    [Senate Hearing 119-203]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 119-203

                            BIDEN'S BORDER BETRAYAL:
                           CRIMINAL ALIENS IN AMERICA

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

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                        SUBCOMMITTEE ON BORDER SECURITY
                                AND IMMIGRATION

                                     OF THE

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                 JULY 22, 2025

                                   __________

                               Serial No. J-119-32

                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

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

                                    __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    61-892                  WASHINGTON : 2025

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                      CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa, Chairman
    LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina    RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois,
    JOHN CORNYN, Texas                       Ranking Member
    MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah                 SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
    TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
    JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri                CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware
    THOM TILLIS, North Carolina          RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
    JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana              MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
    MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee          CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
    ERIC SCHMITT, Missouri               ALEX PADILLA, California
    KATIE BOYD BRITT, Alabama            PETER WELCH, Vermont
    ASHLEY MOODY, Florida                ADAM B. SCHIFF, California

                 Kolan Davis, Chief Counsel and Staff Director
             Joe Zogby, Democratic Chief Counsel and Staff Director

                Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration

                           JOHN CORNYN, Texas, Chair
    LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina    ALEX PADILLA, California,
    TED CRUZ, Texas                          Ranking Member
    THOM TILLIS, North Carolina          SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
    JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana              AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
    KATIE BOYD BRITT, Alabama            CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware
    ASHLEY MOODY, Florida                MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
                                         CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey

                 Franci Rooney Becker, Republican Chief Counsel
                     Ursela Ojeda, Democratic Chief Counsel

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page

    Cornyn, Hon. John................................................     1

    Padilla, Hon. Alex...............................................     4

                                   WITNESSES

    Arthur, Andrew R.................................................    10
        Prepared statement...........................................    42
    Avila, Victor....................................................     8
        Prepared statement...........................................    95
    Barranco, Alejandro..............................................    19
        Prepared statement...........................................    98
    Boyd, Roy........................................................    11
        Prepared statement...........................................   101
    Fleischaker, Deborah.............................................    18
        Prepared statement...........................................   106
    Nobles, Tammy....................................................    13
        Prepared statement...........................................   110
    Vega, Marie......................................................    15
        Prepared statement...........................................   113
    Veliz, Giovanni..................................................    21
        Prepared statement...........................................   117

                                    APPENDIX

    Items submitted for the record...................................   119

                            BIDEN'S BORDER BETRAYAL:
                           CRIMINAL ALIENS IN AMERICA

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2025

                          United States Senate,
       Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration,
                                    Committee on the Judiciary,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice at 2:54 p.m., in
    Room 106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Cornyn,
    Chair of the Subcommittee, presiding.
        Present: Senators Cornyn [presiding], Graham, Cruz, Moody,
    Klobuchar, Hirono, and Padilla.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CORNYN,
                 A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS

        Chair Cornyn. The Senate Subcommittee on Border Security
    and Immigration will come to order. The purpose of today's
    hearing is to examine the devastation that criminal aliens have
    caused in communities across the United States. In particular,
    we aim to show the American people how the realities on the
    ground are very different from the narrative pedaled by the
    mainstream media.
        Rather than truthfully and honestly reporting the facts,
    media outlets have spread misinformation, allowing harmful,
    false rhetoric to dominate the airways. The result of these
    falsehoods is that radical far left activists have taken to the
    street, and targeted, and demonized the very people who are
    charged with enforcing the laws that Congress has passed, and
    that would be ICE immigration enforcement officers.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        The first false narrative I want to address is a claim that
    illegal aliens are not criminals, but law-abiding individuals.
    Neither the Democrats nor the media are willing to tell the
    public the truth that the moment an alien illegally enters the
    United States, they have committed a crime, a crime under the
    U.S. law to enter the U.S. legally. America is a country of
    laws, and we expect anyone who wishes to come to our country to
    obey those laws.
        Another false narrative pedaled by the far left is that
    illegal aliens are not receiving due process when they're
    arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This naturally
    begs the question; what sort of process are these individuals
    actually due? The idea that someone could break our laws, enter
    our country illegally, and then be entitled to all the rights
    and privileges of an American citizen is a little far-fetched,
    to be sure.
        While the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
    applies to all individuals within the United States, illegal
    aliens are not entitled to the same level of due process as
    American citizens. The fact of the matter is that by the time
    any alien has received an order of removal, they have had all
    the due process they're owed under the law.
        Most aliens with final orders of removal have been in the
    immigration system for almost a decade. Many have had the
    opportunity to have their day in court, the very essence of due
    process, but they neglected to show up.
        Another false narrative is that ICE is not targeting the
    worst of the worst criminals. But the fact of the matter is
    that as we speak, there are 291,141 criminal aliens in the
    United States today who have final orders of removal.
        Just this morning in the Senate Judiciary Committee, a
    comment was made that ICE is targeting gardeners. Well, 291,141
    criminal aliens who are under final orders of removal are still
    in the United States for this fiscal year alone. Two hundred
    thirteen thousand and two hundred seventy-nine, criminal aliens
    with final orders of removal already have convictions, while
    78,546 have pending criminal charges.
        Even more disturbing is the fact that 282,194 of these
    criminal aliens are still roaming free and not in ICE custody.
    Yet, there are many criminal aliens in the United States
    continuing to commit heinous crimes even to this day. Some of
    these criminals are part of transnational criminal networks and
    organized gangs. All you need to do is look at the posters in
    this room to see some of the worst criminals ICE has
    apprehended recently; murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and sex
    traffickers.
        One of our witnesses here today, Sheriff Roy Boyd, can
    attest to the types of crimes he sees even in Goliad, the Texas
    County with a population of less than 8,000. The Friday before
    the July 4th weekend, Sheriff Boyd's officers arrested a 29-
    year-old Iranian national who entered the United States
    illegally, not once, but twice.
        The first time, this criminal committed a violent,
    aggravated felony in Indiana. And while he was charged for the
    crime, he received a suspended sentence in exchange for his
    removal from the United States. But his crime spree did not end
    there. Despite being deported, he returned to the United
    States, again, illegally. And what did he do when he came back,
    he murdered a man in Galveston, Texas, a murder that was caught
    on video. Thankfully, he was arrested less than 12 hours later
    with the murder weapon still in his possession. This crime
    should never have happened.
        I want to remind my colleagues on the other side of the
    aisle that there was a time in the not-so-distant past when
    they agreed that criminal aliens should be deported. But it
    seems like amnesia has set in, especially because we now happen
    to have a President in office who's restored the rule of law
    and now requires enforcement of existing laws.
        Recall the deporter-in-chief that would be President Obama?
    And who was in charge of immigration enforcement during
    President Obama's term in office, none other than Tom Homan,
    President Trump's current border czar. In fact, Tom Homan
    received a Presidential Rank Award during the Obama
    administration for his service as the head of ICE Enforcement
    and Removal Operations.
        The laws haven't changed since President Obama was in
    office, only the party of the President in office has changed.
    And today, we have a pro-enforcement President who was elected
    in a decisive victory, winning the electoral college, the
    popular vote, in every single swing State. He was elected in
    part, in large part, I'd submit, because of his pro-immigration
    enforcement provisions, something 54 percent of Americans
    support, including Hispanic Americans in my State, many of
    whose families have come here lawfully and followed all the
    rules.
        American voters know full well that deterrence is an
    important part of immigration enforcement and preventing the
    flow of criminal aliens into the United States, which means
    swift apprehension, detention, and deportation. And that works.
    The Congress just recently passed what's been called the One
    Big Beautiful Bill that includes billions of additional dollars
    for ICE detention facilities and for more personnel to make
    sure that our laws on the books that Congress passed and that
    were signed into law are actually enforced.
        The State of Florida has stepped up to the plate recently
    helping the administration to open a detention facility that's
    come to be known as Alligator Alcatraz. I'm hopeful that other
    States will step up to help in similar ways. If we could find a
    way to make something like this work in Texas, I would strongly
    support it, and I'd encourage our Governor as well as Secretary
    Noem, to explore the possibility of locating future detention
    facilities in Texas.
        The far left activists and the mainstream media who support
    their efforts continue to fan the flame with their rhetoric and
    misinformation. This is done with one goal in mind; to do
    anything and everything to undermine President Trump's domestic
    agenda, just as they did during his first term.
        And finally, I'd like to end my remarks with a reminder.
    We're here today to remind the public of the real tragedy of
    President Biden's open border policies; the hundreds of victims
    of criminal, illegal aliens, crimes that could have been
    avoided if the laws on the books had simply been enforced.
        That's why we have two wonderful angel moms here today.
    First, Marie Vega, the mother of slain border agent Javier
    Vega, Jr., who was killed August 3, 2014. Javier's
    angelversary, as Mrs. Vega calls the date of his death, is less
    than 2 weeks away. Javier died nearly 11 years ago, but the
    fact remains, he was murdered by illegal aliens who never
    should have been in the United States in the first place.
        I was proud to honor Javier and work with the National
    Border Patrol Council in the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol
    sector to have a Border Patrol checkpoint named in his honor.
        I also want to welcome Tammy Nobles, the mother of Kayla
    Hamilton. This is a particularly difficult week for her because
    Kayla's birthday is July 24, this Thursday, and the anniversary
    of her death is July 27, this upcoming Sunday. And I'm grateful
    that she's willing to join us here today and tell her story.
        Ms. Noble said the most joyful day for her was when her
    daughter was born, and the saddest day for her is her
    daughter's heaven date, July 27. Kayla was viciously murdered
    by an MS-13 gang member who originally entered the United
    States as an unaccompanied minor and was released into the
    custody of an unvetted sponsor. We're honored to have both
    Marie and Tammy with us today to share their stories, and tell
    about the loss of their loved ones, and how it continues to
    impact their lives today.
        I also want to welcome Victor Avila. Victor knows all too
    well the price that our law enforcement officers pay just to do
    their jobs. Victor and his partner were shot by gang members.
    Victor was seriously wounded and his partner lost his life on
    that day.
        I intend to introduce a bill in the Senate to honor Ms.
    Noble's daughter, Kayla Hamilton. The bill will require that
    HHS conduct mandatory checks on all unaccompanied minors, and
    bar criminal alien sponsors from being allowed to assume
    custody of such children. A similar bill was introduced by
    Representative Russell Fry in the House.
        You may ask, why is it necessary to pass a law to get
    Health and Human Services to do mandatory checks on
    unaccompanied minors and to bar criminal alien sponsors? Well,
    that's because laws barring that do not currently exist, and we
    need to make sure that this can never happen again.
        And now, I yield to Ranking Member Padilla to give his
    opening statement.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ALEX PADILLA,
              A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

        Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon,
    everybody, and thank you all for being here.
        You know, prior to the start of this Congress, for nearly 4
    years, I served as Chair of the Subcommittee within Ranking
    Member Cornyn. And now, our roles have been reversed. So, I'm
    happy to be here as a Ranking Member under Chairman Cornyn's
    leadership here.
        For 4 years, though, when I was Chair, we held hearings
    examining everything; from immigrants serving in the military
    and in our healthcare system, to America's Refugees Admissions
    Program, and the need to better resource our overwhelmed
    immigration courts. So, today, 6 months after President Biden
    has left office, we hear Republicans continue to talk about how
    Donald Trump has solved our border crisis.
        But you won't be surprised to learn that they're also
    focusing on. Guess what? The Biden border betrayal, that's what
    they call it. And I suspect that years down the road, they'll
    continue to point the finger at President Biden. But here's
    what Republicans won't be saying, that if Donald Trump and
    Republicans were truly focused on just targeting violent
    criminals, Democrats would have no objections. I know I've been
    saying it. If that's really what was going on, there would be
    no discussion. There would be no debate, there would be no
    disagreement.
        You also won't hear Republicans share the data. The fact
    that a large number of undocumented immigrants in the United
    States actually entered the United States lawfully, and are
    only currently undocumented because they overstayed their visa,
    or maybe they entered the country following the rules of the
    temporary protected status programs outlined by prior
    administrations, but protections that have been removed,
    churning a legal immigrant into an undocumented immigrant. You
    won't hear them share those facts.
        Six months into Donald Trump's second term as President, it
    is increasingly clear who the administration is going after.
    Just look at how they're doing it. They're raiding workplaces
    and staking out court hearings. They're going after farmers and
    farm workers, students and families, and business owners, many
    of whom other than being undocumented, do not have any violent
    criminal record and many who have been living here contributing
    to the success of their communities and the country for years
    and years, if not decades.
        So, none of what we're seeing happening around the country
    or very little is actually targeting criminals. And I'm not
    asking you to take my word for it. It shouldn't be hard, but it
    is hard for some to take my word for it. Let's look at the
    administration's own data. Less than 10 percent of immigrants
    who ICE has taken into custody have serious criminal
    convictions, less than 10 percent. Again, don't just take my
    word for it. This is administration's data.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        In fact, compared to the first Trump administration, these
    Donald Trump and Stephen Miller quotas have led to a 500
    percent increase in the number of arrests of non-citizens
    without criminal records. And as a Federal judge ruled less
    than 2 weeks ago, there is, ``a mountain of evidence,'' showing
    Federal agents are illegally profiling and arresting people
    based on their race, accents, or work.
        So, no, let's not pretend that this is only about cracking
    down on violent criminals. This is increasingly about sending
    armored vehicles, and agents, and tactical gear into
    communities to intimidate and sow fear, not to protect. It
    should also, at some point, ask the questions about where the
    resources are being redirected from to escalate the immigration
    enforcement activities.
        Because the fact of the matter is whether they're being
    diverted elsewhere from elsewhere within the Department of
    Homeland Security, from the Department of Defense, the
    Department of Justice, they're being taken away from other
    critical missions, missions that are critical to our Nation's
    security, not just white-collar crime. We can have a whole
    session just about that. How about fentanyl task forces that
    are now being under-resourced because of these ill-conceived
    strategies?
        Now, all this is not just morally wrong, it's also bad for
    our economy that people being targeted are often the people who
    are harvesting our fruit and vegetables, who work in meat
    packing plants or in the service industry. The very same group
    of people who just a few years ago at the outset of the COVID
    pandemic, Donald Trump declared essential. And the fact of the
    matter is Donald Trump has simply gone too far and the public
    is starting to turn against him.
        A Gallup poll published on July 11, just a couple weeks
    ago, showed a dramatic swing in public opinion. In public
    awareness and understanding is how it should read. In just the
    last year, the percent of Americans who think immigration is a
    ``good thing'' for the country has jumped 15 points to a record
    high 79 percent. At the same time, Americans who want to see
    immigration decreased, dropped from 55 to 30 percent. Americans
    across the country are rejecting the cruel and indiscriminate
    treatment of the neighbors they've known for decades.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Yet, earlier this month, Republicans in Congress rubber
    stamped more than $150 billion to fund this administration's
    disastrous enforcement agenda. One hundred and fifty billion
    dollars not to help hire additional asylum officers that we so
    desperately need to process the cases and meet the demand on
    our system. Not $150 billion to ensure that unaccompanied
    children, for example, some as young as two or 3 years old,
    have legal counsel as they face a judge on their own with their
    own future on the line.
        And not $150 billion to hire additional immigration judges,
    even as more and more people are detained and the
    administration is firing immigration judges at alarming rates.
    Instead, this is additional taxpayer dollars to ramp up the
    mass deportation raids that have been so poorly executed.
    They're sweeping up United States citizens, including veterans.
        And so, I do ask why are we here? What more do you want?
    It's clear why we're here today. We're here because Donald
    Trump is scapegoating immigrants. It's always been his outlet.
    It's long been his way to distract from a massively unpopular
    agenda like making the largest cuts to Medicaid in history in
    order to pay for tax cuts for the rich, and to make ICE's
    budget larger than the budget of the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, the
    U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Prisons combined.
        This is their ``break glass in case of emergency'' option
    when public sentiment turns against them and their agenda
    hasn't been only about targeting violent criminals, and it's
    certainly not about fixing or modernizing our immigration
    system. So, Democrats are glad to be here today to help set the
    record straight.
        My message to the Trump administration is this; the numbers
    don't back you up. The heartbreaking stories we hear on a daily
    basis do not back you up, and the American public doesn't back
    you up. So, I urge this Subcommittee, and the Committee as a
    whole, to please, let's get back to the real work of reforming
    our immigration system.
        And with that, Mr. Chair, if can introduce the Minority
    witnesses.
        Chair Cornyn. Let me please ask all of the witnesses to
    stand, and I'll administer the oath, and we'll do the
    introductions. If you could raise your right hand and repeat
    after me.
        [Witnesses are sworn in.]
        Chair Cornyn. Let the record reflect the witnesses have all
    answered in the affirmative. Please be seated. I'll introduce
    the Majority witnesses, and then I'll turn it over to Senator
    Padilla.
        Tammy Nobles, as you've heard, is the mother of Kayla
    Hamilton, who was murdered by Walter Javier Martinez, an
    illegal alien gang member who entered the United States as an
    unaccompanied alien child from El Salvador.
        When Kayla was being murdered, she managed to call and left
    a voicemail on her boyfriend's phone. In the voicemail, you can
    hear the struggle going on in the background and Kayla could be
    heard crying. Martinez can be heard in the voicemail, hushing
    her and near the end, telling her, ``I'm sorry,'' in Spanish
    while strangling her with a phone cord. After Kayla was dead,
    Martinez tied her up and sexually assaulted her.
        Kayla fought for her life that day. She had bruises up and
    down her arms, her fingers, and left side of her face, her
    back, and down her leg, and deep wounds to her neck from the
    cord.
        Victor Avila is a retired ICE/Homeland Security
    Investigation Supervisory Special Agent. As an HSI special
    agent, Victor served on the border and is an accredited
    diplomat to Mexico, Spain, and Portugal. He advised those
    governments on complex and wide-ranging criminal
    investigations, including narcotics trafficking, arms
    trafficking, human trafficking, financial violations,
    commercial fraud, and counter terrorism.
        While he was on official assignment to Mexico, Victor
    suffered multiple gunshot wounds and survived a violent ambush
    by the Mexican Los Zetas Cartel, where special agent Jaime
    Zapata tragically lost his life in the line of duty.
        Marie Vega is the mother of former U.S. Marine and Border
    Patrol Agent, Javier Vega, Jr. On Sunday, August 3, 2014,
    Javier Vega was out with his family when two criminal illegal
    aliens ambushed him and tried to steal Javier's truck. The two
    aliens jumped out of the stolen vehicle they were driving and
    without hesitation or warning, began shooting at Javier and his
    family. The illegal aliens shot Javier in the back and his
    father in the chest in front of his minor children.
        Andrew R. Arthur is a resident fellow in law and policy at
    the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC. Arthur
    previously served as staff director for the U.S. House of
    Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
    the National Security Subcommittee from January 2015 to
    September 2016, and was counsel for the U.S. House of
    Representative Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, DC
    from July 2001 to November 2006.
        Sheriff Roy Boyd is the Sheriff of Goliad County, Texas.
    Goliad is a rural South Texas county with a population of
    around 1,000, situated about halfway between Houston and
    Laredo, along U.S. Highway 59. Sheriff Boyd has been a police
    officer for 31 years, and retired from the Victoria Police
    Department and the Victoria County Sheriff's Office prior to
    becoming sheriff of Goliad County. Sheriff Boyd has also worked
    as one of the leads on Texas's Operation Lone Star. Senator
    Padilla.
        Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before
    introducing the minority witnesses, I do want to take a moment
    to express my sympathies with Mrs. Vega and Ms. Nobles for your
    loss. And on behalf of all my Democratic colleagues, also
    reiterate that we've denounce violence, particularly violence
    against law enforcement. So, I just want to make sure we are
    clear where we stand on this side of the aisle.
        First, I'd like to introduce Alejandro Barranco. Alejandro
    is a Marine veteran from Orange, California, an older brother
    to two active-duty Marines, and son to Narciso Barranco.
    Alejandro's father, Narciso, is an immigrant from Mexico who
    has lived in the United States for more than 30 years and has
    never committed a crime in the United States.
        Today, Alejandro will testify about the violent and
    outrageous treatment his father experienced at the hands of
    Border Patrol agents and the betrayal that he feels as a
    veteran who proudly served his country. Thank you for being
    here.
        Next, I'd like to introduce Deborah Fleischaker. Ms.
    Fleischaker has served in several career and political roles at
    the Department of Homeland Security as well as ICE, including
    as ICE's acting Chief of Staff. Ms. Fleischaker has also served
    as ICE's Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs and Policy,
    and as DHS's Executive Secretary and acting DHS Chief Privacy
    and Chief FOIA Officer. Ms. Fleischaker will lean on her
    extensive experience and understanding of both DHS and ICE
    operations in her testimony today. Thank you.
        And finally, I'd like to introduce retired Police
    Commander, Dr. Giovanni Veliz. Dr. Veliz served with the
    Minneapolis Police Department for over 30 years before retiring
    in 2023. As an officer, he worked with the Drug Enforcement
    Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation task forces, as
    well as the Minneapolis Police Department's Organized Crime
    Unit.
        After immigrating from Ecuador and growing up in New York
    City, Dr. Veliz was the first immigrant to serve as a police
    lieutenant and commander in the Minneapolis Police Department.
    He'll testify about the importance of building bridges between
    law enforcement and immigrant communities from his professional
    and academic perspectives.
        Thank you to all of the witnesses for being here today.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Chair Cornyn. I know we're anticipating the attendance of
    Chairman Grassley here momentarily, but in the meantime, we'll
    hear opening statements from the witnesses. And Mr. Avila, can
    we start with you? And if you'll please keep your statement to
    5 minutes, and then we will get through everybody, and then we
    can come back and ask some questions, have more of a
    discussion.

    STATEMENT OF VICTOR AVILA, RETIRED ICE/HSI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL
                        AGENT, SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS

        Mr. Avila. Good afternoon, Chairman, thank you so much for
    the invitation to be here today. Good afternoon, Senator
    Padilla. Good afternoon, to the panel members.
        My name is Victor Avila. I'm a retired ICE/Homeland
    Security Investigation Supervisory Special Agent. HSI is
    responsible for investigating crimes involving immigration,
    trade, customs, and border security that threaten the security
    of the American homeland.
        While serving with HSI, I personally led criminal
    investigations of human traffickers, drug smugglers, and
    violent criminals, many of whom were criminal, illegal aliens.
    During my tenure as a Federal officer, I served under three
    different administrations, and as an HSI special agent, I
    served on the border. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas.
        And also, like you mentioned, as accredited diplomat in
    Mexico, Spain, and Portugal. I advise these governments on
    complex and wide-ranging criminal investigations including
    narcotics, trafficking, armed trafficking, human trafficking,
    financial violations, commercial fraud, and counter-terrorism.
        You mentioned this, Senator. While on official assignment
    in Mexico, I suffered three gunshot wounds and survived by the
    grace of God after a violent ambush by Los Zetas Cartel, where
    my partner, Special Agent Jaime Zapata, tragically lost his
    life in the line of duty.
        I have witnessed what a human being is capable to do to
    another, especially a child. As a subject matter expert in
    human trafficking investigations and victims identification, I
    tragically have seen things that I will not ever be able to
    take away from my head. I describe it as pure evil.
        Drug trafficking, human trafficking, human smuggling are
    just a few crimes that illegal aliens are involved with. I have
    experienced the violence and the imminent threat that we face
    from not just the illegal aliens, many of who are associated
    with Mexican cartels.
        What is happening today with our ICE officers and agents is
    unprecedented. The doxing of our men and women of ICE and
    accusing them of kidnapping when it's a lawful arrest, or
    disappearing people, simply must stop. They are upholding their
    oath and performing the scope of their duties.
        Vilifying officers because some people disagree with the
    enforcement of the law or because it contradicts their ideology
    is just not acceptable. Thousands of police officers arrest
    people every single day and that officer is not singled out for
    doing their job. Why then are ICE officers being targeted?
    This, I believe, is politically driven issue.
        How do we get here? The Biden administration opened the
    border utilizing illegal policy like the CBP One app and
    exploiting our asylum criteria and parole systems. The Biden
    administration was very successful in limiting the budget for
    ICE. They were successful at bringing the morale down in law
    enforcement, especially Border Patrol.
        They were successful in having them lose their identity,
    stripped of their authority, tie their hands behind their backs
    to not do their jobs. The interior enforcement that you're
    seeing right now was almost non-existent, especially work site
    enforcement. They were silenced by the media.
        The priority of ICE is the removal of criminal illegal
    aliens, those with existing criminal histories in the U.S. or
    their home country. However, there are illegals in the U.S.
    that were not properly vetted by the Biden administration. And
    although no criminal history is registered in our data bases,
    many are affiliated with a gang or cartel activity. Those
    caught as a collateral will also be processed for removal as
    well.
        Illegal aliens detected and arrested by ICE are receiving
    due process. It's important to note that not all illegal aliens
    face the same removal proceedings. It depends how the illegal
    entered the U.S., where they entered, the country of origin,
    many, many different factors. Some illegals are subject to
    mandatory detention while others can be removed immediately,
    like visa overstays.
        The illegals with final removal orders and their due
    process through an immigration court subject them to arrest and
    removal immediately. And just to be clear, ICE officers and HSI
    special agents do not require a warrant to conduct an arrest.
    Ninety-plus percent of the arrests that I conducted in my
    career were warrantless.
        It is important for Congress to engage with other countries
    for the removal process and establish memorandums of
    understandings, especially in Mexico and Central America. I
    think Congress has a vital role to better support the mission
    of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, ICE, and the role
    that they play every single day safeguarding our border.
        We have many, many things to talk about that the Big
    Beautiful Bill will--you'll see a big difference coming very,
    very soon to augment their capacity. Thank you so much for your
    time. I look forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Avila appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Mr. Arthur.

