[Senate Hearing 118-213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                     S. Hrg. 118-213

                              DHS BUDGET:
                  RESOURCES AND AUTHORITIES REQUESTED
                   TO PROTECT AND SECURE THE HOMELAND

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

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
                          HOMELAND SECURITY AND 
                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS


                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                             APRIL 18, 2023

                               __________

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

                       Printed for the use of the
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
        
        
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        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
ALEX PADILLA, California             RICK SCOTT, Florida
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
          Christopher J. Mulkins Director of Homeland Security
            Benjamin J. Schubert, Professional Staff Member
                Brittany M. Hallack, Research Assistant
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
              Kendal B. Tigner, Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                   Ashley A. Gonzalez, Hearing Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                                 ------                                
Opening statements:
                                                                   Page
    Senator Peters...............................................     1
    Senator Paul.................................................     3
    Senator Hassan...............................................    11
    Senator Johnson..............................................    13
    Senator Scott................................................    16
    Senator Lankford.............................................    19
    Senator Rosen................................................    21
    Senator Marshall.............................................    24
    Senator Carper...............................................    26
    Senator Romney...............................................    28
    Senator Blumenthal...........................................    31
    Senator Hawley...............................................    33
    Senator Sinema...............................................    36
    Senator Ossoff...............................................    41
    Senator Padilla..............................................    43
Prepared statements:
    Senator Peters...............................................    47
    Senator Paul.................................................    50

                               WITNESSES
                        Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Honorable Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of 
  Homeland Security
    Testimony....................................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................    52

                                APPENDIX

Wall Street Journal Article......................................    63
Disinformation Alert chart.......................................    71
Reports of Trafficking and Abuse of Migrant Children.............    72
New York Times Article...........................................    73
New York Times Article...........................................    87
Senator Marshall's Senate Resolution.............................    95
Responses to post-hearing questions for the Record:
    Mr. Mayorkas.................................................   102

 
                 DHS BUDGET: RESOURCES AND AUTHORITIES
              REQUESTED TO PROTECT AND SECURE THE HOMELAND

                              ----------                              


                        Tuesday, April 18, 2023

                                     U.S. Senate,  
                           Committee on Homeland Security  
                                  and Governmental Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 
SD-562, Senate Dirksen Office Building, Hon. Gary Peters, 
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Peters [presiding], Carper, Hassan, 
Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, Blumenthal, Paul, Johnson, 
Lankford, Romney, Scott, Hawley, and Marshall.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PETERS\1\

    Chairman Peters. The Committee will come to order. I would 
like to welcome back to the Committee Secretary Mayorkas, and 
thank you for your continued service to our Nation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Peters appears in the 
Appendix on page 47.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its dedicated 
employees have faced no shortage of challenges and challenging 
missions over the past few years. We are grateful for your 
steadfast commitment to protecting the American people.
    Today's hearing is an important opportunity for Secretary 
Mayorkas to detail the Department's plans for the resources 
included in the President's 2024 budget request so that the 
Committee can assess what resources and authorities DHS needs 
to fulfill its critical missions to safeguard our Nation from 
rapidly evolving security threats.
    I am pleased to see that this year's proposal includes 
several investments to help combat persistent and evolving 
threats to people in Michigan as well as all across the 
country.
    For example, relentless cyberattacks from criminal 
organizations and foreign governments continue to pose serious 
threats and disruptions to Americans' daily lives. We must 
ensure that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 
Agency (CISA), has the resources to stop sophisticated 
cyberattacks. I am grateful that the 2024 budget proposal 
includes significant resources for CISA, our Nation's lead 
cybersecurity agency, to address these serious threats.
    I am also glad to see that your request includes funding to 
help implement my law requiring critical infrastructure owners 
and operators to report to CISA if they experience a 
cyberattack or make a ransomware payment, which will help warn 
other potential targets and allow law enforcement to hold 
cybercriminals accountable. We know cyberattackers will stop at 
nothing to infiltrate our networks, and we must continue to 
strengthen our cybersecurity defenses to prevent further 
attacks.
    Our nation also faces a number of threats to the safety and 
security of our communities that DHS must address. Domestic 
terrorism driven by white supremacist and anti-government 
extremists continues to be the most significant terrorism 
threat to the United States.
    I have continued to press DHS to adequately track and 
report data on the domestic terrorism threat. Despite being 
required to do so by a law Senator Johnson and I authored, DHS 
continues to fall short on collecting and reporting this 
critical information.
    I have been pleased to see that more recently the 
Department has done more to track and share information about 
the domestic terrorism threat, and I will continue to work with 
our colleagues and DHS to ensure that we are devoting the 
appropriate resources to prevent any such attacks.
    We also face potential threats from weaponized biological, 
chemical, nuclear, and radioactive (BCNR) materials that are 
capable of inflicting mass casualties and destruction on our 
country. Last Congress, I introduced bipartisan legislation to 
reauthorize and strengthen the DHS office responsible for 
managing these threats. These authorities are set to expire, 
but the threat clearly remains, so I will work with my 
colleagues on a bipartisan basis to ensure these vital 
protections are extended.
    Similarly, authorities to help prevent attacks from 
unmanned aerial systems (UAS), more commonly known as drones, 
are also set to expire. Whether they are being used recklessly 
or by an operator who has harmful intentions, drones could pose 
serious security threats to mass gatherings like sporting 
events, concerts, and more.
    Senator Johnson and I also introduced legislation on this 
last Congress, and I will continue work to reauthorize and 
strengthen needed authorities to counter the escalating threats 
from drones to protect public safety, critical infrastructure 
facilities, and airports.
    I am also looking forward to discussing the Department's 
plans to secure our Northern and Southern Borders. With the 
expected wind-down of Title 42 next month, we must ensure that 
DHS is prepared to address the irregular flows of migrants at 
our Southern Border, and I look forward to hearing more about 
the Department's plans to address that change.
    The Administration is also taking efforts to better secure 
our ports of entry (POEs) and prevent illegal drugs like 
fentanyl from reaching our communities, including by investing 
in more non-intrusive inspection (NII) equipment. These efforts 
are a vital part of ensuring secure and efficient lawful trade 
and travel at our ports of entry so that border States like my 
home State of Michigan remain a hub for international commerce.
    Last spring, I was honored to host Secretary Mayorkas in 
Michigan to hear firsthand from members of Michigan's Arab and 
Muslim American communities who have, for years, endured 
lengthy and intrusive secondary travel screenings. Although DHS 
has the critical mission of protecting our transportation 
systems, it must do so in a way that respects civil rights and 
civil liberties.
    Mr. Secretary, we have spoken about the President's promise 
to examine the terrorist watchlist and No Fly List, and I 
believe it is time to accelerate this interagency effort to 
bring relief to these and other communities.
    Finally, natural disasters driven by global climate change 
present one of the most serious security threats to our nation 
as well as to the world. I have been proud to work with DHS on 
efforts to mitigate damage from natural disasters, and we must 
ensure that the Department has the appropriate resources to 
protect communities from the catastrophic consequences related 
to these weather events.
    However, I am concerned about the process for a current 
reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMAs) Resilience Office. The Committee has been asking for an 
update for the past five months, but FEMA has yet to provide 
one. I certainly hope for greater transparency and partnership 
between DHS and this Committee in the future, and with future 
reorganizations.
    Mr. Secretary, I look forward to having a productive 
discussion today about the Department's missions and plans to 
address the many homeland security threats that we face as a 
Nation, and appreciate, once again, your service to our 
country.
    Ranking Member Paul, you are recognized for your opening 
comments.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PAUL\1\

    Senator Paul. In 2002, Congress established the Department 
of Homeland Security in response to the September 11, 2001 (9/
11) attacks to centralize and consolidate to prevent terrorist 
attacks. In the 20 years since its creation, the Department of 
Homeland Security has departed from its original mission and 
used its expansive authorities and funding to impede on the 
rights of American citizens.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Paul appears in the Appendix 
on page 50.
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    This is not just my opinion. In November 2022, the American 
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) concluded ``[t]wenty years later, 
it's past time to seriously reconsider DHS. Its abusive 
practices aren't just antithetical to our values--they are a 
waste of taxpayer dollars and a distraction from serious 
problems facing people in our country.''
    What should terrify every American is that the full extent 
of DHS's abuse of its power against its own citizens are still 
largely unknown. The public is only recently learning the 
degree to which the Department's Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency, was employed to surveil and 
censor American citizens' social media for what it concluded to 
be ``misinformation'' and ``disinformation.''
    What was the result? Statements about Coronavirus Disease 
2019 (COVID-19) that are now supported by evidence were flagged 
as disinformation. statements including my own that were once 
labeled by our government as ``disinformation,'' such as 
opinions on the efficacy of masks, naturally acquired immunity, 
and the origins of COVID-19, are now supported by the majority 
of people and by the evidence, but were labeled by the 
government as ``misinformation.'' The government worked with 
social media, in fact, to censor these opinions. This is 
something that should not happen in a free country, and it is 
contrary to the spirit and the law of the First Amendment.
    In 2021, DHS even put out a video encouraging ``children to 
report their own family members to Facebook for 
'disinformation' if they challenge U.S. Government narratives 
on Covid-19.'' Does that not sound like something out of 1984? 
Does not sound like something out of Stalin's Russia, that our 
government is trying to get our kids to report their parents? 
That is crazy. Can you imagine, your agency is putting out a 
video to tell kids to report their parents if they say 
something like, ``Well, maybe children do not need to be 
vaccinated.'' I still say that, because it is the truth. The 
risks for the vaccine are greater than the disease for COVID 
for children. It is different for the elderly and those who are 
targets of the disease, but that is an opinion, based in fact, 
based on peer-reviewed papers. But the government should not 
get involved with trying to censor and restrict my ability to 
say these things.
    In reality, the most significant source of disinformation 
during the pandemic, with the most influence and greatest 
impact on people's lives, was the U.S. Government. The greatest 
purveyor of disinformation has been the U.S. Government.
    All this was occurring during what was likely the greatest 
national security threat to our nation in modern history--a 
global pandemic that killed millions of Americans. During this 
time was the Department of Homeland Security working to 
determine the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether 
taxpayer funding went to conduct risky research in China? Was 
this going on? To our knowledge we know of no delving into this 
by the DHS. Where did the virus come from? If it came from a 
lab, would that not be a biosecurity threat? Is that not 
somehow under the purview of the DHS to be looking at where the 
virus might have come from?
    At least several of the intelligence agencies now conclude 
it did come from there. Dozens and dozens of the most esteemed 
scientists in our country now conclude that it came from a lab. 
We have labs doing this research in our country. Are you 
looking into that? What is going on? Are you really trying to 
protect us from biological threats if we are not being told 
that you have looked into the origins of COVID virus at all?
    Instead of focusing on real threats like this, DHS was 
internally strategizing on how it can expand social media 
censorship of Americans using third-party nonprofits as, in the 
words of a CISA official who said, a ``clearing house for 
information to avoid the appearance of government propaganda.'' 
Here is our government using non governmental organizations 
(NGOs) and using them as a clearinghouse, and let us make sure 
nobody sees that it is us, so it does not look overtly like 
government propaganda. That is coming from your own agencies.
    A report published last month by Brennan Center for Justice 
found at least 12 overlapping DHS programs for tracking what 
Americans are saying online. It found that the Department's 
programs have veered from its original counterterrorism mission 
into tracking social and political movements and monitoring 
First Amendment-protected activity of American citizens. This 
is a serious abuse of power. The report concluded that 
overbroad mandates, flimsy safeguards, and fragmented oversight 
have allowed overreach and abuses to proliferate across DHS 
intelligence programs.
    This is the kind of abuse of power that should terrify all 
of us, regardless of which side of the aisle you are on. Even 
worse, it is all taking place while the Department is failing 
miserably at one of its core responsibilities--securing our 
border. Congress cannot continue to provide more funding and 
responsibilities to an agency that so clearly misunderstands 
its statutory authorities and purpose.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Ranking Member Paul.
    Secretary Mayorkas, it is the practice of the Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) to swear in 
witnesses, so if you would please stand and raise your right 
hand.
    Do you swear that the testimony that you will give before 
this Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth, so help you, God?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I do.
    Chairman Peters. You may be seated.
    Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is the seventh Secretary of 
the Department of Homeland Security. Previously he served the 
Department as Deputy Secretary and as Director of U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and began his 
public service at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
    Mr. Secretary, again thank you for your appearance here 
before our Committee once again, and I will now recognize you 
for your seven-minute opening statement.

