the high-speed 
chases? I mean, have you seen anything like this past 2\1/2\-
year period previously?
    Mr. Ramirez. Talking to my grandfather, who was raised on 
the ranch, and, you know, at least going back that far, he's 
never talked about a time where it was like it is now. People 
used to come across in smaller numbers, from what he recalls, 
and looking for work and were willing to work. It wasn't the 
situation that it is now.
    The volume of people that are--and by the way, everything I 
talked out, this is 40 miles away from the border. I have 
friends 100 miles away from the border that are going through 
the same situation. You know, these are people that, you know, 
they aren't walking or swimming across the river throwing up 
their hands and letting themselves, you know, get documented or 
whatever happens there. These are people that are trying to 
circumvent that process.
    Mr. Pfluger. What is causing it? I mean, from your 
experience there talking to law enforcement, Border Patrol, 
what is causing this?
    Mr. Ramirez. Well, there's certainly a reason to go through 
the trouble of hiring a coyote to take them through. That's an 
expensive process, from what I understand. There's got to be a 
reason why they do not want to be documented. What that reason 
is I don't know. But they are coming through in droves through 
our country.
    Mr. Pfluger. We are talking 5\1/2\ million people that have 
been encountered. This notion that President Trump caused 
illegal immigration to surge is nonsense. You have a million-
and-a-half known got-aways, over 140 people who have matched 
the terror watch list that we know about this year. So, I have 
more questions for you but I want to move on to Ms. Tambunga.
    Thank you again for once again being in this committee room 
for your heartfelt testimony. In previous conversations, you 
have discussed how the driver of the vehicle was recruited by 
the cartels. There is a narrative that is in this committee----
    Ms. Tambunga. Yes.
    Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. And sometimes espoused by my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle that the cartels are 
not at all linked to the issue of illegal immigration. I want 
to get your take on that because I am offended when I hear 
that. I know that this is a very personal issue.
    Ms. Tambunga. As far as the information that we know now, 
and this is coming from Texas DPS, that the driver, murderer, 
of the vehicle, he was recruited on TikTok by the cartel.
    Mr. Pfluger. Wow. I mean, when you hear that, and I hope my 
colleagues are listening to that, that we can talk economics, 
we can talk immigration, we can talk the things that was said 
by Mr. Bier, but, you know, we are talking about the security 
of our communities, that this person was recruited, that this 
person went on a high-speed chase over 100 miles an hour, and 
tragically ended the lives of two people, and changed the lives 
of this family forever. That is directly linked to the massive 
amounts of people that are coming across illegally, not 
following law and order.
    Mr. Ramirez said in his testimony that these high-speed 
chases are a daily occurrence. Ms. Tambunga, Mr. Bensman, 
anything to add to that based on either the community of Ozona 
or Mr. Bensman what you in your research has seen?
    Mr. Bensman. Sure. I spend a lot of time on the border, on 
both side of the border, talking to people and with law 
enforcement. There are so many high-speed chases in the 
borderlands for so long that there are certain communities 
that, for example, have built protective retaining walls around 
their schools. One town in Brackettville actually has developed 
a siren system, kind of like if a tornado was coming, except 
it's like here comes a car chase. They hit that and all the 
kids go under the desk. It is just absolutely rampant 
everywhere you go. It's like nothing anybody has ever seen.
    Mr. Pfluger. Thank you. My time has expired. I know my 
colleague, Mr. Gonzales, has a very good piece of legislation 
on that exact issue.
    But, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Magaziner for 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Magaziner. Thank you, Chairman.
    You know, it was said earlier, and I agree, that we are a 
country of laws, we are a country of law and order. But 
agencies, administrations, all of us as citizens don't get to 
pick and choose which laws we follow. I think it is important 
to note that under the law, migrants fleeing violence and 
persecution are entitled to claim legal asylum. That is not a 
law that we can just ignore.
    So, Mr. Bier, you can correct me if I am wrong on this, but 
is it not true that under the law, migrants who are fleeing 
persecution, fleeing violence are entitled to apply for and 
claim if they are granted legal asylum?
    Mr. Bier. Absolutely. Section 208 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act makes it perfectly clear that anyone who is 
arriving in the United States or in the United States may apply 
for asylum. That is a right protected under our laws. Further, 
other sections of the INA require this administration and any 
administration to refer them for a credible fear interview and 
interview that person to see if they're eligible for----
    Mr. Magaziner. So, just to be clear, if an administration, 
this administration or any other, were to deny a migrant an 
interview to see if they qualify for legal asylum, that 
administration would be breaking the law. Right?
    Mr. Bier. Absolutely. In fact, multiple courts have found 
that this administration and the last administration broke the 
law in doing that.
    Mr. Magaziner. So, let's turn the focus back onto the 
impact on American citizens from a failure to have a legal 
immigration system that is orderly and safe. Mr. Ramirez, I 
heard you talk, and I thank you for sharing your perspective, 
about the impact that migration and trafficking is having on 
your land and the land of your colleagues. Would it be easier 
for you if migrants were instead going to legal ports of entry 
to have their asylum claims processed than illegally going 
across your property or the property of your colleagues?
    Mr. Ramirez. I would agree with that. With what we're 
dealing with, if it was structured, then that would eliminate 
the problem.
    Mr. Magaziner. Yes. Absolutely. I think that is an 
important point that really cannot be lost here, that if we 
straighten out the system for people to have their applications 
processed at legal ports of entry, it would save everyone, 
particularly American citizens, a lot of violence and heartache 
and hassle.
    It was said or suggested by my friend on the other side 
that that is not the purview of this committee, that that 
belongs under the jurisdiction of another committee. Well, if 
that was the case, my colleagues on this committee would not 
have passed a bill through this committee that did things like 
restrict the use of the CBP One app. It is just an app that 
allows people to schedule an appointment at a legal port of 
entry to have their asylum claim processed.
    So, I would just point out again, in the interest of border 
security, making the border safer for migrants and for American 
citizens, we need to have part of the conversation be how we 
make the system for claiming legal asylum at legal ports of 
entry more streamlined and safer and more accessible, so that 
we can save everybody between the ports of entry a lot of pain 
and violence and heartache.
    I also just want to make sure that we don't lose sight of 
another issue. You know, when that, it was H.R. 2, when that 
bill passed through this committee a couple months ago, one of 
the provisions gave the Department of Homeland Security some 
guidance on things that they should prioritize in their 
strategic plan, which is a good thing to do, and I agreed with 
much of it, as I know my colleagues on the Democratic side did 
as well. But there was a glaring omission, which was no mention 
whatsoever of the fact that half a million illegal guns a year 
are being trafficked from the United States to Mexico, arming 
the cartels.
    So, I will open up to any of you. Do any of you feel that 
it should be a priority of DHS to reduce the flow of weapons to 
the cartels? Or do any of you disagree with that? Let me 
rephrase.
    Mr. Bier. This is certainly a national security issue. The 
cartels are adversaries of the United States. There's no 
question about that. The fact that the United States citizens 
are participating in providing arms to this adversary is a 
legitimate function of Government to intervene to prevent that 
from happening.
    Mr. Magaziner. I see my time is about to expire. So, I will 
just note, as a country of laws and law of order, we have to 
follow all the laws, and that includes cracking down on those 
who are illegally smuggling weapons to our adversaries on the 
other side of the border.
    Thank you for exploring these bipartisan potential 
solutions.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. Guest, 
for 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Bensman, in your written testimony, you describe 
currently that we are experiencing the worst mass migration in 
American history. You go on to set forth your background, what 
brought you to that conclusion. Then, throughout your 
testimony, you talk about some of the impacts of that mass 
migration.
    As a former prosecutor, I want to talk about one of those 
impacts that you began speaking about on page 5 of your written 
testimony. You described it as ``a great unnecessary crime 
wave''. You continue over on to page 6, where you set forth 
that, ``Most U.S. States do not keep track of crimes committed 
by illegal immigrants and neither does the Federal 
Government.'' Then, you opined that, ``Only Texas tracks much 
of the crime by non-U.S. citizens.''
    Then you cite roughly a decade of statistics from the Texas 
Department of Public Safety, and those statistics are found on 
page 7, between June 1, 2011, and July 31, 2022, that there 
were 259,000 illegal aliens charged with more than 433,000 
criminal offenses. Those were just in the State of Texas. That 
of those offenses, there were 800 charged with homicide, 822 
charged with kidnapping, 5,470 charged with sexual assault, 
6,485 charged with other sexual offenses, and 4,945 charged 
with weapon offenses.
    You then, Mr. Bensman, go on later on page 7 to talk about 
some of those cases in particular. You talk about that in the 
State of Texas on April the 29th that there was five-time 
deported Mexican national who murdered five individuals. Then, 
in the next paragraph, you talk about that in April 2023 that 
there were two former middle school students who were found 
dead, their car riddled with bullets.
    We know that sitting to your left, Ms. Tambunga, just 
testified in her opening statement about her tragic loss. Thank 
you for being here. I want to let you know that our heart goes 
out to you for the loss of your mother, the loss of your child. 
But what you are doing here today by calling attention to that 
is extremely important.
    So, Mr. Bensman, I also pulled just a couple of headlines 
in preparation for the hearing today from cases that have 
occurred this year. January 23, ``Teenager arrested in rape and 
murder of autistic Maryland woman was an illegal immigrant and 
known MS-13 member.'' March the 7 of 2023, ``Undocumented 
immigrant indicted on 11 counts of capital murder in abuse of a 
corpse,'' that occurred in Montgomery, Alabama. June 2 of 2023, 
``Five undocumented immigrants with ties to MS-13 charged with 
murder of a Frederick teen.'' Then, the last one, the most 
recently, July 21 of this year, ``Mexican immigrant accused of 
grisly serial murders of three women in Dallas, Texas.''
    Now, your findings contradict Mr. Bier because Mr. Bier in 
his written testimony and in his oral testimony, he says on 
page 21 of his written testimony that, ``Immigrants contribute 
to the safety and security of American communities. They 
directly lower the crime rate.'' He went on in his opening 
statement to say that immigrants prevent crime.
    So, in the last minute of my time, Mr. Bensman, I want to 
give you the opportunity to explain to this committee your 
findings as it relates to immigration and the effect that it 
has on crime, and contrast that with Mr. Bier's findings when 
he says that immigrants do not contribute to crime, and 
conversely even says that they directly lower the crime rate. 
So, in my last 30 seconds, Mr. Bensman, I would ask you to 
please enlighten this committee and please educate us on your 
findings.
    Mr. Bensman. OK. I have a whole 30 seconds to do that? I 
guess what I would tell you is that there is a comparative 
analysis that goes on, comparative research where organizations 
try to compare illegal immigrant crime with crime rates 
committed by American citizens. That is completely faulty 
analysis. You cannot compare those two, mainly because 100 
percent of all crimes committed by illegal immigrants are 
avoidable and unnecessary because they should have been 
deported, like the man who slaughtered the Hondurans next door. 
Whereas we are kind-of stuck with American citizens one way or 
another, aren't we? There's no escape hatch for pushing 
American citizens into another country before they commit a 
crime.