      STATEMENT OF ANDREW R. ARTHUR, RESIDENT FELLOW, CENTER FOR
                  IMMIGRATION STUDIES, WASHINGTON, DC

        Mr. Arthur. Thank you, Chairman Cornyn, and Ranking Member
    Padilla, and Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for
    inviting me today to discuss this salient topic.
        There's been a great deal of contention of late over ICE
    arrests of aliens in the interior. With 33 years of immigration
    experience as a prosecutor, congressional staffer, and
    immigration judge, I hope to put those arrests into context.
        Some 300,000 aliens have been arrested in the interior
    under the second Trump administration according to DHS. That's
    more than the 113,500 aliens ICE arrested in Fiscal Year 2024,
    and the 170,600 ICE arrests in FY2023. And the agency is on
    track to make twice as many interior arrests this year as in
    FY2009, 298,000.
        That said, as the Supreme Court noted in INS v. Lopez-
    Mendoza, a case addressing the legality of work site raids, the
    average immigration officer made 500 alien arrests per year in
    1984, at a time when the unauthorized population was
    significantly smaller. If ICE were operating at that same pace
    today, the agency would've made roughly 3 million interior
    arrests since January.
        According to DHS, 70 percent of the aliens ICE arrested in
    the last 6 months have criminal histories, either arrests or
    convictions. That's roughly equivalent to FY2024 when 72
    percent of ICE interior arrests involve aliens with criminal
    histories, but much higher than the 43 percent criminal history
    arrest rate in FY2023.
        Most of the ICE enforcement attention, both in Congress and
    in the media, has focused on what ICE refers to as ``at-large
    arrests'' at homes and in public places. When I was an INS
    trial attorney in California in the mid-1990's, there were few
    at-large arrests because most jurisdictions allowed immigration
    officers into their jails and other secure facilities to take
    custody of criminal aliens.
        As the New York City criminal justice coordinator told the
    House Judiciary Committee, a hearing I staffed, in February,
    2003, the NYPD cooperated, ``with Federal authorities in
    investigating and apprehending aliens suspected of criminal
    activity.''
        As I note in my written testimony, that cooperation
    degraded in the mid-2010's as jurisdictions began implementing
    ``sanctuary policies'' to impede ICE enforcement. Sanctuary
    policies only protect criminals, and if they were to end, ICE
    would likely be too busy processing criminals in local jails to
    perform many at-large arrests.
        Because alienage isn't a critical factor in most State and
    local arrests and prosecutions, there's no way to know what
    percentage of the undocumented have criminal records. But what
    is known is that 100 percent of criminal aliens do have
    criminal records and the recidivism rate is high. A 2011 GAO
    study found that criminal aliens had, on average, seven
    separate arrests apiece. As most of those criminal aliens live
    in and prey on immigrant communities. Other immigrants are the
    ones harmed the most.
        Sanctuary policies also forced ICE agents into the
    community to arrest criminal targets where the threat of
    violence resistance is higher, and where they often encounter
    other aliens here unlawfully, likely the key reason why the
    percentage of ICE arrests involving aliens with criminal
    histories isn't higher.
        Note also that all aliens, including criminals, are
    entitled to constitutional protections throughout the removal
    process, including due process law. The process due to those
    aliens, as Mr. Avila just noted, differs from what the
    Constitution accords to criminal defendants and is often less
    than that according to U.S. citizens. The Due Process Clause
    applies to all persons in the United States, but the Supreme
    Court has held, ``The nature of that protection may vary
    dependent upon an alien's status and circumstance.''
        Finally, I'll note that I was a congressional staffer on 9/
    11. Congress responded to those attacks by tightening the
    vetting process for aliens coming lawfully to protect Americans
    from criminals and other security threats. The hard-earned
    lessons of September 11 were ignored over the last 4 years as
    the last administration released millions of unvetted aliens
    into our communities, too many of whom have gone on to harm
    innocent victims here.
        We have the most generous legal immigration system in the
    world, but American voters will only continue to support those
    policies if they are safe from criminal threats and know the
    laws will be enforced. That's likely why 75 percent of
    respondents in the most recent Harvard/Harris Poll supported
    the current administration's ``efforts to deport criminals who
    are here illegally.''
        In closing, thank you again, and I look forward to your
    questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Arthur appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Thank you, Mr. Arthur. Sheriff Boyd.

                    STATEMENT OF ROY BOYD, SHERIFF,
             GOLIAD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, GOLIAD, TEXAS

        Mr. Boyd. Chairman Cornyn, and Members of the Senate
    Committee, thank you for having me here today. As you've
    stated, I'm the Sheriff of Goliad County, Texas. We're a small
    rural county Sheriff's office about halfway between Houston and
    Laredo in Highway 59. So, we're on a major corridor for
    legitimate and illegitimate products going to and from the
    border.
        I'll get straight to the point. The border Biden policy has
    had the most significant negative impact on the safety and
    security of our communities in South Texas in my 31 years of
    law enforcement. As an example, in Goliad County at the
    Sheriff's office prior to 2021, the Goliad County Sheriff's
    Office averaged 77 arrests per year. From January 2021 to date,
    we've averaged 413 arrests per year. That's a significant
    increase.
        I looked in our records and found no records of smuggling
    of humans cases or engaging in organized criminal activity
    cases prior to January 2021 for our law enforcement agency.
    From 2021 to 2025, the Goliad County Sheriff's Office arrested
    96 people for smuggling of humans and 126 for engaging in
    organized criminal activity. These kind of activities have
    skyrocketed throughout Texas as a result of Biden's open border
    policy. On top of that, we've turned over 145 illegal aliens to
    Border Patrol for processing and possible deportation.
        But this policy has brought quite a few other things,
    including significant property damage. In South Texas, there
    have been thousands of events where smugglers have driven
    through fences and have caused much damage to private property
    tearing down fences. There are multiple ranches in South Texas
    that have over $100,000 in fence damage per year as a result of
    this open border policy and the cartel incursions into South
    Texas.
        Many rural houses have been abandoned out of fear of the
    cartel smugglers going through. There's been a drastic increase
    in the auto theft of pickup trucks throughout South Texas.
    Because what many people don't realize is that the smugglers
    are using stolen trucks. That takes tens of thousands of
    vehicles to get millions of people through South Texas every
    year. And those vehicles are stolen from Texans and used in
    this illicit trade.
        Trespassing on private property has become a commonplace to
    the point where many of the ranches have been abandoned, where
    people fear being on them. In Goliad County alone, even though
    we're 180 miles from the border, in 2021, we discovered 16
    cartel stash sites in our county. Those are just the ones we
    found by going out and looking. We had what was described by
    the Department of Homeland Security as the largest inland
    cartel stash site ever discovered in the United States of
    America.
        But the property damage is just part of it. It's the
    physical and the psychological damage. And I will give you just
    a few examples starting in 2021. We have a lot of residents in
    rural South Texas with credible fear of the cartel smugglers
    coming through their property.
        In April, 2021, a traffic stop in Goliad County led to the
    arrest of Brisa Santana. What we found was Ms. Santana had been
    recruited in a bar in Dallas by a gentleman from Mexico, and
    she had gone down to the border and picked up three girls who
    were all in their late teens, early 20's. And they were being
    told that they were bringing up being brought into the United
    States to be reunited with their family members who were
    already illegally here in the U.S.
        But our investigation revealed that Ms. Santana had fake
    Social Security cards in her underwear when we got her to jail,
    led to further questioning. And what that investigation
    revealed was those three young ladies were considered
    ``especials'' and they were never going to be reunited with
    their families here. They were being taken to Chinatown in
    Houston to be put in sex slavery, indentured servitude.
        As you already pointed out, earlier this month, we caught
    the murderer in our county. We've dealt with a lot of different
    violence as a result of the Biden's open border policy. But I
    will leave you with this. For anyone who does not believe that
    these things are happening, I'm leave you with a quote from a
    letter I found in a sex slave house from a raid I did in
    Rockport, Texas.
        The letter that I found there starts off with, ``Dear
    daughter. In USA, we sometimes have something called a slave
    boy or a slave girl. We call it an indentured servant--'' This
    letter goes on to articulate that it takes 5 to 13 years for
    these slaves to buy their freedom once they're brought into the
    United States of America. That is, unless they're sold to a new
    master before their debt is paid off.
        Thank you for your time, your consideration, and I will
    yield for any questions you have.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Boyd appears as a submission
    for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Ms. Nobles.

              STATEMENT OF TAMMY NOBLES, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

        Ms. Nobles. Thank you for having me here today and allowing
    me to speak. On July 27, 2022, I received the worst news that a
    parent can ever get, that my newly 20-year-old daughter, Kayla
    Hamilton, was found deceased with injuries consistent with a
    homicide. There are no words to describe the heart-wrenching,
    soul-crushing pain of losing your child so horrifically.
        Kayla was a happy and loving person. She loved life and
    God. She loved going to church and learning about Jesus and the
    Bible stories. She showed the world that being herself was okay
    and you didn't have to follow everyone else. She was extremely
    ambitious and despite having autism, she was determined to make
    her way in this world. She loved animals especially her cat,
    Oreo, and cared about the homeless.
        At first, we knew very few details of the murder until an
    arrest. At the end of March 2022, Walter Javier Martinez was
    apprehended by Border Patrol crossing illegally into the U.S.
    at the southwest border in Rio Grande City, Texas. Martinez
    stated that he was 16 years old and he feared gang activity in
    his home country of El Salvador.
        As an UAC, Martinez was granted access into the United
    States with no background checks or vetting. Health and Human
    Services and Homeland Security did not verify the sponsor and
    allowed Martinez to go live in Frederick, Maryland. There were
    behavior issues with him living with his sponsor, so he ended
    up staying with his half-brother who lived in the same
    neighborhood in a mobile home park as Kayla.
        There were behavioral issues with Walter Martinez's, so the
    half-brother called the property manager of the mobile home
    park, which I thought was a legit company. We learned that an
    illegal immigrant, who was a priest, owned some of the mobile
    homes, and allowed his cousin to rent a home to this 16-year-
    old gang member in the same mobile home as Kayla.
        Through the investigation of Kayla's murder, we found out
    that this priest and his cousin knew Walter Javier Martinez
    from El Salvador. And knew he was running from a homicide and
    they decided to put him in the same mobile home as Kayla.
        Kayla and her boyfriend, and the young family did not know
    Walter Javier Martinez, and they did not know their rental
    rights and didn't know that they had a right to say no to
    Martinez living in the same community. They were all afraid to
    say no in fear of getting kicked out on the streets, so they
    said nothing.
        Martinez was only living there less than 5 days before he
    violently and brutally murdered my daughter. Walter Javier
    Martinez broke into Kayla's room while she was sleeping that
    morning. Kayla left a voicemail on her boyfriend's phone.
    According to the voicemail a struggle was going on and Kayla
    can be heard crying, groaning, and struggling to breathe.
    Martinez was also heard on the voicemail hushing her and near
    the end telling her, ``I'm sorry,'' in Spanish while strangling
    her with a phone cord.
        After she was deceased, Martinez tied her up and sexually
    assaulted her. This was confirmed by the anal swabs that
    matched Martinez's DNA. Kayla fought for her life that day. She
    had bruises up and down her arms, her fingers, the left side of
    her face, her back and down her leg and deep wounds to her neck
    from the cord.
        Local police knew right from the beginning that he was the
    main suspect just by their initial investigation. It took the
    Aberdeen Police Department to confirm that Martinez was a known
    MS-13 gang member, and that he had a criminal record in El
    Salvador in 2020.
        If Health and Human Services or Homeland Security would
    have done a background check, then they would have known this,
    and Martinez wouldn't be able to be on U.S. soil. With Martinez
    being 16 years old, Maryland Child Protective Services took
    custody of Martinez until the DNA results came back.
        The Aberdeen Police Department was very transparent to CPS.
    They did tell Child Protected Services he needed to be held in
    a secure location because he was a threat to society and based
    on the murder of, and injuries to Kayla. It was later learned
    after Kayla's murder, Child Protective Services placed Martinez
    in a group home with other children where he was able to attend
    a public high school and then when he had behavioral issues at
    the group they put him in a foster home which allowed him to
    enroll into anther Maryland high school.
        While in jail a letter was intercepted that Martinez wrote
    confessing to 4 murders, and 2 rapes, and admitting he was a
    MS-13 gang member. Martinez ended up pleading guilty and taking
    the plea deal of 70 years. Since he was a juvenile at the time,
    even though he was tried as an adult, Martinez could not get
    life without the possibility of parole.
        Not only was Kayla's life put at risk and taken, but so
    many other children and adults were at risk. The Biden-Harris
    Administration did not put the American citizens safety first.
    We need to ensure the safety of our citizens and protect the
    children from being with the wrong peers and/or placement in
    group homes with unsuspected gang members.
        Background checks and vetting should be required at the
    start so that agencies can check for criminal records and gang
    affiliation in their home country. Sponsors also need to be
    screened and verified. Under the Kayla Hamilton Act introduced
    last week by Representative Fry, Health and Human Services will
    be required to gather background information on all potential
    sponsors and every adult in their household.
        If Homeland Security and Health and Human Services had
    checked Martinez's background, then they would have known that
    he was a known MS-13 gang member, and my precious daughter,
    Kayla, would still be alive today. All both agencies had to do
    was make one phone call to El Salvador and they would have
    known that he was a known MS-13 gang member, and that he had a
    criminal record for illicit gang activity.
        To prevent such tragedies from happening again, The Kayla
    Hamilton Act will mandate background checks on UAC's and the
    sponsors so that no person will be at risk. Sorry I went over
    my time.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Nobles appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Thank you, Ms. Nobles. Mrs. Vega.