TESTIMONY OF THE HON. ALEJANDRO N. MAYORKAS,\1\ SECRETARY, U.S. 
                DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you very much, Chairman Peters, 
Ranking Member Paul, distinguished Members of this Committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Secretary Mayorkas appears in the 
Appendix on page 52.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Last month we marked the 20th anniversary of the 
Department's creation, which brought together different 
agencies from across the Federal Government in a determined 
effort to safeguard the United States against foreign terrorism 
in the wake of the devastation wrought on September 11, 2001.
    Over the past 20 years, the challenges facing the homeland 
have grown increasingly dynamic and complex. The Department's 
260,000 public servants meet these challenges with unflinching 
dedication to mission. With acts of targeted violence occurring 
more and more frequently, we are sharing with local communities 
the best practice models of detection and intervention when an 
individual is exhibiting signs of moving toward violence.
    We are on the ground assisting communities impacted by 
increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events. We are 
attacking cartels and smugglers through new campaigns and 
enforcement surges, efforts that have resulted in the arrest of 
more than 9,100 smugglers, the disruption of over 9,000 human 
smuggling operations, and record seizures of fentanyl at our 
ports of entry.
    We are rescuing victims of human trafficking and child 
exploitation and bringing perpetrators of these heinous crimes 
to justice. We made 3,655 human trafficking arrests last fiscal 
year (FY) alone. We are defending networks in our hospitals, 
schools, and electric grids from wide-ranging cyberattacks. We 
are on patrol in the Arctic and in the Western Pacific to 
protect our interests.
    This is a snapshot of the work our extraordinary personnel 
do every day to keep the homeland safe.
    The evolving set of challenges we face requires a 
modernized budget, and the President's fiscal year 2024 budget 
for DHS provides the Department with the resources it needs to 
prevent, prepare for, and respond to the threats of today and 
tomorrow.
    The displacement of people across the region is greater 
than at any time since World War II. I have visited the 
Southwest Border approximately 16 times as Secretary to meet 
with our personnel and to see firsthand the challenges they 
face and the tools they need to do their jobs.
    The fiscal year 2024 budget proposes the hiring of over 
1,400 additional personnel to secure the Southwest Border, 
including 350 additional Border Patrol agents and 310 
additional Border Patrol processing coordinators to get more 
agents back into the field, performing their critical law 
enforcement mission.
    The budget proposes $535 million in new funds for border 
technology, $305 million of which is to deploy new technologies 
and capabilities in our fight against the trafficking of 
fentanyl through our ports of entry.
    The environment across the Southwest Border is dynamic, and 
the annual appropriations process does not provide the 
flexibility to address challenges that often change, sector to 
sector, month to month. We propose that Congress create a fund 
that can be spent for specific purposes when certain migrant 
encounter thresholds are met. This would equip our personnel 
with the tools they need to meet migration surges if and as 
they occur, like transportation resources, soft-sided 
facilities for processing, and grants to support State and 
local community reception.
    The budget will also enable the Department to process the 
increasing number of asylum cases, address the backlog of 
applications for immigration benefits, support the Citizenship 
and Integration Grant Program, and improve refugee processing 
to meet the goal of admitting up to 125,000 refugees.
    Our critical infrastructure is increasingly the target of 
cyberattacks, launched by transnational criminal organizations 
(TCOs) and hostile nation-states, including the People's 
Republic of China (PRC), Russia, Iran, and North Korea. This 
budget invests in personnel, infrastructure, and enhanced tools 
and services to increase our cybersecurity preparedness and 
resilience. We look forward to working with the Committee this 
year to codify our Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) in law to 
ensure it has the authorities necessary to be effective.
    We must also continue to build a culture of preparedness so 
that communities that face increasing extreme weather events 
are ready and resilient. This budget provides $20.1 billion for 
FEMA to assist individuals and State, local, tribal, and 
territorial (SLTT) partners impacted by major disasters and 
funds efforts to build climate resilience.
    The United States Coast Guard (USCG) provides critical 
capabilities to defend our national interests in the Western 
Hemisphere, the Arctic, and the Indo-Pacific. This budget makes 
strategic investments in the Coast Guard's fleet of offshore 
patrol cutters and polar security cutters that will advance our 
security and economic prosperity.
    Finally, the men and women of DHS who serve our nation are 
our most important and vital resource. We cannot expect to 
recruit and retain a world-class, diverse workforce if they are 
not compensated fairly. We are asking for $1.4 billion to honor 
the promise of pay fairness to our Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA) workforce.
    This budget will enable the Department to respond to the 
threats of today and prepare for the threats of tomorrow. Thank 
you very much.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    Mr. Secretary, since 9/11 the U.S. Government has focused 
its counterterrorism mission primarily on international 
terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq 
and Syria (ISIS). DHS certainly was created during that time 
specifically to address the threat that we were facing here at 
the homeland. But in recent years you and your counterparts at 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of 
Justice have made it clear that while certainly foreign threats 
have not disappeared, and we need to keep our eyes wide open 
and our watch strong, white supremacists and anti-government 
extremists at home, however, are now the greatest threat to 
America.
    My question for you, Mr. Secretary, is can you tell us 
specifically what you have done to shift resources in your 
agency to address the current threat landscape when it comes to 
domestic terrorism?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, you correctly note that 
the foreign terrorist threat has not disappeared but only new 
threats have evolved. Over the past 20 years, the threat 
landscape has proven increasingly complex and dynamic.
    To address the threat of domestic violent extremism (DVE) 
that has risen tremendously over the last several years, we 
have taken a number of measures. I created a Domestic Terrorism 
Branch within our Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OI&A). 
We have increased our funding to local communities so that they 
have the capacity to identify when an individual is descending 
down a path to violence, and intervene so an act of violence 
does not materialize.
    We have issued information bulletins and alerts more 
frequently to our law enforcement partners in communities as 
well as to the American public, to advise them of the threat 
and to be ready and prepared to address it should it 
materialize.
    We have done quite a number of things to address the 
evolution in the threat landscape that we in the Department of 
Homeland Security challenge.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, Title 42 is 
slated to end in under a month, as you well know, on May 11, 
2023. The question for you is what changes are you anticipating 
in terms of the number of migrants arriving at the border after 
May 11th, and what preparations is the Administration making to 
deal with those individuals seeking asylum?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, we do anticipate a surge 
in the number of encounters at our Southern Border. Our 
overarching approach, the overarching approach of this 
Administration is not only to invest in the countries of 
origin, given the reasons why people flee their homes, whether 
it is an authoritarian regime, persecution by reason of an 
individual's membership in a particular social group, 
increasing violence, poverty, corruption, what we are doing is 
building lawful pathways so individuals do not need to place 
their lives and their life savings in the hands of ruthless 
smugglers who only seek to exploit them for profit, at the same 
time delivering a consequence for those individuals who do not 
avail themselves of the lawful pathways we provide.
    We have exemplified that model in the parole program that 
we announced on January 5th of this year, for individuals from 
Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. We have indeed seen 
people avail themselves of the lawful pathway, and we have seen 
an over 95 percent drop in the number of encounters at the 
Southern Border as a result of those programs.
    We are surging resources to the border. We are going to be 
using our immigration authorities under Title 8 of the United 
States Code (USC), which delivers a consequence for individuals 
who arrive between the ports of entry who do not have a lawful 
basis to remain in the United States. We are working with local 
communities to increase their reception capacity. We are 
working with our neighbors, our partners to the south, Mexico 
and other countries, because what we are seeing is not 
exclusive to the Southern Border. The level of migration that 
we are experiencing at the Southern Border is reflective of the 
level of migration that is gripping the entire hemisphere.
    Just last week I was in Panama, to work with our Panamanian 
and Colombian partners on a regional solution to what is a 
regional problem. We are doing so much more to be ready for the 
potential surge in migration at our Southern Border upon the 
end of Title 42.
    Importantly, Mr. Chairman, we are also taking it to the 
smuggling organizations that spread disinformation to 
vulnerable migrants and fraudulently coax them into taking what 
they are deceived into thinking is a safe journey, and it is 
anything but that, as we so tragically know.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    Mr. Secretary, you and Director Wray made it clear before 
this Committee in November that we must ensure that the DHS and 
DOJ are properly resourced to meet the growing threat from 
drones operated by nefarious actors here in the homeland. We 
are entering a season of outdoor sporting events and concerts 
and other mass gatherings. Could you please tell this Committee 
what you see as the threat from drones and why it is important 
that the authorities that are set to expire are extended and 
that we need to continue to focus on this issue?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, I have spoken to our 
personnel in the field who operate drones as well as operate 
counter-drone activity, and they have communicated to me quite 
powerfully the need to be able to have our counter-drone 
capabilities not only continue but expanded, and work with law 
enforcement. I have met with the leaders of sports leagues who 
have spoken about the threat that drone activity over stadiums, 
mass gatherings pose. I have spoken with airport executives 
about the threat that drones present to our airspace, our 
orderly and safe oversight of our airspace. I have spoken with 
our Border Patrol personnel about how the cartels use drones in 
an effort to smuggle narcotics across our border.
    Drones are increasing in capacity, in speed, in distance of 
travel, in loads that they can carry. This is a threat to the 
homeland, and our counter-UAS (C-UAS), our counter-drone 
authority must be continued. We look forward to this 
Committee's support of that authority and expansion of it. We 
cannot allow it to expire this year.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I can assure you 
we are going to be focused on this very real threat.
    Ranking Member Paul, you are recognized for your questions.
    Senator Paul. The FBI and the Department of Energy (DOE) 
have concluded that the likely origin of COVID is from a lab in 
Wuhan. Jeffrey Sachs of the Lancet Commission studied this for 
nearly two years and came to the same conclusion. An 18-month 
investigation from the Health Committee also came to the 
conclusion that the likely origin of the virus is from a lab in 
Wuhan. What are the conclusions of the Department of Homeland 
Security on the origins of the virus?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Paul, we defer to other 
departments and agencies whose remit is to investigate the 
origins of COVID-19. To my knowledge, that is not work that we 
have undertaken.
    Senator Paul. When all of the different agencies report to 
the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) are you one of 
those agencies? Like I say, there are 17 different people who 
have an opinion, supposedly, on this. The Department of 
Homeland Security has not made any opinion or given any opinion 
to the Director of National Intelligence based on any research 
that you have done?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Paul, to my knowledge we 
have not undertaken our work to investigate the origin of the 
COVID-19 pandemic. What we have done in response to what you 
accurately captured are its tragic consequences, is we set up 
vaccination centers all across the country to----
    Senator Paul. The National Biological Threat 
Characterization Center (NBTCC) is under your purview. Do they 
investigate or evaluate the manipulation of viruses, either 
through recombination or mutation or cellular passage, serial 
passage in lab? Do they look at the threat of dual use? 
Basically people say, ``We are doing research for vaccines,'' 
but what if this escapes into the world and you have created a 
virus that never existed before? Is that under the purview of 
the National Biological Threat Characterization Center?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Paul, I do believe that 
that organization looks at how biological elements and other 
elements can be weaponized to the detriment of our security.
    Senator Paul. There are at least 12 different places in the 
United States where labs are getting this. To make it even more 
concerning, though, we have been funding labs, not only the lab 
in Wuhan, we have actually funded military research in China. 
We now have evidence that the National Institutes of Health 
(NIH) money goes to American universities who then subcontract 
to the Academy of Military Medical Science (AMMS) research. It 
has finally now been listed as a category where we are not 
supposed to export things, but for years now somebody has been 
asleep at the switch, whether it is you or somebody else in 
government. We have got a big government and we have got all 
these different intel agencies. Who is watching? Because the 
thing is who in their right mind would think it is a good idea 
to send American tax dollars to a university, an American 
university, who then sends it to do military research?
    Now even the stuff over there that is civilian research is 
only as good as we can trust them that that is really what it 
is, and there is much evidence that there is an intermingling 
of military and civilian and dual-purpose research over there.
    So somebody has got to do something here. Someone has got 
to step forward. And my suggestion to you is if you have got 
something called the National Biological Threat 
Characterization Center, that you would look at the 12 
universities in our country that are doing this kind of 
research. So basically they are taking a virus, and it is known 
to infect humans, and they are taking a portion of another 
virus they do not know anything about and saying, well, let us 
see what happens if we put a new protein on this other virus to 
see if it is more infectious or more lethal. And quite a few 
times when they do these experiments, gain-of-function 
research, the people in government say, ``Oh well, nothing to 
see here. It is not really gain of function.'' Then they play 
with the definitions. And yet a million people died from 
something like this. A million people died from a leakage of a 
virus.
    This is not the first time. There are dozens. There are 
entire books written of leaks. There are probably 100 leaks 
from U.S. labs that have been documented in the last several 
years, and yet we have an agency that I think sometimes is 
talking about things that may not be quite as pressing as a 
million people dying in the homeland.
    My suggestion is that we maybe should take some of our 
resources. I think you asked for $17 million for this 
Biological Threat Characterization Center. Maybe some of that 
ought to be used in evaluating some of the dual science and 
dual-purpose research that is going on within the United 
States.
    We would like to get information, and just last week 
Senator Johnson and I sent a letter, two weeks ago, asking for 
any information you have on the origins of this. We passed 
unanimously, which is something, unanimously in the Senate and 
the House, to declassify this information. But our problem is 
not even that. Most of this stuff is declassified, and we get 
refusals from everybody in the Biden administration. We have 
been stonewalled for the last two years, and we get nothing.
    We not only get nothing, we have Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA'ed) things a Federal judge requires them to release, and 
we have talk back and forth, chatter and email from people at 
the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) saying, ``We are not 
going to give it to him because one person is signing this. It 
looks like he signed it individually so we are just not going 
to give it to him.'' Then we have other people saying, in the 
same email chain, ``That does not look good. If that gets 
FOIA'ed, let's change the language because that does not look 
good.''
    This is our government. We complain about the Chinese not 
giving us stuff. What I would like today is the assurance that 
you are going to give us any information we ask related to the 
origins of COVID. You say there has not been much, and maybe 
there has not been, but we would like to get responses to these 
things, instead of responses that say, take a leap. This is the 
elected government. We are hoping to get help from the other 
side, but so far we have not gotten any help from the other 
side on trying to get these records. But we would hope you 
would do it just because you care about a million people dying.
    That is my request is that you at least will respond to our 
request asking for more information about the origins of COVID.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Paul, I have a number of 
things to say. No. 1, I share your concern with respect to the 
threat that the People's Republic of China presents to the 
homeland. No. 2, to my knowledge DHS does not have ongoing 
work, and has no future plan to do work on assessing the 
dangers that may be associated with gain-of-function research. 
My understanding is that no work has been done, no work is 
planned, and no work is underway.
    Third, I believe that you have sent to the Department a 
letter requesting information a couple of weeks ago, within the 
last two weeks, and it is our intention to respond 
appropriately to your letter.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Ranking Member Paul.
    Senator Hassan, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN

    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Chair Peters and Ranking Member 
Paul, for this hearing. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, not only for 
being here but for your service to our country.
    I want to start with a question about the Northern Border. 
Last week I visited the Northern Border in New Hampshire to 
speak with Border Patrol officials. Over the past year we have 
seen an 800 percent increase in border apprehensions in the 
Swanton Sector, which includes New Hampshire, as well as an 
increase in drug trafficking, some of which is tied to Mexican 
drug cartels.
    U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reassigned 25 
additional Border Patrol agents to the Swanton Sector earlier 
this year, but more personnel and resources are needed. What 
additional actions is DHS taking to strengthen security at the 
northern border, including stopping drug cartels from smuggling 
drugs and people into New Hampshire and our neighboring States?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much. Please be 
assured that we are very focused on the security of the 
Northern Border, just as we are focused on the security of the 
Southern Border.
    I worked with our partners to the north, with my Canadian 
counterpart, to finalize the Safe Third Country Agreement that 
we have with Canada, which indeed will further strengthen the 
security of the Northern Border. I am, of course, working very 
closely with the Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to make sure that our people and our technology are 
deployed most effectively on the Northern Border. This is one 
of the reasons why we have requested, in the fiscal year 2024 
budget, additional personnel for U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection so we can enhance the security of all of our 
borders.
    Senator Hassan. I appreciate that. Let me follow up on the 
issue of communications and technology a little bit. Many parts 
of the Northern Border, New Hampshire and elsewhere, are remote 
and really difficult to access. Is DHS adding more technology 
and communications infrastructure along the Northern Border, 
and in particular, one of the real challenges there is just 
very limited cell service. Even if we give CBP officials mobile 
phones they cannot necessarily access the kind of communication 
we would like.
    Are there specific things you all have done or plan to have 
to help upgrade there?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I will follow up on 
specifically what we are doing to address the cellular 
connectivity challenge in the Northern Border areas. I will 
say, because you correctly captured the remoteness of some of 
those areas, one of our challenges is also recruitment of 
personnel. We are very focused on a myriad of issues.
    Senator Hassan. Right, and I heard from some of the 
personnel there on Friday about an idea that they have for 
recruitment, so I would look forward to working on that with 
you.
    Let me move on to another issue. Press reports indicate 
that DHS has apprehended dozens of individuals at the Southern 
Border who are matches to the Terrorist Watch List. Reports 
also indicated that there has been an increase in Watch List 
apprehensions over the past few months. What steps are you 
taking at DHS to intercept individuals on the Terrorist Watch 
List long before they arrive at the U.S. border?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the fight against terrorism is 
our highest priority in the Department of Homeland Security. 
Our obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the 
American people. Any individual who is apprehended who is on 
the Terrorism Screening Data Set (TSDS) now, who poses any 
threat is detained, and his or her removal is indeed sought.
    One of the things that we are doing with our partners to 
the south is increasing our biometric sharing with them, so 
that they are able to identify individuals who are interdicted, 
understand their profiles, determine whether indeed they pose 
any threat, and take appropriate enforcement action.
    It is very important to note that an individual's presence 
on the Terrorism Screening Data Set does not necessarily mean 
that the individual is, in fact, a terrorist. They could be, 
for example, a member or an associate of a member of a group 
that was once designated but is no longer designated as such.
    Senator Hassan. Understood. But I think the more we can do, 
and I look forward to following up with you on thwarting that 
threat before it gets to the border, the better off we all are 
and the safer we are.
    I want to talk about another issue on the southbound 
border. United States and Mexican authorities obviously need to 
work together to stop the flow of fentanyl, meth, and other 
dangerous drugs that are manufactured in Mexico and smuggled 
into the United States. You testified about that. We have done 
work on increasing technology and the like at the border.
    But Mexican authorities have indicated they need U.S. law 
enforcement authorities to do more to disrupt the flow of 
weapons and money flowing south to drug cartels. CBP only 
inspects a small percentage of southbound people and cargo 
before they leave the United States. What does DHS need in 
order to perform more southbound inspections and intercept guns 
and money flowing south?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is indeed a subject that 
we have discussed with our Mexican counterparts. In fact, the 
last time I was in Mexico I discussed this with the foreign 
secretary of Mexico. We are seeking, in our fiscal year 2024 
budget, additional personnel and additional technology to 
assist us in the interdiction of contraband, firearms, and 
money flowing southbound. Our Homeland Security Investigations 
(HSI), the criminal investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement (ICE), is indeed investigating the flow of 
funds and the flow of firearms, and seeking to interdict them 
on an increasing basis.
    Senator Hassan. OK. I will follow up with you on that as 
well.
    One last follow-up on this general issue. Last week the 
Treasury Department announced sanctions against two Chinese 
companies supplying precursor chemicals to Mexican drug 
cartels, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and DOJ 
announced charges against 28 members of the Sinaloa Cartel. 
Another way to fight the drug cartels is for DHS to provide 
international security and to help Mexican authorities stop 
precursor chemicals from being illegally shipped from China to 
Mexico.
    How can DHS provide additional support to Mexican 
authorities in order to strengthen our own security, and what 
training, resources, equipment, or other methods of support 
could DHS provide?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are sharing information and 
intelligence. We are strengthening the port security in Mexico. 
We are assisting our Mexican counterparts in doing so. We have 
our Transnational Criminal Investigative Units (TCIU), again, 
Homeland Security Investigations, working with Mexican partners 
to interdict the flow of chemicals, to stop the flow from the 
People's Republic of China, of not only the precursor chemicals 
but also the equipment used to manufacture fentanyl.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Hassan.
    Senator Johnson, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHNSON

    Senator Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, 
welcome.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Good morning.
    Senator Johnson. I did not bring my chart. It is too 
depressing to look at of apprehensions on the border. An abject 
failure. But I am hoping that you came a little bit better 
prepared in terms of going through the numbers with me. I guess 
rather than ask you for the numbers, which I have never gotten 
straight answers on, let me just run by you the numbers that we 
have got off of your website.
    Total nationwide encounters during the Biden administration 
is just shy of 6 million. Is that about right?
    Secretary Mayorkas. My understanding of apprehensions is 
that it is almost 6 million, yes.
    Senator Johnson. Again, you are calling them encounters 
now, which I think is a strange turn of a phrase.
    Secretary Mayorkas. The reason----
    Senator Johnson. Total expulsions--I know, because you are 
not apprehending them. You are just encountering and then you 
are processing and dispersing them.
    Total expulsions under Title 42, about 2.4 million. That 
means 6 million minus 2.4 million, about 3.6 million people 
have been encountered, very efficiently processed, and 
dispersed. Correct, about 3.6 million?
    Secretary Mayorkas. There are other ways that individuals 
are addressed, Senator Johnson. For example, they can be 
removed under Title 8 of the United States Code.
    Senator Johnson. How many have been removed under that 
title then?
    Secretary Mayorkas. In fiscal year 2022, I record just over 
360,000 individuals have been removed under Title 8. There are 
also, Senator, the ability to have individuals voluntarily 
return to their country of origin.
    Senator Johnson. How many is that number? How many 
voluntarily returned?
    Secretary Mayorkas. My understanding of the data in fiscal 
year 2022, it was approximately 260,000.
    Senator Johnson. I will take a half a million off that, OK? 
So 3.6 million and take half a million away from that, it is 
about 3.1 million.
    According to Border Patrol Chief Ortiz, about 1.4 million 
known gotaways. Is that a correct number, 1.4?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Last year Senator, and by the way, if I 
may, you have combined multiyear figures with the data that I 
provided, which was for one year.
    Senator Johnson. That is because you do not publish this 
stuff in a very understandable way.
    A large number of people are getting away that we know 
about. We do not know who these people are but they are just 
gotaways. They are never encountered. They get away into the 
interior. Then we have, one estimate is about 0.3 million 
unknown gotaways. That is the estimate.
    Somewhere north of 4 million people--I had a number down 
here, 5.3, but we are adjusting that down based on Title 2 
expulsions and I guess people voluntarily going home--somewhere 
between 4 and 5 million people during this Administration have 
been coming to this country, probably do not qualify for 
asylum, but that is a pretty accurate number, right, 4 to 5 
million?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me first communicate a 
premise, which is we are very focused on the security of our 
border.
    Senator Johnson. No, you are not. I do not want to listen 
to that.
    Basically what we are looking at is 22 States have 
populations less than 4 million people. Twenty-eight States 
have populations less than 5 million people. That is the 
magnitude of the problem. Do you know how many dead bodies were 
discovered on the Southwest Border in fiscal year 2022?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, when you----
    Senator Johnson. Listen, I do not have much time. Do you 
know how many dead bodies were discovered?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is precisely why we are 
seeking to make----
    Senator Johnson. Do you know how many dead bodies were 
discovered in 2022? What is the number?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
    Senator Johnson. OK. It is 890, according to a news article 
in the Wall Street Journal, which I would like to enter into 
the record.\1\ Can you enter that into the record?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The news article referenced by Senator Johnson appears in the 
Appendix on page 63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Chairman Peters. Without objection.
    Senator Johnson. Thank you.
    I would also like to enter into the record a couple of New 
York Times articles\2\, oddly enough, written by Hannah Dreier. 
This one was published on February 25, 2023. It is titled, 
``Alone and exploited: Migrant children work brutal jobs across 
the United States.'' I just want to quote from this article. 
``But as more and more children have arrived, the Biden White 
House has ramped up demands on staffers to move children 
quickly out of the shelters and release them to adults. 
Caseworkers say they rushed through the vetting process.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ The news article referenced by Senator Johnson appears in the 
Appendix on page 73.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It goes on. ``Data obtained by The Times showed that over 
the last two years the agency could not reach more than 85,000 
children. Overall, the agency lost immediate contact with about 
a third of the migrant children.''
    It goes on. ``It is getting to be a business for some of 
these co-sponsors,'' said one of the people trying to place 
these folks, one of the caseworkers. But the caseworkers at 
those agencies said that the Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) regularly ignored obvious signs of labor 
exploitation. In interviews with more than 60 caseworkers, most 
independently estimate that about two-thirds of all 
unaccompanied children end up working full-time.
    It goes on. ``As the government we have turned a blind eye 
toward their trafficking,'' says Doug Gilmer, the head of 
Birmingham, Alabama Office of Homeland Security Investigations, 
an agency that often becomes involved with immigrant cases. 
``Mr. Gilmer teared up as he recalled finding 13-year-olds 
working in meat plants, 12-year-olds working at suppliers for 
Hyundai and Kia, and children who should have been in middle 
school working at commercial bakeries.''
    Mr. Secretary, do you know how many young girls are sex 
trafficked? Are you following any of those cases? Do you have 
HSI investigating that form of involuntary servitude because of 
your open border policies?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, our Center for Combatting 
Human Trafficking (CCHT) presents one of our greatest 
priorities within the Department of Homeland Security. It is 
precisely why I have taken two important steps. No. 1, 
identifying for the first time human trafficking and child 
exploitation as a priority for the Department of Homeland 
Security.
    Senator Johnson. But you are failing miserably. Four to 5 
million people, 1.4 million unknown gotaways. We have no idea 
who those people are, what kind of security they risk. You are 
not giving me any stats whatsoever in terms of the number of 
people that are human trafficked, how many young girls are sex 
trafficked. You do not have a clue. You would not even answer 
how many dead bodies, which is very well documented, at the 
border.
    Do you not care? Do you not have an ounce of human 
compassion for what your open border policy, the type of human 
depredations it is causing? You just sit there looking with a 
blank look on your face, and then you are saying it is a 
priority. If it is a priority, how did we let 4 to 5 million 
people in this country, in a little more than two years, 4 to 5 
million people? The population of almost 30 States. You are 
saying this is a priority?
    Mr. Secretary, you ought to resign.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Johnson. Mr. Secretary, 
I would like you to respond.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I have a number of responses. The 
Senator mischaracterizes our policies with respect to the 
security of the Southern Border. The Senator, of course, 
disparagingly mischaracterizes our commitment to address human 
trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable individuals, 
including children. The Senator misstates the data because he 
confuses encounters with unique individuals. But a number of 
things, I would have to say in addition to the Senator's 
statements, and I would look forward to doing so, Senator 
Johnson, subsequent to this hearing.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    Senator Scott, you are recognized for your questions.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SCOTT

