Transcripts For CSPAN3 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

Undocumented immigrants. Now that house hearing. It is about two hours. The immigration subcommittee will come to order. I want to start this morning with a matter of requesting reports from department of Homeland Security for the potential beneficiaries of hr422 for the relief of corina and hr396 for the relief of Maria Ramirez and jay rojas. From the Immigration Service and the department of homeland subcommittee report on the beneficiary bill u. S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement removes the aliens and i will support requesting the beneficiary on these two private bills if they find no derog derogtory information. The committee has approved and passed these bills in the past but they didnt come to law. One bill grants permanent residents to a couple with children who cannot be treated out of outside of the United States. The other is coming to take care of her husband. Would you like to make comments . I would just note you have correctly stated the matter and we are of one mind when it comes to these private bills. Without objection i would ask any written statements be made part of the written record. Questions on the motion those in favor say aye. Those no. The ayes have it. The motion is agreed to and report is requested. I want to welcome everyone the sanctuary cities a threat to Public Safety. I will recognize myself for opening statement. I want to thank all of the witnesses for being here and expect mr. Steinle, my profound sympathy to you and to kates mother mother. The function of government is to provide for the safety and security of the public. It is among one of the reasons be agree to be bound by a collection of laws. We want those who love to be protected. We abide by the law and hope others are bound. What makes the relationship difference is the respect to the law because it is the greatest Unifying Force in the culture and equalizing force in the culture. We think so highly of the law that we make aspiring citizens take an oath that contains six separate references to the law. This system of laws failed kate. This is more than an academic state departments decision about prosecution, political pandering to voting or supremacy clause or common dearing cause. This is life and death. The are criminals motivated by malice and a conscious disregard for the lives of others and there are cities more interested in providing a sanctuary for criminals than lawabiding sit sit citizens. I have listened to the debate over immigration. You dont hear witnesses on the other side talking about background checks or enforcement mechanisms. But you hear phrases repeated with catatonic frequency as if repetition makes it true somehow. You hear functional control over the border by witnesses who are uniquely well positioned to know better. Citizenship for 11 million undocumented aspiring americans as if 11 million of any category could pass a background check. You hear arguments against empowering the assistance of federal authorities. We trust state and local Law Enforcement to investigate all crimes from murder sexual assault, narcotic trafficking, but god for bid they help us enforce Immigration Laws. State and local Law Enforcement are good enough to provide protection for members of congress in this city and back at home. But all of that changes when it comes to the issue of immigration they are no longer smart enough to enforce federal Immigration Law. Even though some dont trust state and local Law Enforcement to enforce federal law they are more than happy to allow state and local officials to openly ignore federal Immigration Laws. It sounds like a place of safety and refuge but for whom . Safety for whom . For a young woman walking on a pier with her father . Or for a career criminal like juan lopezsanchez who committed local, state and federal crimes in five states and deported five times and had so little regard for the law that he reentered the border we are supposed to have functional control over. This procedural history is disturbing. In may of 2011 the defendant was convicted and sentenced to 46 months in prison for illegal reentry. At the conclusion he was released to a known sanctuary cities. They dismissed the case and released the defendant and didnt not return him to the bureau of prisons or federal probation. They didnt honor the detainer placed on him by i. C. E. They released someone they knew was not legally in this country. We are give a litany of policies like this. We are told we need policies like the one in San Francisco so people will cooperate with Law Enforcement. I want you to consider how illogical that is. Releasing known criminals back into the society to help us catch known criminals . Of course some of our friends on the other side say all of this is necessary so folks, to use the president s word come forward or get on the books or get right with the law. He was in jail and there because he had nod complied with a single damn thing we asked him to do. Do we wait on another victim . Is that the strategy behind sanctuary cities . Release them and wait until they victimize someone else . Is that what we mean by coming forward . The president and others talk about comprehensive Immigration Reform but they are loit light on enforcement and background check. They fail to understand that Border Security both borders by the way, are fundamental conditions precedent to fixing our broken immigration system. Mr. Steinle, about a year ago there was a precious little girl waiting on the steps at the capital for me after votes. And i knew what was coming. I could not walk past her. I knew she would replace the phrases advocates teach children to repeat to members of congress. But i had to stop as any father of a daughter would. I stopped and the little girl said i want to pray for you. So i picked her up and a mixture of spanish and english she told god she was not here legally but wanted to stay. Everyone was trying to help the little girl but everyone should want to help your little girl, mr. Steinle. She wasnt five. But she is still your daughter. And this country wasnt there for her. I hope we will find out why they let him out for pedaling a gun charge that wound up being dismissed. I hope San Francisco will pel tell you why they released a convicted felon rather than honor the detainer or return him to i. C. E. You deserve to know the answers and know your daughters life had meaning and purpose. When Treyvon Martin was shot the president said that could have been his son. For those of us that have daughters, which includes the president , your daughter could have been our daughter. I used to have a saying from a Victim Advocate and i will paraphrase it but this is close. He was asked what city was the best one to live in and he answered that city where those are not injured by crimes. Take up the calls of those who are as if it had been them. That is the kind of country we should want too. One where dont have to lose our daughters to feel the pain we feel. We should not have to lose daughters to know that know one else should have to feel like you feel this morning. I would like to recognize the Ranking Member. I would like to welcome all of the witnesses to the hearing today but i especially want to welcome you. Any time a person is lost to violence it is important we all stop and consider what steps could we take what policyaul