                STATEMENT OF MARIE VEGA, LA FERIA, TEXAS

        Mrs. Vega. Thank you, Senator, for having me here and
    allowing me to tell our story. My name is Marie Herrera Vega. I
    am an angel mom, and the mother of two incredible sons.
        Javier ``Harvey Vega'' Jr., my first born, one of my two
    pride and joys, an amazing grandson, son, brother, husband,
    father, you name it. He was it. He was just amazing with a
    heart of gold, like no one you have ever met. An American with
    a love for his country, law enforcement, life and family.
        Harvey joined the United States Marine Corps 5 months after
    graduating from high school. He served 4 years. After leaving
    the Marine Corps, attended college while working a full-time
    job. Immediately after graduation, he was hired by Christus
    Spohn Hospital as a biomed technical engineer. In 2006, he
    joined the United States Border Patrol until 2014. Javier
    ``Harvey'' Vega, Jr. Remember that name.
        Jordy Vega, my second baby, another amazing son, joined the
    United States Marine Corps as well. Same as his big brother, he
    was deployed to Iraq three times. We nearly lost Jordy when the
    convoy he was traveling in hit an IED on his fourth deployment
    this time to Afghanistan, he and his men were ambushed and
    Jordy was shot in the arm. He served 9 years in the military.
    Jordy now lives in Louisiana and works for an American company.
        Sunday, August 3, 2014 was a day that started off with
    wonderful memories of our U.S. Marine and Border Patrol Agent
    son and his family visiting us. The entire day was planned,
    good quality family time, a barbecue, shopping, rifle sighting
    in preparation for hunting season and some fishing to end the
    day before they headed back home.
        Instead, late that afternoon, our beautiful day turned into
    a nightmare when two criminal, illegal aliens decided to ambush
    us in an attempt to steal both four-wheel drive trucks. The two
    illegals jumped out of the stolen vehicle they were driving and
    without hesitation or a warning, they began shooting at us
    without even asking us to hand over the keys.
        In the process, Harvey was shot in the chest. My husband
    Javier was shot in the back and they continued shooting at the
    rest of us, which included me, my daughter-in-law, two
    grandsons, and their friend. When I heard the yelling coming
    from the illegals while they shot at us, I fell back off the
    chair that I was sitting on and I struggled to get up, but
    instead had to crawl to my son who had tried to pick up an AR
    which he had left leaning by the truck to defend us.
        Do you know what it is like to see your son go down after
    being shot? Do you know what it is like to hear the gunshots,
    bullets whizzing past you? Do you know what it's like when your
    mind is trying to process everything, telling your
    grandchildren to duck while thinking your son is on the ground
    with a bullet in his chest? Do you know what it's like to hear
    your son's last words to his father? ``Keep shooting, Dad, keep
    shooting, ``were his last words.
        That should never have happened. The illegals not only
    possessed a stolen vehicle, they also possessed guns that were
    stolen. They each had a long list of crimes including holding a
    gun to a toddler's head if the family did not hand over the
    keys, their money, their phones, their vehicles. Who does this
    to a toddler?
        They had served time in county jail, been previously
    deported, fined $10, and ordered to self deport again. The same
    illegals had robbed our friend, Douglas Light, on his very own
    ranch in La Feria, holding a gun to his grandson, Paul's rib
    cage, and threatening to shoot him if Doug did not hand over
    the keys to the truck. Doug did as he was told, and the
    illegals drove off with a truck trailer and the lawn equipment.
        Going back to the nightmare that we lived, had my husband
    and I not returned fire, the illegals would've killed everyone
    there, leaving no witnesses, and that's including my
    grandbabies. Five days from today, it'll be Harvey's 11th
    angelversary. Eleven years is how long I have lived with
    survivor's guilt. Eleven years is how I have struggled, how
    much I have struggled to survive without my baby. Eleven years
    I have lived with flashbacks. During every waking moment.
        Eleven years, we have celebrated the boys' birthdays,
    graduations, weddings, starting new families, new careers, and
    amazing accomplishments without my baby. Eleven years, I have
    witnessed how his killing has impacted the community, our
    families, his work families, his childhood friends. I have seen
    the heartbreak in everyone's voice, hearts, and actions.
        Illegal aliens have impacted American lives in a very
    negative way. They have no regard for human life as I witnessed
    firsthand. The illegals that killed Harvey also shot my husband
    in the back, and shot at innocent children and women. My
    grandbabies and their friend were only 8 and 11 years old.
        Take a moment and imagine your child or grandchild
    witnessing this horror. How does that make you feel? Would you
    be okay with this? Had our immigration laws been enforced, our
    son would be here. Barack Obama failed me, my family and our
    community and our Nation. My husband now suffers from PTSD. He
    is handicapped because of the extent of damage the bullet
    caused. Nerves and ligaments were severed when the 45-caliber
    bullet traveled from one side of his waist narrowly missing his
    spine before exiting on the other side of his body.
        I want you to know that we do not have an issue with people
    coming to America legally. We do have immigration laws in place
    for a reason, and they need to be enforced. And as politicians,
    you need to allow those in charge to enforce these laws. We are
    not a lawless nation.
        I myself was not born in America. I am the daughter of an
    American-born father and a Mexican-born mother. However, my
    father did not smuggle or sneak us into this country. After
    marrying my mother, he stayed by her side in Mexico until he
    applied to move us back to his country. He waited patiently,
    filled out all the necessary documents and paid all the fees.
        He never even asked for government assistant making due
    with his pay as a farmer and carefully planning for times when
    the weather did not permit work. He taught me and my siblings
    to be God-fearing, hardworking, law-abiding citizens. My two
    older siblings and I are proud naturalized citizens, and my
    little brother is a U.S. citizen.
        La Feria, Texas, my little town's population is about
    7,000. Our little community has lost three young lives to
    illegal alien crime. Noemi Dominguez, a 26-year-old teacher
    murdered by criminal, illegal alien Angel Maturino Resendiz in
    1999. Some of you might remember him as The Railroad Killer. He
    was a serial killer that murdered so many people throughout
    America.
        Javier ``Harvey'' Vega, Jr., 36-year-old father of three
    boys, a U.S. Marine and Border Patrol Agent murdered in cold
    blood in front of his family by Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval and
    Ismael Hernandez Vallejo in 2014. They both had a long list of
    crimes they committed throughout the Rio Grande Valley. If
    committing these crimes was their job, it doesn't seem to me
    like they had--they were producing anything in the community.
    They were not contributing to the community.
        Maria Macias, a 37-year-old mother of three beautiful young
    daughters killed in a car accident caused by illegal alien,
    Bedelin Alegria, in 2022, who instead of trying to render aid
    fled from the scene of the accident.
        That's three young lives from my town. This is what family
    separation really looks like. Not one angel family will ever
    see our loved ones again. Their lives were taken by illegal
    aliens. Now that you know a mother that had to shoot back to
    defend and protect her family, do you still believe we should
    have open borders?
        Open borders have consequences, and you can see from what I
    have experienced because of the crimes committed by illegals,
    the pain lives with us for the rest of our lives. You took a
    oath to uphold the Constitution and work for ``We the people.''
    That means working with your fellow politicians. Regardless of
    which side of the aisle you are on, you are supposed to work
    together representing us, ensuring that those coming in are
    obeying our immigration laws. They need to be properly vetted
    not only for their safety, but yours, and ours. Thank you,
    Senator.
        [The prepared statement of Mrs. Vega appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Thank you, Mrs. Vega. Ms. Fleischaker.

    STATEMENT OF DEBORAH FLEISCHAKER, FORMER ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF,
      IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
       SECURITY, PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, BLACKBIRD VENTURES, LLC,
                             WASHINGTON, DC

        Ms. Fleischaker. Chairman Cornyn, Ranking Member Padilla,
    thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
        Chair Cornyn. Punch the a.
        Ms. Fleischaker. It's on. Can you hear me?
        I currently serve as the principal consultant at Blackbird
    Ventures, and prior to that, I spent nearly 14 years at the
    Department of Homeland Security as both a career public servant
    and a political appointee, including as the acting ICE chief of
    staff and the ICE assistant director for regulatory affairs and
    policy. The views I'm sharing today are my own and don't
    reflect the official positions of DHS or ICE.
        At the core of today's hearing is a critical question. How
    can we enforce immigration laws in a way that protects national
    security, ensures public safety, and respects legal rights? The
    answer must be grounded in facts, professional judgment, and
    strategic use of limited resources. Not fear, spectacle, or
    indiscriminate enforcement.
        Unfortunately, the Trump administration's approach has
    strayed from these principles. Rather than focus on individuals
    who pose a real risk like those with serious criminal
    convictions or recent unlawful entries, the administration has
    embraced a quota-driven model that prioritizes volume over
    safety.
        Officers have reportedly been pressured to meet 3,000
    arrests per day, regardless of risk level, and as of June,
    2025, nearly half of all ICE arrests involved people with no
    criminal history at all. This isn't just unjust, it's
    ineffective. It diverts resources from genuine threats, floods
    the immigration courts and detention system, and lowers morale
    among career officers. It also erodes public safety.
        When we target low risk individuals simply to boost
    numbers, we lose focus on serious threats like organized crime,
    child exploitation, and human trafficking. We've also seen a
    rollback of critical safeguards. ICE arrests at sensitive
    locations like schools, hospitals and courthouses have surged.
    This deters crime victims from seeking help, and punishes
    people for following the law and appearing in court. That makes
    everyone less safe.
        Enforcement tactics have become more aggressive and less
    accountable. Officers increasingly conduct operations wearing
    masks and without clearly identifying themselves, and the Trump
    administration has eliminated the ICE body-worn camera program,
    and weakened key oversight offices.
        In a democracy, the public has a right to know who's
    exercising government power and under what authority. In short,
    what we need is not broader enforcement. We need smarter
    enforcement that is targeted, lawful, transparent, and focused
    on protecting communities, not padding arrest statistics.
        And we can't ignore the toll this approach takes on law
    enforcement officers themselves. When professionals are asked
    to meet daily quotas, arrest quotas, it undermines their sense
    of mission and integrity. Being told to prioritize
    administrative arrest of low-risk individuals over pursuing
    serious threats, corrodes morale, and creates a culture of
    frustration and burnout. This isn't sustainable and it's not
    what public safety demands.
        We also must remember that how we enforce our immigration
    laws sends a powerful message. Are we using our laws to instill
    fear and divide, or are we using them to reflect our values of
    safety, fairness, and accountability. Policies driven by quotas
    instead of evidence and expertise ultimately compromises our
    national security and public safety.
        Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Fleischaker appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Cornyn. Thank you very much. Mr. Barranco.

               STATEMENT OF ALEJANDRO BARRANCO, VETERAN,
             UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, ORANGE, CALIFORNIA

        Mr. Barranco. Good afternoon, Chairman Cornyn, Ranking
    Member Padilla, and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is
    Alejandro Barranco. I am a proud Marine and the son of Narciso
    Barranco. My father was violently attacked and detained on
    Saturday, June 21, 2025 in Santa Ana, California while working
    a job he has held since the 1990's.
        He was surrounded by masked men who did not identify
    themselves, never presented any type of warrant. Terrified, he
    ran. They chased him, pointing a gun at him, pepper sprayed
    him, and eventually tackled him to the ground, and kicked him.
    After he was handcuffed, these men held him down while another
    beat him repeatedly in the neck and head area. After all of
    this, they then threw him in the backseat of an unmarked
    vehicle.
        Growing up, my father was always working from sun up to
    sundown. He always did his best to provide for our family, even
    if it meant working 7 days a week and extremely long hours.
        We always had a food on the table, a roof over our heads,
    and clothes to wear to school. He always taught us to be good
    people and try our best to give back, respect this great
    country, and be thankful for all the opportunities we would
    have growing up in America.
        Before I continue, I want to make clear my views and
    opinions do not reflect those of the Marine Corps. I was the
    first in my family to graduate high school and eventually go to
    college. A dream come true for my parents. While in college, I
    would keep asking myself if I was doing the best I could, or if
    I could maybe do more for myself and my family. That's when I
    looked into joining the military.
        I joined the Marine Corps out of the love I have for this
    country, and continue to bring honor to my family name. When I
    told my dad I was going to enlist, he cried with pride. He told
    me to give it everything I had because we'd do anything and
    everything to give back to our country.
        I deployed to Kabul in 2021 to support the evacuation,
    standing with Marines who made the ultimate sacrifice. I helped
    carry their caskets home. Today, both of my brothers are also
    serving on active duty. My father tells everyone, all three of
    my sons are Marines. He is so proud that he raised sons who
    wanted to serve.
        My brothers and I are a reflection of who my father really
    is; a law-abiding, proud, and patriotic man. My father has no
    criminal record, and should have never been attacked by these
    people. My dad is a human being, but he was not treated with
    the dignity he deserved. He has always made sure to do his best
    in giving back and supporting this country just like we all do.
    That is who he is. That is who our country punched, threw in
    detention, and is trying to deport.
        What I saw in the video that day broke my heart. Since my
    father was detained, it has been a nightmare for my family. He
    was held in a cage with 70 to 100 other people, one toilet, no
    shower, no change of clothes. People were in work uniforms
    because they were literally taken while trying to do their
    jobs, supporting their families and community.
        When he went to another facility, Adelanto, conditions were
    still grim. He went 14 hours without water. The plumbing
    failed. Dirty blankets made people sick. When he finally got a
    hearing, the Government attorney arrived unprepared. If we
    didn't have a lawyer, we wouldn't have even known he had a
    court date.
        My father was eventually granted bond and came home. But
    the trauma that day and the brokenness of this system remains
    in our hearts. My father is an outstanding member of the
    community and should have never been attacked the way he was.
    These people had no warrant for him, and had no reason to chase
    and beat him. He was working his job, which he has had over 30
    years.
        I believe my father was racially profiled, which led to a
    lot of stress and mental trauma for everyone in my family. We
    have received an overwhelming amount of support from everyone
    in the community, from our neighbors, to councilwomen, and
    Members of Congress. This kindness is the country I know and
    love. But I also know this is not the only case in which
    officers have crossed the line and ignored all types of
    training in how to detain someone.
        I do believe that the vast majority of the undocumented
    people in this country are here to work and support the
    country, as well as raising children like my brothers and me.
    In fact, an estimated 1 in 12 U.S. residents are either
    undocumented or live with an undocumented individual. Among
    Latinos, it's 1 in 3.
        I'm here today because I want other people who've had
    family members like my dad taken away to know they are not
    alone. Thousands of families like ours are being ripped apart,
    and their stories matter. I want this Committee to understand
    the human impact of immigration policies on this
    administration.
        I want them to know that the people being ripped from our
    communities are hardworking, honest, patriotic people who are
    raising America's teachers, nurses, and Marines. Deporting them
    doesn't just hurt my family, it hurts all of us. It makes our
    communities less safe, less prosperous, and less resilient.
        The current system is broken. Cruel, and indiscriminate
    raids are tearing families apart, and punishing hardworking
    people who contribute to our communities every day. My father,
    like so many others, deserves a fair chance to stay in the
    country he calls home. This country is better because of people
    like my dad. It is time our policies reflected that. Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Barranco appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Dr. Veliz.

