Transcripts For CSPAN3 Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan On Presidents 2021 Budget Request 20240713

We will come to order we welcome the acting commissioner of cbp mark morgan thank you for being here today we look forward to getting your perspective on cbp priorities and requirements fiscal year 2021 the budget proposes 15. 6 billion of Discretionary Spending by cbp and increases 714 million above the current your level of the total includes 2 billion of 82 miles of barriers and 625 over the current year appropriation for nearly 80 percent of the total fy 2021 increase for cbp overall. I have obvious concerns for spending another 2 billion on border barriers but aside from any debate this administration continues to circumvent the will of congress by diverting millions of dollars for what congress specifically appropriates for this activity. The house bill does not include the funding. Even more to the point of funding proposed would crowd out other investments we all agree our high priority. For instance it is unclear how many officers are funded or sustained in this Budget Congress has funded over 200,000 and officers over the last two years but your budget does not analyze any of these positions at the same time you propose funding for Border Patrol agents positions specifically not funded by congress this is a mismatch budgeting speaking of the significant challenges you and cbp face i am committed to improving our security and improving ports of entry to facilitate trade and travel. But we must do in a way that is consistent with our National Values and commitment to those in need we would set the balance right and so far that is not happening the way it should. Specifically the main concern about the treatment of unaccompanied children who are apprehended at the border by Border Patrol. We must make every effort to ensure all immigrants are treated with respect and processed in a timely and safe manner working closely with nonprofit groups that are available to help immigrants during and after the time of cbp custody failing to do so not only is a lost opportunity for migrants in desperate circumstances but also a lost opportunity for cbp. For migrants in the mpp program and the expedited removal program, cbp must ensure meaningful access something that is not happening today even though we have repeatedly tried to work with you to address this issue. The programs removing to countries other than their own such as the cooperative agreement how does dhs ensure they would be protected in the destination country . They cannot wash their hands of responsibility for the safety Us Department the state department has issued advisory warnings against travel to some of these countries cbp mission is not limited to containing and removing migrants from the United States it also includes sharing due process reminders including the opportunity to seek asylum or other forms of relief. Cbp should be working harder to balance those priorities. So far cbp and the departments have expedited removal making it harder for migrants to seek asylum and gain access to Legal Counsel of the United States. So far efforts to address concerns about the safety of civil rights of migrants appear to be more of an afterthought if even addressed at all by dhs additionally the department has provided some information on the mpp program and is provided very little on the new expedited removal programs. We dont even have complete descriptions of how these programs will work. Mr. Morgan responses to request of information are not optional the information we seek is necessary to carry out our Constitutional Responsibilities as cbp continues to deny access to information the committee will have no option but to legally compel compliance fiscal year 2021 funding bill. I hope it will not come to that. Before i turned to mr. Morgan the text will be included in the hearing record first we will recognize our distinguished Ranking Member for any remarks he wishes to make. Thank you madam chairwoman. Good morning commissioner. We welcome you to the subcommittee to discuss fiscal year 2021 budget request for cb cbp. Yesterday we had a productive hearing with acting secretary wolf you will not be surprised to hear the hearing focused on many of your areas of responsibility and expertise everyone was respectful and we had productive conversations. We will not agree on everything but our Nation Security comes first and we should be mindful of that mission. Commissioner, your people are literally on the front lines of protecting our borders and it seems that every year it gets harder. Thank you and the men and women who serve with you for your dedication to this mission. Last year nearly 900,000 people were apprehended at the southwest border to for attempting to enter the country illegally. You had a Record Number of groups of single adults, families, families that didnt fit the Legal Definition and unaccompanied children. To be candid we were not prepared the facilities, staffing and processes of cbp and across the department were not set up to operate at this capacity. Im sure you saw the Ripple Effect across your office is trying to deal with this crisis. As we embark on another Spring Season in the budget before us includes a very reasonable to billiondollar reques request, significant funding for Technology Deployment and ambitious plans for hiring i am hopeful we can come together to deliver the resources you have requested and need to protect our nation for i know its possible because we were able to come together to provide one one. 1 billion to the 2019 summer supplemental for humanitarian aid medical care and relief at the southwest border operations. Further, we could come together on agreements fiscal year 2020 bill to provide another one. 375 billion for the border wall system as well as funding for technology , processing coordinators, inspector, trade and travel programs and all personal cost. Working together with my colleagues i believe we can do it again with the 2021 budget. I look forward to your testimony and thank you for your service. I yelled back i yield back. Thank you mad m chairwoman and acting commissioner thank you for coming forward to present the 2021 budget i travel with the deputy secretary norquist to see firsthand for the Administration Efforts have produced real results this is my six trip since the start of the crisis in the fourth to the region since early last year. During my most recent travel i have seen three out of four texas sectors and also saw the first sections of the construction of boys amazed at the dedication and cooperation. Thank you and the men and women of your agencies to work tirelessly around the clock every single day to keep our country safe that seems under impossible circumstances it is a testimony to how important the nation is and the Cooperation Among agencies per cry would encourage all members to travel the border to see the great Progress Administration has made hundreds of miles of improved border fencing are under construction. New technologies employed to spot persons coming across the border in time to apprehend them was very impressive and then programs are underway to hear asylum claims quickly at the border that we said from the very beginning was something we should work for and then even with these improvements we continue to have a crisis and you have heard 400,000 people apprehended in 2018 last year still very high the most important issue is the huge amount in my opinion the Illegal Drugs being carried across our border and the criminals bringing drugs and people as well as children across our border. While the number of illegal crossings are down nowhere near the state of normal the monthly numbers are on the rise as i was touring the processing facility i saw how important it is to have the infrastructure in place to safely and effectively manage what the next year will bring. My home state has the largest stretch of border. It is always been my priority to make sure dhs has the resources it needs to secure the border and keep the communities safe with trade and travel this is vital for those resources we look to you to tell us what we need and not just assume that what you need and last year. Thank you for your work in a send messages those that work with you. I yelled back. Before i turn to the commissioner, i do want to let members know the order they are called on questioning eseniority of those present when it was called to order and also to ensure everyone has ample opportunity to ask questions each member please stay within the allotted five minutes. For the opportunity to be here today i am proud to be here of the cbp the Border Agency to safeguard borders and enhance the prosperity through trade and travel in between the ports of entry we will accomplish this through continued innovation through data sharing and collection and collaboration through private and public realm or as mentioned our fy 21 budget includes 21. 