    [Senate Hearing 118-768]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 118-768

                                OVERSIGHT OF THE
                        DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

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

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   ----------

                                 MARCH 28, 2023

                                   ----------

                              Serial No. J-118-10

                                   ----------

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

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                OVERSIGHT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

                                                            S. Hrg. 118-768

                                OVERSIGHT OF THE
                        DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

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

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION
                                   __________

                                 MARCH 28, 2023
                                   __________

                              Serial No. J-118-10
                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

                   [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                            www.judiciary.senate.gov
                                www.govinfo.gov
                                    ______

                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    62-794                    WASHINGTON : 2026

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                       RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois, Chair
    DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California         LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina,
    SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island       Ranking Member
    AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa
    CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       JOHN CORNYN, Texas
    RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah
    MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii              TED CRUZ, Texas
    CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey           JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
    ALEX PADILLA, California             TOM COTTON, Arkansas
    JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
    PETER WELCH, Vermont                 THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
                                         MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee

                 Joseph Zogby, Chief Counsel and Staff Director
          Katherine Nikas, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page

    Durbin, Hon. Richard J...........................................     1
    Graham, Hon. Lindsey O...........................................     3

                                    WITNESS

    Mayorkas, Hon. Alejandro N.......................................     6
        Prepared statement...........................................    75
        Responses to written questions...............................   101
        Questions submitted with no response returned................   410

                                    APPENDIX

    Items submitted for the record...................................   417

                                OVERSIGHT OF THE
                        DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

                                  ----------

                            TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2023

                                  United States Senate,
                                    Committee on the Judiciary,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:49 a.m., in
    Room 216, Hart Senate Office Building, Hon. Richard J. Durbin,
    Chair of the Committee, presiding.
        Present: Senators Durbin [presiding], Whitehouse,
    Klobuchar, Blumenthal, Hirono, Booker, Padilla, Ossoff, Welch,
    Graham, Grassley, Cornyn, Lee, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Kennedy,
    Tillis, and Blackburn.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD J. DURBIN,
               A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

        Chair Durbin. This meeting of the Senate Judiciary
    Committee will come to order. At the outset, I'd like to offer
    my condolences to the families of Nashville, Tennessee, and to
    our colleague, Senator Blackburn, for yesterday's horrific
    shooting at the Covenant School. We're 93 days into this
    calendar year. So far, we have had 131 mass shootings in the
    United States.
        Congress and the Supreme Court have allowed this tragic
    situation to become the new norm in America. Are we going to do
    something about it? I certainly hope we do. Today, Secretary
    Mayorkas is making his second appearance before this Committee
    in just over 2 years on the job.
        Notably, during the previous administration, the Homeland
    Security Secretary appeared before the Committee one time in 4
    years. This regular annual oversight hearing is very important
    as a major function of the Senate Judiciary Committee and an
    important part of our role in government. Secretary Mayorkas,
    thanks for being here.
        As I told you yesterday, I think you have one of the most
    difficult jobs in the administration. After reading your 26-
    page opening statement, I want to amend those remarks. With the
    possible exception of the Secretary of Defense, I think you
    have the most challenging job in this administration. The
    Department of Homeland Security is responsible for safeguarding
    our Nation, facing a broad range of challenges.
        It bears noting what they include: responding to horrible
    and uniquely American phenomena, like mass shootings and the
    tragedy in Nashville; responding to natural disasters like the
    tornadoes that devastated Rolling Fork, Mississippi; combating
    terrorism and the rising tide of domestic violent extremism;
    addressing the surge in cyberattacks against our schools,
    businesses, and critical infrastructure; overseeing our
    Nation's Borders, immigration system, and transportation
    security. And that's just the beginning.
        While the Biden administration has taken important steps to
    confront these challenges, we have a job to do in Congress. We
    must remain vigilant and do our part to provide the tools and
    resources to address these challenges. You're going to get a
    lot of questions about the Southern Border. I'm sure you know
    that.
        But here's the real question: What is it that Congress
    needs to do when it comes to immigration in this country? We
    can certainly find fault with what you have done. We've done it
    before with previous administrations as well. But what are we
    willing to do? It's easy to be critical, but every Member of
    Congress needs to look in the mirror. Only Congress can
    actually fix our broken immigration system. I've tried for many
    years to work on a bipartisan immigration bill. But many have
    stood in the way and said nothing. They don't want any part of
    a solution.
        I want to commend my Ranking Member, Lindsey Graham.
    Lindsey, it's been 10 years since the Gang of Eight got
    together and produced a bill which passed with a strong
    bipartisan vote on the floor for comprehensive immigration
    reform. Unfortunately, it didn't become an item of business in
    the Republican-led House in 2013 and died as a result. That's
    why your testimony before this commission--Committee rather,
    basically tells us we still have a job to complete.
        Sadly, Republicans in the House seem to approach the same
    thing today as they did 10 years ago. To do nothing, to block
    attempt at reform, and criticize anyone who suggests a solution
    to the problem. One leading House Republican has called for
    defunding--defunding the Department of Homeland Security.
    Unimaginable.
        Mr. Secretary, you're going to receive a lot of questions
    today, and some from me about fentanyl. This is a serious,
    deadly problem. With fentanyl flowing in the United States from
    two major Mexican cartels, it requires quick, thoughtful,
    urgent action. But we have to be clear-eyed about what we're
    doing. Some are pushing the narrative that asylum seekers are
    smuggling fentanyl across the Border. But the facts tell a
    different story.
        It is predominantly U.S. citizens entering legally at ports
    of entry who are bringing these dangerous drugs into the United
    States. So it's hard to understand why some have opposed
    funding for technology, like nonintrusive inspection systems to
    help Customs and Border Protection Officers to detect fentanyl
    in vehicles coming through these ports of entry. The reality is
    DHS is working aggressively.
        The Department just started a new coordinated surge
    campaign, Operation Blue Lotus, which stopped more than 900
    pounds of fentanyl in its first week. We'll have to ask you
    some questions about that and explore where you're headed with
    that program. I hope we can work together. I also want to note
    the obvious. Our legal immigration system needs to be changed,
    especially at a time when our country has a desperate need for
    workers.
        We have 11 million unfilled jobs in this country. I
    constantly hear from employers across the board in my home
    State of Illinois about the need for more workers--agricultural
    workers, healthcare workers, and more. Some governors are so
    desperate to avoid increasing any immigration that they are now
    turning to relaxing child labor laws as a solution to their
    shortages. This is mindless.
        Turning back the clock to the times of Upton Sinclair's
    ``Jungle'' is wrong, and it's unnecessary when there are
    skilled immigrants ready and willing to fill these jobs. I'm
    heartened. I want to make a special note that Republican
    governors in Indiana and Utah, recognizing this dire need, have
    written publicly in support of more immigrant workers. I hope
    their voices are listened to.
        Whether we're discussing our Southern Border or the need
    for workers, the conclusion is the same. Congress needs to hold
    you accountable, yes, but we've also got to stop pointing
    fingers and act ourselves. We should start working together on
    a bipartisan basis to fix our immigration system--today. And
    finally, you won't be surprised that I want to say a word about
    the DREAMers.
        The DREAMers, after a legislation that has been pending for
    more than 20 years, are still looking for their legal path to
    citizenship. Our communities are desperate for these new
    immigrant workers, and DHS needs the resources to secure our
    Border.
        All of us on this Committee have a choice. We can blame the
    Secretary for a broken system that we share with a
    responsibility to fix, or we can come together on a bipartisan
    basis to do our job. With that, I'll turn to Ranking Member
    Graham for his opening statement.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LINDSEY O. GRAHAM,
            A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

        Senator Graham. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm glad to
    have you back. You look like you've healed up well, so--to the
    heartbreak in Tennessee, it's unimaginable from a parent's
    point of view, what's being experienced in Tennessee. There's
    so much heartbreak in this world. The heartbreak of fentanyl
    poisoning. You asked a rhetorical question. What are we going
    to do about the shootings in Tennessee? We passed some
    bipartisan proposals that hopefully will help down the road.
        Question back to you, what are we going to do about the
    poisoning of America? So here's what I would say, America is
    under attack. Our Nation is being attacked by foreign powers
    called drug cartels in Mexico.
        When the Japanese attacked America in Pearl Harbor, they
    killed about 3,000 Americans; 9/11, when we were attacked,
    about 3,000.
        This is the largest attack on America's Homeland by a
    foreign power in the history of the Nation: 70,000 Americans
    were poisoned by fentanyl last year. More than car wrecks and
    gun violence combined. And it's getting worse.
        A couple of days ago, Senator Schumer had a news conference
    in New York talking about the danger of mixing fentanyl with a
    drug called xylazine. He called it ``skin-rotting zombie
    drug.'' He called for the DEA to send teams into New York to
    try to do something about it. He called for more education when
    it comes to people using drugs.
        I would support both of those. But what I'd like to do is
    go to the source of the problem. What would America do if a
    foreign power lobbed a rocket into, let's say, our friends in
    Arizona or Texas? We would strike back. We're doing virtually
    nothing when it comes to being under attack by drug cartels.
    That's deterring the behavior.
        Ms. Kiessling, who lost her children to fentanyl, said,
    ``This is a war. Act like it. Do something.''
        Our partner in Mexico basically is in complete denial. The
    president of Mexico denies there are safe havens for drug
    cartels where they run parts of Mexico. He says that's not
    true. He blames us for the fentanyl crisis. He denies the fact
    that fentanyl is produced in Mexico, sent to America to kill
    Americans.
        So we got a real problem, Mr. Chairman. And you ask, what
    can Congress do? We'll keep working together. I'd like to work
    with you. Maybe we can find a way to make some progress.
        But this idea that the executive branch is helpless without
    Congress is ridiculous. You want to fix this, Mr. Secretary? Go
    back to Trump policies. Just reimpose everything Donald Trump
    did to secure our Border, and your problem will dramatically be
    improved. You're not helpless. You change policies in a bad way
    and you're getting a bad result.
        We're under attack by drug cartels. We have lost
    operational control of the Border. This Secretary has said
    numerous times, ``We have control of the Border.''
        [Posters are displayed and appear as submissions for the
    record.]
        Senator Graham. The head of the Border Patrol about a
    couple of weeks ago said, ``We don't have operational control
    of the Border.'' Well, anybody believes that we're in control
    of the Border is in denial. We've lost control of our Border.
        The number of people coming across our Border on the
    Terrorist Watch List is going up like a rocket. So what's my
    concern? General Kurilla said, the head of CENTCOM, ``Due to
    our withdrawal from Afghanistan, the likelihood of an attack
    coming against America from Afghanistan could mature within 6
    months without warning.'' You have a completely broken Border.
    You have terrorism on the rise. This is a lethal combination.
    But this is just not me saying things. We actually have some
    evidence to suggest that what I'm saying is factually true.
        In 2020, December, we had the lowest illegal crossings in
    the last 4 years because of Trump policies. Since those
    policies were changed, we've had 4.8 million illegal encounters
    on the Southern Border.
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Graham. Fiscal Year 2021, 1.7 million. Fiscal Year
    2022, 2.4 million, setting a record--the first time in the
    history of the country, 2 million illegal encounters at our
    Border. Since October of 2022, 385,000 got-aways, the lowest
    illegal crossings in the history of the country for the last 4
    years.
        In December, since you and the Biden administration been in
    charge, look what's happened. And you know how it happened? You
    took all the policies, Mr. Secretary, that were working, and
    you changed them, and it's blown up in our face.
        Now, fentanyl. Fentanyl is killing Americans at levels
    we've never seen. More people died last year from fentanyl
    poisoning in a single year than the entire Vietnam War that
    went on for over a decade.
        Fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death for 18- to
    45-year-olds in the country. Look what's happened.
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Graham. In 2021, 71,238 deaths from fentanyl
    poisoning overdoses. In 2023, year to date, we seized 11,000
    pounds of fentanyl at the Border. The year before, 14,700. In
    2014, none. In 2015, 70 pounds--11,000 pounds of fentanyl is
    enough to kill 2.5 billion people.
        How is this happening? Where is it coming from? It's coming
    from Mexico and China. So when the Mexican president denies
    that drug cartels are not in charge of parts of Mexico, he's
    either lying or he has no idea what's going on in his own
    country.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Senator Graham. This is a State Department map. If you're
    looking to travel to Mexico, all these red zones, do not
    travel. That's like going to Afghanistan and Syria.
        Who controls these red zones? Drug cartels that are making
    billions of dollars off bringing fentanyl into the country and
    human trafficking due to a broken immigration system. And quite
    frankly, we need to take the gloves off. They're at war with
    us. We need to be at war with them.
        Now, when it comes to terrorists, people apprehended on the
    Terrorist Watch List: 2021, it was 15; 2022, it's 98; to date,
    already 69.
        [Posters are displayed and appear as submissions for the
    record.]
        Senator Graham. This is a lethal combination. People
    traveling to America on a Terrorist Watch List. The terrorists
    are getting stronger because of our withdrawal from
    Afghanistan, and they're coming here in larger numbers.
        If we do not change course, if we do not change where we're
    at, Americans are going to continue to die from drug cartel
    poisoning--the illegal immigration problem is exploding and the
    human misery around it with no end in sight. We went from the
    lowest illegal crossings in December 2020 to over 4.2 million
    on your watch. Bottom line--the Kurilla statement, if we have
    it.
        Chair Durbin. It's right there.
        Senator Graham. ``It is my Commander's estimate that ISIS-K
    can do an external operation against the U.S. or Western
    interests abroad in under six months with little to no
    warning.'' You're on notice. You're on notice. You, your
    Department, and the President of the United States is on
    notice.
        One of our field commanders, in charge of the region ripe
    with terrorism, is telling this Nation in open, sworn testimony
    that within six months, the enemy that's arising in Afghanistan
    has the ability to attack this country without warning. As he
    makes that statement, the lack of operational control of the
    Border is a lethal combination for this country.
        So, Mr. Secretary, you have a hard job. I think things
    would change if they would listen to you more. The bottom line
    is, we've created a nightmare for America, and that nightmare
    needs to end. Control our Border. Go back to Trump policies.
    Have the Congress work together to fix immigration in a more
    forward-looking fashion. Regain control of the Border.
        Go after the cartels. Tell the Mexican President, ``Get
    with it, work with us, or we're going to have to do things
    differently.'' Secure the Border now before we get attacked
    later. Thank you.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Graham. Today we welcome
    the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Honorable Ali Mayorkas,
    to testify before this Committee. Let me lay out the mechanics.
    After I swear in the Secretary, he will have 5 minutes to
    provide an opening statement. There will be one round of
    questions.
        Each Senator will have 10 minutes, which is twice as long
    as we normally allocate for questions in recognition of the
    importance of this hearing. Please remain within your allotted
    time. Secretary Mayorkas, will you please stand to be sworn in?
        [Witness is sworn in.]
        Chair Durbin. Let the record reflect that the Secretary
    answered in the affirmative. And with that, please proceed to
    your opening statement.