      STATEMENT OF DR. GIOVANNI VELIZ, RETIRED POLICE COMMANDER,
         MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT, MAPLE GROVE, MINNESOTA

        Dr. Veliz. Chairman Cornyn, Ranking Member Padilla, and
    Members of the Subcommittee, good afternoon. My name is
    Giovanni Veliz, and it is my honor and duty to be before this
    Committee to provide testimony on community policing and safer
    communities for all. I'm a retired police commander with over
    30 years of law enforcement. I have served various critical
    roles in task forces in the United States Drug Enforcement Task
    force, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Police
    Commander of the Special Crimes Investigations Division and
    more.
        My years of experience have shown me time and time again
    that reducing crime and partnership with communities reflects
    years of sustained engagement, trust building, and open
    communications. This supports both effective public safety, and
    the safety on honorable sworn police officers who have taken
    the oath to protect communities with due process and dignity.
        My testimony today reflects my personal views and
    experience, and does not reflect the official positions of the
    Minneapolis Police Department. As a patrol officer, I
    recognized the profound value of community relationships by
    actively engaging community members, and local business owners,
    and attending countless meetings. I gained insight into the
    community's needs and concerns.
        I was privileged to be welcomed by immigrant families and
    community leaders into their spaces where I listened to the
    stories of dangerous journey into the United States, stories of
    hardship, resilience, and a yearning for safety and
    opportunity. This family often expressed fear of crime and
    reluctance to contact law enforcement. These fears have been
    shaped by past experiences with abuse or unjust justice
    systems.
        I learned much from these encounters and they compelled me
    to reflect on the value of providing voice to the voiceless in
    treating every individual with dignity and respect. In the
    response to the call for strong relationships with the
    immigrant community, I led initiatives in partnership with the
    community stakeholders, including the creation of a
    multicultural advisory committee and the development of
    vocational workshops.
        These workshops reach dozens of families teaching them
    about police services and engaging them to build trust with
    police officers and help reduce crime in their neighborhoods.
    The trust and cooperation generated through these efforts led
    to critical public safety outcomes, including information in
    major drug trafficking investigations, the rescue of a
    kidnapped community member, the apprehension of suspects in
    shootings and successful large scale fraud investigations
    involving organized crime in Minnesota.
        I respectfully share my concern that the increased local
    law enforcement involvement in aggressive and fear-based raids
    of immigrant communities is already eroding trust, cooperation,
    and public safety in our neighborhoods. When residents fear law
    enforcement, their willingness to report crime, cooperate with
    investigations, or assist and identify violent offenders, is
    diminished.
        The erosion of that trust not only undermines crime
    prevention, but also puts both officers and communities members
    at a greater risk. Trust between law enforcement and
    communities we protect is vital and can only be achieved
    through community cooperation. Without community cooperation,
    police agencies across the country will have a difficult time
    identifying and apprehending violent offenders. This will more
    likely create risk for both police officers and community
    members.
        Today, I offer this testimony grounded in my experience as
    a law enforcement leader, a scholar, and lifelong advocate for
    justice and community partnership. I urge this Committee to
    fully recognize the dangerous consequences to public safety
    these aggressive tactics present. I also urge you to work
    together with community leaders and public safety experts to
    rebuild trust and to continue to keep our communities safe.
        Thank you for your service and leadership.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Veliz appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Chair Cornyn. Thank you, Dr. Veliz.
        We'll start with the round of questions, 5-minute rounds,
    and as you can see, due to conflicts, a number of our Members
    have other commitments and aren't able to be here in person.
    But I know Senator Padilla and I will have some questions and
    perhaps others will join us along the way.
        Mrs. Vega, like Ms. Nobles, you've shared with us a painful
    experience in your life. Most people don't know exactly what
    you had to do during the incident that resulted in your son's
    death and the wounding of your husband that is holding the gun,
    a gun against the perpetrators to defend your family. Nor do
    many people understand the lasting impact on your children as
    they witness the death of their father or grandchildren, their
    father, before their very eyes. You mentioned flashbacks. Are
    you still dealing with the effects of that incident today?
        Mrs. Vega. Yes, sir, I am.
        Chair Cornyn. How so?
        Mrs. Vega. It's horrible. I need to stay busy around the
    clock because the minute your head hits that pillow, everything
    plays out over and over, and you can't stop it.
        Chair Cornyn. Now, Mrs. Vega, I think some people wrongly
    suggest that the Hispanic community in this country are somehow
    opposed to enforcement of our immigration laws, and I think it
    was Sheriff Boyd made the important distinction between legal
    immigration and illegal immigration.
        To be sure, legal immigration has been one of the secrets
    to our success as a nation, a nation of laws. But illegal
    immigration has been an unmitigated disaster for so many
    families, including the Hispanic community in Texas and
    elsewhere. So, your family came to the United States legally.
        Some of our colleagues here and others you've heard in the
    news say that, well, people can break the law and come to the
    United States illegally, but because they've been here a while,
    they ought to be able to stay and should not be forced to
    return home to get legal status. Do you agree with that?
        Mrs. Vega. No, sir. They've had ample time to rectify their
    citizenship status. It's an honor being in this country when
    you're from another country and you come here. It's an honor.
        Chair Cornyn. Ms. Nobles, what are some of the worst things
    reported in the news about your daughter's death that you want
    corrected for the record?
        Ms. Nobles. A lot of it is they confuse the terms, you
    know, immigration and illegal immigrants. We're talking about
    illegal immigrants who had broke the law. Kayla did not live
    with Walter Martinez. He was put there without their saying in
    anything.
        Also, the whole thing about that illegal immigrants commit
    less crimes. How do we know that we don't know who's in this
    country. They have not been vetted, background check. We have
    no identification of them. We have no idea who they are.
    They're not in the system. We were really lucky to get a
    conviction from Walter because they checked and he was not in
    the system. They had to try to find out who he was by calling
    Border Patrol, getting his name and his date, and they had to
    call El Salvador to get any information about him.
        Nobody knew him. He wasn't in the system. No fingerprints,
    nothing. We don't know who they are. We don't know who's coming
    here, and we don't know what crimes they committed because they
    haven't been caught. We were lucky that he was caught and the
    ones that we do know of, they actually got caught.
        There's no way of knowing because they could live under the
    radar. They can live in the communities. Her murderer can act
    like a 16-year-old child. I've seen him in the beginning of the
    investigation. He was sitting there acting all scared, and
    acting--you know, and asking permission to eat.
        And then in the end when he got caught, his whole demeanor
    changed. He sat in that chair and they told him he was being
    arrested for a homicide. He sat in that back chair. He looked
    so much older, so much wiser, and he was like--and he said
    homicide in Spanish. He just sat back and was like, okay. Like
    that, laughing about it like it was a joke that he murdered my
    daughter and just left her on the floor like trash. It was a
    joke to him.
        Chair Cornyn. Sheriff Boyd, it seems like during the 4-
    years of the Biden administration, the U.S. Government
    outsourced its immigration policy to transnational criminal
    organizations, otherwise known as cartels.
        And as part of Operation Lone Star, that task force, I know
    you have tracked the human smuggling flowchart and also the
    flowchart of cartel drug operations, but in your experience
    dealing with the broken borders or the open border policies of
    the Biden administration, didn't it allow not only the
    trafficking of children and women, but the movement of drugs
    and other contraband across the border without any distinction
    between that and people who want to come here to work and
    perhaps want to achieve a better life?
        Mr. Boyd. Yes, Senator. So, what had happened is Border
    Patrol was basically turned in from an enforcement agency into
    a babysitting and processing agency. They were tied up on the
    border, actually processing people to get them into this
    country as fast as possible, friends of mine and Border Patrol
    said they would get in trouble for not processing enough people
    into the country in a timely manner.
        And what that did was that left our borders wide open for
    people to come through and to bring stuff through. But I will
    tell you that during that time period, slave trade outpaced
    narcotics as far as the revenue that the Government was aware
    of, that the cartels made.
        And so that's one of the problems that we're seeing now is
    this was not an immigration issue. This was a slave trade
    issue. These people were brought here by the cartels because we
    ceded our authority of the border from the U.S. Government to
    the cartels.
        They brought those people here and put them into indentured
    servitude. And I've seen that firsthand. We have imported
    millions upon millions of people. We have put them in a peon
    class and they are now trying to pay off their debts to their
    masters. They're beholden to workplaces, whether it be in a
    farm, whether it be in a kitchen, whether it be at the hotel,
    or whether it be unloading 18-wheeler loads of dope or moving
    different product, or killing people.
        They're beholden to the cartels to do whatever it is they
    are told to do by the cartels and their affiliate
    organizations. And that's a direct result to the last 4 years.
        Chair Cornyn. And Sheriff, is it your experience that the
    only thing or maybe the main thing that the cartels care about
    is money?
        Mr. Boyd. That is absolutely it. And I will touch on one
    thing that Senator Padilla mentioned about people working in
    the fields. I don't know if y'all have ever sat down face to
    face with a sicario in a small room, but I've done it on
    multiple occasions.
        Those individuals didn't just kill people for a living,
    they also worked out in the fields. They were welders, helpers,
    they worked on pipelines, they had regular jobs during the day
    and they killed people on their time off for the cartels. So,
    just because somebody works at the local farm or works in a
    some industry doesn't mean they don't have the capacity to do
    evil and do those things. And so that we need to understand.
        Chair Cornyn. And finally, you were part of Operation Lone
    Star Task Force, and I believe you've supplied us with a couple
    of charts here. One, a human smuggling flow chart and one a
    simplified flow chart of cartel drug operations. Is that
    correct?
        Mr. Boyd. That is correct.
        Chair Cornyn. And those are based off of our experiences of
    conducting investigations. All right. These will, without
    objection, be made part of the record.
        Chair Cornyn. Senator Padilla.
        Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the first
    things I want to clarify, something I keep hearing not just
    during this hearing, but for months and months now from the
    Trump administration, is that they're going after the worst of
    the worst. That's the soundbite, that's the rhetoric.
        And their aggressive show of force is accomplishing the
    goal. If that's their claim. The way they present it, the way
    they talk about President Biden's administration and prior
    Democratic administrations is like it was never a priority for
    Democratic administrations to go after criminals. And that
    Democrats and Democratic administrations just didn't care about
    the presence of dangerous people in our communities. Simply not
    true. So, I want to help set the record straight. And again, if
    you can't take my word for it, let's turn to an expert.
        Ms. Fleischaker, you were in ICE leadership. In your view,
    in your experience, did the Biden administration ever restrain
    ICE from pursuing serious criminals? Part B to that question,
    only because one of the other witnesses implied that the Biden
    administration was restraining ICE, either by policy or by
    resources from doing its job. True or false? Can you expand on
    both of those please?
        Ms. Fleischaker. We absolutely did not stop ICE agents from
    enforcing the law and going after public safety threats. In
    fact, we encourage them to do so. We very much want to find and
    arrest public safety threats in the community.
        Senator Padilla. Well, thank you for that. And anybody on
    this side of the dais who's familiar with the appropriations
    process in Congress, particularly in the Senate given the
    filibuster rules, knows that spending plans are adopted on a
    bipartisan basis, on a bipartisan basis.
        So, we can discuss and debate the need for additional
    investments in not just enforcement, but as I mentioned
    previously, immigration judges, hearing officers, et cetera. In
    fact, not too long ago, there was a bipartisan proposal on the
    table to significantly ramp up the budgets for those agencies
    and Republicans walked away from that deal. That's a fact.
        Second area I want to tackle is in the area of
    indiscriminate enforcement. Just by show of hands, by the way,
    raise your hand if you think all immigrants are criminals. Let
    the record reflect none of the witnesses raised. All immigrants
    are criminals?
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Ms. Nobles. Not all immigrants.
        Senator Padilla. I'm very precise in my question, very
    precise in my question. Raise your hand if you believe all
    immigrants are criminals.
        Ms. Nobles. Repeat your question.
        [Off mic.]
        Ms. Nobles. Are you talking illegal immigrants or are you
    talking about regular immigrants?
        Mr. Arthur. Microphone.
        Senator Padilla. All immigrants. I'm using my words very
    precisely.
        Ms. Nobles. Are you talking illegal immigrants or
    immigrants who came here legally and did it the right way?
    Which one?
        Senator Padilla. By a show of hands, raise your hand if you
    believe----
        Ms. Nobles. There's not going to be a proper answer to
    that.
        Senator Padilla. Or even most.
        Ms. Nobles. No, all illegal immigrants are criminals
    because----
        Senator Padilla. So, I don't think anyone here would
    disagree with the idea of rooting out the ``worst of the
    worst'' even if we disagree over what immigration policy should
    be. But I believe it's unacceptable that these raids are so
    indiscriminate that they end up sweeping up people with no
    history of violent crime, hardworking people trying to give
    their children a better life like Alejandro's father, Narciso.
        Alejandro, the question is for you. First of all, I'm so
    sorry about what happened to your father and what your family's
    been going through. Targeting somebody like him does not seem
    to make the community, the State of California, or the country
    any safer. And it's an insult to our history of welcoming