dorseys and eliseacy what policies and laws could be changed so that tragedy doesnt occur again. A hearing like this offers members in the public and an opportunity to learn more about the issue. And i hope we can Work Together collaboratively to address some of the problems we were here to solve. I am eager to hear what each witness has to say. I must note that last night, chairman goodlatte and i testified before the rules committee on hr3009, a bill that has been decided is the answer apparently to this. And i would note that if 3009 had been enacted into the law it would not have any impact on the circumstances that resulted in the death of your daughter. In addition major Law Enforcement organizations like the internal order of police the Major County Sheriffs Association is telling us that bill would make us less back safe and they all oppose that bill. I have not heard a person suggest it was wise appropriate, or even legal with the sheriff in San Francisco to have released the individual who is charged with killing your daughter. Having said that there are Police Agencies around the United States who believe that it makes our communities less safe to inquire as the immigration status in every case. For example the Domestic Violence organizations have contacted us to say that if there is a call for Domestic Violence situation, and the individual who are calling know they and everyone in their household will be interrogated as to their status a family with mixed status will not call for Domestic Violence. So we have to be mindful of those issues and the entirety of the situation we face. I would ask unanimous consent to put into the record a bip bipartisan letter that was sent to appropators signed by 152 members of Congress Talking about the burden of the grant policing in this country noting it is those very grants that would be removed by the legislation that is before the Congress Later today. I would also ask unanimous consent to enter letters of opposition to hr3009 boy the major county sheriffs organization, the paternal order of Police League of cities and u. S. Conference of mayors. Without objection. With that, i would say i will listen to great interest to all of our witnesses but especially to mr. Steinle and hope i as a chance to meet you after the hearing and your family. We sent a letter to explore how it could have been a person who should have been deported was sent out for a warrant 20 years old. This individual was deported in 1994, 1997, 1998 in 2003 and in none of those instances did this ancient warrant prevent him from being deported. He was convicted repeatedly of felony reentry after removal and served 16 years in federal prison for that crime. I want to give credit the to Border Patrol was they caught him every time he tried to come back. We need to examine this and know none of it can bring your beautiful daughter back but hopefully we will be able to improve the sichation as a tribute to your loss. With that i will yield back. I will recognize the gentlemen from california, mr. Goodlatte. Thank you for the work you have dedicated to this issue for the last two years. I want to thank all of our witnesses here today. I think you have compelling testimony but i want to thank mr. Steinle who i just had the opportunity to meet. I told them that the fact he would come here three weeks after the tragic death of his daughter to me shows courage and determination to make sure other lives are saved as a result of this. So you have my deepest sympathy and my deepest appreciation and admiration for coming here today. I told mr. Steinle my son lives in San Francisco. I have been on that very pier with my son and daughter. And we want to make sure everybody is safe. We held a hearing with secretary johnson as the sole witnesses and many people focused on detainers and criminal aliens. Today we will hear perspective on policies that are different than what secretary johnson had to offer and i look forward to that testimony. I am honored to have the family of kate stein here and mr. Steinle here. And of course we their perspective on the issue is one we wish we never had to give and the same is true for people we have heard along the years. Like the woman whose son was murdered by a criminal gang member who was released in los angeles pursuant to los angeles sanctuary cities. And people like dominiques family who was killed by an illegal immigrant in a drunk and driving accident who had two prior convictions. These tragedies were preventable. This Administration Must reverse its wholesale of immigration shutdown. The result is millions of unlawful aliens are not considered high enough priority for deportation. They are left in american communities. In the last year the number of administrative arrest of criminal aliens has fallen by a third. The department continues to release thousands of aliens on to the street. I. C. E released 5, 338 aliens with criminal convictions in 2014. In 2014, i. C. E released already 1,423 have been convicted of new crimes like vehicle homicide Domestic Violence sexual assault, dui, burglary and assault. And many more have been arrest and charged with crimes. Secretary johnsons solution, the Priority Enforcement Program, is a failure. Even secretary johnson admitted the worst offending jurisdictions have refused to participate. And 3339 jurisdictions remain to participate it is not seen how fully. When a jurisdiction has agreed to participate that could mean only a small part of compliance. There is a clear answer to this problem. Compliance with i. C. E detainers must be mandatory and jurisdictions that violate that must suffer consequences and Congress Must no longer allow the president to ability to turn off the immigration switch. This committee passed a bill that addresses all three. Hr1148 the michael junior and danny oliver act introduced by chairman gowdy. I look forward to considering of hr1148 on the floor. Later today the house votes on legislation to address one part of the solution of sanctuary cities. That is a good first step and i will support it. I appreciate the majority leaders commitment to me that we will take additional action to insure compliance with Immigration Laws in the future. Today i look forward to hearing the witnesses thoughts on preventing sanctuary cities policies and the overwhelming number of crimes pursuant to the policy. And i want to acknowledge that ms. Wilkerson is here as well and testified before the Senate Hearing on tuesday. I want to make it clear this committee is committed to addressing this frb problem in a comprehensive way and we have taken the first step but that should not be the end but the beginning of efforts to make sure american citizens are safe in their cities around the country. I should ask asked consent for Ranking Member conyers statement and i should ask for consent to enter 137 statements including from the archbishop of San Francisco Church World Services and methodist and 134 organizations on this subject. Without objection. We welcome the panel of witnesses. I would ask you to rise so i can administer an oath. You swear the testimony you are about to give should be the truth, the whole truth, so help you god . May the record reflect all of the witnesses answered in the affirmi affirmi affirmi affirmi affirmi. Mr. Sinetein is the father of kate steinle who was murdered by a man released from the prison. Jack jones is here who served as a Security