                STATEMENT OF HON. ALEJANDRO N. MAYORKAS,

                 SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND

                        SECURITY, WASHINGTON, DC

        Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Chairman Durbin, Ranking
    Member Graham----
        Chair Durbin. Microphone.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Chairman Durbin, Ranking
    Member Graham, and distinguished Members of this Committee. On
    Sunday, I traveled to Rolling Fork, Mississippi, to assure the
    residents there and others in Mississippi devastated by the
    tornadoes that had just struck, that our Department will
    support their recovery in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
    More than 20 people lost their lives, and many more lost their
    homes and all they possessed.
        Yesterday, I spoke with Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and
    with Governor Lee and Mayor Cooper, and offered our
    Department's support in response to the tragic--the too tragic
    and senseless murder of children and adults in St. Paul
    Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee. Senator Blackburn, I
    know this is very personal to you and your connection to the
    school and, of course, the community. Our thoughts, prayers,
    and support are with all who are suffering today.
        The threat landscape has evolved significantly since our
    Department was created 20 years ago. Homeland Security, as we
    thought of it in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, today has new
    meaning: cyberattacks by criminals and adverse nations; the
    rise of aggression by the People's Republic of China;
    increasing economic and political instability around the world;
    the rise of domestic violent extremism; the gravity and
    frequency of extreme weather events, and other forces combined,
    to create a heightened threat environment here at home.
        In addition, the displacement of people across the region
    is greater than at any time since World War II. To meet this
    challenge, the Department is surging resources: hiring 300
    additional Border Patrol agents, the first increase since 2011;
    investing in new technology; working with our partners in
    Mexico and Central and South America; and developing innovative
    processes to reduce irregular migration at our Southwest
    Border.
        Over the past several months, we have implemented new
    measures for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans
    that combine a lawful pathway for eligible individuals with
    consequences for those who cross the Border without
    authorization. We have seen a decline of about 95 percent in
    encounters of nationals from these four countries between our
    ports of entry.
        We are attacking the cartels and smugglers like never
    before. Last year, we launched an unprecedented campaign that
    has led to the arrest of more than 9,100 smugglers and the
    disruption of over 9,000 human smuggling operations. Through
    advanced screening and enforcement searches, like Operation
    Blue Lotus that we announced last week, we are seizing record
    amounts of fentanyl at our ports of entry.
        The threat of terrorism has evolved to include lone
    offenders who, fueled by hate, antigovernment ideologies, false
    narratives, and personal grievances, seek to advance their
    political or social goals through violence. Combating this
    threat demands a collaborative, community-centered approach.
    Through our Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships and
    our grant programs, we help governments, nonprofit
    organizations, schools, and houses of worship build local
    prevention capabilities and make physical security
    improvements.
        We are transforming the way we collaborate to stay ahead of
    the cyber threats posed by hostile nations, like the PRC that
    seek to gain access to our intellectual property, data, and
    infrastructure. After Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,
    our Shields Up Initiative galvanized tens of thousands of
    businesses to implement urgent cybersecurity improvements.
        Through groundbreaking public-private initiatives--like the
    Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative: the Cyber Safety Review
    Board and our Cybersecurity Performance Goals--we are hardening
    the cyber defenses of businesses, critical infrastructure, and
    the public. And we are deepening our international security
    partnerships, including by expanding the Abraham Accords to
    encompass shared cybersecurity goals.
        Emerging technology is creating new threats. Unmanned
    aircraft systems can be used to conduct attacks and
    increasingly violate temporary flight restrictions that protect
    high-ranking officials, disrupt airport operations, surveil
    outdoor mass gatherings, and attempt to transport illegal
    narcotics across Borders. It is vital that Congress act to
    extend and expand the Department's counter-UAS authorities to
    protect against malicious drone activity.
        Separately, it is critical that Congress fully renew
    Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which
    provides fast, reliable, and specific insights that enhance our
    understanding of the threats posed by our adversaries.
        Every day, every day, the 260,000 dedicated public servants
    of the Department of Homeland Security work tirelessly to
    deliver safety and security to the American people. Our mission
    has never been more vital, our components have never
    collaborated more closely, and our Nation has never been more
    prepared. We know that we have a great deal of work still ahead
    of us.
        The nonpartisan spirit of collaboration, upon which our
    Department was founded, is needed now more than ever to address
    the challenges we face. Thank you very much. I look forward to
    your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Secretary Mayorkas appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Durbin. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. Let me start my
    questioning where Senator Graham left off. We have a bipartisan
    concern about fentanyl in the United States. As Secretary--or
    pardon me, Senator Graham mentioned: 70,000 fatal overdoses in
    the U.S. every year. We need to launch--the President says we
    need to launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production and
    sale.
        I'd like to start at the obvious place. Where is it coming
    from? Well, it may start with precursor chemicals in China, but
    it certainly comes through the two major drug cartels in
    Mexico, which are the major exporters into the United States,
    Jalisco and Sinaloa. Here's what the former Mexican ambassador
    to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, said.
        Mr. Sarukhan said only a handful of law enforcement
    agencies in Mexico are willing or able to engage with the
    powerful drug gangs, quote, ``There is no doubt that endemic
    corruption, impunity, a weak rule of law are Mexico's Achilles'
    heels.'' He went on to say, ``That means fentanyl and
    methamphetamine labs operate in Mexico with almost no
    pressure.''
        I've had two lengthy conversations with Anne Milgram with
    the Drug Enforcement Agency--Administration about this
    challenge of fentanyl. I will say, I want to mention to my
    colleagues, Senator Graham and others on the Committee, when we
    get into the world of social media in a couple weeks in this
    Committee, one of the first stops will be Snapchat for me.
    Because according to DEA, this is the major clearinghouse for
    the sale of fentanyl in the United States--these fake drugs
    that they're being sold.
        So my question to you is not easily answered and maybe
    impossible to answer. Tell me how we strike a relationship with
    Mexico to actively cooperate in the flow of individuals who are
    coming toward the United States, while at the same time deal
    with the reality that they are failing miserably when it comes
    to the export of deadly narcotics to our country?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, you and Ranking Member
    Graham accurately describe the cartels as vicious, ruthless
    organizations that peddle in the death of individuals,
    including tens of thousands of Americans. We in the Department
    of Homeland Security are taking it to the cartels and the
    smuggling organizations with which they work in unprecedented
    fashion. And you noted, as did I, Operation Blue Lotus, the
    most recent surge of personnel and other resources and
    intelligence to take it to those cartels.
        We're seizing more fentanyl at our ports of entry than ever
    before. We in the Department of Homeland Security, through
    Homeland Security Investigations, the criminal investigative
    arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are working with
    our Mexican counterparts on an increasing level. We have
    transnational criminal investigative units that have indeed
    disrupted laboratories that manufacture fentanyl, that have
    helped interdict the flow of fentanyl within Mexico, that have,
    in fact, cut off financial streams.
        But the battle is very difficult, and we are seeking to
    cooperate more closely with our Mexican counterpart, and we're
    doing so in an all-of-administration effort, not just the
    Department of Homeland Security, not just the Department of
    Justice, of which the DEA is a part, but across the entire
    administration.
        Chair Durbin. So let me ask you about the effort we're
    making. A lot of publicity has come out with the notion that
    people seeking asylum or refugee status are really transporting
    fentanyl into the United States. The chart which I demonstrated
    earlier suggests that 80 percent or more is actually coming
    from American citizens crossing at ports of entry.
        If we eliminated every applicant for asylum or refugee
    status, we would still have a tremendous flow of deadly
    narcotics coming in across the Border. Is it impossible for us
    in this day and age to stop this flow by ordinary, legal
    Americans through our ports of entry of narcotics?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, we are working intensely
    to devote additional resources to the ports of entry on the
    land of our Southern Border. That is where more than 90 percent
    of the fentanyl is transported--through passenger vehicles,
    through trucks, by pedestrians that are lawfully coming into
    the United States through the ports of entry.
        We are surging resources to the ports of entry to battle
    that. We are seeking more resources in our Fiscal Year 2024
    budget for precisely that purpose: to add personnel, to add
    nonintrusive inspection technology, to allow our forward-
    operating labs to detect the substance at the point of
    interdiction, so we can bring our investigative and prosecutive
    capabilities right there and develop the force that we need to.
        Chair Durbin. To put some perspective on this, it's my
    understanding that a backpack full of fentanyl is dangerous to
    thousands of people if it makes it into the United States, and
    we are talking about transport trucks flowing across our Border
    by the thousands every single day. Does there exist technology
    to detect this fentanyl in these carriers coming into the
    United States?
        Secretary Mayorkas. There is, Mr. Chairman. It is called
    nonintrusive inspection technology. We are investing more in
    that. In addition, we are exploring how we can use artificial
    intelligence to really serve as a force multiplier of our
    incredible Border Patrol agents and our incredible Office of
    Field Operations Officers who do such heroic work in this
    regard.
        Chair Durbin. So we put some more money on the table for
    you when it comes to this technology. How much more do you
    need?
        Secretary Mayorkas. We are seeking more than--we're seeking
    hundreds of millions of dollars for nonintrusive inspection
    technology in our Fiscal Year 2024 budget. We are also seeking
    to plus up our personnel, both our Officers in the Office of
    Field Operations and our Border Patrol agents.
        Chair Durbin. Well, I certainly hope we have bipartisan
    support for that when it comes before the Senate and the House
    of Representatives. There was one aspect of your opening
    statement which you noted in summary before us that caught my
    eye, and that was the issue of drones. Would you please explain
    why that has become a new and concerning threat to you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, the technology has
    advanced so significantly in the area of drones, as it has in
    so many different areas. These drones can fly farther, faster,
    have greater visibility, carry heavier loads, and they are
    being used by individuals with nefarious intent, as well as by
    adverse nation-states. And we need to have the capability to
    counter the use of drones.
        They invade our airspace. They hover over public gatherings
    with bad intent. We have got to be able to counter them. We
    have the authority now. It sunsets--we need to renew it. And
    also, Mr. Chairman, we need to expand it.
        Chair Durbin. Well, I'm certainly open to that, as I think
    many of my colleagues are. So let's work on that issue, as
    well. I was briefed two or three weeks ago on artificial
    intelligence. It was a frightening presentation when you
    consider the opportunities of AI to overcome what we think are
    our protections in cybersecurity. You mentioned artificial
    intelligence in your opening statement. Can you comment on the
    challenge it's going to create for us?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, I am tasking the Homeland
    Security Advisory Council to provide advice to us in this
    regard. We, of course, are already focused on it, but want
    different perspectives. Artificial intelligence presents an
    opportunity--an opportunity for good that we seek to harness,
    to really serve as a force multiplier in advancing the security
    of our country.
        At the same time, in the wrong hands, it can be a weapon.
    It could be a weapon of harm. And we have to build the defenses
    that are ready to secure the Homeland with respect to the
    potential that AI presents.
        Chair Durbin. Last point I'll make to you is that I have
    been meeting, as I told you in our phone conversation
    yesterday, with many of the immigrants who've come to the City
    of Chicago and sat down with them in conversation as to their
    backgrounds and why they came here. I will tell you, without
    exception, not a single one of them asked for the address of
    the local welfare office. Virtually every one of them asks me,
    ``Where can I go to work? ''
        Now, we have this system of law that does not allow a
    person to legally work in the United States until a period of
    time has passed, six months to a year. Once they're in here--
    even waiting for a determination of their refugee status--that
    creates a dilemma for many of these people who have no
    resources to live on. How do you answer the critics who say we
    ought to give them an opportunity to work?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, the law provides that an
    individual can seek work authorization after their application
    for asylum has been pending for 150 days.
        Chair Durbin. And, of course, that can be lengthened,
    unfortunately, to longer periods of time as they're waiting for
    that determination. Isn't that true?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. Yes, that is true. And we are
    climbing out of a backlog because U.S. Citizenship and
    Immigration Services, the agency that issues the work
    authorizations, was financially devastated in the prior
    administration. It is funded primarily through fees. Every 2
    years, it is to issue a new fee rule that calibrates the cost
    of immigration benefits according to the cost of
    operationalizing their administration.
        A fee rule has not been issued for more than 6 years and we
    have a pending proposed rule now to really readjust, realign
    the costs of immigration benefits to the cost of the agency to
    administer them.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Senator Graham.
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Graham. Thank you. The Mexican president, Mr.
    Obrador, said he denied that there were parts of his country
    under control of cartels. Do you agree with him?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I do not, Mr. Ranking Member.
        Senator Graham. Do you agree with Secretary Blinken that
    there are parts of Mexico run by drug cartels?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I do.
        Senator Graham. Do you consider Mexico a reliable partner
    in this fight regarding fentanyl and illegal immigration?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, we are working
    with Mexico on the fight against fentanyl. We have brought----
        Senator Graham. Are they a reliable partner?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. We have brought great
    cases together, and we are looking to enhance our cooperation.
        Senator Graham. So if we do the things--I'm going to work
    with Senator Durbin to give you more money at the Border to
    interdict. Let's see how that works. I hope it works. Do you
    think you have a plan in place that will severely reduce the
    fentanyl problem in America?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, I think there
    are two primary elements to the fight against fentanyl. One is
    the supply, which we are very, very focused on, and I want to
    touch up on that in a moment. And the second, of course, is the
    issue of demand. And we need to address both elements of that.
    We need to also----
        Senator Graham. I need interrupt, but a lot of these
    poisonings our people are buying what they think to be Percocet
    or Percodan and it's got fentanyl over it.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Absolutely.
        Senator Graham. They're not demanding fentanyl. They're
    getting fentanyl-laced drugs that are phony drugs.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, absolutely. And
    I have heard you speak about the fact that we need severe
    penalties for the individuals who traffic in fentanyl. And I
    agree with you.
        Senator Graham. Okay.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If I may?
        Senator Graham. Yes, go ahead.
        Secretary Mayorkas. In addition to increasing our work with
    Mexico----
        Senator Graham. Mm-hmm.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. We also have to address
    the fact that precursor chemicals, as well as the equipment
    used to manufacture synthetic, dangerous, fatal narcotics, are
    originating from China.
        Senator Graham. Okay, let's--that's a good point. Right
    now, drug cartels are labeled as transnational criminal
    organizations. Are you aware of that under U.S. law?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I am.
        Senator Graham. A foreign terrorist organization
    designation would mean any group, country that supplies
    material support to an FTO would be subject to American
    jurisdiction. Do you support labeling these drug cartels as
    FTOs under U.S. law?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, I have heard you
    speak of this issue, as well. I share your view 100 percent
    that these are ruthless, vicious peddlers.
        Senator Graham. Well, do you support my efforts to make
    them FTO?
        Secretary Mayorkas. This is a decision that rests in the
    jurisdiction of the Department of State. And it is a difficult
    question as to where the line between criminality, however
    vicious, and terrorism is drawn. And I'd be happy----
        Senator Graham. When you kill 70,000 Americans, you have
    crossed the line. But, you know, that's not your--let's go to
    your area. You said on April 2022, in a House hearing, you were
    asked directly, do we have operational control of Southern
    Border right now? Yes or no? You said, ``Yes, we do.'' Later in
    that hearing, you said the Border was in fact, not open. About
    a week or two ago, March 15, the Border Patrol Chief, Mr.
    Ortiz, I think, said, when asked, does DHS has operational
    control of our entire Border? He said, ``No, sir.'' Do we or
    don't we?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I'd like to be able to answer that
    question fully. Ranking Member Graham----
        Senator Graham. Take your time, but not too long, because I
    don't have much time.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Let me be clear. Number one, we are
    intensely focused on securing the Border. Number two, we are
    equally focused on enforcing our laws to achieve that result.
    Number three, the Border Patrol agents and all the personnel of
    the Department of Homeland Security are doing heroic work in
    that regard. With respect to the definition of operational
    control, I do not use the definition that appears in the Secure
    Fence Act.
        And the Secure Fence Act provides, statutorily, that
    operational control is defined as preventing all unlawful
    entries into the United States.
        Senator Graham. Well----
        Secretary Mayorkas. By that definition, no administration
    has ever had operational control. The way I define it is
    maximizing the resources that we have to deliver the most
    effective results. And we are indeed doing that. We have, for
    the first time since 2011, increased the number of Border
    Patrol agents that we are funded----
        Senator Graham. Is it working? Is everything you're doing
    working? Is any of it working to stop the poisoning of America
    or the reduction in a meaningful way of the historic illegal
    immigration problem? Right now, today, do you believe you have
    a plan that's working?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, I must separate
    the number of individuals arriving at our Border who are
    claiming relief from the issue of fentanyl that is coming
    through our ports of entry. That is too often conflated.
        Senator Graham. I agree. I agree.
        Secretary Mayorkas. We are fundamentally--fundamentally, we
    are working within a system that is absolutely broken and there
    is unanimity upon that.
        Senator Graham. Whose problem is that? Who broke this
    system that you're trying to fix? Was it Trump? Is it Trump's
    problem?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, this is our
    collective problem----
        Senator Graham. You've been DHS----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And we need to
    collectively----
        Senator Graham. Wait a minute now. You've been DHS
    Secretary, and I, honest to God, do like you. I think you're a
    very good man. On your watch, Mr. Secretary, we've gone from
    the lowest illegal crossings in December 2020 to all-time highs
    with over 2 million last fiscal year. On your watch, fentanyl
    is coming in at a pace we've never seen. More Americans are
    dying. On your watch, more terrorists are coming into the
    country on the Watch List than any time we've been measuring
    these things.
        So, I'm trying to get some appreciation from you that
    things are not going well. Your own Border Patrol Chief said,
    ``We don't have operational control of the Border.'' And I
    don't think it's a definitional problem. I think he's just
    being really honest with us. So, I would like to work with you
    where I can. You need more money for interdiction, I will work
    with Senator Durbin to get it to you. But we play around with
    the problems. We don't address them.
        Mayor Adams went to the Border from New York. He's not
    exactly a right-wing guy. He said this is a national crisis.
    And he said, basically, it's a disaster. Everybody that goes
    has a different view, Democrats and Republicans. So, what I
    would like to just get from you is some recognition of where
    we're at. And I don't think where we're going is going to get
    us to the promised land.
        You know, I asked you back in the last time we were here to
    give yourself a grade. You gave yourself an A for effort. How
    would you grade yourself for outcome since we last met?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, I certainly
    appreciate and understand the gravity of the challenge that we
    are facing. It is a very serious challenge. I look forward to
    working with you with respect to the funding for this
    Department as well as the hope that we can work together to fix
    the immigration system.
        Senator Graham. Great. And I've got an idea for you. I want
    you just to entertain it. My time is about up. The credible--
    the credible fear standard is the screening standard when
    somebody applies for asylum. Is that correct?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, it is.
        Senator Graham. Okay. What's the final adjudication
    standard?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, the credible
    fear standard is the initial threshold----
        Senator Graham. Right.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And it is set by statute
    as a substantial likelihood of fear of persecution.
        Senator Graham. So here's my offer. What's the----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Forgive me----
        Senator Graham [continuing]. Final adjudication standard?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Forgive me--a significant
    possibility----
        Senator Graham. Okay----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Of persecution.
        Senator Graham [continuing]. Okay. Here's the final
    adjudication standard: ``reasonable possibility of suffering
    persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,
    membership in a particular social group or political opinion.''
    That's the final adjudication standard. What percentage of
    people who pass the initial screening standard are given asylum
    using the second standard?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, if I understand
    your question correctly, what is the, let's say, average,
    because it changes by----
        Senator Graham. If you have 100 passing the screening test
    of critical fear, how many of them are granted asylum through
    the adjudication process, percentage-wise?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It varies according to country of
    origin. It's about----
        Senator Graham. I can tell you, it's averaging 10 percent.
    So, 90 percent of the people that pass the credible fear
    standard never make it. Here's a proposal. Why don't we make
    the adjudication standard the initial screening standard? I'm
    willing to change the law with my Democratic friends. One or
    two things is happening. You're denying 90 percent of people
    with a legitimate claim, which I don't believe, or when you
    look at their claim, it's not--it's an economic problem. It
    doesn't meet the stature or definition.
        If you want to stop asylum seeking, change the standard.
    Because once they get here, they never leave. So, I'm willing
    to work with you. Are you willing to--final question, would you
    entertain changing the credible fear standard as a screening
    standard to the final adjudication standard?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Graham, I would welcome
    the opportunity to work with you to reform----
        Senator Graham. Great.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. What's clearly a broken--
    --
        Senator Graham. Thank you.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Immigration system.
        Senator Graham. That's a good place to start.
        Chair Durbin. Thanks, Senator Graham. Senator Whitehouse.
        Senator Whitehouse. Thanks very much. Welcome, Secretary.
    And thank you, Chairman, for this hearing. As the Chair of the
    Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I've been
    working to focus more on the financial networks and flows that
    support the international drug cartels. My experience in my
    U.S. Attorney days and in many years on this Committee has been
    that we put a great deal of focus on the importation of drugs
    from these cartels and by these cartels.
        But for every package that comes over the Border, there are
    dollars that flow back to the cartels. And I think we've been
    less successful at degrading, exposing, and ultimately
    destroying the financial networks upon which these cartels
    rely. What, in your view, are the things that you could be
    doing to more effectively attack the financial side of the drug
    cartel network?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator Whitehouse, I share your
    experience as a former United States Attorney. As a matter of
    fact, I was a Federal prosecutor for 12 years, almost 9 years
    as an assistant.
        Senator Whitehouse. We've all done the press conferences
    with the drugs and the guns and the cash.
        Secretary Mayorkas. So we are already seeking to disrupt
    the financial networks of the cartels in an unprecedented way.
    Within the Department of Homeland Security, our Homeland
    Security Investigations agents are very focused on that, and
    they are attacking that--not alone, but with their partners in
    the Federal Government. We have----
        Senator Whitehouse. I'd like a proper briefing on that.
    Would you coordinate that for me and invite other Members of
    the Committee to join if they would like?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Most certainly, Senator, because I
    would also like other partners of ours to join in that briefing
    from the Department of Justice, as well as from the Treasury
    Department.
        Senator Whitehouse. It strikes me that there are American
    interests that can facilitate these financial transactions,
    whether it's through law firms or hedge funds or yacht brokers
    or whatever.
        It is part of a general global problem of kleptocrats'
    secret financing--kleptocrats' and criminals' secret financing.
    And I look forward to working with you to improve what we're
    doing against that, and in particular, to build support for the
    law, the ENABLERS Act, that would, in the same way that we
    prevent banks from going about this business and we've begun to
    investigate shell corporations who go about this business.
        We'll be able to put some restraints on American law firms,
    yacht brokers, realtors, hedge fund managers, and others who
    facilitate this trade. So I look forward to working with you on
    that.
        Separate matter. You oversee the Coast Guard. There is a
    very significant pirate fishing problem which also overlays
    with a slave ship problem which also overlays with a vector for
    drugs and weapons and other evils problem. The Coast Guard has
    a very important role in all of this. Recently in Panama,
    Secretary Del Toro of the Navy and your Deputy Commandant Peter
    Gautier met to discuss improving the engagement of the Coast
    Guard and the Navy together. I would like to ask you to get
    back to me in writing. This is a question for the record.
        First, what are the next steps you need, including steps by
    Secretary Del Toro to make sure that the Navy is fully
    supporting the Coast Guard's effort against the international
    pirate fishing fleet and against the Chinese fishing fleet
    where it's violating international and local laws? Question
    one.
        Question two, what additional resources does the Coast
    Guard need to do that international work?
        I will tell you that when Lindsey and I led the previous
    Munich Security Conference delegation, General Townsend was
    then in charge of AFRICOM and he, in his briefing, told us--not
    in response to questions, he volunteered that one of the things
    that's important to the success of the AFRICOM mission is the
    ability to get after the pirate fishing and Chinese fishing
    fleets that are operating in the EEZ Waters of these African
    allies without their even knowing it. Because they don't have
    the capacity to do it.
        And he believes it will help our national security mission
    on that continent if we can more aggressively track and
    identify and alert the local authorities to the presence of
    pirate fishing. So, the Coast Guard does not have the global
    footprint that the Navy does? What do you need? That's question
    two.
        Last question is that for lack of official enforcement by
    the United States Government, the NGO community has stepped up
    in important ways to do enforcement, whether it's Global
    Fishing Watch or Vulcan or Sea Shepherd. There's a whole array
    of NGOs who operate in this space. They both need intelligence
    about the location of these pirate vessels, and they can offer
    intelligence. It can be a two-way street. They're very active,
    and they're quite capable.
        We are trying to figure out how we can set it up so that
    they can have access to appropriate intelligence that can be
    deployed in real time against real vessels when they cross real
    boundaries and do so in a way that protects the sources and
    methods in the classified matters that we should not be
    allowing to get out.
        I think there's the ability to create sort of a vestibule
    where the information that's needed can go in, be screened, and
    then once it's screened, get out--but be screened like in real
    time. Not one of these, you know, whole-of-Government
    interagency task force things where it takes a decade. I would
    like to ask your commitment to help set that up so that we can
    be both receiving and providing intelligence about these
    vessels in real time.
        Secretary Mayorkas. You have my commitment, Senator. May I
    say two brief things?
        Senator Whitehouse. Go for it.
        Secretary Mayorkas. One is the U.S. Coast Guard is doing
    extraordinary work in this area. I have been briefed a number
    of times with respect to what it has been doing in South
    America, specifically. You identify illegal fishing and
    specifically the aggressive actions of the PRC in this regard.
    It is very much a problem, and----
        Senator Whitehouse. By the way, do you agree that the fleet
    that the PRC has launched also often accomplishes other goals
    for the Communist government in China involving surveillance
    and nonfishing activities?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is certainly a very significant
    concern of ours. With respect to the dissemination of
    intelligence and information, one of the overarching objectives
    of our Office of Intelligence and Analysis is to distribute as
    widely as possible as much intel and information as possible in
    real time that is relevant and actionable at the lowest
    classification level possible.
        So your request to get this information out to the force
    multipliers in civil society is something that I will take
    back----
        Senator Whitehouse. Thank you.
        Senator Mayorkas [continuing]. To our Undersecretary.
        Senator Whitehouse. You actually have good models for doing
    this in other areas----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, we do.
        Senator Whitehouse [continuing]. That can be applied
    readily in the IUU fishing areas. So I look forward to working
    with you on that and to your written reply to those three
    questions, which I'm sure your diligent staff were carefully
    writing down behind you.
        The last thing, Uniting for Ukraine. I think we've been
    able to give shelter to 50,000 Ukrainians fleeing Putin's
    atrocities----
        Secretary Mayorkas. More than----
        Senator Whitehouse [continuing]. And brutalities in
    Ukraine.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. More than that, Senator.
        Senator Whitehouse. Is there anything more that you need to
    help the U.S. help more parolees from Ukraine find temporary
    shelter here until Ukraine can achieve its victory?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So we are very focused on Uniting for
    Ukraine. I believe the last figure I saw was that we have
    provided a relief for more than 100,000 Ukrainians. I will
    confirm that figure. One of the--one of the needs that we have
    is to resource U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
        As I referenced earlier, it was an agency that was
    financially devastated during the prior administration, and
    we're very focused on getting it back into a safe and secure
    financial condition.
        Senator Whitehouse. It seems clear to me that Ukraine has
    demonstrated enormous patriotism and that those who have fled
    the brutalities and atrocities of Vladimir Putin are truly