    So, 100 percent of all illegal immigrant crime is avoidable 
and unnecessary, in my opinion. All of these comparative 
studies are bogus and should never ever be made. There should 
never be a comparison made between those two things. I 
understand why that's done. It's done for--I'm hearing 
snapping. Thank you.
    Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields. We just recognized 30 
seconds become a minute and 15. That is OK. We get along in 
this committee.
    I now recognize Mr. Goldman for 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Goldman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I am very happy to follow up on that quite remarkable 
statement from Mr. Bensman. Let me ask you something, Mr. 
Bensman. Do you think that the more than 400 mass shootings in 
this country this year could also be avoided if we had 
universal background checks, if we did not sell weapons of war 
to civilians, if we had safe storage laws, if we had common-
sense gun legislation? Is it your view that every crime that is 
committed by an American citizen is not avoidable and, 
therefore, we should just accept it?
    I appreciate my colleague from Mississippi pointing out 
four incidents, the four articles that he cited of really 
terrible crimes that happened to be committed by people who 
were not here lawfully. But I don't see you giving us any 
headlines about the more than 400 random mass shootings that we 
have had in this country. Why are we talking about isolated 
incidents that you have to point out from 6 months ago when we 
have two mass shootings every day in this country? Why is it 
only the crime that happens to be committed by people who are 
not here somehow that you care so much about and yet all of the 
devastating crime that is committed by people who are here 
doesn't matter? Because we don't ever talk about gun violence 
in this committee.
    We bring up, as my colleague from Rhode Island did, the 
fact that 500,000 guns are reportedly exported to Mexican 
cartels. Because in Mexico, they only have one gun shop that 
takes months to actually buy a gun. So, the cartels cannot 
actually get the guns from themselves. They get them from the 
United States of America. They get the weapons of war, the 
assault weapons from American manufacturers, who then funnel 
them to the cartels, so they can control the fentanyl trade, 
they can control the border smuggling, and they can control and 
devastate communities both within their country and those 
trying to get into this country.
    So, if we are really going to talk about border security 
and we are going to talk about the crime that those who are 
coming across, let's talk about the crime. The notion that 
comparisons of crimes committed by those who are here 
unlawfully and those who are here lawfully is bogus because it 
was all avoidable is the biggest bunk I have ever heard. Crime 
is crime. We got to be preventing crime of all sorts.
    People have a right to escape persecution and gang violence 
and authoritarian governments from their own countries and come 
to this country to seek refuge in the United States of America, 
as we have been doing forever.
    I will add for my colleagues, I come from New York City, in 
the last year, there have been more than 90,000 migrants who 
have come to New York City. I am not sitting here to cast blame 
as to how they got there. I am only pointing out that they are 
here. We are proudly, proudly sheltering them, feeding them, 
vaccinating them, helping them get on their feet so that they 
can pursue the American Dream, as so many of our ancestors did.
    But do you want to know something? You talk about crime. 
There has not been a single violent arrest in New York City 
from any of those more than 90,000 people. Not one. So, you 
find me any other group of 90,000 people and no violent 
arrests, I challenge you. You can't do it. Because what they 
want is to come here and work.
    What Mr. Bier has been talking about is that those migrants 
who are coming here to work benefit our economy. You know why 
they do? Because we have a work force shortage. We have 
businesses who are desperate for labor and they can't get 
labor. These people, if they were given the opportunity to 
work, would become part of our communities, would pay taxes, 
would boost the economy, would take jobs that Americans are not 
taking. All of that would help our economy.
    But instead, we are here focusing on red herrings and 
completely tangential issues that don't get to the core of the 
problem.
    I had a lot of questions to ask and obviously I have not, 
but I look forward to a second round because I get very 
frustrated when we are up here grandstanding and we are not 
actually working to address the real problems that we are 
facing.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for your indulgence, and I yield 
back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize my colleague, Mr. Bishop, from North 
Carolina for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Sometimes I don't like the topic that has come up for a 
hearing, but today the hearing is about effects of an unsecure 
border. So, Mr. Bensman--well, let me start with you, Ms. 
Tambunga. I kind-of want to ask each of you--Mr. Bier--is it 
Bier? I think it is Bier, not Bier. I just want to get your 
name right.
    Mr. Bier. It's Bier, yes.
    Mr. Bishop. You know, encapsulated--and we had some 
interaction one other time when you testified. You were a 
Democrat witness one other hearing and I think you have got a 
famous tweet from March 2022 says my position is that the whole 
concept of legality in immigration law is a joke. I think that, 
Mr. Bensman----
    Mr. Bier. That's wildly out of context.
    Mr. Bishop. You mean read the rest of the tweet?
    Mr. Bier. Sure.
    Mr. Bishop. But my point here is that your argument to Dems 
why Biden shouldn't try to do as many pro-immigrant things as 
possible makes no sense, there is no risk that this comes back 
to bite immigrants. That is the full tweet. I still think the 
lead sentence is an interesting one. I will come back to you if 
I have got time.
    But the theme seems to be, at least for purposes of Mr. 
Pfluger's point, that we are talking about border security here 
as opposed to immigration policy, and it is hard to separate 
them a little bit, but, Mr. Bensman, you said a moment ago that 
some of the crime issues or the loss, for example, Ms. Tambunga 
has suffered, and Mr. Ramirez, your ranchers, that it shouldn't 
be because you have got a situation where it could have been 
prevented, the person shouldn't have been here in the first 
place.
    Mr. Bier's thesis is that won't work. You can't stop it, 
you can't really stop illegals coming across. What do you say 
to that?
    Mr. Bensman. Yes, you can stop illegals from coming across. 
We saw that happen with Title 42, we saw that happen with 
Remain in Mexico. There are--listen, I spend a lot of time 
south of the border interviewing thousands of immigrants. I 
have probably over the last 2 years interviewed thousands of 
them, and they are very rational smart people, they make 
decisions about whether to journey and cross the border or not 
based on our policies. They are smarter than most Americans 
because they have a self-interest on these policy questions. 
They're not coming because they're desperate. That's just a 
steady state. Wherever they are, you know, nobody wants to live 
in Haiti, but they're not going to come and actually spend the 
money on smuggling unless they know really to a high degree of 
probability that they're going to get in.
    Mr. Bishop. Mr. Ramirez, now how about that, is it futile 
to stop illegal immigration? Would there be things that could 
be done that would protect your ranches? In your opinion.
    Mr. Ramirez. In my--I really don't know. I don't know if 
that could happen. I don't know if you could--I don't know if 
you could put a structure in place because the people that are 
coming through us are avoiding the structure that's already in 
place.
    Mr. Bishop. Mr. Johnson, who was here a week or so ago--we 
had another joint hearing Mr. Higgins and I did in our 
subcommittees, and he was a rancher talking a wall that was in 
progress, it was stopped right before it got to his property. 
He thought if there was a wall there--and we have heard Border 
Patrol folks tell us--I have--over and over again that walls 
can divert people into the place where--and maybe keep them off 
people's property. Is that something you think is true?
    Mr. Ramirez. I cannot build a wall big enough around the 
property, be able to afford that, and it work.
    Mr. Bishop. No, no, not you build it, but the U.S. 
Government build it.
    Mr. Ramirez. I don't know if that's the answer. I can't 
answer your question because I--there are plenty of 
professionals out there that are dealing with this and if--and 
I would say if someone within Border Patrol or another agency 
said this is what we need to do, I would trust their opinion.
    Mr. Bishop. Yes.
    Mr. Ramirez. I'm here to discuss what we're dealing with 
because it's not controlled at the border.
    Mr. Bishop. Yes.
    Ms. Tambunga, you most of all, what do you think about 
that? I mean Mr. Bier's proposition I think is that if we--the 
problem is that we try to restrain immigration, we should just 
let it all happen, or at least a lot more of it. Now, see if I 
can get--I am not going to have time to get to him probably, 
but what do you say to that? What is your opinion?
    Ms. Tambunga. I've never once said that I'm against this at 
all. I would much--I mean it's sixth generation. My family came 
here correctly, we came here to work. They did all of the legal 
steps they needed to. I have a friend right now who's waited 7 
years to get his wife and he has to explain to his 3 kids why 
his wife can't come over here yet.
    Mr. Bishop. Yes.
    Ms. Tambunga. My problem is the problems that come with 
those that want to cause trouble. I wake up every day and I can 
tell you the silence gets louder every single day. It's not 
just for my family, but for our community.
    I'll tell you that on the day of our burial for them, we 
got informed that there was another high-speed chase only 30 
miles away from us again that had 12 illegal immigrants and 
ended in a car crash near Sonora. It's nonstop. When I say that 
this is not an if it's going to happen again problem, it's a 
when it's going to happen problem.
    So I think that we need to have adequate funding and 
adequate training for our policemen. The night of our accident 
only one Trooper was covering the entire State of I-10. That's 
unacceptable.
    Mr. Bishop. Thank you, ma'am. I am sorry for your losses.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    I recognize Mr. Thanedar for 5 minutes for questioning.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Chairman Higgins.
    I am sitting here listening to the conversation in this 
room and I understand some people wouldn't look at this as a 
humanitarian problem, I understand some people don't look at 
this as helping those who are escaping poverty or political 
persecution, and the hardship that they are coming away from, 
they are purely looking at this from a business point of view, 
purely looking at this from an American economy. American 
businesses are hurting for skilled work force and we are 
turning away so many skilled employees that it is affecting our 
productivity. Our loss of our productivity as a result is close 
to $1 trillion by some estimates. Because of this paranoia and 
anti-immigrant thinking, we are hurting our businesses, we are 
hurting health care, we are hurting work force for agriculture, 
work force for service employees. The same kind of thinking I 
experienced back in 1979 when I was 24 years old living in 
poverty in India and I wanted to come to this country to do 
better for myself and for my family. I was trying to access a 
legal pathway to come here on a student visa. The American 
embassy denied my student visa four times. At the fifth time I 
gave them the same papers they rejected my visa on and another 
counselor looked at it and approved those.
    That is how I was able to come here, get my Ph.D. in 
chemistry, work as a chemist, innovate, get patents, then 
became a serial entrepreneur, created hundreds of job across 
America. Now I have the honor to be able to represent 750,000 
Americans from my great district, to represent them and their 
interests and fight for them in the U.S. Congress.
    Now, I was lucky, I was very lucky. But many others are 
not. We have, by some estimate, 9.8 million jobs available that 
are currently not filled by Americans or by immigrants. We have 
lost over $1 trillion in productivity because of our broken 
immigration system and because of our unwillingness to fix the 
broken immigration system.
    Now, interestingly, countries like Canada and Australia are 
taking advantage of our broken immigration system. Let me give 
you a fact. Canada established last July the first immigration 
program that hinges entirely on our system by offering 10,000 
work permits to foreigners who are already in the United States 
on H-1B visas. These are highly skilled people. Many of them 
have bachelors, masters, Ph.D. degrees, advanced engineering 
degrees, that could make a huge difference to productivity, 
huge difference to American innovation, make a huge difference 
for us to compete with countries like China.
    Now, this demand that Canada is taking advantage of, their 
policy change, they were able to give--within 48 hours all of 
these 10,000 work permits that Canada offered were taken up. 