6 billion with priorities focused on enhanced technology and infrastructure physical and it as well as personnel as the nations witnessed the influx of migrant families and children from Central America overwhelmed cbp and other agencies to drain resources to put this into perspective fiscal year 20 year or 19 enforcement action is almost 1,000,088 percent higher than the Previous Fiscal Year to make matters worse arrivals more than tripled any Previous Fiscal Year on record an unprecedented shift in the demographics the cbp facilities were not intended nor designed for families or children the administration has made tremendous strides to reverse catch and release which was for families and children who put their lives in the hands of organizations with a complete disregard for their safety. Those loopholes which allowed individuals to use a child as a means to be entrance to the United States has been closed this has enabled cbp to apply a consequence for the alternative pathway to 95 percent of those we apprehend rather than releasing them into the interior of the United States and eight months we have seen a 70 percent reduction of Enforcement Actions along the southwest border those are a welcome progress as the crisis is far from over with the peak migration season upon us human smuggling organizations are changing their tactics you must maintain this momentum including continuing to build wall systems in strategic locations cbp Border Security efforts extend well beyond Legal Immigration and the southwest border during fiscal year 2019 we apprehended almost 1000 gaming members thousands of criminal aliens and currency the hundred thousand pounds of drug air Marine Operations contributed to another 300,000 pounds of drug seizures of partners cbp also has a Critical Role to ensure the nations Economic Prosperity they all passed through ports of entry fiscal year 2019 processing almost 29 million Cargo Containers with an additional 600 million small packages the same. Cbp collected 84 billion of duties and taxes with an increase over the Previous Year and relevant to every American Consumer we see significant levels of counterfeit merchandise as we have seen an explosion of ecommerce and cbp has almost 28000 items of a one. 5 billion of retail value they harm consumers threat or Economic Security and damage the brand integrity of the United States companies the budget containing funding of old and dilapidated Border Patrol station as well as construction of the humanitarian care center in the Rio Grande Valley also funding for the first of its kind air facility in laredo texas that would be an incredible milestone they will not stop looking for the next technique to give them a strategic advantage counterfeit goods and gang members and the list goes on but they smuggle into the country into every town and city and state. We must continue to be vigilant comprehensively address these threats in the nation. Thank you for this opportunity and i look forward to your questions. Commissioner dhs announced a pilot for her Border Patrol agents to put credible fear interviews that bylaw has been the responsibility of the us cis after going to the border last week my staff was told cbp officers are now a part of this effort. The pilot was to mitigate as shortage of asylum officers is this accurate and is there an end point where they will no longer provide agents and officers for this activity cracks before you answer i want to make the point we have repeatedly asked for this information but nobody has responded. First of all on the issue of being responsive we need to get better at that any information about this that has not been received by you or your staff i will take that back you have my commitment we will get you the information you need for the congressional oversight responsibilities i recognize and agree with that and we will be better at that. To address the actual question yes we have 75 Border Patrol agents that are part of the program and 16 right now in the program. It is designed specifically as you address but the challenge is recall at the front and and backend and what happens on the backend affects the front and so the lack of asylum officers creates a backlog on the front and for us. The more we can rapidly apply due process the more it alleviates overcrowding so we do see this as an issue with a dhs effort it has made a positive impact given the additional resources. Given the assertion it has a significant shortage of Border Patrol agents, how do you justify pulling cbp personnel cracks why not get more asylum officers quick. That is correct i support us cis that is a must and is needed but after going through the process, it is a balancing act because i am pulling Critical Resources but as we do balance in the end it is a net gain on the front and to alleviate the backlog because of the lack of asylum officers and it creates cascading negative effect so with that costbenefit analysis that us cis needs more asylum officers. Because private programs have quantifiable metrics so what metrics are you using cracks that is a good question as the commission that is the responsibility to determine that matrix but for me its about helping with the resources. Is there a higher degree of positive or negative claims cracks im not giving those agents and officers to increase a positive or negative that falls completely under the purview to be supervised by cis and with any matrix really comes from cis. Thank you again for being with us today in order to manage that migrant surge the department implemented environmental pathways to find the best way to efficiently evaluate asylum claims or adjudicate immigration status. And electronic nationality verification and the review process that have all come online in the past year have a three part question can you explain to the subcommittee what benefits the new pilot programs have had on the daytoday cbp operations . Can you provide numbers or for the record how many are enrolled in each program cracks and are you tracking many metrics to see any outcomes that would lead you to consider making changes quick. The positive effect that you can see in the last eight months over 70 percent reduction january was around 36000 that is the best indicator the programs are working. Yes we have those numbers and any staff member that once those we can give those to you. 59000 of individuals have been enrolled in that program 17000, little under 2500. Are you tracking and the metric sourcing any outcomes that would lead you to consider making changes quick. Yes. Actually to expand the programs. They were extremely effective along the southwest border. That has been effective so we are trying to expand that program and that may come up in a question we try to expand that demographics such as brazil that is what we are seeing and we need to continue to expand them. We appreciate the thoroughness of that answer after the hundreds of thousands of people presented at the southwest border its obvious we need to make some changes and i support the administrations efforts. In the time that i have remaining responding to multiple requests for more customs officers and agricultural inspectors but the fiscal 21 budget and ag inspectors actually asking for a reduction in the office of field operations. Do you believe customs and ag inspectors are more than sufficient to cover your needs and to protect this nation allowing for such a significant reduction cracks what is the basis for the reduction you propose quick. Thank you for the question. There is a timing issue between 20 and 21. We are not looking for a reduction. What we are hoping to do is through appropriations and current user fees we hope to be able to find the current plus up of 600 officers that we receive. We receive that volume increase at the unprecedented levels this year so user fees are increasing so we think that will be enough to annualize. In addition we have asked for a legislative proposal to increase other user fees. Other user fees. Welcome, commissioner,e committee. I want to ask about the practice of metering, the practice of regulating the ports of entry and that is not receiving their application immediately. Requiring them to wait on the other side of the border for a limited number of spots that may or may not open up each day for each week and the number of individuals who are able to take advantage of what we are supposedly providing them an ability to seek asylum. That is in direct competition or at least in tension with the governments zerotolerance policy which compels all asylumseekers to come to the ports of entry. Thats what we tell them to do. We havent even filed their claims. Claims. They are stuck on the other side of the border and feel they have no choice but to crossover it legally. I want to ask about the empirical evidence on this point. Its prompting ilLegal Immigration. I was at the border last summer and saw firsthand the effect of the policy as we spoke with migrants waiting outside of the bridge some have waited three or four months for they know once they turn themselves in they will be at the holding facilities. There is no cbp waiting list and used by someone different at every Mexican Border town. Whawhat we saw was taped to the window that had 2,000 names on it. Theyve been increasing funding for the agency for the past several years with the lack of resources doesnt seem to be an excuse for this kind of chaos for the list having 2,000 names on it. Waiting at the ports of entry what has the agency done to improve the processes to handle a number of applicants. For the ability to meter goes pursuing asylum claims and then what about the practical effects at the ports of entry for people that may cross. There is a capacity issue that goes to a previous question about cbp and we agree we need more at all the ports of entry not only to fulfill the complex role but to include this as well because you are right we want individuals to come to the ports of entry. Its a balancing for every single ports to balance the counternarcotics mission and the trade and travel revenue connection as well as the immigration issue. That is a tough balance every single day. To accept everybody that comes i would say we dont deny anyone. What are your ideas for improving this . The fuselage that you open up for people to come and make this i would think could be much more accessible and personnel for handling these applications. Thousands of people waiting to cross the border with no sense in many cases and how the lists were put together should be an official list so thats transparent where people know where they stand. Its to be this degree of arbitrary and a lack of transparency to the system. We had no idea if they would ever be called. I wouldnt say that its arbitrary. Sharing information so the im committed to work with you and your staff to get you the information and how the process is done but it does come down to a balancing act every single d day, lawful trade and travel and it does come down to both physical capability facilities and personnel. In the first instance its an issue of how do you accommodate these applications. Tell me the difference in asylum officers processing coordinators. Asylum officers that is the same thing. The processing agent is when they