    seeking only temporary shelter and employment here so that they
    can go back and help rebuild their lives and their country. Is
    that your experience as well?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, it is, Senator.
        Senator Whitehouse. Thank you very much. Thank you,
    Chairman.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Whitehouse. Senator
    Grassley.
        Senator Grassley. Thank you. Thank you for coming, Mr.
    Secretary. There are several reports of foreign nations, like
    China, purchasing U.S. land for farming or agricultural
    purposes. Some of these tracts of land are suspiciously close
    to American military bases or critical infrastructure sites.
    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
    expressed great concern in a North Dakota purchase of farmland
    by China as one example of their concern.
        How is Homeland Security working with the Department of
    Agriculture and law enforcement entities to track these types
    of suspicious land purchases?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator Grassley, we are very focused
    on the threat that the People's Republic of China poses to the
    United States in a number of regards. You have cited one of
    them, and we are a member of CFIUS, the Committee for Foreign
    Investment in the U.S. We are one of the Departments that
    reviews potential transactions to assess the threat that a
    transaction poses--not only in isolated context, but in the
    aggregate, the threat it poses to the security of the United
    States.
        And we seek to impose measures on the transaction to
    mitigate any threat successfully. And if that threat cannot be
    adequately mitigated through the measures that we take, then it
    would be our recommendation to prevent the transaction from
    occurring.
        Senator Grassley. As a follow-up, do you have a way of
    notifying relevant parties that may be targets to possible
    espionage from these purchases?
        Secretary Mayorkas. There is a very established process
    that the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States,
    CFIUS, follows with respect to the transactions and the
    Committee's engagement with the parties to the transaction.
        Senator Grassley. Over 2 years ago, on February the 11th,
    2021, I wrote to you and asked these questions, and I'll repeat
    these questions later on. The first question was, whether the
    Department of Homeland Security considers Confucius Institutes
    and their affiliates to be an extension of Communist Chinese
    government? And two, if the Department believed them to be
    purveyors of Communist Chinese government propaganda?
        I would hope the answers to those questions would be
    obvious to anybody in the Biden administration. We all know
    that the national security threats that Confucius Institutes
    pose, and we can draw that conclusion, based upon what the
    Chinese government's own words say about these institutions.
    And many educational institutions have already shut down their
    Confucius Institutes.
        And yet, when you answered my February letter, July 29th of
    2021, you personally responded and failed to answer the
    critical question. So I'm going to pose these questions to you
    again, whether the Department of Homeland Security considers
    Confucius Institutes and their affiliates to be an extension of
    the Communist Chinese government? And if the Department
    believes them to be purveyors of Communist Chinese propaganda?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are--we are very concerned
    about the institutes that you mentioned. In fact, we are very
    concerned about the PRC's use of what we call nontraditional
    collectors of intelligence. It is why we are working with the
    Department of State to ensure that our visa system is secure as
    against that threat.
        Senator Grassley. Well, for any college, university, or
    other educational institution in the United States that
    maintains such an institute connected with China, would you
    advise those educational institutions to close them based on
    national security reasons? If not, why not?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we work--as do others in the
    United States Government work--with institutions of higher
    learning to inform them of the threat that the PRC poses and to
    deliver recommended safeguards to guard against that threat.
        Senator Grassley. Okay. Let me go back to one of those
    first two questions I asked you just to get clarification. Do
    you believe these institutes to be purveyors of Communist
    Chinese government propaganda?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I am very concerned that many of them
    are indeed, Senator, and we seek to guard against the
    realization of that threat.
        Senator Grassley. Then, going back to something, I was
    going to ask you a whole series of questions that Senator
    Graham already answered. But one that I want to follow up on
    is, for the Committee's record, would you describe which
    foreign drug cartels control areas of the Southern Border and
    the areas they control?
        Secretary Mayorkas. The two cartels, Senator, that are of
    greatest concern to us are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco
    New Generation Cartel as the primary traffickers of synthetic
    opioids, including the deadly fentanyl.
        Senator Grassley. Okay. Multiple Inspectors General have
    found the Department of Homeland Security failed to fully vet
    and screen Afghan evacuees before entering the United States.
    In one report, the Defense Department Inspector General said
    that 50 evacuees in the United States pose potential
    significant national security concerns. How many Afghan
    evacuees are currently in the country who pose potential or
    actual national security concerns?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I respectfully disagree with
    certain aspects of the Inspector General reports that you
    reference. And I would be pleased to provide you and your staff
    with a briefing with respect to the security screening and
    vetting that we performed with respect to the Afghan nationals
    who were seeking relief in the United States and the
    disposition of those individuals.
        Senator Grassley. I respectfully disagree with you that
    this is classified and you can't answer it in this setting--but
    I'll go on to another question. Does the Department of Homeland
    Security know the location of these Afghan evacuees in the
    United States who pose a potential national security threat?
    And if you don't know where they are, why you don't know where
    they are?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if an individual poses a
    national security threat, that individual is either removed
    from the United States or detained.
        Senator Grassley. So, we're not----
        Secretary Mayorkas. If there are other reasons for either
    of those dispositions to not occur, then that is something that
    I can share with you in an appropriate briefing.
        Senator Grassley. Did you--did you just tell me in your
    answer that there's none of these evacuees that are a serious
    threat to the United States?
        Secretary Mayorkas. No, Senator. What I would like to make
    clear, if I wasn't clear initially, is that we screen and vet
    individuals before they arrive. If an individual does arrive
    and we determine that the individual presents either a public
    safety or a national security threat, we will place that
    individual in removal proceedings and seek to detain that
    individual.
        If that disposition is not reached, there may be
    considerations why that is so. And I would welcome the
    opportunity to brief you on that more specifically.
        Senator Grassley. Well, do you coordinate with the FBI's
    ongoing assessment and investigation of Afghan evacuees in the
    United States?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, we most certainly do.
        Senator Grassley. Okay. On January the 23rd this year,
    Senator Johnson and I sent a letter to the Secret Service
    requesting visitor logs for President Biden's residence. Our
    letter, in part, is part of a review that we began 2 years ago
    of President Biden's compliance with Federal records laws
    dating back to the time that he was Vice President.
        Our records--our request was also based on news reports
    that the Secret Service was prepared to turn those records over
    to Congress pursuant to a request. Since then, my and Senator
    Johnson's staff have been told that the--your Department's
    Office of General Counsel is the barrier to the Secret Service
    producing relevant material to Congress.
        It appears that the Office of General Counsel is being used
    to shield and frustrate and obstruct congressional oversight.
    What steps have you instructed the Office of General Counsel to
    take to produce the requested material to me and Senator
    Johnson? And what legal barriers exist to producing these
    Secret Service visitors' logs to Congress, if they can't be
    given to Congress?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, two things. Number one, the
    directive that I have issued is for our Department to cooperate
    and comply with our oversight responsibilities and the requests
    that are made of us. And two, it is certainly false that the
    Office of General Counsel serves as a barrier to that
    cooperation and compliance.
        Senator Grassley. Sounds to me like we'll get those records
    then. Is that right?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I don't know of--whether the Secret
    Service maintains visitor logs of the President's residence.
    But if they do and those have been requested, we will comply
    with the law.
        Senator Grassley. Okay, thank you.
        Chair Durbin. Thanks, Senator Grassley. Senator Blumenthal.
        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, Mr.
    Secretary, for your service and thank you for being here today.
        I want to begin with an issue involving international
    students. In particular, I'm rooting for UConn in the Final
    Four. The men's team is powered by an incredibly talented and
    successful forward named Adama Sanogo, who is not a citizen,
    and unfortunately, unlike his teammates, he cannot benefit from
    his name, image, and likeness, although he is a star.
        The rules have been revised. Two years ago, the NCAA, at
    the urging of myself and others, allowed student athletes to
    benefit from their name, image, and likeness. And international
    students, like him and Aaliyah Edwards on our women's team,
    other athletes in other sports who are international students
    are prevented by student visa rules from benefiting from
    financial opportunities and indeed, their educational futures
    because of these rules.
        I sent a letter to you calling on DHS to issue guidance and
    open a rulemaking to enable some fairness and equity here. But
    the schools haven't received guidance from DHS about student
    visas and NIL. Will you commit to publishing guidance or
    issuing rulemaking to ensure that Adama and Aaliyah and other
    international students on the Huskies and other teams have a
    fair opportunity on their NIL rights for their entire college
    career?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you for your letter on
    this subject, which brought the issue to my attention. I was
    not aware of it previously. We are indeed looking at the issue
    very carefully.
        Senator Blumenthal. And I hope quickly.
        Secretary Mayorkas. And we will move with deliberate speed,
    yes.
        Senator Blumenthal. Deliberate speed, meaning perhaps----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Quickly.
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. Very soon?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, we'll move as quickly as we can,
    Senator.
        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. I want to talk a little bit
    about TikTok and data security. I don't need to emphasize to
    you the concern that we have not only about the destructive
    effects of driving toxic content to kids through the algorithms
    of TikTok and other social media. But given DHS concern and
    focus on cyber security and the threats of foreign espionage,
    do you have concerns about the safety of TikTok's user data and
    the independence of TikTok from the Chinese government?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I certainly do, and I have a
    tremendous concern with respect to many aspects of the PRC's
    aggression with respect to the United States and other
    democracies around the world.
        Senator Blumenthal. Without going into the details in this
    setting, are those concerns based on evidence that, in fact,
    there is Chinese surveillance through TikTok?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I would refrain from answering
    that question directly in this setting. And I should also note
    that there are legal proceedings pending with respect to
    TikTok, and so I will respectfully refrain. But let me be clear
    that we're very concerned about the security implications of
    TikTok.
        Senator Blumenthal. You're a member of the CFIUS panel,
    which has a responsibility. It has an ongoing proceeding which
    has been lagging for some years, I think, at this point. Can
    you commit to that proceeding coming to a conclusion?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, there is a litigation pending.
    We are very focused on the threat that TikTok presents, and you
    have my assurance that we are addressing that with tremendous
    vigilance.
        Senator Blumenthal. I'm not asking for details in this
    setting, but simply--not only the assurance that you will act
    promptly, but that it will be on the basis of evidence that you
    have right now. I think that evidence is there of the threat of
    Chinese surveillance. Am I correct?
        Secretary Mayorkas. The disposition will be based on the
    evidence that we have and any additional evidence that we
    acquire.
        Senator Blumenthal. Recently, I joined a number of my
    colleagues in asking you about the proposals with regard to
    family detention. Can you update us as to what the
    administration's policy is? We expressed our concerns about
    reports that that policy might be adopted in the near future.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, no decision has been made. We
    ended family detention in March of 2021. No decision has been
    made. And I seek to encourage a work environment where people
    can present their ideas. Many are left on the cutting-room
    floor, others become policy, others spring new ideas. That's
    the type of environment that I seek to create.
        Senator Blumenthal. I take it from that answer that no
    decision has been made. No decision has been made and the
    report about your considering it don't imply that it will be
    adopted as a policy?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is correct.
        Senator Blumenthal. There have been various suggestions,
    and I have joined in the idea, that maybe it ought to be
    considered for drug cartels to be regarded as foreign terrorist
    organizations. Is there a serious consideration to that idea
    being given?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is a matter in the
    province of the Department of State. It's a very complicated
    question because it obviously has foreign relations
    implications. I certainly agree with both the Chairman, Ranking
    Member Graham, with respect to the perniciousness, the
    viciousness of the cartels, and it is precisely why we are
    attacking them with the full force of our law enforcement
    capabilities.
        Senator Blumenthal. Can you tell me about Operation Blue
    Lotus and what can be accomplished through that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Operation Blue Lotus, Senator, is a
    surge operation that we implemented to address the increased
    interdiction of fentanyl at the ports of entry. Most of the
    fentanyl, more than 90 percent of the fentanyl that enters the
    United States is brought in through the ports of entry.
        We surged resources, including the extraordinary special
    agents of Homeland Security Investigations, to the ports of
    entry to enhance our interdiction capabilities, to enhance our
    investigative capabilities, and bring a greater level of
    prosecutions to bear.
        We had, as the Chairman noted, tremendous success within
    just the first week of Operation Blue Lotus. I received the
    latest update last night with respect to some of the seizures
    of fentanyl that we were able to accomplish as part of that
    operation.
        Senator Blumenthal. Will it be expanded?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It is my hope that we have additional
    funding to expand it, and we are certainly going to continue
    with that operation.
        Senator Blumenthal. I was very pleased to see that the
    Department has recently announced that it would give a 1-year
    parole, an extension to an estimated 25,000 Ukrainians and
    their immediate family members who have come here in the wake
    of the murderous assault by the Russian's crime against
    humanity, as the President's correctly called it. This
    extension, in my view, is one step.
        As you know, I've advocated for our country to provide not
    only strong military and humanitarian support to Ukraine, but
    also the assurance that Ukrainian refugees coming here will be
    safe and welcome in our country. What kind of support and
    resources does DHS need to further process and expand the
    number of refugees who will be welcome here?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much. The
    Uniting for Ukraine, a very innovative program that we
    implemented, is a tremendous source of pride for us, and we are
    tremendously committed to continuing it. U.S. Citizenship and
    Immigration Services is under tremendous financial strain, and
    we are seeking additional funding for that agency.
        In addition, we have a notice of proposed rulemaking to
    readjust its cost schedule to make sure that the fees it
    charged are calibrated according to the cost incurred in
    administrating the benefits provided. So we're trying to get
    that agency on firm, stable footing because it was on the brink
    of bankruptcy in the prior administration.
        Senator Blumenthal. Let me ask you, likewise, will you
    support the Afghan Adjustment Act, which I have championed, a
    number of us on this Committee have supported?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. And we very much appreciate your
    championing of it.
        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
        Chair Durbin. Thanks, Senator Blumenthal. Senator Cornyn.
        Senator Cornyn. Mr. Secretary, when the Attorney General of
    the United States was here a couple of weeks ago, I asked him
    whether he was aware of the strategy of transnational criminal
    organizations to flood the Border with migrants in a manner to
    overwhelm the Border Patrol so that, then, they could move
    drugs across the Border. And he said he was aware of that
    strategy. Are you familiar with that strategy? Do you agree
    with the Attorney General?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I am not aware of that as a strategy. I
    am certainly aware of the significant challenge----
        Senator Cornyn. If you're not aware of the strategy, they
    move migrants and they move drugs for money. Right?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, they do. The cartels are
    smuggling----
        Senator Cornyn. So what better way to move drugs into the
    United States than to overwhelm the Border Patrol with
    migrants, so--and divert their attention from their drug
    interdiction responsibilities?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator Cornyn, more than 90 percent of
    the fentanyl, or about 90 percent of the fentanyl that is
    brought into the United States----
        Senator Cornyn. That's a totally made-up number. You had
    nearly a million people get away from Border Patrol, evade
    Border Patrol's detection and detention between 2022 and 2023.
    You have no idea how many of those people were carrying
    fentanyl or other drugs with them. Do you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the expert view that I
    received is that approximately 90 percent of the fentanyl that
    is brought in----
        Senator Cornyn. That's a totally made-up number, Mr.
    Secretary. You know it----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. That's a totally made-up
    number.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the expert information that I
    received is that approximately 90 percent of the fentanyl is
    brought in through the ports of entry--through passenger
    vehicles, through trucks, through pedestrians.
        Senator Cornyn. Mr. Secretary, you understand that you have
    a credibility problem with the--with the Congress and with the
    American people. Don't you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I have unflinching confidence in the
    integrity of my conduct.
        Senator Cornyn. No, I'm saying you have told us two
    patently inconsistent things. For example, you said we do have
    operational control of the Border. In 2022, you said the Border
    is not, in fact, open. And then I think I heard you say here
    that no administration has ever had operational control of the
    Border. Isn't that what you said?
        Secretary Mayorkas. No. That is not what I said.
        Senator Cornyn. That's not what you said?
        Secretary Mayorkas. May I----
        Senator Cornyn. Well, the record will----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. May I----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. Reflect----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. May I clarify?
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. 4.8 million people coming to
    the Border and being ushered into the interior of the United
    States, perhaps never to be identified or heard from again. And
    with 108,000 Americans dying of drug overdoses last year alone,
    with those drugs flooding across the Border, you think
    everything is just hunky-dory?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is absolutely not true. Senator, I
    understand that you have----
        Senator Cornyn. No, I understand you gave your answer. You
    said it's not true and I disagree with you.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, may I----
        Senator Cornyn. Last month, I went to Hays Consolidated
    Independent School District in Kyle, Texas. And I met with
    Shannon and Darren McConville and Brandon Dunn and Janel
    Rodriguez.
        The McConvilles lost their 17-year-old son, Kevin, to
    fentanyl poisoning. He had pizza for dinner and then came back
    down looking for a second helping and none was left, his mom
    said. So she offered to make him a tuna fish sandwich. And
    instead he went upstairs and went to bed. And when they went to
    his bedroom the next morning to wake him up, he was dead
    because of fentanyl poisoning.
        Brandon Dunn and Janel Rodriguez' 15-year-old son, Noah,
    who loved sports--they called him genuine, kind, and a
    jokester--he began--his mental condition began to deteriorate
    during COVID-19 and unfortunately, it had some experience with
    illicit drugs. But while spending the night at a friend's house
    during the first weekend of the school year, Noah took a pill
    laced with fentanyl and died of fentanyl poisoning.
        Mr. Secretary, would you like to take the opportunity here
    today to apologize to these parents who lost their children
    because of fentanyl poisoning because of the policies of your
    Department and the Biden administration? Would you like to
    apologize to them?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, my heart is with the family of
    every victim of a drug overdose death.
        Senator Cornyn. Is that an apology?
        Secretary Mayorkas. My heart is with the family and the
    loved ones and the friends----
        Senator Cornyn. So why don't you----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And neighbors of every----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. Do something about it?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Of every--of every victim
    of these drug overdose deaths including----
        Senator Cornyn. Attorney General Garland said this is part
    of a comprehensive strategy by the cartels----
        Secretary Mayorkas. We----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. To flood these drugs into the
    United States by overwhelming Border Patrol. You're clearly
    losing that battle----
        Secretary Mayorkas. We are----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. And you won't even apologize
    to these parents, like so many other parents who have lost
    their teenage children to counterfeit drugs laced with
    fentanyl.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. We are bringing
    unprecedented force in the fight against----
        Senator Cornyn. And you're losing.
        Secretary Mayorkas. The gravity----
        Senator Cornyn. Let me ask you another question.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. The gravity of the
    challenge cannot be overstated. We recognize the gravity of the
    challenge, and I look forward to working with you----
        Senator Cornyn. And do you recognize that you are losing?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. I look forward to working
    with you, Senator----
        Senator Cornyn. No, that's not----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And this Committee----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. My question.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. To address this challenge
    together.
        Senator Cornyn. Let me ask you another question in the time
    remaining, since you won't answer our questions--and you won't
    acknowledge responsibility. My constituents are saying, who's
    accountable? Who's accountable? Who's paying a price? Who got
    fired?
        Well, you haven't been fired. You should be fired, but you
    haven't been fired because you were carrying out the policies
    of the Biden administration. And the--we're seeing nothing but
    death and destruction as a result.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
        Senator Cornyn. Will you wait----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. The surge----
        Senator Cornyn [continuing]. Wait for a question. I
    recently went to the Yuma Border Patrol sector, which is a
    sleepy little agricultural community, as you know, in Southwest
    Arizona. The Border Patrol Chief there greeted us by saying, we
    have encountered 100 migrants from 176 countries speaking 200
    languages.
        Arizona Senator Mark Kelly pointed out that Mexicali has a
    airport--is a city in Northern Mexico very close to the Border
    where people can simply fly into that and then take an Uber
    over to the Border Patrol sector and claim asylum and then be
    released under your policies, under Biden administration
    policies into the interior of the United States--from 176
    different countries.
        Recently, I was in El Paso with a bipartisan group of
    Senators to--that was before we got to Yuma, and we were out on
    a night patrol. The Border Patrol detained two young men who
    were from--who had passports from the People's Republic of
    China--Mainland China, controlled by the Chinese Communist
    Party. They were presumably released, like these other
    individuals, into the interior of the United States with either
    a notice to appear or a notice to report.
        Can you tell the Committee where these people are today?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
        Senator Cornyn. Can you assure us that these individuals
    are not in the United States to conduct espionage or other
    nefarious acts against the United States Government? Can you
    reassure us of that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if an individual is deemed to
    present a threat to public safety or national security, that
    individual----
        Senator Cornyn. Well, how would you know? How would you
    know? They show up with a passport, and they claim a credible
    fear of persecution, and then under yours and the Biden
    administration policies, they're released into the interior of
    the country. These people--these are people who, perhaps, we
    don't have any records about. And certainly, we're not going to
    get them from China.
        You know zero about them and you know zero about the threat
    they pose to the United States and our national security. You
    can't tell us, can you, where the individuals are located who
    have been either paroled or released into the United States?
    You have no comprehensive list or ability to identify where
    those people are today. Do you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me--let me, again, repeat
    that we screen and vet individuals----
        Senator Cornyn. That's not my question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If we encounter----
        Senator Cornyn. You're--you're a--you're a--you're quite
    capable of evading the questions we're asking or diverting us
    to something else that's not what we ask. My question to you is
    when somebody from the People's Republic of China shows up in
    El Paso, Texas, and then claims asylum and is released into the
    interior of the United States, do you know where they are and
    what they are up to?
        Secretary Mayorkas. We very well can know where they are
    based upon----
        Senator Cornyn. You can. Do you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It depends on the individual and the
    fact that----
        Senator Cornyn. Some of them--if it depends on the
    individual, some of them, you don't know where they are or what
    they are up to. Is that right?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the issue of individuals
    absconding from law enforcement is a challenge that----
        Senator Cornyn. And you are failing in that challenge, Mr.
    Secretary.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If I may finish?
        Senator Cornyn. You and the Biden administration policies
    are contributing to what is happening on the Border. And
    according to Ms. McConville, she credited the Biden broken
    Border policies with contributing to the death of her son. And
    you won't even have the common decency to apologize.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, as I mentioned before, and I
    must say this, that my heart is with the victims of every death
    from an overdose, number one. Number two, we are bringing
    unprecedented force to the fight against the drug traffickers.
    Number three, the scourge of fentanyl is not new. It is not
    something that was born in 2021. And I can provide you with the
    tens of thousands of deaths that preceded this administration.
    This is a challenge that we all have to come together to fight.
        Senator Cornyn. You simply lost all credibility, Mr.
    Secretary.
        Chair Durbin. Senator Booker.
        Senator Booker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The crisis of
    fentanyl has been discussed a lot. I want to echo what my
    colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said and what you
    have said. This is an American crisis. It shouldn't divide us
    against each other. We need to find where the common cause and
    common urgency is and attack those areas.
        We should be guided by the facts and the evidence and not
    the typical political forces that divide us that make it
    difficult to solve problems. We will not agree on everything.
    But the facts are the facts. This problem did not start under
    Joe Biden. In fact, Mr. Secretary, during the years of the
    Trump administration, fentanyl deaths rose in America. Correct?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, they did.
        Senator Booker. That's all I need. This problem has risen
    under Republican Presidents and Democratic Presidents. This is
    not a partisan issue. This is an American issue. This is an
    American crisis. And more facts that I think are worthy of
    repeating and saying clearly is that this is an issue that is
    being driven by criminals from our country.
        The data shows that U.S. citizens are accounting for 86
    percent of fentanyl trafficking convictions--86 percent. When I
    visited the Border recently, down in Brownsville, the Customs
    and Border professionals--professionals every day that seek to
    serve the security of this Nation, made it very clear that this
    is overwhelmingly Americans being stopped coming through ports
    of entry. That 91 percent of the fentanyl enters our country
    through these ports of entry. Can you affirm that, sir?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it's my information indeed
    that the majority of fentanyl coming into this country is
    coming in through the ports of entry, over 90 percent.
        Senator Booker. And American citizens are the majority of
    people being arrested?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So that is a statistic with which I am
    not familiar. And--but certainly we see American citizens as
    traffickers in fentanyl. As I referenced just a few minutes
    ago, yesterday I was briefed most recently on Operation Blue
    Lotus, and indeed we apprehended for prosecution two American
    citizens who were trafficking in multi-kilograms of fentanyl.
        Senator Booker. Well, sir, I want to point out the GAO
    report on June of 2022, which found that 91 percent of drug
    seizure events involve only U.S. citizens. Now, this isn't to
    say that undocumented immigrants are not a part of the problem.
    They account for about 9 percent. But we need to be operating
    on the facts. The guns that the cartels are using are coming
    from where?
        Secretary Mayorkas. A great number of them are coming from
    the United States.
        Senator Booker. Give me--can you contextualize a great
    number as 20 percent, 30 percent? Are the majority of the guns
    being used by these cartels coming from the United States or
    not?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, that is my understanding. It is
    why indeed we have surged resources to interdict the flow--the
    illegal flow of firearms to the South.
        Senator Booker. So to present this as a problem that is
    just a Mexico problem and not discuss the facts that the
    weapons that the cartels are using, the majority of, according
    to your testimony, are coming from the United States, that the
    majority of the people we are arresting coming across the
    Border, trafficking, that they are coming through the ports of
    entry means that we have to look to solutions that meet the
    facts of the crisis. Is that correct?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is correct.
        Senator Booker. Should this country be, as Customs and
    Border agents told me, and again, these don't sound like very
    politically controversial issues. We need more resources at our
    Borders and our ports of entry that enable modern, cutting-edge
    technology to be used to detect the presence of fentanyl. Would
    that help the problem?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, it would, Senator. And I should
    say that we are deploying an unprecedented level of modern
    technology to interdict fentanyl. Our nonintrusive inspection
    technology is extraordinarily effective and we are exploring
    the use of artificial intelligence to serve as a force
    multiplier.
        I was in Arizona last week. Not only did I see the
    nonintrusive inspection technology--which I've seen in many of
    my visits to the Border, I think I've made 16 as the
    Secretary--but I also learned from our colleagues about the
    forward-operating labs that we now deploy to the ports of
    entry.
        So, personnel expert in the identification of the
    particular narcotic at issue can analyze it, confirm its
    identity, and bring the appropriate prosecution to bear.
        Senator Booker. And so if there's an action for Congress
    that could be a bipartisan effort would be to surge the
    resources to further expand the cutting-edge technology
    necessary to detect the fentanyl and to arrest the folks who
    are trafficking. That's a clear yes. Yes?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
        Senator Booker. That's all. The second thing that reminded
    me of my work doing law enforcement in my city as mayor is that
    we found that too many of our police officers were engaged in