America lost 10,000 talented individuals waiting for their 
green cards in the United States. These families frustrated 
with the long green card lines, long delays, in some case 
10,000-15,000 delays.
    So this is really the real problem, my colleagues. We are 
closing our doors to talented and skilled individuals that want 
to give their talent to this country, just like I tried to 
prove that almost 40 years ago. Four times I failed, but I 
persisted and I am here.
    Unfortunately my time is up, so I will yield back, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gonzalez, is recognized for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Gonzales. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Many people talk about the Southern Border. I represent it. 
I represent--there are 1,254 miles in Texas, I represent two-
thirds of that.
    Mr. Ramirez, I have been on your ranch. I almost didn't 
recognize you without your hat. I swear you would sleep with 
that thing. Thank you for being here today. We have seen it, we 
have had the discussion first-hand.
    Ms. Tambunga, you look wonderful. It is great to see you up 
here. Mr. Tambunga, you look wonderful as well. Thank you for 
coming up here and sharing your story.
    There is not one person in my district, and honestly 
throughout Texas, that doesn't have a story in some form or 
fashion that isn't connected in some form or fashion to a 
tragic situation, whether that is the high-speed chase that 
went through Ozona, whether that is a high-speed chase that 
went through Uvalde and wrecked a car that hurt the mother of 
one of my commissioners in Val Verde County, whether that is 
Ronny Dodson, who is a sheriff out in Brewster County that 
every week finds bodies in his jurisdiction, whether it is 
ranchers in Dryden, Texas that have had their water lines cut. 
I mean there is not one person, whether it is the schools in 
Uvalde--thankfully we are in break right now, but they were 
going into lockdown three times a week. So I find it very 
frustrating to how do we get attention to this issue. Seems as 
if the Federal Government, to include Congress--Congress has an 
equal role and is equally responsible--the President of the 
United States and Congress have abandoned my district, have 
abandoned the 23rd District of Texas. How do we fix that?
    To me, all roads go back to the President of the United 
States. No matter how I skin it, no matter how you look at it, 
it is the President of the United States that is going to have 
to enforce the laws that are on the books.
    But it is Congress' job to be the power of the purse and 
give them tools to do that and update these very ancient laws 
that no longer make sense.
    But I am frustrated. What do we have to do, how many people 
have to die, how many people have to drown, how many ranchers 
have to lose their property, how many schools have to go into 
lockdown before some action takes place?
    I am very offended because a year ago I hosted the 
President of the United States in my district, in Uvalde, and I 
pulled him aside and I said, Mr. President, now isn't the time 
or the place, but I would like to sit with you and talk to you 
about the border and some solutions on how we can fix this. The 
man looked me right in the eye and he said, absolutely, Tony. A 
year later the only discussion I have had is with a staffer, 
and round and round we go. It is unacceptable. I don't know 
what it is going to take in order to get the President of the 
United States to engage on this topic. I was against impeaching 
President Trump. I view impeachment as an in case of emergency, 
break glass, but are we at that point where this is an 
emergency? No. 1.
    No. 2, is there something that Congress can do to move the 
ball forward? Even something small. Is there something 
Congress, not Republicans, not Democrats, can come together and 
do one thing in order to get this crisis under control?
    Ms. Tambunga, you brought up a piece of legislation that we 
are working on, the Emi-Coke Act, which essentially creates an 
awareness. If there is a high-speed chase coming through town, 
you get notified on your phone to basically stay the hell away, 
get away. That may save lives. Are there some immigration 
things, are there some work visa options that can get us to a 
point? How do we enforce the laws that are already on the 
books, how do we prevent bad actors from entering this country, 
but also how do we abide by the laws that we already have? I 
think that there is an opportunity there, but it is going to 
take some bold leadership and I think it is going to start in 
this committee and others like it. If we don't, round and round 
we go. We are going to find more bodies, there are going to be 
more innocent Americans hurt. It is just a very--it feels like 
we are at a dead end, but it is going to be Congress that 
solves that. That should scare the hell out of everybody. But 
if Congress doesn't solve it, how is anyone else going to solve 
it?
    So thank you for coming here today, thank you for giving 
your testimony earlier. This is an important issue that won't 
go away because of folks like you.
    Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. 
Garcia, for 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I also want 
to thank all of our witnesses that are here today. Thank you 
for your testimony.
    Certainly anyone that has been impacted personally and 
their family, or have had a loss, I just want to send my 
condolences as well. I think it is always hard to hear these 
stories.
    But I want to just focus again that we are back to another 
hearing where the House Majority continues to claim that the 
border is somehow wide open, a myth that we have disproved time 
and time again through testimony by front-line officials here 
in front of this committee. The border is not open, it never 
has been. Certainly there are challenges and investments that 
need to be made, but we are also--I think--I believe the 
administration is trying their best and we can see with the 
numbers, particular over these last few months, that actually 
border crossings have dropped.
    Now, I also want to note that Democrats, like those in the 
Majority, want a safe and secure border. We know we must crack 
down also on the smuggling of people. Ways to address this, of 
course, is also to look at asylum and legal pathways to enter 
the United States rather than relying on criminal traffickers.
    I would also want to remind the people that are watching, 
the American public, that every Member of the Republican House 
Majority, they actually voted to eliminate the shelter and 
services program, which provides the most effective Federal 
support for border communities. Border communities actually 
need more support, not less. I think we are committed to 
increasing and improving Federal support through these 
programs.
    But I want to actually focus on something. Mr. Bier, 
Republicans continue this narrative that it is apparently easy 
to immigrate to the United States, that anyone can access a 
legal pathway. So I want to turn to a chart which you actually 
submitted in your written testimony and how you actually 
describe how you can actually enter and actually go through the 
immigration process.
    Mr. Bier, this looks not simple and quite complex. Can you 
briefly explain to the committee what I am actually looking at 
here?
    Mr. Bier. Right. So this is a flow chart. You start at the 
time, you have to first get vaccinated and go through all the 
baseline requirements to immigrate. You can't be a serious 
criminal, you have to go through the security checks. That's 
all very difficult. That's even before you get to the pathways 
that are available. The refugee program, you've got 100 million 
displaced people around the world.
    Mr. Garcia. Absolutely.
    Mr. Bier. The United States took 25,000 of those. We have 
the families-based system. We have first the diversity lottery, 
that's 32 million applicants for 55,000 slots. Family-
sponsored, we got 7 million people waiting in a backlog for 
U.S. citizens and legal aliens.
    Mr. Garcia. Mr. Biers, absolutely, and I think that this 
does not describe at all what my Republican colleagues describe 
as a system that is actually easy to navigate for folks coming 
into this country. Nor, I believe, and I would ask you, does 
this actually show a welcoming and humane immigration system at 
work?
    Mr. Bier. Absolutely not.
    Mr. Garcia. Mr. Bier, do you think this is a process that 
is easy and straightforward to navigate? Because it surely 
doesn't look that way to me.
    Mr. Bier. Oh, it's incredibly difficult.
    Mr. Garcia. Are these current pathways, as we have them 
here up on this factually accurate description of how our 
immigration system works, do think this is functioning 
properly?
    Mr. Bier. Absolutely not. It's breaking down at every 
single stage.
    Mr. Garcia. I wanted to clarify, and you mentioned some of 
this, in our refugee program, for example, we admit 25,000 out 
of a global refugee population of 100 million. That is less 
than 1 percent, in fact .01 percent. In fact we would be the 
57th as far as accepting refugees in the world, as some of the 
House Majority appear to believe, but we would actually be the 
57th in the world at accepting refugees. Employer-sponsored 
green cards have a backlog of over 1.4 million and it is 
virtually impossible to obtain those without very high wage 
offers. We have a labor shortage in this country, something 
that was not being addressed. The diversity green card lottery 
offers entrance, just a .2 percent chance of receiving a green 
card. So this is a very complex system that we currently have.
    I want to just maybe turn to a simpler chart that maybe 
more folks can understand. Mr. Bier, now my colleagues on the 
other side continue to demonize and scapegoat immigrants, but 
am I correct that immigrants area actually far less likely to 
commit crimes than the native-born American population that is 
chart clearly shows?
    Mr. Bier. That's right. In fact, this data comes from the 
Census Bureau. You know, this isn't collected by the Cato 
Institute. It's backed up by a lot of other research besides 
just the measurements here, which who's incarcerated in the 
United States----
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you. I want to just be clear, we have of 
course legal immigrants here, we have undocumented immigrants, 
illegal immigrants, as it is listed at least on this chart, and 
the native-born Americans, which clearly shows that actually 
the most crime that is committed in the United States is not 
from illegal immigrants, it is not from undocumented 
immigrants, it is actually from native-born Americans.
    Now, Mr. Bier, I know that my colleagues continue spread 
propaganda about chaos at the border. Isn't is also true that 
border communities are actually safer than other communities? 
Isn't that also factually correct?
    Mr. Bier. That's right. They have a lower crime rate.
    Mr. Garcia. The FBI crime data also shows this as well, 
isn't that correct?
    Mr. Bier. That's right.
    Mr. Garcia. So thank you. I just wanted to close, I came 
the United States as a young child, immigrated here to the 
United States. I love this country. It is the best country on 
earth. I hope we are able to build a country that welcomes 
other young people like myself who can actually contribute, 
give back, become a teacher, and one day serve in Congress.
    With that, I yield back.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. 
Luttrell.
    Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Ramirez, you live on the border, correct?
    Mr. Ramirez. About 40 miles from the border, yes, sir.
    Mr. Luttrell. You said earlier in your statement that you 
and your family are in fear for your lives? You have to look 
over your shoulder when you are sitting in your back yard?
    Mr. Ramirez. We fear for the dangerous situation that we're 
in because there are many, many people present on the ranch at 
any given time and we don't know if they're friendly or not.
    Mr. Luttrell. Can you shed a light on--I will let you guys 
do the talking--can you shed a light for me on what the towns 
themselves, the infrastructure, is that being scuttled because 
of the mass immigration, illegal immigration, that is coming 
across the border? For instance, like the restaurants, the 
grocery stores, the first responders, the ability of the 
hospitals. Can you shed some light on that for us?
    Mr. Ramirez. Well, I live in the middle of nowhere, I don't 
live in town. They are going through us to get here, or another 
city in between. What's going on there, I can't speak to.
    Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Bensman, the statistics that you threw 
out in your statement, that is my district, and I share that 
district with Mr. Babin. In the past 2 years--I just got done 
talking with my Sheriff in San Jacinto County--the past 2 years 
there have been 2 shootings, 2 mass shooting with the AR 
platforms that are in discussion, both of which were with 
illegal immigrants. That is it. In San Jacinto County, I would 
venture to say, over 85 percent of the people have that type of 
weapon system in their home or in their truck. That lends 
itself to we raise our kids right.
    Can you elaborate please on what you saw in Liberty County 
as far as the school districts go again for me?
    Mr. Bensman. I'm sorry, in which county?
    Mr. Luttrell. Liberty County.
