[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
FAILURE BY DESIGN: EXAMINING SECRETARY MAYORKAS' BORDER CRISIS
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MARCH 15, 2023
__________
Serial No. 118-3
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
52-122 PDF WASHINGTON : 2023
__________
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi,
Clay Higgins, Louisiana Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Dan Bishop, North Carolina Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida Eric Swalwell, California
August Pfluger, Texas J. Luis Correa, California
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Tony Gonzales, Texas Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Nick LaLota, New York Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Mike Ezell, Mississippi Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Anthony D'Esposito, New York Robert Garcia, California
Laurel M. Lee, Florida Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Morgan Luttrell, Texas Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Dale W. Strong, Alabama Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma Dina Titus, Nevada
Elijah Crane, Arizona
Stephen Siao, Staff Director
Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Chief Clerk
Sean Jones, Legislative Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
STATEMENTS
The Honorable Mark E. Green, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Tennessee, and Chairman, Committee of Homeland
Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 4
WITNESSES
Panel I
Mr. Raul L. Ortiz, Chief, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 7
Prepared Statement............................................. 10
Mr. Steve W. Cagen, Assistant Director, Countering Transnational
Organized Crime, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement:
Oral Statement................................................. 13
Prepared Statement............................................. 15
Panel II
Colonel Steven C. McCraw, Director, Texas Department of Public
Safety:
Oral Statement................................................. 45
Prepared Statement............................................. 47
Sheriff Brad Coe, Kinney County Sheriff's Office, Brackettville,
Texas:
Oral Statement................................................. 49
Prepared Statement............................................. 50
Mr. Chris Cabrera, Vice President, National Border Patrol
Council:
Oral Statement................................................. 52
Prepared Statement............................................. 54
FAILURE BY DESIGN: EXAMINING SECRETARY MAYORKAS' BORDER CRISIS
----------
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Pharr, TX.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:06 p.m. Central
time, at South Texas College Regional Center for Public Safety
Excellence, 3901 S. Cage Blvd. Pharr, Texas, Hon. Mark E. Green
(Chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Green, Higgins, Guest, Bishop,
Gimenez, Pfluger, Greene, LaLota, Lee of Florida, Luttrell,
Strong, and Brecheen.
Also present: Representative De La Cruz.
Chairman Green. The committee will come to order.
Without objection, the committee may recess at any point.
The purpose of this field hearing is to break out of the
bubble in Washington and speak to a variety of leaders who
oversee those on the ground dealing with Secretary Mayorkas'
crisis at our Southwest Border on a daily basis.
I now recognize myself for an opening statement.
Good morning, and welcome to the Committee on Homeland
Security's field hearing in Pharr, Texas.
We came to Texas for this hearing for several reasons: To
get Members of Congress and their staff out of the cubicles
back in Washington and down here to the border to see it for
ourselves. You cannot read about being a doctor and then go do
brain surgery. My life experience has taught me, whether it was
as an Army Infantry commander, or a physician needing a CT scan
before deciding a treatment plan or the CEO of my company, it
takes the leader getting on the ground, seeing what's going on
to make well-informed decisions.
We also want the people on the border to know that Congress
cares, that we see the plight of your communities.
Now, this was supposed to be a full committee, but as you
can see, the Democrats are not here. They decided to not show.
Why? Well, they said coming here was just a political stunt.
You tell me. Taking a hearing to the point of the crisis for a
first-hand view, or boycotting a hearing because you know we're
going to shine a light on the truth, which of those is the
political stunt? I'd say the political stunt is these empty
chairs.
The Democrats also talk about bipartisanship, how this
committee is supposed to be a bipartisan committee. I guess for
them, bipartisanship is only when you agree exactly with them.
To me, bipartisanship is where you sit down together and debate
the issues and talk to try to find common ground and solutions.
You can't have bipartisanship if the other side fails to
show up for their duty. In the Army, when someone didn't show
up, we called them AWOL, or absent without leave. Their place
of duty is at this hearing, because it's a full hearing.
They're not here, they're AWOL.
Now for the reasons why we're here. Why is this crisis
happening? Most of us here today are well aware of the tragedy
at the border: 4.7 million encounters, 1.3 million got-aways.
We don't know who those people are, where they are. But in the
encounter number, we know drug seizures are up, individuals on
the terrorist watch list are up, all at record numbers, 6
million people.
In just the 2 years of Secretary Mayorkas' reign at DHS,
more people have come into this country than all of the 8 years
of Barack Obama's Presidency and all 4 years of the Trump
Presidency combined. Why? What's happened? What changed? Now,
some may think it's the money. We hear it from the left, not
today, of course, but we hear it from the left that more money
will fix this issue. But the budget didn't go away. It didn't
go way down when Mayorkas was confirmed as Secretary. In fact,
it went up. A lack of money didn't cause this massive, sudden
surge.
Some may think it's the numbers of Border Patrol agents. If
we only had more agents sitting on the border, this wouldn't
happen. Well, when Secretary Mayorkas took over, we didn't
suddenly cut the ranks of the Border Patrol. They have roughly
the same number as the last administration. So clearly, the
size of the Border Patrol is not the reason for the massive
surge in people, crime, and drugs. Not that we don't need more
Border Patrol agents and not that we can't put money in certain
places.
Some say it's technology, the systems. Perhaps it's the
wall, or the absence of a wall. But, in all honesty, we didn't
tear any wall down between the administrations. Granted, they
stopped the production, but we didn't tear the wall down. Yet
the people poured across the Southern Border, excess of 6
million people. Why?
The only thing that changed were 89 successful migration
policies implemented by previous administrations, and I mean
administrations, plural.
It seems like the migrant protection protocols, also known
as Remain in Mexico, subversion of the actual laws written by
Congress, which required attention, the policies working to
deter crossings were offensive to this administration.
The companies that actually have the ICE detention
contracts, companies like CoreCivic, tell me that they actually
have a capacity of 25,000 people, yet ICE is only sending them
about 8,000. You'd think that during the middle of a massive
surge of people, those detention beds would be at capacity. Why
aren't they?
They aren't detaining because Mayorkas knows that detention
is deterrence. So, they're just processing people in, paroling
them right away and sending them into our country. The phone
calls go back to the countries of origin, telling their friends
and families, Come on, the door is open.
The Interim Final Rule is a rule that Secretary Mayorkas is
trying to change and actually remove the Judiciary branch from
the decision making on asylum, even though Congress passed the
laws many, many years ago that said that Judiciary is to be
involved.
Why would Secretary Mayorkas want to do away with the
Judiciary? Why would he want to subvert laws written by this
body, the Congress? It's because they want more people to come
into the country.
Now their solution is an app, where whomever fills it out
just automatically gets parole when they show up at the
crossing site. That is in total contravention to what the law
is passed by Congress about how people are to enter this
country. I can see it now. Some drug cartel coyote, Hey, for an
additional fee we'll fill the app out for you.
Secretary Mayorkas' budget, a detailed analysis of it shows
they're not doing anything to increase Border Patrol in any
significant amount, or increase technology. All it does is
increase the funds--and I'm talking about billions of dollars--
to process and ship people all over the United States. That's
where they're asking for more money.
If you talk to the sector chiefs, they're going to tell you
that you can't return people back to their countries, because
the State Department has not renegotiated the return
agreements. Why would the State Department not continue those
agreements? It's because they want more people coming here in
mass waves.
It's clear to me, in violation to the laws written by the
U.S. Congress, passed and signed by previous Presidents, this
Secretary of DHS wants nothing more than to flood the country
with people.
The problem with that is it's empowered the narco, human
trafficking, terrorist cartels, the drug cartels who just
captured and killed a couple of Americans and are making
billions--billions--bringing people into the United States,
many of whom, once they're here, have to pay the cartels back
with forced criminal labor.
The cartels put out advertisements all over the world,
$50,000 if you're coming from China; $30,000 if you're coming
from Iran, $10- to $15,000 if you're coming from Central
America. Then they flood those people in mass waves, just like
we saw in El Paso this week, compelling the Border Patrol to
focus its resources at the points of entry. To use a military
term, the cartels are neutralizing Customs and Border Patrol by
forcing them to thin the lines in the rural areas. Then the
fentanyl and the nefarious individuals they're trafficking into
the United States come across in the rural areas.
Let's look at this El Paso mass wave that attempted to come
across. It required a massive response from Customs and Border
Patrol, concentrating our forces in their diversionary attack.
I can only imagine what they snuck around the ports of entry
while those agents were blocking the mass waves of people. You
should go check out what the Twitter feed actually said or what
the social media posts actually said. It was from the cartels.
In one sector on our border that is 30 miles long, normally
200 agents patrol that area. It's down to 7 men and women
pulling 3 shifts a day to cover 30 miles. Why? Because the
agents are moved to other parts of the border where their mass
waves are coming.
Look at Yuma, great example. The video cameras placed by
ranchers on the border show the cartel members in camouflage
outfits wearing carpet shoes and backpacks full of fentanyl
pouring into our country. Those folks aren't counted in the
numbers.
So why 6 million people now? Why 100,000 dead Americans to
drugs like fentanyl? Why massive crime on our border cities and
now throughout all cities of this country? Why is every city
and every State made into a border State? Because of the
decisions, because of the incompetence, and because of the
dishonesty of the Department of Homeland Secretary, Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas.
We're here to show the American people why. We're here to
find solutions to this problem, despite a President who laughed
when talking about a mother who lost two children to fentanyl,
to a Secretary of DHS who seems to be OK with, one sector
alone, 25 to 30 Chinese nationals being released into the
country with verified connections to the Chinese Communist
Party and the Chinese Army. That's happening.
You'd think with the situation so dire, that the Democrats
would at least show up for the committee hearing. It's tragic
that they aren't. That's the political stunt.
You'd think, with so many Americans dying as fentanyl pours
into our country, as the drug cartels take operational control
of our border, that Secretary Mayorkas would come up with
something different than an app that further incentivizes
people to pour into the country. But no.
The failure at the Southern Border is not about money, it's
not about numbers of Border Patrol agents, not about
technology, although all of those things are needed and we can
do more and will do more. This massive crisis, this human
tragedy is the result of decisions and the incompetence of this
Secretary. I believe our hearing today will begin to show the
process of how this has happened and why.
I want to take a second before I conclude and thank the men
and women of Customs and Border Patrol, and thank our witnesses
who are here today. They are doing yeoman's work.
I'm going to come off my--I'm going to take Chairman's
privilege, Members, for just a second. As somebody who's been
shot at in combat, I can tell you--who's lost friends in
combat, I can tell you I understand a little. I don't
understand a lot of it, because you're looking for sometimes a
needle in a haystack. Your rules of engagement are
significantly different than ours were, but I know what it's
like to have the tracer rounds coming at you. I deeply, deeply
appreciate your service and the service of the men and women
who work for you. It is impressive what they do every day,
despite these unbelievable challenges that have been forced on
them.
Thank you all for being here. Thank you. That ends my
statement.
[The statement of Chairman Green follows:]
Statement of Chairman Mark E. Green
Good morning, and welcome to the Committee on Homeland Security's
field hearing in Pharr, Texas.
We came to Texas for this hearing for several reasons. To get
Members of Congress and their staff out of the cubicles back in
Washington, and down here to the border to see it for ourselves. You
cannot read about being a doctor, and then go do brain surgery. My life
experience has taught me, whether it was as an Army infantry commander,
or a physician needing a CT scan before deciding a treatment plan, or
the CEO of my company, it takes the leader getting on the ground,
seeing what's going on to make well-informed decisions.
We also want the people on the border to know that Congress cares.
That we see the plight of your communities.
This was supposed to be a full committee, but as you can see the
Democrats are not here. They decided not to show, why? Well, they said
coming here was a political stunt. You tell me, taking a hearing to the
point of the crisis for a first-hand view, or boycotting a hearing
because you know we are going to shine a light on the truth? Which of
those is a political stunt? I'd say the political stunt is those empty
chairs.
The Democrats also talk about bipartisanship, how this committee is
supposed to be a bipartisan committee. I guess for them bipartisanship
is only when you agree exactly with them.
To me, bipartisanship is where you sit down together and debate the
issues and talk to try to find common ground. You can't have
bipartisanship if the other side fails to show up for their duty.
Now, in the Army when someone didn't show up, we called them AWOL--
absent without leave. Their place of duty is in this hearing because it
is a full hearing. And they are not here. They are AWOL.
And now to the reason we are here. Why is this crisis happening?
Most of us here today are well aware of the tragedy at the border.
Four-point-seven million encounters, 1.3 million ``got-aways''--we
don't know who those people are, where they are, but in the encounter
number we know drug seizures are up, individuals on the terrorist watch
list are up. All at record numbers. Six million people. In just the 2
years of Secretary Mayorkas' reign at DHS, more people have come into
this country than all of the 8 years of the Obama presidency and all 4
years of the Trump presidency combined.
Why? What's happened? What changed?
Some may think it's the money--we hear it from the left, not today
of course, but we hear it from the left, that more money will fix this
issue. But the budget didn't go way down when Mayorkas got confirmed as
Secretary, it went up--a lack of money did not cause this massive,
sudden surge.
Some may think it's the numbers of Border Patrol agents. If we only
had more agents sitting on the border this wouldn't happen. Well, when
Secretary Mayorkas took over, we didn't suddenly cut the ranks of the
Border Patrol. They have roughly the same number as the last
administration. So clearly the size of the Border Patrol is not the
reason for this massive surge in people, crime, and drugs. Not that we
don't need more Border Patrol agents, and not that we can't put money
in certain places.
Some say it's the technology, the systems, perhaps it's the wall or
the absence of a wall. But in all honesty, we didn't tear any wall down
between the administrations. Granted they stopped the production, but
we didn't tear wall down. Yet the people poured across the Southern
Border in excess of 6 million people. Why?
The only thing that changed were 89 successful migration control
policies implemented by the previous administrations, and I mean
administrations plural.
Seems like the Migrant Protection Protocols, ``Remain in Mexico,''
subversion of the actual laws written by Congress which required
detention, the policies working to deter crossings were offensive to
this administration.
The companies that actually have the ICE detention contracts,
companies like CoreCivic, tell me that they have a capacity of 25,000
people. Yet, ICE is only sending them about 8,000. You would think that
during the middle of a massive surge of people those detention beds
would be at capacity.
Why aren't they? They aren't detaining because Mayorkas knows that
detention is deterrence. And so they're just processing people in,
paroling them right away, and sending them into our country. And the
phone calls go back to those countries of origin, telling their friends
and families, ``come on, the door is wide open.''
The interim final rule is a rule that Secretary Mayorkas is trying
to change and actually remove the Judiciary Branch from the decision
making on asylum. Even though Congress passed the laws many, many years
ago that said the Judiciary is to be involved. Why would Secretary
Mayorkas want to do away with the Judiciary? Why would he want to
subvert laws written by this body, the Congress? It's because they want
more people to come into the country.
And now their solution is an app, where whoever fills it out just
automatically gets parole when they show up at a crossing site. That is
in total contravention to what the laws passed by Congress about how
people are to enter our country. I can see it now, some drug cartel
coyote, ``hey, for an additional fee, we will fill the app out for
you.''
Secretary Mayorkas' budget--a detailed analysis of it shows you
that they're not doing anything to increase Border Patrol in any
significant amount or increase technology. All the increases in funds,
and I'm talking about billions of dollars, to process and ship people
all over the United States. That's where they're asking for more money.
If you talk to the sector chiefs, they're going to tell you that
they can't return people back to their countries because the State
Department has not renegotiated the return agreements. Why would the
State Department not continue those agreements? It's because they want
people coming here in mass waves.
It is clear to me, in violation of the laws written by the U.S.
Congress, passed and signed by previous Presidents, this Secretary of
DHS wants nothing more than to flood the country with people. And the
problem with that is, it has empowered the narco-human trafficking
terrorist cartels. The drug cartels who just captured and killed a
couple of Americans and are making billions bringing people into the
United States, many of whom once they're here have to pay the cartels
back with forced criminal labor.