    Senator Scott. First off, I want to thank Secretary 
Mayorkas for being here. I think all of us have been pretty 
frustrated with the unbelievable increase in the number of 
people on the border, but let me talk about a separate issue 
first. Let us talk about this disinformation,\1\ and you have 
read the stories and you have seen what Elon Musk is saying.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The disinformation chart appears in the Appendix on page 71.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There are a whole bunch of people in the Biden 
administration that have put out false narratives. They have 
said the border is secure. They have said Hunter Biden's laptop 
is not real. They said the Afghanistan withdrawal was 
successful. They said the Chinese spy balloon over the United 
States is not a threat. All that, as we all have found out, is 
untrue.
    Now we have learned, from the Twitter files, is that the 
government is working with and funds non governmental 
organizations (NGOs) to censor millions of Americans via big 
tech in direct violation of our First Amendment rights.
    My first question, Mr. Secretary, is how many people that 
work in Homeland Security have been accountable for breaking 
the law? First off, do you believe that the government looking 
at private messages on Twitter is a violation of the law?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we do not censor speech, so I 
want to nip that misimpression in the bud. We do not do that. I 
should say that the personnel of the Department of Homeland 
Security, the more than 260,000 personnel, not only have 
unflinching dedication to mission but also have unflinching 
loyalty to the law that they enforce.
    Senator Scott. Let us start real simple then. Is the border 
secure? Is Hunter Biden's laptop not real? Was the Afghanistan 
withdrawal a success? Was the Chinese spy balloon a problem? Do 
you believe any of those are--I mean, the Biden administration 
said all those things.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me say this. We are 
extraordinarily dedicated to the security----
    Senator Scott. No, let us go----
    Secretary Mayorkas. If I may.
    Senator Scott. Mr. Secretary, look, I am not going to 
suggest you are not dedicated, but let us go to the facts. The 
Biden administration has said all of those things, and now Elon 
Musk, and it has been clear, that the Biden administration has 
had access to private Twitter messages.
    Step one, do you believe it is right for the government to 
be reviewing private messages on Twitter?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if I may, I have to defer to 
law enforcement investigative agencies that might do that in 
the course and scope of a criminal investigation. I will share 
with you, as a former Federal prosecutor for 12 years, we do 
have tools at our disposal when we are investigating a criminal 
case, to do certain things. That is not within the remit of the 
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, so I can only 
speak now to the work that we, in the Department of Homeland 
Security, do.
    I will share with you, with respect to the Chinese spy 
balloon, if it is the one to which I think you refer, that we 
shot it down because of the concern we had with respect to its 
purpose and identity.
    Senator Scott. You are comfortable that other than a 
criminal investigation that nobody at Homeland Security was 
reviewing private messages on Twitter.
    Secretary Mayorkas. To my knowledge, Senator, that is the 
case. What I would like to do, because you raised a very 
important issue, because I can assure you that it is not our 
job, nor do we do it, to censor speech. What we do is we assess 
the threat landscape that this country confronts so that we can 
secure the homeland and protect the American people. That is 
what we do. Our Office of Intelligence and Analysis has a 
responsibility, which it fulfills, to understand that threat 
landscape, to understand what the threats are that we face----
    Senator Scott. How many people do this? How many people 
work at DHS doing this?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I would have to take a look at the 
number of personnel----
    Senator Scott. Do you have a guess?
    Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Within the Office of 
Intelligence and Analysis. I would rather not guess. But we 
have an extraordinary, relatively now, new leader of the Office 
of Intelligence and Analysis.
    Senator Scott. Nobody at Homeland Security has been 
reviewing text messages, or Twitter files, except in criminal 
investigations.
    Secretary Mayorkas. As I said before, Senator, I want to be 
perfectly accurate so that I address the concern that you have.
    Senator Scott. If they did, would you fire them?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, Senator, please. Allow me to 
explain. I do not know the specific contours of the law in this 
discreet area. I can assure you that we comply with the law, 
and any failures----
    Senator Scott. But do you think it is right?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Any failure to comply with the law 
would be addressed appropriately.
    Senator Scott. Do you think it is right, on a non-criminal 
investigation, for somebody to be looking at private Twitter 
files? Do you think that is right?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if you are asking for my 
opinion, which is not informed by the law, and please 
understand that as a former Federal prosecutor, precision and 
accuracy are quite important to me. I would be concerned with 
that activity. I would share your concern.
    Senator Scott. Has anybody that you know of ever been fired 
at Homeland Security for violating anybody's First Amendment 
rights?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I do not know the answer to your 
question, Senator.
    Senator Scott. Do you think anybody has?
    Secretary Mayorkas. All I can tell you is this, that I have 
tremendous admiration for the workforce of the Department of 
Homeland Security. I have tremendous admiration for their 
integrity. I have tremendous admiration for their dedication to 
mission. In fact, someone acted inappropriately, I can assure 
you that does not reflect the character of the entire 
workforce.
    Senator Scott. One that surprised me up here is the fact 
that it is very difficult for anybody to ever hold anybody 
accountable for violating the law. I mean, on so many areas I 
am just fascinated that we do not do that.
    Is anybody at Homeland Security, or is Homeland Security 
funding artificial intelligence (AI) technology that consists 
in any way of censoring Americans online?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, not to my knowledge. We do not 
do that. But when you speak of holding people accountable, 
Homeland Security Investigations, the main criminal 
investigative agency within the Department of Homeland 
Security, does an extraordinary job in holding people 
accountable for criminal activity, whether it is in drug 
trafficking, online child sexual exploitation, human 
trafficking, the theft of intellectual property. Many different 
areas, we hold perpetrators accountable, and also rescue 
victims and enable them to become survivors and move on with 
their life. I am incredibly proud to support those personnel.
    Senator Scott. I think you should. My only question is, 
have you ever held anybody accountable at the agency? I think 
the agency does a lot of great things. I guess my question is, 
does anybody ever get held accountable if they do something 
wrong?
    Secretary Mayorkas. They do indeed, and we have a number of 
means of holding people accountable. But people who are held 
accountable for wrongdoing do not represent the workforce of 
the Department of Homeland Security, and I cannot overstate 
that too much.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Scott.
    Senator Lankford, you are recognized for your questions.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LANKFORD

    Senator Lankford. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary 
Mayorkas, good to get a chance to visit with you again. We 
visited multiple times on this, and a lot of times that we have 
talked you laid out a new strategy, a new plan. The numbers you 
know well, of the dramatic increase in the number of people 
crossing our border, without lawful authorization to be able to 
do so. That has continued to accelerate. Unfortunately, from 
last month to this month, that has continued to increase again.
    We have talked about multiple times you have laid out 
different ideas, here is a new strategy we are going to have, 
here is a new strategy we are going to have. Each one has not 
slowed the flow down on it.
    You have laid out, from the Department, a new strategy 
again, that you hope to have implemented. The comment period 
has ended on that. It is the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways 
Regulation. It is out there. The comment period is now closed. 
You are going through those reviews. When will that be 
implemented?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator. If I may, because 
you said that, if I understood you correctly, that none of the 
measures that we have taken have reduced the flows. Actually, 
the measures that we announced and implemented on January 5th, 
with respect to individuals originating from Cuba, Haiti, 
Nicaragua, and Venezuela, has led to a more than 95 percent 
drop in the number of encounters of individuals from those four 
countries at our Southern Border.
    That is a model of building lawful pathways as well as 
delivering consequences.
    Senator Lankford. But as you and I both know, the numbers 
continue to climb, total numbers. From those countries the 
numbers have dropped dramatically, but the total numbers 
continue to go up. For this fiscal year, for just the six 
months of this fiscal year, it is about 160,000 higher than 
last year. Last year was 1 million more higher than the year 
before. The numbers still continue to climb, total numbers.
    What I am trying to figure out is for this Circumvention of 
Lawful Pathways Regulation that you are planning to implement 
across the board, do you expect this 95 percent reduction that 
you have seen in those identified countries, after it is 
implemented, and if so, when is it going to be implemented?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are adjudicating the 
comments that were received. There were many comments received 
in response to our notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR), and so 
it is very difficult during a comment period to talk about the 
promulgation of a final rule. It is our intention to promulgate 
a final rule, unless there are certain comments that dissuade 
us from doing so. That is not where we stand right now. We are 
moving as quickly as possible to adjudicate the public 
comments.
    That notice of proposed rulemaking, as well as what we 
announced on January 5th, reflect an overarching strategy of 
building lawful pathways so that people who qualify for relief 
can actually reach the United States in an orderly and safe 
way, consistent with the law, and then, as a complement to 
that, deliver consequences to those who do not avail themselves 
of the lawful pathways. That is the model that has worked in 
the past, that we intend to build upon, and we are indeed 
building upon.
    Senator Lankford. You have mentioned in the past that the 
asylum system or that the system is broken. This new rule that 
you are promulgating at this point deals directly with the 
asylum process on this. Is it your assumption that the asylum 
process itself is broken, that that is being abused?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, yes, the asylum system is 
broken, and our entire immigration system is broken. I think 
there is unanimity about that, and it is our continuing hope 
that Congress will reform a broken system.
    Senator Lankford. Is part of that the credible fear 
standard?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I am sorry?
    Senator Lankford. Is part of that the credible fear 
standard? Is that part that is actually broken as well, and if 
so, what would your recommendation be? What do you need at that 
point?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I think that the credible fear standard 
needs to be reviewed in the context of reviewing the entire 
asylum system. One of the most fundamental problems that we 
have sought to address through a regulation is the fact that 
the time in between when an individual actually first claims 
credible fear, the initial threshold in an asylum case, and the 
time of final adjudication of their asylum claim has 
historically been more than four years, and that reflects a 
broken system.
    Senator Lankford. Yes, it is a very broken system. I have 
gone through some of the numbers on this, and it is my concern, 
and through your budget documents on this. Let me give you some 
of the numbers here that your team has released out that is 
made publicly available on this. For the alternatives to 
detention, the backlog that is there, that they are actually 
getting to this next step from ICE, if they have received a 
notice to report of the parole plus alternatives of detention 
backlog, if they request to go to New York, currently right now 
their next hearing time in New York is in March 2033. It is 10 
years before they get that hearing, and that is not the final 
adjudication of it, as you know well. That is just the ICE 
portion of it, and then they get in line to go after that. We 
could be 15 to 18 years before their asylum claim is actually 
adjudicated.
    Part of my struggle on this is when I visited with USCIS 
folks on this, if they are in the non-detained docket, which I 
have a whole legal question on that, if they are in the non-
detained docket they are not getting to them at all, because 
their priorities on the detained docket, rightfully so because 
that is where the law requires them to be able to do, but the 
non-detained docket they are not getting to, do not know when 
they are going to get to. ICE has hearings set 10 years into 
the future to get to the first step of this process for them. 
This is clearly not working in the process.
    On top of all of that, I was shocked to see, in your budget 
request, a reduction in request for new detention space, or to 
maintaining detention space. While we have this incredible 
backlog in the non-detained docket, you are actually requesting 
fewer spaces when we have an acceleration in the number of 
people here. What am I missing?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Four responses, if I may. No. 1, we are 
not seeking a reduction in detention space. What we have done 
is placed the funding for additional detention space in a 
contingency fund so that we could draw upon it if and when the 
number of encounters require additional detention of 
individuals. We have moved it to a contingency fund for the 
reasons I outlined in my opening remarks.
    Senator Lankford. But then that could be used for other 
things at this point. But the detention numbers should be at 
epic levels, a historic number. I am little confused why we may 
need to flex that to other things when even your testimony 
earlier said you anticipate after Title 42 ends we will see a 
surge again of individuals. There is an anticipation of a surge 
of more individuals coming across the border. Yet you have 
moved the detention dollars to a contingency fund to say we may 
or may not need those.
    Secretary Mayorkas. That is speaking of fiscal year 2024, 
not fiscal year 2023. We are hopeful that the measures that we 
are taking will diminish the number of encounters at our 
Southern Border. The proposed rulemaking to which you referred 
originally, building upon the success of the program we 
announced and implemented on January 5th, it is our continuing 
hope that Congress will reform our immigration system.
    Senator, with respect to your other points, the time in 
between encounter and final adjudication has plagued our 
immigration system for years and years and years. It is why we 
are also seeking funding for more asylum officers, and this 
Administration, for the first time took action to reduce that 
time lapse by issuing a regulation that gave the authority to 
asylum officers to make the final asylum adjudication and bring 
that multi-year timeline down to under a year. The first 
administration to do so.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Lankford.
    Senator Rosen, you are recognized for your questions.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROSEN

    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chairman Peters, for holding this 
hearing, and thank you, Secretary Mayorkas, for testifying 
today and for your work. We are going to continue talking about 
terrorism at the border because I do have significant concerns 
about the security of our Southern Border, both as immigration 
continues to increase and as deadly drugs like fentanyl get 
trafficked into our country in large quantities, threatening 
all of our communities. I am also concerned about the potential 
for terrorists to take advantage of our porous border, 
including Iranian proxies.
    As you know, Homeland Security Investigations plays an 
important role in combatting criminal entities that threaten 
our national security interests, and over the past year it has 
successfully disrupted multiple Iranian threats, including 
recently seizing the illegal transfer of more than 1 million 
rounds of ammunition along with additional weapons. These are 
critically important efforts to combat terrorism abroad, but I 
do worry about whether we are also doing enough to stop this 
threat closer to home at our border.
    Mr. Secretary, I have two questions. First, can you speak 
to HSI's coordination with other U.S. agencies to ensure that 
preventing the illegal transfer of Iranian weapons and energy 
products is collaborative, a whole-of-government effort, and 
second, to follow up on Senator Hassan's question, given the 
increase in foreign extremist activity on U.S. soil, including 
Iranian assassination plots of now former U.S. Government 
officials, how is DHS working to combat threats from foreign 
terrorist organizations to the U.S. homeland, including by 
increasing security efforts at the U.S. Southern Border between 
ports of entry?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me assure that the safety 
and security of the American people is our highest priority. 
Homeland Security Investigations, an extraordinary criminal 
investigative agency within the Department of Homeland 
Security, works very closely with our partners across the 
Federal Government, not just the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation but the Drug Enforcement Administration, and 
other law enforcement agencies. Not only that, it is working on 
task forces with State, local, tribal, and territorial partners 
across the country.
    You correctly identify the adverse nation-state of Iran as 
a threat to the homeland, and we are very focused on this, not 
just in the way that you have identified but in the myriad of 
ways that it seeks to do us harm, to include the spread, for 
example, of disinformation.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, and I know how important it is to 
combat terrorism, but there are other fights we have to have 
too, and we have to address the rise of antisemitism. Of 
course, across America, Jews are facing an alarming rise in 
antisemitism. I do not have to tell you that. According to the 
FBI, antisemitic hate crimes increased by nearly 20 percent in 
2021. These antisemitic hate crimes represented the majority of 
religious-based hate crimes committed that year.
    This surge in antisemitism is affecting communities across 
our country, again, whether through terrorist attacks on our 
synagogues, antisemitic flyers being left outside of Jewish 
homes, businesses, or antisemitic conspiracy theories that are 
unfortunately spreading rampantly online.
    I appreciate that last November when I asked you in this 
Committee whether you would support the development of a 
national strategy to combat antisemitism you responded that you 
would. A few weeks later the White House announced the 
formation of the new interagency group to do just that, develop 
the first-ever national strategy to combat antisemitism, which 
will outline comprehensive actions on the Federal Government 
side that will undertake to root out this type of hate.
    Can you give us an update of how Department of Homeland 
Security is working with the White House to develop the 
national strategy and what are the Department's implementation 
plans to execute the strategy?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much for your 
support and encouragement of delivering on our commitment to 
address the incredibly troubling rise in antisemitism in this 
country. Yesterday I delivered remarks to the American Jewish 
Committee's Belfer Center to speak about the rise in 
antisemitism and the compelling need for all of us to work 
together to address it, and to address all forms of hate. There 
is no such thing as a small act of hate. When one group is 
targeted, we are all targeted.
    Here again, our Office of Intelligence and Analysis is 
assessing the threat landscape with respect to antisemitism and 
other forms of hate and its connectivity to violence and 
disseminating information to our partners so that communities 
are aware of the threat and prepared to respond to it. We 
support the investigation of acts of hate along with, and 
closely with, our law enforcement partners across the 
enterprise.
    Very importantly, we are also developing best practice 
models to identify when an individual who expresses hate is 
moving toward violence. It is the connectivity to violence that 
is where we, in the Department of Homeland Security, are most 
intensely focused.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I agree that recognizing and 
disseminating info to partners within each of our communities 
is key, so I appreciate that.
    Speaking of partners and risk formulas, I want to talk 
about program formulas and risk ratings in the short amount of 
time I have left, so I am going to go a little bit quickly 
here. We have the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) 
formula and the Special Event Assessment Ratings (SEAR) 
designation. Those are both processes that I believe are in 
need of significant reform to better reflect the actual risks 
to our communities.
    The SEAR determine the level of Federal support that you 
provide to high-risk events. For Nevada, this fall we have the 
Formula One race, and next January or February--I do not know 
the date exactly--we have the Super Bowl. Of course, we have 
lots of other things going on, and so it is really important 
that we update the UASI and the SEAR ratings.
    What are you doing--if I can take this off the record, I 
see that my time is up, and I know there are others behind me--
to address the mismatch between the risks to a special event 
and the Homeland Security support that State and local law 
enforcement are receiving to keep attendees in surrounding 
communities safe.
    I know I have gone over my time, so I will take that off 
the record, but will look forward to that remark.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Rosen. Do you want a 
quick response?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Very quickly, and I will build upon it, 
but thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have directed review of both the 
SEAR rating process and the UASI risk formula process. I asked 
our Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) to look at the 
UASI and other grant programs. Our risk formula has not been 
updated for many years.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you very much.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Rosen.
    Senator Marshall, you are recognized for your questions.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MARSHALL