    people who want a better life.
        Now, I agree, we need to modernize our immigration system
    to make it more strategic, more effective. Is there anything
    else that you would like to share about the cruelty with which
    your father was treated or which your family's gone through?
        Mr. Barranco. I think that the way they treated him and the
    way they handled that situation was very unprofessional. It
    showed men who were not trained, it doesn't seem like it. They
    were running with fingers. They're running with guns in their
    hand, with fingers on the trigger, pointing it at civilian
    vehicles. And honestly, I don't think that's for the best of
    public safety. And I believe that they should have better
    training and go out and chase after the real criminals.
        Senator Padilla. Well, I couldn't agree more. And the more
    resources, personnel, funding and otherwise, that's directed
    at--again, just broad-based enforcement is less focus, less
    prioritization of those violent criminals that we know we're
    out there, the administration knows are out there, but they're
    not the clear priority or focus.
        If I may, Mr. Chairman, just one more question in this
    round. We know that the massive show of force by the Department
    of Homeland Security has scared people across communities, not
    just Los Angeles, not just throughout my home State of
    California, but other parts of the country, to the point that
    we're now seeing people hesitate to go to work, hesitate to
    patronize stores and to visit public spaces, even go to church.
    So, I'm deeply concerned that this fear will also deter people
    from reporting crimes like domestic violence, sexual assault,
    robbery, et cetera.
        Dr. Veliz, you have 3 decades of experience encouraging
    community members to come out of the shadows and trust you and
    your officers to report crime, to engage in law enforcement, to
    improve public safety. You spoke to this a little bit during
    your opening statement, but can you describe the impact of
    these indiscriminate raids on the types of relationships that
    you trained your officers to build with immigrant communities?
        Dr. Veliz. Thank you, Senator Padilla, for the question.
    So, under my leadership, Senator Padilla, would spend days,
    years, weeks. I spent 30 years building trust. Trust is a
    fulcrum to crime reduction, to the safety community members, to
    the safety of police officers. This is an ongoing daily through
    every single interaction.
        When the community have the perception that we involve in
    immigration enforcement, they are not going to come forward and
    report crimes. They're not going to come forward and access
    police services. Thus, what's going to happen is that that will
    increase the percentage for this immigrant communities to be
    revictimized by violent offenders. And once again, that will
    put greater risk for police officers. Community members are the
    ones who are home in their community 24/7. They are our eyes
    and ears when we respond and we try to reduce crime.
        Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have additional
    questions. I'll wait for the next round.
        Chair Cornyn. Senator Moody.
        Senator Moody. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am the newest
    Senator here, certainly the newest on Judiciary. And I am so
    glad that I am here in this capacity now because I served as
    Florida's Attorney General and watched in horror as Biden and
    his handlers, and the radicals in charge of his administration
    systematically and intentionally broke down all of the
    structures and security safeguards at the border. And it was
    only through litigation that we were able to uncover documents
    that showed their plan was in place from day one.
        In fact, when they started rolling out executive orders,
    dismantling everything that the Trump administration had put
    into place, they were warned by those in the administration and
    Border Patrol and DHS, that if you do this, we will immediately
    be overrun. We will immediately lose any control at the border,
    and we do not have the ability to keep pace with the detention
    capacity that will be needed.
        And in fact, ignoring all of those warnings by the their
    own administration, they not only went ahead and issued the
    executive orders, dismantling everything that Trump had put
    into place. They then asked for less money for detention beds.
    And the consequences and the chaos that unfolded not only was
    predicted by their own administration, it put law enforcement
    at the border at risk. It put families and communities at risk.
    It put our Nation's sovereignty and security at risk as more
    and more people flooded into this country with previous
    criminal backgrounds, and those that were on the terrorist
    watch list.
        And as I pursued litigation, a judge said ``Biden and his
    administration has turned our border into nothing more than a
    meaningless line in the sand.'' And when there were warnings
    that our border would be overrun when Title 42 was expiring,
    Florida uncovered documents saying that their grand plan was to
    step back and let it be overrun.
        And in my litigation as Florida's Attorney General, I
    uncovered that not only were they pushing more, and more, and
    more, and more, and more historic numbers into our country
    unvetted, that they established quotas every day to make sure
    that Border Patrol pushed a certain amount of numbers into our
    country that was barely vetted.
        So, as Attorney General, when I had sheriffs from all over
    my State calling me to say that the Biden administration was
    canceling detainers on criminals in their jails and telling
    them to release them back into the communities, I was
    horrified. Horrified not only because I work with law
    enforcement across the State, and I knew what that was doing to
    their communities, but horrified because I knew that went
    against not just the policies of Republican administrations,
    but Democratic administrations.
        It was a radical's wish list. They had changed the entire
    policy on whether or not we were going to deport serious felony
    offenders. And there agenda was no. And the resulting crime
    that occurred across this country as a result was predicted. I
    predicted from the beginning of this administration, I was one
    of the first States to sue when they stopped deporting people
    here illegally that were committing crimes against Americans in
    our communities.
        So, the gaslighting that started under the last
    administration when Mayorkas showed up and said the border is
    secure, the border is secure. And I guess he thought the
    American people would believe that it's still going on. There
    are so many felony offenders that are here illegally in our
    country that because Biden released them, this administration
    has to do the hard work of tracking people down and deporting
    anywhere from 11 million to 20 million people, because we don't
    know who's in this country.
        On a conservative estimate, 11 million people is more than
    the population of 42 of our States. And most of those people
    were unvetted. So, you're going to hear a lot about people here
    that just want a better life. But make no mistake, Biden and
    his administration purposefully unleashed those here illegally
    committing crimes on you and on your families. And it was
    intentional.
        And when I brought it to their attention that they were no
    longer even deporting those in Federal prisons that were
    completing sentences that were here illegally, that they were
    taking them back to where they were prosecuted and pushing them
    into those districts like no other Presidential administration
    had done, they fought me on giving me the information, and I
    had to sue them for that, too.
        So, we can have hearings all day long, and I can hear about
    these stories, but make no mistake, and the American public
    should not fall for this DEM deception. This was intentional.
    It was purposeful. And they're going to roll out everything
    that they can think of to stop any sort of progress to shoring
    up and making this country safe again until they get somebody
    back in office that will do the same thing. So, I appreciate
    you Chairman for standing strong.
        And I would like to ask Sheriff, I know we have a Sheriff
    with us from the Lone Star State, from your State, and I want
    to just know if you heard the same thing from people, from
    Sheriffs that were forced because detainers were canceled to
    release people back into the communities.
        Mr. Boyd. Yes, you are absolutely correct, Senator. They
    were forcing them to release people back into the community.
    And we have had a longstanding partnership with Border Patrol,
    Department of Homeland Security, and our Federal partners. And
    regardless of what is said, they were not issuing any orders to
    Border Patrol or to ICE telling them don't enforce this, don't
    do that.
        But what the administration was doing was sending people to
    those stations and then giving them verbal orders. You're no
    longer allowed to help law enforcement do this. And much to
    Border Patrol's credit, they would sit down and figure out,
    ``Okay, how do we circumvent this order and help them in
    another way?''
        They would figure out how to help us in a way that they
    hadn't been strictly forbidden from doing until the Biden
    administration would realize that they had figured a way around
    that order. And then the Biden administration would issue a new
    verbal order to them tell them they couldn't do that, and they
    would sit down and figure out another way.
        So, the administration wasn't dumb enough to send out a
    paper trail. What they were smart enough to do is they were
    smart enough to send people to those stations and go, ``You
    quit helping local law enforcement. You quit taking these
    actions.''
        Senator Moody. And well, indeed, they held back as much
    paper as they could until attorneys general like me and others
    pushed in court and got it, and found the documents that showed
    they knew this was happening. Their first month in office they
    knew we would be overwhelmed, and they did it anyway.
        And if I just might, Chairman, I'm a mother as well, and I
    just want to say thank you. I can't imagine the loss of a
    child, but sharing those stories and making sure this never
    happens again in our country, because we can follow the law, we
    can do what's right. I want to thank the parents that share
    their stories.
        And I want to thank every law enforcement man and woman who
    signed up to wear the badge, and stand between chaos and order,
    and good and evil, and made sure that this country stands for
    what we were founded on; and that is the people governing
    ourselves under a rule of law. And that was so important, and
    I'm so grateful to them every day. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Chair Cornyn. Senator Hirono.
        Senator Hirono. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think we can all
    agree that our immigration system is broken both in the legal
    side, which is we have a visa system that has a huge backlog of
    people waiting to come into our country. And also, we have a
    number of a lot of undocumented people.
        And I would like to correct the record in that there are
    some 11 million undocumented people here. A rather large
    percentage of them came here with legal visas, and they're
    overstayers. So, these are people who already were vetted in
    order to get visas to come into our country.
        So, the issue of immigration is complicated, but we agree
    that we have a broken system. And I'm glad that when I was
    first elected through the U.S. Senate, one of the major bills
    that I worked on as a Member of this Committee was the
    Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill. And while it didn't have
    all of the kinds of provisions that I would've supported, it
    was a good start. It was a good faith effort to address the
    complexities of immigration reform. And I thought it was a
    relatively fair bill. So, I voted for it.
        Unfortunately, the House never got around to addressing
    that bill or doing anything with the bill. And so, here we are,
    the whole issue has become highly, highly politicized. We now
    have a regime that wants to deport a million people a year, if
    not more. They would like to deport 11 million people. How that
    is supposed to happen is beyond me. But that maybe that is one
    of the reasons that they are basically moving so much of our
    law enforcement community, whether it's the DOJ or the all of
    our various agencies into focusing on deportations.
        Now, I think we can all agree that people who should be
    deported are the ones who are violent criminals and who have
    committed crimes. That is not what is happening in our country.
    So, the kind of roundups where the quota or the requirement is
    so that I should arrest 3,000 people a day. See, that leads to
    all kinds of actions on the part of ICE and the other agencies
    that they have focusing on deportation and rounding up people
    who are pose no danger, no safety danger to our communities.
    But it's certainly creating havoc and fear in our community.
        So, that is what is happening. So, rather than working on
    what I would consider it to be comprehensive immigration
    reform, that we can, I hope all agree on some of the
    provisions. No, we are continuously blaming the prior
    administration.
        Let us not forget that one of the major issues relating to
    Trump's first administration was the fact that they separated
    children from their parents and never kept track of who their
    parents are. And there are some of these children who have
    never been reunited with their families.
        And I think that is you know, that's not the way that we
    should be conducting our immigration enforcement. So, I would
    say that we should have ICE prioritized violent criminals,
    people who have that kind of record that is not what is
    happening. So, I have a question for Ms. Fleischaker--am I
    pronouncing your name correctly, please?
        Ms. Fleischaker. Fleischaker.
        Senator Hirono. Fleischaker, yes, okay. So, last month, on
    June 23, ICE forced a disabled Purple Heart veteran named Sae
    Joon Park to self deport. He was a green card holder, but his
    undiagnosed PTSD led to a drug dependency, which is frankly all
    too common among our veterans. After an arrest for bail jumping
    in 2009, his green card was revoked, but he was allowed--this
    is 2009--allowed to stay with yearly check-ins with ICE. So, he
    did that every year. He would come in, and he's been living in
    Hawaii for the past 10 years, where he's raised two kids and
    cares for his 85-year-old mother who is in the early stages of
    dementia.
        That all changed this year when ICE, under this
    administration, threatened to lock him up unless he left the
    country. So, he self-deported. So, Ms. Fleischaker, does Mr.
    Park strike you as someone who should be a priority for
    detention and removal?
        Ms. Fleischaker. I think the issue for me is that when we
    focus on numbers instead of quality, we end up focusing on
    people without criminal arrests, people who are contributing to
    their communities. We need to be focusing on real public safety
    threats, national security threats, and recent border crossers.
        Senator Hirono. Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry that the--my time
    is up, but you get my--the priority should be to deport people
    who pose a safety danger to our community, and a huge number of
    the people who are going through that process do not pose
    danger to our community. So, that is a use of resources that
    cannot be justified. Thank you.
        Chair Cornyn. Senator Graham.
        Senator Graham. Thank you very much, Senator Cornyn, for
    having this hearing and all you've done to shed light on this.
    This is very helpful for the country and the Senate, I think.
        Senator Graham. Is it Ms. Fleischaker?
        Ms. Fleischaker. Yes.
        Senator Graham. Okay. Let me just ask you just a general
    question. How long were you the chief of staff for ICE in the
    Biden administration?
        Ms. Fleischaker. A year.
        Senator Graham. Excuse me?
        Ms. Fleischaker. One year.
        Senator Graham. Looking at those 4 years would you say they
    were successful in terms of border security?