The cartels put out advertisements all over the world, $50,000 if
you're coming from China, $30,000 if you're coming from Iran, $10-
$15,000 if you're coming from Central America. They then flood those
people in mass waves just like we saw in El Paso this week, compelling
the Border Patrol to focus its resources at the ports of entry. To use
a military term, the cartels are neutralizing Customs and Border Patrol
by forcing them to thin the lines in the rural areas. Then the fentanyl
and the nefarious folks that they are trafficking into the United
States come across in rural areas.
Let's look at the El Paso mass wave that attempted to come across.
It required a massive response from Customs and Border Patrol,
concentrating our forces in a diversionary attack. I can only imagine
what they snuck around the ports of entry while those agents were
blocking the mass wave of people.
In one sector on our border that is 30 miles long, normally 200
agents patrol that area. It's down to 7 men and women pulling 3 shifts
a day to cover 30 miles. Why? Because the agents are moved to other
parts of the border where the mass waves are coming. Look at Yuma,
great example. And the video cameras placed by ranchers on the border
show cartel members in camouflage outfits, wearing carpet shoes and
backpacks full of fentanyl, pouring into our country. And those folks
aren't counted in the numbers.
So why 6 million people now? Why 100,000 dead Americans to drugs
like fentanyl? Why massive crime at our border cities and now
throughout all the cities of this country? Why is every city in every
State made into a border State? Because of the decisions, because of
the incompetence, and the dishonesty of the Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
We're here to show the American people why. We are here to find
solutions to this problem despite a President laughed when talking
about a mother lost 2 children to fentanyl. To a Secretary of DHS who
seems to be OK with, in one sector alone, 25 to 30 Chinese nationals
being released into the country with verified connections to the
Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese army. That's happening.
You would think with the situation so dire that the Democrats would
at least show up for this committee hearing. It is tragic that they
aren't here. That's the political stunt.
You'd think, with so many Americans dying as fentanyl pours into
our country, as the drug cartels take operational control of our
border, that Secretary Mayorkas would come up with something different
than an app that further incentivizes people to pour into the country.
But no. The failure at the Southern Border is not about money, it's not
about the numbers of Border Patrol agents, not about technology,
although all of those things are needed, and we can do more and will do
more. This massive crisis, this human tragedy, is the result of
decisions and the incompetence of this Secretary. And I believe our
hearing today will begin to show the process of how this has happened,
and why.
I want to take a second before I conclude and thank the men and
women of Customs and Border Patrol and thank our witnesses who are here
today. They are doing yeoman's work. As somebody who has been shot at
in combat, who has lost friends in combat, I understand a little. But I
know what it's like to have the tracer rounds coming at you. But I
deeply appreciate your service and the service of the men and women who
work for you. It is impressive what they do every day despite these
unbelievable challenges that have been forced on them.
Chairman Green. Now, we're pleased to have--and let me say
this line that I'm required to say. Other Members of the
committee are reminded that opening statements may be submitted
for the record.
We're pleased to have two distinguished panels of witnesses
before us today on this very important topic.
I ask that our first panel of witnesses rise and raise
their right hand.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give
before this Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of
Representatives will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?
Chief Ortiz. I do.
Mr. Cagen. I do.
Chairman Green. Thank you. Let the record reflect that the
witnesses have answered in the affirmative.
I'd like to now formally introduce our first panel of
witnesses.
Raul Ortiz has served as the 25th chief of the United
States Border Patrol since August 2021. He oversees domestic
border security operations outside of the ports of entry,
including over 5,000 miles at our Northern Border and nearly
2,000 miles at our Southern Border.
He leads more than 20,000 Border Patrol agents and
professional staff across the country in protecting our
homeland, and we thank him for his leadership and his efforts
to keep us safe.
Steven Cagen serves as the assistant director for homeland
security investigations and leads the efforts to combat
transnational organized crime. Mr. Cagen has worked on drug and
arms trafficking and money laundering operations across our
country and in Mexico over the long and accomplished 25-year
career. We thank him for his service and we look forward to
your valuable insights today.
I thank all of our witnesses for being here today. The
witnesses' full statements will appear in the record, of
course, as usual.
I now recognize Chief Ortiz for his opening 5-minute
statement.
STATEMENT OF RAUL L. ORTIZ, CHIEF, U.S. BORDER PATROL, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Chief Ortiz. Thank you, Chairman and committee Members.
Thank you for the opportunity to represent the men and
women of the United States Border Patrol and speak with you on
the critical issue of border security. National security,
enforcing our law, conducting humanitarian and rescue missions
are not just a job. It is our sworn duty to secure our country
and protect our communities.
I am honored to serve as the 25th Chief of the United
States Border Patrol. As a third-generation veteran of the
Armed Forces, I come from a family that was called to serve in
uniform. My career spans more than three decades, from Border
Patrol agent to leadership assignments all along the Southwest
Border, along with two tours in Afghanistan and multiple stints
in Washington, DC.
While the operational demands of the Border Patrol shifted
over the course of my career, one thing remains absolute, which
is the dedication, professionalism, courage, and conviction of
the men and women of the Border Patrol. Every day that I get to
put this uniform on fills me with tremendous pride, and it will
remain my greatest honor.
It is well-documented in the data and covered in the media
that the last several years were some of the busiest in Border
Patrol history. In fiscal year 2021, over 1.6 million migrants
were encountered; in fiscal year 2022, over 2.2 million; and so
far this year we have seen over 900,000 encounters.
The migration flow represents challenges, and in some
areas, a crisis situation. In the past 30 years, I have
physically served in almost all the locations that experienced
migrant surges, to include San Diego, El Centro, and the Rio
Grande Valley in the nineties; Arizona in the early 2000's;
and, again, in Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio during the last 10
years. Challenges and crises are nothing new to the Border
Patrol, and I am incredibly proud of our personnel as well as
our many partners.
Now, unlike in previous surges, we are seeing traffic,
including large groups, spread across multiple locations
instead of just one or two specific sectors. This places a
tremendous strain on Border Patrol resources and our
operational posture.
For a long time, investments to support border security
operations have been structured around a three-legged stool:
personnel, infrastructure, and technology. But changing
conditions require a fourth leg, which is a processing
enterprise. In just the last few years did we really start to
invest in that fourth leg.
The processing enterprise is critical in addressing current
operational challenges, and we are making significant
investments, to include Border Patrol process coordinators,
electronic A-File processing, our Unified Immigration Portal
and contract services, allowing agents to return to the field
and patrol the border.
When traffic shifts rapidly, I cannot adjust operations
swiftly. When I reallocate resources and manpower, it comes at
a cost to other locations. Today's border environment requires
a whole-of-Government solution, to include international
engagements, resourcing, and consequences, which could be in
the form of legislative or policy adjustments. That is where I
ask for your help. We need more options.
Before I close, I would like to address three issues that I
am frequently asked about: First, our Horse Patrol Units. As a
former Horse Patrol agent, I can attest to how vital Horse
Patrol Units are in responding to remote and harsh locations.
Last year's mass migration event in Del Rio was chaotic. We
had over 20,000 people show up in one place in a short period
of time. Even so, we were able to provide food, water, and
medical care without a single loss of life. I remain proud of
the work of our Horse Patrol Units and what we did in Del Rio.
As the chief of the Border Patrol, I am ultimately
responsible for all operational decisions. To that point, and
as a senior field commander during that response, I accepted
and continue to accept full responsibility for the actions
taken.
Second, I am extremely proud of the 190 agents that
responded to the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary
School in Uvalde, Texas. Our agents ultimately made entry into
the classroom, engaged the shooter, and provided critical
medical care. We were there as a partner to our local and State
counterparts, and did everything we could to support them. I
continue to champion those who demonstrated heroism to preserve
life and render aid to that day.
Finally, I'm often asked about the morale and well-being of
our work force. You have recognized the tremendous strain and
pressure the border security situation has caused our
personnel. We have seen a rise in suicides. Tragically, 17 CBP
employees lost their lives to suicide in 2022. I often worry
about the well-being of our employees, and I appreciate
Congress' support for our resiliency programs.
While our mission and our agents continue to be the
recipients of negative rhetoric, our resolve has never wavered.
As a law enforcement organization, we strive to serve our
communities, families, and fellow citizens with pride. Our
national strategy is centered around organizational excellence,
working with our partners, and building capacity to counter the
criminal organizations and cartels operating in the border
environment.
Again, thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to
your questions, sir.
[The prepared statement of Chief Ortiz follows:]
Prepared Statement of Raul L. Ortiz
March 15, 2023
introduction
Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and Members of the
committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the U.S. Border
Patrol's (USBP) critical operations at the Southwest Border. I am
honored to appear today and represent the dedicated and talented men
and women of USBP. As an operational component of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (CBP), USBP is committed to enforcing the Nation's
laws, protecting our national security, keeping dangerous drugs and
people from crossing our borders, and providing safe and humane
conditions for those in our custody.
Since 1924, USBP has been entrusted with protecting the American
people and promoting economic prosperity through our border and
national security mission. Despite the myriad threats that we have
confronted throughout our history, including smuggling, irregular
migration, and terrorism, we continually learn, evolve, and mature to
ensure excellence in protecting the homeland with professionalism while
maintaining public trust.
Current State of the Border
Evolving global and regional events continue to produce challenging
conditions and trends along the Southwest Border that directly affect
USBP's border security operations. Most notably, we continue to respond
to elevated levels of migrant encounters and adapt to changing migrant
demographics, while also addressing the on-going and dynamic threat of
transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).
Historically, most migrants USBP encountered were from Mexico and
northern Central America. However, dynamic conditions along the
Southwest Border indicate a changing demographic, one in which
individuals and family units are migrating from countries much farther
away. In fiscal year 2022, USBP encountered 2,214,652 migrants from 174
countries. In fiscal year 2023 to date,\1\ USBP encountered 770,175
migrants from 142 countries.
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\1\ As of January 31, 2023.
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USBP is committed to the safe and humane processing of all
encountered migrants while also preventing the entry of illegal drugs
and dangerous persons. In fiscal year 2022, USBP intercepted and seized
111,737 pounds of illegal drugs, including 18,348 pounds of
methamphetamine, 12,469 pounds of cocaine, and 2,207 pounds of
fentanyl.\2\ USBP also encountered 12,028 subjects who had records of
criminal histories, including 62 with homicide or manslaughter
convictions and 365 with sexual offense convictions. We have ensured,
and continue to ensure, that before any individual is released from
USBP custody, he or she is vetted and screened and is determined not to
pose a public safety or national security risk.
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\2\ https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics.
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Increased numbers of migrants in USBP custody, combined with
migrant demographics that make it more difficult to remove them from
the United States due to complicated diplomatic relations with the
country of removal, have led to logistical and operational challenges,
especially concerning capacity constraints and care of migrants in
processing facilities. However, USBP continues to work with our
partners to help ensure efficient processing of all migrants in our
custody.
While irregular migration levels have remained elevated for several
years, there has been a marked decrease since the announcement of new
border enforcement measures in January 2023.
Following the January 5, 2023, implementation of the new parole
processes for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and expansion of the
process for Venezuelans announced in October 2022, overall encounters
of migrants at the Southwest Border declined. USBP encounters of
individuals who entered the country between ports of entry at the
Southwest Border in January 2023 totaled 128,410, down 42 percent from
221,675 in December 2022. This is the lowest monthly amount of USBP
encounters since February 2021, when encounters began to increase
following the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on migration.
Encounters have remained at similarly low levels in February.
USBP's ability to manage migrant flow has vastly improved through
investments in personnel, facilities, processing efficiencies, and
technological improvements. USBP also draws on past experience with
migrant surges and other challenges as it plans for and adapts to
emerging conditions to ensure we can remain focused on our border
security mission.
improving processing capabilities
Once the Title 42 public health order ultimately ends, USBP will
continue to use its full range of immigration authorities under Title 8
of the U.S. Code to process migrants encountered at the border, as we
have done throughout our agency's history. Under Title 8, noncitizens
who enter the United States without authorization are placed into
appropriate immigration proceedings, including expedited removal or
proceedings before an immigration judge where they may make a claim for
asylum or other protection.
USBP has accelerated on-going efforts to improve processing
operations by deploying additional non-uniformed support personnel;
expanding capacity and improving conditions at processing facilities;
investing in virtual and mobile processing technologies; and
strengthening coordination with partner agencies and organizations.
These initiatives expand USBP's capabilities and streamline operations
to ensure the safe and humane processing of migrants while also
relieving agents of non-enforcement duties.
Increasing Non-Uniformed Support Personnel
USBP deployed the first class of Border Patrol Processing
Coordinators (BPPCs) in April 2021 to better meet the demands of
processing noncitizens. BPPCs support Border Patrol agents with
humanitarian care and intake processing of noncitizens and provide
administrative and logistical support related to data entry and filing,
personal property management, transportation, and welfare checks. These
BPPCs have allowed agents to return to field work more quickly. To
date, USBP has 961 BPPCs on board with more finalizing training and
deployment. We have also expanded the use of contract personnel along
the Southwest Border to include 429 contract security personnel for the
Centralized Processing Centers (CPCs) and 565 contracted processors to
handle data entry and management tasks; another 376 are pending
deployment.
Expanding Facilities and Services
USBP continues to increase facility capacity and add short-term
facilities at key border locations to reduce over-crowding and
accommodate varying demographics of migrants encountered crossing the
Southwest Border. CBP reopened the Rio Grande Valley CPC in McAllen,
Texas, in March 2022 after extensive renovations which dramatically
improved CBP's ability to process migrants encountered at the border in
a safe, orderly, and humane manner.
Additionally, CBP announced the opening of a new soft-sided
facility in El Paso, Texas, on January 11, 2023, which provides
additional processing capacity for USBP's El Paso Sector. The facility
is weatherproof, climate-controlled, and provides ample areas for
eating, sleeping, and personal hygiene. Another soft-sided facility
opened in the San Diego Sector on January 31. The new soft-sided
facilities include wrap-around service contracts that provide
sanitation, janitorial, food, and medical services necessary to ensure
appropriate conditions for migrants and USBP personnel.
The renovation of the McAllen CPC and opening of new soft-sided
facilities are part of CBP's broader goal to safely process individuals
CBP encounters, as well as increase capacity and improve facility
conditions for migrants, agents, officers, and processing coordinators.
We are also maximizing the use of air and ground transportation to move
migrants from USBP Sectors that are over capacity to other less
impacted CBP locations.
Investing in Virtual and Mobile Processing Technologies
Working with our partners, USBP is mobilizing and shifting
personnel in anticipation of potential migration surges at the
Southwest Border, providing resources to areas with the most need. USBP
is also investing in virtual and mobile processing technologies that
are making processing functions more efficient, allowing USBP to enlist
the support of agents outside the Southwest Border region without
requiring them to be physically present.
A key aspect of USBP's efforts to streamline processing operations
is the Electronic Alien File (commonly referred to as an ``A-File'').
The initiative to make the A-File electronic will enable CBP, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) to share and maintain a single file in a
digital environment. USBP recently completed the first phase of its
implementation of the end-to-end digital A-file for subjects processed
for a Notice to Appear (NTA). Based on the success of the first phase,
USBP is planning to continue implementation of the fully digital A-file
for the NTA disposition Nation-wide in the coming months and to expand
this capability to additional processes in the future. This transition
will modernize USBP operations and lead to fully digital subject
processing.
CBP will also increase access to, and promote use of, the Unified
Immigration Portal (UIP), a centralized location where relevant
immigration-related data from multiple agencies involved in the
immigration process can be accessed. The platform delivers mission-
critical information to users through dashboards, services, and data
integration capabilities, facilitating expeditious processing of
subjects and increasing visibility for interagency operations during
surges.
Coordinating with Partners
Although a critical component, the USBP is only one part of the
larger border security enterprise, and collaboration with our
partners--foreign and domestic--multiplies the effectiveness of our
border security. It is our responsibility to ensure we coordinate, as
appropriate, operations with our partners to maximize their impact,
while avoiding unnecessary disruptions or conflicts.