    Senator Marshall. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning 
Secretary Mayorkas.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Good morning.
    Senator Marshall. With last night's border crossing numbers 
you have broken another record, hitting well over 5 million 
illegal border crossings under your watch, and the American 
people believe that this Administration still has no plan to 
address the issue.
    The safety and security of families is the No. 1 concern I 
hear from my parents, from my family, from people up here in 
the Senate. You made every community a border community. The 
increase in fentanyl deaths and skyrocketing crime proves that, 
300 people dying every day in America from fentanyl poisoning, 
a plane crashing every night.
    I am concerned that we have no idea who is coming into our 
country. Since the beginning of fiscal year 2023, Border Patrol 
has encountered 70 illegal aliens who are listed in the 
Terrorist Screening Data base. In fiscal year 2022, 98 illegal 
aliens on the Terrorist Watch List were encountered at the 
southern border.
    Do you know how many terrorists included in this database 
have crossed our Southern Border and are currently residing in 
our country?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me assure you that the 
safety and security of the American people is the highest 
priority of the Department of Homeland Security and my 
highest----
    Senator Marshall. There is a big difference between 
priority and accomplishments and doing what you are supposed to 
do, so can you answer my questions about the terrorists that 
have crossed the Southern Border that are still in this 
country?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Let me assure you, Senator, first of 
all we work tirelessly, around the clock----
    Senator Marshall. I understand that. You are going to 
answer the question?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Let me----
    Senator Marshall. I work tirelessly. You work tirelessly. 
Americans work tirelessly. But our country is under attack and 
we are not safe. Do you have any idea how many terrorists have 
crossed the Southern Border that are still in our country? I 
assume that you do not.
    Let us go to the next question. Under your leadership this 
Administration deported fewer illegal aliens than any other in 
modern American history. However, your budget reveals there are 
over 5 million aliens on the non-detained docket for 
deportation, 5 million. Of those 5 million there are 400,000 
convicted criminal aliens residing in this country. Let me say 
that number again--400,000 convicted criminal aliens residing 
in this country. Your budget requests only enough money to 
remove seven percent of those people.
    How do you justify allowing nearly a half a million 
convicted criminal aliens to remain in this country, in our 
American communities, and how does that keep American citizens 
safe to permit known criminals to remain in the country?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, a number of things, if I may.
    Senator Marshall. I would rather have the short answer, on 
this question.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I am going to give you----
    Senator Marshall. Lock in on this question if you can, 
please.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I am going to give you a short answer, 
and it has multiple parts because there are multiple responses. 
No. 1, you are not accounting for the $4.7 billion contingency 
fund that we propose for fiscal year 2024. No. 2, this 
Administration has removed more aggravated felons per month 
than the prior administration. No. 3, when you cite the removal 
numbers, you are excluding the fact that we are obligated to 
enforce Title 42 of the United States Code, the public health 
authority----
    Senator Marshall. Of those 400,000 convicted criminals 
aliens, how many do you plan on removing?
    Secretary Mayorkas. We are going to focus our efforts on 
the safety and security of the people, and remove any 
individual that presents a public safety threat to the fullest 
extent that our resources permit.
    Senator Marshall. Do you feel like leaving any of those 
400,000 terrorists inside our country makes us more safe or 
less safe?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, first of all, you have an 
inaccurate factual premise to your question.
    Senator Marshall. You are saying there is not 400,000 
convicted criminal aliens remaining in the United States?
    Secretary Mayorkas. We are focused on enforcing the law in 
the service of the American people.
    Senator Marshall. Do your job. Listen, my next question, 
according to documents released under the Freedom of 
Information Act, you have used your private email for official 
business. How often do you use private email for official 
business and how are you following the DHS policy on the use of 
non-DHS email accounts for official business?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Your assertion is false, Senator, and 
let me share something with you, because you mentioned 
something about your parents, and I am going to have a point of 
personal privilege.
    Senator Marshall. Then I went all my time back. If we are 
getting a lecture from the Secretary then I want you to answer 
my questions, not give me lectures. You are not using your 
personal email for official business. You deny that.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if somebody errantly sends me 
an email on my personal email that should have been sent to my 
work email, I forward it to my work email. That is what I do. I 
fulfill my responsibilities scrupulously, and I have 100 
percent confidence in the integrity of my actions.
    Senator Marshall. I appreciate the answer. Thank you. I 
have one more point I would like to make here.
    The Secure Fence Act mandated that the Secretary of DHS--
that would be you--achieve operational control of our borders. 
Mr. Secretary, our borders are not under control. Mr. 
Secretary, you are derelict in your duties. I would be derelict 
to not do something about this, and that is why I have a draft 
resolution here that I intend to introduce in the coming days 
that would require the Senate to take a vote of no confidence 
on Secretary Mayorkas.
    As I have stated on the record before, I stand at the ready 
to receive articles of impeachment from the House and conduct 
an impeachment trial in this body. But in the meantime I think 
the Senate must show our colleagues in the House that we have 
had enough of the failures from the Department of Homeland 
Security and believe that the Secretary is not fit to 
faithfully carry out the duties of his office. I would like to 
insert this into the record,\1\ Mr. Chairman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The sense of the Senate Resolution appears in the Appendix on 
page 95.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Chairman Peters. Without objection.
    Senator Marshall. Thank you, and I yield back.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Marshall.
    Senator Carper, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARPER

    Senator Carper. Mr. Secretary, you were trying to say 
something in response to something Mr. Marshall was asking you, 
and you were not given that opportunity. Take a minute and just 
respond, please.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you very much, Senator. I think I 
will elect not to.
    Senator Carper. All right. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member 
Paul, fellow colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to 
serve on this Committee for a long time, before I get into my 
questions I want to just take a moment to acknowledge Secretary 
Mayorkas' leadership of the Department of Homeland Security. 
When I talk about integrity, I often say if you have it, 
nothing else matters. If you do not have it, nothing else 
matters. Secretary Mayorkas has it. He is principled. He is a 
thoughtful individual, and one with an incomparable work ethic, 
who understands the complexities of DHS and the threats that 
our country faces.
    It is hard for us to imagine what his job is like, day in 
and day out. I am grateful to him for doing it. I also want to 
say that I know he deeply cares, not just about DHS, the 
Department and its mission, but most of all for its people. He 
has dedicated himself to serving our Nation for decades, and in 
turn sacrificed what I am sure to be invaluable time with his 
wife and their children. Furthermore, he has worked tirelessly 
to advance the security and well-being of our country.
    I want to take a moment to ask my colleagues here today to 
treat the Secretary with the respect he deserves. I was raised, 
and my guess is that most of the folks on this Committee were 
raised to treat other people the way we want to be treated. I 
would not treat anybody the way that I have seen you treated 
before in other committees, and again here by at least one of 
our colleagues today.
    I want to talk about root causes and ask you about root 
causes if I could. We focus a lot on the symptoms of the 
problems at our borders, and it is important that we do so. But 
it is also critically important that we address the root cause 
of why people are arriving, and are continuing to arrive at our 
Southern Border.
    This past February, as you know, Mr. Secretary, I led, 
along with Senator Hassan, a bipartisan, bicameral 
congressional delegation to Mexico, to Guatemala, and to 
Honduras. One of the main takeaways from our codel was the 
importance of strengthening the rule of law and addressing 
corruption issues. Until we address both of these push factors 
we are not going to see the kind of return on our investment 
that we need in this region, as people continue to arrive at 
our borders 10, 20, 30 years from now.
    Secretary Mayorkas, with that in mind can you please speak 
to efforts you are taking to foster regional partnerships in 
the Western Hemisphere and how the Department is addressing 
migration challenges from the region, please.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator, and thank you for 
your opening comments.
    The migration challenge that we are encountering at the 
Southern Border is not excusive to the Southern Border of the 
United States. It is a challenge that is gripping the entire 
hemisphere. We have a level of migration throughout the Western 
Hemisphere, in fact throughout the world, that is at its peak 
since World War II.
    A regional challenge requires a regional solution, and we 
are working very closely with our partners to the south to 
address the reasons why people leave--violence, poverty, 
authoritarian regimes, public corruption, and the like. We are 
seeking to address the root causes of why people leave their 
homes, as well as to work with these countries, our partner 
countries to the south, to build lawful pathways, to have them 
build the capability to enforce their laws of humanitarian 
relief, as well as their laws of consequences to enforce their 
respective borders. This requires a collective action.
    Last week I was in Panama to work with our Panamanian and 
Colombian partners. We had a trilateral meeting to address the 
challenge of the Darien, the very treacherous land between 
Panama and Colombia, where people are beginning to migrate 
north, ultimately seeking to come to the United States, because 
we are the greatest country in the world and the land of 
opportunity, and we have 10 to 11 million open jobs in the 
United States. I hear from employers across the political 
spectrum the need for labor, and that is a message that is 
transmitted and exploited by smugglers.
    This is a regional problem, it requires a regional 
solution, and we are working with our partners to the south to 
deliver it.
    Senator Carper. Thank you. Thanks for that response.
    The President's budget requests, I think it is about $865 
million for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
budget, and for the immigration services that they offer, in 
order to address issues like the increasing asylum caseloads, 
processing times for immigration applications, and improving 
refugee processing.
    On a personal note, this issue is something that I hear 
about a lot from my constituents in Delaware. We hear a lot 
about it from our businesses in Delaware and across the country 
about the desire to have people come to work. We have 10 
million jobs today where nobody is showing up to do the work, 
and we hear from businesses all the time who say, ``There are 
people in other countries who would like to come and do these 
jobs. Why can't we allow them to do that?'' and I think that is 
a pretty good question to ask.
    But on a personal note, what I hear a lot, as well, is 
folks at home have been facing delays in processing times with 
routine applications as well as for origin and humanitarian 
applications relating to Afghanistan and the Ukraine.
    Mr. Secretary, I believe you are a former director of 
USCIS. Can you speak to the importance of getting that agency 
the necessary resources it needs to carry out its many missions 
and how this budget request will address some of the challenges 
at that agency?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration Services administers our country's legal 
immigration system. It is predominantly funded through the fees 
it receives from individuals applying for immigration benefits, 
and the law provides that every two years the agency is to 
recalibrate its fee structure according to adjusting costs.
    The agency, under the prior administration, was absolutely 
gutted and did not issue a new fee rule to rebalance its 
finances according to its financial needs. It is why a proposed 
fee rule has been issued and we are receiving and adjudicating 
comments for the first time in more than six years and why we 
seek supplemental funding for the agency in the President's 
fiscal year 2024 budget.
    Senator Carper. Thanks. My time has expired. Can I ask a 
question for the record, Mr. Chairman? It will take just 15 
seconds.
    Chairman Peters. You may proceed.
    Senator Carper. Thanks very much. Mr. Secretary, how will 
this budget request from this Administration help address the 
retention and recruitment of the workforce and support the 
efforts to improve employee morale across the various DHS 
components? That is a question for the record, if you would 
respond for the record. Not now.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Carper.
    Senator Romney, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROMNEY

    Senator Romney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have to 
note, at the outset, Mr. Secretary, that you described the 
hemisphere-wide concern and a desire to address some of the 
root causes that encourage people to leave their countries and 
come to ours.
    I would note that that is an impossible task. The United 
States of America is always going to be a more attractive place 
for people to come live than in the countries that you are 
describing. We have a stronger economy. People have much better 
lives here, much healthier lives, and so forth. The idea that 
we are going to somehow solve the root causes in all of Latin 
America of corruption, of the kind of military threats going 
on, that is just not going to happen.
    We are going to have to secure our border, and I would 
anticipate that if we continue to have the kind of global 
warming that we have been having, that there is going to be an 
even great demand to move into our country. We are going to 
have to secure our border. We are going to try to help other 
countries to the extent we can, and encourage them to adopt 
policies that will make them more likely to be successful and 
to have less pressure to send people to our country, but they 
are still going to keep coming here. I presume you agree with 
that. There is always going to be, during our lifetime, a huge 
demand for people coming into our country from Latin America.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I do agree with that, and I----
    Senator Romney. OK. All the talk about we need to address 
root causes, it is like come on, guys. This is taking our eye 
off the ball, which is we need to have our borders secure.
    Give us a grade. How are we in terms of securing our 
border? Our Southern Border first. Is it an A, B, C, D, E, or 
F, in terms of the security of America's Southern Border, is it 
an A or an F? Where do you grade it?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
    Senator Romney. I am looking for a letter.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it is not so straightforward.
    Senator Romney. Sure it is. We know how many people are 
coming across. Are we doing a great job or is it still failing?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the issue of addressing the 
root causes is not exclusive----
    Senator Romney. No. I have a question, which is can you 
grade how secure our Southern Border is--an A through F?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are dedicating our 
resources to achieve the maximum possible effect of them.
    Senator Romney. Are we succeeding? Is it an A, or is it a 
B, a D? Where are we in terms of the number of people coming 
across the border? For instance, we have gaps in a wall. That 
is like, why would you not just want to complete the wall, for 
Pete's sake? Complete the fencing and make sure that we are, in 
every way we can, securing it, at least physically, as well as 
the other sources that we have.
    But you are not willing to give it a grade. I am. It is an 
F. It is clearly an F. Do you disagree?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I have actually approved 
almost 130 projects for the closing of the gaps and the 
completion of gates on the wall. I understand your concern and 
I want to return to the fundamental point that addressing the 
root causes is not exclusive of securing our border. It is in 
addition to it, as a complement of, and it is not about 
eliminating migration in its entirety. I agree with you. But it 
is about reducing the level of migration so people who do not 
want to leave their countries of origin actually have the 
capacity to remain and build a life for themselves there.
    Senator Romney. We cannot solve poverty here. We cannot end 
crime here, in our own country. The idea that we are going to 
do it in dozens of countries across Latin America and reduce 
the desire of people to come to America is just not realistic. 
Let us devote our resources to securing our border.
    The second topic which is our asylum system. Is that a 
broken system, from your standpoint? We have 1.6 million people 
who are in line for adjudication on their asylum claim. These 
claims would take years to process. Is this system working? Do 
we need new legislation? Do we need to change our asylum system 
somehow? How do you grade our asylum system?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, our asylum system is broken. 
Our entire immigration system is broken and in desperate need 
of reform, and it has been so for years and years. It is why 
the President submitted, on his very first day in office, 
proposed legislation to fix it.
    Senator Romney. Good. Thank you.
    Let me just turn to one more topic in the short time I 
have. Last Congress, the minority staff on this Committee 
issued a report highlighting failures at DHS and HHS to 
adequately vet and monitor unaccompanied children that are 
coming into the country. Over 290,000 such children entered the 
country during 2021 and 2022. Three-quarters of them were 
released to sponsors. Many of the children, as we understand 
now, released to sponsors under the program have reportedly 
been trafficked into forced labor or even sexual abuse.
    What are you doing to address this problem? It is 
increasingly in the public awareness. Are we making progress 
here? What is happening?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, so if I may, Senator, our 
responsibility, by law, is to turn an unaccompanied child over 
to Health and Human Services within 72 hours. We are not 
involved in the process of when HHS turns that unaccompanied 
child over to a sponsor, a family member, or approved sponsor. 
That is not where we are involved.
    But one important measure that we have taken is our 
worksite enforcement strategy is actually now focused on 
employers, unscrupulous employers who exploit individuals 
because of their vulnerability, including underaged----
    Senator Romney. Do you need legislation there? Should we 
increase the penalties for employers that are exploiting 
underage children in the workforce?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I would welcome the 
opportunity to work with you to look into that, to understand 
the penalties and whether, in fact, enhanced penalties are 
warranted. I would welcome the opportunity to work with you on 
that.
    Senator Romney. I would also note that my guess is that if 
we talk to HHS they will say, ``This is not entirely our 
responsibility.'' I mean, both agencies are going to point to 
the other. I would hope that both agencies will say, ``We are 
going to work together, across agency, to make sure that this 
problem is eliminated to the extent it possibly can be.''
    Secretary Mayorkas. Most certainly, and Senator, if I 
created a misimpression that I was pointing the finger, I am 
sorry for that, because this is a collective responsibility.
    Senator Romney. Thank you.
    Secretary Mayorkas. This is a responsibility of the entire 
government and all of society.
    Senator Romney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Romney.
    For members' benefit votes have been called. I am going to 
be leaving temporarily to vote, but I am going to recognize 
Senator Blumenthal for his questions, and he will chair this 
hearing until my return.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BLUMENTHAL

    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Senator Peters. Thank you 
for being here, Mr. Secretary.
    When we were last together before the Senate Judiciary 
Committee I asked you about name, image, and likeness benefits 
for international students here on visas. The prime example at 
the University of Connecticut is Adama Sanogo, who helped the 
Huskies cinch the national championship, and yet he is unable 
to realize any benefits from his great performance, his really 
enormous contribution to the team. That is because of a rule 
that I think you said you were going to review very soon. Have 
you reviewed it, and what is your conclusion?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I have directed the review of 
that rule because of the concern that you expressed. I will 
have to circle back with my colleagues and report out to you of 
its status. I am sorry I do not have that information this 
morning.
    Senator Blumenthal. Can you commit that it will be in a 
week? Ten days?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I commit to you we will deal with it 
with due urgency because we do owe you a response, and I 
understand the predicament it places athletes such as the one 
you mentioned.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. I read recently about the 
very substantial numbers of children who are still separated 
from their families. They were separated as part of the Trump 
administration policy that struck me, and I think the entire 
nation, as cruel and unfounded, and yet they are still unable 
to rejoin their families. I know you have a task force that is 
looking at this issue. Can you give us a number as to children 
who remain separated from their families or parents, and what 
is being done to reunite them?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the policy of the prior 
administration to separate children from their parents was one 
of the most heinous policies in our recent memory, most 
certainly. I am very proud of the work of the Family 
Reunification Task Force (Task Force), which I am honored to 
lead. We have reunited more than 600 children with their 
families. I do not have, now at my disposal, the precise number 
of children who were separated that still need to be reunited.
    This is an effort that we are not undertaking alone as a 
government. We are working with nonprofit organizations that 
began to identify separated families before we assumed office 
in January 2021. They are doing extraordinary work. We will not 
cease doing this work until we complete the task of reuniting 
the separated families.
    Senator Blumenthal. How many remain to be reunited?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I will have to circle back with you, 
Senator, to provide that information to you.
    Senator Blumenthal. I would appreciate that.
    On an issue of local concern, but I think also should be 
national concern, you may be familiar with Plum Island, a very 
rare resource in Long Island Sound. It has been used for the 
Plum Island Animal Disease Center. It is also home to pristine 
beaches, miles of natural shoreline, critical habitat for 
hundreds of plants and animals. It is a DHS facility, and it is 
being relocated to Kansas.
    I would like your commitment that DHS will commit to 
working with me and my colleagues to find a long-range 
conservation outcome for Plum Island, particularly, if 
possible, that it be designated a national wildlife preserve of 
some kind, either a national park or similarly designated so 
that it can be preserved.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you have my commitment.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you.
    The Afghan Adjustment Act, which I strongly support, would 
address the anomalous situation of Afghan refugees. Our former 
translators and guards, security people who worked with us, put 
their lives on the line, have been brought to this country in a 
parole status, which, unfortunately, now is ending. I am urging 
you to extend the parole status of Afghan evacuees and do it in 
enough time to advance the expiration of that status to avoid 
uncertainty and anxiety. Is that something you have under 
consideration?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it certainly is. Operation 
Allies Welcome, which we led in a coordinated effort across the 
government, is a great source of pride for us, to bring to 
safety in the United States individuals who stood alongside our 
armed forces in Afghanistan. We support the Adjustment Act, and 
we are indeed looking at the period of parole, its upcoming 
expiration, and whether indeed that should be extended.
    Senator Blumenthal. There are, as you know, more than 
88,000 Afghans evacuated, flown out of the country and 
resettled in the United States, and about 90 percent of them 
were granted parole for only two years. They live in this 
netherworld of immigration status where it is difficult for 
them to make plans, to get jobs, to even get housing. The 
sooner you can extend that parole status, the better, as I am 
sure you understand.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I most certainly do, Senator.
    Senator Blumenthal. Let me ask you about FEMA's disaster 
response in Puerto Rico. Tens of billions of dollars have been 
obligated to Puerto Rico to rebuild and repair the island after 
the recent devastating hurricanes. Hurricane Maria in 2017, 
involved FEMA allocating about $28 billion, yet Hurricane Fiona 
last year still left thousands of Puerto Ricans without power 
for days.
    In October, Senator Murphy joined me in a letter to FEMA, 
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and 
U.S. Department of Energy, urging these agencies to work 
together and with the government of Puerto Rico and its 
relevant institutions to rebuild Puerto Rico with long-term, 
resilient infrastructure. Puerto Rico has no representation in 
the U.S. Senate. Speaking on behalf of Puerto Rico, but really 
all of America, I think, on behalf of fellow Americans, do you 
commit to ensuring that FEMA will rebuild that infrastructure 
on the island of Puerto Rico with renewable resources and 
resiliency in mind?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I do. I know that FEMA 
Administrator Criswell traveled to Puerto Rico with Jennifer 
Granholm of the Department of Energy, the Secretary of the 
Department of Energy, and I have spoken with Governor Pierluisi 
of Puerto Rico, and you have my commitment.
    Senator Blumenthal [presiding.] Thank you. Thanks very 
much, Mr. Secretary.
    On behalf of the Chairman I call on Senator Hawley.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HAWLEY

    Senator Hawley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. 
Secretary, thanks for being here.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Good morning.
    Senator Hawley. Let us talk about the surge in child 
smuggling and child exploitation that is happening on your 
watch. Do you know the number of unaccompanied children who 
have come across the border on your watch?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I do not have that number at 
my disposal, but I can assure you that we are incredibly 
dedicated to the safety and security of those children.
    Senator Hawley. It does not appear so, based on what we are 
reading today in The New York Times, and seeing from numbers 
from your own office. The answer to my question, by the way, is 
345,807. That is the number of unaccompanied children who have 
come across the border, on your watch. Do you know what is 
happening to these children? Have you seen this report from The 
New York Times, ``Alone and exploited, migrant children work 
brutal jobs across the United States.'' Have you seen this?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I have, and let me share with 
you what we are doing.
    Senator Hawley. Have you seen these numbers? These are 
reports of trafficking and abuse of migrant children.\1\ You 
can see a massive surge that begins to happen when? Oh, when 
you come to office, in 2021. A huge surge. Reports of 
trafficking. Reports of neglect and abuse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Reports of Trafficking and Abuse of Migrant Children chart 
appears in the Appendix on page 72.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Let us look at a few of the details. This is absolutely 
unbelievable. I cannot believe this happens in the United 
States of America, in this day and age. This is from The New 
York Times. ``Thousands of children have ended up in punishing 
jobs across the country, working overnight in slaughterhouses, 
replacing roofs, operating machinery in factories, all in 
violation of child labor laws.''
    For example, there is a young girl named Carolina from 
Guatemala. She is 15 years old. What does she do? She packages 
Cheerios overnight at a factory. She says, ``Sometimes I get 
tired and I feel sick.'' The Times goes on, ``Her stomach often 
hurts. She was unsure if that was because of a lack of sleep or 
the stress of the incessant roar of the machines, or her own 
worry.''
    The Times goes on. ``Far from home, many of these children 
are under intense pressure to earn money. They have to send 
cash back home to their families while often being in debt to 
their sponsors,'' quote/unquote. For what? For smuggling fees, 
rent, and living expenses. One individual interviewed by The 
Times said this, and I am still quoting, ``It is the new child 
labor. You are taking children from another country and putting 
them into indentured servitude.''
    I could go on and on. The Times details, over a multi-month 
investigation, kid after kid, child after child, one 13-year-
old forced to wash hotel sheets in Virginia, kids running 
milking machines in Vermont, delivering meals in New York City, 
scrubbing dishes late at night, all in violation of our 
country's laws, all facilitated by your policies.
    Are you proud of this record?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the horrific exploitation of 
children is something that we do not condone. You are 
incorrectly attributing it to our policies. Let me share with 
you----
    Senator Hawley. Wait a minute. Look at the numbers. This 
massive surge began when you came to office. In your first year 
in office, first year, there was a 342 percent surge of 
unaccompanied children across the border.
    CBS reported that--and I am going to quote them now--``Mr. 
Biden's election, as well as policy changes announced by his 
Administration''--those would be your changes--``led smugglers 
to tell migrant youth they had a better chance of being allowed 
to stay in the United States than they had under Trump.''
    Meanwhile, you have lost track of tens of thousands of 
them. The Times also reviewed data that show the government 
could not reach more than 85,000 of these children, who they 
just turned over into the hands of smugglers. These are modern-
day slave traders, and you are just giving these children to 
them.
    What is going on? Why are you doing this?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, so of course there are a 
number of factual inaccuracies in your question, but let me 
address two lines of effort that we have to combat the scourge 
of exploitation.
    Senator Hawley. Why do we not start with why you enabled 
it? Can we start with that? Why is it that you have enabled 
345,000 children to be smuggled across this border and then 
sent into the hands of modern-day slave traders? In 2021, you 
made the decision to change Title 42 to allow unaccompanied 
children to come into the United States and then to be sent 
into the interior of the country. Under the last 
administration, children were reunited with their families in 
their home country. You changed that, and as soon as you 
changed it, the numbers exploded. That is your responsibility.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Quite a number of false statements, 
Senator.
    Senator Hawley. What is false about that statement?
    Secretary Mayorkas. If I can state what I have been trying 
to state, one of the significant policy decisions that we have 
made is to focus our worksite enforcement investigative 
efforts, our criminal investigative efforts, on unscrupulous 
employers that exploit individuals because of their 
vulnerabilities, and that includes underage workers.
    Senator Hawley. That is not what The New York Times 
investigation found.
    Mr. Chairman, I would just ask, at this point, I would like 
to enter into the record\1\ The New York Times article, ``As 
migrant children were put to work, U.S. ignored warnings.'' 
This is from April 17, 2023, this morning.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The article referenced by Senator Hawley appears in the 
Appendix on page 87.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Senator Blumenthal. Without objection.
    Senator Hawley. I would also like to enter into the 
record\2\ The New York Times article, ``Alone and exploited: 
Migrant children work brutal jobs across the U.S.'' This is 
from February 25, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ The article referenced by Senator Hawley appears in the 
Appendix on page 73.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Senator Blumenthal. Without objection.
    Senator Hawley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    What these articles show, Mr. Secretary, is that the 
Administration has done nothing but facilitate this crisis. You 
changed Title 42. You allowed hundreds of thousands of migrant 
children to come across the border, and then you made it worse. 
When it became a political crisis for you, when that huge surge 
of kids came across the border because you changed Title 42, 
when it became an optics crisis, what did you do? You began 
pressuring officials and agencies to skip the vetting process 
and get these kids out as soon as possible to sponsors who were 
not vetted.
    Here is The Times again. ``As shelters filled with 
children, the Administration began loosening vetting 
restrictions and urging case managers to speed the process 
along.'' You have, at every stage, facilitated this modern-day 
indentured servitude of minor children. Why should you not be 
impeached for this?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I look forward to discussing 
this issue further because you are misstating the facts so 
terribly.
    Senator Hawley. I am reading you the facts from articles in 
the news, and your usual modus operandi, what you are doing 
again today, was just to deny. Why have you permitted 345,000 
children to come into this country unaccompanied? Why have you 
permitted thousands of them to be abused and exploited?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, what we do is we enforce the 
law. But let me just say this.
    Senator Hawley. You are not.
    Secretary Mayorkas. It is stunning to me, stunning, to hear 
you say that the prior administration reunited children with 
their parents----
    Senator Hawley. Oh, I see. So this is their fault?
    You are not going to take any responsibility for the 
indentured servitude and exploitation of children that is 
happening on your watch. A moment ago you were crowing about 
the fact that you treated children so well, and yet we find 
tens of thousands of children who are forced to work as slaves 
because of your policies, and you turn around and blame a prior 
administration.
    Mr. Secretary, this is par for the course for you. You do 
it every time you appear before this Committee. You do it every 
time you appear before Congress. I, for one, am sick and tired 
of it, and thousands of children are in physical danger because 
of what you are doing. You should have resigned long ago, and 
if you cannot change course you should be removed from office.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Blumenthal. Senator Sinema.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SINEMA