        Ms. Fleischaker. Well, at ICE, I was responsible for
    interior enforcement. I wasn't responsible for border security.
    I would say that the people I know----
        Senator Graham. Well, your work product, I mean----
        Ms. Fleischaker [continuing]. Worked as hard as they could
    every day.
        Senator Graham. How would you rate border security during
    your time?
        Ms. Fleischaker. I would say border security is very
    important, and----
        Senator Graham. I know. I mean, how do you think the Biden
    administration did in securing our border?
        Ms. Fleischaker. I think that there were a lot of people
    who came during the Biden administration.
        Senator Graham. Like 11 million. I would say that's not
    very secure. Mr. V-E-L-I-Z?
        Dr. Veliz. Veliz, sir.
        Senator Graham. Yes. Thank you. How would you rate the
    border security initiatives of President Biden? Successful or
    not?
        Dr. Veliz. Senator, I'm here to testify based on my 30
    years of experience as a police officer in building trust and
    creating separate communities. I'm not an expert in providing
    you with an assessment of the Biden administration----
        Senator Graham. Well, I mean, just generally speaking, 11
    million encounters is a lot. Right?
        Dr. Veliz. It seems like a large number, Senator, yes.
        Senator Graham. Yes. So, the goal is to fix that. Mr.
    Arthur?
        Mr. Arthur. Yes, Senator.
        Senator Graham. How did we go from the worst border to the
    most secure border in like 30 seconds?
        Mr. Arthur. It's all a matter of will. The laws were
    already in place at the time that President Biden took office.
    He could have continued the same policies that President Trump
    had in place when we had a very high level of border security.
        In fact, even before Title 42 went into effect, the border
    was secure based upon my 3 decades of experience. But the
    reason that the border became insecure is because those
    policies were reversed, and the detention mandates that this
    Congress has put into place were ignored.
        Senator Graham. So, we went from 160,000 encounters a month
    for 4 years down to a very, a small amount, right?
        Mr. Arthur. Deterrence is the touchstone of enforcement at
    the border. And if you take away the deterrence, people are
    going to come in. President Trump put the deterrence back.
        Senator Graham. The only point I'm trying to make is that
    the people who are criticizing President Trump are the ones
    that allowed the problem to exist. You'd be the last group of
    people I would ask advice from about how to keep this thing
    going in the right direction.
        So, I want the American people to know that President Trump
    in 6 months has gotten the border under control after 4 years
    of absolute chaos. So, my belief is that as we move forward, we
    need to make sure that we do so not to go backward in securing
    the border.
        In terms of enforcement, Mr. Arthur, is it important that
    people get the message that if you come here illegally, you
    will be kicked out?
        Mr. Arthur. Absolutely. Unless there is enforcement, people
    will be more likely to cross the border illegally. People will
    be more likely to remain in the United States illegally.
    Barbara Jordan said credibility and immigration enforcement is
    simple. Those who get to come in, get come in. Those who should
    leave, leave. And those who are here unlawfully should be
    forced to stay, are forced to leave.
        Senator Graham. So, clearly some mistakes have been made. I
    definitely want to fix. Some people, it shouldn't have been,
    you know, caught up into the system. You know, we need to get
    that right. But the consequence of backing off on interior
    enforcement and deportation, do you think it would send the
    wrong signal and undercut our efforts?
        Mr. Arthur. Absolutely. The immigration laws are impossible
    to enforce in any stage, consular, border interior, if they're
    not enforced.
        Senator Graham. Let's just assume for a moment, which I do,
    that most of the people coming here legally are not coming to
    commit crimes. But a lot of them do. Senator Cornyn spread a
    light on this. A lot of people dead because of bad immigration
    policy. Laken Riley, the man who killed Laken Riley was
    released because of no detention space. Went to Georgia and
    eventually killed this young lady.
        So, my point is, whatever we do, we don't want to go
    backward. We want to go forward. And if we change our
    enforcement policies and the way being proposed, I think we
    will lose our gains. And I don't want to do that. Thank you,
    Senator Cornyn, for having this hearing.
        Chair Cornyn. Thank you, Senator Graham. Senator Klobuchar.
        Senator Klobuchar. Yes. Thank you to my colleagues. And I
    want to start by expressing my deepest sympathies to you Mrs.
    Vega, and to you Ms. Nobles, as well as to you, Mr. Avila. And
    I have always, as Senator Graham knows, because we've worked
    together on a number of bipartisan immigration bills,
    unfortunately, they have not passed. They've passed through
    this Committee though. And several of these comprehensive bills
    had much funding for the border and changes to border security.
        And I strongly agree that securing our borders and ports of
    entry must be a top priority. I supported the border agreement
    negotiated with Senator Lankford last year, and we must
    prioritize public safety including deporting violent criminals.
    I have also championed law enforcement efforts, as is well
    known in this room, whether hiring more police officers through
    the COPS Hiring Program, I lead that bill, or funding cutting
    edge detection technology to stop the flow of fentanyl at the
    border.
        But I also know from my time as the top prosecutor in the
    biggest jurisdiction in my State for 8 years that it is always
    looking at how do you spend your law enforcement resources.
    Yes, border security, but then how do you handle when you're
    deciding how to deal with people in the neighborhoods? And you
    still want to have the resources there for gun prosecutions,
    for people who are felons in possession of guns, for drug
    trafficking, and the like.
        And so, I do have serious concerns of some of the diversion
    of resources when it comes to some of these nonviolent people
    in the communities. The fear and chaos that we've seen
    wrongfully deporting people undermining due process and the
    rule of law. And I'm just going to ask a few questions because
    we have a vote going on.
        I was at another hearing, so I apologize, Dr. Veliz, who's
    been in my State and I want to thank him for his work. And I've
    often said that immigrants don't diminish America. They define
    America. They are America. And our State is home to people from
    all over the world. And I have prosecuted people for serious
    crimes that come from other places. But I also prosecuted
    people that were born in our country.
        And I want you to talk just a little bit about your 30-year
    career in law enforcement. You've been known as a bridge
    builder in our community. And could you talk about the
    relationships with the immigrant community and how they have
    paid dividends in the police work in terms of making sure we
    get the tips that we need to go after people that are
    committing serious crimes?
        And if you break down all those relationships, you're going
    to have what I saw a guy that thought he could go after a 14-
    year-old and rape her because she was afraid that she'd be
    reported because her relative was undocumented. You can't have
    that go on. You have to have some relationships within the
    community. If you could talk about this, Dr. Veliz.
        Dr. Veliz. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. And police
    officers, we have a variety of strategists and techniques to
    deter crime, identify violent offenders. But one of the biggest
    and most valuable tools that I saw in my 30-year career as a
    police enforcement is the human value from the community,
    providing that intelligence information daily. And I recognized
    right away. That I was only working for 8 to 10 hours a day,
    but community members, they stay there. They live there for 24/
    7. They are my eyes and my ears, not only for me, for the
    entire police department.
        One of the successful stories, Senator, that I saw was I
    remember being at home at about 8 p.m. and getting a phone call
    from a community member and putting the community members
    identity and life at risk. The community member provided me
    with exact information about a community member who has been
    kidnapped by violent gang members, violent Surenos 13 gang
    members.
        And even though we put together a SWAT team, we had
    technology conduct surveillance. Thank God that we have this
    community member who provided with exact information about
    threats and how to rescue this innocent community member who
    was kidnapped. Thank you to the word from community members
    also, we have been able to seize and identify major drug
    trafficking of narcotics, investigations of members from
    cartels from organized crime.
        So, in summary, I just want to say that we cannot do the
    job without community cooperation. We could not do this job
    without trust building in the communities.
        Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
        Chair Cornyn. To clarify just a few things, Ms.
    Fleischaker, do you believe that everybody who is--all
    individuals who are under final orders of deportation should
    actually be deported?
        Ms. Fleischaker. I believe that people with final orders of
    removal have gone through the legal process and then are
    eligible for removal for deportation.
        Senator Corny. You don't think they should be deported or
    you do think they should be deported?
        Ms. Fleischaker. I think that those are the people who can
    be removed. Those are the people who should be removed.
        Chair Cornyn. So, there actually are some illegal aliens
    who should be deported. How about convicted criminals? Should
    they be deported?
        Ms. Fleischaker. Undocumented, convicted criminals? Those
    are the people who I think we should be prioritizing for
    removal.
        Chair Cornyn. Okay. Mr. Avila, I think there's a lot of
    misconceptions about otherwise law-abiding individuals who
    violate our immigration laws and come into the United States.
    First of all, illegal entry in the United States is a crime, is
    it not?
        Mr. Avila. That's right. We call it EWI, entry without
    inspection. That's a violation of 8 U.S.C. 1325.
        Senator Corny. And in your lengthy experience in law
    enforcement and dealing with the border, is that the only law
    that people who illegally enter the country violate?
        Mr. Avila. No, it depends how you enter, when you enter,
    how many times you've entered and been encountered. There's
    very different types of removal. I think we overuse the term
    deportation, but believe it or not, most people, most illegals
    in this country are removed without a deportation order.
    There's expedited removals, there's voluntary returns, there's
    many different types of removals. The actual deportations are
    executed by an immigration judge under that order.
        Chair Cornyn. So, in addition to illegal entry, is it your
    experience that many individuals who enter the country
    illegally engage in identity theft?
        Mr. Avila. Oh, my goodness. I conducted so many fraud
    cases, including Social Security cards, identity theft. I have
    a twin sister. She was a victim of identity theft by an
    illegal, a female illegal alien while she was in law school. It
    took her--it was so much time and such a hard effort to gain
    her identity back that the Social Security Administration
    actually issued her a new social security number. And that's
    very difficult to do.
        Many, many times we're talking about marriage frauds,
    passport frauds. I conducted many search warrants where I found
    many documents, fraudulent documents, where these
    organizations, visas, and you name it. So, yes especially in
    the employment capacity, where these employers are denying
    knowledge and they hide behind that when they say, well, the
    illegal did provide me with an actual social security number or
    an id, it happens to belong to someone else or someone that
    doesn't exist altogether.
        Chair Cornyn. And do individuals who enter the country
    illegally and engage in identity theft or perhaps have forged
    Social Security cards and the like, do they typically comply
    with other laws like Federal tax laws and other laws? Or in
    other words, my point is that, is there such a thing as a
    person who enters a country illegally who does not violate any
    other laws?
        Mr. Avila. No. Typically, there's other violations of law
    that sometimes the Democrats refer to as civil infractions or
    civil administrative. And that's--I think there's a big
    confusion between the criminal violation of law versus the
    civil violation of immigration law.
        The Democrats seem too convoluted and make it into one,
    which is very, very different. And they commit a lot of
    different criminal and civil violations after they come in,
    whether a failure to have even vehicle insurance, things like
    that. That matter in my State of Texas, why our rates are so
    high emergency room costs many, many other economic impacts
    throughout the U.S.
        Chair Cornyn. Dr. Veliz, I certainly respect your public
    service. Thank you for that. I wanted to ask you, though, based
    on your testimony, I was wondering, do you believe all laws
    should be enforced or just some of the laws?
        Dr. Veliz. Thank you, Chairman. Chairman, in my 30 years'
    experience as a police commander, working the streets, working
    in with Federal task forces, I always focus in the most violent
    offenses, violent offenders. My team and I were involved in
    hundreds of felony criminal investigations ranging from drug
    trafficking, weapons, and shootings.
        Chair Cornyn. And we appreciate your service, as I started
    out by saying, but the question I have is, do you believe that
    all laws should be enforced or just some laws?
        Dr. Veliz. Laws are passed by legislation. Law enforcement
    have the discretion to enforce those laws. And I personally, I
    prioritize enforcing the most violent offenses, made sure
    communities are safe.
        Chair Cornyn. Don't they frequently, in your experience in
    law enforcement, call that selective prosecution to just go
    after some cases, but not other cases of similarly situated
    persons who violate the same law?
        Dr. Veliz. Chairman, currently, I saw it as discretionary
    powers of sworn officers that have the discretion to select the
    most violent offenses and focus on the most violent offenders
    in the communities.
        Chair Cornyn. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we do have a vote
    on, so I'm going to turn the mic over to Senator Cruz here
    momentarily. I just want to thank all of you for being here
    today and offering your testimony. And again, to Ms. Nobles and
    Mrs. Vega, you have our condolences. And I think we've had a
    test case between what happens when you enforce our immigration
    laws, which we've seen under President Trump, and what happens
    when you don't enforce the immigration laws on a uniform basis
    under President Biden.
        But I thank all of you for being here, and I'll turn the
    floor over to Senator Cruz.
        Senator Cruz [presiding]. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
    thank you for holding this hearing.
        For 4 years under Joe Biden, the Democrats, this country
    witnessed an invasion at our southern border. It is an invasion
    that has no precedent in the history of our country. Twelve
    million illegal immigrants were allowed to come into this
    country, and that was deliberate. It was not an accident. It
    was not negligence. It was a deliberate choice that Joe Biden,
    and Kamala Harris, and Alejandro Mayorkas, and every Democrat
    Senator and House Member made.
        They looked at 12 million illegal immigrants, and they saw
    what they believed would be future Democrat voters. And they
    were willing to allow Americans to be murdered, American women
    to be raped, American children to be brutalized by violent
    criminals day after day, after day.