    Mr. Bensman. Liberty? Well, yes, I mean it's overcrowded, 
it's struggling with an unanticipated onslaught of people 
moving in, foreign nationals who don't speak the language. They 
tell me many of them are not legally present. The community 
there has been described as the largest community of illegal 
immigrants in the United----
    Mr. Luttrell. Seventy-five thousand----
    Mr. Bensman. Yes.
    Mr. Luttrell [continuing]. Right in my district. I feel it, 
I feel the pressure. Ten thousand children make up a school 
district. We went from 3,000 to 20,000.
    Mr. Bensman. Yes.
    Mr. Luttrell. San Jacinto, Polk, Liberty Counties are some 
of the poorest not only in the State, but in the country. It is 
unsustainable. We know that this is a problem, but the 
administration is doing nothing to course correct this issue.
    Ms. Tambunga, it is great to see you again. I am sorry this 
is our second time and I hate that it is in this chamber.
    Mr. Bier, you said that immigration is the antidote to 
crime. Can you elaborate on that for me?
    Mr. Bier. Well, it's the antidote to the recent rise in 
crime that started in 2020. We've seen that immigrant 
communities are less likely to commit crimes than other 
communities----
    Mr. Luttrell. Immigrants that come through the process 
correctly?
    Mr. Bier [continuing]. And they revitalize dying 
communities, which prevents crime.
    Mr. Luttrell. Immigrants that come through the ports of 
entry properly?
    Mr. Bier. Both.
    Mr. Luttrell. Both?
    Mr. Bier. Both.
    Mr. Luttrell. So if immigration is the antidote to crime, 
what is illegal immigrants in our country?
    Mr. Bier. What are they? They're people without legal 
status in the United States.
    Mr. Luttrell. Given the numbers that we see in the crime 
rate--are you aware of the sex trafficking number in the United 
States and what that looks like with women and children?
    Mr. Bier. The number?
    Mr. Luttrell. Yes, the number. You don't know that 
statistic?
    Mr. Bier. Not off the top of my head, no.
    Mr. Luttrell. From what I understand it is--the number of 
men, women, and children being trafficked is more than any time 
in history. Are you aware of that? Right now, here in the 
United States. Are you aware of that? Do you think that is 
coming through a secure border?
    Mr. Bier. No, it's not.
    Mr. Luttrell. I don't think so either.
    Mr. Chair, I yield back.
    Mr. Bier. I want a secure border. I want it very secure.
    Mr. Luttrell. And we do too.
    Mr. Bier. I want people to come in legally.
    Mr. Luttrell. In your opinion, do you think the border is 
secure?
    Mr. Bier. I want them to come in legally.
    Mr. Luttrell. In your opinion, do you think the border is 
secure?
    Mr. Bier. Absolutely not. I want people to come in legally 
so we can free up Border Patrol to go after people who are 
serious criminals and threats.
    Mr. Luttrell. Glad to hear you say that, sir. Thank you.
    I yield back, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    Mrs. Ramirez is recognized for 5 minutes for questioning.
    Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. Thank you, Chairman Higgins.
    As we conclude our last border subcommittee hearing before 
the August recess, it has been about 8 months, 8 months and 
every single week in subcommittee or full committee, regardless 
of the committee I am on, it is always about the border. The 
border, the border, the border. It is beyond evident that the 
Republican Majority has spent more time spreading dangerous 
misrepresentations of the reality at the border, which I agree, 
is not secure.
    It is not secure for the immigrants that are trying to 
cross and risking their lives because their circumstances in 
their small towns, like Chiquimula or Concepcion Las Minas, or 
wherever that is, it is so, so bad they are willing to risk 
their lives. It is not secure for them and it certainly isn't 
secure for all of us because we don't have a pathway. There 
isn't a pathway. I mean you just saw Congressman Garcia just 
show us the process. I am sure you got a headache. I got a 
headache because I have a lot of family who has tried to 
navigate that process and have been denied, denied, denied, 
denied, denied. This here, I am going to be honest, as a Latina 
here, as a daughter of immigrants, as the only one whose mother 
crossed the border pregnant with her, feels unsafe for me. It 
feels like dehumanizing and criminalizing of black and brown 
asylum seekers at the Southern Border.
    As a committee and as a Congress the actual work for us 
should be we want a legal pathway to immigration, so let's work 
on it in bipartisanship. When you want to do that, I am happy 
to work with you to do that. Because I don't think anyone wants 
to be sex-trafficked, I don't think anyone wants to die in the 
Rio Grande, and I certainly know that no one wants to die from 
dehydration as they are trying to cross Texas, Arizona, or 
California.
    Mr. Bensman, you told Fox News, Laura Ingraham, that the 
United States should not provide asylum to Ukrainians freeing 
Russia's brutal war because ``they are doing great for a group 
of war refugees''. You alleged in the New York Post that 
Venezuelan migrants seeking asylum in the United States are 
engaging in ``a massive fraud against the United States'' 
because among other things, they, and I quote, ``head for 
border crossings wearing the latest fashions, often sporting 
name brand labels''. You have even gone as far as to describe 
asylum, which has helped some of the most persecuted and 
vulnerable humans find shelter in American democracy as a 
failed system.
    Mr. Bensman, can you enlighten us of who, if not Ukrainians 
escaping a war of aggression, if not Venezuelans and Syrians 
escaping murderous dictators, if not Haitians escaping mass 
violence, who do you think should be allowed to seek asylum in 
the United States?
    Mr. Bensman. Regarding the Ukrainians----
    Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. No, I am asking you, who do you 
think should be allowed to seek asylum in the United States?
    Mr. Bensman. Let me just respond to that first, because 
Ukrainians had offers, standing offers from 27 of the best 
countries in the world to live for 3 years, every EU country. 
They did not need to be coming to our Southern Border. My point 
was that our Southern Border was in such terrible----
    Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. Sorry, I am reclaiming my time. I 
need to make sure that I clarify my question.
    What I want to know, who do you believe, what country, what 
group of people, what do they look like, who are the people 
that you believe should be able to seek asylum in the United 
States? That is what I want to know.
    Mr. Bensman. Well, I think a lot of people do seek asylum 
in the United States when they fly in, when they have visas, 
when they----
    Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. I am going to reclaim my time.
    Mr. Bensman. When they----
    Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. Thank you. I am going to reclaim 
my time. You are not telling me who.
    So I want you to look at this image here. I want you to all 
look at it. These are----
    Mr. Bensman. Politically persecuted----
    Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. Excuse me, sir. I reclaim my 
time. Thank you.
    So these are 56 people who just became citizens in my 
district about 2 months ago. Look at their face, look at their 
pride. Some of them, it took them 35 years to finally become a 
U.S. citizen. Many of them, 90 percent of them, had to enter 
this country undocumented because they had no choice. Yet they 
spent 30-35 years working toward immigration reform for them 
because their child turned 18 or because a family member 
sponsored them. They are proud Americans. They are not rapists, 
they are not sex mules, they are not human traffickers, they 
are everyday people, who are social workers and mentors, 
teachers. I need us as we go into August recess, to look within 
ourselves and ask ourselves, if you actually care about the 
border, let's work on creating a pathway to legal migration to 
this country.
    I am also anxious to work with all of us for immigration 
reform.
    With that, I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentlewoman yields.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Crane, 
for 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Crane. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to everybody 
who came to testify before this committee today.
    Wow. No wonder we are in this spot. If you all don't get 
it, you all just get a chance to go watch this entire hearing 
for all of you Americans out there that are wondering why we 
have this just complete invasion at our Southern Border. This 
hearing will give you a really good idea of why.
    You know, the amount of gaslighting and misdirection that I 
have heard in this chamber today could choke the average 
American with complete frustration. It is really not chaotic, 
it is really not a big problem, the numbers are down, we have 
seen the slides, we have seen the graphs and the charts of 
that. It is really our Second Amendment that is causing this 
problem, the right that we have to keep and bear arms. That is 
really the problem.
    The other problem is obviously walls are hurting people, 
walls don't work, they are archaic, people are falling off 
them, getting hurt. It is just unbelievable to me.
    You know, it is sad, Mr. Bensman, because I have been 
following you for a while and I know that is is a big issue to 
you. You have been following it for a long time, haven't you, 
sir?
    You know, I listen to my colleagues and, you know, it is 
interesting because I never hear them talk about the genesis of 
this whole thing.
    Mr. Bensman, did you hear President Biden during his 
campaign talk about--did you hear some of the quotes that he 
said about people coming to this country and basically telling 
people, hey, if you want to come here and you are fleeing 
oppression, you can come? Did you hear that?
    Mr. Bensman. From all 15 candidates for the Democratic 
primary, they were kind-of trying to outdo each other on 
policy, who could open the door the widest, who could let the 
most in. Believe me, they heard it.
    Mr. Crane. Yes, just for clarification, those quotes, 
Democratic debate on September 12 of 2019, we are a Nation who 
says if you want to flee and you are fleeing oppression, you 
should come, Democratic debate, June 27 of 2019, and those who 
come seeing asylum, we should immediately have the capacity to 
absorb them--even though we don't--keep them safe until they 
can be heard.
    Mr. Bensman, what did you think was going to happen when 
you heard the possible President of the United States saying 
those things?
    Mr. Bensman. Well, I was in Southern Mexico during some of 
those debates and I interviewed--very surprised to find many, 
many immigrants heading to the Northern Border, which was 
closed under Trump policies, to wait for the day a Democrat won 
and Trump lost. I have lots of interviews with people in 
February, March 2020, months before the election, they started 
moving just on those campaign promises.
    Mr. Crane. Mr. Ramirez, you were probably out tending to 
your cattle or showing some hunter around your ranch, but did 
you happen to hear those comments from candidate Biden at the 
time?
    Mr. Ramirez. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Crane. Did you think your life was about to get a 
little bit more difficult?
    Mr. Ramirez. I didn't know it was going to happen in the 
volume that it did.
    Mr. Crane. What do you think when you sit in this chamber 
and you hear my colleagues on the other side who don't ascribe 
any credit to those words and what a Presidential candidate was 
saying?
    Mr. Ramirez. I don't know what I'd say. What I'm here to 
say is that ranchers, people that try to feed this country, are 
being impacted in a very serious way and we are being impacted 
because we are not securing the border.
    Mr. Crane. Ms. Tambunga--did I pronounce that correctly?
    Ms. Tambunga. Yes. Tambunga.
    Mr. Crane. Tambunga. Thank you for coming here today and I 
am very sorry for your loss.
    Ms. Tambunga. Thank you.
    Mr. Crane. I did hear you say that our Government has let 
you down. Is that correct, ma'am?
    Ms. Tambunga. That's correct.
    Mr. Crane. Can you expand on that a little bit? How has 
this Government let you down?
    Ms. Tambunga. Failing to see the problem. I'm going to say 
something and I'm going to say this one thing to every person 
up there right now. I have been in this room twice now and it 
is offensive as an American citizen, as a person of the people, 
to see you up here constantly bickering, going back and forth. 
I have given you a problem. What happened to my family is a 
problem, what is happening to Mr. Ramirez is a problem. I feel 
like--now I'm a mother here without a child to scold, but here 
I am scolding you because I'm disappointed in your work, your 
lack of efforts to work together. Here is the problem we're 
presenting, fix it. Put your egos and your pride aside and fix 
it.