Officer and then at their new jail as a deputy he worked in corrections patrol, Legal Affairs and promoted to sergeant lieutenant and finally captain. As sheriff he put a planning process that prioritizes projects. He a bachelor and a doctorate. Jessica vaughn has been with the senator since 1992 where experience and immigration policy and operations topics such as visa programs immigration benefits and immigration Law Enforcement and she is an instructor for senior Law Enforcement and training seminars at the center for Public Safety in illinois with a master from georgetown and International Study master degree. And chief dayton has more than 35 years in Law Enforcement serving on the Cincinnati Police department from 19802004 and positions up to captain and ultimately assistant police chief. Mr. Steinle you are recognized for your opening remarks. First of all, i would like to thank the members of this committee for the honor to speak to you about our daughter kate. All children are special in their own way. Kate was special in the way she cuequity connected with people. We called it the kate affect. Kate was beautiful, loving kind and deep in faith. Kate had a special soul a kind heart, the most lovely laugh, and a smile that would light up the room. Kate loved to travel, spend time with her friends, and most of all spend time with her family. In fact, the day she was killed we were walking arm and arm on pier 14 in San Francisco enjoying the wonderful day together. Suddenly a shot rang out, kate fell looked at me and said help me dad and those were the last words i will ever hear from my daughter. The day kate died she changed her facebook cover photo for a saying that said whatever is good for your soul, do that. This quote truly described her spirit. An graduating she went to work for a Title Company and saved her money so she could travel the word. She went to mumbia and came home a changed person. Everywhere kate went throughout the world, she shined the light of a good citizen of the United States of america. Unfortunately, due to disjointed laws and basic in competence the u. S. Suffered a loss by the hands of a person who should never have been on the street in this country. The alleged murderer is an undocumented immigrant who has been convicted of felonys and deported five times. He was released from jail and allowed to stay because of legal loop holes. It is unbelievable to see so many innocent americans have been killed by undocumented immigrant felons in recent years. In fact we recently came across a statistic that said between 20102014 criminal allyiens were charged with homicide related offenses. Think about that. 121 times over four years an illegal immigrant, a violent illegal immigrant that later went on to be chose with murder when they should have been deported. That is one every 12 days. Her family realizes the complexity of Immigration Laws but we feel strongly that some legislation should be discussed, enacted, or changed to take these undocumented immigrants felons off our streets for good. We would be proud to say kates name associated with some of this new legislation. We feel that if kates law saves one daughter one son, a father or mother kates death will not be in vein. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Steinle. Sheriff jones . Chairman gowdy and members, thank you for the inviitation to speak you have. I am the sheriff of Sacramento County one of the largest Sheriffs Department in the country. In Sacramento County and the rest of california we have a very diverse population including a Large Population of undocumented immigrants. They are a vital part of the community but unfortunately there is a percentage of that community that choses to victimize others and i cannot protect my community from these offenders. We dont have access to database but they did a good job of notifying the local i. C. E officers they wanted to take custody of because they cannot be in jail every day. They would serve with a detainer saying hold this person for a brief time until we can get to the jail and take custody of this person that we already identified should not be released. It worked well and few people fell through the cracks. Even under the new water down the Priority Enforcement Program is dependented upon detainers to be functional. I can tell you detainer system has failed and consequences the Priority Enforcement Program is failing. Even not withstanding the fact the federal government allows and encourages states to pass their own Immigration Law even though they have no Legal Authority to do so they are allowed to do so without consequence or challenge because it is easier for that to happen. We have 50 different immigration policies evolving. The trust act in california limited the types of crimes we could honor detainers. Then came a judge who held that in one county detainers were unlawful. I and other sheriffs came back and talked to i. C. E administrator administrators to stand with us so we can keep the Community Safe and honor detainers for the ones the state allowed. They said no it would not happen during this administration. And in the leadership vacuum someone will fill that space and that someone was the aclu who seized on the opportunity to send a letter to every sheriff telling them if they honor any i. C. E detainer they would be sued. Again we pleaded with i. C. E to no avail. No over 200 jurisdictions in this country do not honor i. C. E detainers. People are released without any scrutiny from i. C. E. California has become a de facto sanctuary city. They, too, are allowed to do so. I have Good Authority the San Francisco office hasnt contacted i. C. E in three years despite being served with many detainers during that time period. It is deplorable. You will find no shortage of police chief willing to come and testify that this type of legislation named after the deputy of mine who was killed by someone removed four times that it can be bad for the communities and erode trust in the immigrant communities and we should not enforce Immigration Laws and it should be a function of the federal government. I cannot argue with any of that. I agree with every sentiment expressed. I dont care. I dont have any desire to enforce Immigration Law. But that shows there are people concerned with enforcing Immigration Law and that is not happening. Notice i mention Police Chiefs willing to come testify. I defy you to find a sheriff who will come and testify some of this legislation is not a good idea. We are concerned with Building Trust in the communities, only the sheriffs because of their role in corrections in the country are concerned with the dire consequences of releasing someone they know who should not be released and they know i. C. E wants and society should be protected from and not hold them for one minute while i. C. E comes down to the jail and take custody. Sheriffs are elected and there is a reason even though the large role in corrections in this country, that there is no sheriff representation on the president s 21st Century Task Force on policing. There would be solution or legislative stroke of pen changes that will make this part better and make detainers lawful on local detention facilities so we can cooperate with i. C. E despite what the federal offices in washington have. I hope you had a chance to review the list of suggestions i gave you all. I remain deeply committed in assist assisting in whatever way i can. Thank you, sheriff. Ms. Vaughn . Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the Public Safety problems on sanctuary cities. According to an i. C. E report i obtained as of october 2014 there were 276 such jurisdictions in the United States. More than 8,100 criminal allyiens were released back on the street and two thirds of these individuals had serious criminal histories. Nearly 9,100 of them reoffended in just the 8th mont period. Only 28 have been reapprehended by i. C. E. I just reeled off a lot of statisticic statistics that make someones eyes glaze over but because of someone who lost a loved one because of a bad policy and act of a Law Enforcement, and i should say the commit was committed by what some would call a minor traffic offense, y to say it is not okay to refer to the tragedies of these things as a little thing. I have a friend named heather. He was car jacked at knifepoint and taken to Robin Williams park in providence and raped repeatedly an illegal alien who was in the Police Department custody more than once but released because of the sanctuary policy. I have other friends, some in this room that can tell similar stories. I am afraid congress is going to try to get away from barring funding from the sanctuary cities and i am asking you today to not be satisfied with just doing a little thing. This big problem requires you to have the surcourage to do a bigger thing. You have the language in the david oliver act. Police do this for families who have lost so much. Sanctuary policies do not improve access to Law Enforcement service for immigrants, or been shown to increase the likelyhood more people will report crimes. They destroy the trust of the community at large that the laws will be enforced to preserve the quality of life for all. Despite the widespread public outrage at the San Franciscos sheriffs policies that caused the release of the man who went on to kill kate steinle. It is clear some jurisdictions will not budge from the policy and to make matters worse the Obama Administration new priority enforcement project explicitly allows jurisdictions to avoid ice and establishes the entire country as a sanctuary by restricting the ability of i. C. E to remove illegal aliens. Congress needs to stb that local Law Enforcement agencies will have cooperation in good faith and sanctions for those jurditions for those that continue to cooperate and by reversing the Obamas Administration nonenforcement policy. Thank you very much. Thank you ms. Vaughn. Chief dill . Chairman gowdy, Ranking Member and members of the committee, i am richard beal and have been serving in my position since january of 2008. Further, i spent the last 35 years working to improve safety in urban areas. I know that effective Public Safety even when grounded in evidencebased practices depends upon Community Engagement and support. First, i would like to express my sympathy to the steinle family for their loss and sheriff jones for the loss of his officer last year. Sadly i attended the funeral of Cincinnati Police officer sunny kim less than a month of go. Killed in the line of duty was my ninth in my career. Having to read a proverb a couple days ago, our passion is the wings that propes the vessel and the reason is the wind that steers her. Without a vessel she would not move. Without a pilot she would be lost. I know we are hear to talk about sanctuary cities and the role of safety. We think about how the best protect residents and keep the Community Safe and it is crucial we dont undermine policing practices. First, i would like to explain the date and file with regarding cooperation with federal immigration efforts. Our policy states that dayton Police Department shall not stop or arrest a person solely because of immigration status. This approach has served the community well. During the time the policy has been in place, we have experienced significant reduction in crime. I want to convey this important point to you. As chief of police my primary concern for all residents and we have seen a reduction of crime. Our immigration Law Enforcement approach allows us to focus on true threats and insuring immigrants and their community remain trust in talking to the department. I am concerned that legislation like hr3009 would coherce the Law Enforcement agencies. Many are facing challenges in terms of staff. Making all local Police Department will only make it more challenging. I see the positive of policing in my city. Dayton is only 4 foreign born and given the demographics it makes it an unlikely place for immigration to be a concern. But in my time as chief, i witness how significant the issue is to i agree we should deport serious violent offenders. No one wants Violent Crime in their community. Once we get beyond violent offenderred some locality disagree with federal Immigration Enforcement officials. I support the new Priority Program as the u. S. Department of Homeland Security described it. That allows local injures ricks to work with i. C. E. Concerning crimes that negatively impact Public Safety anywhere communes. I believe local Law Enforcement should comply with detainers as long as the detainer does not require jurisdictions to exceed their Legal Authority to hold persons beyond their current sentence and local charges. It would ask the local Law Enforcement to violate the constitution. Before Congress Tries to impose legislative solutions i believe it should first allow this to be implemented. Everyone wants a safe community, and and she would shoo not punish localities trying to establish trust in the community. Collaboration needs to be tailored to the communities. A longterm solution requires congress to come up with or fix our broken immigration system, and until that time local communal leaders will imemployment Practical Solutions in our communities. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Im happy to answer any question you hey have. Thank you chief and thank all of witnesses. The chair recognizes the gentleman from idaho for his questions. Thank you all for being here. Sheriff jones in your written testimony you provide some suggestions for fixing our immediate problems between i. C. E. And local Law Enforcement, including making detainers mandatory in local jails and having i. C. E. Share resources localities to assure effective enforcement in your view clinching the status to of i. C. E. What can we done to come prell i. C. E. To provide these resources to state and localities. Thank you for the question. Its important to remember that until a couple of years ago i. C. E. Detainers were mandatory. Theres nothing equivocal. It says local jails shall not may, or in their discretion, but shall hold folks for no more than 48 hours. Its only through policy of this administration that that has softened up. About three years ago they were man towards, and the federal government would refuse to answer whether they were mandatory or a mere request and now they have thrown up their hands say aguess thats federal law. Thats not in the ware of system of jurisprudence works. Can you explain that to the American People . One judge in one jurisdiction makes the law not even a judge. A imagine straight. Theyre judges. I guess. They still have a longer appointment than i do. So one magistrate its applicable in that district no where else, and so the federal government could have done something minimally such as challenging it