While the current border challenges are unprecedented in many ways,
so too are the collaboration and joint efforts to address changing
border conditions. USBP is a key component of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS)-led strategy to ensure a comprehensive and
deliberative response to current and emerging conditions along our
Southwest Border. The strategy involves surging resources; increasing
efficiency to reduce strain on the border; employing an aggressive
consequence regime; coordinating with non-governmental organizations
(NGO's) in conjunction with State and local partners; targeting cartels
and smugglers; and working with our regional partners. USBP is a key
partner agency in DHS's Border Enforcement Security Task Force, which
seeks to eliminate the barriers between Federal and local
investigations, close the gap with international partners in
multinational criminal investigations, and create an environment that
minimizes the vulnerabilities in our operations that TCOs have
traditionally capitalized on to exploit our Nation's land and sea
borders. This comprehensive plan leverages a whole-of-government
approach to prepare for and manage the current level and possible
future increases in encounters of migrants at our Southwest Border.
USBP will continue to work with the DHS Southwest Border
Coordination Center's Movement Coordination Cell (MCC), a standing
interagency group charged with overseeing expedited processing and
transfer of unaccompanied children and other vulnerable individuals out
of CBP custody. The MCC, comprised of DHS personnel from CBP and ICE,
as well as personnel from the Department of Health and Human Services'
Office of Refugee Resettlement, was formed to facilitate communication
and problem-solving among U.S. Government agencies to specifically
address the flow of vulnerable populations. In addition, USBP
appreciates critical ground and aviation support capabilities provided
by the Department of Defense for detection and monitoring at the
Southwest Border.
CBP is also communicating with various NGO's, including a range of
non-profit organizations, faith-based entities, and others--both at and
away from the border--regarding appropriate care and transportation of
migrants released from custody. Furthermore, we continue to work
closely with foreign governments to conduct joint enforcement
operations.
strengthening border enforcement
In anticipation of increased migrant encounters, USBP is focused on
ensuring other security measures and enforcement programs are not
circumvented or compromised by the response to emerging events. USBP's
deployment of resources and technology enables it to gain awareness of
threats and swiftly adapt processes to changing situations along the
border.
Combating Human Smuggling
USBP's posture and response to migration events are informed by
comprehensive analyses of information and intelligence on operations of
smugglers and the movement of migrants. We are more effectively
tracking movements of various migrant groups who may be headed toward
the U.S. border and increasing investigation and prosecution of human
smuggling networks responsible for unauthorized border crossings.
CBP launched Operation Sentinel, a new counter-network targeting
operation focused directly on TCOs affiliated with smuggling migrants
into the United States, in April 2021. More than 480 nonimmigrant visas
and more than 300 Global Entry and SENTRI cards have been revoked since
the launch of Operation Sentinel, and more than 20 businesses and
associated entities have been targeted for suspension or debarment.
Lookouts have been placed on 2,822 individuals associated with TCOs'
illicit activity. More than 2,000 individuals involved in illicit money
transactions have been identified and referred to interagency partners
for law enforcement actions. Operation Sentinel refers all cases with
potential prosecutorial interest to Federal and State investigative
partners for review and prosecution.
Additionally, USBP supports the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)-
established Joint Task Force Alpha initiative, which counters TCOs
affiliated with migrant smuggling by targeting their members and
associates. DHS and its components are working with DOJ to leverage
joint investigative, prosecutorial, and capacity-building efforts to
investigate and prosecute the most prolific and dangerous human
smuggling and human trafficking groups operating in Mexico and northern
Central America.
Migrant smugglers put vulnerable individuals and families in danger
every day. The Southwest Border region experiences dramatic and
unpredictable temperature changes year-round, meaning individuals lost
or left behind in desolate areas are at risk of drowning, dehydration,
heat stroke, injuries, or death. During fiscal year 2022, USBP agents
rescued more than 22,075 individuals in a wide variety of
circumstances. This critical work continues, and agents have conducted
nearly 8,000 rescues already this fiscal year. CBP has increased the
number of rescue beacons used on the Southwest Border and our CBP
officers and agents continue to stand ready to provide life-saving
assistance to all who need it.
Interdicting Illicit Drugs
USBP remains focused on the TCOs that continue to expand across and
beyond the Southwest and Northern Borders and increasingly demonstrate
their ability to illicitly transport synthetic narcotics, including
methamphetamine, illicitly manufactured fentanyl, and fentanyl
analogues. Most illicit drugs, including fentanyl, enter the United
States through our Southwest Border ports of entry in privately-owned
vehicles, commercial vehicles, and even by pedestrians.\3\
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\3\ https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics.
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Between the ports of entry, CBP continues to experience high
numbers of incidents involving illicit use of unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS), commonly referred to as ``drones,'' to facilitate unlawful
movement of people and narcotics across the Southwest Border. TCOs and
possibly Foreign State Actors use UAS to conduct unauthorized
surveillance of CBP personnel and operations to pass information to
contacts on the ground on where to guide noncitizens or transport
illegal drugs to circumvent law enforcement. Sensor records, pilot and
agent sightings, and other sources of information also indicate the
increasing use of drones to transport illegal drugs and other
contraband across the border. This illicit activity threatens the
safety of our front-line personnel, poses a collision risk to our
aircraft, and adversely affects our border security operations.
TCOs continually adjust their criminal operations to circumvent law
enforcement detection and interdiction by adjusting their tactics,
techniques, and procedures in the smuggling of narcotics that can be
transported in profitable quantities by advanced concealment
techniques. Through intelligence gathering and analysis, advances in
detection technology, counter network strategies, collaboration with
other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, and
interdictions, USBP adjusts law enforcement operations to combat TCO
illicit activity and disrupt their operations.
Leveraging Technology and Supporting Agents
USBP relies on effective surveillance of suspect activity along the
land borders as a critical element of CBP's border security operations.
In fiscal year 2022, USBP continued to deploy proven, effective
surveillance technology, including aerostats, mobile surveillance
capability systems, remote video surveillance systems, and integrated
fixed towers tailored to specific operational requirements along the
highest-trafficked areas of the Southwest Border.
USBP is also expanding its use of Team Awareness Kits, a digital
tool that greatly enhances coordination and collaboration among
response teams. This innovative solution enables tactical data to be
generated, visualized, and securely shared. The tool facilitates daily
operations for public safety organizations and allows different
organizations which do not regularly communicate to maintain shared
tactical awareness.
Technology is often regarded as a force multiplier, but it is
meaningless without dedicated and skilled personnel to operate it. The
men and women of USBP are our greatest asset, and their work is
extremely demanding, both physically and emotionally. When planning and
implementing any operational change or technological deployment, we
assess and prioritize every opportunity to enhance the preparedness,
safety, and well-being of the USBP workforce.
Enhancing Resiliency
CBP lost 11 colleagues to suicide in calendar year 2021, 15
colleagues in 2022, and 2 in 2023. One is too many. It was a tough year
for the well-being of our agents. We need to continue investing in
programs that provide direct support and communicate critical
information to our workforce and their families, while improving our
operational capabilities to allow agents to focus on their primary
mission. Additionally, we, as an agency, need to work to identify the
root causes of why we are seeing suicides at the current rate.
USBP recently began the Be the One campaign as a call for action to
bring suicidal ideation to the forefront. We need to check in on each
other, not just at work, but in life, and talk to and engage with one
another in meaningful ways. We work long hours away from our families,
so we need to take care of one another.
CBP leadership has directed that every CBP employee receive in-
person suicide prevention training in 2023. CBP's Office of Training
and Development, in partnership with the CBP Workforce & Resiliency
Directorate and Dr. Kent Corso, developed a 3-day train-the-trainer
course that started in January as part of the effort to reach all
hands.
USBP has also directed that every employee completes a 2-day Basic
Resiliency Skills Course by the end of calendar year 2023.
conclusion
Although the continued elevated levels of migration over the last
several years have presented many challenges, they have also led USBP
to evolve, adapt, increase efficiency, and invest in our processing
enterprise and technology. These investments, together with the
resiliency, dedication, and professionalism of the men and women of
USBP, enable USBP's continued mission success of securing our border
and keeping the American people safe while providing proper care to
those in our custody.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to
your questions.
Chairman Green. Thank you, Chief.
I will now recognize our next witness, Assistant Director
Cagen, for 5 minutes to summarize his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF STEVE W. CAGEN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, COUNTERING
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME, HOMELAND SECURITY
INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Cagen. Chairman Green and distinguished Members of the
Committee on Homeland Security, thank you for the opportunity
to appear before you and discuss Homeland Security
Investigations' efforts to disrupt and dismantle transnational
criminal organizations.
My testimony today will focus on HSI's effort to disrupt
transnational criminal organizations at the border and beyond.
As the principal investigative component of the Department of
Homeland Security, HSI is responsible for investigating and
dismantling transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs,
responsible for flooding the United States with drugs, fueling
the overdose epidemic.
To do this, HSI conducts Federal criminal investigations at
every critical location in the illicit supply chain:
internationally, where TCOs operate and manufacture illicit
narcotics; at our Nation's physical borders, where smugglers
attempt to exploit America's legitimate trade, travel, and
financial systems; and in our communities, where criminal
organizations earn substantial profits from selling poison to
our friends, neighbors, and family members.
Criminal organizations in the 21st Century do not limit
themselves to a single crime. The organizations have evolved
beyond just narcotics smuggling and are now involved in
associated crimes of weapons trafficking, human smuggling,
money laundering, and more, all of which HSI investigates. HSI
investigative efforts must be broad in scope to fully identify
and dismantle these enterprises.
HSI combats TCOs by using unique and broad investigative
authorities to enforce over 400 Federal laws and target TCOs
from multiple investigative angles. This includes stopping TCOs
from getting U.S.-origin weapons and seizing the money that
motivates their crimes. Simply put, HSI attacks the entire
illicit network.
HSI is a premier law enforcement agency best positioned to
attack cartels and TCOs at each phase of the supply chain, to
inflict maximum damage, resulting in cascading effects against
illicit networks.
HSI's counter-TCO efforts begin abroad. HSI has the largest
international investigative presence within DHS, comprised of
hundreds of special agents strategically placed in 93 offices
in 56 countries. This includes offices located in Mexico, where
the vast majority of fentanyl is produced, and throughout the
Asia-Pacific region, where precursor chemicals originate.
The effectiveness of our international counter-TCO effort
is greatly enhanced by HSI's Transnational Criminal
Investigative Units, or TCIUs, which are vetted teams, vetted
law enforcement officers and prosecutors, who lead some of
HSI's most significant extraterritorial investigations and
prosecutions targeting TCOs.
Disrupting and dismantling the fentanyl and methamphetamine
precursor chemical supply chain is an integral element to HSI's
approach to stopping the flow of illicit narcotics. Cartels
operate on an industrial scale when producing chemicals, and
these precursors serve as oxygen the cartels need to
manufacture their poison destined for America's streets.
HSI is attacking the illicit narcotic supply chain through
an intelligence-based, counter-narcotics operation that blends
traditional investigative and analytical techniques with
interagency collaboration, industry partnerships, and computer-
based tools to disrupt and dismantle the chemical supply chain.
The interdiction of precursor shipments plays a key role in
disrupting the TCOs' ability to produce a finished product
before it even gets to our borders. At our Nation's physical
borders, HSI works with our DHS partners to combat the illicit
TCO movement of illicit goods.
As CBP deploys its new technology at the Southwest Border
ports of entry, it will likely increase the number of CBP-
origin seizures. As a result, HSI will need additional staffing
to support complex investigations and prosecutions to dismantle
TCO threats to the homeland.
Domestically, HSI Border Enforcement Security Task Forces,
or BESTs, represent one of the agency's premier tools in
turning border seizures into TCO-toppling investigations. The
primary mission of the BESTs is to combat the existing emergent
TCOs by employing a full range of Federal, State, local,
Tribal, and international law enforcement resources. There are
currently 86 BESTs, comprised of approximately a thousand law
enforcement officers from over 200 agencies and National Guard
units.
HSI is dedicated to using its broad and unique authorities
to stop illicit drugs at every critical location in the supply
chain.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and for
your continued support of HSI and our enduring effort to attack
illicit narcotic supply chains. I look forward to your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cagen follows:]
Prepared Statement of Steven Cagen
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
introduction
Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and distinguished Members
of the House Committee on Homeland Security: Thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you today to discuss Homeland Security
Investigations' (HSI) efforts to disrupt and dismantle transnational
criminal organizations (TCOs). With more than 6,800 special agents
located in hundreds of offices throughout the United States and the
world, HSI investigates, disrupts, and dismantles terrorist,
transnational, and other criminal organizations that threaten our
Nation's security. My statement today will focus on HSI's efforts to
stop deadly drugs from ever making it to the streets of the United
States; its mission at the borders to turn individual seizures into
cartel-toppling investigations; and its efforts to deny TCOs the
illicit proceeds that fuel their operations.
As the principal investigative component of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), HSI is responsible for investigating
transnational crime. In collaboration with its partners in the United
States and abroad, HSI special agents develop evidence to identify and
advance criminal cases against TCOs; terrorist networks and
facilitators; and other criminal elements that threaten the homeland.
HSI works with prosecutors to arrest and indict violators; execute
criminal search warrants; seize criminally-derived money and assets;
and other actions with the goal of disrupting and dismantling TCOs
operating throughout the world. These efforts help protect the national
security and public safety of the United States.
HSI's investigative mission includes dismantling TCOs, which flood
the United States with deadly drugs, including illicit fentanyl and
other opioids. HSI conducts Federal criminal investigations at every
phase of the illicit drug supply chain; internationally, where TCOs
operate and manufacture illicit drugs; at our Nation's borders and
ports of entry (POEs), where smuggling cells attempt to exploit
America's legitimate trade, travel, and transportation systems; and in
communities throughout the United States. HSI combats TCOs through
multiple avenues of criminal enforcement. Not only does HSI target the
narcotics smuggling activities of the TCOs, but HSI also targets the
financial networks they utilize to fund and profit from their illegal
activity and the firearms trafficking the TCOs undertake to support
their violent activities. HSI also targets the various other illegal
activities the TCOs employ to fuel their criminal organizations,
including human smuggling and trafficking, cyber crime, intellectual
property rights violations, and fraud.
These criminal organizations have expanded beyond narcotics
smuggling and have morphed into poly criminal TCOs involved in the
associated crimes of weapons trafficking, human trafficking, human
smuggling, money laundering, and other crimes--all of which HSI
investigates. Rather than narrowly focusing on a single element of the
TCO, HSI combats TCOs by using its unique and broad investigative
authorities to enforce over 400 Federal laws by investigating a myriad
of crimes. Investigative efforts must be broad in scope to fully
dismantle enterprises that often transcend borders.
hsi international counternarcotics efforts
HSI's efforts to combat synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, begin
abroad. HSI has the largest international investigative presence within
DHS, comprising hundreds of HSI special agents strategically assigned
to 93 offices in 56 countries. This includes offices located in Mexico,
where the vast majority of fentanyl is produced, and throughout the
Asia-Pacific region, where synthetic drug precursor chemicals often
originate.
HSI takes a forward-leaning approach to identify and mitigate
threats before reaching our borders and applies a multi-tiered, multi-
pronged strategy, spanning international boundaries, and crossing all
investigative program areas. HSI special agents abroad develop and
foster relationships with host government law enforcement partners to
exchange information; coordinate and support investigations; and
facilitate enforcement actions and prosecutions to disrupt and
dismantle TCOs that operate abroad but threaten the national security,
economic prosperity, and public safety of the United States. HSI and
its counterparts in other countries identify and disrupt sources of
illicit drugs, transportation, and smuggling networks, and money-
laundering operations. These efforts enable HSI and its partners to
prevent dangerous narcotics and other illicit goods from reaching our
borders and stop illicit outbound flows of illegally-derived currency
and weapons.
Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit Program
The effectiveness of our international counter-narcotics efforts is
greatly enhanced by HSI's Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit
(TCIU) Program. TCIUs comprise vetted foreign law enforcement officials
and prosecutors who support some of HSI's most significant
extraterritorial investigations and prosecutions targeting TCOs. HSI
has established 14 TCIUs around the world, including in Mexico, where
the team is comprised of more than 40 officers and prosecutors from
their attorney general's office. In fiscal year 2022, efforts by the
HSI Mexico TCIU resulted in approximately 123 criminal arrests and the
seizure of approximately $1.1 million, 11,100 pounds of cocaine, and
18,200 pounds of precursor chemicals.
Targeting the fentanyl and methamphetamine precursor chemical
supply chain is an integral element of HSI's approach to stopping the
production of illicit drugs. These precursors serve as the fuel the
cartels need to manufacture their deadly drugs destined for American
cities and streets. Blending interagency and foreign collaboration,
industry partnerships, financial data, and information technology
tools, HSI identifies, targets, and interdicts precursor chemical
shipments destined for Mexican cartels. Disruptions to the procurement
phase of the narcotics production supply chain have an exponential
impact on the drugs encountered at our border and on our streets.
Mexican cartels operate on an industrial scale when procuring precursor
chemicals, and the interdiction of these shipments has a profound
effect on the number of drugs reaching our country. Many of these
enforcement efforts are led by HSI's TCIU in Mexico, where, in addition
to seizing precursor chemical shipments, they also lead investigations
targeting the labs where the chemicals are synthesized into illicit
drugs.
HSI's TCIUs are critical to preventing drugs from reaching our
borders and yet face barriers to success. For example, HSI has the
authority to pay salary stipends to TCIU members who serve on the front
line of combating TCOs but lacks the appropriations to fully realize
the legislative authority. HSI's inability to provide these stipends
results in recruitment and retention challenges. The ability to pay
salary stipends to TCIU members would enhance HSI's overall strategy
and efforts to disrupt Mexican cartels' illicit precursor chemical
supply chains.
National Targeting Center--Investigations
HSI's National Targeting Center--Investigations (NTC-I) was
established in 2013 in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border
Protection's (CBP) National Targeting Center to further our shared
border security mission. HSI's increased manpower and concerted efforts
at NTC-I support the entire border security continuum, from CBP
interdictions and HSI investigations, to the joint exploitation of
intelligence. Working in a collaborative environment at NTC-I, HSI
provides support to all of DHS's domestic and international offices by
targeting illicit precursor chemical movements within the air and
maritime commercial transportation modalities.
The combination of NTC-I targeting and foreign action through HSI's
TCIUs, is critical to stopping the flow of illicit drugs and
dismantling TCOs. Using these resources, HSI targets the supply chains
responsible for foreign origin shipments of precursor chemicals used in
the illicit production of fentanyl and methamphetamine destined for
Mexico. By blending interagency collaboration, industry partnerships,
financial intelligence, and computer-based tools, HSI processes large
volumes of data to identify precursor chemical suppliers and TCO
procurers. HSI uses this information to target and seize precursor
chemicals that are being transshipped through the United States or
seized by its TCIUs abroad before the chemicals are converted into the
synthetic drugs fueling overdose deaths. Thus far, this methodology has
resulted in the seizure of approximately 3.3 million pounds of dual-use
precursor chemicals used to manufacture illicit fentanyl and
methamphetamine.
hsi domestic counternarcotics efforts
The vast majority of the methamphetamines and fentanyl flooding
American streets is smuggled across our border with Mexico. HSI special
agents work every day with CBP officers to identify and investigate
drug smuggling organizations attempting to introduce illicit contraband
into the United States, and to seize such contraband. HSI's ability to
conduct complex large-scale investigations represents one of DHS's best
weapons for dismantling TCOs in a manner not possible solely through
border interdiction efforts. Conducting criminal investigations
resulting from arrests associated with border seizures is necessary for
ensuring the rule of law; however, HSI's mandate is to turn these
individual seizures into multi-jurisdictional, multi-defendant, complex
investigations to disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute high-level members
of TCOs.
CBP's expansion of non-intrusive inspection (NII) scanning at
Southwest Border POEs is poised to increase the number of CBP-origin
seizures HSI special agents are required to investigate. To keep pace,
HSI will require additional staffing to support the investigation and
prosecution of individuals associated with POE seizures. Recent HSI
Congressional appropriations tied to NII expansion represent an
important, albeit limited, initial step. HSI is moving quickly to
deploy these new resources to Southwest Border POEs receiving NII
augmentation. Given the required NII expansion to all land border POEs,
additional staffing will be essential to ensure HSI retains adequate
personnel to respond to these seizures and to conduct the complex
investigations which degrade and remove TCO threats to the homeland.
Border Enforcement Security Task Forces
The Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) Act
was signed into law in December 2012. The Act was named in honor of
Jaime Zapata, an HSI special agent who, while working to combat violent
drug cartels, was killed in the line of duty in Mexico. This law
amended the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to formally establish the
BEST program, with the primary mission of combating emerging and
existing transnational organized crime by employing a threat-based/risk
mitigation investigative task force model that recognizes the unique
resources and capabilities of all participating law enforcement
partners.
BESTs eliminate the barriers between Federal and local
investigations, close the gap with international partners in
multinational criminal investigations, and create an environment that
minimizes the vulnerabilities in our operations that TCOs have
traditionally capitalized on to exploit our Nation's borders. There are
currently 86 BESTs located across the United States, including Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, comprising nearly 1,000 law
enforcement officers and personnel representing Federal, State, local,
Tribal, and international law enforcement agencies, and National Guard
units. In fiscal year 2022, BESTs initiated more than 5,300
investigations resulting in more than 6,000 criminal arrests and
seizures of more than 317,000 pounds of narcotics, more than 480,000
pounds of precursor chemicals, and more than $206 million of illicit
proceeds and assets.
While much attention is given to the smuggling of narcotics across
our Southern Border, illicit drugs continue to flow into the United
States via international airports located throughout the United States.
In addition to the use of drug couriers, TCOs continue to smuggle
illicit narcotics destined for American communities concealed within
express consignment and other parcels. In response, HSI established
BEST units at international mail facilities (IMFs), express consignment
hubs, and international airports acting as IMFs, as part of HSI's
targeted response to the opioid crisis. The IMF and express consignment
environments are a particularly significant avenue for the smuggling
and transshipment of fentanyl, opioids, and other illicit narcotics.
The placement of BEST units at IMFs enables the immediate application
of investigative techniques on seized parcels, which aid in
establishing the probable cause needed to effect enforcement actions in
the United States and elsewhere on individuals associated with fentanyl
and opioid-laden parcels.
cyber-related efforts
Cyber Crimes Center
TCOs and their illicit drug clients are increasingly tech-savvy.
Many have adopted emerging technologies to replace hand-to-hand drug
sales with anonymous cryptocurrency purchases facilitated through dark-
net marketplaces. These transactions may involve foreign vendors, but
the result is the shipment of drugs to or within our country. To keep
pace with rapidly-evolving criminal techniques, HSI created the Cyber
Crimes Center (C3) to provide investigative assistance, training, and
equipment to support domestic and international investigations of
cyber-related crimes for DHS. C3 supports HSI's mission through the
programmatic oversight and coordination of investigations of cyber-
related criminal activity and provides a range of forensic,
intelligence, and investigative support services across all HSI
programmatic areas. C3 brings together highly technical assets
dedicated to conducting trans-border criminal investigations of cyber-
related crimes within the HSI transnational crime portfolio and
authorities.
C3 performs an essential role in detecting, investigating, and
preventing the sale and distribution of opioids and other illicit drugs
on the dark web. With specialized capabilities, cyber analytics, and
trained cyber investigators and analysts, C3 supports HSI on-line
undercover investigations targeting market site operators, vendors, and
prolific buyers of opioids and other contraband on the dark-net. C3
also provides critical support on tracing and identifying illicit
proceeds derived from criminal activity on the dark web and
investigating the subsequent money-laundering activities. Additionally,
C3's Computer Forensics Unit and the HSI Computer Forensic Program are
critical tools in combating the flow of drugs into the United States.
From the efforts of our computer forensic agents and analysts in the
field to seize, process, and analyze digital evidence, through the
advanced technical solutions, such as decryption and accessing secure
data, digital forensics play an ever-increasing role in investigating
complex multinational narcotics organizations. C3's Computer Forensic
Unit also provides forensic training and support to our State, local,
Tribal, Federal, and international law enforcement partners.
A top priority for HSI is to improve collective law enforcement
capabilities by providing training to partner law enforcement agencies.
In response to initiatives to reduce opioid demand in the United
States, C3 developed a cyber-training curriculum with a focus on dark-
net investigations and illicit payment networks associated with opioid
smuggling and distribution. This training has been successful in
improving law enforcement capabilities against on-line marketplaces and
tools for illicit trafficking. Since 2017, HSI has delivered this
training course in over 70 locations world-wide to more than 12,000
State, local, Federal, and international law enforcement personnel.
illicit finance--following the money
Illicit drug sales in the United States continue to net tens of
billions of dollars in illicit proceeds annually. One of the most
effective methods for dismantling TCOs engaged in narcotics trafficking
is to attack the criminal financial networks that are the lifeblood of
their operations. HSI special agents identify and seize the illicit
proceeds and instrumentalities of crime and target financial networks
that transport, launder, and hide ill-gotten proceeds. As a customs
agency with significant access to financial and trade data, HSI is
uniquely positioned to identify TCO schemes to hide illicit drug
proceeds within the stream of legitimate commerce; on vehicles,
vessels, and persons departing the United States; or when crossing a
digital border, such as the movement of funds electronically, including
in the form of virtual assets like cryptocurrency. HSI's financial
efforts in fiscal year 2022 resulted in 2,607 arrests; 1,600 criminal
indictments; 1,028 convictions; and the seizure of more than $4.2
billion in illicit currency and other assets (at the time of seizure).
National Bulk Cash Smuggling Center
Despite the rise of alternative stores of value, such as virtual
assets, bulk cash smuggling remains a key mechanism for TCO
repatriation of drug proceeds. Criminal actors often avoid traditional
financial institutions, which must comply with Bank Secrecy Act
reporting requirements, instead repatriating their illicit proceeds
through conveyances such as commercial and private aircraft, passenger
and commercial vehicles, and maritime vessels, and via pedestrian
crossings at our land borders.
Established in 2009, HSI's National Bulk Cash Smuggling Center
(BCSC) is a critical component of the agency's and overall U.S.
Government's efforts to combat bulk cash smuggling by TCOs. The BCSC
operates strategic programs that leverage advanced data analytics,
interagency partnerships, and law enforcement technology systems to
identify complex money-laundering networks and provide support for HSI
financial investigations. The criminal intelligence functions of the
BCSC provide operational analysis in support of HSI-led interdiction
efforts, including port profiles highlighting cash-flow activity at
targeted POEs and corridor analyses to assist in planning the timing,
location, and strategy for interdiction operations. The BCSC also
administers a targeted, investigation-focused license plate reader
program to identify larger criminal networks and a warrant-based GPS
tracking program that provides valuable intelligence on the behaviors
of criminal groups engaged in bulk cash smuggling. Since its inception
through fiscal year 2022, the BCSC has initiated or substantially
contributed to the seizure of bulk cash totaling over $1.73 billion.
TCOs are increasingly augmenting bulk currency smuggling with use
of alternate value platforms in response to financial regulations and
law enforcement efforts to identify money-laundering networks. A single
movement of TCO proceeds may involve bulk cash, stored value cards,
money orders, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, funnel accounts, and
trade-based money laundering (TBML). HSI adapts to evolving criminal
methodologies by leveraging new law enforcement technologies to
identify money laundering activity through these emerging alternate
value platforms and seize criminal assets.
Trade-Based Money Laundering
TBML is the process of disguising criminal proceeds through
international trade to hide their illicit origins. As the primary law
enforcement agency that investigates TBML, HSI utilizes data resources,
maintained by DHS encompassing trade, travel, and financial
information, to identify TBML schemes. HSI has established several
national initiatives that target specific TBML schemes and provides
subject-matter expertise, analytical support, and enforcement-related
support to HSI special agents. Specifically, HSI has the ability to
intercept and interdict trade and individuals associated with TBML that
have a nexus to the borders of the United States and provide the
necessary information to initiate criminal investigations targeting
this activity.
An integral part of combating TBML is the HSI-established Trade
Transparency Units (TTUs), which combat the growing threat of
international money laundering by TCOs via TBML. The TTUs accomplish
this mission using partner country data sharing programs and the Data
Analysis & Research for Trade Transparency Systems program. Through
established partnerships, the TTUs have access to foreign trade,
travel, and financial information used to support on-going criminal
investigations and to address TBML on a global scale. These
partnerships are based on bilateral agreements with the United States
and 19 partner countries for the sharing of trade and financial
information. Through the TTUs, HSI field offices can request
information pertaining to companies and individuals that would
otherwise be unavailable without the bilateral agreements.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies are increasingly used to facilitate domestic and
cross-border crime. HSI has seen nefarious actors use cryptocurrency in
furtherance of a wide array of crimes HSI investigates. From individual
actors to large-scale TCOs, cryptocurrency can be exploited by any
criminal organization engaged in almost any type of illicit activity,
and this is especially true as it pertains to the use of
cryptocurrencies to facilitate on-line distribution of fentanyl,
methamphetamine, and other dangerous drugs. Both at home and abroad,
cryptocurrencies are being used to purchase illicit items such as drugs
on dark-net marketplaces and to launder criminally-derived proceeds.
Cryptocurrencies are attractive to TCOs because they offer a relatively
fast, inexpensive, and pseudonymous system of transactions as compared
to more traditional financial transactions. As such, HSI investigations
related to cryptocurrency have risen from one criminal investigation in
2011 to over 230 criminal investigations in fiscal year 2021. In fiscal
year 2022, HSI seized nearly $4 billion in cryptocurrency (at the time
of seizure). This substantial increase signifies growing confidence in
cryptocurrency use by criminals and criminal networks.
southwest border weapons smuggling
Another critical part of HSI's multi-discipline approach to
combating the flow of illicit drugs into the United States includes
combating the flow of illicit firearms and ammunition into Mexico. TCOs
use corresponding southbound pathways to repatriate cash proceeds from
illegal activities and secure sufficient armaments to remain a
persistent threat to Mexican security forces.
Firearms smuggled from the United States into Mexico allow the TCOs
to continue their deadly operations against our Mexican law enforcement
partners and the local populace. In 2021, the government of Mexico
estimated at least 342,000 U.S.-sourced firearms are illegally smuggled
into Mexico every year. Mexico's National Public Security System
reported 34,515 intentional homicides with 70 percent involving
firearms in 2020. During this period, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF) performed traces on 19,762 firearms
recovered in Mexico. ATF checks determined at least 67.7 percent were
sourced from the United States with over half traced to a retail
purchase.
Operation Without a Trace
HSI uses its customs authorities to target procurement networks
responsible for smuggling U.S.-origin weapons into Mexico. This
includes Operation Without a Trace (WaT), a unified DHS effort to fight
the illegal trafficking of firearms and ammunition from the United
States into Mexico. WaT is a Federal partnership among HSI, CBP, ATF,
and the government of Mexico focused on the illicit purchase,
transport, and distribution of firearms, firearms components, and
ammunition from the United States to Mexico. WaT is a whole-of-
government effort recognized by the National Security Council to combat
this threat. WaT's three-pronged approach leverages intelligence,
interdiction, and investigative assets to identify, disrupt, and
dismantle TCOs trafficking firearms. In fiscal year 2022, WaT partners
initiated 272 criminal investigations resulting in 302 arrests, and the
seizure of 514 firearms, 1,019 magazines and more than 284,175 rounds
of ammunition, all destined to TCOs in Mexico.
conclusion
HSI's unique border authorities and dynamic, multi-tiered, multi-
pronged strategies to combatting TCOs allows us to pursue impactful
investigations to attack all aspects of these organizations. While our
collective efforts are executed with diligence and a commitment to
public safety, work remains at all levels--internationally, at the
border, and throughout the United States. It is imperative HSI has the
resources necessary to continue to remain at the forefront of the fight
against transnational criminal organizations and their illicit
activities.
Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today and
for your continued support of HSI and our enduring efforts to dismantle
TCOs throughout the world. I look forward to your questions.
Chairman Green. Thank you, Mr. Cagen.
Members will be recognized by order of seniority for 5
minutes of questioning. An additional round of questioning may
be able if we have the time today after Members have all been
recognized.
I now recognize myself for 5 minutes of questioning.
Chief Ortiz, does DHS have operational control of our
entire border?
Chief Ortiz. No, sir.
Chairman Green. OK. Thank you for that. I'd like to share
with the American people, this is the actual definition of
operational control that is in the Code, written into the Code
well before I came to Congress, the definition. I appreciate
the honesty of Chief Ortiz.
Do you think that--let's play a video clip here. I just
want to share this question.
[Video shown.]
Chairman Green. Chief Ortiz, do you think that Secretary
Mayorkas is lying there?
Chief Ortiz. Sir, when you talk about operational control,
about 10 years ago we used operational control as a measuring
stick of our effectiveness along the Southwest Border. My new
strategy is geared toward mission advantage.
Chairman Green. So you know I'm asking a very specific
question.
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green. You're kind-of describing how the goal post
has been moved because of the mass waves of people that are
coming.
My question, you heard the Secretary. He said we have
operational control. That's the definition of operational
control.
Chief Ortiz. Based upon the definition you have, sir, up
there, no.
Chairman Green. We don't have operational control.
Chief Ortiz. No, sir.
Chairman Green. But is Secretary Mayorkas lying?
Chief Ortiz. I don't--I didn't see the rest of the
testimony there, sir.
Chairman Green. He was asked--you saw. He was asked----
Chief Ortiz. At what point of the question?
Chairman Green [continuing]. If we had operational control,
and he said yes. I think it's either ignorance, which is
unacceptable, or it's lying.
Four-point-seven million alien encounters, 1.3 million got-
aways, a record number of individuals on the terrorist watch
list, a record number of criminal alien encounters, a record
number of aliens with gang affiliation encounters, a record
number of drug seizures.
Do these numbers project confidence to the American people
that DHS has operational control?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you I have confidence in the men
and women that are executing the mission out there to the best
of their ability.
Chairman Green. Now, I appreciate that.
Chief Ortiz. We've seen across the Southwest Border 9
sectors, and out of those 9 sectors, 4 of them have significant
resources, when you think about the double-layer fencing, some
of the surveillance technology, and then the amount of agents
we deployed.
But in 5 of those 9 Southwest Border sectors, we have seen
an increase in flow, and that has caused a considerable strain
on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to
move agents and even migrants to some of the other areas.
Chairman Green. Yes. I pointed that out in my statement
too, that the cartels have figured out if they flood certain
areas, you've got to shift resources, and that's allowing them
to have free rein. That, to me, is the cartels controlling the
Southern Border.
Is that--I mean, think about it, think about it for a
second like--like you're a military guy and that's the
perimeter, right? Do the drug cartels have control of sections
of the perimeter of the United States?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you that in certain areas, the
cartels control an awful lot on the Southern Border south of
the United States. Our men and women are out there. I just
spent the last 3 days here in south Texas patrolling with some
of our agents, and they're doing a phenomenal job of responding
to traffic that's coming across that border. That plays out
across the entire Southwest Border.
Chairman Green. You and I both deeply respect the men who
work for you, and I think they're doing yeoman's work. I've
talked to, you know, sectors where they're pulling 90 hours a
week. These guys are killing themselves, literally. Seventeen
of them have committed suicide, because they've been
overwhelmed.
Why is this huge surge here? What's the cause? What's the
difference? You were here under the last administration, during
COVID, all the excuses that have been given. So what changed?
Chief Ortiz. Several things have changed I think across the
world, if you think about it this way. This is--we've seen
individuals from 159 countries already this fiscal year.
Chairman Green. So why do they feel suddenly, after January
2021, that they can come here?
Chief Ortiz. I would think that--we have what we call push
and pull factors. Some of those push factors are certainly
going to be economic conditions in their host countries.
Chairman Green. Those were there before, Chief.
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green. I mean, they were there before. Hurricanes
happened in Central America before. What changed?
Chief Ortiz. I think as you look at the United States and
what we're experiencing now with the economic conditions that
we have here, when you think about the health conditions that
we have here, we're in much better position than most of the
countries that we're dealing with just ourselves.
Chairman Green. Again, just I would assert to you that all
that was there before January 2021. COVID was there before
2021. The economic challenges were there before 2021. I would
submit to you that it's two things, and your sector chiefs have
told me what they are:
No. 1, they're the policies, and those policies came from
the promises the President made during his campaign. No. 2, the
State Department has allowed the return agreements to expire.
Not renegotiating those agreements has prevented ICE from
being able to send people back. Is that not correct?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you, our inability to repatriate
individuals to certain countries is a tremendous challenge for
us, and I would agree with that.
Chairman Green. Failure on the administration. Thank you.
I yield. I've taken a little extra time. My apologies to my
colleagues.
I'll now recognize Mr. Higgins for his comments and
questions.
Mr. Higgins. Director Cagen, it's good to talk to you, sir.
God bless you. I hope you and your family are well.
I want to talk to you about China and Chinese nationals
crossing the border, and HSI's involvement regarding those
individuals.
It's noted that there's an increase in Chinese nationals
apprehended at the Southwest Border, and we know that many of
the precursors that are used to create fentanyl are made in
China. A lot of fentanyl entering our country originates in
China. Now we're seeing an increase in Chinese nationals being
captured, which means there's an increase in Chinese nationals
that are not being captured.
It's been presented to me, it's been posited that the
Chinese that are effectively evading law enforcement at the
border and entering into our country recognize that over the
course of the next couple of years, Republicans are going to
take very aggressive actions to gain control, operational
control of our border, and shut down this wide-open trafficking
that they're currently enjoying.
So it's been posited to me that the Chinese nationals that
are crossing into our country include scientists that are
coming into America to connect with established criminal
networks to bring their laboratory, to build laboratories here.
Are Chinese nationals--is HSI looking into this? Are
Chinese nationals entering America illegally to connect with
established criminal networks and bring their laboratory
capabilities here into the continental United States, because
they know the day is coming where we'll have a Republican
President and we'll regain control of the border?
Mr. Cagen. Representative Higgins, thank you very much for
the question. Good to see you as well.
As it pertains to, you know, the human smuggling of Chinese
nationals and the narcotic side of it, our investigations--as
you know, we're an investigative agency. Our investigations and
intelligence show that those are two separate situations.
We see, when it comes to China, that's the beginning of the
illicit supply chain of fentanyl. We know, you know, we don't
have the visibility that we need, of course, into China, but as
an investigative agency, we have the visibility of precursor
chemicals as they leave Chinese ports to venture across the
water into Mexico. Eventually, those precursors will end up in
Mexican labs where the actual pills are produced.
That's what HSI does. That's where we are strong, and
that's where we're critical to this entire supply chain, which
is attacking the supply chain at those critical nodes. We can
stop the container ships full. I mean, we're talking container
ships. We seized, I believe, it's a little bit over 3.3 million
pounds of precursor chemicals coming from China entering into
Mexico.
When those precursors enter into Mexico, what we do is try
to stop them from getting into the labs in Mexico, where it's
synthesized, right? That's where the drugs are produced. That's
where the cartels are producing it.
We utilize our Transnational Criminal Investigative Units,
which we have a very robust and strong Criminal Investigative
Unit in Mexico, Mexican prosecutors, Mexican officials working
with us. As I've said multiple times in open hearings, they're
working on behalf of the American people.
So what we utilize is their efforts, intelligence
community, and our efforts in order to stop these drugs from
coming into the United States and push our borders out to try
to alleviate the pressure on our DHS partners and friends so
they're not feeling so much of the fentanyl coming in.
But, to answer your question, we do not see the link,
investigatively or intelligence, right now, of the human
smuggling aspect as it pertains to the fentanyl coming in from
China.
Mr. Higgins. Well, we'll talk further about that in person.
Mr. Chairman, I don't see a clock. How much time?
Chairman Green. We have one right here.
Mr. Higgins. Chief, it's good to see you again, sir. God
bless you. I hope you and your family are well.
These are difficult times that we face to enforce the laws
of our land as we've sworn an oath to do so. You're at the
point of that spear, and to a great deal, you know, you're held
responsible. I think you're a responsible man.
I would like you to in my remaining no time just answer
this question regarding commands that are coming down from
Secretary Mayorkas.
It's come to our attention that many commands that
ultimately arrive at the field level don't have much of a paper
trail. They've been communicated verbally. If you could speak
to that. How does that relate to our Aerostat techs? Why are
the Aerostats down? That's a DOD cooperative operation. They
worked. Why are they down? I was told in January they were
being pulled down for the first quarter.
Chairman Green. I'll give you a real quick 30 seconds,
Chief, to answer that. Sorry.
Chief Ortiz. Thank you, Chairman.
Good to see you again, Mr. Higgins.
I will tell you that with respect to the chain of command,
both ICE, myself, and our DHS partners meet quite regularly
with the Department, more specifically with the Secretary. We
have constant conversations and dialog about on-going
operations. Certainly, he's made multiple trips down to the
Southwest Border.
So I do appreciate the level of support I get from both our
commissioner, Troy Miller, and Secretary Mayorkas, with respect
to some of my requests on capacity building and making
adjustments to our operations in the field.
With respect to the Aerostats, that's a very expensive
program, $4.6 million for each one of those Aerostats. We have
four of them deployed here in south Texas. They're doing a
phenomenal job. We are looking at alternatives to be able to
use similar like technology that may be less expensive. Then
we're going to try and do everything we can to incorporate that
into our normal operations.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you. Thank you.
Chairman Green. I'll now recognize Vice Chair Guest from
Mississippi.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To both of our gentlemen, thank you for being here. Thank
you for the men and women that serve under your command. I want
you to know that the frustration and the anger that you may
feel today is not directed at you personally, and it's clearly
not directed at the men and women that serve under you, but it
is directed at this administration, which has not only failed
the American public, but has failed the officers that serve
with you.
Chief, I want to expand a little bit on something that
Chairman Green touched on. He talked about operational control
of the border. I think you were very candid when you said that
we do not have operational control of the border.
I want to follow that up with a question: Is the border
secure? We have heard repeatedly from Secretary Mayorkas when
he has testified before this hearing, he has told myself, he
has told Congressman Bishop that. We heard him tell Congressman
Roy in a Judiciary Committee the same thing.
We've heard the Vice President say that. The Vice President
said in an interview with Meet the Press, when asked by Chuck
Todd, she said: ``The border is secure, but we have a broken
immigration system.'' Then she went on to say: ``We have a
secure border, and that is a priority for any Nation, including
ours and our administration, but there are still a lot of
problems.''
So my question to you, Chief, is: Is the border secure?
Chief Ortiz. Thank you, Congressman. I will tell you that
I'm responsible for the Northern Border, I'm responsible for
our coastal sectors, and I'm responsible for the Southwest
Border.
I'm going to break it down real quick. The Northern Border,
I have 8 sectors up on the Northern Border, and I've got one
sector that is experiencing an awful lot of influx of migrants
from Canada. I went to Ottawa, Canada, about 4 weeks ago, met
with my RCMP partners, and we're addressing that threat. I've
got 25 additional agents deployed up there.
At one point, I had 854 officers deployed from the Northern
Border to the Southern Border to help with the situation that
we were encountering. I no longer have to do that. Out on our
coastal sectors, I've got----
Mr. Guest. I'm not--I don't want to cut you off, Chief, but
my time--is the Southern Border secure? Let's not--I'm not
worried about the Northern Border. Let's talk strictly about
the Southern Border. Is it your testimony that it is secure or
is not secure?
Chief Ortiz. When you look at the Southwest Border, I have
9 Southwest Border sectors from San Diego to here to south
Texas Rio Grande Valley. Out of the 9 Southwest Border sectors,
I feel like the men and women are doing a phenomenal job in 4
of them with respect to the amount of flow and the processing
that we are encountering on a daily basis.
Five of those Southwest Border sectors are experiencing a
higher level of flow than we have seen previously, and that
creates some unique challenges for us and it puts a strain on
the overall immigration system, not just for myself but for our
partner agencies, for our sheriff departments, police
departments.
So, I have to move resources into those 5 Southwest Border
sectors, and that forces me to make some adjustments across the
entire 2,000 miles of the Southwest Border.
Mr. Guest. All right. So I'm taking it then it's your
testimony that 5 of the 9 sectors on the Southwest Border are
not currently secure.
Let me ask you if you'd agree with this statement. This is
a statement of Colonel McCraw with the Texas Department of
Public Safety. He will be testifying in the second panel. I'm
sure you know him well and you work very closely with him.
He, in his written statement, said that: ``It is the
assessment of the Texas Department of Public Safety that the
most significant public safety and homeland security threat to
Texas and our Nation is an unsecured border with Mexico.''
He goes on to say--and, again, this is not directed at your
men individually, but more at the administration--``The Federal
Government has failed to do its constitutional duty and secure
the border. This failure comes at the detriment of our citizens
and the benefit of the Mexican cartels.''
Of course, we have seen Mexican cartels become extremely
active in human trafficking and drug smuggling. We saw the Gulf
cartel kill two Americans, shot another, just recently south of
Brownsville.
Of course, we saw very disturbing images this week of the
mass surge there at the El Paso port of entry, where I believe
there were roughly a thousand immigrants who tried to surge
into the United States.
So my question is: Do you agree with the statement of
Colonel McCraw when he talks about that this is a public safety
threat and a threat to homeland security?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir, I do agree with Colonel McCraw.
I have an excellent relationship with the State of Texas.
We continue to work those partnerships, both with our sheriffs,
our police departments here in Texas and across the Southwest
Border.
I will tell you this, though: When you think about a secure
border, right now we're experiencing about 4,800 apprehensions
a day in a 24-hour period. Our agents are doing a phenomenal
job across the entire Southwest Border managing that.
I'm not having to decompress flights like I was having to
do 3 and 4 months ago. We're able to repatriate more
individuals to their host country now than we ever have, 31
flights last week, 35 flights this week. We need to continue
these consequences in order to effect the right response and
the right affect across these border situations.
Mr. Guest. Chief, I know I'm out of time, but you and I
were in a hearing in the District of Columbia on Tuesday. With
us was an admiral from the Coast Guard. That admiral testified
that mass immigration is a national security issue.
Do you agree with his assessment?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green. I now recognize Mr. Bishop of North
Carolina.
Mr. Bishop. Chief Ortiz, I think you came in here to tell
the truth today, sit down and offer some candor to this
Congressional committee. I want to start off by telling you
that that is a breath of fresh air, and it is inconsistent with
what I've heard over and over from administration officials so
far.
You have candidly acknowledged in responses to questions
already that we do not have operational control of the border.
You effectively acknowledged that the border is not secure on
much of the Southwestern Border.
I think you might be trying to walk a fine line, because
you want to be--you don't want to be insubordinate to your
superiors. But if there has ever been a time for candor to a
Congressional committee, it is right now. I'm going to ask you
about the cause.
You've continued to--your written testimony--I'm sure
that's substantially prepared or revised in Washington--starts
off: ``Evolving global and regional events continue to produce
challenging conditions and trends along the Southwestern
Border.''
You say you trace the beginning of the fantastic climb in
illegal immigration across the border to COVID. I heard you say
earlier today, changing conditions.
Chief, in fiscal year 2020, the policy was detain and
remove. The entire objective was to avoid releasing any illegal
immigrant for any reason. In 2021, Secretary Mayorkas, the new
administration gutted, all of those policies, MPP, safe third
countries, family detention, asylum bars, T42 for minors, et
cetera. Record numbers resulted. Record numbers followed, let
me say that, because I'm going to ask you whether it was a
result or cause.
Be it parole, NTA, NTR, et cetera, illegals are apprehended
by Border Patrol but allowed to remain nondetained in the
United States.