    activities that weren't the highest and best use when it came
    to stopping and preventing crime.
        So, again, we need to protect our overall Border and
    technology that was discussed with me by Customs and Border
    Patrol that could use high-tech, sensory--all different types
    of technologies from motion detectors to aerial surveillance,
    they would tell me, would free up considerable amounts of our
    Customs and Border Patrol to focus more on where exactly the
    fentanyl is coming from.
        Even more than that, when you have a surge of asylum
    seekers, they were telling me stories about too many of their
    Customs and Border Patrol simply doing data entry, dealing with
    the asylum seekers, as opposed to having those officers do the
    things that we know and focusing on where we know the problem
    is.
        And so they talked about just simply some of the things we
    did when I was mayor of the City of Newark: getting civilians
    in to do the basic data entry jobs and freeing up officers to
    focus on ports of entry where their highest and best use is.
        And so, from the technology to protect our Border to too
    many people sitting behind desks with guns and officers, do you
    agree with me that we could be finding ways to better use the
    manpower, womanpower, personpower, that we have to focus on
    where the actual problem is?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. And we are doing that. And let me
    repeat very, very briefly, our use of technology and our
    exploration of AI, artificial intelligence, as a force
    multiplier to liberate some of our personnel from some of the
    more mundane tasks that could be accomplished by machines----
        Senator Booker. So I would like to learn more about that. I
    have 2 minutes left. I really want to hear more about that
    because when I was on the Border, I heard from a lot of your
    agents the urgency to do this. I know you're making progress,
    and I'd like to hear more, but I just----
        Secretary Mayorkas. And we're also adding case processors
    to make sure that the agents, the uniformed agents, can be back
    out in the field. We have surged those resources in an
    unprecedented way.
        Senator Booker. There's always going to be partisan
    differences. There's always going to be divisions in our
    country. But the lines that divide us are nowhere near as
    strong as the ties that bind us. We all care. We all are having
    people dying in our communities, people we know, families we
    meet with. And yet there is so much room for us to work
    together where we agree and to get things done and support the
    agents on the ground that when I meet with them, they're some
    of the proudest, most dedicated, patriotic Americans.
        In the few seconds I have left, sir, last week, the Anti-
    Defamation League released its annual report examining
    antisemitic incidents. According to the ADL, in 2022, there
    were at least 3,697 antisemitic incidents throughout the United
    States. This is a 36 percent increase from the 2,717 incidents
    tabulated in 2021.
        It's the highest number on record since the ADL started
    tracking. Antisemitism is at a stunning rise and the highest
    we're ever detecting. This is, to me, absolutely frightening.
    The number one targeted religious group in our country. I know
    the Department of Homeland Security released a toolkit for
    communities to better understand how to protect themselves. I
    think it's a valuable resource.
        But could you please, just in the last 30 seconds I have,
    how is the Department approaching community-driven solutions to
    the kind of violent extremism that threatens Jewish Americans,
    Sikh Americans, Muslim Americans, that are beginning to have so
    many of our religious minorities being targeted in the United
    States?
        Secretary Mayorkas. In the 10 seconds that I have:
    disseminating information so everyone is aware of the threat;
    providing advice with respect to the hardening of vulnerable
    locations; providing $20 million in grant funds each year to
    allow places of worship, religious schools, community-based
    organizations to increase their level of security. This
    requires a whole-of-community approach, and our Center for
    Prevention Programs and Partnerships is extraordinarily devoted
    to that.
        Senator Booker. Well, we have more to do collectively as a
    Congress and in your agency, more must be done. Hate has no
    harbor in the United States of America. These incidences are on
    a rise, and I would ask my colleagues for all of us to do more
    in partnership with those who are protecting us in our
    communities to address the scourge of antisemitism and violence
    against religious minorities in our country. Thank you.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Booker. Senator Lee.
        Senator Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Secretary
    Mayorkas, for being here.
        I'm troubled by a number of things, including some
    exchanges you had a few minutes ago with a couple of my
    colleagues, one in particular, dealing with your definition of
    operational control. This wouldn't trouble me quite the same
    way that it does, but for the fact that this isn't just a
    casual term of art that people throw around. Nor is it a term
    that made its first appearance with your service at the
    Department of Homeland Security.
        This is a statutorily defined term of art, and Congress has
    defined it now for the last 17 years as involving the
    prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States. So
    it appears to me that your definition, which has to do with
    maximizing resources, it distorts this.
        It appears to me to be something that is perhaps an
    intentional effort to obfuscate the real problem, to hide the
    absolute humanitarian and legal disaster that we have unfolding
    on our Southern Border, one with massive national security
    implications and human health implications.
        As we've seen, 110,000 Americans die from fentanyl just
    last year. All that fentanyl, by the way, comes from Mexico.
    It's no mystery where it's coming from. It's not made here. Not
    even made in China anymore--the stuff that shows up here--it's
    made in Mexico. So perhaps this redefinition helps hide that,
    helps obscure it. But it still doesn't help. Look, this is
    making it worse. What you're doing is making a lot of things
    worse.
        And I'm concerned that this shows up in a number of areas.
    I'm going to talk about some of those today. Shows up in your
    use of parole. It shows up on issues related to asylum. And it
    shows up in issues related to the detention of asylum
    applicants.
        Let's talk about parole first. In one of these efforts to
    disguise the political impact--to diffuse the political impact
    and disguise what's actually happening, you've started to
    rename things and rebrand them so that the numbers seem to be
    improving more than they actually are. But they aren't.
        It's come to my attention that you've created at least 13
    new parole programs within the Department of Homeland Security.
        Now, I find this odd because you break them down by things
    like country of origin. But I find this odd because the statute
    itself, creating parole, which is found in 8 U.S.C.
    Sec. 1182(d)(5)(A), says that the Secretary of Homeland
    Security, subject to certain conditions, shall parole--may
    parole into the United States temporarily under such conditions
    as he may prescribe only on a case-by-case basis for urgent
    humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit, any alien
    applying for admission to the United States.
        So Congress went way out of its way to define that and to
    say this must be handled on a case-by-case basis. No broad
    grants of these are the kinds of people we're going to parole
    in. Now, what qualifies as an urgent humanitarian reason or a
    significant public benefit, in your view, seems to be anything
    that will appear to reduce regular immigration.
        This is so far afield from the definition that Congress
    actually authorized by statute, and far beyond what it's
    heretofore been understood to do and what the words themselves
    mean, which is to provide a way that somebody could come in in
    the case of a medical emergency under that portion of the
    statutory language.
        Or, for example, someone who is coming in under the public
    benefit prong from a foreign country who's needed to testify in
    a jury trial or something like that, and then be returned.
        Parole wasn't intended to be broad, nor was it intended to
    provide someone a permanent residence or a residence that can
    become permanent within the United States.
        And so this is really concerning to me. When we see this, I
    wonder how you can possibly defend the legality of this. It
    shows up further in the way that you're handling asylum.
        Let me ask you this, Mr. Secretary, does anyone coming into
    our Border have a right to asylum? Or is this rather a grant of
    discretion to you as the Secretary of Homeland Security to
    grant it where you deem appropriate under the circumstances
    prescribed by the law?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Currently, Senator, we are exercising
    the public health authority of Title 42, and under Title 42, a
    claim of asylum cannot be made. The individual is expelled
    under that public health authority----
        Senator Lee. Yes----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Irrespective of the fact--
    --
        Senator Lee [continuing]. Yes----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. So let's put that aside.
        Senator Lee [continuing]. Yes. I know you want to talk
    about Title 42.
        Secretary Mayorkas. So let's put that aside.
        Senator Lee. Title 42 is going away in a few weeks.
        Secretary Mayorkas. So then an individual who arrives at
    our Border may claim fear of persecution by reason of their
    membership in a particular social group----
        Senator Lee. I get that. I know the standard. I'm asking
    you, is it a right or is it an act of discretion on your part?
    Because remember, the language says, the Secretary may grant
    them asylum. May. May is not shall. So is it discretionary or
    is it mandatory on your part?
        Secretary Mayorkas. We--we have the ability to make a
    discretionary decision with respect to the grant of asylum
    based upon the factors that we evaluate.
        Senator Lee. Okay. Now----
        Secretary Mayorkas. I have something to say about parole,
    but perhaps----
        Senator Lee. Sure----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. That question is not
    pending.
        Senator Lee [continuing]. If we've got time for that. I
    want to talk about this first.
        With--in your exchange with one of my colleagues, I think
    it may have been Senator Graham earlier, you seem to concede,
    at least for purposes of discussion, that most asylum
    applicants don't get in and that the number may be something
    like 9 out of 10 who don't get in. I know it varies from
    country to country--but it's more or less 9 out of 10 or some
    large number, some large percentage of asylum applicants are
    not eligible to come in. Is that right?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is correct. That the number who
    qualify under the initial threshold of credible fear is larger
    than the number of individuals who actually ultimately succeed
    in their final asylum adjudication.
        Senator Lee. Right. In fact, Federal law----
        Secretary Mayorkas. That's--that's purposeful by design of
    the statutory framework.
        Senator Lee. Under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1225(b)(1), an alien
    awaiting an asylum determination, a ruling on his or her asylum
    application is subject to mandatory detention. It says that the
    alien shall be detained pending a final determination of
    credible fear of persecution and if found, not to have such
    fear until removed. And yet, you're not currently detaining all
    asylum applicants. Are you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I believe this--this very
    issue is a subject of ongoing litigation. I will only say this,
    therefore, that--that the Department of Homeland Security,
    specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has never had
    the detention capacity to detain----
        Senator Lee. I'm not asking----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Every asylum seeker.
        Senator Lee [continuing]. I'm not asking whether you've got
    that detention capacity or whether they have in the past. I'm
    asking, what is supposed to happen? And the truth is, under the
    statutory provision I just read to you, you're supposed to
    detain them. And yet, you don't.
        And as far as running out of detention capacity, you are,
    in fact, getting rid of detention space. Are you not--as
    reported by Fox News just yesterday?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I--no----
        Senator Lee. And what about the fact that----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. No, we're not.
        Senator Lee [continuing]. The ICE detention budget has been
    slashed by this administration to the tune of hundreds of
    millions of dollars?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we're not reducing the amount
    of detention space. I don't know to what that report refers. As
    a mat--I'm not sure what that report refers to. We're not
    diminishing the amount of detention space right now.
        Senator Lee. You are not deporting people once you've
    reached your cap of the detention space. And that is a problem.
    Because you've said time and time again in front of this
    Committee and in other contexts, you and other members of this
    administration have said over and over again that the system is
    broken, the process is broken, the law is broken, and then you
    blame it on Congress.
        Well, maybe that's good if what you're wanting to do is
    advocate for, you know, some kind of reform that involves
    amnesty. But it's just not true as far as the asylum process,
    because if the asylum process were followed by the law, you
    would turn people away. You would send them back, once you ran
    out of detention space. You'd detain those who you're supposed
    to detain, and then you'd send the rest back. And this is a big
    problem.
        Look, I'm running out of time. I am concerned about another
    thing, a number of things that I'll follow up with questions
    for the record.
        But a couple of closing issues, just in short. First, I'm
    very concerned about your Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
    There's been a letter sent to you by the House Homeland
    Security Committee that you have not answered. When they do
    answer that, I would love to get those answers, those
    responses. And I would also like a briefing on this in the very
    near future. We need to know what's in there.
        Look, at the end of the day, it appears to me that you are
    not enforcing the law. You are redefining key statutory terms
    in order to obfuscate the fact that you're not enforcing the
    law. This is a fireable offense.
        Your Department has spent an enormous amount of money
    preparing for impeachment proceedings, like $3 million
    preparing for impeachment proceedings. Could it be, perhaps,
    that they know that you have been doing this, that you've been
    redefining statutory terms, failing to enforce the law? That
    seems removable to me. Thank you.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I respectfully disagree with
    you, and I look forward to the opportunity to addressing your
    concerns.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Lee. Senator Klobuchar.
        Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much.
        Chair Durbin. Let me just, if I can make an announcement.
    After Senator Klobuchar, there'll be a 10-minute break, so we
    have a roll call on the floor. Some Members may want to take
    advantage of it now. I'm going to be one of them. Senator
    Klobuchar is recognized.
        Senator Klobuchar. Okay, very good. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Thank you so much, Mr. Secretary. I'm going to actually take a
    different approach here. At the beginning, I do have some
    question about fentanyl. Senator Capito and I are introducing a
    bill on it today.
        My State has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. I
    don't know if you know that. A number of the States of Senators
    on this Committee have a lot of unfilled jobs in their States.
    And part of this is apprenticeships and getting people directed
    to those jobs.
        But part of it is also immigration. And you and I have
    talked about this before. I first of all want to thank you for
    the work that's been done on the commerce side on the longest
    border in the world with Canada--that would be my State--and
    the work that we have a 5,500-mile border in the U.S., with
    Canada.
        And we had many issues during the pandemic. A lot of those
    have now gone away. I was just--met with a number of the
    leaders in Parliament there on Friday as part of the summit
    between President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau, including
    liberal and conservative members of Parliament. And we agreed
    that there's been improvements on that front.
        And, of course, there's been the issue that was agreed to
    between the two heads of state about concerns on the Border,
    cross-border smuggling operations. Senator Blackburn and I are
    putting forward a bill on that. But can you talk about the
    steps the Department has taken in plans to address smuggling of
    both people and narcotics across the Northern Border?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much for your
    concern. I know you're very well aware of the announcement that
    we made late last week with respect to the Safe Third Country
    Agreement with Canada to ensure that we're fortifying the
    land--the Border land in between the ports of entry. We were
    very proud to move that regulation through with extraordinary
    speed.
        We are focused intensely on all our Borders, not just the
    Southern Border, but our Maritime Borders and our Northern
    Border, as well. I just recently spoke with the Commissioner--
    the Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
    with respect to the deployment of personnel to the Northern
    Border, precisely to address the concerns that you have
    expressed.
        Senator Klobuchar. Okay, very good. Going beyond Canada, I
    will ask on the record some questions about work authorizations
    for Ukrainians. Many of us on this Committee are very involved
    in the effort in Ukraine. But we also know we have people here
    that want to work, who are temporarily refugees in our country.
    And I want to thank you for the work that's been done on that
    front. I'll ask you some questions on the record about how the
    policy has gone.
        I mentioned our workforce shortage. If we were hiring
    tomorrow, we have about 139,000 unfilled positions. One of the
    solutions, as you know, in addition to comprehensive reform, I
    have joined a bipartisan group of Senators, including King,
    Rounds, Hickenlooper, Barrasso in calling on the Department to
    release the maximum allowable number of H-2B visas to help get
    the workers they need. Could you talk about how your
    experience, how H-2B guest worker programs have helped address
    workforce shortages?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, Senator. So we issued the maximum
    number of H-2B visas this year. In addition, I exercised the
    Secretary's discretionary authority and released the maximum
    additional number of visas available. And we did so earlier
    than ever before, precisely because of the demand for labor
    that we in this country have.
        I believe the Chairman referred to 11 million job
    vacancies. And so we're very mindful of that. Unfortunately,
    our immigration system is not well designed to address the need
    for labor. It is our hope that reform actually is legislated to
    address that issue.
        Senator Klobuchar. Right. You know, and I always picture
    some of the agreements that, sadly, we were not able to get
    passed. One passed in the Senate when Senator Grassley was
    actually the Republican Leader of the Committee. But it is some
    combination of Border resources on the Southern, and I would
    add Northern Borders, as well as the increase in the caps on
    these type of workers, as well as green card citizenship
    issues, especially for our DREAMers and some of those, and I
    add into that group, Afghans.
        As you know, more than 75,000 Afghans sought refuge in our
    country. I'd say about half of them have literal letters from
    our chief of mission and our military vouching for them. They
    stood by our soldiers, our military, VFW, American Legion. All
    believe we cannot leave these people in limbo. And many of our
    Republican colleagues that are supportive of our efforts focus
    on the fact that we can do more vetting this way. These are
    people who are in our country.
        Senators Wicker and Moran and, of course, Senator Graham,
    the Ranking Member of this Committee, have been part of our
    efforts on the Afghan refugee and have signed their name on
    this bill. And we're working with other Senators as we speak.
        And our bipartisan legislation, that I know you're aware
    of, requires applicants to go through vetting that is just as
    rigorous as the vetting they would have gone through if they
    came as refugees, a standard that eight former Republican
    administration national security officials called, ``the gold
    standard of vetting.''
        And so we have worked with your Department and DOD on this.
    How would the vetting provisions included in the Afghan
    Adjustment Act help to ensure that Afghan evacuees are fully
    and rigorously vetted?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we're very appreciative of
    that Act, and we do hope it is promulgated in operation. Allies
    welcome our effort to bring Afghan nationals who stood by us in
    combat safely to the United States. We undertook a rigorous
    screening and vetting protocol, and we did that before they
    arrived, to the fullest extent possible.
        This Act really institutionalizes that process and also
    provides stability for those Afghan nationals who are here in
    the United States and provides them with a critical path
    forward.
        Senator Klobuchar. Very good. I'm going to end here with a
    series of questions on fentanyl. I know you've been asked this
    by my colleagues, but I want to look at solutions. We've lost
    like everyone else here, many people in our States to this
    scourge. Senator Portman and I passed the STOP Act to require
    that international mail include advanced electronic data that
    CBP can use to stop fentanyl, and at least use that, because,
    you know, there's issues with the actual mail.
        Could you talk about what difference that has made? I'm
    going to just combine these questions so you can. Second, in
    2021, there were more than 100,000 drug overdoses in the U.S.
    And Senator Capito and I have urged the Department to
    prioritize investigations into fentanyl trafficking on the dark
    web, which is another part of the problem. It's the mail. It's
    the dark web.
        And then also this week, I introduced a bill with Senator
    Scott to allow military veterans to be trained as investigators
    through the DHS HERO Corps program to conduct investigations
    into fentanyl trafficking online. Another piece of the cyber
    part of this. Could you talk about the cyber piece of this, as
    well as the mail piece of it? Because I know you've gotten at
    other issues with our colleagues.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, your questions go to the
    significance of the challenge that we face, because it is not
    just through the land ports of entry. It is certainly not just
    by land, but it is by mail. The dark web, the internet pose
    marketplace challenges for the illegal trafficking of these
    incredibly dangerous, fatal narcotics.
        The STOP Act is a critical tool to allow us to prescreen,
    to be aware of any anomalies, information that will assist us
    in the interdiction of contraband coming in through our mail
    system. It's been of tremendous utility to U.S. Customs and
    Border Protection.
        With respect to fentanyl trafficking, the dark web is a
    marketplace not only for fentanyl, but for other heinous
    crimes. We're seeing such an increase, for example, in online
    child sexual exploitation. Here again, our incredible special
    agents of Homeland Security Investigations, along with our
    special agents of the United States Secret Service, are doing
    extraordinary work in an all-of-administration effort.
        We are very appreciative of your HEROES Act and the use of
    military veterans, capable individuals who've served our
    country so nobly to work with us in battling the online
    proliferation of narcotics and other contraband and other
    illegal acts.
        Senator Klobuchar. All right, very good. Well, thank you
    for your service, and you're happy to hear my next question.
    Would you like to be part of our 10-minute recess that the
    Committee will now take?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I think I will be.
        Senator Klobuchar [presiding]. Okay, very good. The
    Committee will now take a 10-minute recess. Thank you.
        [Whereupon the hearing was recessed and reconvened.]
        Chair Durbin [presiding]. This Committee meeting will
    resume. I thank Senator Klobuchar for helping. We have one more
    roll call vote on the floor. So Members may be coming and
    going, but at this point, I recognize Senator Cruz.
        Senator Cruz. Good morning, Secretary Mayorkas.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Good morning.
        Senator Cruz. Is there a crisis at our Southern Border?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, there is a very significant--
    --
        Senator Cruz. That's a yes or no question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. There is a very significant----
        Senator Cruz. Is there a crisis?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, there's a very significant
    challenge that----
        Senator Cruz. I think your microphone is not on.
        Secretary Mayorkas. There is a very significant challenge
    that we are facing----
        Senator Cruz. Yes or no? Is there a crisis?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I believe I've addressed that question,
    Senator.
        Senator Cruz. So you're refusing to answer?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, there is a very significant
    challenge, and we are therefore----
        Senator Cruz. Will you answer if there's a crisis?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Therefore, we are
    dedicating the resources that we have.
        Senator Cruz. Okay, so you're refusing to answer.
        Well, Secretary Mayorkas, I'll tell you someone who is
    willing to answer, which is your and President Biden's Chief of
    the Border Patrol, in a sworn deposition in July of 2022. When
    asked, ``Would you agree, Chief Ortiz, that the Southern Border
    is currently in crisis? '' Answer, ``Yes.'' Notice none of
    those wiggle words. None of that equivocation.
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz. One word, one syllable, ``Yes.'' Are you
    willing to speak with the same clarity as Chief Ortiz? Is there
    a crisis at our Southern Border? Yes or no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I'm very proud to work
    alongside----
        Senator Cruz. So you refuse to answer.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And support Chief Ortiz--
    --
        Senator Cruz. Let me ask you the next question. Has the
    crisis at our Southern Border made Americans less safe? Yes or
    no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are dedicated to the safety
    and security----
        Senator Cruz. Has the crisis made Americans less safe? I
    don't want a discourse. It's a yes or no question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we have a challenge of---
        Senator Cruz. You refuse to answer the question.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. That is not----
        Senator Cruz. Mr. Secretary, let me show you how someone
    doing his job answers a question in a straightforward manner.
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz. ``Chief Ortiz, is the crisis that is
    currently ongoing at the Southern Border making the Border less
    safe for Americans and aliens alike? '' Answer, ``Yes.'' One
    word, one syllable, three letters. That's how someone answers a
    question and does their job. You're being a politician,
    misleading the American people. Let me give you a chance again.
    Will you show the same integrity Chief Ortiz shows? Is the
    crisis at the Southern Border making Americans less safe? Yes
    or no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we have 260,000 people----
        Senator Cruz. You refuse to answer the question.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Dedicated to the safety--
    --
        Senator Cruz. Let's move on.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And security of the
    American people.
        Senator Cruz. Next question, Mr. Mayorkas. Has the crisis
    made aliens less safe? Yes or no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are seeking to----
        Senator Cruz. So you won't answer that question either.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If you----
        Senator Cruz. It's a yes-or-no. Has it made aliens less
    safe?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, smugglers are exploiting
    vulnerable----
        Senator Cruz. Has the crisis made aliens less safe? Are you
    willing to answer it?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the smuggling organizations
    seek to----
        Senator Cruz. Okay, you're filibustering again. Let me ask
    you this question. How many migrants have died under President
    Biden?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, your phrasing of the question
    is actually quite misleading.
        Senator Cruz. How many migrants died in 2022?
        Secretary Mayorkas. At our--approaching our Southern
    Border?
        Senator Cruz. Yes.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Precisely why we are seeking to
    exclude----
        Senator Cruz. Do you know the answer?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. The smuggling
    organizations----
        Senator Cruz. Do you know how many died?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I do not.
        Senator Cruz. You do not? Of course you don't. I know how
    many died, 853--853.
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is----
        Senator Cruz. And by the way, here are the numbers that
    have died every year.
        You go back to 1998, you see it's consistently between 300
    and 400, 300 and 400, 300 and 400. Suddenly 2021, what happens?
    You get in office and that red line are dead bodies.
        I've been on the Rio Grande, and I've seen dead bodies
    floating there who've drowned because of your refusal to do
    your job. You don't even know how many have died. What do you
    say to the Texas farmers and ranchers who find pregnant ladies
    dead on their property? Who find toddlers dead on their
    property? What do you say to them?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I say that is why precisely we are
    taking it to the smuggling organizations----
        Senator Cruz. But you are not.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Number one.
        Senator Cruz. That is simply not true.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Number two----
        Senator Cruz. Let--let--let----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. It is why we are getting--
    --
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. Let me read from The Wall Street
    Journal. The Wall Street Journal, 2 weeks ago, ran an article
    entitled, `` `It's Like a Graveyard': Record Numbers of
    Migrants Are Dying at the U.S. Border.''
        The story begins with this chilling line, quote, ``Eagle
    Pass, Texas--Local officials keep a refrigerated truck to hold
    the bodies of migrants who drown in the currents of the Rio
    Grande while trying to cross the Border into the U.S.'' Mr.
    Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that this article be entered
    into the record.
        [The information appears as a submission for the record.]
        Senator Cruz. Let me ask you a different question. How many
    children have been sexually assaulted by human traffickers
    under the Biden administration?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is precisely why we
    instituted----
        Senator Cruz. I--I--I don't want a lecture. It's a
    question. How many children have been sexually assaulted by
    human traffickers under your administration?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is exactly why on January
    5th, we now----
        Senator Cruz. Again, do you know how many--do you know how
    many children have been sexually assaulted?
        Secretary Mayorkas. This is why we instituted----
        Senator Cruz. So you're going to refuse to answer that
    question, as well. Let's move on.
        It's obvious you've been instructed to stonewall, so I'm
    not going to let you. You don't get to stonewall and
    filibuster. Now, one of my Democratic colleagues before said
    the Democrat talking point, quote, ``This problem didn't start
    under Biden.'' That's--look, I get if you're a partisan
    spinner, you got to figure out something to say about the
    absolute catastrophe that has played out under the Biden
    administration.
        True or false, Secretary Mayorkas: 2020 was the lowest rate
    of illegal immigration in 45 years. Is that true or false?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It is certainly the lowest level of
    immigration in many, many years. And what was it in 2020?
        Senator Cruz. Okay, fine.
        Secretary Mayorkas. What was it, Senator, in 2020 that
    impacted the entire world, including the United States?
        Senator Cruz. Okay----
        Secretary Mayorkas. What was----
        Senator Cruz. So, your testimony is, the reason we had the
    lowest rate was COVID? It had nothing to do with building the
    wall, nothing to do with any catch and release, nothing to do
    with ``Remain in Mexico'' ? With all respect, Mr. Secretary,
    that answer is laughable.
        And, in fact, if you look at illegal immigration----
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. Let's look at CBP Encounters.
    You can see 500,000, 500,000. It drops to the lowest level and
    boom, what happens? You show up and that red line is you. That
    red line is Joe Biden. And you're claiming, ``Nothing happened.
    Oh, gosh, this was here before us.'' ?
        No. You made the decision to allow this to happen. Let me
    ask you, we now have over 5.5 million people who've entered
    this country illegally under Joe Biden. How many murderers have
    you released into America?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I'm not aware of any murderer
    whom we've released into the----
        Senator Cruz. So you don't know?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me say something.
        Senator Cruz. Do you know?
        Secretary Mayorkas. If you take a look at----
        Senator Cruz. No--no, you don't get to give a speech. Do
    you know how many murderers you've released?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I'm just trying to answer your
    question, Senator.
        Senator Cruz. How many rapists have you released?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I'm trying to answer your
    question.
        Senator Cruz. Do you know? You can answer I know or I don't
    know.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, any individual who poses a
    public safety threat----
        Senator Cruz. How many child molesters have you released?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Is detained and removed
    into the United States--from the United States.
        Senator Cruz. So your testimony under oath, subject to
    perjury, is that you have not released any murderers, rapists,
    or child molesters among the 5.5 million? Is that your
    testimony?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, may I have the
    opportunity to actually answer----
