[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E363-E364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSPECTOR GENERAL TRANSPARENCY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2022

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5633. 
This bill requires the OIG to submit to Congress any report that 
substantiates a violation of specified provisions regarding prohibited 
personnel practices, protected communications, or retaliatory personnel 
actions.
  The bill also requires the OIG to submit to Congress any report about 
a violation of Presidential Personnel Directive-19 (protecting 
whistleblowers with access to classified information); or an allegation 
of misconduct, waste, fraud, abuse, or a violation of policy within DHS 
involving a senior DHS official.
  The OIG must make each report publicly available on its website, with 
some exceptions.
  The bill requires the OIG's semiannual reports to include specified 
information regarding ongoing audits, inspections, and evaluations.
  Mr. Speaker, the importance of this bill cannot be understated. 
Inspectors General are incredibly important in the justice process, and 
especially so when Homeland Security is under review.
  The Department of Homeland Security has one of the hardest jobs of 
all federal agencies: protecting the homeland from terror.
  As a senior member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I am 
fervently committed to overseeing and improving the Department of 
Homeland Security and keeping America safe from terrorism.
  One way we do that is through enforcing accountability in all the 
Department's functions, which is the purpose of this bill.
  To underscore its importance, I want to remind this body of critical 
reports from the Office of Inspector General in the Department of 
Homeland Security in 2018 and 2019. They brought to light the cruel 
humanitarian situation migrants were suffering through under the 
previous administration's zero-tolerance immigration policies.
  In 2018, the Office of Inspector General released a scathing report 
detailing the previous administration's child separation policy.
  The details of the report were damning. Specifically, it stated that: 
Department of Homeland Security was not prepared to deal with the 
staggering repercussions of separating children from their parents and 
there was no computer or automated system to facilitate the 
reunification of parents after they have been separated.
  The OIG determined that, despite a 72-hour limit on the time a child 
may be separated from their parents, many children were separated for 
five days, and some as long as a dozen days.
  The report concluded that the government failed to adequately notify 
parents of the child separation policy, and the process to initiate 
reunification.
  The OIG found that government officials gave inconsistent information 
to parents arriving at the border, which had the effect of instituting 
confusion at these ports of entry.
  The report made special note of how the former Secretary of Homeland 
Security, Kristjen Nielsen signed off on the actions which led to the 
child separation policy, which is in stark contrast to Secretary 
Nielsen's May 15, 2018, testimony to the United States Senate.
  In another report published in 2019, the Office of Inspector General 
discussed the pitiful conditions for those being held in detention 
facilities along the border.
  During the Inspector General's visits to five Border Patrol 
facilities and two ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley, they 
reviewed compliance with CBP's Transport, Escort, Detention and Search 
(TEDS) standards, which govern CBP's interaction with detained 
individuals, and observed serious overcrowding and prolonged detention 
of unaccompanied alien children (UACs), families, and single adults 
that require immediate attention.
  Specifically, Border Patrol was holding about 8,000 detainees in 
custody at the time of our visit, with 3,400 held longer than the 72 
hours generally permitted under the TEDS standards. Of those 3,400 
detainees, Border Patrol held 1,500 for more than 10 days.
  In addition to the overcrowding they observed, Border Patrol's 
custody data indicates that 826 (31 percent) of the 2,669 children at 
these facilities had been held longer than the 72 hours generally 
permitted under the TEDS standards and the Flores Agreement.
  For example, of the 1,031 UACs held at the Centralized Processing 
Center in McAllen, TX, 806 had already been processed and were awaiting 
transfer to HHS custody. Of the 806 that were already processed, 165 
had been in custody longer than a week.
  Additionally, there were more than 50 UACs younger than 7 years old, 
and some of them had been in custody over two weeks while awaiting 
transfer.
  In addition to holding roughly 30 percent of minor detainees for 
longer than 72 hours, several Rio Grande Valley facilities struggled to 
meet other TEDS standards for UACs and families.
  For example, children at three of the five Border Patrol facilities 
the Inspector General visited had no access to showers, despite the 
TEDS standards requiring that ``reasonable efforts'' be made to provide 
showers to children approaching 48 hours in detention.
  At these facilities, children had limited access to a change of 
clothes; Border Patrol had few spare clothes for the children and no 
laundry facilities. While all facilities had infant formula, diapers, 
baby wipes, and juice and snacks for children, the Inspector General 
observed that two facilities had not provided children access to hot 
meals--as is required by the TEDS standards--until the week the 
Inspector General arrived.
  Instead, the children were fed sandwiches and snacks for their meals. 
Additionally, while Border Patrol tried to provide the least 
restrictive setting available for children (e.g., by leaving holding 
room doors open), the limited space for medical isolation resulted in 
some UACs and families being held in closed cells.
  These investigations and reports provide just a snapshot of the work 
the Office of Inspector General under the Department of Homeland 
Security does. Time and time again, they have shone a much-needed light 
on affairs that are all of public interest.

[[Page E364]]

  It is for that reason Mr. Speaker I strongly support H.R. 5633.
  It will hold all decision makers accountable and force their actions 
to be submitted not only to Congress, but the court of public opinion 
as well.
  This bill prioritizes both transparency and accountability, so I urge 
my colleagues to support this critical piece of legislation.

                          ____________________