    Mr. Crane. Thank you.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    The gentlewoman from Georgia--I apologize, the gentlewoman 
from Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee, is recognized.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me thank the Chairman and Chairman and 
Ranking and Ranking for their leadership on a very important 
issue.
    I was delayed because I was in a number of hearings, 
including Judiciary and on the floor with Military Construction 
and in the Rules committee. But I wanted to be here because I 
think it is important to find really the root of our dissension 
and emphasize that I think we should be beyond that because I 
have every confidence that Democrats are concerned about 
America, that they have been instrumental in writing some of 
the most effective immigration reform legislation that protects 
people at the border. I am from Texas and have been to the 
border, do not live on the border, been to the border on many 
different aspects of trying to protect it, from being on the 
lines where the fences were being drawn and various 
institutions rejecting have the fence there, to the surge of 
unaccompanied children out of desperation, to parents and 
children being separated from each other. I diminish no witness 
on this panel. Every one deserves to be heard.
    But I would like to say, since this is dealing with the 
question of terrorism and as well the Border Security 
Committee, having served on both of them, I just want to 
emphasize in particular that let's deal with facts, let's deal 
with facts and the level, if you will, of terrorism that has 
come across the Southern Border. Yes, our very fine personnel 
have been able to detect those and they should be commended for 
that. That is not the normal population that comes across.
    In addition, we have found that the people who are dying--
excuse my voice--are like us, they are mothers, fathers, 
children. It seems that a country this big can find a way to 
deal with comprehensive immigration reform where there is a 
pathway for people to come so that terrorists and criminals 
cannot come.
    This era in the world is the largest migration of people 
all over the world. I believe that we have given a mountain of 
resources to Customs and Border Patrol, Customs and Border 
Protection. I believe they have done a sizable job on fentanyl, 
but it keeps coming. I think we have to do things about use, 
diction, and I also think we have to maintain a certain 
dignity. So actions by the Lone Star effort that our State has 
implemented require restraints. Taking human beings and dumping 
them in the midst of freeze in front of the Vice President's 
home I think is unacceptable.
    Mr. Ramirez and Ms.--I want to--is it Tambunga?
    Ms. Tambunga. Tambunga.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I am going to get my staff to brief me, 
because I don't want to delay it, on your circumstances. But at 
the same time, I have to put on the record that that kind of 
behavior doesn't solve the problem. The behavior of razor fence 
and buoys does not answer your concern. But it does cause, as 
not by my words, by a duly-hired trooper, water not being 
given, as well as women having miscarriages, as well as a 
little boy's leg being broken.
    So my commitment on this committee, Mr. Chairman, as I 
reach a close, is to always fight terrorism. I have been on 
this committee since the creation of it in the aftermath of 9/
11. Don't want to give a lot of history, but I was here in this 
Capitol when that heinous act occurred. I have no qualms about 
fighting terrorism. At the same time, I have been at every 
cutting-edge reform bill that we have tried to pass to give you 
relief and to also separate out, as they say, the weeds from 
the flowers.
    We don't need to coddle criminals, we don't need to in 
essence block businesses, we don't need to have blockades by 
our State government either and backing up just about a year 
ago. What we need is a concrete look to how we take out from 
the country those who will do us harm, terrorist and others who 
may have come to perpetrate crimes, and certainly that includes 
the cartels, but I don't think we get anywhere by suggesting 
that every door must be closed to people who are fleeing and 
who represent what we have seen over the years of people 
fleeing persecution, prosecution to come to this country and 
ultimately having children that will contribute great things to 
this Nation.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the indulgence that you have 
given me. I won't ask any questions because I know we are at 
the end and I will be happy to yield back.
    Thank you so very much.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentlewoman yields.
    The gentlewoman from Georgia, Ms. Greene, is recognized for 
5 minutes.
    Ms. Greene. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
    I would like to take just a minute to point out that our 
colleague on our committee talked about how there needs to be a 
pathway for citizenship while also showing a picture of all the 
people that just became citizens in her district. Clearly, 
there is a legal path for citizenship, and there has been for a 
very long time, in the United States of America. The problem is 
that our policies and our laws are being completely abused. In 
the current administration we have a policy of open borders 
that is causing unbelievable crime. Over 300 Americans killed 
every single day, as well as American citizens because of 
illegal crimes.
    Ms. Tambunga, I want to acknowledge what you said. You said 
something very powerful. You are tired of the bickering and you 
want us to fix it. I want to acknowledge your words. As one 
mother to another, I completely agree with you. I also want to 
express my deepest sympathies for your loss. What was your 
daughter's name?
    Ms. Tambunga. Emilia Brooke.
    Ms. Greene. Emilia. And she was 7 years old?
    Ms. Tambunga. She's 7 years old.
    Ms. Greene. Seven years old. You lost your mother as well 
in this accident. My understanding from your testimony is that 
your mother and your beautiful little angel were killed in a 
human trafficking--basically illegal operation.
    Ms. Tambunga. Correct.
    Ms. Greene. Is that correct? I am very sorry. Do you 
believe that your mother and your daughter would be alive today 
if we had secure borders?
    Ms. Tambunga. I do believe that. Let me note that this 
could happen to anyone and this literally happened when they 
were 2 minutes away from home. One stop light away from my 
house.
    To go on, Ms. Lee, you said we'll speak about facts. The 
fact is that my daughter and my mother are 6 feet under. The 
fact is that when I want to sing my daughter her special 
bedtime song, I have to go to the cemetery. The fact is that a 
few years ago two doors down from my dad's house, two Honduran 
immigrants shot, executed, a Ozona citizen in his own home. 
That's a fact. That's a fact I urge you to look into as well, 
because this isn't just one incident, this is multiple 
incidents over a long period of time now.
    Another fact is that only one trooper was able to get to 
us, one trooper working a whole stretch of I10. People from 
Eastland, policemen from Eastland are supposed to be helping. 
Eastland is hours away. The fact is, we don't have adequate 
training and we don't have adequate funding for our policemen 
either.
    Those are the facts that I'd like you to focus on.
    Ms. Greene. Thank you, Ms. Tambunga. You are right, we 
should focus on those facts.
    Are you a U.S. taxpayer, correct?
    Ms. Tambunga. I sure am, since I was 16 years old.
    Ms. Greene. So your hard-earned tax dollars, that you have 
worked for your entire life and paid to the Federal Government, 
do you feel that your tax dollars, as well as American citizen 
tax dollars, should go for the safety, protection, and defense 
of not only our U.S. border, but your family, your mother and 
your daughter, they have should protect them as well? Is that 
correct?
    Ms. Tambunga. Absolutely. To add to the fact, speaking for 
my father, he served 13 years on the Marine Corps and this is 
how he's repaid. Think of that too.
    Ms. Greene. I thank your father. We thank you father for 
his service to our country.
    So your father defended the United States of America's 
national security interest and now your mother and your 7-year-
old daughter, as you stated, are 6 feet under.
    Ms. Tambunga. Right.
    Ms. Greene. Because of the failures of the Federal 
Government in protecting your family, protecting your father's 
family. I am so sorry. That is an unspeakable failure. This is 
something that you should never have endured. You shouldn't 
suffer this every single day, as I am sure you do. This isn't 
anything your father should suffer every single day. It is a 
failure of the Federal Government, it is a failure of the 
administration. It shouldn't matter what political party it is, 
the job of the Federal Government is to use your hard-earned 
tax dollars, as you say that you have been earning and paying 
since you were 16, should be completely for the defense of our 
Nation and the protection of its citizens.
    Ms. Tambunga. Yes.
    Ms. Greene. Thank you, Ms. Tambunga. I appreciate you being 
here today. Thank you for your time. Again, I am very sorry for 
your tragic loss.
    I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentlewoman yields.
    The gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Brecheen, is recognized.
    Mr. Breechen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Just last week at the Aspen Security Forum the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, Mayorkas, referred to the inflow of illegal 
immigrants into our country, he referred to them as non-
citizens. If you think about that, it really says a lot as to 
where this administration is. You know, to think what would 
happen if he was more concerned with solving this problem than 
being politically correct.
    Mr. Ramirez, you are a representative of 26,000 different 
cattlemen, cattle producers----
    Mr. Ramirez. That is correct.
    Mr. Breechen [continuing]. In Texas. I know Representative 
Pfluger, myself, others on this panel, grew up ranching. How 
has this impacted your ability for your family to feel safe and 
secure on your place, on your property?
    Mr. Ramirez. Well, we live with a constant presence on the 
ranch. It is constant. The ranch that we live on now is about 
20 miles from north to south and on any given day you could 
travel around the ranch and any road going from west to east 
has tracks on it, every day. Trash everywhere, litter 
everywhere. We just never know who's coming through that's 
friendly or not. So it is a constant danger that we feel.
    You know, my daughters--I have two daughters, 8 and 10 
years old, and they live on one of the most beautiful ranches 
in Texas and they should be able to, as I did when I grew up, 
go down to the barn and feed their horses alone, you know, 
doing some of these things that instills trustworthiness and 
work ethic in our children, and the environment that we live in 
does not lend itself because of the safety factor to allow them 
to do these things on their own.
    Mr. Breechen. Yes. We have hundreds of those on the 
terrorist watch list that have been apprehended at the border 
in the last couple of years, it kind-of sends a signal, is my 
daughter safe patrolling the ranch on her own?
    Mr. Bensman, you have been speaking extensively about your 
time, seeing from both sides of the border. A unique 
opportunity to kind-of look at that. I want you have an 
opportunity to just kind-of talk about just the things that you 
have seen that are just astounding to you that maybe you have 
not a chance thus far in this hearing to talk about. Whether it 
is the cartel, the enrichment of the cartel, whether it is the 
human trafficking element.
    Mr. Bensman. Honestly, in all the years that I've been 
covering the border or spent my time down there on both sides, 
I just have never seen the volumes, the numbers, just the 
thousands and thousand of people just pouring over like a D-Day 
invasion, landing five boats at a time, and then they turn back 
and they get more and they're just--that I think is what 
stunned me. Honestly, you know, when I talk to Border Patrol 
guys and women down there who are working it too for years and 
years, none of them had ever seen anything like it too. It's 
not propaganda, it's videotaped.
    Also I would point out that on the issue of asylum, you 
know, I've interviewed--you have to be politically persecuted 
to claim asylum on one of five grounds. I won't get into all of 
that, but I have grocery bags of abandoned ID cards, abandoned 
in Mexico, and passports because those ruin your credible fear 
interview. If you have those, they tell our guys where you've 
been for the last 5 or 10 years, not in the country you are 
saying you're from. There is mass fraud in the asylum system. 
All of the immigrants that I interview, I would say almost all 
of them say they're coming to work. That is not a ground for 
asylum.