        Senator Cruz. No, you may not. You may answer my question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. You're not allowing----
        Senator Cruz. Is that your testimony? Yes or no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you're not allowing me to
    answer your question.
        Senator Cruz. I am allowing you to answer. I'm not allowing
    you to filibuster.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If you take a look at the pace of
    immigration in 2018 to 2019----
        Senator Cruz. You're refusing to answer.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. You will see a dramatic--
    --
        Senator Cruz. Let's move on.
        Secretary Mayorkas. You will see----
        Senator Cruz. Let's move on to got-aways. Got-aways are the
    people that get away that you know about. Now, what happened
    under your administration?
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz. Got-aways consistently down at this low line.
    Boom, you get in and they go from below 180,000 to 600,000.
        Now, I'll tell you this about a got-away. You don't know
    among those 600,000 a year--you have no idea how many are
    murderers. Correct?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is precisely why the number of
    got-aways----
        Senator Cruz. Correct? Do you know how many of those are
    murderers?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is precisely why----
        Senator Cruz. So you refuse to answer the question. Do you
    know how many are rapists? Do you know how many are rapists?
    This is a question. You're a lawyer, you know how to answer
    questions. Of the 600,000, do you know how many of them were
    rapists?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is why we are----
        Senator Cruz. So, again, the answer is ``no.'' Let me ask
    you this, do you know how many of them are terrorists? And I
    don't want a ``Senator, here's my lecture on this.'' Do you
    know how many of the 600,000 got-aways were terrorists? Yes or
    no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are focused on the safety
    and security----
        Senator Cruz. You refuse to answer that, as well.
        What's the result of massive got-aways? Well, one of the
    results is drug overdoses. And we now have last year over
    100,000 overdoses----
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. Who died--the majority from
    Chinese fentanyl streaming across the Border. Now, you told
    Senator Cornyn you care. But look what has happened under your
    policy. When you open up the Border to the worst illegal
    immigration in our Nation's history, people die. You claim you
    care. Mr. Secretary, that is a lie.
        You know, some months ago, Karine Jean-Pierre stood up at a
    White House briefing and said, ``People are not just walking
    across the Border.'' Was she telling the truth?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you are----
        Senator Cruz. Was she telling the truth?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. So profoundly
    disrespecting----
        Senator Cruz. Was she telling the truth?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Twenty-two years----
        Senator Cruz. You--you--you----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Of Government service.
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. You get to answer questions----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. You don't get to give speeches.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Senator, I served as a
    Federal prosecutor----
        Senator Cruz. All right, you're refusing to answer.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. For 12 years----
        Senator Cruz. If you look at, she was lying--and she was
    not lying on her own. She was lying on behalf of the President
    of the United States. Now, the photograph of people walking----
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. She was lying on behalf of the
    President of the United States. This is a photograph from just
    one day along the Rio Grande of hundreds of thousands of people
    walking across the Border. You have allowed this to happen.
        The photograph that was before----
        [Poster is displayed and appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Cruz [continuing]. What are these? Wristbands?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I don't know what they are, Senator.
        Senator Cruz. You don't know what they are?
        Mr. Secretary, you have just testified to the American
    people you're incompetent at your job.
        Because I've been to the Southern Border. And if you go to
    the Southern Border, along the Southern Border, you see
    thousands of these wristbands [holds up wristbands] because the
    illegal immigrants wear them.
        The drug cartels--every color corresponds to how many
    thousands of dollars they owe the cartels.
        You have turned these cartels into multibillion dollar
    criminal organizations [holds up wristbands] and these are
    modern-day leg irons--because these are children being sold
    into sex slavery, and you don't even know what they are.
        That is astonishing. Mr. Secretary, how many children have
    been sold into sex slavery under your administration?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are taking it to the cartel
    and the smuggling organizations----
        Senator Cruz. How many children have been sold into sex
    slavery?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. In an unprecedented----
        Senator Cruz. Do you know how many children have been sold
    into sex slavery?
        [Gavel is tapped three times.]
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. To an unprecedented
    degree.
        Senator Cruz. Mr. Secretary, I want to say to you right
    now, your behavior is disgraceful. And the deaths, the children
    assaulted, the children raped, they are at your feet. And if
    you had integrity, you would resign.
        And I will tell you, the men and women of the Border
    Patrol, they've never had a political leader undermine them.
    They despise you, Mr. Secretary, because you're willing to let
    children be raped to follow political orders. This is a crisis.
    It's a disgrace. And you won't even admit this human tragedy is
    a crisis.
        Chair Durbin. Claiming one minute ``Chairman time.'' Mr.
    Secretary, would you like to respond to any of those questions?
        Secretary Mayorkas. What the Senator said, it was
    revolting. I'm not going to address it.
        Senator Cruz. Your refusal to do your job is revolting.
        Chair Durbin. Senator Padilla.
        Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Let's see, I think it's disrespectful, the treatment that
    we've just seen the Secretary undergo. I think it's
    disrespectful to suggest or imply that the root causes of our
    broken immigration system are so simple that they can be
    answered in 2\1/2\ seconds or less.
        That the solutions necessary to improve our immigration
    system for the needs of today and the future could be delivered
    in 2\1/2\ seconds or less. So let me, for the moment, continue
    some questions on the subject matters that our Republican
    colleagues keep bringing up over and over and over again, and
    we'll--we'll stay on fentanyl for a second.
        Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Secretary, but I think Senator
    Booker earlier mentioned that in 2021, it's been found that
    U.S. citizens accounted for more than 86 percent of convicted
    fentanyl drug traffickers. Does that sound about right to you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, as I mentioned to Senator
    Booker, I'm not familiar with that statistic. I'm certainly
    aware of the fact that American citizens are participating in
    the trafficking of illegal narcotics across the Border.
        Senator Padilla. And the recording of the cities that I've
    seen do document that the vast majority of those who bring
    fentanyl into the country are United States citizens, not the
    migrants that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are
    implying.
        Also, that nearly 99 percent of the consumers who are
    paying for illicit opioids, so we can look at both ends of
    this, right, who's driving the demand, not just who may be
    responsible for the supply. Statistic again, from Federal
    agencies, 0.02 percent of the people arrested by Border Patrol
    for crossing the Border illegally possessed fentanyl at the
    time.
        Secretary Mayorkas. More than 90 percent of the fentanyl
    brought into this country is brought in through the ports of
    entry.
        Senator Padilla. Right.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I cannot overstate the viciousness and
    cruelty of the smuggling organizations.
        Senator Padilla. Yes.
        Secretary Mayorkas. It is precisely why we are building
    safe, orderly, and lawful pathways for people to come to the
    United States if they are eligible, and cutting out the
    smuggling organizations----
        Senator Padilla. And that's the point I'm trying to get to,
    Mr. Secretary. I want to sort of level set--sort of reality
    check the conversation. Because the challenge is a serious one
    and should be approached with seriousness and maturity.
        So, now that we've caught our breath from the prior
    exchange, I want to afford you an opportunity to speak into the
    administration's approach, the significance of a whole-of-
    government approach to the problem.
        Not just whole of Federal Government, but any partnerships,
    real or potential, that you think can be value added here. I
    know in the State of California, for example, State resources
    are being committed to augment additional screening equipment
    and other technologies that can help in this cause in a
    productive manner.
        Secretary Mayorkas. So--so two different parts, Senator,
    and I appreciate the opportunity. The administration's approach
    to the migration challenge, which is quite serious, and it is
    one that is not exclusive to the United States, but is gripping
    the entire region. There are approximately 2.5 million
    Venezuelans in Colombia now. There is an unprecedented movement
    of people throughout the hemisphere.
        Our approach is to cut out the smugglers who are indeed
    vicious and cruel and to build safe, lawful, and orderly paths
    for people to arrive in the United States. And on January 5th,
    we announced a parole program for Cubans, Haitians,
    Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans that they could apply for entry
    into the United States in a safe and orderly way. And we would
    deliver consequences if they arrive irregularly in between our
    ports of entry at the Southern Border.
        We have seen a 95 percent drop in the number of encounters
    of those four nationalities in between our ports of entry.
    People will take advantage of a safe, lawful, and orderly path
    if it is presented to them. And we are cutting out the
    smuggling organizations precisely for the reasons that Senator
    Cruz mentioned.
        With respect to fentanyl, we are bringing the fight to the
    cartels in an unprecedented way. We have surged resources, most
    recently in Operation Blue Lotus, which is already
    demonstrating significant results. We are using our personnel,
    our extraordinary personnel, we are using technology, we are
    using everything that we can bring to bear to fight the scourge
    of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. We are also requesting
    of Congress additional resources so that we can enhance that
    fight.
        We need to work together to address a challenge that
    precedes this administration and we need to work on it
    together. It is something that is killing far too many
    Americans.
        Senator Padilla. I agree. Thank you. And as you know,
    there's many of the ideas, proposals that you and the White
    House have suggested that I agree with and support and several
    that have been proposed or suggested that I don't agree with
    and we're having those constructive, mature conversations.
        I want to make sure to touch base on a couple of other
    important issues, including the Shelter and Services Program. I
    was pleased to lead the effort last year to ensure there was
    adequate funding for the program, which was formerly known as
    the Emergency Food and Shelter Program--a program that allows
    reimbursements for nongovernment organizations and local
    entities that provide shelter, transportation, and other
    services to migrants at the Border.
        Again, security and humanity in the process. It was
    previously housed under FEMA, now the program is under CBP. So
    I just raised it to acknowledge this transition and formally
    request regular updates on the implementation of the new
    program to ensure that the entities that rely on these funds to
    play that supportive role that they have been can continue to
    access the funds that we make available.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I appreciate your support of that
    program. The funding is critically needed. We have funded the
    Emergency Food and Shelter Program with $350,000,000 of the
    $800 million and of course we are standing up the SSP--it's
    known by its acronym. And once that is stood up, of course, we
    will be funding that with the balance of the $800 million and
    distributing it to cities for their care of individuals here.
        Senator Padilla. Next topic and next issue is something
    that we've had a couple of conversations about. In 2022, the
    Army struggled to meet its recruiting goal of enlisting 60,000
    soldiers. It only enlisted 45,000 that year.
        As our Armed Forces collectively look for ways to
    incentivize enlistment. One way, not the only way, but one way
    that has worked throughout our Nation's history is to ask
    immigrants who enlist or to ensure that immigrants who enlist
    are able to become citizens quickly as specified in the
    Immigration and Nationality Act.
        I understand that since July, the USCIS and the Department
    of Defense began work on a memorandum of agreement to formalize
    their partnership and to coordinate services for members of the
    military to naturalize early in their military careers. When do
    you expect that MOU to be finalized and what tangible steps can
    we take to improve the naturalization rates of military service
    members?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much for that.
    It is remarkable that individuals have been willing to serve in
    our Armed Forces before they have become citizens. We've made
    tremendous progress with the Department of Defense to allow
    individuals to naturalize who are serving in our Armed Forces
    at an earlier stage. And we're going to be moving quickly on
    that now. We had a very significant development yesterday on
    that.
        Senator Padilla. Thank you. Look forward to working with
    you on that, as well.
         And in my time remaining, I just wanted to acknowledge
    earlier in the hearing you brought up FEMA, actually in your
    opening statement, with the appropriate attention to
    Mississippi where the tornadoes and their impact are dominating
    the national news right now.
        But I also feel a responsibility to remind my colleagues
    and you and the country about the California communities who
    continue to experience an onslaught of devastating atmospheric
    rivers and the devastation in the wake of recent storms. Entire
    communities have been flooded, farms are underwater, thousands
    of families being evacuated from their homes and many who will
    not be able to return to work anytime soon or return to their
    home anytime soon.
        And I want to specifically call attention to the community
    of Pajaro, which is a small, low income, predominantly a
    farmworker community that has for decades been overlooked by
    FEMA, frankly, agencies at all levels of government. But
    specifically the Trump-era individual assistance regulation
    under FEMA is exacerbating the hardship.
        California struggled to meet FEMA thresholds for disaster
    assistance because the regulation established a new factor
    called the State Fiscal Capacity and Resource Availability to
    be considered when FEMA evaluates the need for individual
    assistance. So this isn't the public assistance for
    communities, cities, municipalities, etc., to rebuild. We're
    talking individual assistance here.
        The rule has resulted in significant disparities and
    inequities. It's left out disaster survivors like those in
    Grizzly Flats, you know, who suffered from wildfires just a
    couple of years ago without the support they need.
        Communities like this continue to wait in limbo as
    California waits to tally up more and more damage than other
    States just to get the same level of Federal assistance. So I
    wanted to put that on your radar. I'm sure we'll continue to
    talk about this in HSGAC in the coming weeks. But we have to
    fix these clear inequities in Federal guidelines and
    regulations. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I look forward to following up with
    you, Senator.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Padilla. Senator Hawley.
        Senator Hawley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary,
    thank you for being here. Let me start with what I hope is a
    simple question. Do we need to have more or fewer people coming
    to our Southern Border?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are working on diminishing
    the number of people whom we encounter at our Southern Border
    because of the challenge it presents.
        Senator Hawley. Okay.
        Secretary Mayorkas. We're trying to build lawful, safe, and
    orderly pathways to accomplish that.
        Senator Hawley. Okay, fewer. We need to have fewer, which
    means we need to roll back incentives to come. So I would have
    thought that would have been the answer. Let's talk about what
    you're doing, though. In January of this year, you rolled out a
    new phone app called ``CBP One,'' an app for a cell phone.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Senator Hawley. I've got a picture of it, behind me here.
    This phone app allows--and I'm going to quote from your own
    factsheet--it allows, and I quote, ``Noncitizens without
    appropriate documents for admission to schedule an appointment
    to come to the Border.''
        They can now go on their phone and schedule a time to come
    to the Border and then be admitted. And you identified seven
    separate Border points of entry where they could come: five of
    them in Texas; two of them in California; one in Arizona. It's
    like a concierge service for illegal immigrants.
        My question is, you didn't think the Border crisis was bad
    enough that now we're going to have an app that allows illegals
    to schedule their appointments and come and be admitted to this
    country?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you're mischaracterizing the
    use of the application. Let me--let me explain it to you. We
    are currently enforcing the public health order of Title 42,
    and I know you're very familiar with it. There is a process for
    individuals who claim an exception to the Title 42 expulsion
    authority because of an acute medical condition.
        Senator Hawley. Well, let's talk about this app.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If I may finish--an urgent, urgent
    humanitarian reason. So instead of them coming in between the
    ports of entry to claim that urgent medical condition, that
    extraordinarily acute humanitarian cause, we allow a limited
    number to arrive at our ports of entry and seek the emergency
    relief that they need.
        Senator Hawley. Schedule--you allow them--let's be, let's
    be particular about what you do.
        Secretary Mayorkas. And I should say that the CBP One app
    was not unveiled for the first time on January 5th of this
    year.
        Senator Hawley. But you changed it. You made it available
    on January 5th to the illegals themselves. You don't have to be
    a lawyer to use it. You don't have to be a member of a
    nongovernmental organization. Anybody can download the app and
    use it on their phone. And for the first time, you allow them
    to schedule appointments.
        Now, let's talk about what actually happens when they come
    to the Border. It's interesting you characterize this when you
    rolled it out as an application for applying for asylum. But
    nowhere on the app do you actually require the illegal migrants
    to apply for asylum. Or to claim asylum. Or anything about
    asylum.
        And, in fact, when they then get to the Border, you don't
    ask them questions. You don't do interviews. You just release
    them. Here's the Texas Monthly--not a notable conservative
    outlet--who reports, and I quote, ``At no point does the app
    ask users, are you seeking asylum? Those arriving for the CBP
    One appointments are given no interviews, asked no questions
    about vulnerabilities that they may or may not have listed in
    the app or about why they're coming to the United States.
    They're simply released into the country,'' end quote.
        So rather than building a wall, Mr. Secretary, you have
    built Ticketmaster for illegal immigrants.
        Secretary Mayorkas. You are--Senator, you are conflating
    programs. Let me explain.
        Senator Hawley. Well, just respond to this. Is it true that
    they are given no interviews, asked no questions, and simply
    released into the country?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Let me explain to you what we announced
    on January 5th.
        Senator Hawley. No, I want you to explain to me what's
    happening. I know what you announced. I read it to you.
        Secretary Mayorkas. So I will explain to you what is
    happening.
        Senator Hawley. Are they given interviews? Let's start with
    that. Are they given interviews?
        Secretary Mayorkas. We were previously experiencing
    almost----
        Senator Hawley. This is starting to sound like a ``no.''
    Well, let's just hone in here. Mr. Secretary, my time is very
    limited. I don't mean to interrupt you, but I want to drive to
    some clarity here.
        Are--the Texas Monthly has reported that once illegal
    immigrants go on their phone----
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Senator Hawley [continuing]. And reserve their time to come
    to the Border--once they use your concierge service that you've
    created for them, when they come, they are given no interviews.
    They are asked no questions about any vulnerabilities. They are
    simply released into the country. Is that happening?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you are mistaken. And if I may
    explain----
        Senator Hawley. Are they given interviews?
        Secretary Mayorkas. If I may explain. Individuals who seek
    parole under our January 5th program for Cubans, Haitians,
    Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans are screened and vetted before
    they arrive at our Border----
        Senator Hawley. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. No, and they
    go on the phone and they just reserve a time, and then they
    show up and they're not given--they're given nothing.
        Listen to this: ``Even immigration advocates are amazed
    about this.''
        Here, also from the Texas Monthly--here's one immigration
    advocate, whose first name is Orta, she says, ``That's the
    crazy part. Nothing in this new program requires you to
    actually seek asylum. Somehow we've decided to punish those who
    arrive at the Border without the app who may be seeking asylum.
    But we just let in anybody who may or may not have any
    particular reason to seek asylum so long as they've made an
    appointment''--on your Ticketmaster app. This seems crazy to
    me.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it's a complete
    mischaracteriza-tion of the program that we announced and are
    implementing----
        Senator Hawley. So how many people have used--how many
    people have used the app then?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. That you are referring to.
    So if I can explain----
        Senator Hawley. How many people have used the app?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So, we've had--we had a significant
    surge of Cubans, Haitians----
        Senator Hawley. How many people have used the app?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Nicaraguans, and
    Venezuelans.
        Senator Hawley. Mr. Secretary, you're here to answer my
    questions. How many people have used the app?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Tens of thousands have sought to make
    an appointment at the port of entry under our parole program.
        Senator Hawley. Okay, good. How many have been admitted
    without an interview at the Border?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Well, you are again inserting a fact
    that does not belong in your question. So if I can, I will get
    you the percent----
        Senator Hawley. I'm reading to you from public reports
    about how your own app works. You're just blanketly denying--
    actually, you're not quite denying it.
        You're saying that maybe we don't understand. Apparently, I
    don't understand. Texas Monthly doesn't understand. Immigration
    advocates don't understand. You're the only one who
    understands, yet you won't answer my question. How much did
    this cost to develop, by the way?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I don't have the cost, but let
    me share with you a critical path----
        Senator Hawley. Well, will you get it for us?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Let me share with you a
    critical path----
        Senator Hawley. Will you get us the cost of what it--to
    develop this app?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Happily.
        Senator Hawley. Did you use a--did you contract with a tech
    firm to develop it?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we have seen approximately----
        Senator Hawley. Did you contract with a tech firm to
    develop it?
        Secretary Mayorkas. We have seen an approximately----
        Senator Hawley. Oh, for heaven's sake.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Ninety-five percent
    decrease----
        Senator Hawley. Did you contract with a tech firm to
    develop it? Yes or no?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this was led by U.S. Customs
    and Border Protection, our technical experts within the agency,
    and I certainly will get an answer to your question, whether
    outside consultants were utilized----
        Senator Hawley. So, you don't know?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. In the development
    process.
        Senator Hawley. You don't know?
        Secretary Mayorkas. May I explain to you, since you have a
    misunderstanding of the program, what it is and the impact, the
    positive impact it has had on encounters of these four
    populations----
        Senator Hawley. I just want to know----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. In between the ports of
    entry----
        Senator Hawley [continuing]. Why it is that you are
    allowing people to come to this Border to make appointments, to
    not be interviewed? And then, how many have just been released?
        Is it true, by the way, as the Texas Monthly reports, that
    they're simply released into the country on official parole?
    And get this, they're not given, according to their reporting,
    any kind of follow-up. Their court dates are in Immigration
    Court, Texas Monthly reports, not even necessarily asylum
    trials. They're often general deportation hearings where
    defendants can make arguments for remaining in the country. Is
    that true?
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is a completely mistaken
    understanding of how the immigration process works. That
    language is completely confusing and erroneous.
        Senator Hawley. Well, it is confusing. What's confusing is
    why anybody would think that an app like this to allow illegal
    immigrants to literally reserve a time to come to the Border
    and then be ushered in without an interview, without follow-up,
    without tracking, is stunning. It's absolutely stunning. Let me
    ask you, in my very short time remaining----
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is false.
        Senator Hawley [continuing]. Something else about Chinese
    nationals. I've only got a minute left.
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is false.
        Senator Hawley. Let me ask you about the Chinese nationals
    who we all saw coming over the Border----
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Senator Hawley [continuing]. Busloads of them, and then
    being released into the American interior. What's the--what's
    the percentage increase of Chinese nationals who cross the
    Border this year, Mr. Secretary? Let's just focus on maybe the
    Rio Grande Valley sector.
        Secretary Mayorkas. The number of Chinese nationals
    encountered at our Southern Border has increased
    significantly----
        Senator Hawley. Do you know how much?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Over the past. I don't
    have the precise percentage.
        Senator Hawley. I do. It's 900 percent, just in the Rio
    Grande Valley sector. Are any of these people who came in this
    bus, these Chinese nationals, members of the Chinese Communist
    Party?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if an individual presents a
    national security or public safety threat, we detain them
    during the pendency of their----
        Senator Hawley. That's not what I asked. I asked if they're
    members of the CCP.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. During the pendency of
    their removal proceedings.
        Senator Hawley. Are any of these individuals members of the
    CCP?
        Secretary Mayorkas. If indeed----
        Senator Hawley. I think there's about 70 who came on this
    bus.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. If indeed they are
    determined to be a national security threat or a threat to
    public safety, we detain them pending their removal
    proceedings.
        Senator Hawley. Were any of these individuals detained? Or
    were they released into the country?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I don't--I don't have awareness of that
    particular group of individuals.
        Senator Hawley. So you don't know if any of them were
    members of the CCP? Well, actually, you do know. You just won't
    say.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I don't know from the photograph,
    Senator, to whom you're precisely----
        Senator Hawley. But surely you know about the folks who--
    you've read this report. You're the Secretary of Homeland
    Security. You're aware of these individuals. Were any of the
    members of the Chinese Communist Party coming into this
    country?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you're providing me with a
    group of individuals without names, identities, or
    information----
        Senator Hawley. So you're not familiar with this incident
    that was widely reported on at the Southern Border? Don't you
    think it's strange that we have busloads of Chinese nationals
    coming across our Southern Border? I'm asking you, from a
    hostile country--I'm asking you if they're members of the
    Chinese Communist Party and you don't know. Apparently you
    won't say.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are very focused on all
    things with respect to the People's Republic of China----
        Senator Hawley. But you don't know any of the details. I
    plead exhaustion, Mr. Secretary. You have exhausted me. You
    have exhausted this panel. You have exhausted the patience of
    the American people. You should resign.
        Chair Durbin. Senator Welch.
        Senator Welch. Thank you very much. Welcome. Just a couple
    of things. First of all, brief statement. Then I'd like to ask
    you about some of these questions, including give you an
    opportunity, perhaps, to elaborate on the question that Senator
    Hawley was asking.
        But first of all, Mr. Chairman, let me express the
    frustration I have about this whole issue. We conflate
    everything into one thing and never start talking specifically
    about the elements that we have to address.
        We've got a drug problem with fentanyl. That's separate
    from immigration, but some of it comes in on the Border. And
    that's a serious conversation, in my view, that deserves its
    own focus.
        Second, we have a labor problem. We need more H-2A and H-2B
    visas. And I believe that could be dealt with and addressed
    separately to try to meet the needs that many of our employers
    have, and also to get some more control and management on the
    Border.
        Third, we've got these young people who are not so young
    now--many of whom have served in the military--but they were
    brought over by their parents when they were seven or eight or
    nine years old. We have one who's a graduate of UVM Medical
    School, and he has an uncertain status. And the only country
    he's ever really known is the United States and he's a big
    contributor. We should be dealing with the DREAMers separately.
        And then, fourth, we've got an incredible challenge at the
    Southern Border and an emerging challenge at the Northern
    Border. So whether you want to use the term ``crisis'' or not,
    it is a very serious problem. When 2 million people show up at
    your door, that's a problem because we don't have the capacity
    to accommodate that--and probably our toughest issue.
        Now, some of these issues are because Congress has failed
    to act. I think Senator Lee made some really good points about
    parole. But that's within our jurisdiction to define what that
    is. And if we do nothing, how can we blame an administration
    for trying to do something that makes sense to try to get some
    control over the Border? So this is on Congress.
        And, you know, Senator Cruz, maybe I would use the term
    ``crisis at the Border,'' because 2 million people showing up,
    you know, that's a really serious problem. But it's not as
    though that any individual who has Mr. Mayorkas' job, whether
    in the Trump administration or the Biden administration, can
    control a lot of what happens.
        And the thing that we're not acknowledging here is that if
    you have 2 million people showing up because of various factors
    that makes them so desperate that they'll even come with their
    children--a war in Ukraine, a rogue rebel group showing up in
    Syria alone, chopping off hands of 16-year-old kids who then
    apply for refugee status, or failed states in Cuba, in
    Venezuela, in Nicaragua, and people being so desperate they're
    willing to risk walking through the Darien Gap--I mean,
    Secretary Mayorkas can't handle that.
        And you can't stop those factors. You have nothing to do
    with them. You've got to deal with the consequences of them.
        And my view is that each one of these elements that I've
    described has an urgency of its own and requires focused
    attention, including some of these legal questions that Senator
    Cruz, you've raised and Senator Lee has raised. That's just by
    way of background to express my own frustration about what I
    see as a failure of Congress to do its part.
        Now, Secretary Mayorkas, I want to give you a chance to
    address the questions that Senator Hawley was raising and just
    take a minute to do that.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator. So let me explain
    the program that we announced and have been implementing since
    January 5th because it's been tremendously successful. We were
    encountering----
        Senator Welch. Quickly.
        Secretary Mayorkas. We were encountering a significant
    number of individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and
    Venezuela. And with respect to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela,
    specifically, it's extremely difficult to remove individuals
    from those countries because of the status of our lack of
    diplomatic relations. We were seeing, in one month, up to
    90,000 encounters of those--of individuals from those four
    countries in between our ports of entry--in one month.
        And what we did, because we do see tremendous tragedy at
    the hands of the smuggling organizations, is develop a safe,
    lawful, and orderly way for them to come to the United States,
    instead of placing their lives and their life savings in the
    hands of the smugglers.
        Senator Welch. Thank you.
