I recognize myself for opening statement. In five weeks time, the Inspector General released two alerts detailing dangerous conditions at u. S. Customs and Border Protection facilities in texas. According to the ig, at some of the facilities conditions are so bad that they require immediate attention and action. The first alert focused on the detention of single adults and detailed, quote, dangerous holding conditions at the el paso processing center. Unfortunately this report was not a surprise to me and my colleagues, along with vice chair, i visited the same facility a few months ago. Even then, conditions we observed were unacceptable. Women, children, families were either outside waiting to enter the facility, shoved into overcrowded cells, or sitting in hallways. Prior to the visit, we understood hundreds of families were housed outside for days in a tent behind the Border Patrol facility. We expected to meet with them, but to our surprise, the tent was empty. It was not until af