come up with to give the badges back to the border and then have special bond Law Enforcement personnel designed to go to the Processing Centers and help facilitate the process and receive a specialized training in that. To get the agents back to doing what theyve been trained to do. One of the things i want to ask about, can you tell me what effect that has had on the unauthorized crossings and smuggling on your agents Response Time and the workload that is existing . Its proving what it has for the 30 years we used the strategy of Infrastructure Technology personnel and its important when we talk about it its not just about the wall. Its not just the sole answer but thats the integral part and where we see it being built we have about 20 miles built and we have seen apprehensions and illegal entries all being reduced by over the percent in a 20mile stretch. If you look historically in other places where that multilayered strategy of Infrastructure Technology personnel, we have seen the same thing and its effective. The key is this about denial. Its to be a coup it does indeed long enough to actually get there to do the apprehension and introduction but its a different in the past it has the access and technology and lighting and cameras. Its different and its working. Thank you very much. Thank you, chairwoman and commissioner. My first question you talked in response to the chairwomans question about Critical Resources, so i wanted to stick with that and talk a little bit about the financial side with respect to the border while. As an appropriate or i think we share a concern about the cbp spending on the border wall especially when it is the number is not what we have allocated. In the Border Security Improvement Plan doesnt include lifecycle cost estimates between the year 2019 and 2027. As you know the cost estimates would be how much money spent on an asset like the wall as long as it can be used. This typically includes from the start of the project through the future repairs the budget request this year is 2 billion for the physical and get cbp doesnt have a lifecycle cost estimate available. This is in addition to the ten early in in construction fun the president has reprogrammed from other accounts and as a. G re money forhe border wall and other accounts. Hold the promise that the bigger year would make the country safe. As we have seen they seem to be smuggled using drones and through tunnels. And even though with basic power tools, so while the wall can be effective at times they may lay here that you indicated, the true cost of this border wall are not known. Without this lifecycle cost estimate, wont it be likely that we are going to have to divert future funds from other accounts to address repairs and efficiencies in the out years. Im familiar with the report based on the visa that has been completed and its in the process of review. We hope to have it completed and provided to everybody. , so that i dont know. I will have to get back and get you that information. Im not specifically sure about that element. So i will get back to you on that. But, what i would say is when we talk about the wall, i think its important that its not in place of or in blue of other stuff just like when we talk about technology, it shouldnt be utilized just like the wall shouldnt be utilized in lieu of technology. We needed all including the wall. We mention of multilayered strategy of the technology and personnel that its an integral part of the strategy Going Forward. We have the data and we cannot provide data that shows the multilayered strategy. I think many of us would love to see the data that i dont think youve been responsive enough. I dont know what it would be without the lifecycle cost estimates is a 2017 didnt have lifecycle cost estimates and the gao told that so im a little frustrated about that. I get the multilayered piece and thats fine i think we would love to have the policy discussion but this is a body that decides how to fund those and i understand the suggestions you are making. Maybe the administration doesnt understand because it without calculating the costs and you are doing it as a result of funding we havent allocated and so that is the concern that a lot of us have. But lets speak with the gao specifically found, and i can only use the 2017 as you mentioned by segment and location it is a cost associated in the terrain and as my colleague has mentioned a Land Ownership and terrain. There are cost estimates that have to do with the land cost for the property owners. So, without a thorough analysis of deploying the barriers for specific locations, how do we ensure we are not overspending in the key areas . We should be to have that committee i think that the secretary said yesterday hes looking at the june timeframe and we should be able to have that ready for the review and approval. That will happen by sector and will give different technologies that can be used in those areas and include lifecycle cost estimates and things they are asking. One of the things i said before is if i need to go back and get more fidelity on the lifecycle issues so we will get that. Thank you madam chair. Thank you for being here today. We spent a tremendous amount of time talking about the broad reach of drugs in the Community Whether it is marijuana, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl they are killing our sons and daughters and coming across the borders. We are taking a look at agents of the frontline to deal with the threat of migrants and it concerns me that the manpower on the border may have negative effects on the drug interdiction rate and in fact weve witnessed the Ranking Member and myself a drug seizure at a point of entry at about seven or 8 kilos of cocaine when we were there last february. So, the drug problem is absolutely real. So, my question to you is are you concerned about having to pull your agents out of the field during the primary missions to become basically caretakers were the search of the migrants and how are you trying to balance the need for apprehension, interdiction and other things when di you have limited resources . At the height of the 144,000 in one month, we were taking about 40 to 60 of Border Patrol agents frontline agents and officers of the wine to do the humanitarian work. We knew that they organizations were on purpose, with intent using the large groups to then divert the resources so they could smuggle drugs into. In. We have that on video and it was happening every single day. It was a significant issue. Thats why when we talk about this is it is a Significant National security threats to the country. 60,000 people died of drug overdoses and the narcotics that i called increasing. We have seen around a 50 increase just the First Quarter of fy 20 so it is a real problem. We cant reciprocate the immigration problem from the drug problem. They are interconnected so the higher the numbers are, the more resources portal to deal with that. And thats why its so important when we talk about the holistic threat by reducing into being able to put more Border Patrol agents and officers on the line to do the mission and all the other stuff we all are responsible for. Some people have said that they cartels and transnational organized crime is growing the drugs and trying to smuggle it in the south this is causing the stabilization of the region which is also causing a surge in migrants leaving their hometown so the base which he said is probably the cocaine trade and the drugs. Ive been an advocate for utilizing the National Guard on the border for over ten years. I know theyve had some very Successful Missions but right now i believe we have about 5,000 National Guard. Serving on the southern border. Can you tell me how they are able to help you do your daytoday mission . I know the militar military d i can tell you they are providing an absolute tremendous support monitoring detection, surveillance, the list goes on about what they are doing and how they are assisting us and it goes back to the resource. Those are the Critical Role they are providing so it allows us back on the line to go after and seized the drugs and criminal aliens coming into the country theyve been invaluable in their support. One team and one fight and i know the National Guard is honored to be a part of the commissiothatmission so with thl yield back. I also want to point out we have been told as they are tightening up the border by drug cartels are now using the waterways so we are seeing more coming in which is going to have to play an even bigger role than what they are doing. Im impressed with your resume and acting commissioner but its good to see somebody that has experience and is a political and so im looking forward to good things from you in this position. Im going to try to get to the three programs if i can. Im going to get here pretty quick and defend you can get back to me. First is Border Patrol Tactical Unit understand is on loan for the time being. I recognize the capabilities they do bring to the table. Im trying to get a sense of priorities. Can you tell me what their role will be and who they will be targeting and how does pulling away this unit over the capabilities to respond to higherlevel threats at the border will they be conducting operations on their own or will they always been supportive i. C. E. Operations. The message they send to the cities like baltimore which the administration has deemed a sanctuary city. Can you explain how they will be conducting business beyond for example how many agents can we expect to see and the unit is deployed to you give me your word or will not have the appearance of occupying number one . This Program Offers our men and women on the front line the ability to adapt to dynamic nature of protecting the border. This Technology Becomes the eyes and ears of the agents in the field and its a verified force multiplier. It included 55 million and the belt to procure these assets. However ive heard they are considering the funding amidst anonymous surveillance towers. While they are ineffective technologies its no substitute and the intent of