        Secretary Mayorkas. We have seen a 95 percent drop in the
    number of individuals from those countries encountered at our
    Southern Border in between the ports of entry because people
    will take a lawful, safe, and orderly path and not take an
    irregular path----
        Senator Welch. Thank you.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. At the hands of smugglers.
        Senator Welch. Thank you. I want to go to fentanyl. Senator
    Cornyn led the CODEL to Mexico. And it was tremendous and
    constructive, and I want to thank him for that. Senator Lee was
    on that.
        There was an interaction with the president of Mexico led
    by Chris Murphy and also by Jerry Moran, Senators, who
    confronted the president about the precursor drugs that are
    coming into Mexico from China, and then used in the
    manufacturing of fentanyl, that comes up to the United States.
    And they asked and received what I heard was a very strong
    commitment on the part of the president of Mexico to address
    China.
        We don't really have that opportunity, but to address China
    about stopping those precursors. That's a level of cooperation
    that we need more of. Would you agree?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, indeed. And we've spoken, as well,
    with our Mexican counterparts about the need to interdict the
    precursor chemicals, as well as the manufacturing of----
        Senator Welch. And President Obrador had a real objection
    to all the guns that are coming from the U.S. into Mexico and
    then ending up in the hands of cartels that just commit
    unspeakable violence with them. Are we doing all we can to
    cooperate with the president to keep our guns from going south?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, we are, Senator.
        Senator Welch. Now you have authorities under Section 702
    of FISA. Is that helpful at all to you with respect to
    addressing the fentanyl crisis?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It is extraordinarily helpful. We have,
    over the years, stopped terrorism--terrorists from arriving in
    the United States using our 702 authority, our intelligence
    collection capabilities with respect to foreign nationals.
        Senator Welch. What are the concrete steps we can take to
    try to alleviate the pressure on the Southern Border that you
    would recommend that we pay more attention to?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I would say there are multiple. Number
    one, first and foremost, we have to fix our broken immigration
    system. Everyone agrees it is broken.
        Number two, we need to build safe, lawful, and orderly
    pathways so people do not place their lives in the hands of
    smugglers. We have to cut the smuggling organizations out, and
    we have to reduce irregular migration and build lawful
    pathways.
        And three, we have to address the root causes, what you
    spoke of at the very outset. Why do people leave their homes,
    their countries of origin, to travel through multiple countries
    to ultimately reach the United States or elsewhere? Because
    we're seeing enormous migration throughout the entire----
        Senator Welch. My final minute, let me ask you about the
    Northern Border. This is Vermont and New York as well. We're
    seeing a surge between October 1 and December 31, 2022, CPB
    apprehended 1,146 migrants crossing into the U.S. through the
    Swanton Sector. That's up in Northwest Vermont. During that
    same period, in 2021, it was only 136 migrants. More are
    crossing from the United States into Canada at the Northern
    Border. What are we doing about the situation of migrants from
    the U.S. traveling to Canada, and Canada to the U.S?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So we're very focused on that, Senator,
    as I mentioned earlier in my testimony, and what we did--what
    we announced just last week is a perfect example of our focus.
    We finished, we promulgated the Safe Third Country Agreement
    with Canada to bring greater enforcement authority to both our
    countries with respect to encounters in between the ports of
    entry.
        Senator Welch. Okay, thank you. And just before I yield
    back, I would just say to all of my colleagues, you know, we
    can have whoever happens to be the Secretary of Homeland
    Security, bring them in and beat them up. Or we can do our job.
    And my hope is we could do our job. I yield back.
        Senator Lee. Madam Chair?
        Senator Hirono [presiding]. I call on Senator Cotton for--
    --
        Senator Lee. I'd just like to offer, by unanimous consent,
    to admit two documents into the record. One is a news article
    dated March 22 and bearing the caption ``Biden administration
    scaling back detention of illegal immigrants despite migrant
    surge.'' The other is the ICE budget overview from Fiscal Year
    2024 showing what the Biden administration is doing to scale
    back funding for bed space and bed space. Thanks.
        Senator Hirono. Without objection.
        [The information appears as submissions for the record.]
        Senator Hirono. Senator Cotton.
        Senator Cotton. Secretary Mayorkas, the Uyghur people are a
    religious and ethnic minority in Northwest China. Your
    administration and the last administration have both concluded
    that the Chinese government is committing genocide against its
    people. Do you agree with that assessment?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I do. And it's why we are so
    vigorously enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
        Senator Cotton. Well, thank you for the candid answer on
    that. That's much better than, for instance, the TikTok CEO
    could give last week about the genocide against his people.
    Part of Congress' reaction, as you suggested, was in 2021,
    passing a bill that I and many other sponsor--in fact, I think
    it was a majority of Senators known as the Uyghur Forced Labor
    Prevention Act.
        It passed the Senate unanimously, so I know that you're
    familiar with it. The law requires Customs and Border
    Protection at DHS to presume that materials sourced from that
    province are produced by forced labor because of the widespread
    usage of forced labor in the province among the suppressed
    people.
        It bars those products from importation into the United
    States. And under that law, every textile manufacturer has to
    certify that their imported materials aren't sourced from
    Xinjiang Province in China. It's come to my attention that a
    veteran-owned company called Nine Line Apparel, which prides
    itself on ethically sourced products, recently decided to trust
    but verify their suppliers' certifications that the cotton they
    were using originated in Central America rather than in China.
        So they had their supposedly clean textile imports
    professionally tested. It turned out that slave-produced fabric
    from China was mixed in and passed off as Central American
    cotton. Nine Line Apparel did the right thing, got rid of all
    that material, and they reported it to Customs and Border
    Protection, offering to give them all the evidence they needed
    from their professional testing facility.
        But unfortunately, CBP decided not to follow up. They
    directed Nine Line Apparel to submit a complaint to a generic
    email box, which was not replied to. When Nine Line Apparel CEO
    then followed up by calling CBP directly, CBP told him that
    enforcing this Act's ban on slave-produced textiles and other
    fabric is not one of their top priorities. Mr. Secretary, is
    enforcing the Federal ban on slave-produced products and
    materials from China a top priority for your Department?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It most certainly is.
        Senator Cotton. Why would CBP have told the CEO of Nine
    Line Apparel that this is not a top priority?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I am--that is not a reflection of our
    prioritization of this work, nor is it consistent with our
    prioritization of this work. And I must say that the Act is an
    incredibly important statute that Congress passed, and I
    appreciate your leadership in achieving it. It is something
    that we enforce very, very vigorously and need to do so.
        And I should say that the Act provides that it is--it
    pertains to materials produced, in whole or in part, with
    forced labor. And I cite that because that is very important
    language, because we do not countenance at all the use of
    forced labor by the PRC, and we cannot allow materials into the
    United States that are in violation of the statute.
        Senator Cotton. Okay. Thank you for that answer, Mr.
    Secretary. I think it's important that we heard that here in
    public for everyone in CBP to hear that their Secretary
    believes that the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor
    Pension Act is a top priority. Correct?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, yes. And let me assure you that the
    personnel of CBP are in perfect lockstep----
        Senator Cotton. Okay.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. With me.
        Senator Cotton. I know that sometimes in bureaucracies
    messages don't always get transmitted as clearly as leaders
    might like. So I'm glad that we have you saying that clearly
    today. I would also like to be able to follow up with you and
    your team in the next couple of weeks about this specific case
    of Nine Line Apparel----
        Secretary Mayorkas. I look forward to it.
        Senator Cotton [continuing]. And see what might have
    happened in that matter.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I look forward to doing so.
        Senator Cotton. Second, I want to turn to TikTok. We've had
    a lot of talk about fentanyl today. Right? So given the surge
    in drug deaths in this country, TikTok has sometimes been
    referred to as ``digital fentanyl.'' You may have seen last
    week that the CEO of TikTok testified, and he tried to pass off
    this Chinese Communist spying app as safe because it had a,
    quote, ``U.S.-based team who oversees the massive amounts of
    Americans' data that TikTok vacuums up.''
        So I want to talk about those U.S.-based employees. Last
    year, your Department approved more than 700 applications for
    foreign nationals to work at TikTok and ByteDance's offices in
    California. Do you happen to recall how many of those 700 were
    Chinese nationals?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Let me--let me assure you, Senator,
    that we are very focused on the threat that TikTok presents.
    And we are very, very focused on the threat that the PRC
    presents----
        Senator Cotton. I'll come to that general threat in a
    moment.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. In a number of different
    areas.
        Senator Cotton. Do you recall how many of those 700 foreign
    nationals that were approved to work at TikTok and ByteDance's
    California offices were Chinese nationals?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I would be very pleased to
    look into that.
        Senator Cotton. It's 445. It doesn't sound like a U.S.-
    based team to me, despite whatever Shou Chew, the CEO of
    TikTok, said last week, if they're predominantly Chinese
    nationals. Do you think employees coming to work at ByteDance
    and TikTok in the United States might be tied to the Chinese
    Communist Party or the People's Liberation Army?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, that is indeed a concern of
    ours, and we are working to ensure that the visa screening
    process is as robust and vigilant as it needs to be.
        Senator Cotton. Okay. Now----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Let me share, also, that, of course,
    the TikTok transaction is something that is under a review and
    is the subject of litigation. We are very, very focused on the
    peril that TikTok presents.
        Senator Cotton. I understand. I think TikTok should have
    been banned a long time ago. I would point out that last week,
    as the administration floated this plan, so called Project
    Texas, which I think is deeply misguided in the sale of TikTok,
    China's government said they would never allow that to happen--
    which contradicts everything TikTok has ever said about not
    being beholden to the Chinese government.
        But I want to come back to your Department. The
    Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA,
    reports to you. They call themselves America's Cyber Defense
    Agency. I looked on their website recently. As far as I can
    tell, though, CISA has never issued a warning about TikTok,
    other than to recommend people update the TikTok app to fix
    software bugs.
        I've got to say, I'm less concerned about bugs in TikTok
    than I am about features in TikTok. And the features of TikTok
    is, it's designed to vacuum up every bit of data on an
    American's phone. Not just their videos from the app itself,
    but their contacts, their emails, their text messages, their
    photos, perhaps even activate their microphones and their
    cameras remotely.
        So has CISA ever issued a warning to the American people
    about TikTok, other than updating the software to avoid bugs?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, CISA's focus is indeed on
    cybersecurity. We are a member of the Committee for Foreign
    Investments in the United States, CFIUS, of which you are very
    familiar, and we, and across the administration, are focused on
    the TikTok challenge more broadly.
        Senator Cotton. Well, I would encourage you and CISA to
    take a more--or to take a closer look at this and make it more
    prominent on the website. I think many Americans still don't
    understand why so many of their elected officials are so
    hostile to TikTok.
        Even that hearing last week when Democrats and Republicans
    alike excoriated the disgraceful performance of Shou Chew, the
    TikTok CEO--they're still wondering why their elected officials
    are so worried about their privacy and their security. Let's
    turn to Mr. Chew. Do you know what nationality Shou Chew is?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I do not, Senator.
        Senator Cotton. It's hard to find out on the internet what
    he is. He's often referred to as a Singaporean. He spent a lot
    of time in America, though, if you look at his resume. I assume
    that he's not an American citizen, because if he was, I'm
    pretty sure TikTok would refer to him as ``our American CEO,''
    as they did his short-term predecessor.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, just a number of months ago, I
    was in Singapore to address in the Indo-Pacific Region the
    threat that the PRC presents when countries accept their loans.
    There's no free lunch, as I articulated in my remarks, and how
    precarious it is to allow the PRC to actually build and own the
    infrastructure upon which many of these countries rely.
        Senator Cotton. Well, I appreciate that. I just want--I
    have a few concluding thoughts with Mr. Chew, who seems to me
    like a Communist Party stooge and the agent of Communist
    influence in America. You know, he wouldn't admit what you
    admitted very quickly and highlighted the importance of--that
    China is committing a genocide against its own people.
        In fact, I think he was asked once if TikTok spies on
    Americans, and his answer was that, well, he wouldn't use the
    word spying as exactly the right word. So the Immigration and
    Nationality Act makes any alien deportable, if they, quote,
    ``engage in any activity to violate any law of the United
    States relating to espionage or sabotage,'' or a few other
    things.
        Seems to me that Mr. Chew is a foreign national in the
    United States, representing essentially an arm or an agency of
    the Chinese Communist Party, as they acknowledged last week,
    and he shouldn't be allowed to stay in the United States. And
    he certainly shouldn't be invited back in. I don't think we
    need agents of Chinese Communist influence in our country,
    especially coming to spread their lies in the United States
    Congress.
        I see, my time has expired. I look forward to following up
    with you on the Forced Labor Act matter, and thank you for
    clarifying that for all of your CBP Officers around the
    country.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Hirono. I call on myself for 10 minutes. Welcome,
    Mr. Secretary. I would ask for unanimous consent to enter into
    the record an opinion piece by two governors--Eric Holcomb,
    Republican Governor of Indiana, and Spencer Cox, Republican
    Governor of Utah. And it is an opinion piece for The Washington
    Post entitled, ``To solve our national immigration crisis, let
    States sponsor immigrants.''
        [The information appears appears as a submission for the
    record.]
        Senator Hirono. They call upon Congress to end the two-
    decade-long impasse regarding comprehensive immigration reform.
    And they note that we are a Nation of immigrants.
        And I know that, Mr. Secretary, you are a political
    refugee. And since you came to our country seeking a better
    life, your parents and you--which is why most immigrants come
    to this country--you have spent decades as a Federal prosecutor
    and a public servant in the United States. And I thank you for
    that.
        And, of course, as the only immigrant serving in the U.S.
    Senate right now, I certainly understand the desire to come
    to--a parental desire to come to this country to create a
    better life for themselves and their children. Certainly the
    case for me, and it informs what I do and why I do it. The
    Trump administration completed 472 Executive actions related to
    immigration policy, many of which were punitive and cruel.
        In fact, there were people who said that cruelty was the
    intent of these policies. And who can forget the pictures of
    children who literally were ripped from the arms of their
    parents, crying for their parents in our detention facilities.
    And only when a court ordered reunification, did the Trump
    administration then try to reunify these children.
        And it was difficult because the administration had
    absolutely no desire or goal to reunify these children with
    their parents. So they didn't keep track of the children and
    their parents. So these were inhumane policies. And I heard
    today that maybe if we reverted to those policies, that we
    would be solving our immigration problems. Mr. Secretary, would
    reverting to cruel and inhumane policies like child separation
    or an asylum ban be the answer?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I appreciate your remarks
    about why people come to this country, for a better life. I
    appreciate your mention of my personal journey to this United
    States. My parents brought my sister and me here to live in a
    democracy. The Communist regime took everything away that my
    father had. And it is why I have served for approximately 22
    years in Federal service on behalf of the United States
    Government, to give back to this country.
        Senator, there is a core principle of our administration.
    We are a Nation of laws, and we are a Nation of immigrants and
    how we enforce our laws and the policies that we promulgate,
    the policies that we issue must reflect our values. And you
    cite one of the most heinous policies of the prior
    administration: family separation, to remove young children out
    of the clutches of their parents in an effort to deter other
    individuals from coming to the United States and assert an
    asylum claim.
        I'm very proud to lead the family reunification task force
    that the President ordered, by way of Executive action. And we
    have reunited more than 600 of those children with their
    parents here in the United States. And our work is not done.
        Senator Hirono. And certainly going back to those policies
    are not the answer. In fact, let me turn to a program that I
    think is better positioned to address some of the issues
    relating to immigration.
        In 2016, DHS implemented a detention alternative, the
    Family Case Management Program. Initially for 5 years, the
    Trump DHS shut it down after only 1\1/2\ years. But the data
    showed that this more humane program was almost--also more
    cost-effective than detention. And it has an amazing compliance
    rate, with more than 99 percent appearance rates at check-ins
    and court hearings.
        I understand that DHS has relaunched a program to provide
    case management services to some immigrants. Given the success
    of the Family Case Management Program, do you expect to see
    similar results with the new program?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. Yes I do, Senator. And in fact,
    we've done more than that. Just recently, I asked the Homeland
    Security Advisory Council, an outside body, to take a look at
    our alternatives to detention programs, including the case
    management pilot to which you refer, and to provide
    recommendations about what are the most humane as well as
    effective programs to ensure that people can comply with their
    legal obligations in a very, very complex immigration system
    that everyone agrees is fundamentally broken and in dire need
    of repair. And that's been the case for decades.
        Senator Hirono. I think--I'm really glad that you continue
    to emphasize the humane policies that we should be following,
    rather than policies where cruelty seem to be the object of the
    policy. Certainly, the tearing of children from the arms of
    their parents cannot be characterized as anything but cruel.
        I mentioned what the two governors--Republican governors
    wrote, and they are facing literally over 100,000 worker
    shortages in both of their States. We are facing a severe
    worker shortage in our country.
        And I want to quote the Chamber of Commerce, maybe the
    first time that I would quote Chamber of Commerce. And they
    said, quote, ``The vast shortcomings of our legal immigration
    system are a key contributing factor as to why companies are
    struggling to hire and retain the talent they need to succeed
    in an increasingly competitive global marketplace,'' end quote.
        Mr. Secretary, is a worker shortage, especially in
    cybersecurity, for example, a security threat? And whose job is
    it to fix our legal immigration system?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So, Senator, it is an economic security
    threat, the shortage of workers. We have employers who are
    striving to hire to find people who could fill jobs to
    contribute to our country's economic prosperity.
        Regrettably--regrettably, our legal immigration system is
    not designed to meet that need of employers here in the United
    States. Despite the fact--despite the fact that individuals
    from other countries want to come here to work, even
    seasonally, even temporarily, earn the money that they can
    bring back to their home countries and support their families
    there.
        It is precisely why, in the H-2B program, the seasonal
    nonagricultural worker program, we allocated thousands of H-2B
    visas for the Central American countries of Guatemala,
    Honduras, and El Salvador, so that those individuals in
    desperate need of a better life do not have to place their
    lives in the hands of smugglers, take the perilous journey to
    our Southern Border and arrive in between the Southern--in
    between the ports of entry, if indeed they make it safely.
        But instead, to fulfill the need for labor here in the
    United States, we can screen and vet these individuals in their
    home countries, and they can travel safely to the United States
    by air, gain lawful employment, contribute to our economy,
    return to their home countries with the earnings that they've
    made, and address fundamentally the root causes of why people
    travel irregularly in the first place. We just cannot seem to
    fix a system that everyone agrees is broken.
        Senator Hirono. Yes. Mr. Secretary, you and I, as
    immigrants, we know why our families brought us to this
    country. It is to give us a better life. I came here with
    nothing and a single parent. And I just wish that my colleagues
    who talk about their own families and their grandparents, their
    parents being immigrants, they seem to have forgotten the
    struggles that they experienced to make a better life for them.
    And here we all are.
        You know, there was a time, not too long ago, in 2013 when
    we managed to get comprehensive immigration reform done. It
    didn't solve all of the crises that we faced, but it was at
    least a start, and it was actually bipartisan. Some of my
    colleagues sitting here were very involved in doing that. And
    I'm thinking, why does the Chamber of Commerce have to come
    forward and practically beg us to pay attention to the massive
    worker shortage in our country?
        Why do two Republican governors don't want to wait around
    any longer for Congress--I'm answering my own question now--
    whose responsibility it is to do comprehensive immigration
    reform? These two governors--Republican governors saying, we
    can't wait for you guys. We would like to be able to bring
    immigrants to our State so that they can have the kind of
    strong economy that they seek for their States. So, my
    goodness, why can't we get it done? We did it before. My time
    is up. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Chair Durbin [presiding]. I liked your testimony so much, I
    didn't want to interrupt you. But thank you, Senator Hirono.
    Senator Kennedy.
        Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, Mr.
    Secretary.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Kennedy. Mr. Secretary, do you agree with the
    President that we should ban the private ownership of assault
    weapons in America?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I do.
        Senator Kennedy. What is an assault weapon?
        Secretary Mayorkas. It is, for example, an AK-47.
        Senator Kennedy. Can you give me a definition other than
    just pointing to a specific weapon? Would there be other
    weapons besides an AK-47 you would ban?
        Secretary Mayorkas. There very well are. And I remember
    when I was a Federal prosecutor in the Central District of
    California from September 25th, 1989, to, I believe, it was
    April 2001----
        Senator Kennedy. And I thank you for your service----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. All of the----
        Senator Kennedy [continuing]. But if you could answer----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. All of the law
    enforcement----
        Senator Kennedy [continuing]. My question.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. The vast majority of law
    enforcement officers, leaders with whom I worked, were greatly
    in support of the assault weapons ban.
        Senator Kennedy. Secretary, do you know why we get so
    frustrated with you? Because you won't give straight answers.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I think I just did.
        Senator Kennedy. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. Do you
    have a definition of an assault weapon?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I am confident there is a technical
    definition of what is an assault weapon, and it was assuredly
    used in the context of the statute that previously existed
    banning assault weapons.
        Senator Kennedy. Mr. Secretary, our Southern Border is not
    secure. Is it?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I have spoken about this. I
    believe I've addressed this earlier in the hearing.
        Senator Kennedy. Why don't you----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Let me----
        Senator Kennedy [continuing]. Address it again?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Of course. Let me share with you a few
    things. Number one, when I speak of the security of the Border,
    I am speaking of maximizing the resources we have to deliver
    the most effective results. So let me assure you that we are
    doing----
        Senator Kennedy. So we are secure because we're trying to
    secure it? Are we succeeding?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, we are so focused on the
    security of our Southern Border. We are doing so much with
    respect to the surge----
        Senator Kennedy. But you are not succeeding.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Of personnel.
        Senator Kennedy. You're not succeeding.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me share with you that the
    challenge of migration that we are experiencing at our Southern
    Border is not exclusive to the United States. It is something
    that is gripping the entire hemisphere.
        Senator Kennedy. My job is to worry about the United
    States.
        Secretary Mayorkas. As is mine. As is mine.
        Senator Kennedy. And here's my question. Let me try to
    rephrase it. And I really do wish--I understand the position
    you're in, but you really should try to do a better job of
    answering the questions.
        Under the Biden administration, we have the most
    encounters--we have had the most encounters with people
    attempting to come into our country illegally in the history of
    ever.
        Under the Biden administration, we have had the most people
    entering our country illegally in the history of ever.
        Under the Biden administration, we have had the most got-
    aways at our Southern Border in the history of ever.
        Under the Biden administration, we have had the most number
    of people entering our country under a claim of asylum, having
    that claim turned down, and still not being deported in the
    history of ever.
        And under the Biden administration, we've had the most
    fentanyl coming into our country in the history of ever.
        How can you possibly say the Southern Border is secure? I
    understand your answer that you're trying, but I'm not asking
    about your efforts. I'm asking about the results.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Well, let's talk about the results
    then, Senator. Do you know that last year we expelled and
    removed approximately 1.4 million people from the Southern
    Border? I believe that's the most ever. Do you realize that we
    are focused on enforcing our laws to achieve the security of
    the Southern Border?
        Senator Kennedy. I know you're focused, Mr. Chairman--or,
    Mr. Secretary, but you're not succeeding.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I just----
        Senator Kennedy. When you come testify to us, you talk
    about how you're trying really hard, and I don't have any way
    to disprove that. I accept that statement in good faith. But
    the numbers belie that.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If I can, Senator, let me give you an
    example of a solution that we have delivered that for some
    reason is being contested, because it's caused a 95----
        Senator Kennedy. Mr. Secretary, I gave you 30 seconds.
    Okay?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. It's caused a 95----
        Senator Kennedy. Don't filibuster me. You've been doing
    that all day. I'm just trying to ask you a question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I'm just trying to communicate. It has
    led to a--to approximately 95 percent drop in the number of
    encounters in between the ports of entry at our Southern Border
    of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans----
        Senator Kennedy. Mr. Secretary----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. On January 5th.
        Senator Kennedy [continuing]. Mr. Secretary----
        Secretary Mayorkas. And why would that be opposed when it
    is delivering precisely the result that you seek?
        Senator Kennedy. Did you just parachute in from another
    planet, Mr. Secretary? Because you're the only person in the
    Milky Way who believes that we're not having massive, massive
    illegal immigration into America.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you're--you're putting words
    into my mouth.
        Senator Kennedy. No, sir. I'm accurately describing the
    situation.
        Secretary Mayorkas. There is no question, there is no
    question that we have a very serious challenge at our Southern
    Border.
        Senator Kennedy. Okay, let me----
        Secretary Mayorkas. It's a challenge that----
        Senator Kennedy. We can agree on that. Let me ask you
    another question. Why don't you just declare a new policy that
    other than children, if you present at the Southern Border, you
    claim refugee status, you claim political asylum, and if you
    haven't claimed the refugee status and political asylum at the
    first Safe Country, then you can't come in?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, so, first of all, when one
    presents at the Border, it's an asylum claim. Not a refugee----
        Senator Kennedy. Why don't you do that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Not a refugee claim.
        Senator Kennedy. Why don't you just unilaterally declare a
    Safe Third Country policy? It would work. You can't come into
    America. If you're coming from Venezuela and you come through
    Mexico, if you didn't claim asylum in Mexico, you can't come
    here. You have to leave. Why don't you just do that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me give you an example
    with respect to Mexico. A Safe Third Country Agreement, let's
    hypothetically assume----
        Senator Kennedy. You don't have to have an agreement with
    Mexico.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, you do.
        Senator Kennedy. No, you don't.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I believe you do, Senator.
        Senator Kennedy. No, you don't. Other countries don't do
    it. Just adopt a policy that says, except for children, because
    you don't want to send children back by themselves. Just adopt
    a new policy that if you didn't seek asylum in the first Safe
    Third Country, you can't come in. Period.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, are you aware of the notice of
    proposed rulemaking that we issued, the comment period of which
    closed yesterday?
        Senator Kennedy. You've had 2 years to adopt a policy like
    I just described. Why haven't you done it?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So, Senator, what we have done is----
        Senator Kennedy. But why haven't you done that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. We have surged enforcement resources.
    We have developed----
        Senator Kennedy. Why haven't you just adopted--please, if
    you would, Mr. Secretary, answer my question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. It is my understanding----
        Senator Kennedy. Why haven't you--why haven't you adopted,
    unilaterally, a Safe Third Country policy that would stop--
    except for children--all the folks from the Northern Triangle
    countries, all the folks from Venezuela, all the folks from
    Cuba, all the folks from the Middle East from coming into our
    country? Why haven't you done that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it's my understanding that
    those are two things. It is my understanding that those
    agreements do require the----
        Senator Kennedy. You don't have to have an agreement with
    anybody. It can be a policy established by the Department of
    Homeland Security.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I'd have to review the----
        Senator Kennedy. You haven't reviewed that? You haven't
    considered that possibility?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Let me--let me finish, if I may.
        Senator Kennedy. Sure.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I would have to review the under--the
    legal underpinnings of your----
        Senator Kennedy. Well, you better----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Assertion.
        Senator Kennedy [continuing]. Get reviewing----
        Secretary Mayorkas. And I also----
        Senator Kennedy [continuing]. You ought to get reviewing.
    This is the first time that's occurred to you?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. I also do not think that
    that is sound policy.
        Senator Kennedy. You don't think that's--that this is the
    first time that's occurred to you?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I also do not think that that is sound
    policy that we should shut down our entire asylum system.
        Senator Kennedy. I didn't say shut down the entire asylum
    system. I said Safe Third Country.