Now, I want some candor, Chief. Do you acknowledge, as the
Chief of the Border Patrol, that the driver of the crisis that
you have described of this dramatic change in flow is the
policy of this administration to release instead of detain or
remove illegal immigrants? That's my question.
Chief Ortiz. Congressman Bishop, thank you for the
question. I will tell you that law enforcement is pretty
simple, sir. You have to have capacity and you have to have
consequences. Any time you don't have consequences, you're
certainly going to see some increases.
We continue to try and repatriate individuals back to
countries that we can repatriate, but it's been a challenge for
us, because what we saw this past year were individuals from
Cuba, individuals from Haiti, individuals from Nicaragua, where
we have a difficult time repatriating.
It's not my responsibility. I work closely with my ICE
partners to make sure that we are able to expel or, you know,
return individuals back to their host countries, but it has
been a significant challenge for us. I do think that has been a
driver of some of the increases that we have seen.
Mr. Bishop. So you've attenuated that a little bit, Chief.
I appreciate again, and I think you've been candid in that
answer, but you've attenuated it. It's a driver of some of the
increases.
Sir, we're all familiar with this chart. I mean, we see it
in our sleep, right? I came into Congress down here in fiscal
year 2020, and I visited as soon as I came down. I came down to
the border then and I saw the empty port-of-entry station where
nobody was in there flooded. You've seen the films from back in
May.
Here's where we are now, sir. That was December, worst in
history. We've been up in that territory for years. There's
always been a billion people live on less than a dollar a day,
as Chairman Green said.
The cause is the change in policy, is it not, sir? Will you
be candid enough to be unequivocal and clear that that has
driven the change?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you, sir, that when I was a deputy
chief and the acting chief down here in 2014, you know, a lot
of people described what was happening here in south Texas as a
humanitarian crisis, a border crisis. I was very candid and I
said that I think we have a bit of a policy crisis.
I still hold true that we have some policies in place where
we need to ensure that the men and women out there patrolling
the border, investigating these criminal cartels are actually
allowed to do their job each and every day.
Mr. Bishop. Their job is to detain or remove illegal
immigrants?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Mr. Bishop. You've talked about--and your--look, I want to
say this: Your pride in the men and women you lead--and I know
what the circumstances is that compels you to come in here and
show this level of candor to this Congressional committee, and
that's the men and women that you're serving, because they're
under stress like they've never seen.
It is an abomination. It is despicable that people in
Washington would set policy that would cause that to those men
and women, and that would cause the inhumane destruction of
lives that you see to migrants who are coming over in these
conditions, and that would cause the devastation that's
spreading throughout the United States in consequence of that.
I want to thank you for telling the Congress what your duty
compels you to tell us, which is the truth. Thank you, Chief
Ortiz.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I recognize Mr. Gimenez from Florida.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Chief Ortiz, for your candor. I really--you're
in a tough spot, OK, and I know.
I have a question for you. Supposedly, we have 1.3 million
get-aways that we know of. What is your estimate of the people
that we don't know about that got away?
Chief Ortiz. Thank you, Congressman Gimenez. Good to see
you again, sir.
I will tell you that the got-away number is a number that,
for a long time, was associated with art. It was our agents out
there actually cutting swathes of country and using, you know,
footprints as an indicator as to what we were seeing out there.
That was our situational awareness.
With the investments that this Congress has made into the
Border Patrol, CBP as a whole, we have greater situational
awareness now than I've ever had. My confidence level in that
got-away number continues to increase. Is it 100 percent? No,
sir.
At 385,000 got-aways so far this fiscal year, we continue
to refine that number. I've got to do a better job of
accounting for the actual encounters----
Mr. Gimenez. Chief, Chief, I have--I have limited time. I
just need a number. What percentage of the 1.3 that you know
got away, how much more do you think got away that you don't
know about?
Chief Ortiz. In my estimation, based upon the situational
awareness that I have, it would probably be between 10 and 20
percent, sir.
Mr. Gimenez. More?
Chief Ortiz. Yes.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. Thank you.
Mr. Cagen, HSI. I equate the chemicals coming from mainly
China as being the weapons. Then I equate the cartels as being
the soldiers.
You spoke a lot about the weapon, trying to stop the flow
of the drug or the precursor chemicals, et cetera, et cetera. I
didn't hear much about the soldiers, the cartels themselves.
What are you doing about the soldiers?
Mr. Cagen. Thank you for the question. Good to see you
again.
The cartels, the TCOs as a whole, we investigate them
together. So you're breaking it up separately. We don't break
it up separately, because one needs the other, back and forth.
The work that we're doing to go after the cartels in Mexico
and push the borders out is definitely done on the ground with
our men and women, our men and women within all of the U.S.
Government and our partnerships.
One thing that we are strong with is the partnerships with
Mexico. I do understand that over the years different political
pressures in different areas swing, but on the ground, as HSI,
working with our partners, we have great partnerships, a huge
vetted unit that is very strong.
I believe it's just around 60 active criminal
investigations on the drug cartels as we speak today, and
they're very strong in how they operate.
Mr. Gimenez. Are they being--is that being conducted
investigations in Mexico? Are they going to be charged in
Mexico? Are they going to be charged in the United States?
Where are these--where are these soldiers going to be charged?
Mr. Cagen. It depends--it depends on the investigation, the
level of the investigation, whether it's the leaders of the
cartel, whether it's the henchmen, whatever it may be. It
depends on where they're prosecuted.
We extradite people often to serve--to come in front of a
jury here in the United States, but we also then help--and this
is why we're so strong with our Mexican partners, because we
work cases that are mutually beneficial. So if they're trying
to go after corruption----
Mr. Gimenez. Again, I only have limited time and I need to
get to some points that I want to make. Sorry. Sorry to cut you
off.
Mr. Cagen. That's fine, sir.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. Would it surprise you, according to the
L.A. Times, Mexican overdoses, people that died in Mexico, OK,
numbered something like 1,700 in 2020? They numbered over
100,000 here in the United States.
Even taking into account the difference in population, by
my math it's like 25--we are more--25 times more likely to have
an overdose death in the United States than we are in Mexico,
which seems kind-of strange to me, seeing that that's where the
stuff is produced.
So it's one of two things. Either they're vastly
underreporting the overdose deaths in Mexico, which then would
make the Mexican people go a little bit--be perturbed at their
leadership for not doing something about it, or there's
something going on, some kind of unwritten rule that maybe they
produce it there and they don't really sell it there, they
don't push it there, but they do push it up here.
So I'm really disturbed about that. So these numbers
continue to rise. We don't have control of the Southern Border.
The testimony from the chief says that the cartels now control
the Southern Border, many portions of the Southern Border, and
these soldiers are killing 100,000 Americans.
So I'm not sure what it is that you're doing, but whatever
you're doing I don't think it's enough at this point. Sorry.
Thank you. My time is up.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Pfluger.
Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Chairman.
America, wake up. Look over here to the side, to the
colleagues that should be here, to my Democratic colleagues.
How disrespectful is it?
Chief, thank you for being here. Director, thank you for
being here. Please tell everyone in your organization thank you
for their service.
It's extremely disrespectful of my Democratic colleagues to
not be here, to not support those who would put their lives on
the line to keep our country safe. America needs to wake up to
that fact.
Chairman Thompson said last year that he would have a
border hearing and he never did. Now he's been--he's acting as
a partisan agent.
Chief Ortiz, we were in Del Rio under that bridge together
with the 20,000 Haitian migrants. We've been in El Paso
together. We've been here together. You've mentioned that we
don't have operational control of the border, that in over 50
percent of the Southwest Border that it's not secure. You've
talked about capacity and consequences.
My question for you is: Have you shared, as the expert--I'd
like you to channel that first and second year Agent Ortiz,
Officer Ortiz, the tactical expert--have you shared your
recommendations of how to secure the border with Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you that the Secretary and I have
candid conversations about what's happening on the Southwest
Border, and we are exploring every opportunity to make sure
that we continue to add capacity for the men and women out
there.
So, in answer to your question, yes, I have shared my
operational experiences from the last 32 years with the
Secretary.
Mr. Pfluger. So one of those has been consequences. Every
agent that I talk to, hundreds of agents that work within CBP
have mentioned that they don't believe that there are
consequences, that they don't believe. You've mentioned the
repatriation flights.
Is the Secretary listening to your recommendations? Because
it certainly appears that that's not happening.
Chief Ortiz. Yes. I will tell you that the Secretary and
myself have increased the consequences for criminal aliens.
We've seen more criminal aliens apprehended in the last 24
months than we've seen previously.
We continue to prosecute, work with our DOJ partners and
our AUSAs across the Southwest Border. We sit at about a 93
percent acceptance rate. It's certainly not enough. We need to
add more capacity, we need to have more Assistant U.S.
Attorneys, we need to have more prosecution agents so we can
ensure that we instill those consequences that you described.
But I will say that we have increased the level of
prosecutions across the Southwest Border in the neighborhood of
about 35 percent. So, that needs to continue, sir.
Mr. Pfluger. Chief, when you look at the cartels and the
fact that they're making billions of dollars off of the human
trafficking, the smuggling of drugs, the humanitarian crisis--
53 people died in a tractor-trailer in July of last year south
of San Antonio, not too far from here--do you believe that the
cartels are acting as a terrorist organization?
Chief Ortiz. Whether they're acting as a terrorist
organization or a criminal organization, I think that the
Border Patrol, CBP, DHS, all of our partner agencies need to
concentrate their efforts against the cartels, because they
certainly are working both in the human trafficking arena as
well as the narcotics trafficking arena, and we recognize that
they have expanded their capabilities immensely. So, I think
it's got to be a whole-of-government approach.
For me, they are criminals, they are 100 percent criminal
organizations.
Mr. Pfluger. Do you believe that we are acting as a whole-
of-government approach to prevent the cartels from what they're
doing?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you, from a law enforcement
perspective, we've got tremendous partnerships and we're going
to continue to do that. Once again, I believe it's a capacity
issue. We need more officers on the front lines.
Mr. Pfluger. Do you think we can do more?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Mr. Pfluger. Director Cagen, you've seized 3.3 million
pounds of precursor chemicals. How much money have the cartels
profited as a result of shipping that fentanyl?
I'm looking at several sheriffs behind you from my district
who are experiencing the trauma, the chaos from fentanyl in our
own communities. How much money are the cartels making year in
and year out?
Mr. Cagen. I don't have the specific answer for you, but we
have a fentanyl problem, and we need to fix it.
Mr. Pfluger. How do we fix that problem?
Mr. Cagen. I agree with the chief: more capacity, more
capacity building, more people on the border to secure the
border as well as more investigative efforts. We have to surge
our resources to the border, which is what we do, and we have
done it for years. Operation Expanded Impact is HSI's framework
that we utilize to surge resources to the border in times like
this. But it hits a point where there's so many drugs coming
across and humans coming across that we need more resources
along the border, especially when I mentioned that CBP Office
of Field Operations is going to increase their non-inspection
capabilities. It is only going to create more responses to the
ports of entry, more investigations, which is more resources
that his will need in order to combat and investigate these
transnational criminal organizations.
Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Chairman. My time has expired. I
yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
The Chair recognizes Ms. Greene from Georgia.
Ms. Greene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Chief Ortiz, for being here today. Thank you,
Mr. Cagen. I appreciate the jobs that you do as well as the men
and women that work under you, they have very difficult jobs.
We are so appreciative of them.
But I'm going to be very honest with both of you. After
listening to all of this, I am so angry. I cannot believe the
incredible failure of our Federal Government to the American
people and also to the Border Patrol agents, ICE agents, the
jobs that they do, and how incredibly difficult their jobs are
based on the failed policies that they are forced to operate
under. It is absurd.
I live in Georgia. My State is not a border State, but let
me inform you of some of the things that we are dealing with.
Here in my--in Georgia, fentanyl-involved deaths have increased
by over 230 percent since Biden has taken office. In my
district alone, we have had fentanyl-involved deaths increase
by over 350 percent.
I can tell you right now the policies do not work, and we
are sick and tired of our young people dying, our emergency
responders getting poisoned by fentanyl. This is unacceptable.
Chief Ortiz, are you aware that there was an explosive
device found by Border Patrol agents on January 17 in an area
called no man's land and their surveillance of who put it
there. Guess what? It wasn't Americans; it was cartels. Are you
aware of that?
Chief Ortiz. Thank you, Congresswoman, and good to see you
again.
I will tell you that some of this information that I
receive, I receive in a confidential SCIF. So I'm going to be a
little hesitant on briefing what I know and what I don't know
with respect to some of those--an event like that.
Ms. Greene. I understand, Chief Ortiz, but I'm not going to
be confidential because I think people deserve to know. Our
Border Patrol agents should not be in those type of conditions
where they are at risk of being blown to pieces by the cartels,
who by the way are criminals, and they should be treated as
such. As a matter of fact, I've cosponsored legislation to
declare war on the cartels because they are definitely
declaring war on us--the American people and our Border Patrol
agents. I've had enough of it, and I know Americans have had
enough of it.
Mr. Cagen, are you aware of such explosive device being
found by Border Patrol agents?
Mr. Cagen. I am not.
Ms. Greene. Mr. Cagen, since you have to deal greatly in
all the horrific drugs that are poisoning Americans every day,
let's talk about kids for a little bit. We were just told this
morning that kids age 13 to 17 are being recruited by the
cartels, dangerous cartels, even MS-13. They are being used to
smuggle drugs, traffic drugs into our country, having it taped
across their bodies. They're also recruited because many of
them have U.S. citizenship because they've come in our country.
They're used to drive and smuggle human and drugs back and
forth across our border. Can you elaborate on that?
Mr. Cagen. Thank you, and good to see you as well.
The cartels are very good and transnational criminal
organizations are very good at going after vulnerable
populations. You see that with the immigrants that are coming
up. You see that with, as you're talking about, kids. This is
something that has gone on for a long time.
I worked in Mexico for 4 years. So here seeing cartels,
seeing TCOs go after vulnerable children and vulnerable
populations is something that definitely happens. They will go
after any vulnerable population in order to move their drugs
north and/or move their guns and profits south.
Ms. Greene. Yes----
Mr. Cagen. So, yes----
Ms. Greene [continuing]. Sir, Mr. Cagen, let me interrupt
for a minute. This has been a large increase in just the past 2
years in how many teenagers and even children are being used to
traffic drugs. The increase is there, and it is showing that
the policies are failing.
Mr. Cagen. I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't catch the question.
Ms. Greene. I said there's been a large increase in
children being used trafficking drugs into our country and
being recruited by gangs. It's just happened in the past few
years, and the policies are failing. So what change needs to be
made?
Mr. Cagen. I don't have data on the increase, the increase
in children being used. My time that I'm just speaking about
goes all the way back into 2007 to 2010 when I was in New
Mexico. So I don't have any comment on increase or decrease. So
that's not--as an investigative arm of DHS, I'm not here to
focus on----
Ms. Greene. Well, I can tell you right now that I have the
statistics. Deaths of 350 percent in the past 2 years in my
district from fentanyl. That's proof that the increase is
there. We are devastated.
Mr. Cagen. Sorry. I didn't mean to disingenuous. There is
definitely an increase in fentanyl coming here. There is
definitely--we have all seen the increase in death in children.
I was just on a panel a few months ago sitting next to three
parents who had lost their children. It is the hardest time
that I have ever had to testify in my entire life.
Ms. Greene. Then I think--you know what I think, guys, that
I'm going to be really honest with everyone, I could care less
about politics at this point. All I care about is policies put
in place that allow our great men and women to do their job to
secure our country. Our country is not safe. Our people are
being poisoned by fentanyl every single day. I cannot believe
it's the No. 1 cause of death of people from ages 18 to 45.
That is unacceptable. I think that we need to all be honest and
who cares about who our boss is and who cares about who's in
office. We need to be honest and forthcoming about the changes
that need to be made to secure our country because America is
all of our home. It doesn't matter about Republican, Democrat,
or who cares. It's everybody's home. What I would like to see
done is real frank conversation about what to do to fix this
problem.
Thank you very much.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
The Chair recognizes Mr. LaLota from New York.