they dont. They allow that to extrapolate to make Public Policy and the aclu seized on that. Its not like detainers have been mandatory and that was the success of the secure communities problem. What can we down now . Well a number of things, relative detainers they have to be termed to be mandatory. The fact you cant hold someone based on anything less than a warrant or coward or the is lewd rouse. We arrest indian this country based we detain then only reasonable suspicion and arrest them on probable cause. They dont see a judge for 48 hours or two or three days so suggest because youre undocumented you have greater Constitutional Rights is ludicrous. Thank you very much. Chief, beall, thank you for the work you do in your community. I have some questions. Your testimony discusses the need for comprehensive Immigration Reform to help Law Enforcement know who is present in the community. But isnt it true that kate type les killer was previously in the custody of San Francisco Law Enforcement officials and was already known by the San Francisco Law Enforcement . That is a fact. You written testimony contains a quote from an email you received regarding alleged racial profiling in dayton. Were any of the allegations in the email substantiate. They werent substantiated through investigation elm will say they in terms of arrest data there was clearly a surge of arrests of hispanic latinos that occurred one year prior to my arrival that was substantial. Whether the actual basis of those allegations were any of these arrests taken out because there was insufficient data about the criminality. Im sorry . Were any of these dismissed or not prosecutors esey, number of them d. Because of available propiling. No not because of racial profiling. A number wore dismissed to. But not because of racial profiling. No you sure testimony note yours departments focus on serious, chronic, and highrate offender wouldnt it make sense to protect resident bid working with federal immigration authorities to enforce laws so aliens never have the opportunity to commit so many crimes to to be considered serious, chronic and high rate offender. We work fifth federal immigration authorities and we have partnerships with the federal bureau of investigation, the Drug Enforcement the United States marshal, department of Homeland Security, including individuals who have Homeland Security investigation credentials. Human Traffic Steering Committee and secret service. So we have partnerships across you think thats a good thing. Absolutely. Do you comply with i. C. E. Detainers. They are enclosed with in my county. Excellent. Would you have complied with the i. C. E. Detainer in the case of sanchez . Absolutely. Your recent opposition to allowing state and local Law Enforcement i dont know that Immigration Laws are any more complexion than eye criminal laws. Why are your officers not able to work for immigration enforce. My understanding for individuals to be credentials required three weeks of training. Thats a substantial mittment commitment for training of Police Officers. Cant thing of any agency that coot spend that amount of time with personnel in train. The training requirements now being proposed through the state of ohio, theres a number of task forces established that president ial task force that are once again emphasizing the need for additional training for Law Enforcement i can tell you training time is an absolute premium, particularly for specifically as it relates to critical Staffing Levels holm do we spend time Training Police officers and i just talking to those who are in this area. The law is constantly changing. So three weeks of training is only valuable as long as the laws dont change. Thank you, i yield back my time. The gentle lady from california. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, first i appreciated hearing from all the witnesses. Sheriff jones you mentioned that no sheriff would come and take the position of chief beall. Id like to ask unanimous consent to put into the record a letter from the Law Enforcement Immigration Task force opposing 3009 signed by a number of Law Enforcement officials including sheriff mark curen from illinois. Sheriff tony estrada from arizona, sheriff from south carolina. Shares William Mccarthy from iowa sheriff margaret from fresno and sheriff lucy valdez from texas. Without objection. Also, id like to ask unanimous consent to place into the record a letter from the Major County Sheriffs Association opposing the idea of removing Grant Funding as a mechanism to enforce anything. Without objection. You know, i as we seek efforts to make our Community Safer, we dont want to make it more dangerous and chief beall your testimony was very interesting. In your oped you said that crime in dayton dropped by nearly 22 after you engaged your knew Community Policing effort and the serious property crime dropped almost 159 . 15 . Why do you think this happened in terms of Community Trust and have these favorable Crime Reduction figures continued or not . Thank you congresswoman. In fact they are a direct outgrowth of ininnovative policing it has been crucial in reducing crime in date tan and have dayton. Again, theres ban lot of discussion about detention and whether or not that is constitutional in citing one case however there are number of cases and i can go into all of them here. I would ask unanimous con sent to place a summary of a series of cases federal cases that you cant hold somebody without on a civil matter, at the request of i. C. E. , absent a warrant for something else. Now, i think thats why sheriffs across the United States, whether or not their communities say theyre sanctuary cities, have been reluctant to do this and thats why the administration has gone to this Priority Enforcement Program but it doesnt violate anybodys Constitutional Rights if you ask to be notified before you release somebody, and what we have heard from i. C. E. Is that you got a serious character like this guy in San Francisco they will get there and will pick him up. And they will take him away. Which is what should have happened in this case. Should never have been sent to San Francisco in the first place. Im wondering whether you have any objections, chief beall or whether your community would have any objection to the Priority Enforcement Program that requires notification so that i. C. E. Can come and remove people who are priorities for enforcement, who are serious criminals . Im not aware of any objections from my community with that program at all. None have been expressed to me. Ive been involved in the many conversations, the Task Force Conversations for the development of some of the mechanisms of notification and also for basically being involved in the rollout just literally being rolled out as we speak. Just met with the local Field Office Director last week, to actually give me a pact describing the program. So this is just being implemented. I would note also, and see my time is almost expiring that when someone is booked into a jail, their fingerprints are taken and those fingerprints i mean, of everyone. Correct. Immigrants, undocumented, legal, american citizens, those fingerprints are shared with the federal government, some made part of the database and that has not been changed at all has it sheriff . No . I dont think theres any confusion that interferes with Community Policing, or Building Trust with the community. Have