        All you have to do, Mr. Secretary, if you're really
    serious--and it's beginning, frankly, to appear that you're
    not--is adopt a policy that says we're not--we're not seeking
    anyone's agreement. We don't have to.
        If you're coming from another country and you come through,
    let's say, Mexico, and you say you're seeking asylum, you have
    to seek it in Mexico or the other first Safe Third Country, or
    you can't come in. Period. Done. End of story. Why don't you do
    that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I don't think that we have the
    unilateral authority----
        Senator Kennedy. Sure you do.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Number one.
        Senator Kennedy. Other countries do it.
        Secretary Mayorkas. And number two, as I've mentioned----
        Senator Kennedy. Have you tried sneaking into China?
        Secretary Mayorkas. As I've mentioned, I do not think that
    is sound policy.
        Senator Kennedy. Why?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Because you are basically shutting down
    our asylum system.
        Senator Kennedy. No, you're not. You're saying, we
    respect--we honor your right to seek political asylum, but
    you're cherry-picking. Do it in Mexico first. Why haven't you
    done that?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I--I think I've addressed that issue,
    Senator.
        Senator Kennedy. You don't want to do it, Mr. Secretary.
    That's what it's beginning to look like. Because you think our
    Borders ought to be open. And it would be more intellectually
    honest if you just say that.
        Secretary Mayorkas. That is false.
        Senator Kennedy. I don't agree with you. You have to watch
    up here what people do, not what they say. And everything else
    is just cottage cheese.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I don't think the----
        Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I don't think that 1.4 million people
    who were expelled or removed last year would consider the
    Border open.
        Senator Kennedy. Mr. Chairman, you've had--or, Mr.
    Secretary, you've had billions--millions coming into the
    country illegally, the most of the history of ever under your
    watch. And everybody knows that, apparently, except you. Either
    that or you're not being forthcoming with us.
        Secretary Mayorkas. We've also had the largest number of
    individuals expelled or removed from the Southern Border. And
    if one takes a look at the apprehension and encounter numbers
    and then the removal numbers, one would have a different view.
        Senator Kennedy. If you do the Safe Third Country policy,
    that'll solve half of your problem right there--and you're not
    denying anybody asylum.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Kennedy. Senator Ossoff.
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, Secretary
    Mayorkas.
        I'd like to discuss with you the H-2A visa program whereby,
    as you know, agricultural workers can pursue a visa legally to
    work in the United States to support the production of food in
    our country. And this is a program, of course, that's
    extensively utilized by our agricultural sector--important for
    our food security.
        But last year, a Federal investigation called Operation
    Blooming Onion uncovered that some farmworkers who were in the
    country through the H-2A visa program, legally to work, had
    been subjected to human rights abuses and labor conditions so
    severe and inhumane that the Department of Justice deemed them
    to constitute modern-day slavery.
        So I sent you a letter on March 1st, 2022, to ask you to
    reform the administration of this program to ensure that
    farmworkers, legally with an H-2A visa, entering the United
    States would not be subjected to such appalling and inhumane
    treatment.
        And you responded, and I appreciate your response just a
    couple of months later, and informed me that you would, in
    fact, undertake such reform and that you'd begun a rulemaking
    process to do so.
        So I'd like to ask you for an update, please, on that
    rulemaking process and on the Department's efforts to ensure
    that workers in the United States, through the H-2A visa
    program, are not subjected to these crimes and this
    catastrophic treatment.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much. So, two
    things. Number one, the rulemaking is underway, I believe, and
    I can provide you with a more specific update after this
    hearing.
        But critically, or I should say, and critically, we have
    revised our work site enforcement strategy for precisely the
    reason that you identify, precisely because of what we observed
    in Operation Blooming Onion. And tragically in other
    circumstances, as well.
        Our enforcement resources in the work site environment are
    focused on investigating and prosecuting employers who exploit
    the vulnerability of the migrant workforce by paying them
    substandard wages, by keeping them in substandard working
    conditions--not only exploiting the vulnerable workers
    themselves, but also creating an unfair advantage in the
    marketplace.
        Because through those conditions--through the imposition of
    those conditions, they charge lower prices and create an unfair
    competitive advantage. So it is unscrupulous employers upon
    whom we are bringing to bear our work site enforcement
    authorities.
        Senator Ossoff. Will you please provide my office with an
    update? Will your staff please provide my office with an update
    by the end of this week on the expected date for completion of
    this initial rulemaking process?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. And I should say that the work
    site enforcement strategy that we announced several months ago
    is already underway. It does not require rulemaking. It is a
    matter of using our enforcement authorities and resources most
    effectively, and that is how we are doing so.
        Senator Ossoff. Understood. Continuing the discussion about
    the H-2A program and considering, in particular, the small- and
    medium-sized farmers and growers who utilize it.
        Recognizing that the various elements within DHS have
    significant resource constraints and a lot of work to do,
    including ensuring the fair and humane treatment of workers
    under this program, DHS has proposed dramatically increasing
    the application fees charged by USCIS for a variety of visa
    programs, including for H-2A and H-2B petitions whereby
    employers could see increases of up to 250 percent in a single
    year.
        And, of course, we're in an environment where farmers are
    facing high fuel prices, high fertilizer prices, and where
    Americans are facing high grocery prices.
        So my question for you is, in developing this proposed rule
    and the increase in fees for USCIS for H-2A and H-2B programs,
    have you consulted the Department of Agriculture? And is there
    some accommodation that can be made to ensure that there are
    not crippling fees imposed upon small- and medium-sized farmers
    who are having a tough time right now?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So, Senator, if I may, so the fee rule
    to which you refer is an effort to try to get U.S. Citizenship
    and Immigration Services back on stable financial footing. A
    fee rule, the adjustment of cost for immigration benefits, is
    supposed to be revised every 2 years. A fee rule has not issued
    for more than 6 years.
        So that agency was decimated in the prior administration.
    And the reason for the proposed significant increases in
    certain costs for certain benefits is by reason of that fact
    and the need to actually infuse much needed funding for that
    agency. It is not a rule that we promulgate unilaterally, but
    rather, it is in the proposed rulemaking stage. We are
    receiving comments in response to it, and no final decisions
    have been made.
        Senator Ossoff. Good. Well, I want to urge you to consider
    the economic circumstances of those small- and medium-sized
    farmers, in particular, with such a sudden increase in the fees
    they rely upon. The fees for the visa services that they rely
    upon. Let me ask you about DHS detention practices.
        As you know, I led an investigation in the Permanent
    Subcommittee on Investigations last year whose findings were
    deeply disturbing. Indeed, horrifying. This bipartisan
    investigation I led with Senator Johnson, of Wisconsin, found
    that female detainees in DHS custody detention in Georgia were
    subjected by a DHS contracted doctor to excessive, invasive,
    and often unnecessary gynecological surgical procedures,
    including, in some cases, without informed consent.
        And in November of last year, during a Homeland Security
    Committee hearing, you committed to me to review the findings
    of that investigation. We made a number of recommendations in
    our report accompanying that investigation expediting and
    improving vetting of offsite medical providers and dramatically
    strengthening the procedures by which you ensure that DHS
    detainees have the opportunity to consent, or not, to medical
    services. What steps have you taken since that investigation?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So, Senator, thank you very much for
    the report that you and Senator Johnson led. I did indeed
    review that report. As I think you know, we closed the facility
    that was the subject of that investigation. I did direct that
    the recommendations be reviewed and implemented to the fullest
    extent possible, and I'd be very pleased to get you an updated
    report of the status of that implementation.
        Senator Ossoff. Well, I think that's urgent, and I want to
    get that information as soon as possible. We're talking about
    women convicted of no crime in the custody of the U.S.
    Government being subjected to gynecological surgical procedures
    that were not medically indicated, often without informed
    consent. It's one of them.
        And I do want to state for the record that this appalling
    activity occurred prior to your tenure, so there's no mistaking
    for the public tuning in here, right now.
        But it is completely unacceptable that practices may
    persist that leave women in detention at risk of this
    treatment. And I'm sure you agree with me, Mr. Secretary. I
    want an update on what you're doing to address it.
        And finally, I want to talk to you about your Office of
    Intelligence and Analysis.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. And we are addressing that with
    due urgency because of precisely how appalling that conduct
    was, and what was going on in that facility. We closed that
    facility.
        Senator Ossoff. I know you did. And I want to make sure
    that there are practices being implemented across DHS detention
    facilities to ensure that can never, ever happen again. So I
    look forward to that update. I want to ask you about your
    Intelligence and Analysis Office.
        There has been recent reporting about problems at the DHS
    Office of Intelligence and Analysis. I don't think that the
    Congress has sufficient visibility into its activities.
        Among the conduct alleged in this public reporting, with
    respect to domestic intelligence gathering by the Office of
    Intelligence Analysis, interviews with individuals in detention
    centers, local jails, and Federal prisons without counsel
    present. That was one of the allegations made in public
    reporting.
        This is deeply troubling, and I don't think that there is
    very intense congressional oversight of this Office. Is there a
    problem? What are you doing to address and identify the
    problem? And what does the Congress need to know?
        Secretary Mayorkas. So, Senator, the Office of Intelligence
    and Analysis is led by a phenomenal public servant in Ken
    Wainstein, he's the Undersecretary. He has tremendous
    experience. He was the Homeland Security Adviser to former
    President Bush. When you speak of the interviews of individuals
    in custody who are in the impending legal proceedings, he
    suspended that practice.
        It was a practice that was implemented first in the prior
    administration. He suspended that practice. And he is really
    doing a phenomenal job in ensuring that the practices of I&A,
    the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, adhere to our laws as
    well as to our fundamental principles of protecting the civil
    rights and civil liberties, as well as the privacy----
        Senator Ossoff. Were there interviews of U.S. persons----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Interests of all
    individuals.
        Senator Ossoff [continuing]. Were there interviews of U.S.
    persons in Federal prisons or local or State jails without
    counsel present by I&A personnel?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I believe that there were. And that was
    not necessarily always improper, but the practice was suspended
    because of concerns with respect to it. But I must say,
    Senator, that the personnel of the Office of Intelligence and
    Analysis are incredibly dedicated and incredibly principled in
    the execution of their responsibilities.
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Ossoff. Senator Blackburn.
        Senator Blackburn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I begin
    my questions today, I do want to express my heartbreak at what
    happened yesterday in Nashville at Covenant School and Covenant
    Presbyterian Church. And my family and I are grieving along
    with the rest of the community. And I thank you, Mr. Secretary,
    for your call yesterday. Your kind remarks today.
        And violence against children is just one of the most
    heinous crimes. And the families there at Covenant Pres and
    Covenant School, I just grieve for what they're going through.
        We have to work to protect children at school, and that
    means increasing security. And I have--and I have had
    legislation that would allow for training and hiring of
    veterans and former law enforcement officials to serve as
    school safety officers and to help protect our schools. It is
    time for us to pass that and to help keep our children safe.
        I'd like to turn to the questions that are in front of us
    today. Mr. Secretary, thank you for your patience today.
        I want to go to this issue of human smuggling. And under
    this administration, the human smuggling business has gone from
    being a $500-million-a-year business to a $13-billion-a-year
    industry.
        And we heard from Secretary Becerra last week at our Senate
    Finance Committee, and we've got 85,000 unaccompanied alien
    children, migrant children, who have been released in the U.S.
        The HHS has lost track of these unaccompanied children. So
    my question to you is this, how many of these children are
    being trafficked? How many of these children are being put into
    the sex trade? What are you doing to try to find these
    children? And when you look at what is happening to women and
    children, do you all understand that it is the policies of this
    administration, what you're doing on the Border, that is
    causing 85,000 children to be lost? Can't find them and not
    knowing if they're being trafficked, put in gangs, put in the
    sex trade.
        So what are you all doing to find these children? And do
    you understand that it is the policies that is causing this?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, let me--let me share with you
    what we are doing to address the scourge of human smuggling and
    human trafficking. And let me say, with respect to the
    unaccompanied children, and this will echo what I shared with
    Senator Ossoff just a moment ago. With respect to unaccompanied
    children, when we receive them at the Border, it is our legal
    obligation to release them to the care of the Department of
    Health and Human Services within 72----
        Senator Blackburn. That's right. And now they cannot find
    them.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Within 72 hours.
        Senator Blackburn. 85,000.
        Secretary Mayorkas. And so what we do is we release----
        Senator Blackburn. Is that an acceptable number?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, absolutely not.
        Senator Blackburn. Right. So what----
        Secretary Mayorkas. So let me share with you. So we release
    them. One of the reasons--one of the reasons why we are
    devoting our work site enforcement resources and energies on
    unscrupulous employers is precisely for the reason that you
    identify. We must hold accountable employers who engage in
    child labor.
        Senator Blackburn. Okay, I appreciate that. Let's look at
    it----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. With respect--with respect
    to the Border.
        Senator Blackburn. Yes. And let's look at it this way.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Two efforts we have underway. One is we
    are taking it to the smugglers in an unprecedented effort----
        Senator Blackburn. They haven't gotten that message.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh yes--oh yes they have.
        Senator Blackburn. I beg to differ, because the situation,
    it is now a $13-billion-a-year business. When you go to that
    Border, as I have done, and when you talk to women that have
    been trafficked and have gotten themselves out and have been
    raped repeatedly, there is a sexual assault epidemic going on
    on that Border. And it is because of the policies of this
    administration.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
        Senator Blackburn. And it is so----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it is because of the heinous
    exploitation of the smuggling organizations----
        Senator Blackburn. And what is incentivizing that?
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. That do not care--that do
    not care----
        Senator Blackburn. That's right. That's exactly right. You
    and I agree on that. They do not care about human life. They
    see people as a product----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, they are----
        Senator Blackburn [continuing]. And a way to make a buck,
    because they are billion-dollar businesses.
        They have--and let me turn to the fentanyl epidemic,
    because we've all talked about this. And I'm hearing from some
    of my sheriffs now that from--well, from a Border-town sheriff,
    that fentanyl appeal now is down to about five cents because
    they've teamed up with the Chinese scientists. They're making
    these in the labs with the cartels.
        And I think that you've talked a little bit about the
    fentanyl today, but you really don't have an estimate of how
    much is truly coming over that Border. And we know that you're
    saying that they are catching about 95 percent of that. But
    what I have heard is what you're giving us is the CBP numbers.
        You're not giving us the numbers that are coming from air
    and marine operations. You're not including the Coast Guard,
    you're not including the DEA, and you're not including what is
    found by State and local law enforcement. So why won't you look
    at the holistic number of what everybody is finding?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, Senator, the scourge of fentanyl is
    something that we do not, in any way, underestimate. Let me, if
    I may share with you, as I mentioned earlier, I served as a
    Federal prosecutor for 12 years.
        Senator Blackburn. Yes.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I prosecuted cocaine----
        Senator Blackburn. No, you're not answering my question.
        Secretary Mayorkas. I don't know if I can.
        Senator Blackburn. And I've only got 3 minutes left.
        Secretary Mayorkas. If I can. We----
        Senator Blackburn. Why are you not--just, why do you not
    include what everybody is finding? State and local law
    enforcement----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, we do.
        Senator Blackburn [continuing]. The DEA, the marine----
        Secretary Mayorkas. But we do. We do. Senator, the question
    that was posed to me was with respect to the Southern Border
    and how fentanyl is trafficked into the United States.
        Senator Blackburn. Okay, I need to move on but if you
    will----
        Secretary Mayorkas. The vast majority of it is brought in
    through the ports of entry.
        Senator Blackburn. No, sir, I beg to differ with that. When
    you talk to Border Patrol and you talk to local sheriffs, I
    would like to get from you, in writing, a total number of what
    you are finding, not only from CBP, but also from the air and
    marine operations, the Coast Guard, the DEA, and State and
    local law enforcement.
        Let me move on about the got-aways, because we've had over
    1.2 million migrants that have evaded authorities and have come
    into the country illegally. And it is of concern to me when I
    hear you all try to make illegal legal. There's an app for
    this, and allowing people to continue to come in illegally.
    Now, ICE arrested 220 illegal immigrants in 9 days that had
    criminal convictions of rape and murder.
        Now, it doesn't take rocket science to go figure out that
    in those 1.2 million that are unknown got-aways, or known got-
    aways, that number that have disappeared in our country, that
    you've got murderers and criminals and rapists that are in that
    number, the got-aways.
        So how many of those have made it into Tennessee? How many
    are in our communities? How many are in our streets? Are you
    all tracking these? Or have you lost them like the 85,000
    children?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I would say--I would say two
    things. Number one, we are intensely focused on securing the
    Border, as I have testified earlier, number one.
        Senator Blackburn. Okay. Then----
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. And number two, I think
    it's very important not to paint with a broad brush individuals
    who come to the United States. And so----
        Senator Blackburn. Well, I think it's important to note
    what Border Patrol is telling us. If you're intent on securing
    the Border, then you spend $50 million a year to caretake the
    items, components from the Border wall project that was in the
    previous administration.
        The Border wall, by the way, the Border Patrol has been
    asking for a physical barrier for decades, I think about 30
    years in total. So instead of wasting that money to do nothing
    with the construction material, why don't you use those
    remaining materials and that $50 million and fill in the gaps
    in this wall so that the Border Patrol has a physical barrier
    that they need?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I've approved the vast
    majority of the projects to close the gaps and complete the
    gates with respect to the funding that we received.
        Senator Blackburn. Mr. Chairman, I have one other question
    on Chinese nationals that I will submit for a written answer.
    Thank you.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you, Senator Blackburn. Senator Tillis.
        Senator Tillis. Good afternoon, Secretary Mayorkas. How's
    your day going?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Good afternoon, Senator.
        Senator Tillis. I think I'm going to be the last one to
    speak. I want to start just by thanking Senator Ossoff. I've
    been working with him on the H-2A issues. I think that it's a
    struggle every year with just the execution of that program.
    And I am a bit concerned. I'm not going to ask you to respond.
    A bit concerned with casting the users of the H-2A program.
        I don't think you meant it, but I could have inferred that
    they're all bad actors. Speaking for North Carolina, I think
    housing, workplace safety, compensation is competitive and done
    appropriately. So I hope as you go about any kind of changes
    there, we don't paint all of the players in agriculture with
    the same broad brush.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, Senator.
        Senator Tillis. I think it's critically important because
    we could have some unintended consequences that are hurting
    farmers.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Absolutely.
        Senator Tillis. And we need to recognize that tomatoes grow
    anywhere, blackberries grow anywhere. And if we don't get the
    wage rate right, they won't grow in the United States. So we've
    got to be very, very surgical in our approach. We're about to
    become a net importer of food in this country for the first
    time in its history.
        And I believe a part of it is the unfriendly environment
    that has been a bipartisan, multi-administration failure, I
    think, in terms of getting it right. But I'll do questions for
    the record.
        I'd like to meet with you. By the way, you did well at the
    Munich Security Conference.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, thank you.
        Senator Tillis. I watched you on a panel.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator. I must say, because
    I really want to make sure----
        Senator Tillis. If we do have time allowing, I want to get
    to it. I got a few more. I think we will with the 10-minute
    round. But I did want to correct for the record, I think you
    asked a question or answered a question to Senator Lee about
    you didn't have any intent to reduce detention.
        But the Acting Director testified for House Appropriations,
    Homeland Security, and said that ICE wanted to reduce bed space
    from 36 to 25. Can you reconcile that for me? From 36,000 to
    25,000?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I can. I think that is addressing
    the Fiscal Year 2024, President's budget. And what we've done
    is we've presented a baseline in the budget. But we've also
    sought an appropriation for a $4.7 billion Southern Border
    contingency fund----
        Senator Tillis. Okay.
        Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Because of the dynamism of
    the Border and the situation there.
        Senator Tillis. The surge----
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. So we would seek the additional
    funds.
        Senator Tillis [continuing]. Just on the basic question,
    because I don't want to have clarification for Senator Lee's
    time cutting into mine too much.
        But just for the basis of clarification, I'd like to know,
    based on the budget, what ICE's position is now with what I
    think is roughly 36,000. Do you expect to see that go down
    based on the administration's priorities?
        Now I want to talk--I want to get to sanctuary cities and a
    few other things: 4.9 million encounters with illegal
    immigrants, we know that some of those are double counted
    because there are multiple crossings; 1.2 million got-aways,
    these are folks who came here, did not present themselves, did
    not want to be processed. Many of them, they wanted to get into
    this country and escape apprehension.
        I've been to the Border several times. Most of the people
    come across the Border. They follow the arrow from the Rio
    Grande River. They go to a processing facility. They go through
    a process that's overwhelmed.
        But 1.2 million got-aways, based on my numbers--if they're
    different, you could submit it for a question for the record--
    over the past couple of years; 600,000 illegal immigrants
    released into the country without monitoring--again, we won't
    debate back and forth, I just like to say if that's roughly the
    number that you all are working with; 285,000 released into the
    country with some sort of electronic monitoring; about 27,000
    in detention; and 890 deaths in 2022--of people trying to cross
    the Border.
        I saw one of them being taken out of the Rio Grande River
    in one of my last visits over the past year and a half. Mr.
    Chair, I'd like to submit for the record, an article that was
    published in The Wall Street Journal. It's titled, `` `It's
    Like a Graveyard': Record Numbers of Migrants Are Dying at the
    U.S. Border.''
        Chair Durbin. Without objection.
        [The information appears as a submission for the record.]
        Senator Tillis. We have a problem at the Border.
        And I think you may acknowledge some of that, but you fall
    short of calling it a crisis. These numbers look to me like a
    crisis without any viable strategy moving forward.
        I believe that the cartels--it's been reported that the
    cartels are making as much as $800 million a year in their
    human trafficking operation with the tolls that they charge
    people. Some are paid before they cross the Rio Grande River.
    Others are paid once they get here, and they entered into
    modern-day indentured servitude, paying back the cartels for
    the toll over here.
        And we're seeing estimates ranging anywhere from $5,000 to
    $50,000, depending upon your country of origin. If I have time,
    I'll get back to that. Sanctuary cities. Do you consider ICE a
    law enforcement agency?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I do.
        Senator Tillis. Do you consider a lack of cooperation among
    law enforcement agencies as being a potentially hazardous step
    to take?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I do.
        Senator Tillis. Do you believe that sanctuary cities is a
    case example of where local law enforcement refuses to
    cooperate with ICE?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the term sanctuary city means
    different things in different places.
        Senator Tillis. I'm just referring to legislation and
    policies that were passed in my State where they used it but
    it's a----
        Secretary Mayorkas. I do not--I do not agree when they----
        Senator Tillis. To let it out, it's like, I think, a week
    or so ago where we had three illegal immigrants from Romania.
    They were arrested and charged with obtaining property under
    false premises, and one was charged with sexual battery of a
    minor. Thankfully, in this jurisdiction, they did detain them.
    ICE was allowed to do their job.
        I've got over 3 million people--a State of 10 million--3
    million people living in sanctuary jurisdictions, which is why
    I proposed, and will propose again, of violence for victims of
    sanctuary cities.
        And it's fairly simple. It says that if a local government
    entity has a sanctuary policy, call it whatever you want to,
    refusing to cooperate with ICE policy--we'll call it that
    because that's fundamentally what they're doing.
        I feel like they should be held accountable if their
    actions produce harm, if someone gets murdered, like somebody
    did in the Charlotte area, with somebody who could have been
    transferred to ICE--or countless examples across the country.
        I simply want a private right of action for the aggrieved
    party or their survivors, in the event of death, to be able to
    sue that governmental entity. Now, it's fairly straightforward
    to me. If the policies are fair, if they're safe, then they've
    got nothing to worry about. And then if they declare immunity,
    then they'll be denied Federal funds for law enforcement.
        So make a decision, but don't have the risk of safety. And
    this is not your problem. I'm saying this to the people in
    North Carolina and across the country that are implementing
    these policies.
        You are destroying good order and discipline among various
    levels of law enforcement. They are, you are not. They are
    destroying it. And I think that their actions have to have some
    legal recourse. Now, have there been any communications with--
    to what extent have you or people up in the organization
    communicated to these jurisdictions that a blanket sanctuary
    city policy is not helpful to Homeland Security?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is something that I've
    spoken with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, and CBP
    extensively. I do not agree----
        Senator Tillis. How many ICE detainers have been issued
    since January 2021?
        Secretary Mayorkas. I'd have to take a look at that. I'd
    have to take a look at that. Senator, I do not----
        Senator Tillis. Could I get that for the record, the number
    of ICE detainers?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
        Senator Tillis. And what I'm particularly interested in is
    granularity: the number of ICE detainers; the basis for the
    detainer request; and the disposition of that request by local
    entities. Can I get a commitment to get that information?
        Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, Senator. And I want you to know
    that I share your concern. When a local jurisdiction has an
    individual or has information that would benefit the public
    safety of the community and does not share that information
    with Immigration and Customs Enforcement----
        Senator Tillis. Yes--and we should be clear that I'm not
    talking about somebody who got into a fender bender.
        I'm talking about people that may be in there for sexual
    assault--we know they're in there for that, for trafficking, or
    any number of other violent or potentially violent crimes.
        I need that information because I want to put pressure on
    local governments in the State of North Carolina saying, if you
    want to do this, I want you to be held accountable. And to be
    held accountable, we need to pass the Justice for Victims of
    Sanctuary Cities Act.
        Now I want to talk about transnational criminal
    organizations. I didn't know this until today. I looked it up.
    Did you know that ``Jalisco,'' the cartel, translates into
    ``stone'' ? Literally, it's an informal adjective. So that
    translates into the New Stone Generation--one of the two
    cartels that cover the breadth of the northern border. They're
    making $800 million a year.
        I've seen their agents across the Rio Grande when I'm there
    at midnight, 1 o'clock, saying, ``We're coming.''
        We are aiding and abetting one of the most profitable lines
    of business these thieves and these murderers have going. We
    have a crisis at the Border. And like Senator Welch, I'm not
    someone who's just saying secure the Border. I'm also saying,
    someone please fix the broken asylum system and the immigration
    system, even touching on what Senator Ossoff has discussed.
        But until we have consensus that we have a crisis, we have
    to work on a bipartisan basis, for those who say secure the
    Border, not willing to talk about immigration--they're going to
    allow another 6 to 10 million people to come in before we fix
    it over the next five or eight years. For those who say we
    don't have an immigration problem, there's just too many facts
    to argue against it.
        So, Mr. Mayorkas, if I could especially get the information
    that I want on the ICE detainers, and then we're going to
    continue to work on the crisis at the Border, and hopefully
    make some progress.
        It's unsafe for the American people. It is causing the
    deaths of untold numbers of people making the dangerous
    journey. And I could go a long way--and I won't because I've
    already got the gavel tap--on asylum reform.
        And I believe if we want to look at asylum reform
    differently, we need to look at our treaty obligations, and we
    need to say, it needs to go further upstream than just what we
    do.
        And when I see fact patterns where people are moving
    through two or three or four nations that they could apply for
    asylum in before they get to the United States, that looks a
    lot to me like an exploitation of our asylum policy. Thank you,
    Mr. Chair.
        Chair Durbin. Thank you very much, Senator Tillis. And
    thank you, Mr. Secretary. You've given us 4 hours, and I know
    that some of the questioning has been tough and challenging.
        I do believe the majority of Senators on both sides of the
    table have been professional and respectful in a very
    controversial and tough subject. I apologize for those who were
    not. I can't control them with this. I'll do my best.
        We're going to have questions for the record. They'll be
    submitted by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4th. We hope you can
    answer on a timely basis. With that, the hearing stands
    adjourned.
        Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        [Whereupon, at 2:01 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
        [Additional material submitted for the record follows.]