        In his first 71 days in office, President Biden released
    184,241 illegal immigrants. That was a decision. By the way, it
    was a lawless decision. Federal immigration law says they shall
    be deported. No President has ever done what this
    administration did, which is say, we don't care about the law.
    We are all about partisan politics, and we're going to let them
    all go. And God help the communities we release them into.
        His first 71 days, Joe Biden averaged 2,600 releases per
    day. Let's compare that to the same 71-day period in 2025 under
    President Trump, Joe Biden, 184,241 Donald Trump, 9. Not 9,000,
    not 900, 9. That is a 99.995 percent reduction.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        At the State of the Union address, Democrats did something
    else unprecedented. They decided they wouldn't stand for the
    President. They wouldn't applaud for the President. The only
    thing they would do is emanate hate and rage for the President
    of the United States.
        So, Alexis Nungaray was at the State of the Union address.
    I've gotten to know Alexis well, the mother of Jocelyn
    Nungaray, a beautiful 12-year-old girl, raped and murdered in
    my hometown of Houston. The Democrats sat there and wouldn't
    applaud for the mother whose baby girl was taken from her.
        President Trump at the State of the Union address, said
    last year, Joe Biden stood before Congress and said he could
    not secure the border unless Congress passed new legislation.
    And as President Trump pointed out, it turned out we didn't
    need new legislation. We just needed a new President.
        You look at gotaways under Joe Biden, over three million
    gotaways. Who are gotaways? They're the most concerning of all
    of the 12 million that came into this country because gotaways
    are the illegal immigrants. We know we're here, we see signs of
    them, we see tracks, but they didn't turn themselves in.
    Gotaways are much, much more likely to be murderers, much more
    likely to be rapists, much more likely to be child molesters,
    much more likely to be gang members, much more likely to be
    terrorists.
        Under the Biden administration CBP was instructed of the
    southern border, be on guard for Hamas and Hezbollah and
    Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist coming across the border.
    Why? Because they've declared Jihad, and because the Biden open
    border policies extended a red carpet for anyone that sought to
    do harm.
        Now, if you look at what the Trump administration has done,
    it didn't just slow the bleeding, it turned it around. Daily
    border encounters down 93 percent, encounters with gotaways
    down 95 percent, illegal alien crossings down over 99 percent.
    These are historic. The biggest improvement in border security
    in the history of the United States of America. And yet, not a
    single Democrat is here celebrating that.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        Not a single Democrat is saying thank you that our families
    are safer. They don't want our families safer. The Democrats
    have decided instead to fly down to El Salvador and have
    margaritas with MS-13 gang members. I genuinely don't
    understand that. Find me a community in America. Find me a mom
    in America that says you know what, we need more gang members
    who are raping more little girls.
        [Poster is displayed.]
        And this crisis is not about numbers. It's about lives.
    Laken Riley, a beautiful 22-year-old girl in Georgia, murdered
    by an illegal immigrant the Democrats released. Jocelyn
    Nungaray, as I mentioned, a beautiful 12-year-old girl in my
    hometown of Houston, murdered by two illegal immigrants the
    Democrats released. They had them in custody. Her murderers
    were in custody, the Democrats released them. Rachel Morin was
    a mother of five, raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant
    the Democrats had in custody. And they released them over and
    over and over again. This was deliberate.
        And they're not alone. Border Patrol Agent Javier Vega,
    Jr., gunned down by Los Zetas gang members. ICE special agent
    Jaime Zapata, ambushed and murdered by cartel operatives. Kayla
    Hamilton, strangled to death by a member of MS-13. Their
    families are with us today. I want to say thank you. Thank you
    for having the courage to tell your loved one's stories.
        And I'd like to just end by giving each of you an
    opportunity. Mr. Avila, I want to start with you, and then Ms.
    Nobles, and then Mrs. Vega. Tell this Committee and tell the
    American people a little bit about Javier, and Kayla, and
    Victor. Mr. Avila.
        Mr. Avila. Senator, thank you. And I appreciate the
    opportunity. Every time I have the ability to speak publicly, I
    will always honor Special Agent Jaime Zapata, who was
    assassinated next to me. He died serving the country. He died
    defending our homeland. For everyone, not one side of the aisle
    or the other.
        But what I've continued to do in my life after I retired is
    my concern is about public safety. It's about national security
    that affects our entire community. I don't want anyone to be a
    victim of a crime. No one. But I cannot tolerate not one
    murder, not one DUI, not one theft, or one rape from a person
    that is in this country illegally. We have enough in our
    country, enough of crime. And it's very difficult for me to
    accept that the Democrats always put the victims last. Let's
    not forget the victims.
        Senator Cruz. Thank you. Mrs. Vega, would you tell us about
    Javier? Please, turn your microphone on.
        Mrs. Vega. Thank you for having me here. You know, I feel
    like you've known Harvey. You've been with us from the very
    beginning. You supported us. You've put our story out there and
    you're compassionate. And I see that in your eyes, and I
    appreciate that.
        I also want to say that we do not as angel moms, we do not
    do this for the publicity. We don't do it for the spotlight. We
    do it because we know the pain. And we don't want any other
    family suffering the pain that we've suffered. We're not
    supposed to outlive our children.
        I stop by the cemetery every day and I visit his grave. But
    I miss his voice. I miss him sending me flowers. I shouldn't be
    the one taking flowers to his grave. I shouldn't be the one
    fighting for all this. But I'm not going to stop. I'm not going
    to stop till my last breath. Thank you, sir.
        Senator Cruz. Thank you for that. Mrs. Nobles, would you
    tell us about Kayla please?
        Ms. Nobles. Kayla just started her life, independently. She
    worked very hard to become independent. I don't know if some of
    you know, with autism, they overcome behavioral issues. They
    overcome a lot of stuff to be productive. And she was being
    productive. She had jobs. She celebrated her 20th birthday. I
    remember her counting down her birthday. She loved her
    birthday. ``Mommy, I'm going to be 20 in in a few days. Are you
    going to--'' you know, and then I'm like, ``I know. Don't
    remind me.''
        She celebrated her 20th birthday with her jojo cake, and 3
    days later she was murdered, and strangled, and left on the
    floor like trash. I didn't know I was--no one prepares you for
    that phone call. And when I found out it was a known MS-13 gang
    member, I was angry. How in the world can that come into this
    country, that monster enter into our country?
        And I made it that day when I learned to continue on the
    path to bring justice to Kayla and also for the safety of
    others. Nothing prepares you on burying your child that hadn't
    had a chance to get married, have children, and she just bought
    a car before she was murdered. And nothing prepares you for
    that. And I'm going to continue fighting for Kayla, and for
    others, and the safety of others because we do not know who had
    come across the border. They were not vetted in background
    check.
        And another thing is, how many of those UACs that came
    across the border were gang members? We don't know. And also,
    all those children that were lost and just given to any
    sponsor, any group home. How do we know that they were safe?
    I've always said from the beginning, I was concerned with also
    the children, who they were giving those children to. They
    allowed her murderer to leave the sponsor's house. He left,
    they did not say or do anything.
        Three months after Kayla was murdered, when he was going to
    high school and Child Protective Services, ORR filed a missing
    teen report on her murderer 3 months after she was killed. Did
    a sponsor say anything? I don't know. We don't know if the
    sponsor said anything or what happened. I think they were just
    trying to cover their butt because they knew, you know, that
    Walter killed Kayla and then they were like, oh, well we better
    report him missing.
        Senator Cruz. Well, let me say to each of the witnesses
    here, thank you for being here. But but especially Mr. Avila
    and Mrs. Nobles, Mrs. Vega, especially, thank you for being
    here. And thank you for not only sharing your pain, but but
    making clear these are real people whose lives were taken and
    they didn't have to die. They shouldn't have to die, and your
    government failed you. And I want to apologize on behalf of
    politicians who made decisions that I will never understand and
    it took the lives of your babies.
        The record in this hearing will stay open for 1 week for
    members to submit questions for the record.
        Senator Padilla. I see you're moving toward adjournment of
    this hearing and know Senator Cornyn as Chairman, had a chance
    a second round to ask some questions. As Ranking Member, I'd
    appreciate the opportunity to do the same and offer a closing
    statement as well.
        Senator Cruz. Okay. Have you voted in this vote?
        Senator Padilla. Not yet. Correct.
        Senator Cruz. Because there is a vote open, and I think
    they're calling.
        Senator Padilla. I'll try to be brief. In that case, let me
    for a go the questions and just suggest to the witnesses. Also,
    a thank you for your participation today. I will followup with
    some of you with additional questions for the record in
    writing. And I'll just touch on some of the topics that I've
    wanted to get to.
        First of all, the impact of these arbitrary quotas. We've
    heard 3,000 a day to 7,000 a day detentions, arrest,
    deportations. You know, if you do the math over the 4-years,
    you're talking about anywhere from up to 10 million people,
    right, that would be deported. That's near the entire estimated
    undocumented population in the United States. So, that doesn't
    jive with me as strict focus on dangerous, violent criminals,
    let alone the investigative process that goes behind each and
    every one.
        That's been my argument all along. I agree, let's focus on
    the dangerous, violent criminals, but when we're implementing
    these enforcement actions so indiscriminately, it's actually
    diverting resources and attention from that and from other
    critical missions as we're moving personnel from other agencies
    within DHS, and Department of Justice, and even Department of
    Defense nowadays.
        A couple things that I think are important to clarify
    because of the rhetoric I keep hearing about immigrants and
    crime as if every single immigrant is a criminal. 70 percent of
    people ICE is arresting and booking have no criminal
    convictions. Again, this is ICE statistics. Of the 30 percent
    of them who have some sort of conviction, a significant portion
    of those offenses come from traffic violations, or yes,
    immigration offenses. Immigration offenses, not dangerous,
    violent crime.
        For those who want to talk about the investment by the
    Trump administration in immigration enforcement and crime, the
    President's 2026 budget requested cuts, salaries and expenses,
    for the FBI by $545 million, the DEA by $212 million, the ATF
    by $468 million. And if that wasn't enough, the Department of
    Justice Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force
    program, the very one that helped arrest El Chappo, would lose
    its entire funding and would be shut down completely.
        So, look, I share this because this hearing, I think, is
    representative how difficult it is to have a substantive,
    constructive conversation about immigration in Congress today.
    I do think that behind the scenes, there's a lot of Members of
    this Committee, of the Senate as a whole, of Congress as a
    whole, that would like to see progress being made on
    modernizing our immigration laws. We're all in agreement of the
    need for a safe, orderly, humane border. We're all in agreement
    that we need to modernize the system because it has become so
    problematic.
        But as we begin to discuss, as we begin to debate, far too
    often, one side tries to pigeonhole, the other is, well, they
    just want open borders. They don't want to arrest or deport
    anybody. And the other side is pigeonholing as all illegal
    aliens are criminals. The truth is much more complex than that.
    And our response has to be more thoughtful than a lot of the
    rhetoric that we're hearing in Committee hearings and on the
    evening news.
        If you want to be informed, let's be informed by reports
    like that from the National Bureau of Economic Research that
    shows the comparisons between crime rates and recidivism rates
    by immigrants versus natural born citizens for example. I'd
    like to submit it for the record.
        Senator Cruz. Without objection.
        [The information appears as a submission for the record.]
        Senator Padilla. It's not just about resources for
    enforcement. By the way, you figure the problem would be solved
    between the Trump administration claiming, ``Hey, crossings at
    the Southern Border are next to zero problem solved, mission
    accomplished.'' And by the way, the Budget Reconciliation Bill
    has a huge infusion of resources for ICE.
        So, if the problem is solved, let's move on to the
    modernization of our immigration system. We must work together
    to address that. And that's not just people on my side of the
    aisle saying it. Last month, we saw Congressman Tony Gonzalez
    of Texas lead five of his Republican colleagues on the House
    side in calling on the Trump administration to, ``start
    prioritizing violent offenders rather than wasting resources on
    immigrants with no criminal records.''
        Earlier this month, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise,
    even helped intervene after an Iranian immigrant who had been
    living in the U.S. for nearly 5 decades was arrested.
    Acknowledging the fact that there are undocumented immigrants
    here who have committed no crimes, leader Scalise conceded,
    ``We will have to change law in Congress. And that means both
    parties are going to have to come together to do it.
        So, yes, there is a path forward for this Subcommittee and
    for this Congress to reevaluate and refocus on what everyone
    agrees on. We should prioritize detaining and deporting violent
    criminals, but we should also be working together to support
    our immigration courts not standby while mass firings of
    immigration judges are happening. Because just throwing money
    at enforcement alone will not fix the problem. It will only
    overwhelm the system.
        We should work together and not stand by while the
    administration decimates our refugee program, and just as
    Leader Scalise implied, we have to be able to protect these
    long-term residents of our country who have lived and
    contributed here for decades, and who deserve a path to
    citizenship.
        My sincere hope is for this Subcommittee to drop the
    theater. Being loud doesn't make you right about everything. We
    have to come together and get serious about bipartisan
    solutions. I'm ready to do the work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Senator Cruz. Thank you, again, to each of the witnesses.
    The record will stay open for 1 week for members to submit
    questions for the record.
        Senator Cruz. And the hearing is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 5:17 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-119shrg61892/pdf/CHRG-
        119shrg
        61892-add1.pdf

    Submitted by Ranking Member Padilla:

     National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), statement...........     2

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