you heard that . Not at all. Mr. Chairman, i am hopeful that we can home in on the need to make sure that the ability to remove dangerous criminals by i. C. E. Is enhanced and we dont get diverted by disagreements over overall immigration policy because i believe that we can have the ability to come together to reach consensus and in a way that would be a very positive outcome and with that my time is expired and i yield back. Sure, thank you. The gentleman recognizes him for his questions. Let me just say that there are 5,000 i. C. E. Agents in the country responsible for enforcing Immigration Laws, which we know there are 350,000 convicted criminal illegal aliens on the streets right now. There are 11 million or more people who are unlawfully present in the United States, and that when you have over 900,000 local Law Enforcement officers, some communities may want to participate some may not. We dont require them to enforce our Immigration Laws, but the people who are unlawfully present in the United States, and cause various problems, including committing crimes, are a concern to not just the national government, to local governments as well. The first step is to see orr our laws are enforced by the federal government. I dont believe they are. And by state and local governments, and i think that beyond that, legislation is needed to address many aspects of our immigration policy. Let me ask mr. Steinly and then sheriff jones to talk more about the personal experiences that they have. Mr. Steinly, do you believe that San Francisco should have been required to honor i. C. E. Detainers . Well, absolutely. Do you agree that u. S. Immigration and own forcement policy should not be to the detriment of u. S. Citizens and legal, lawful residents immigrants . Yes. So, wouldnt it be best to remove unlawful aliens before they commit crimes as opposed to simply trusting and hoping they wont commit serious crimes . The case of mr. Lopez sanchez he had committed some drug offenses and he had committed the offense of illegally entering the United States. He had not committed murder, but this whole debate about how serious a crime you have to commit before you can be subject to the enforce. Of the laws which apply to everybody, gets to be problematic, doesnt it . Well, mr. Chairman, if i may our intent was kates law is to get rid of or do something with the violent felon. The way i understand the law is, if any undocumented person comes into the United States and subsequently is deported, then comes back into the United States theyre a felon. Thats correct. And they we dont have to have committed any other time. Theyre a felon. Theyre a felon. Would impose a mandatory minimum sentence. Where i see that we have to home in on is a felon is not a felon is a felon. Were talking about violent felons that come in here, into the United States. If we try to arrest every felon the jails would be full and the officers here would be extremely busy. Think we need to differentiate somehow or another the levels of felonies. Thats another can of worms i understand but i you have cooperation between local Law Enforcement and the federal government, with limited resources they have to set priorities but theyll set the priorities based on the best information, not based upon individual localities trying to set their own immigration policies. Sure. I understand. Sheriff jones would you tell us about deputy danny oliver, his life and what kind of person deputy he was and the circumstances of his murder . Yes. Thank you. He was not unlike any cop in the country who has answered the call whose Law Enforcement is a calling north a job and to help people and a life of service elf the was assigned to the problem oriented policing unit, or pop officers. I call the quality of life police. Their job is to address quality of life issues, not answer calls for service. Its what he was doing on that date with a particular Problem Motel in our jurisdiction, already made contact with someone in the front and was on to the back of the hotel when he came in contact with two people in a car and i believe the last words he ever spoke was how is your day going today . And then he was shot a single time in the forehead, killing him almost instantly. Are there changes to Immigration Enforcement that could have prevented Deputy Oliver and investigator davis murders . Was booked under an alias. We didnt know his true identity. Secondly we realized he had a differs license issued from one thereof states that issues them, california does. Had suffered 11 different misdemeanor traffic related con offensive hitandrun dui was able to rieux new his drivers license and he had been removed from the country four times. The first time with a deportation, second time, released back across the border, the very same day he was captured. Three days later back in the country, released across the border the analysis. Day, and then the next year came into this country ill leally, arrested on felony warrants for local crime was deported again three days later so not only escaping consequences for deportations or prior illegal entry but in the last case, escaped any consequences for hit hiss local criminality because it was easier to dough port them. Esteem thereafter he entered the country illegally and fast afford to the vents last year. One last question. Miss vaughn, what are your thoughts when you hear sanctuary city proponents state that unlawful aliens are no more likely to commit crimes than native born individuals. I reviewed a lot of the literature or then and there is no evidence that immigrants are any more or less likely to commit crimes than anyone else. Thats not the relevant question. The question is, what do we do with that fraction of the immigrant population that is committing crimes, that have committed crimes can how do we happen that . That where i. C. E. Knees the cooperation of local law. Agencies because its the local agencies who know who those problem individuals are. Thank you. Chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois for his questions. Thank you mr. Chairman. I want to start off by expressing my deep e sympathies to the family of kate steinle. He death is a senseless tragedy. I have two daughters and as a father i cant begin to imagine the pain her parents are going through. Im very sorry for your loss. Im offer criticized by my supporters because i dont have a soft spot for immigrant criminals, no matter how small or how old their violations. Many argue that old convictions on drink driving should be determined when derryl can whether shoup be deported. They have already served the time. I am not one of those people who argue for leniency for criminal immigrants. If you have searens criminal activity on your record you have inup your u. S. A. Privileges and i will not spend time or energy fighting for you. There are too many immigrants in the country who have never done anything wrong or never committed crime and they are part of what enriches america and what benefits all americans. The tragedy in San Francisco has generated an important dialogue regarding our communities. The Police Officers we have entrusted to protect us and our broken immigration system. The fact is he should have never been released. To be on our streets again. Deported five times. Seems to me they caught him and deported him and he should have been deported once again. But there are serious questions about just hough