Mr. LaLota. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, chief and
director for being here. Most of us in this room and back at
home learned in about the 11th grade that, in the Legislative
branch, we pass the laws, and we appropriate and authorize the
money; and the Executive branch enforces the laws and spends
that money.
My question is to you, Chief, with respect to fiber optic
sensors and light posts, because the frustration of the
Congress and this committee is we've done our job. We've
authorized the money. The appropriators have appropriated that
money. We've sent resources through the Executive branch. We
are frustrated that the President and Secretary Mayorkas have
failed to enforce those laws and properly utilize those
resources.
So my question with respect to the fiber optic sensor,
which we understand are an important piece to our border
security, can you tell us the status of these sensors? Are they
on? Where do they exist? Have any of them been turned off,
Chief?
Chief Ortiz. So I'm going to work that backward. Thank you,
Congressman, for the question. None of them have been turned
off. We have them deployed across various locations along the
Southwest Border. I would prefer not to share exactly the
location, but I will tell you that we continue to expand the
Linear Ground Detection System in areas where we are--where 300
miles of infrastructure was slated to be constructed. That is
an on-going project. We continue to make those investments. We
are quite often in the real estate and in the environmental
process. I checked with my team actually this morning, and even
here in south Texas we have on-going deployments of underground
sensors throughout their area of responsibility.
Mr. LaLota. Chief, would the addition of more fiber optic
sensors increase our border security?
Chief Ortiz. Most definitely, sir. We have areas along the
Southwest Border where perhaps your traditional infrastructure,
a wall or barrier system may not be as beneficial, both to the
community, to the ranchers, to the farmers. Perhaps maybe a
virtual Linear Ground Detection System might be the best course
of action. In those areas, we're certainly working hard to make
sure that those systems are deployed.
Mr. LaLota. Chief, with respect to the permitting process,
we understand and respect people's personal property rights.
But can you explain and describe some of the frustrations
you've seen with some of the permitting process, chief?
Chief Ortiz. So, across the Southwest Border, we deal with
private landowners. We deal with the Federal Government, refuge
property. We deal with certainly areas that are protected
lands. So all of that creates a challenge for us.
The Secretary has leveraged his CATEX authority to allow us
to continue some of these programs and initiatives to ensure
that we have those tools that allow us to have situational
awareness out there along the Southwest Border. We're closing
gates and gaps. We've already closed 55 of the gates and gaps.
We are remediating the levee system here in south Texas in some
of the other areas. So this idea that, you know, we turned off
all infrastructure is inaccurate. We continue to propose
recommendations that represent life safety or threats into the
community. We've seen approvals on several of those projects
already.
Mr. LaLota. Can you describe how long some of the
permitting process takes? What, if anything, is holding you up
from the installation of some of this new fiber optic
capability?
Chief Ortiz. So it varies depending on location. What we've
seen here in south Texas, some of the records, the real estate
and who owns the property or sometimes go back multiple
generations. So that becomes a tremendous challenge for our
real estate experts. Then, in some other areas, it moves quite
rapidly. So it just varies depending on location. I will tell
you that, in the last 24 months, 36 months that I've been up at
Washington, DC, I can continue to push the infrastructure
program as well as the underground detection system because I
do think it is probably the wave of the future.
Mr. LaLota. Please continue to give the feedback, Chief.
Moving on to the light posts, have any of the light posts been
turned off?
Chief Ortiz. No, sir. None of the light posts have been
turned off. We are challenged with some of the remote video
sensor camera systems. There is a backlog with the supply chain
issues that we experience both in our fleet and some of the
technology. We are starting to catch up over the last 6 months.
Mr. LaLota. Can you describe the lack of operational lamp
posts and what it could do to border security?
Chief Ortiz. So the inability to have situational
awareness, to not have the border areas lit up or have camera
systems deployed really decreases my confidence in the got-away
number. So we want to maintain as much situational awareness
out in that border environment. All of those are tools that we
leverage in every sector along the Southwest Border.
Mr. LaLota. Thanks, Chief.
Chairman, I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize Ms. Lee from Florida.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Last week, a Federal judge in the Northern District of
Florida, Kent Wetherell, ruled that the Biden administration's
policy of parole and alternatives to detention is unlawful. The
judge stated in part that the administration had effectively
turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand
and little more than a speed bump for aliens flooding into the
country.
Chief Ortiz, my question for you is this: Were you aware of
Judge Wetherell's ruling and his conclusion about that parole
and alternatives detention policy?
Chief Ortiz. Congresswoman Lee, thank you for the question.
Yes, I am aware. I was deposed for that case. Then, on January
10, I was in testimony before the judge in Florida. So I was
aware of his final ruling last week.
Ms. Lee. To this point, have any of the policies related to
parole and alternatives to detention been modified or adjusted
in light of the court's ruling?
Chief Ortiz. So we weren't paroling over the last several
months. Our numbers in the last 60 days have dropped
significantly. We're averaging about 4,800 apprehensions. So
there wasn't a requirement for us to parole. We released to
detention or to ICE enforcement removal operations, and then
we've been able to legislative title 42 considerably. So we
haven't had to leverage that over the last 60 days.
Ms. Lee. OK. So, to this point, have any of the policies at
Border Patrol been modified or adjusted or had to have been
modified or adjusted in light of the court's ruling?
Chief Ortiz. In light of the court's ruling, what we did is
we informed all the sectors that they were not to parole
individuals outside of a specific individual case for a
humanitarian reason or if somebody was a material witness in a
human trafficking case.
Ms. Lee. To your knowledge, are there any plans to make
further modifications, or do you feel like the changes that
have been made so far are adequate?
Chief Ortiz. I think the changes that have been made so far
are adequate, ma'am.
Ms. Lee. I'd like to return to the discussion of
infrastructure. Specifically, we know that during this
administration, the border wall itself, construction of the
border wall itself was halted. Did that halting of construction
include shutting off other technology installations, like
lighting and roads and other things attendant to that
construction?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, the proposed requirement of 750 miles of
border wall infrastructure included roads, lighting, and camera
systems. We currently have about 450 miles of border wall
constructed along the Southwest Border. We had some projects
that were midway through the construction process. So what we
have done is looked at all of those projects individually and
have submitted a request to the Secretary to have approval to
continue those projects. He has granted approval in, I believe,
29 of those projects already. We have an additional slate of
projects that we are going to be presenting to him and others
to make sure that we can try and get those approved as quickly
as possible.
Ms. Lee. So would it be accurate to say that completion of
the wall and those attendant structures--the lights, the roads,
the things you described--would be helpful to you and the
agents who are out there in performing your job?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, ma'am. One of the things that the
Secretary and I firmly agree on that infrastructure is
important to securing the Southwest Border.
Ms. Lee. Thank you.
With that, I'd like to turn to ports of entry and a
discussion there. So is it accurate to say that drug cartels
are operating both at ports of entry and then also coming
across the border and operating through places that are not
designated ports of entry?
Chief Ortiz. With respect to narcotics, what we've seen
this fiscal year is 101 percent increase in fentanyl seizures
in between the ports of entry. So far, 1,117 pounds of fentanyl
had been seized by our Border Patrol agents in between the
ports of entry. The Secretary directed us 2 weeks ago to start
a fentanyl-driven operation, not just the Border Patrol but our
field operations officers at our ports of entry, and to include
our ICE investigators, and we are partnering with DEA to take
the fight to the cartels, specifically in certain locations. So
this is a priority for us, and I'm excited that we're going to
be able to show some significant results based upon adding
additional resources in certain areas.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Chief.
With that, my time has expired. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
I now recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Luttrell.
Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chief Ortiz, thank you for your service.
Mr. Cagen, you as well.
Chief, are you in direct report to Secretary Mayorkas?
Chief Ortiz. There is a commissioner and a deputy
commissioner in between the Secretary and myself.
Mr. Luttrell. Do you communicate with them often?
Chief Ortiz. I communicate often with the Secretary several
times a week, sir.
Mr. Luttrell. So I want to piggyback off of what Ms. Greene
said because we were just read in on this explosive device that
was discovered by one of your Border Patrol agents. Now,
obviously, sir, you're aware of this.
How is it that you are not?
Mr. Cagen. Because, as the investigative arm of the
department, we are focused on investigating TCOs. The
intelligence shared between our two agencies is robust. It
happens all the time. The--we're are not actively--it's not
my----
Mr. Luttrell. So here's my issue----
Mr. Cagen. Let me----
Mr. Luttrell [continuing]. Wait. No, no, no. This is one of
the issues I see between the--and I respect everything that the
both of you do in every way that works for you, but the
breakdown of communication and the silos that we work in is
what's detrimental to this country right now. If there is an
explosive device--if the cartels are using explosive device
against our agent, that changes the narrative.
Mr. Cagen. So can I answer my job as the assistant director
over----
Mr. Luttrell. Please.
Mr. Cagen [continuing]. Transnational organized crime? It
is not domestic operations. Our domestic operations folks that
work in the field day in and day out are the ones that
communicate with the Border Patrol. I'm saying me personally, I
do not know. I can get back to you and let you know whether HSI
as a whole knows and our domestic operations know. So I just
wanted to clarify that for you.
Mr. Luttrell. Thank you. So I would assume that the two
individuals that you report to, sir, have reported to Secretary
Mayorkas about this explosive device, which tells me that
Mayorkas has reported this to the President. Nothing has been
said or done to the American public. Congress had no idea this
was going on.
Ms. Greene. Uh-huh.
Mr. Luttrell. Now, if this is the case, and we're surging
money--hundreds of billions of dollars across the seas to
secure everybody else, and we're not doing anything here in my
State and our Southern Border, that's a problem. Because that
means that they're lying to us. Response.
Chief Ortiz. I will tell you that, if there's a significant
event along the Southwest Border, whether it's a significant
seizure or an arrest, we----
Mr. Luttrell. I'm not talking about drugs anymore; I'm
talking about explosives.
Chief Ortiz. Any significant event. Whether it be a
terrorist, whether it be a significant narcotics load, criminal
alien, high-value target, we will coordinate with our
investigative partners. They vary in numbers. Whether it's FBI,
whether it's the DEA, or our his partners, we all belong to
Joint Terrorism Task Force. If it's associated with terrorism,
every single one of us has an agent or a task force member. So
that information is shared amongst that group.
Mr. Luttrell. It hasn't been shared with us. OK? So here's
my problem. If you share something of this nature with us, we
can help. OK?
Another question, Chief. You said consequences, and you
said that your agents don't feel like they have legislation--or
that legislation is not enforced to support them in their
duties. Who specifically is telling you not to do that? What
memo and whose name is on the bottom of that so we can go after
them?
Chief Ortiz. When I say ``consequences,'' I'm talking about
two things. I'm talking about prosecutions, and I'm talking
about repatriations back to their home country. We have to have
those tools in our tool kit to be able to deal with the migrant
surges that we're seeing right now.
With respect to legislative changes or policy changes,
that's out of my wheelhouse, Congressman. That is your
responsibility. That's the administration's responsibility. My
responsibility is to enforce the laws on the books and do
everything I can to make sure our men and women have the tools
that they need out there to do the job.
Mr. Luttrell. OK. So tell me right now which ones you need
that are in place that they're not being enforced so we can do
something about that. If you don't have that in front of you
right now, please perhaps get it to me.
Chief Ortiz. I will, sir.
Chairman Green. Can I interrupt as the Chairman for just a
second?
Mr. Luttrell. Sure.
Chairman Green. I want to make sure I understand Mr.
Luttrell's questions. You're asking which policies need to be
reinstated in order for him to do his job. Is that----
Mr. Luttrell. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green [continuing]. Correct?
Mr. Luttrell. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green. OK.
Mr. Luttrell. I'm sorry if that didn't come out clearly. I
apologize.
Chairman Green. That's OK. Go ahead, Chief.
Chief Ortiz. Once again, whatever consequences. You can
call it migrant protection protocols. You can call it Remain in
Mexico. You can call it a safe third country. All of the tools
that the Border Patrol and DHS have at their disposal are going
to allow us to do a better job of managing this border.
Mr. Luttrell. I yield back, sir.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize Mr. Strong from Alabama.
Mr. Strong. Thank you, Chief.
Thank y'all for being here today. We have a concern about
[inaudible] the barrier open despite having operational gates,
as Border Patrol opened the floodgates among our Southern
Border when there is actively no flooding?
Chief Ortiz. Not that I'm aware of sir.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. There we go. Thank you. We'll go
with this one, then: 4.7 million apprehended, 1.3 million
evaded, potentially 20 more percent than that; improvised
explosive device being used against U.S. law enforcement.
America protects other countries' borders.
Chief, do you think it's time that the United States
President sends the military to the Southern Border to protect
the American people?
Chief Ortiz. Sir, we have our DOD partners operating along
the Southwest Border. As I mentioned earlier, I was down there
yesterday evening and the day before working side by side with
our National Guardsmen, our Texas Department of Public Safety
partners, and a slew of law enforcement agencies. I will tell
you that, to me, Border Patrol work should be done by Border
Patrol agents. We do have, I think, opportunities to leverage
our partners.
Back in 2012, I had 21,370 Border Patrol agents. Right now,
I have 19,016. My requirement is 22,000 Border Patrol agents.
Until I can get there, I'm going to require assistance from
other agencies to include the Department of Defense. But, right
now, for me, my priority is doing everything I can to add more
rank, more personnel to my ranks so we can make sure that
Border Patrol agents are out there doing that job.
Mr. Strong. I thank you. I think it's time to get 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue on the phone and let them know what's going
on down here.
I would also like to ask you, Mr. Cagen. Your office is
responsible for leading efforts to counter transnational
crimes. This includes combating drugs, illegal weapons, and
money laundering. Has your agency seen an increase in criminal
activity over the last 2 years as it relates to the surge at
the border?
Mr. Cagen. Naturally, the surge at the border is going to
create more activity because, as I mentioned, the transnational
criminal organizations will target the vulnerable populations.
When you have the vulnerable population moving up toward the
border and toward the ports of entry, it's going to cause more
activity. That is the reason for our Operation Expanded Impact,
which is the framework that his utilizes in order to surge
special agents to the Southwest Border in order to support the
increased activity.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. Who are the main perpetrators of
transnational criminal activity along the Southern Border?
Mr. Cagen. The cartels.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. If we return to the operational
policies under the previous administration, Chief Ortiz, how
long would it take to get the border under control?
Chief Ortiz. Every policy that allows us to repatriate or
reduce the flow of migrants is certainly going to increase our
operational effectiveness and our ability to control that
border. Once again, we're dealing with a different population
group. I think it's going to be a real challenge for us to
repatriate some folks from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua. So we have
to make sure that we have a tool for those populations, not
just folks from Central America or Mexico.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. There's people out there, they can
talk about him all they want, but Donald Trump kept our country
safe. Under the Trump administration, ICE air was fueled up 24/
7. Those that came to the United States illegally were detained
and removed to their country of origin immediately and not
turned loose and asked to come to a hearing months later.
They're coming from Mexico. They're coming from Guatemala,
El Salvador, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Iran. They're
coming from China, too. Our country is under attack. America is
being invaded. No American is safe. This invasion is not a
Democratic issue. It is not a Republican issue. It is an
American issue. We have learned more in these hours than we
have heard out of the District of Columbia in I don't know how
many weeks.
I'm a freshman United States Congressman. I've been in
office for 9 weeks, and we are learning more here than we've
heard in the last 9 weeks. I thank each of you, but I can tell
you this, the thing I'm most distraught about is there's not a
Democrat here. This is an American issue. It's appalling that
the Democrats didn't show up, and America is under attack. I
thank both of you for being here.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Brecheen.
Mr. Brecheen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chief, you've got courage. I see you trying to be
respectful, and I also see you being straightforward, and I
want to appreciate you for doing that.
Voice. Absolutely. Here, here.
Mr. Brecheen. For you to admit that we don't have
operational control at our Southern Border, again, you've done
that in a respectful manner, and you've done that in a
straightforward manner, and that took guts. You said a while
ago that, in 2014, that you were plainspoken as well and said
that we'd had a policy crisis. Just for the American people so
we can revisit history, who was President in 2014?