congress. Are they currently still planning to follow the intent and the president s budget into the systems in the fy 200. While they understand theres a lonthere is along period of avaw many units do you anticipate rolling out this year and what is your plan phasing them in to use iuse and do you ensure the committee will receive the prior notification as required by law if they decide to reprogram the fun is. For the multirule aircraft for the last few cycles congress appropriated if we do this because the members appear into the agents appear to recognize the Aviation Assets are a critical component of Border Security and furthermore the cost savings associated in the Rolling Assembly line. My question for you is if the committee complied with the request to not provide funding for the production, how would it impact the future and in your opinion the integral part of the Planning Capabilities moving forward do you intend to procure the amount with the record in baseball has changed are you concerned with how much it will cost to taxpayers to deliver these if it drives up to the continued support of . I cant stay for another round so answer as best you can. Theres been a lot of misinformation. We are not deploying so that is not there is no element being deployed. Theres individuals are all volunteers some of them happenen to be agents but there is no element. I saw some reports coming up with elements that isnt happening. Its going to be a handful that fall under the auspices as we do this every single day we had our agents on the border task forces and we helped i. C. E. With over 70 obligations. We are going to look like them and dress like them. I agree with everything you said on how important that Surveillance Technology is. It makes it tough in the budget. It is an integral need as well so we went back to the Border Patrol and said if you have to prioritize right now, what would you prioritize and they said we need some timeless powers and its key because they used to wel them innovative towers but now its important because they are infused with ai meaning it isnt going to take an operator anymore to run that tower and they are also semiimmobile as well Going Forward so we are still committed to the mobile surveillance. As we work through the transition we will work to make sure. I know we are running out of time again 100 agree it is a tradeoff to go back to and they said we have to prioritize and theres a couple of things we need to prioritize. One is the incredible amount of funding in the budget to sustain what we already have an upgrade technology and aircraft we already have. Some of it is outdated. We need sustained aircraft. That was the tradeoff from fy 21. The last part i will make and i appreciate the committee for the budget you gave us another one so i appreciate that. We are committed to the program. I appreciate all of these issues and will take them back to my staff. Thank you madam chair. I want to get back to something the chairwoman said earlier because it is one of my main concerns being from florida as we continue to tighten up on our southern border we are going to see a shift around to the water. One of my concerns that changed a little bit i mentioned that the 29 million Cargo Containers and i know the goal is the 100 screening. Can you tell me where that number is out now on the 29 million, how many are actually being screened . To me that is 29 million trojan horses that we are inviting into the ports every year and they are potential see burn events and every one of them, so whats number is being checked right now . 100 manifest information is the key because enough volume its not 100 or even close. We are able to apply a network of Intelligence Driven operations to target specific containers and there will be a bunch of information how they select certain containers but right now its about 3 . I really look forward to speaking on this because i think that theres some technology out there but ive been made aware of that can really help us enhance the number quite significantly. It is a concern to me what is going on in the ports. We are working with companies out there to advance the technology. Second question, on the training facilities, i have one of my district and i know we are looking at a 50 increase in hires of air and marine operators, so are we going to have a throughput at the academy for that . And doing an amazing job there is some expensive travel and expensive with time. I look forward to following up on that. Another concern is the reports and the number of officers that we have sharing them like in jacksonville looking at the delays created, that is an economic hit to our report. Can you talk about in trees for the ports and tree the marine corps in particular that are struggling quick. Thats a great question. We need more resources and thats why through those technical systems to make sure appropriations are increased to make sure we dont only annualize but then try to work and and show you why we think additional fees should be increased, the nominal 2 because we think thats going to be able to get us about 3,000 additional cbpos that we can put through multiple ports. And youre looking at 750 this year. Border patrol. Thank you. With that, madame chair. Thank you, madame chairwoman, and thank you, commissioner, for being here today. I wanted to ask a question about house report 116180 which directs homeland to a higher or otherwise obtain service of Child Welfare professionals at empy Southern Land border port of entry and Border Patrol station. Further directed cbp to provide an associated execution plan no later than 60 days after enactment of the fiscal year 2020 spending bill. The deadline passed last week. As you know, screenings and expertise provided by Child Welfare professionals will help prevent these childrens return from harm and needless separation from family members while avoiding tragic deaths in cbp custody. When i visited mcallen, they mentioned that they did not feel properly equipped and trained to handle so many issues, sensitive issues in regards to children. Have you submitted the Child Welfare professionals execution plan yet as directed by congress . So ill have to come back and get some more fidelity on where thats at in the process. I can tell you that even nine months ago, that the transition that weve made on all things medical care has really been transformational. I mean, at the height when we saw this unprecedented crisis of families and children, we had like 20 medical professionals that were available. Fast forward to today, we have over 700 under contract, and 300 medical professionals are on duty 24 7 365 in 45 locations. Since then we have conducted 65,000 screenings of juveniles. We averaged last year 80 hospital visits a day. Over 20,000 individuals went to the hospital. I could go on with the stats but hopefully that does show, i think somebody said earlier when this crisis started, we werent prepared. We didnt have the resources but i think that weve showed, and we can give the facts if we havent that we have absolutely committed to continue to increase our care for especially children and families. Thank you. I just would love to see the plan if you and your team could get back to the committee, and i also want to make sure that the medical professionals in contract or the increased number of folks that you are working with which is great but i want to make sure its not at a lesser percentage because of all the additional children that have been separated or harmed thus far. I wanted to ask another question i have been working with my colleague from new hampshire, congresswoman annie custer, cbps fiscal year 18 annual report assessing cbp efforts to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse in holding facilities. The report said that there were only eight allegations of sexual abuse. Later we saw the Inspector General had received 23 reports of sexual abuse at the holding facilities. Just wanted to see what the reason was for the inaccurate or inconsistent reporting. I cant address the inaccuracy of the reporting. For us and from my perspective, commissioner, it doesnt really matter in the sense that were taking both reports and were going to consume both of those reports. But youre right, in 2018, there was eight total, seven unsubstantiated. One was found detainee on detainee, but were reviewing both reports and looking for areas if we can improve on areas like that. Were going to consume those recommendations and do just that. Youre working with the Inspector General as well . Of course. And what actions will you take to ensure that the fiscal year 19 report has accurate data on detainees that experience sexual abuse at holding facilities. What we can do, obviously we have multiple entities that provide oversight, and thats tough. We suggest and we do Civil Liberties is another example where we have all of these independent entities doing their own audits, which we support. We do try to influence that they work with each other so we dont have inconsistent reporting. The bottom line, we really cant control the different independent audits. All i can say is we fully support any oversight, any audit, any review, the cdp will fully report. Given that officers are now working with increased, dramatically increased number of people in vulnerable populations, what type of training have cbp officers had and have they had increased training . So every officer, every agent gets basic training in the academy, tvpra, and pria, and Training Like that that goes forward, so weve heard its one hour of a video, is that true . That i dont know. I dont know the level detail of how long the training is but they do receive specific training but i think this goes to a point, another reason why, it was mentioned earlier, were asking for the 300 processing coordinators because theyre going to take over the large portion of that role and the design is at their Academy Training theyre going to get additional training specifically to the care of children and families. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you, madame chair. Mr. Ranking member. Commissioner morgan, thank you for being with us this morning, and i want to thank you for your leadership as well as for the hard work of the men and women that work with cbp. So appreciate being a partner with you. You brought up and several people have brought up Border Technology as being an integral part of the defenses that we have. So my state of washington, my district, i have about a hundred miles of border with canada, and so certainly its something that we have seen, even though the focus a lot of the time is on the southern border, we see a tremendous increase in the amount of, for instance, illicit drug traffic not only coming in from the northern border but also through the maritime areas. Ive been very happy to see the administration continuing to deploy and youve mentioned this, the ast, the Cost Effective system of the autonomous surveillance towers. I think thats exactly the direction we need to go, and i appreciate the speed that that has gone from a pilot to actually the process that we use. Its Simple Technology in some respects, and something thats off the shelf and Cost Effective. So one of my questions is given the success of that system, could you tell us your deployment plans on how we could move faster and how much it would cost to do so, and on top of that, too, though, i also being a northern state, also interested in if you could give us information on how that kind of technology how it will be used on the Northern Borders as well as, you know, many people have been asking about the our waterways, the Maritime Security issues, and how it could be utilized there as well. I completely agree. I think in my opening statement, i thought it was important to include in my opening statement, its not just about the southwest border. Its not just about ilLegal Immigration. Its about a wide swath and depth and complexity of issues to include the northern border. There are threats on the northern border. Drugs are clearly one of those. When we talk about what were doing, theres a list of things, besides just the technology, which ill address in a second. Go back to the cbpos and our design is to put cbpos on the northern border as well as we increase the number. The towers and technology, the money provided by committee, i know were going to work through fy 20, and how much money is going to the towers, were hoping to get money for 200 towers of which some towers are going to be deployed to the northern border as well. Thats part of the overall plan. Our priority obviously is the southwest border, but the northern border is a part of that. In addition to that, last july, we published that northern Border Security strategic plan, thats an integral part of that that includes not just land but sea issues as well. The last thing is, were putting a considerable amount of money and infrastructure on the northern border as well. Unfortunately not washington. Theres a couple in new york but still on the northern border. Just to reemphasize that we are having issues there too. Certainly not to the extent on the southern border. My visits to the border, its been explained that were shorthanded there as well, and equally as vulnerable, just want to make sure we have emphasis in those areas. Appreciate your input today and look forward to continuing to be a partner with you. Appreciate that. I yield back, madame chair. You can say that again madame chair. Thank you. Commissioner, its nice to have you with us. I want to stipulate from the outset that i assume that you dont agree with the federal judge that justin joined cdb from holding adults and children in unconstitutional conditions. If you could answer the question im going to ask you specifically, and we can just agree that you think that theyre wrong. So we can get the answer to the question. The lawsuit arose from conditions in the tucson sector revealing that cdp detained migrants for more than 48 hours without beds, showers, or adequate food, water or medical assessments. Thats unacceptable when migrants and detainees have been substandard and inhumane conditions in cbp centers. We have to remember that people who are detained are just that, people, like you and i and all of us. The difference is by the whims of fate, they were born into more unfortunate circumstances than those of you who have the privilege of living in the United States. So my question is, are you currently aware of other cbp detention facilities that mirror the conditions in the facility that was declared unconstitutional . And given the outcome of this lawsuit, will you commit to reexamining conditions of all cbp Detention Centers and the treatment of all detainees . And how do you intend to ensure full compliance with the terms of the injunction and how will it affect operations and treatment of migrants in other sectors. First of all, i think its important. I appreciate you up front because youre right, were not always in agreement. Im not saying i dont agree with the decision. Im sure you dont. Correct. I appreciate you fronting that but that really is irrelevant with respect to the issue because here is the commitment and the answer is an easy of course. We will continue to work with this committee, every committee member, every staff here to collectively talk, have meaningful discussions on where we think and how we can improve conditions. But you have had such a grave situation in the tucson sector that a federal judge enjoined you from those conditions, and those conditions included leaving people for more than 48 hours without beds, showers, adequate food, water or medical assessments. Are there other facilities in which the conditions are the same and are you immediately going to address ensuring that those conditions dont exist in any cbp Detention Center . So two things. Yes, we obviously have to abide by the court order and we are taking steps to do that. I respectfully disagree with the courts decision that these are unconstitutional and grave conditions. Leaving people, you think its okay to leave people without food, water, medical assessment, beds, showers, for 48 hours or more . I think it depends on the circumstances, the totality of the circumstances, and it depends on the capacity that we have. But we are making efforts to improve that across the board. Im sorry. I dont think that anyone in a position of Authority Like yours, like ours, should think that leaving people for more than 48 hours without beds, showers, adequate food, water or medical assessments is acceptable in any circumstance. And what i also want to know is are you equipped to house migrants, including children in the first place if you cant even offer adequate food, water, beds, showers or medical assessments . Again, with all due respect, we can go back and forth. I take exception what youre saying, you just said you think in certain circumstances that those conditions are not unconstitutional, so thats is that what youre saying . Thats it. What im saying, and i can give you an example though, a single adult that comes into our custody, right, a single adult male, a Mexican National that comes into our custody, i dont think it is to say that unconstitutional that we dont give them a bed to sleep in. Sgl sglch. No, new york city no. Its not just a bed. A bed, a shower, adequate food, water or medical assessments. Those were all conditions that existed in that facility and a federal judge enjoined you from continuing those conditions, and therefore that situation needs to be corrected in all your facilities. Do you have and i would say excuse me, reclaiming my time. Are you equipped to house migrants no matter who they are, but including children in the first place if you cant even offer adequate food, water, beds, showers or medical assessments. Maam, we are offering adequate food. Are you just refusing to order those things . We are providing adequate food, shelter, medical care. We are. But you believe in certain circumstances that you dont have to . Thats not what i said. Two separate things. You believe in certain circumstances its not unconstitutional. Sleeping conditions are separate from food, water and medical care. We have been providing adequate food, water and medical care. The injunction covers all of those conditions. You didnt just get enjoined on those conditions based on not providing someone with a bed. Thats correct. And thats why were going to appeal some of the decisions. And youre going to make sure those conditions dont exist in any other facility or fight to maintain conditions like those that have been enjoined . Were not going to fight to keep any unconstitutional conditions. Thats not what were going to fight. There is a fundamental disagreement on what those unconstitutional grave conditions are, and thats where which condition do you think is unconstitutional and which one isnt . Do you think all of the conditions all of those categories are okay that you can just deprive a single male adult of a shower and medical assistance . I just said that no, i just said that a second ago. Which is it . We need to provide adequate food, water, medical attention. I think we are doing all of those things. A judge disagreed. Thank you, i yield back. At that time. Mr. More began, we understand the recommendations regarding meaningful access we understand recommendations regarding meaningful access to Legal Counsel for migrants placed at mpp were made following a red team review of this fall. What has cbp done specifically in response to the red Team Recommendations to address access to counsel . Some of the things, maam, we were already developing but through the red team, and quite frankly, engagements with this committee. Engagements with the Staff Members of the committee. Engagements with ngos. Its not just a red team, specifically a red team, some of the recommendations are, for example, to provide counsel not just prior to the hearing but after the hearing, providing Additional Information such as know your rights videos. Were actually expanded those to provide them in more than one time during the process Going Forward. And so there are also we have expanded Interpreter Services as well across