it is the local police should go about. Nearly 300 jurisdictions have decide they will not comply with the detainer from Homeland Security. The fact is the courts have said that they dont have to comply with those detainers. So what we need to figure out is a way to fix the broken immigration system we have. We spend a lot of time talk about mr. Lopez we dont spend a lot of time talking about people who her the best country through other bored jfk lax and commit crimes in this country from all over the world. So were truly going to protect our nation, then we need to have holistic approach to our broken immigration system. It break mist break mist heart because could i have been walking on that pier with both of my daughters, and i want to make sure it doesnt happen again, and will continue to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to fix our system. Not in pieces and bits, but in totality so we can protect everybody in america. Because indeed there are many people who want to fix our broken immigration system. We need to do it in a holistic way. Had we done it, we would have more secure communities verification of employment so many other means. Wed have the ability to flush out the bad people because we let the good people come forward so they can not hide. I would like to take a moment, mr. Chairman to go back just for one moment. I know it might seem a little just i dont know unnecessary, but id like to go back to a transcript at the end of the dhs hearing which you presided over, mr. Gowdy on july 14, 2015. I said, this is the record. A transcript of the record of the july 14th hearing. Which i stayed for the whole hearing. All three hour. Yes sir you did. First, thank you mr. Gowdy forrure he can end presiding over these hearings. I just want to just for the record because i think it is very important, listen to this i want to say to you mr. Gowdy, i share with you the same anguish and pain as i know the secretary does and every american should at the death of that woman. That nobody has come here to look for excuses or anything else. I mean this is a career criminal we have on our hands so i think we should just figure out a way. This man is not an immigrant. Immigrants come here to work hard sweat and toil. We should be warm in receiving. This man is a foreigner who has come to cause damage. Lets fix our broken immigration system. That is my statement. Id just like to put it in the record once again because apparently mrs. Vaughn didnt read it or take the time to read it. Secondly, for the record, on the floor of the house of representatives on july 9th quote this is in the record and id like to put it in the record again because apparent live mrs. Vaughn doesnt read what is said in the english language. Quote, now the antiimmigration wing of the Republican Party is saying trump may have a point. The innocent woman was shot last week. Why wasnt he deported . Why want he held in jail the last time . Why is it . And you actually hear this on fox news. Why is president obama letting mexicans kill beautiful Young American women . As a father of two daughters about the age of kate steinle the young woman who was shot and killed i pray every night nat to no one of ethnic background does any harm. When he have felons federal custody or state or local custody, waynes waynes for drug times this congress has not done its law. Leaving on immigration criminal justice and a range of issues. I have no sympathy for the man accused of this crime. Murders so rot in hell. End quote. Apparently people have decided to besmirch peoples reputation and take their word, and exploit the death of a beautiful Young American woman and i will not simply stand here and remain silent while that happens. You may not believe that we should have, mrs. Vaughn fixing of our broken immigration system but dont exploit a young womans death in order to receive a paycheck to put food on your table. You should find a more decent and practical way to go about earning your living. Mrs. Steinle i am so sorry about the death of your daughter. I have a 36yearold and a 27yearold and i love them dearly. I can never imagine losing them. And i will work to make sure that we fix the immigration system and the situations like the one you suffered never happen again. That has been my record in the past and working with members of the minority and the majority in this house, and i take great offense at anybody suggesting otherwise. Thank you so much. The gentleman from illinois yields back. The chair will out in recognize the gentleman from texas the past chairman of this committee mr. Smith. Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Steinle, thank you for your testimony. It is sad that we need to be here today. The tragic murder of a beautiful young woman your daughter, i think, could have been prevented. There are also thousands of other victims that did not need to be victims and would not have been victims if this administration had enforced Immigration Laws. I thank the chairman and the Ranking Member and i add again is a know all members have done, sympathy to you and your family. The sound of the violent act against your daughter penetrated around the nation and beyond. I would also indicate, chief jones, that anytime we lose someone in the line of duty we feel that pain, and frankly we should try to find the slugses solutions we need to fine. Let me offer a few thoughts in the instance of the facts in San Francisco, but i think it is important to join in my colleague from texas and say that the laws that are on the books, that are legal, should be enforced as they relate to immigration issues in this country. Nose of us who support comprehensive immigration refor in no way rue view that reforms coddling criminals. They stand aside from the population of family of students, of workers who have come in this country to do good and not to do harm. And i think that when we get into a process of dealing one group of wanting not to abide by the Immigration Laws and a another group as it is a misrepresentation of many of the American People who support our perspective. And i might just add one thought, when you have deferred ajude addiction that is actually adjudication that is actually a legal use that can be utilized under the term, prosecutorial discretion, which i. C. E. Has and a number of other agencies have. In this instance i think that discretion played out in any way. It did when we speak of the young dreamers that have been allowed to stay and go to school. To be a sanctuary city. Let me just not being one however, an overall position you dont perceive that anyone is trying to protect anyone that is a criminal or a established with established criminal record, you would not perceive that to be the case. The chief may answer. Im sorry . The gentle laddie is out of time put youens answer he query. I than think of anyone in Law Enforcement that would adopt a policy concerning a sanctuary city. I thank the chairman for allowing him to answer and have a number of statements from Law Enforcement that oppose hr3009, mr. Chairman and the National League of cities the National Conference of mayors, the major Sheriffs Association fraternal order of police and that statement be put into the record. Without objection. Chairman now recognizes the gentleman from iowa, mr. King. Thank you mr. Chairman. I think the witness your testimony today and im coining to be amatessed at the come post