    Senator Sinema. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, 
Secretary, for being here today.
    In 2022, we saw a record number of encounters at our 
Southwest Border, over 2.5 million individuals. While just 
under half of these migrants were removed under Title 42 
authorities, the current system had multiple points of failure 
throughout last year. In Arizona, local governments were forced 
to step in to provide emergency support to avoid street 
releases, and reassigned staff from other important roles to 
help manage the release of migrants from CBP custody.
    Earlier this month, I led a bipartisan congressional 
delegation to the Southwest Border in Cochise County, Arizona, 
where we met with local leaders to hear how the ongoing border 
crisis affects their communities. Their message was clear--this 
crisis puts our border communities in danger.
    We heard from Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels about the 
issue of cartels recruiting young American teens, some as young 
as 14 years old, for dangerous smuggling operations along the 
border, and the need for my recently reintroduced by 
legislation, the Combatting Cartels on Social Media Act. This 
legislation would establish and implement a national strategy 
to combat cartel recruitment activity on social media and other 
online platforms.
    The Administration's continued failures on the border put 
Arizona communities and our national security at risk. The 
ongoing influx of migrants puts serious strain on DHS 
resources, and it forces Border Patrol agents out of the field 
and into processing and administrative roles.
    With the Title 42 termination imminent, I remain concerned 
that DHS is not ready. This is the same sentiment that I 
expressed at this same hearing last year, and unfortunately no 
action has been taken between now and then to change my 
opinion, and more importantly, the opinion of leaders in border 
communities who will be left to manage the fallout.
    My first question for you, Secretary, I learned this 
morning that the Regional Center for Border Health, the only 
nongovernmental organization operating in Yuma County, received 
a denial of reimbursement for a facility that they have been 
operating since 2021, from FEMA and the Emergency Food and 
Shelter Program (EFSP) National Board. This denial could cause 
the Regional Center to shut down operations, which would be a 
disaster for Yuma County, but it would also be a disaster for 
Border Patrol.
    Will you commit to working with me to identify a path 
forward so that Yuma does not lose its only NGO providing 
support to these migrant families?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I am not familiar with the 
Emergency Food and Shelter Program application of the 
organization that you identify and the denial of their request 
for reimbursement. I commit to you to look into that with you 
and to work with you to address it as best as we can. We are 
very grateful for Congress' plus-up of the Emergency Food and 
Shelter Program to, I believe, a level of $800 million in 
total, and of course it is moving to the Shelter and Services 
Program in just a few months.
    Senator Sinema. Thank you, Secretary. As you know, I worked 
very hard to ensure that funding was included in our recent 
omnibus, but denying that funding to the Regional Border Health 
Center in Yuma will literally mean that there is zero 
assistance for anyone in Yuma County. I would like rapid 
follow-up to ensure that this community can continue to provide 
a safe transition and an orderly transition for those migrants.
    In the December 2022 migration surge due to the anticipated 
end of Title 42, Border Patrol encountered over 220,000 
migrants just in that month. Many of these migrants were 
quickly expelled back to Mexico because of agreements with 
Mexico to accept removed individuals from certain countries. 
Arizonans are concerned about the status of these agreements 
once Title 42 authorities are rescinded in just a few weeks. 
Losing these agreements will drive additional migration.
    Is DHS working with the State Department and the government 
of Mexico so that they continue to accept these nationals from 
these countries after Title 42 ends?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator Sinema, we are indeed working 
with the government of Mexico. We are in active discussions 
with them. We are not only working with the government of 
Mexico, but we are working with other partner countries 
throughout the region to address migration that is at a level 
that is gripping the entire hemisphere, not just the Southern 
Border of the United States. You are correct in focusing on a 
regional solution to what is clearly a regional challenge.
    Senator Sinema. On the Congressional Delegation (CODEL) 
that I recently led, Sheriff Dannels of Cochise County 
highlighted the dangers to his community associated with 
cartels targeting teenagers through social media apps. Mayor 
McCaa of Sierra Vista shared how a recent chase ended outside 
of a local school. My Combatting Cartels on Social Media Act 
will help DHS counter this threat, and it will work with social 
media companies to get carter recruiters off of their 
platforms. Arizona communities cannot wait for this to play out 
on its own through the legislative process.
    What is DHS doing today to solve this problem and protect 
American children and our border communities from this cartel 
criminal activity?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are taking it to the 
cartels in unprecedented ways. We are working our Homeland 
Security Investigations personnel. The criminal investigative 
arm of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has surged 
resources to address the cartels and the nefarious activity 
that they engage in, not just, of course, in Arizona, but 
across our Southern Border, on the Mexican side of that border, 
which is impacting our border communities.
    We have set up transnational criminal investigative units. 
For example, working with our Mexican counterparts and in other 
countries to address the cartels, to interdict them, their 
activities, to disrupt and dismantle their nefarious 
activities. The peddle in death and destruction, and we are 
working intensely to address them, and not alone, but also 
across this Administration and with our partners to the south.
    Senator Sinema. At a hearing last year in this Committee 
with social media executives I secured commitments from TikTok, 
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to share their cartel 
recruitment information with DHS. My question for you, 
Secretary, is will you increase DHS's engagement back with 
those social media companies to ensure that they are held to 
the word that they gave me in this hearing, and so they are 
doing their part to prevent cartels from recruiting teens along 
our Southwest Border?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, what we do is we disseminate 
information. We broadcast it widely with respect to the threat 
streams that we are encountering, so individuals and 
organizations can be alerted to those threat streams and take 
the action that they think is warranted. Social media 
companies, of course, have terms of use. They are responsible 
for whether or not particular communications remain or are 
taken off their site. What we do is we alert the American 
public, including the business sector, to the threat streams 
that we are addressing, so that they can take the action they 
deem appropriate.
    Senator Sinema. Is there any attempt by DHS to hold those 
companies accountable for taking action when they receive 
information about cartel recruitment on these social media 
platforms?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, that is not within our remit, 
but I look forward to studying your proposed legislation and 
continuing to work with our partners across the Administration 
to ensure that the cartels are addressed in every facet that we 
can.
    Senator Sinema. Mr. Chairman, I know my time has expired. I 
would just note that based on this communication it seems 
evident to me that Congress will have to take action and pass 
this legislation. The Administration is not interested in 
moving forward with that accountability without our 
legislation. I would encourage my colleagues to support the 
bill. Thank you.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thanks, Senator Sinema.
    Senator Lankford, and I am going to turn the gavel over to 
Senator Ossoff.
    Senator Lankford. Thank you. Secretary Mayorkas, thank you 
again for being here. We have obviously got lots of questions. 
There are lots of issues that are still out there, and I wanted 
to be able to drill down on a few others.
    The last time that you and I were speaking in this public 
setting before I had asked you about do we have a knowledge of 
the criminal record of individuals from the country that they 
are coming from. We know that they are on our Terror Watch 
List. Obviously we are aware of that. But of hundreds of 
thousands of people that we know nothing about, I asked you the 
question about do we have access to the criminal history of 
individuals that are released on parole, released on notice to 
appear (NTA), notice to report, all the different methods of 
releasing individuals into the country while we are awaiting a 
hearing. Do we know the criminal history of the country they 
are coming from?
    At that time you said you did not know at that point. I 
have not received an answer back yet. Do we know, at this 
point, if we have the criminal history from their home country 
before we are releasing them into our country?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, what we are doing--and I 
apologize if I failed to circle back with you--what we are 
doing is seeking to have additional countries engage in our 
biometric data-sharing program so that, in fact, the records of 
individuals are shared between the countries involved in the 
agreement. We are very focused on that. The concern that you 
expressed is one that we have indeed followed up on, and I look 
forward to speaking with you further about that.
    Senator Lankford. Obviously we have hundreds of thousands, 
up to millions of people that are current in the country 
awaiting a hearing, that are traveling at will around the 
country right now, that we do not know the criminal history of 
those individuals, and it is one of the threats that we do face 
currently, that we may very well have individuals with 
extensive criminal histories in their home country because 
people are coming from all over the world, and we just do not 
know who they are and do not have a process because we are not 
detaining those.
    We have a best guess here, about 600,000 migrants who have 
yet to receive a notice to appear. Does that number sound 
correct to you? I am not going to hold you to an exact number, 
but the best that we are trying to do the records on, that they 
have gone through the alternatives to detention, they had a 
parole plus the alternative to detention, a court said that is 
not a legal process to be able to go. But we think there is 
about 600,000 that have not received a notice to appear. Is 
that correct?
    That would be helpful to know, because my next question on 
that is what are we doing to track down those 600,000 people to 
be able to get them a notice to appear? Do we know where they 
are, and are we getting them any kind of records, or do we not 
have a record?
    We also heard that once the parole plus alternatives to 
detention was put out there, that was announced that you had 
announced that in one of our other hearings a year ago. But it 
is now our understanding that that program is only in place for 
about 90 days per individual, that after 90 days they no longer 
have the alternative to detention tracking on them anymore. Is 
that correct, that they have alternatives to detention when 
they are released at the border, but that stays in place for 
three months and then they do not have any kind of tracking 
method on them after that?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it is my understanding that is 
on the profile of the individual, for the reasons that you 
expressed, and if, in fact, one type of alternative to 
detention is no longer continued we can, in fact, impose an 
alternative to that. For example, sometimes we can move from an 
ankle bracelet, which is one form of alternative to detention, 
to a smartphone that actually does not allow people to make 
calls but only to receive a message from Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement as a tracking device. That is a second type 
of alternative to detention. Two, an obligation to check in 
with Immigration and Customs Enforcement periodically, at 
whatever cadence the particular case warrants.
    There are a number of different alternatives to detention, 
and they can shift according to the----
    Senator Lankford. Help us with the facts and figures on 
that, because right now it is our understanding that a very 
small percentage of people are actually given ankle bracelets, 
that it switched to this phone, which we understand now does 
not make calls. It is a tracking GPS device.
    It is our understanding that those individuals that got 
that phone now, after 90 days, are turning that in or they are 
not doing that, doing check-in. What we are trying to figure 
out is how many people are actually checking in, that we 
actually know where they are? We are having a very difficult 
time getting that number.
    There are some numbers that we know that you have and that 
your team has to be able to track, that we are not getting 
access to it. This is not a partisan issue. This is just a 
congressional issue. When I go to your information center here, 
your command center here in Washington, DC, they are literally 
tracking to the hour what is happening on the border. When we 
try to get numbers it is, ``We will get them to you when we get 
them to you.'' That is a challenge for all of us, on this, and 
would not be acceptable for any administration, but we are not 
getting basic facts and data still, or if we are getting them, 
we are getting them very delayed.
    It is a major issue to us, just to be able to get facts and 
data. At this point we want to see what is happening on the 
border. I hear from you, you want to be able to see that as 
well. We want to see the implementation of this rule that you 
have out at this point, to be able to get to the comment 
period. But May 11th is coming very quickly, as you know full 
well, and the clock is ticking. When Title 42 ends, and that 30 
percent or so that you are turning around then accelerates into 
the country, a bad situation is about to get much worse, and 
even some on your own team have estimated we may be at 11,000 
people a day illegally crossing the border. Those are numbers, 
literally, our country has never seen, and this is a growing 
issue on this. So help us with facts and data.
    You have also mentioned that you have an anticipation that 
Congress will pass something that deals with asylum, that deals 
with all the other areas. I would encourage you and your team 
to also make proposals on that and say these are the things 
that we need to be able to secure the border. We are working on 
what we need, and what we believe will actually work as well, 
but we receive very little back from your team to say this is 
what we need to be able to make sure that we can actually 
secure things.
    We are doing things administratively. This is what we need 
legislatively. Does that make sense?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, it does, Senator. I look forward 
very much to working with you and presenting proposals to fix 
our immigration system, to build on the proposal that the 
President sent to Congress on his very first day in office.
    Senator Lankford. That proposal was universally not 
accepted because it actually opened the border up more. If that 
is the proposal we are talking about, we are in trouble. Now, 
two years later, the regulatory piece that you are trying to 
put in place right now with the comment period is very 
different than what the President proposed on his first day of 
office, as you know well.
    If this is about the regulatory piece that you are 
proposing, and going through the rulemaking process now, we 
want to talk about how we can actually fix that to be able to 
make sure we close the loopholes and actually secure the 
border. Thank you.
    Chairman Peters [presiding.] Thank you, Senator Lankford.
    Senator Ossoff, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR OSSOFF