        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                A P P E N D I X

    The following submissions are available at:

      https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118shrg62794/pdf/CHRG-
        118shrg
        62794-add1.pdf

    Submitted by Ranking Member Graham:

     ``Explosion of Illegal Immigration Since 2020,'' poster displayed
        during hearing................................................     3

     ``Illegal Border Crossings Were Lower in 2020 Than in Any Year
        Since,'' poster displayed during hearing......................     3

     ``Fentanyl-Related Deaths and Fentanyl Seized by CBP,'' poster
        displayed during hearing......................................     4

     ``U.S. Department of State's Map of Mexico highlighting travel
        advisories and cartel regions,'' poster displayed during
        hearing.......................................................     4

     ``Terror Watch List: Individuals Intercepted by CBP Between Ports
        of Entry,'' poster displayed during hearing...................     5

     ``Threat Posed by ISIS-K,'' poster displayed during hearing......     5

     ``Secretary Mayorkas vs. Democratic Mayors,'' poster displayed
        during hearing................................................     6

    Submitted by Senator Hirono:

     Holcomb, Eric, and Spencer Cox, ``To Solve Our National
        Immigration Crisis, Let States Sponsor Immigrants,'' The
        Washington Post, February 21, 2023, op-ed article.............     7

    Submitted by Senator Lee:

     Shaw, Adam, ``Biden Admin Scaling Back Detention of Illegal
        Immigrants, Even Amid Migrant Surge,'' foxnews.com, March 22,
        2023, article.................................................    10

     U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland
        Security, ``Budget Overview: Fiscal Year 2024, Congressional
        Justification''...............................................    18

    Submitted by Senator Cruz:

     Perez, Santiago, and Alicia A. Caldwell, `` `It's Like a
        Graveyard': Record Numbers of Migrants Are Dying at the U.S.
        Border,'' The Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2023, article....   348

     ``Deposition of Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, Page 40,'' poster
        displayed during hearing......................................   357

     ``Deposition of Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, Page 53,'' poster
        displayed during hearing......................................   358

     ``Migrant Deaths Recorded by U.S. Border Patrol Between Fiscal
        Years 1998 and 2022,'' poster displayed during hearing........   359

     ``CBP Encounters of Illegal Entry Attempts at the Southwest
        Border 2016-2022,'' poster displayed during hearing...........   360

     ``Known `Got-Aways' at Southwest Border, by Year,'' poster
        displayed during hearing......................................   361

    Submitted by Senator Cruz (continued):

     ``All Drug Overdose Deaths,'' poster displayed during hearing....   362

     ``People crossing Rio Grande Border,'' poster displayed during
        hearing.......................................................   363
     ``Color wristbands marking debts to cartels,'' poster displayed
        during hearing................................................   364

    Submitted by Senator Tillis:

     Perez, Santiago, and Alicia A. Caldwell, `` `It's Like a
        Graveyard': Record Numbers of Migrants Are Dying at the U.S.
        Border,'' The Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2023, article....   348

                                     [all]