    Mr. Breechen. You know, it was mentioned earlier in this 
committee, a Member said look, if you look at the 90,000 people 
that have come into New York, their attest was that you won't 
find any violent crime. It is interesting enough you can just 
Google it quickly, you can find that two New York City men who 
attempted to intervene when migrants outside a shelter starting 
throwing objects at people on a sidewalk in Harlem, the New 
York City Police Department said the officers responded to 
reports of an assault. Central Park, Madison Avenue, just, you 
know, contradicting this narrative that we are talking about 
bringing people in that are--you know, you would think that if 
you are breaking the law to get here and you have got 200 
people on the terrorist watch list, and it is not just people 
coming directly from Mexico, almost representative of almost 
all nations, we might have some bad actors.
    So just one last question here. Mr. Bensman, what national 
security interest do you fear? What keeps you up at night, 
given what you have seen?
    Mr. Bensman. You know, I look at this as a massive stranger 
danger issue. The majority of people that are crossing that 
border, whether they're runners and gotaways or just giving up, 
we have no idea who they really are. We don't know whether 
they're war criminals. I've met probably immigrants from every 
single country on the continent of Africa, interviewed them. I 
can't think of one that I haven't met. I met my first 
Dagestanis about a month ago down there, my first--my hotel in 
Matamoros was filled with Kyrgyzstanis. They're coming from the 
entire planet and we don't have the ability to ask for an intel 
share or a criminal database check from like any of these 
places.
    Somebody said, well, you know, everybody's vetted, yes, 
we've done checks--I'm hearing snapping. But point being that 
the vast majority of people that I see crossing in, giving up, 
and running, are complete strangers to us. We have no idea what 
they did in their home country.
    Mr. Higgins. The gentleman yields.
    The Ranking Member has----
    Mr. Correa. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask unanimous 
consent to insert into the record articles from Undocumented 
Migration Project and Colibri and from Human Rights Watch that 
detail migrant deaths at the border.
    Mr. Higgins. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]

                  Statement of UMP & Colibri
    The Undocumented Migration Project and Colibri is a 501(c)3 
organization located in Tucson, Arizona with the mission to promote 
healing and change by working with families of disappeared migrants to 
identify and honor those who have lost their lives on the U.S.-Mexico 
border.
    Since 2010, Colibri has identified 340 migrants who have lost their 
lives on the US-Mexico border, collected 1,890 Family reference 
samples, and has 3,798 missing persons reports taken to date. There are 
currently 1,334 UBC (unidentified border crossers) at the Pima County 
Office of the Medical Examiner.
    UMP and Colibri bear witness to this unjust loss of life, 
accompanying families in their search and holding space for families to 
build community, share stories, and raise awareness about the 
consequences of border militarization. Through the Missing Migrant 
Project and DNA Program, Colibri works with medical examiners to 
compare information families provide about the missing as well as DNA 
samples with unidentified remains recovered along the border in the 
hopes of giving families the answers they so deserve.
    Beyond forensic justice work, Colibri and impacted families build 
community and advocate for change through the Family Network, a network 
of mutual support and solidarity among families and friends of missing 
migrants across the Americas. The Family Network includes the oral 
history project Historias y Recuerdos offered to families to share 
their testimony of living through the grief of having a missing person, 
and as a way of honoring their loved one through storytelling.
    Colibri and families of the disappeared--along with medical 
examiners and other human rights organizations--refuse to let these 
lives be forgotten. Overcoming enormous challenges to identify the 
dead, together we search for answers, demand justice, and reunite 
families with their loved ones--important, unique, and irreplaceable 
human beings. Here is one of these testimonies honoring the life of 
Rosita told by her family.
    ``How is it possible that I have come to see her for the last time, 
and she is nothing but bones, when I have waited for her with so much 
love?'' Rosa asked when the body of her niece, Rosita, was finally 
found.
    Rosita was like a daughter to Rosa. They shared a name: Rosita is 
Rosa in its diminutive form.
    The 19-year-old grew up in Tabasco, a state in the south of Mexico, 
in a little coastal town a couple of hours outside Villahermosa, the 
state's capitol. She came from a large family that loved her very 
much--she was her mother's most precious treasure, her aunts Rosa and 
Lili said.
    But in their little town, where her father worked as a fisherman 
and her mother sold tamales and tortillas in the street, there are not 
many opportunities for young people. The year before she left--the year 
the pandemic started--Rosita had been working in Cancun. After a bad 
breakup that left her heartbroken, she came home to live with her 
parents. Her family wanted her to finish high school; she only had one 
semester left.
    But Rosita soon saw how sick her parents had become.
    ``Mama, I'm going to help you because you're sick,'' Rosita said. 
``I'm going to stay here with you and help you with your work.''
    Her parents both suffered from chronic illnesses.
    Rosita wanted to join her aunts Rosa and Lili in the United States 
to work and send money to her parents to cover their medical expenses 
and to save their lives. Her aunts are both legal permanent residents.
    In April 2021, Rosita decided to come, along with a neighbor and a 
cousin of hers who was going to live with her boyfriend in the United 
States and who didn't want to make the journey alone. They agreed to 
pay a coyote $7,500 USD to guide them.
    ``I would like people to know that if Rosita risked her life, it 
was for her parents,'' Lili said. ``To help them get well.''
    On June 11, 2021, Rosita crossed the border in South Texas with a 
group of people, including a cousin. When the group arrived in Odessa, 
Texas, on June 14, Rosita was not with them.
    ``It's just that she couldn't stand walking anymore and so she 
stayed,'' Rosita's cousin said. ``She said that she was going to turn 
herself in to immigration.''
    The aunts started calling Border Patrol all the time, providing the 
approximate location for where their niece was last seen and asking if 
they would go to find her. When Border Patrol answered, they would say 
that they would look later or that they had already looked.
    Dozens of calls and visits to the Mexican consulate would also 
prove fruitless. It would take a local sheriff going above and beyond 
to track down her remains.
    ``Here in Texas, no one is going to help, ma'am,'' Rosa remembers 
Culberson County Sheriff Oscar Carrillo said. ``The authorities, that 
Border Patrol told you they were going to look for her, that is a lie. 
They don't do it. That body, just look, that body was found because a 
rancher alerted us that the body was there. When did they go to pick it 
up? Not until they got around to feeling like it.''
    It's not the first time Sheriff Carrillo has found himself fact-
checking Border Patrol. When two agents fell into a culvert, killing 
one and injuring another, Carrillo was one of the first law enforcement 
officials on the scene. He saw their injuries were consistent with a 
fall--all on one side of the body and not all over, as one would see in 
an assault--but the politically powerful Border Patrol union claimed 
the agents had been attacked by a group of migrants. That false 
narrative was then echoed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and former 
President Trump, who the union had endorsed. An FBI investigation later 
confirmed Carrillo's statements.
    Lili and Rosa believe that had Border Patrol looked, agents may 
have found their niece alive.
    While Sheriff Carrillo searched, so did the aunts, twice traveling 
10 hours to Odessa, Texas, based on false reports that their niece had 
been spotted, only to come back bitterly empty-handed. They called or 
visited the Mexican consulate every day. They posted on Facebook and 
other social media. And they tried to call various other overstretched 
organizations performing search and rescue at the border.
    Various people tried to take advantage of their situation, on 8 
separate occasions claiming they had kidnapped Rosita and demanding a 
ransom. They would send doctored photographs using Rosita's face from 
the missing person posts on Facebook.
    Sheriff Carrillo spoke to the aunts, as well as to the neighbor who 
had traveled with Rosita to find the exact location where she'd stayed 
behind. He confirmed the location by sending photos to the neighbor.
    But it seemed that Rosita's body had already been picked up by 
another sheriff of nearby Jeff County after a rancher called to say 
he'd found human remains on his property.
    The Jeff County sheriff sent photos of Rosita's possessions to try 
to confirm her identity.
    ``What was your niece like?'' Sheriff Carrillo asked.
    ``[She was] just plump. Her hair was long, curly. She had a mole on 
her nose,'' Rosa said. ``She had a chain necklace with the Virgin of 
Guadalupe.''
    ``OK,'' he said, ``I'll confirm.''
    ``He communicated with me daily,'' Rosa said. ``Even if I didn't 
talk to him, he talked to me. That sheriff was an angel looking for 
Rosita.''
    The sheriff discovered that Jeff County officials had indeed picked 
up Rosita's remains, but that they'd taken them to Operation ID at 
Texas State University since they had no room in their own freezers.
    The family would have to perform a DNA test, which meant the aunts 
would have to tell their sister, Rosita's mother. Up to that point, 
they had tried to protect her from the knowledge of her daughter's 
death until they were sure. They asked if the DNA could come from them 
instead, but they were told the sample needed to come from a parent.
    ``There can be no doubt, Rosi,'' the Sheriff Carrillo said. ``She's 
your niece.''
    Rosa coordinated with the Colibri Center for Human Rights to travel 
to Tabasco with a test kit to collect DNA from her sister, Rosita's 
mother. Their DNA was a match.
    Lili and Rosa went to San Marcos, Texas, to see Rosita's remains.
    The coroner welcomed them warmly and explained that they had done 
everything in their power to respect and care for the remains of their 
niece. Then they were allowed in to see her. She gave the aunts all the 
belongings that Rosita had with her when her body was discovered.
    ``The only thing I can tell you is that my niece is fine,'' Lili 
said. ``Wherever God has her, she is good. Because even though she has 
experienced something very difficult, when I entered there I felt that 
peace, that tranquility that she could transmit to me: `I am fine where 
I am.' ''
    After what felt to them like a drawn-out process with the Mexican 
consulate, Rosita's remains were cremated, and her aunts traveled to 
Tabasco to deliver the ashes to Rosita's mother and father.
    ``We should be thankful,'' the coroner said, ``There are people 
with bodies that have been here for up to 20 years without anyone to 
claim them. I am really happy you did everything to find your niece.''
    ``I would have liked to find her sooner,'' Rosa said.
    Now, all the family have are memories, photos, and an altar in the 
house where Rosita grew up. They think about her when they eat her 
favorite dish: Horneado Tabasqueno, a saucy baked chicken dish made 
with spices like anis, cumin, and cinnamon, as well as chiles, onions, 
potatoes, orange juice, and cola, and accompanied by rice.
    Her little brother pours her a cup of Coca-cola at mealtime and 
leaves it at the altar, along with her favorite bread. They remember 
her sweet and ever-present smile.
                                 ______
                                 
  Statement of Ari Sawyer, U.S. Border Researcher, Human Rights Watch
                             July 26, 2023
    Dear Chairs, Ranking Members, and distinguished Members of the 
subcommittees, thank you for convening this joint hearing on an 
extremely consequential matter that, if effectively addressed, will 
have a major impact on the lives of citizens and non-citizens alike 
living in U.S.-Mexico border communities.
                   the true cost of border deterrence
    Human Rights Watch would like to first express our condolences to 
the Tambunga family for their loss. The U.S. Government should do 
everything possible to prevent unnecessary and tragic deaths.
    In fact, communities at the border and throughout the United States 
have been witness to an alarming increase in deaths and abuses, and we 
hope that we can find common ground to prevent them from continuing.
    Harsh border deterrence policies--the criminalization of migration, 
closing off of legal pathways, attacks on the U.S. asylum system, and 
violent policies and infrastructure--have driven the smuggling market. 