the border. There are specific concrete actions that we have taken to improve access. Let me point out one thing before i ask the question. The know your rights videos, my staff actually observed last week how the noisiness in the interim hearing facilities makes it almost impossible for migrants to hear or understand what is being said, and i believe the chair of the full committee was also on that trip, so it seems like a situation where little additional effort could go a long way to mitigating the impact of the mpp program on migrants, you know, due process. So such as a person, know your rights presentation instead of a video. I hope that we can work to address that particular issue. Also something that we have talked about this before, and i still dont understand, why cant cbp provide access to pro bono, and im emphasizing the pro bono part. Why cant they provide access to pro bono counsel for those migrants at the interim mpp hearing facilities . So they provide the list of the attorneys that are available of which a good portion of those are pro bono services. So im not sure i understand the question. Those who are not yet represented im talking about those who are not represented. But my understanding is that, yeah, theres a list. But then they call. Theres no answer. They dont, you know, the person at the other end, even if they get the message, they dont know where to return the call to. And so my question is why cant there be a pro bono counsel there . So that a person can go to them and ask for their help. If something is done in person, a presentation of know your rights is done in person and there are legal pro bono counsel there, then that migrant has the option of going and talking to them. My understanding is also that if there is an attorney talking to a migrant who has representation that if someone else is in that room, another migrant, and would like to also speak to that person that theyre prohibited from doing so. So my question is im just trying to understand why cant there be access to a pro bono counsel at the outset, talking about what their rights are and then being available for anyone who wants to take advantage of that. I guess im not fully understanding. I mean are you suggesting that we just like have a building where attorneying are just sitting there and then as a migrant comes, then they just walk across the street . For example, when youre having the video of know your rights, at that point, you could have, you know, a person, a pro bono attorney, talking about those rights and having other pro bono attorneys present so after following that presentation if a migrant wants to take advantage of that, they have access, rather than a list of attorneys where most of the time they dont get to talk to anybody, and thats what we have been told. I think with all due respect, i think what youre talking about would be just a logistical almost impossibility, and i think it also goes into some ethical issues on, you know, how do we attorneys almost like ambulance chaser issues. I understand the concern there. Were talking about pro bono. Were not talking about a attorney trying to get business. Were talking about pro bono. I dont know what the problem would be to have them do a presentation at these different locations. And there are a lot of attorneys and nonprofits who said they would be willing to participate and to do this but they are constantly denied access. Lets talk a little bit more about that because maybe there is a way that we can address this in a way that would be beneficial to the migrant but also address any concerns that you might have. And were open to the continued dialogue, and hopefully we have shown we have made changes to improve the access, so absolutely committed to continue that dialogue. We will. Mr. Fleishman. Thank you, madame chair, and i want to thank the commissioner for his thoughtful and thorough answers. This is a process. The country is going through some very unprecedented situations and has gone through that. I am very not only empathetic but sympathetic but laudatory of your efforts to address this situation, and i thank you. This leads me to my next question. Last year we saw a significant surge in the number of migrants trying to enter the country illegally. This years budget request reflects that need for Additional Support along the border for 750 new Border Patrol agents and 126 new Mission Support personnel. Unfortunately, Border Patrol has faced a number of challenges in hiring in recent years, even to cover attrition. What changes have you made in the hiring process to achieve onboarding 750 new agents this year . I appreciate that question. Actually its something that the team has been working on for quite some time. If you look back the last two years, the first time in a long time, hiring has outpaced attrition. That shows tremendous progress that they have made on the overall processes. Some of it has been on the technological side to improve Data Collection and analysis of where we should go and how we should do that and where we should target. Its made a significant difference. Were very confident that well be able to continue that process and be able to hire those additional agents. Thank you, sir. Recent audit reports indicate that neither fletc or cbp have the capacity to train and onboard such a large number of agents in one year. Have you attempted to resolve these issues, sir . We have. We have increased our academy capacity, but were i mean were already booked up through fy 20 and all of our academies are at capacity already. So we are looking for additional opportunities to build out that capacity, but thats definitely a challenge. Yes, sir. I too share Ranking Member grangers enthusiasm for the new process and coordinator positions we funded last year. How is that hiring effort progressing this year, and are you optimistic that you can add another 300 processing coordinators positions in fiscal 21. We are. So far the applications for those processing agents are astronomical. I dont have the exact number of applicants. Its far exceeded what we anticipated. We feel confident that well be able to fill those positions Going Forward. Your agency has found that most hard drugs and similar contraband smuggled into the United States come through our ports of entry. Congress has invested heavily in nonintrusive Inspections Technology and i appreciate the department is working to deploy these resources at critical ports of entry. Ive become aware of a new passive cargo Inspection Technology relying on naturally occurring particles first developed at los alamos laboratory. Cbps pilot showed the system is safe, effective, fishlgt, durable and successfully detected illicit drugs shielded in routine goods that are moved legally across the border as part of routine commerce. According to cbps own report, this new and emerging technology can immediately offer a sought after and much needed scanning solution. What is the departments plan to deploy this and other technologies at key points of entry, sir . Again, i appreciate that question. Ni is a game changer. In 2019 this committee again thank you, 560 million, 20, another 60 million for ni technology. It is a Game Changing across, on the nii technology, and i think what you just represented is this isnt an offtheshelf type stuff. Its ever changing, ever evolving. We are working with investors to develop new technology that will enhance our capabilities. Its not just about in this arena, its not just about acquiring technology, its about acquiring the right technology thats not just going to be effective today but in years from now. Really what we want to do provide nii at preprimary. We want to be able to do it so people dont have to get out of their vehicles. Just a few years ago, the technology was large and cumbersome. It wouldnt fit in preprimary. We went to investors, companies, they shrunk the technology, they have been able to do it where people can stay in their vehicles, increasing throughput, unbelievable. So were looking at every aspect of nii and how we can improve the technology and get the right technology. Thank you, sir, and madame chair, i yield back. Mr. Cuellar. Thank you madame chair and mr. Morgan, thank you for being here. I appreciate the work you do and the men and women, the work they do. One of the biggest issues that we need to address on the border has to do with guns going south. As you know, after the trade agreement for mexico, that was their number one priority, the second priority was how do we stop guns. The technology that i heard you say i mean going north from mexico in, weve got very good technology. Weve got personnel, weve got canines. But if we can do something, and i know you all have been meeting with the mexicans and i know, ive seen some of your folks also do more of that work. But if you have any whole government apreach that we can work on, let me know. I know we had chairwoman nita laurie, and the mexicans told her the same thing, the mexican ambassador said this is a problem. We have to work with atf, dea, the mexican side because we got to stop this guns. If you all can come up with a plan, well be happy to work with a committee, and if we can get the support to, you know, get you any canines or technology, personnel, even if we look at personnel like we did the Border Patrol processing folks that we did for those, where theyre not Law Enforcement, but they can provide assistance. You know, just think outside the box, and see if we can do that. We know the great violence, 80 of the guns the drug cartels use are from america and 40 come from the state of texas. Im a big believer in the Second Amendment but weve got to stop this illegal guns. Ive been at the atf and ive seen the guns. Theyre not little guns, theyre like huge guns, weapons that are being used. Your thoughts. I couldnt agree with everything youve said more. We are looking at this as a whole government approach. Everybody knows here, hey, we can do a weapons op at a certain poe within a couple of hours. Theyre just shifting so it has to be a whole government approach with the investigators, Intelligence