sure your able to bring to this issue, mr. Steinle. I wanted to inform you that some of us have been doing some things to try to move this congress and this country in the right direction. I look back on testimony at this same table about the first year i came here in congress, which is around 2003 or 4. The witnessed were testifying then that of the number of people who died trying to get across the arizona desert. I ask a witness who was seated in your seat, chief beall dehad an answer. Do you know how Many Americans died at the hands of those who did make into it the United States . And his answer to me, in september 11th was appreciator in our mines than today he said i dont know the number but i can tell you it would be in multiples of the victims of september 11th. That point i began the effort 0 get a gao study which miss lofgren cooperated on. We got a study that wasnt quite apples to apples because we dont keep records well enough to haste exactly apples to apples. Refresh that study again in march of 2011. I continued to bring amendments that cut off funding to sanctuary cities, and never believed there she about a separation between the levels of Law Enforcement in this country. I grew up in a Law Enforcement family and i understand the inner relationships part of the testimony we have heard here today. I wrote an oped last year, dated august 26th its in the national review, the aclu versus the rule of law. In it i objected to the i. C. E. Detainers decision, what been missing here is that then acting director of i. C. E. , dan ragsdale issued a statement a letter to jurisdictions in september 2014 that said i. C. E. Detainers are not mandatory as matter of law. And so this is initiated not by i. C. E. Reacting to the aclus threat of lawsuits. That letter from i. C. E. , i believe, contributed to this tragedy that we have before us and changed the word shall to now its a suggestion. The last sevens in the oped i we bow to the outrageous demand of he aclu and ignore tee takenner orders the price will bell paid by thousands of crime victims who whoa woo have been outside protected by law. We have heard the effect of that and heard it from expert testimony, very painful experiences. Mr. Steinle, i on the day i saw the news of your daughters death, long before i knew it would be a National Story i sent out a tweet dated july 3rd and it says. It is also the sense that there is decreased enforcement as a result of the changes in administration policy. There is undoubtedly less enforcement and certainly detain her as a result. That is what you hear anecdotally from the people that you deal with. I wanted to mention something also. I really appreciate you trying the distinction into something that i have noticed. Chiefs are appointed by mayors or City Councils or administrators who work for mayors and City Councils in areas that tend to be more liberal and they tend to have more liberal policies. Sheriffs run for election, they deal with individuals, they have a sense of the community that far exceeds that of a police chief. We have had so many times in the legislature, bills that have been supported and opposed two very different spokesman or spokeswomen and i appreciate you trying to action. And id like to ask you quickly if you have a task force for example with the dea do you deal with drug cases . Absolutely. Do you gather it intelligence and share that intelligence . We are actually on the dea task force. The same is true if you share information with atf. That is correct. Test. As the father of two daughters i cannot begin to comprehend the grief to have endured over the last three weeks and have a bite to join all of my colleagues in expressing my deepest condolences to you and your entire family. Can i ask is the president has expressed his condolences to you . No. I am sorry to hear that. Considering there are other deaths like freddie grey and trayvon margin of president has expressed his condolences i would expect him to do that here but he had a lot to say about those circumstances that could be tied into policies of guncontrol and alleged police profiling but yet when one of his policies with respect to Immigration Enforcement of is that the roots of the problem today that we dont hear anything from him that is incredibly disheartening and troubling because i believe sedatives unacceptable that it was entirely preventable if the laws were in forced. This administration frankly has refused to up hope to uphold the law into a golden cities like San Francisco to a ignore or actually obstruct enforcement of Immigration Laws and we know the status quo is not working says the administration will not Congress Passed to act. To data house is expected to vote on the bill to devise several funds to sanctuary cities i think that is the good first up step and we have to do more to have the courage ted conviction to do what is right to so let me ask you a question. Is in your testimony even though the containers were used for decades and lawenforcement as is mandatory rather than an optional condom common in your opinion what is the route to of this dramatic departure from prior interpretation . I believe this whole series of events was set off by the policy change to suddenly declare that the containers were optional that was referred to to declare that they were not mandatory with no Legal Foundation whatsoever that has ever been made public to whether legal reasoning they had to change that policy. But once that was done it provided legal cover for the other jurisdictions to change their policy to stop complying. And also provided an opening for groups like the aclu to threaten its litigation against those two are complying and that is why it is very important to be included in any to protect those agencies that do the right thing so there will not be held responsible tonight that now the policy is not to assist them even if it is the mistake of vice i. C. E. I found your testimony compelling however the right to give you an opportunity talking about the same issue of us decaturs being mandatory i would like to ask you this a question about what caused a the erratic shift. Your out of time you may answer. Obviously as the member pointed out the preferences cave about low before as it was the catalyst to make that a policy shift. Understand the dhs is the former police chief of San Francisco so to not say anything of her competence but that does give you insights into the political will of the administration. I yield back. When now recognize the gentleman from of michigan. Thank you for organizing the hearing today. Also my good friend from texas. To see if the president reached out i decided not to do that the court of course, i thought he has done the. But this is just the beginning. I will support h. R. 3,009 i will vote for that but it has to be the beginning because it targets 300 million but it has to be the first step they arent following the directive of the county commission to go further upstream for sanctuary that decide to ignore federal law. I think we have to make the repercussions of a sanctuary city deciding to ignore federal law. I think the language thats in the davisoliver act is comprehensive in addressing the problem. I do agree with you that money takes. In many cases, these are not in most cases sanctuary policies are not something that Law Enforcement agencies ask for. Theyre imposed on them usually by political elected officials. And