Over the last 30 years, these deterrence policies have been behind the 
true cost to both people in the United States and families all over the 
Americas: thousands of dead and thousands more disappeared, countless 
injuries, kidnappings, extortion, rape, other violence, and many 
thousands of families who have been ripped apart forever.
    A policy called ``Prevention through Deterrence,'' officially 
implemented by the administration of former President Bill Clinton in 
1994, explicitly sought to deter irregular border crossing by 
``disrupt[ing] . . . traditional entry and smuggling routes'' so 
migrants would be ``forced over'' more ``hostile terrain'' far away 
from populated areas where those at risk of death by exposure to harsh 
elements might be able to seek help.\1\ Immediately, the number of 
border deaths nearly tripled. Prevention through Deterrence has 
contributed to at least 10,000 deaths at the border over the last 3 
decades, a number that is certainly an undercount, since Border Patrol 
systematically fails to properly count deaths and since human remains 
in remote areas along the border are rapidly scavenged and scattered by 
the elements and wildlife.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Border Patrol Strategic Plan 1994 and Beyond, U.S. Border 
Patrol, July 1994, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5987025-
Border-Patrol-Strategic-Plan-1994-and-Beyond.html (accessed July 24, 
2023).
    \2\ U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector 
General, CBP Should Improve Data Collection, Reporting, and Evaluation 
for the Missing Migrant Program, April 20, 2022.; Devereaux, Ryan, 
``The Border Patrol is Systematically Failing to Count Migrant 
Deaths,'' The Intercept, May 9, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/05/
09/border-patrol-migrant-deaths-gao/ (accessed July 24, 2023).; Beck, 
Jess, et al., Animal Scavenging and Scattering and the Implications for 
Documenting the Deaths of Undocumented Border Crossers in the Sonoran 
Desert, Journal of Forensic Sciences, January 2015, Vol. 60, No. S1, 
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/110576/
jfo12597.pdf;jsessionid=- F6B140323DAA2118103C04B1DEE3CC7B?sequence=1 
(accessed July 24, 2023).
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    Since 2010, more than 3,700 people have been reported missing to 
the Colibri Center for Human Rights alone.\3\ Their families, often 
United States-based, never stop searching for them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Email correspondence with the Colibri Center for Human Rights, 
June 29, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The cost of so many lives lost to U.S. families and communities, as 
well as to people across this continent and others, is incalculable.
    Under the Biden administration, deaths at the border have 
skyrocketed. More than 850 people died while crossing the border last 
fiscal year, often while trying to seek safety, reunite with family or 
return to their home in the United States, support family, or improve 
their quality of life.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ Human Rights Watch, US: Biden `Asylum Ban' Endangers Lives at 
the Border, press release, May 11, 2023, https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/
05/11/us-biden-asylum-ban-endangers-lives-border.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    People suffer serious injuries climbing over the border wall, 
including amputated limbs, broken bones, and even death.\5\ In 2019, 
the United States began replacing vehicle barriers and 18-foot sections 
of wall with 30-foot walls, which have been more deadly.\6\ In fiscal 
year 2021, under the administration of President Joe Biden, Border 
deterrence deaths included at least 17 falls from the border wall, 8 of 
which occurred near San Diego alone.\7\ From 2016-2021, the trauma 
center at U.S. San Diego ``experienced significant increases in the 
number and severity of patients with border wall fall injuries starting 
in 2019, as new wall construction concluded,'' even when controlling 
for the uptick in migration.\8\ Meanwhile, like other border deterrence 
policies, the barriers have had no meaningful impact on the number of 
irregular migrants present in the United States.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Amy E. Liepert, et al., ``Association of 30-ft US-Mexico Border 
Wall in San Diego With Increased Migrant Deaths, Trauma Center 
Admissions, and Injury Severity,'' JAMA Surgery, 2022, pp.157(7):633-
635, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2791900 
(accessed July 24, 2023).
    \6\ Tamara Richter, ``Report Finds Increase in Deaths, 
Hospitalizations After 30-Foot Wall Installed at US-Mexico Border,'' 
KCRA4, May 26, 2022, https://www.kcra.com/article/report-increase-
deaths-wall-us-mexico-border/40039281 (accessed July 24, 2023).
    \7\ Office of Professional Responsibility, CBP-Related Deaths: 
Fiscal Year 2021, February 6, 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/
files/assets/documents/2023-Feb/2021-opr-cbp-related-deaths-report.pdf 
(accessed July 24, 2023).
    \8\ Amy E. Liepert, et al., ``Association of 30-ft US-Mexico Border 
Wall in San Diego With Increased Migrant Deaths, Trauma Center 
Admissions, and Injury Severity,'' JAMA Surgery, 2022, pp.157(7):633-
635, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2791900 
(accessed July 24, 2023).
    \9\ Migration Policy Institute, Profile of the Unauthorized 
Population: United States, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/
unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/US, (accessed July 24, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite knowing that migrants routinely face targeted kidnapping, 
extortion, rape, and other violence, the U.S. Government has 
implemented policies of return to Mexico of Mexicans and non-Mexicans 
alike that rely on illegal turnbacks, expulsions, removals, and returns 
via several anti-asylum policies, including Title 42 summary 
expulsions, ``Remain in Mexico,'' rapid asylum processing in abusive 
border jails, and metering, which is now effectively done 
electronically via the government application CBP One.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Ari Sawyer, Restoring Access to Asylum at the Border, Human 
Rights Watch, dispatch, March 30, 2022, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/
03/30/restoring-access-asylum-us-border; Human Rights Watch, `Remain in 
Mexico,' https://www.hrw.org/tag/remain-
mexico#:?:text=%E2%80%9CRemain%20in%20Mexico%E2%80%9D%20'sends%20asylum,
asylum- %20in%20the%20United%20States.; Michael Garcia Bochenek, ``Like 
I'm Drowning'' Children and Families Sent to Harm by the US `Remain in 
Mexico' Program, Human Rights Watch, report, January 6, 2021, https://
www.hrw.org/report/2021/01/06/im-drowning/children-and-families-sent-
harm-us-remain-mexico-program; Human Rights Watch, US: Mexican Asylum 
Seekers Ordered to Wait, press release, December 23, 2019, https://
www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/23/us-mexican-asylum-seekers-ordered-wait; 
Human Rights Watch, US: Biden `Asylum Ban' Endangers Lives at the 
Border, press release, May 11, 2023, https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/
11/us-biden-asylum-ban-endangers-lives-border.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Stranded in Mexico, targeted abuse of migrants is carried out by 
organized criminal operatives and Mexican state actors based on the 
knowledge that the vast majority of refugees arriving at the U.S.-
Mexico border have family in the United States who can be ransomed for 
their family members' life or freedom.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\ Estados Unidos Mexicanos Secretaria de Gobernacion, Instituto 
Nacional de Migracion, MPP Program--Chihuahua, June 18, 2019, and MPP 
Program--Tijuana and Mexicali, June 13, 2019, (copies on file with 
Human Rights Watch).; Maria Verza, ``In Nuevo Laredo and elsewhere, 
many migrants are stuck in Tamaulipas' lawless limbo,'' Associated 
Press, November 18, 2019, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2019/
11/17/Nuevo-Laredo-Mexico-migrants-border-US/stories/201911170222 
(accessed July 24, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Deterrence policies also carry a cost for Customs and Border 
Protection officials. The moral injury agents incur as the result of 
being compelled by both Democrat and Republican administrations to 
carry out violent and abusive deterrence policies contributes to Border 
Patrol's high rate of suicide, several agents have told me.
    With funding from the U.S. Federal Government, the State of Texas 
has doubled down on border deterrence tactics. Under Texas Governor 
Greg Abbott's deadly Operation Lone Star, migrants and asylum seekers, 
including children, have been pushed back by Texas officials, denied 
water and stranded in sweltering heat, and wounded by razor wire 
installed by Texas State authorities. Human Rights Watch has 
extensively documented the impact of Operation Lone Star, finding that 
the program has led to injuries and deaths, increased racial profiling 
of border residents, consistently violated the rights of migrants and 
U.S. citizens, and suppressed freedoms of association and expression. 
Under the program, Texas agencies that receive Federal funding have 
been engaged in violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 
which bars discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national 
origin in programs that receive Federal funding.\12\ These violations 
have occurred in the process of arresting and prosecuting migrants and 
U.S. citizens alike.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ ACLU of Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Texas Fair 
Defense Project. ``Texas Migrant Arrest Program under `Operation Lone 
Star'--Urgent Need for Investigation into Race and National Origin 
Discrimination by Texas Agencies.'' American Civil Liberties Union of 
Texas, December 15, 2021. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://
www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/
ols_trespass_arrest_title_vi_complaint.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Human Rights Watch and other rights organizations have documented 
how, under Operation Lone Star, Texas troopers have racially profiled 
and killed dozens of people in deadly high-speed chases that 
authorities improperly conduct in populated areas, despite the mountain 
of evidence and awareness by the U.S. Government that such pursuits 
lead to ``high risk of loss of life, serious personal injury, and 
serious property damage.''\13\ As of July 2023, a Human Rights Watch 
review of media reports suggests that at least 61 people have been 
killed and another 164 injured as the result of dangerous pursuits by 
Texas troopers since the program started. Some of them, like the 
Tambunga family, were innocent bystanders.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Operation Lone Star: Racial Profiling in Texas Department of 
Public Safety (DPS) Traffic Stops and High Death Toll from DPS Vehicle 
Pursuits, Title VI complaint, July 28, 2022, https://
static.texastribune.org/media/files/eb613c7907c0e7385ac02da70fbc4e07/
OLS%20- Traffic%20Stops%20Title%20VI%20Complaint.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There is indeed a real cost to people living in the United States 
at the U.S. Southwest Border, but it is the result of abusive and 
deadly deterrence policies by several Presidential administrations, and 
now State Governors, accompanied by Congress' failure to create safe 
and legal pathways to immigrate or to seek protection or to develop 
humane border reception policies.
    Human Rights Watch respectfully urges Congress to reassess its 
approach to the border and implement reforms that prioritize all life, 
human rights, and dignity of border communities and its visitors.
    Human Rights Watch also urges Congress to end its support of 
Operation Lone Star as the only tangible outcome of this program has 
been more deaths and injuries of Texans from law enforcement vehicle 
pursuits and deaths of migrants, including children, who have been 
pushed back to Mexico with razor wire and buoys.
    Finally, we urge Congress to consider investing resources at ports 
of entry to create rights-respecting reception centers properly staffed 
by health professionals, trauma specialists, and asylum officers. At a 
fraction of the billions of taxpayer dollars the U.S. and State 
governments have spent on militarizing the border, these centers could 
be established more cost-effectively and, ultimately contribute to the 
preservation of life.

    Mr. Higgins. I also have a letter to enter into the record 
regarding the case of Mr. Torben Sondergaard, who is a legal 
immigrant from Denmark, came to our country legally, applied 
for asylum properly, had no criminal charges. He was arrested 
for overstay of his visa. He has been incarcerated in solitary 
confinement for over 1 year. He has been persecuted by this 
administration and targeted, we believe, because he is an 
evangelical Christian minister.