Driven approaches. We want to go to the interior, the shops and location in texas thats actually shipping these and actually go to the head of the snake instead of just getting the weapons but make no mistake, weapons are like currency to the cartels, its a huge problem. We are working with the government of mexico. The attorney general has gone there too, and developing a plan as well that is a whole government approach with investigators. Were working with the government of mexico now. We have identified certain strategic locations we want to do these operations. You asked for one thing that could support and it will be interesting to have these ongoing discussions about intelligence analysts, right . Its not that we always need gun toters, but to focus on southbound operations would be a key part of this. Also continue to put pressure on mexico to continue their use of e trace. Yes. Its woefully lacking in the government of mexico, and youre also right, its not just small weapons that are going there. Its pieces and parts and they have gunsmiths in mexico that are getting these pieces and parts and building large weapons. Its a problem. Exactly. We appreciate it. If you can put something together and make it whole. We dont want to just talk about the department of homeland, atf, department of justice. And our friends across, they need and i couldnt agree more. We are working with atf, dea, i think we need to come together, as you said, the whole of government approach together and really look at this from an Intelligence Driven instead of operations. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Get us a plan if you dont mind. Thank you again madame chair. The chairwoman mentioned that many of the Transnational Criminal Organizations are going to be increasing and moving more of their operations to our oceans, to our coast lines. You know, i will never miss the opportunity to kind of talk up our coast guard, who has an awesome National Security mission, as so does your agents falling under the Homeland Security umbrella. Can you speak about your observation and your intercooperation with the coast guard . And it might also be a good time to actually just throw out the joint Interagency Task force south. In key west because that is a perfect example of multiple agencies coming together with multiple nations, working together to eradicate the drug smuggling because those nations that are south of the american border know how disruptive and damaging this smuggling operation is to not just their country but to the region. So i give you an opportunity to speak to that. I completely agree 100 , and i think yesterday it was talked a little bit about in some depth and defense, i think thats correct. We want to stop the drugs before they get to our border. Coast guard is tremendous in that effort, and im proud to say our amo operation will provide more flight hours and support of the coast guard operations than any other agency. I think in the last ten years its somewhere around 63,000 flight hours we provided the coast guard. Last year alone on our side, 300,000 pounds of narcotics were recovered with respect to amo, through the coast guard and some other partners. And it is the model. We use that in other regions as well, and thats why theres a robust amount of funding requested in the 21 budget to upgrade our surveillance equipment and upgrade the outdated systems. A lot of that is going to support the coast guard and Maritime Operations. I had the pleasure of having a classified briefing last week, and two chairs away from me was the cbp officer, one of your guys. You could tell they worked closely because the mission that they have is extremely important, and the coast guard will probably also tell you and you may as well is that the National Security cutter has been a game changer in this. Theyre able to go down there and sometimes the only u. S. Form of naval presence in south and Central America is the United States coast guard and theyre able to stay on position longer and interdict more illicit drugs coming to our nation. And what i would is one of the reasons theyre so effective and productive, its a whole government approach. Its not just coast guard cutters, but its the cbp aircraft, the p3s and other aircraft thats there. Using the same concept, working with other host countries as well. Mexico, and countries in Central America and the Maritime Operations as well to help them providing that capability. They can interdict in the sea as well. Were very proud of what amo is doing. We appreciate everything your agency is doing, and one last remark. Over the past four years, 2 Million Pounds of cocaine has been seized by the United States coast guard. Thats a street value of 26 billion and those nscs that are partaking in this are a lot cheaper. I think they pay for themselves. I think thats why we need more nscs, not less. But we also need the polar security cutter and the offshore cutter. We need all the above approach to fight this. And airplanes and a lot of things cbp needs as well. Thank you mr. Morgan. Mr. Aguilar. Im going to come to back to that in just a minute. Remaining in mexico, mr. Commissioner, during a press conference in november you shared that in september 2019 there were 42,000 individuals that had been sent back to mexico as part of remain in mexico. You gave a larger number i think in your testimony. What was that number . 59,000. 59,000. And i appreciate your willingness you mentioned and i just wrote down get us all the numbers in quotes in response to the chairwomans comments. How many of these individuals are children of the 59,000 . I dont have that number in front of me. We can get that data. We do collect that data and can get that to you. Do we have a tracking system that says what happens to individuals when they are returned back into mexico . Thats a complicated process. Id be more than happy to get more detail on that. Multiple things can happen, when they are returned. Right now we have a 50 noshow rate. We have individuals that just voluntarily return to their country of origin. We have individuals who just drop out of the program and remain in mexico. We dont have the ability to collect that data. Do we acknowledge that individuals are approaching cbp officers and saying that they have been assaulted or attacked . What happens if someone does say that to a cbp . I appreciate the question. Its a great question. Sometimes i think theres a misunderstanding. At any time in the process someone thats enrolled in mpp, any time, they can claim fear at any time. It doesnt matter how long they have been in mpp, how many times they have been brought back for proceedings, they can go to the poe and claim fear at any single time and that process will be administered and that due process the same as it would be any other time. Fear being assault, kidnapping, police officers. Whatever the migrant brings forward, if theyre claiming fear, that will be adjudicated, absolutely. I would take issue with that. Im not certain that that lines up with the data and the information that were hearing. But thats fine. I dont think were going to agree on that today. You mentioned numbers for nii, and this is what i wanted to build off of. 264 million, you mentioned in fy 19. 60, 59 million in fy 20. And this is in addition to the 182 in fy 18. Of the 705 million provided by this committee in the last five years, how much has been spent . I dont have the exact number of how much has been spent. I can get that to you. It goes back to the question earlier is that were trying to be methodical and not just buying technology to spend the money but making sure were getting the right technology, and again were working with companies, working with manufacturers to provide the right kind of technology we need and its working. I believe weve allocated the 18 money, and well probably go through 20 to fy 21 on the fine execution of the 19 funding. Roughly 180 million, the fy 18 money has been allocated and you think the fy 19 and 20 money can be allocated in this fiscal year . No, not this fiscal year. What is fair to say. 2021, well have 2 million to be executed. Its multd year multiple year money. I can get you the numbers on that. We have a plan to execute this. Yes. Do we have a plan to get to 100 . Do we have a plan to get to 80 inspections on cargos as mr. Rutherford mentioned or on trucks . Yes, we do. With the funding that we have, were pretty confident. In vehicles, for example, were at 2 . We think that once you said 2 for cargo as well. 3 for cargo. 16 for commercial. Thats exactly right. You got trucks. So what we think again appreciate all the money for the nii this committee has supported. For example, were expecting to go from 2 to 40 . On the trucks, were going from 16 to 72 . So we do think this investment is going to pay off substantially. And increase our capacity. Were going to need to see plans on how you get there, how you get there faster and how you get beyond the 60 , 70 , i think thats what this committee would like to see. I agreement. Building off of what we heard from my colleagues, and i just want to make sure youre hearing the same thing. I heard mr. Newhouse, the chairwoman, mr. Rutherford and Ranking Member fleishman all mention nii all mention other ways to interdict drugs, not nii, other ways to interdict drugs, whether it be nii or coast guard investments or whether it be new technologies at the ports of entry. Its our responsibility to prioritize the maritime coast guard assets and investments, technology and drones, port technologies, screening of containers and trucks because thats where were actually interdicting the most drugs. Backpacks full of drugs arent getting us there. Weve got to take these larger swaths and make these bigger investments, most of that illegal activity and tonnage. When we dont prioritize a board ewall that i would say is a vanity project and a campaign promise, it isnt because we arent focused on protecting our country, its because there are finite resources and we think some of these other ways are better investments for our dollars. The constitution empowers us to