    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, 
thank you for joining us today. Nice to see you again.
    I want to talk about fire safety for a moment. The Senate 
is currently considering reauthorization of a critical fire 
safety grant program that is administered by DHS and FEMA. 
Among the legislation that is moving toward the floor, the 
Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program and the Staffing 
for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program, and 
the Chairman has done outstanding work shepherding that 
legislation through this Committee.
    I was in Columbus, Georgia, a couple of weeks ago, Mr. 
Secretary, meeting with Chief Scarpa and his team of 
firefighters there, and talking about how they have relied upon 
Assistance to Firefighter Grants and Federal support to ensure 
the health and safety of their firefighters and paramedics and 
to ensure that timely emergency response can be deployed into 
the community when families lives are at risk and businesses 
are at risk of catastrophic damage to property.
    One of the issues that was raised to me--and I am sure you 
have heard this before--is that for smaller localities and 
jurisdictions the process of applying for these Assistance to 
Firefighter Grants can be onerous and intimidating. It is a 
difficult and lengthy process. As you know, Mr. Secretary, it 
is oftentimes these smaller localities and less-well-resourced 
jurisdictions that most urgently need that kind of help.
    I would like for your team to connect with mine and see if 
we can work together--it may not even require any legislation--
to look at how this program can be administered so that smaller 
localities with less resources, who do not have full-time, 
permanent grant-writing staffs, can nevertheless compete for 
these Federal funds. Can we work together on that?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Most certainly, Senator. I should say 
that this issue that you raise is something that we are already 
focused on across the entire spectrum of our grant programs. 
Organizations, whether it be in the Nonprofit Security Grant 
Program (NSGP), or firefighters, the smaller departments, that 
do not necessarily have the resources to hire a grant 
applicant, we have to make sure that our grant programs are 
simple and accessible so that we achieve fairness in the 
distribution of those funds. I look forward to working with you 
on this.
    Senator Ossoff. You bring to mind something that I think 
you could do at this hearing that would be really constructive. 
So you know, Mr. Secretary, that last year we had a wave of 
threats targeting Historically Black Colleges and University 
(HBCUs) in Georgia and across the country. In Georgia, in the 
last few months, we have seen a shocking increase in 
antisemitic incidents--the front yards of Jews in Dunwoody and 
in Athens, hateful pamphlets, threats on the phone.
    Now DHS runs certain programs and creates opportunities, 
Nonprofit Security Grants, for example, for houses of worship 
and for institutions of higher education to access funds and 
resources and information to help them stay safe.
    I am going to send this clip to the folks at faith-based 
institutions and educational institutions in Georgia. Can you 
just explain to them right now what resources the Department 
makes available to them?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. There are multiple. One, we have a 
Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds organizations to 
assist them in securing their facilities for the very reason 
that you described, Senator. I have actually convened a Faith-
Based Security Advisory Council to advise us on the needs of 
faith-based organizations with respect to their safety and 
security, because of the rise in hate in this country, whether 
it be bomb threats against Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities or whether it acts of antisemitism, or other forms 
of hate. We have seen a number of different strains of hate, 
and their connectivity to violence, which is where we really 
become engaged, only, and sadly and tragically, increase in the 
United States.
    We also share best practices as to how organizations can 
become more secure and safer without becoming less welcoming 
for their congregations and their communities.
    I think, following the bomb threats against Historically 
Black Colleges and Universities, I convened the presidents of 
the HBCUs to discuss the issue of safety and security with 
them. If I am not mistaken, Senator, for the first time two 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities are recipients of 
the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. This is an area of 
intense focus of ours for the reasons you identify.
    Senator Ossoff. that is encouraging because I know that 
something you and I discussed previously was improving the 
outreach and consistency of outreach to HBCUs so they could 
avail themselves of these opportunities.
    Mr. Secretary, last May, during a hearing on the Southern 
Border, I questioned Assistant Secretary Contreras of the 
Department of Health and Human Services on the humane treatment 
of migrant children in HHS custody. A question for you is when 
unaccompanied migrant children are encountered by CBP, before 
transfer to HHS custody, how is the Department ensuring that 
the facilities where they stay and the treatment that they 
receive is safe, humane, and takes into account the unique 
needs of unaccompanied minors?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Allow me to share with you, Senator, 
that our Border Patrol agents do nothing short of heroic work 
in fulfilling their responsibilities along the border, under 
tremendous challenge, a challenge that has been the subject of 
much of the questioning of me today. It is a challenge that are 
working tirelessly to meet successfully. We are very focused on 
the safety and well-being of the individuals who come into our 
custody, and that, of course, includes unaccompanied children.
    I have said before that a Border Patrol station is no place 
for a child to remain for any length of time. We are very 
focused on abiding by our legal obligation to transfer an 
unaccompanied child from our custody into the care of Health 
and Human Services within 72 hours. Our personnel do 
extraordinary work in addressing the needs of those children 
while they are in our custody, and moving them safely to HHS 
for ultimate disposition.
    Senator Ossoff. What challenges are you trying to address 
that concern you about this process and the safe, responsible 
stewardship of unaccompanied minors who are in CBP custody or 
control during that period?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, actually what we need to do 
and what we are doing is building lawful, safe, and orderly 
pathways so that individuals do not need to place their lives, 
their well-being in the hands of unscrupulous, ruthless 
smuggling organizations, so that parents who are desperate for 
relief do not place their children in the hands of those 
smugglers in an effort to achieve safety. We need to build 
lawful pathways, which is what we are doing.
    Senator Ossoff. Forgive me, Mr. Secretary, I agree with 
you, and I am running out of time here. My question is what are 
the specific concerns or challenges that you worry about, 
operationally, when you think about the care and safety of 
these children when they are in DHS custody?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the vulnerability of the 
children themselves, the conditions within the Border Patrol 
stations. The Border Patrol stations were not designed for the 
care of unaccompanied children. The requisite level of 
staffing, which is why we sought and thankfully received more 
staffing resources in fiscal year 2023, and why we are seeking 
more resources in fiscal year 2024. We need to modernize our 
Border Patrol facilities, and thanks to infrastructure funding 
we have it for the first time in any meaningful way.
    These are some of the things that concern us. We need more 
transportation resources, more personnel, better facilities. 
These are some of the challenges that we face, and yet amidst 
those challenges our personnel do extraordinary work.
    Senator Ossoff. Thank you for the specifics. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Ossoff.
    Senator Padilla, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PADILLA

    Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me start by 
saying I could not agree more. CBP custody is not a place for 
children. Speaking of children I wanted to address, Mr. Chair, 
something that several of our colleagues have brought up 
throughout the course of this hearing, and that the labor 
exploitation of migrant children. I know it is the place to 
raise questions about what else the Department of Homeland 
Security, the agencies within it, and the Federal Government 
writ large can do to better support migrant children.
    But let us be clear about something. It is the employers 
who are breaking child labor laws by placing children in 
hazardous conditions, as we have read multiple reports about. 
It is what prompted myself, together with our colleague, 
Senator Hickenlooper, to directly write to the Chief Executive 
Officers (CEOs) of the companies named in the reports, to hold 
them accountable for their actions. I mention that only because 
we should not misplace the blame here. We need to hold 
unscrupulous employers accountable.
    Now Mr. Secretary, I come with what I think are going to be 
unique questions that have not been raised in the Committee yet 
but equally important. Communities across the country are 
seeing ever more destructive and frequent extreme weather 
events. In fact, a new study led by scientists at Princeton 
University and my alma mater, Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology (MIT), examined flood risk for 171 counties along 
the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
    Historically, 100-year floods have been just that, an 
intense flooding event that happens about once every 100 years. 
It is important when we are looking at where we build, where we 
plan, where we develop, and how we do so. A storm once every 
100 years means that every year there is a one percent chance 
of a significant storm of that scale happening. But this study 
found that 100-year floods could actually become annual events 
in areas around New England and the Gulf Coast because of our 
changing climate.
    This new reality is something that every community in 
California is already grappling with, and it is critical that 
the Federal Government takes steps to mitigate this threat, not 
exacerbate it.
    I was disappointed to learn, Mr. Secretary, that CBP is 
currently building a barrier along the Tijuana River that, 
according to flood risk experts at the University of California 
Irvine poses serious flooding risk to communities on both sides 
of the border. I would like to ask, what steps are we taking, 
are you taking, as Secretary, to ensure that FEMA's processes, 
regulations, and, of course, response once a disaster is 
declared, is more fair and more equitable for survivors, 
regardless of what State or community they live in?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you correctly describe the 
challenge of climate change and the fact that the frequency and 
severity of extreme weather events is only increasing. I am not 
familiar with the particular situation that you describe with 
respect to Tijuana. That is something that I will look into, 
and I look forward to circling back with you on that and 
working with you to address your concerns. It is not something 
with which I am familiar.
    Senator Padilla. I am happy to share the reports with you 
and your staff and look forward to working with you on that.
    Another item I want to raise, I saw you a few weeks in 
Senate Judiciary Committee, and I mentioned at the time, I 
raised issues of FEMA and disaster response, and I wanted to 
acknowledge some of the work in progress that has been made in 
these last few weeks. Thank you and Administrator Criswell and 
President Biden for the granting of the most recent major 
disaster declaration to aid in the recovery of parts of 
California that were most severely impacted by last winter's 
storms.
    Now while California is enjoying a much-need respite from 
the atmospheric rivers that devastated so many communities and 
agricultural fields, as you know post-disaster there is a long-
term recovery and rebuilding that takes place.
    Since that Judiciary Committee hearing that I am 
referencing, I was able to once against visit the community of 
Pajaro and Watsonville and meet with local officials and the 
families that were impacted, hundreds that are still displaced. 
I can assure you, Mr. Secretary, the devastation is real. But I 
am glad to see the Federal Government stepping up to respond to 
this particular incident, and as well as responding to this 
incident, it does not erase the fact that communities like 
Pajaro, which is low income and predominantly an immigrant 
community, has been repeatedly overlooked for decades at all 
levels of government.
    I raised the issue in Judiciary and unless you tell me the 
answer has changed I will assume you are still committed to 
working with me to revisit some of FEMA's processes, 
regulations, to make sure that both preparation before a 
disaster and certainly the response after a disaster, we will 
work to make more fair and more equitable for all victims and 
survivors.
    I do want to raise one specific item in my time remaining. 
While I was there listening to the families--and as you can 
imagine, hearing questions, concerns, complaints about the 
delays in getting assistance or some of the obstacles, I am 
told that several of the families applied once to be denied, a 
second time only to be denied, a third, fourth time, at least 
four times, sometimes more, before getting an approval from 
FEMA for assistance that they deserve. It is not just a matter 
of time delays, but in that time it is undue harm, financial 
and emotional pain that individuals and families bear.
    I would like to ask you, Mr. Secretary, would you commit to 
working with FEMA, with Administrator Criswell, and my office 
to assess how we can improve the application for assistance 
process to make it simpler, to make it more clear, to improve 
outreach, not just in English but in other languages and 
through multiple platforms, so that individuals, families, and 
communities that are deserving of our support and assistance in 
recovery can do so more effectively and more efficiently?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I most certainly am, Senator, and I can 
assure you that FEMA is dedicated to achieving equity, speed, 
simplicity, accessibility in the care it provides the 
individuals who have suffered an extreme weather event.
    Senator Padilla. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Padilla.
    Secretary Mayorkas, thank you. Thank you for appearing 
before the Committee to share the Department's priorities for 
the upcoming fiscal year as well as the resources that the 
Department needs to combat all of the challenges that you 
highlighted here during the hearing.
    I look forward to working with my congressional colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle in the months ahead to ensure that 
the Department gets the support that it needs to protect and 
secure the homeland, and on behalf of this Committee I also 
just want to take an opportunity to just thank the dedicated 
men and women at the Department of Homeland Security for their 
tireless work that they perform each and every day to keep our 
nation safe from serious and ever-evolving threats.
    The record for this hearing will remain open for 15 days, 
until May 3rd at 5 p.m. for submission of statements and 
questions for the record.
    This hearing is now adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 12:26 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

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