    I would like to enter this into the record.
    Without objection.
    [The information follows:]

                   Letter From Chairman Clay Higgins
                                      July 7, 2023.
Zephranie Buetow,
Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Office of Legislative 
        Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, 2702 Martin Luther 
        King Jr Ave SE, Mail Stop 0021, Washington, DC 20528.
    Assistant Secretary Buetow, I am seeking clarification of the 
procedures being utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS) to arrest and detain migrants who have overstayed their visas, 
particularly in the arrest and detention of Torben Soendergaard.
    Mr. Torben Soendergaard arrived in the United States on January 26, 
2019, and received authorization to stay for 90 days under the visa 
waiver program. Before his visa lapsed, Mr. Soendergaard submitted his 
application for asylum on April 19, 2019. DHS accepted the application 
and sent him an I-797 Notice of Action on April 22, 2019. On June 9, 
2022, Mr. Soendergaard received a G-56 form instructing him to appear 
in Orlando, Florida, at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
(ICE) Field Office for processing. He traveled from California 
willingly and presented himself at the Orlando ICE Field Office on June 
30, 2022. During this meeting, instead of the standard procedure of 
processing his asylum claim, Mr. Soendergaard was arrested for 
overstaying his visa. Mr. Soendergaard is a nonviolent immigrant and 
poses no risk to national security. With this in mind, I request an 
update on the following:
    1. What is the status of Mr. Soendergaard's asylum application?
    2. What is the status of Mr. Soendergaard's removal?
    3. What guidelines and procedures are DHS currently operating under 
        for the arrest and detention of nonviolent individuals who have 
        overstayed their visas?
    4. What is the status of the memo issued by Secretary Mayorkas 
        titled ``Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration 
        Law,'' published on September 30, 2021?
    5. What is the status of the appeal made on DHS's behalf by the 
        Department of Justice regarding the vacate order issued by the 
        U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on June 
        10, 2022?
    6. What is the average processing time within the Immigration Court 
        System for individuals who overstayed their visas to be 
        deported?
    7. What is the standard operating procedure for DHS regarding 
        individuals who have applied for asylum but whose visa has 
        expired?
    Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to 
hearing from you soon and working together on this matter.
            Respectfully,
                                              Clay Higgins,
                                                Member of Congress.

    Mr. Correa. If I may, Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to submit 
another article.
    Mr. Higgins. The Ranking Member is recognized.
    Mr. Correa. ``China's Fading Recovery Reveals Deeper 
Economic Struggles.''
    Mr. Higgins. Without objection, letters are entered into 
the historical record.
    [The information follows:]

           Article Submitted by Ranking Member J. Luis Correa
       china's fading recovery reveals deeper economic struggles
Ballooning debt, tepid consumption and worsening relations with the 
        West to weigh on growth, economists say
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-fading-recovery-reveals-deeper-
        economic-struggles-31f4097b
            By Stella Yifan Xie and Jason Douglas
    China's era of rapid growth is over. Its recovery from zero-Covid 
is stalling. And now the country is facing deep, structural problems in 
its economy.
    The outlook was better just a few months ago, after Beijing lifted 
its draconian Covid-19 controls, setting off a flurry of spending as 
people ate out and splurged on travel.
    But as the sugar high of the reopening wears off, underlying 
problems in China's economy that have been building for years are 
reasserting themselves.
    The property boom and government overinvestment that fueled growth 
for more than a decade have ended. Enormous debts are crippling 
households and local governments. Some families, worried about the 
future, are hoarding cash.
    Economists say these worsening structural problems are hobbling 
China's chances of extending the growth miracle that transformed it 
into a rival to the U.S. for global power and influence.
    Instead of expanding at 6 percent to 8 percent a year as was common 
in the past, China might soon be heading toward growth of 2 percent or 
3 percent, some economists say. An aging population and shrinking 
workforce compound its difficulties.
    China could drive less global growth this year and beyond than many 
business leaders expected, making the country less important for some 
foreign companies, and less likely to significantly surpass the U.S. as 
the world's biggest economy.
    ``The disappointing recovery today really suggests that some of the 
structural drags are already in play,'' said Frederic Neumann, chief 
Asia economist at HSBC.
    China's economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.5 percent in the 
first quarter, boosted by the end of Covid-era restrictions.
    Yet more recent signals suggest the revival is ebbing. Retail sales 
rose 0.5 percent in April compared with March. A bundle of data on 
factory output; exports and investment came in much weaker than 
economists were expecting.
    More than a fifth of Chinese youths aged 16 to 24 were unemployed 
in April. E-commerce companies Alibaba and JD.com reported lackluster 
first-quarter earnings. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, dominated by 
Chinese companies, is down 5.2 percent year to date, and the yuan has 
weakened against the U.S. dollar.
    Most economists don't expect China's problems to lead to recession, 
or derail the government's growth target of around 5 percent this year, 
which is widely seen as easily achievable given how weak the economy 
was last year.
    McDonald's and Starbucks have said they are opening hundreds of new 
restaurants in China, while retailers including Ralph Lauren are 
launching new stores.
    A boom in electric-vehicle production allowed China to surpass 
Japan as the world's largest exporter of vehicles in the first quarter. 
Beijing's industrial policies and China's manufacturing prowess mean it 
is still finding ways to succeed in soome major industries.
    ``We still have confidence in the long-term growth story of 
China,'' said Phillip Wool, head of research at Rayliant Global 
Advisors, an asset manager with $17 billion under management. He said 
the country's transition to one that relies more on domestic 
consumption instead of exports will help keep it on track.
    Still, many economists are growing more worried about China's 
future.
    The big hope for this year was that Chinese consumers would step up 
spending, as the main drivers of China's past growth--investment and 
exports--languish.
    But while people are spending somewhat more after almost 3 years of 
tough Covid-19 controls, China isn't experiencing the kind of surge 
other economies enjoyed when they emerged from the pandemic.
    Consumer confidence is low. More important, some economists say, is 
that Beijing hasn't been able to meaningfully change Chinese consumers' 
long-running propensity to save rather than spend--a response to a 
threadbare social-safety net that means families must sock away more 
for medical bills and other emergencies.
    Chinese household consumption accounts for around 38 percent of 
annual gross domestic product, according to United Nations data, 
compared with 68 percent in the U.S.
    ``Consumer-led growth has always been a bit of an aspirational 
target'' for China, said Louise Loo, China lead economist in Singapore 
at Oxford Economics, a consulting firm. Now, it might be even harder to 
achieve, she said, given how cautious Chinese consumers are coming out 
of the pandemic.
    Although Beijing is trying to make it easier to borrow this year, 
lending data indicate households prefer to pay down debt than take on 
new loans.
    In March, Zi Lu dipped into her dowry and paid off the remaining 
1.2 million yuan, equivalent to about $170,000, on her mortgage for an 
apartment she bought in Shanghai 2 years ago.
    ``I'm scared of getting laid off out of the blue,'' she said.
    Also looming over the economy is its massive debt pile.
    Between 2012 and 2022, China's debt grew by $37 trillion, while the 
U.S. added nearly $25 trillion. By June 2022, debt in China reached 
about $52 trillion, dwarfing outstanding debt in all other emerging 
markets combined, according to calculations by Nicholas Borst, director 
of China research at Seafarer Capital Partners.
    As of last September, total debt as a share of GDP hit 295 percent 
in China, compared with 257 percent in the U.S., data from the Bank for 
International Settlements shows.
    Viewing the debt build-up as a threat to financial stability, Xi 
has made de-leveraging a centerpiece of his economic policy since 2016, 
weighing on growth.
    To help deflate the country's housing bubble, regulators imposed 
strict borrowing limits for property developers from late 2020. 
Property development investment fell 5.8 percent in the first quarter 
of this year despite policy efforts to stem the pace of the slide.
    Two-thirds of local governments are now in danger of breaching 
unofficial debt thresholds set by Beijing to signify severe funding 
stress, according to S&P Global calculations. Cities across the country 
from Shenzhen to Zhengzhou have cut benefits for civil servants and 
delayed salary payments in some cases for teachers.
    These problems are deepening when China's appeal as a destination 
for foreign firms is waning, data show, as tensions rise with the U.S.-
led West.
    Foreign direct investment into China tumbled 48 percent in 2022 
compared with a year earlier, to $180 billion, according to Chinese 
data, while FDI as a share of China's GDP has slipped to less than 2 
percent, from more than double that a decade ago.
    Competition for investment with countries including India and 
Vietnam is heating up as firms seek to diversify supply chains, partly 
in response to the risk of disruption from conflict between the U.S. 
and China.
    Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce 
in China, said uncertainty over China's long-term economic prospects is 
another factor in companies' investment decisions.
    ``Naturally, it dampens the willingness to go out and invest in 
additional capacity if you are not super optimistic about the economic 
outlook,'' he said.
    Reforms to foster more productive, private-sector activity have 
stalled under Xi, who is placing greater emphasis on security than 
economic growth. Beijing has tightened regulation of sectors including 
technology, private education and real estate, leaving many business 
owners unwilling to invest more.
    In the first 4 months of this year, fixed-asset investment made by 
private firms grew 0.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with 5.5 
percent growth in the same period in 2019.
    Chinese leaders have dialed up rhetoric to reassure entrepreneurs 
and investors. Li Qiang, China's No. 2 official and new premier, said 
in March that China will open further to foreign players, and told 
Communist Party officials to treat private entrepreneurs as ``our own 
people.''
    Economists are split over whether policy makers, who have held off 
on launching large-scale stimulus as they did in 2008 and 2015, will 
resort to more aggressive stimulus now. Some, including economists from 
Citigroup, expect China's central bank to cut interest rates in the 
coming months to lift sentiment.
    Others say that Beijing's restraint stems from fear of compounding 
already-high debt levels, and that more stimulus might do little to 
trigger demand for credit anyway.
    Jeff Bowman, chief executive of Cocona, which makes temperature-
regulating materials used in apparel and bedding, said he is still 
optimistic about China. He said that during a recent 2-week business 
trip to Taiwan and China, customers who were focused on China's 
domestic market were far more upbeat than their counterparts exporting 
to the U.S. or Europe, who he said ``are hurting for sure.''
    He said that Cocona, based in Boulder, Colo., plans to set up a 
subsidiary in China to expand its business there.
    But many analysts still wonder where the growth will come from.
    ``The big question is, have we reached the point where awareness of 
the structural slowdown is becoming a near-term issue for confidence? 
Then it's a bit of a vicious cycle,'' said Michael Hirson, head of 
China research at 22V Research, a New York-based consulting firm.
Appeared in the May 31, 2023, print edition as `Fading Recovery In 
        China Reveals Deeper Problems'.

    Mr. Higgins. I thank the witnesses for their valuable 
testimony today and painful representations of what you have 
been through. We thank you as a committee.
    The Members of the subcommittee may have additional 
questions for the witnesses and we ask that the witnesses to 
respond to these in writing.
    Pursuant to the committee rule VII(D), the hearing record 
will be held open for 10 days.
    Without objection, these subcommittees stand adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 4:55 p.m., the subcommittees were 
adjourned.]

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