make that decision and that to make that determination. I know you want fee increases, changes, you want more money for different things. That happens when you have trust. You get the flexibility when we trust youre allocating the dollars effectively, and when youre listening to the appropriators on how we should spend this. I would just encourage you to think that through. All of these are important but we cant get there if we dont trust your numbers. Ive taken the classified briefing. You know what else they like . They like the counter drug money that they receive from these interactive drug forces. That was stolen for the border wall. Thank you, madame chair. Thank you, madame chair. Returning to the border wall, a scheme to blow up d as you know, this land has been lived on by the Tohono Oodham. They have sacred burial sites in the region. Id just like to know, what gives us the right to blow up their lands that are so rich in indigenous Cultural Resources and moreover building more wall in this protected National Monument will isolate and reduce rare wildlife species like the jaguar and destroy vital pristine wilderness. Worsen flooding when rivers overflow and some of the cactuses were around before the border existed. I would like to ask you to explain why they were not consulted before you decided to blow up their sacred lands. They have expressed their opposition to what youre doing at the biosphere reserve. First of all i would respectfully object to the category were blowing anything up. My position, maam, i dont believe that that is what i consider that were doing. Youre not doing blasting of mountains or destroying cigaro . I think that we are constructing a border wall system that is desperately needed as part of a multilayer strategy for our National Security. I do not believe what were doing is blowing things up. Im trying to take my time. Im trying to answer your questions. No youre not, youre trying to defend the border wall. I will defend the border wall. Thats not what youre here to do. Youre here to answer our questions. And im trying to. No, youre not. What youre trying to do is defend the border wall, and theres a process that you go through in order to be able to construct a wall. I understand that. And in that process you are destroying mountains, through explosives and you are also destroying sigaro, that are 18 shunting ancient and sacred. So please explain to me why Tohono Oodham were not properly consulted before you decided to blow up, eliminate, destroy, whatever term you want to use, theyre gone, their sacred lands. I think words matter. Thats why i take exception to the word blow up. Answer my question, please. Im trying maam. What i would say is from our perspective, we have consulted with the nation. In what way . Again, we have followed the procedure and followed law. Im more than happy to provide you and this committee and other staffers exactly all of the meetings we have had. Okay. We document those meetings and id be more than happy to provide all that. Lets explore that further before i wait for the documents that usually dont come. Dhs has said youll have a quote environmental monitor present, does that mean youll have someone to watch the environment get blown up . Are you doing anything else to mitigate what is a travesty of Environmental Justice . The reference youre making to supposedly following the law s you have flippantly waiving laws in its name like the endangered species act and tribal sovereignty statutes. Of the 21 times that the real i. D. Act has been invoked to waive federal laws since it was enacted, 16 of those waivers have been invoked by the trump administration. You claim that you respect the tribal sovereignty, as youve just done here, but bones have already been found by border wall construction crews and your administrations own National Park service determined that significant Cultural Resources will be destroyed over the course of ensuing border wall construction. This land was protected for a reason, so id like to, you know, go beyond your words and ask you how it is you think youve actually consulted the Tohono Oodham before you have enacted these waivers because talk is cheap. Im sure you wouldnt like it if the federal government blew up your great grandmothers grave, which is essentially what youve been doing here. I disagree with that. We have not been blowing up graves. You are blowing up sacred lands. How have you complied with the consultation requirements that you have with the tribal government of the Tohono Oodham. There are consultation requirements and there are processes. We have followed those process. What specifically have you done . We cant just go on a land. There is a process. We have to go there im asking you specifically what you have done. And im trying to answer the question. Youre just telling me you consulted. How . In what way . We have had meetings, we go into these individuals like we would any landowner, and we first start off with asking for voluntary permission to go to the land, right, and we tell them, and we show them what we want to do, how we want to do it, where we want to do it. There have been times we come across issues and we go and consult with them and we have. And i can provide you that documentation. Have you given them any cooperation or mitigation or just spoken words to them, and then done what you wanted anyway, waived the real id act, and proceeded. We are working with them. They strenuously disagree that you are working with them, so my strong suggestion is that you communicate with them so that you are maybe more on the same page because right now youre just blowing up their sacred lands. Im committed to work with them. They disagree. Well follow up. Actions speak louder than words. Thank you, madame chair, i yield back. Mr. Cuellar. Mr. Morgan, i want to say thank you so much for working with us on the humanitarian care center for the Rio Grande Valley, the 40 million we appreciate. You understand why its so important to do that, so thank you for doing that, and also thank you for the requests also for the 27. 4 million for the construction of the air marinas, you know exactly whats happening there in laredo. Significant. Appreciate that. I just have to ask you, of course, about the wall. Real quickly, all i ask is to make sure you look at the language that the Appropriations Committee had about taking into consideration community and Environmental Concerns at the border. Appreciate what youre doing working with the bulkhead in laredo. I want to say thank you because yall have been outstanding on that part. I appreciate it. The other one around my area is san ignacio. San ignacio is the oldest town in zapata and they have a u. S. National register of historic its part of the u. S. Register of historic places. U. S. National historic landmarks, recorded texas landmark also. At the laredo college, i think today, theres a Board Meeting where the army corps is going to ask, of course, the request for access, and i think your folks have sent that also. And there is a Historic Board ft. Mcintosh there that was established many years to protect the area there. To coordinating and trying come up with reasonable compromises and committed to doing that. We spoke to the governor and hes willing to do the same thing. It will be an International Riverwalk like they have in san antonio if it gets to that point on that. Thank you very much. Thank you to your men and women also. Before we end the hearing, i want to strongly emphasize the importance of an important and transparent relationship between the subcommittee and each component within the department of Homeland Security. You made a commitment to provide information to the committee on the following issues, many of which this committee has been requesting repeatedly for months. Im just going to outline them. I know you have staff here. First, doe tailed descriptions for each of the new pathways for removal programs. Second number of migrants in each program that we also included in the 2020 appropriations that has not yet been filled. Third, the information mr. Price consider requested on metering. And i note our fy 2020 bill also had a requirement for a report on metering that has not been provided to date. This information really does impact how we make resource allegations decisions. So we look forward to getting meanful, accurate and complete information from you. And i look forward to continuing to work with you on some of the issues that i still believe that basically, there are areas of disagreement but our main be ottive of protecting our country, theres no difference in that nor is there any difference in the terms of the willingness of this subcommittee, including myself, to make sure we do everything you can and make sure you have the resources to do everything that needs to be done to fulfill your mission. I thank you for being here and look forward to working with you. If you dont mind, i would like to comment on the open and transparent. I completely agree. I think thats one thing for cbp we need to get better at. We need to be more responsive, timely and making sure wee giving you the information we need in your quest. We need to get better than that. I promise you, im committed to doing that for all of those reasons. Appreciate that. Thank you. Hearing is adjourned. Thank you. [ talking in background ] watch our Live Campaign 2020 super tuesday coverage of the president ial primaries and caucuses from 14 states, including alabama, arkansas, california, maine, massachusetts, minnesota, north carolina, oklahoma, tennessee, texas, utah, vermont and virginia, with candidate speeches and results. Coverage begins tuesday live 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan. Org, or listen from wherever you are on the cspan3 radio app. There are really a lot of ways to follow this highly competitive election season on the cspan networks but probably the fapest astest and easiest i the web at cspan. Org. We have our interactive calendar with the result maps with primaries and caucuses including super tuesday. 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