Chief Ortiz. Mr. Obama, sir.
Mr. Brecheen. Thank you. Did we have a policy crisis soon
after from 2016 to 2020 during the Trump administration?
Chief Ortiz. I will tell that you, in 2019, when I was
deputy chief here, we had a family unit crisis. So, to me, I
thought that at that time we had some vulnerabilities, and we
addressed that relatively quickly.
Mr. Brecheen. So, if I understand you correctly, there was
quick action during the 2016 to 2020 time frame to address the
areas that you saw as needing improvement?
Chief Ortiz. I'm not sure I actually agree with how we did
it. Separating families was a significant challenge for our
organization. I will tell you that, once again, there's got to
be another way to solve some of the issues that we're faced
with right now.
Mr. Brecheen. Did you feel like we had operational control
from 2016 to 2020 of the Southern Border?
Chief Ortiz. There were times and there were certain
locations where the effectiveness rate of our Southwest Border
was above 90 percent, 85 percent. In those areas, I had extreme
confidence of what was happening along the Southwest Border.
Mr. Brecheen. That's great. I appreciate your response on
that. Ninety percent is much better than what we heard a while
ago of 5 sectors lacking operational control out of 9 on the
Southern Border.
You mentioned consequences. I'm grateful for you for using
that word. It seems like a word that's missing in public dialog
on this. So title 42, our President is expected to let that
lapse come the month of May. Would you support finding
alternative means to continue title 42--whether it's the 18-to-
45 age frame, leading cause of death, and it's caused 70,000
overdoses last year--would you support continuance of a
measure, health emergency, even if had to be fentanyl-based to
continue the protocol of sending people back to their country
of origin?
Chief Ortiz. Any tool or resource that allows law
enforcement personnel to repatriate or affect some sort of
consequence on individuals that we encounter is going to be a
useful tool. Yes, sir.
Mr. Brecheen. Do you support the Remain in Mexico policy?
Chief Ortiz. I support any policy that's going to allow us
to repatriate individuals back to their home country.
Mr. Brecheen. You also said earlier that you and Secretary
Mayorkas agreed, quote: Infrastructure is important. Secretary
Mayorkas and I agree on this.
The wall and physical barriers. Our President of the United
States in 2016, as a United States Senator, voted for the
Secure Fence Act. At the time, Democrats and Republicans
believed in physical barriers. Do you support the concept of
construction of physical barriers like a wall? Do you believe
they're effectual for the manpower element that they allow you
and your Border Patrol agents to then reallocate elsewhere.
Chief Ortiz. Congressman, I do not believe in a wall from
sea to shining sea, but I do believe in infrastructure and
barrier systems in concentrated areas, especially urban areas.
It's always been our practice from 2006, when I was an agent in
charge in west Texas to now.
But I also don't agree that we should tear down a perfectly
good barrier system to install something that is, you know,
based upon requirements that we developed over the last few
years. We tore down a perfectly good infrastructure system in
some areas that we should have just left alone. Del Rio was a
perfect example of that.
Mr. Brecheen. So, under other prior administration, we had
200-plus wall that was appropriated. The President of the
United States, President Biden by Executive Order shut that
down. Do you agree with his decision to shut down the
construction?
Chief Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Mr. Brecheen. My last question. We have a Mobile One app
that's coming on-line and is being utilized. Do you believe all
that is doing is--is the Mobile One app leading to more
utilization of consequences or less utilization of
consequences?
Chief Ortiz. The Mobile CBP One app is actually part of the
process to ensure that these migrants have an opportunity to
schedule an appointment with an asylum officer without having
to put their lives in the hands of the cartels or the smuggling
organizations. That's a new system. As with any new system, it
takes a while for it to develop. We continue to expand that.
One of the things that we recognized about a month ago, as we
heard feedback from our nongovernmental organization partners
is that there were some gaps, some language gaps, and some gaps
that the migrants generally couldn't understand within the app
itself. So we worked with our NGO partners to make some
adjustments. We continue to expand that as much as we possibly
can. But I do think it's part of an effective system, so folks
who want to apply for some sort of immigration benefit can do
it from their home country.
Mr. Brecheen. I thank you. I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
First, let me ask for unanimous consent of the committee on
something. We'll go technical, and then I'll introduce our next
questioner.
So, without objection, the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. De
La Cruz, is permitted to sit on this hearing and ask questions
of the witness.
Are there any objections?
Hearing none, it is my privilege to welcome to the
committee the gentlewoman from Texas, whose district we
actually now sit in. The gentlelady is recognized.
Ms. De La Cruz. Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you to my colleagues for allowing me this time to be
here with you today. You know, the failed Biden border policy
has made technology even more important to keep our American
communities safe, to keep our Border Patrol agents safe, and to
keep our Nation safe.
With that being said, the RGV sector, which includes
McAllen, Texas, right here where I have the honor and the
privilege to represent, has one of the highest drone detections
along the Southwest Border.
The cartel drone detections, just right here in the Rio
Grande Valley sector in fiscal year 2022 was 35,000 drone
detections. I'm going to repeat that number for you all because
we don't hear it enough--35,000 drone detections from the
cartel that are watching our agents, watching our American
communities, and leading illegal immigrants through our
Southwest Border. That being said, out of the 35,000 drone
detections, only 10,000 were intercepted. That's it, 10,000.
To put this in perspective, the RGV sector only has 31
drones assigned to this sector. Let me repeat that number: 31
drones. Out of those 31, only 18 are actually operational and
assigned. The others are down due to maintenance and other
issues.
So, while the cartel have an abundance of resources and
have unlimited money to be here on our border, the RGV sector,
our agents, our chief are only left with 31 drones to intercept
this.
Now this type of unbalance is unacceptable, and the RGV
that continues to have high illegal immigration and high
illegal drugs crossing our border.
That being said, there's other high-persistence
surveillance, which includes aerostats. There were 7 aerostats
here in the RGV sector. Due to lack of funding, 3 had been
decommissioned. The remaining 4 are going to be defunded by the
end of this year.
With that being said, Chief Ortiz, what is the Department
currently doing to assist with countering the cartel
technology? Again, 35,000 that we detected in the last year.
Chief Ortiz. Thank you, Congresswoman, and good to see you.
I will tell you that technology is probably a priority. Oh, no,
definitely is a priority for myself and my leadership. Whether
it is south Texas or whether it is Arizona, they--sUAS issue.
As you know, cartels have deep pockets. They don't have to
worry about policy. I have to worry about policy.
We have 201 small UAS systems deployed throughout the
country. I intend to continue to expand that at great levels
over the next 24 months. We have a counter-UAS program, and as
you might be familiar with. We continue to expand that because
we recognize that the cartels have become awfully
sophisticated. A smuggler no longer has to leave the Mexican
side to smuggle a group of migrants or narcotics across the
border. He can do it virtually via a phone app and an sUAS. So
we need to continue to expand that footprint. But our policies
also have to match that. We have to be able to mitigate those
35,000 drone incursions that you just described. We are on the
process and are in a process of mitigating a lot of those
criminal organizations and being able to exploit where they're
coming from, how they're doing it. We are going to continue to
expand that as much as we can.
Then, with respect to the aerostats--I'm a big fan of
aerostats. When I was in Afghanistan, and I think some of the
committee Members will recall that aerostats kept us safe. When
I came down here in 2013, I was the architect of the aerostat
program here in south Texas. I went up to headquarters, I
expanded it across multiple locations across the Southwest
Border. But it is an expensive piece of technology, and I have
to find an alternative for that.
Ms. De La Cruz. Now, Chief Ortiz, can you tell the
committee and the Members here that are in the audience, can
you tell us how deep into American soil have these cartel
drones actually come in?
Chief Ortiz. So it will vary. Some of the drone technology
that the cartels are using are very sophisticated. We've seen
incursions miles away from the immediate border area. For us,
we are doing, I think, a tremendous job of identifying where
these criminal organizations are operating out of, but we need
to expand that.
Ms. De La Cruz. So, in my debriefings with Border Patrol, I
have heard that those drones from the cartels have come up to 8
miles into American land. Would you say that is an accurate
statement?
Chief Ortiz. No, ma'am.
Ms. De La Cruz. How far do you believe that they come into
American soil?
Chief Ortiz. I think it depends on terrain. A lot of areas
along the Southwest Border are very mountainous when you think
about what we have in Arizona and El Paso. But then, when you
think about what we're dealing with here in south Texas and in
some areas in west Texas, pretty flat country. So cartels can
operate via line of sight. Once again, it really depends on
their ability to leverage existing systems, whether it's cell
phones and whatnot.
Ms. De La Cruz. We just recently last some of those
aerostat balloons in this past January. So what is the measure
that the Department is using to fill the gap until we get to
the next step?
Chief Ortiz. We currently have a team deployed in looking
at some alternatives to a similar type of platform but that's
less expensive. What we've seen in the past with aerostats is
in these areas, high winds----
Ms. De La Cruz. Chief Ortiz, I'm sorry, I'm out of time.
I'm just going to ask you, how fast can we deploy some of this
technology?
Chief Ortiz. We are hoping to deploy it in the next 6
months, ma'am.
Ms. De La Cruz. Thank you, and I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields. I want to thank our
panel of witnesses for their incredibly valuable testimony
today.
Mr. Cagen, I want to especially thank you. You were a
Democrat-invited witness, and you showed up. So thank you for
that. The folks who invited you bailed on you. But thank you
both for your service to our country and for being here today.
The Members of the committee, they may have some additional
questions for you. They'll submit them in writing. It will be
great if you can get that back in writing.
The witnesses are dismissed, and our committee stands in
recess for 15 minutes.
[Recess.]
Chairman Green. Well, we will go ahead and get started.
The committee will come to order, and I'm pleased to
welcome our second panel of witnesses. I ask that the witnesses
please rise and raise their right hand.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Chairman Green. Let the record reflect that the witnesses
have answered in the affirmative. Thank you. I would now like
to formally introduce our second panel of witnesses.
Stephen McCraw has served as the director and colonel of
the Texas Department of Public Safety since 2009. He has served
in both Texas and Federal law enforcement since 1977 in various
capacities across our entire country. As front-line leader for
a State that is among the most affected by the crisis at our
Southern Border, Mr. McCraw's insights and expertise are
invaluable.
Brad Coe is sheriff of Kinney County, Texas, a border
county that has faced the very real effects of this crisis.
Sheriff Coe has first-hand experience in encountering illegal
aliens and protecting his community. We thank the Sheriff for
making the drive over and look forward to hearing what he has
to say today.
Chris Cabrera is the vice president of the National Border
Patrol Council, a labor union representing the Border Patrol
agents and support personnel. Mr. Cabrera is an Army veteran--
so that makes us brothers--and a current CBP agent. So he has
first-hand knowledge of the scope and the threat before us here
as well as an understanding of what our brave border personnel
have to endure every day.
I thank the witnesses for being here. The witnesses' full
statements will be appear in the record. I now recognize, Mr.
McCraw--Mr. McCraw to kick us off for 5 minutes to summarize
his opening statement. You're recognized.
Could you turn--it will turn green.
STATEMENT OF COLONEL STEVEN C. MC CRAW, DIRECTOR, TEXAS
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Colonel McGraw. Yes, sir. I was trying to delay the time
clock. I'll do anything to get a little more time. But,
Chairman, this is the 11th time as the director of the
Department of Public Safety that I've testified before
Congressional hearings. This is a very important issue, has
been, and continues to be. I can tell you the most significant
public safety, homeland security threat to the State and the
Nation, for that matter, is an unsecured international border
with Mexico. It's been that way for some time. It's the border
States--everybody's a border State. Alabama. Everyone in here
is a part of a border State. New York, you're a border State in
that regard, simply because we have failed to secure the
international border with Mexico. What's happened over the
years is we allowed the Mexican cartels to metastasize to
something much larger than they've ever been. The most
powerful, ruthless, depraved, and violent criminal
organizations in the world, they're on our doorstep. They've
got command-and-control elements. Six of those cartels operate
throughout Texas. They have dominated, and they have controlled
the lucrative drug and human smuggling market. Cocaine, heroin,
methamphetamine--whoever would have thought methamphetamine.
Ten years ago, you wouldn't have imagined it. But they own it
right now. The same thing with fentanyl, they have taken that
over as well. I know you've talked a little bit about that
already in terms of the threat as it stands.
So there's no question about it. It is--an unsecured border
is a problem. It's not just a Federal problem. It becomes a
local problem with the sheriff next to me. I do have to put
this in, I got to commend certainly Chief Raul Ortiz, who I
have worked with for over a decade. Outstanding professional.
He oversees a highly professional elite organization of men and
women that serve on the front line of our Homeland Security and
national security defense, of the U.S. Border Patrol. We're
very proud to work with him. Texas is a very pro-law
enforcement, pro-military State, pro-military State, pro-law
and order State, and supports their Border Patrol to a point
where, 2 years ago, when the Governor and I visited, he was
upset that, all of a sudden, we've seen what we saw in 2014.
Two-thousand-fourteen, we had 200,000--you heard Chief Ortiz
talking about--200,000 unaccompanied children and family units.
It swarmed and swamped and overwhelmed the U.S. Border Patrol.
Since then, the Governor has had us preparing for a mass
migration event if it happens again because what happens is it
takes Border Patrol off the line. So what do we have in 2021?
We were planning for a failed state scenario, a catastrophic
event scenario. But, instead, what we got, what we got is a
Federal policy disaster, OK, that incentivized illegal
migration instead of criminalized illegal migration. So it's
not a matter of just in terms of consequences; it is you are
actually rewarding people. This is the greatest country in the
world. If you are going to reward them and tell them to come
here, and we're going to give you a notice to disappear, that's
what they're going to do. They're going to continue to come in
droves.
The cartels have exploited it. They use social media. OK.
They use information warfare. They use all the military
applications in terms of whether it's logistics, the command
and control, information, operations, intelligence, and
certainly the demonstration or use of application of lethal
force.
We talk about semantics in terms of terrorists. The
Governor designated the cartels as terrorist organizations
because, in effect, that's what they are. I mean, how many
Americans have they killed versus al-Qaeda and ISIS and Sunni
extremist groups? They do it daily.
The most recent threat that is really disturbing from
Texas--because the cartels have always been making money. Now,
they get to reap billions of money--billions of dollars of the
money just from the human trafficking side to extort on both
sides of the border. Not to mention, OK, the Mexican cartels
are collaborating with our gangs--these regional gangs, these
space-based gangs, these transnational gangs to support the
criminal activity on both sides of the border. So it only makes
it worse, OK? Not just a border issue; it becomes a State-wide
issue. It affects every community in the State.
As it relates to fentanyl, as if it's not enough to make
money from a polydrug cocktail, which they were doing. Now,
because it's much more profitable, you know, how about selling
to our kids or youth or anybody, you know, lookalikes of
oxycodone, oxycodone, Adderall. OK? Percocet--and almost
identical. You can't tell the difference. Our scientists can't
tell the difference. Your own DEA administrator says that 6 out
of 10 of those pills have a lethal dose of fentanyl of 2
milligrams. That's a concern. Yes, we have seen deaths. They
don't really care. Yes, you'd think that they would, but they
would rather--they can expand profits just in terms of by
increasing addiction on that regard.
So now they have--not just in terms of the overdose death;
it is poison because it's a substitute. So, you know, what's a
State to do?
Under Governor Greg Abbott, he launched Operation Lone Star
for over 2 years and deployed thousands of National Guard,
troopers, the special agents that work for DPS, and certainly
our Texas Rangers, our tactical teams, aircraft, you know,
tactical marine unit.
The impact is always, you know, felt first and foremost at
the local level. Well, the sheriff and our local police
departments in that regard and found resources and worked with
the legislature to get billions of dollars of Texas tax,
Federal dollars that have been invested in doing everything we
can to help Border Patrol perform their vitally important
mission, to detect, interdict transnational criminal activity
between the ports of entry.
I think that's my time. So I'll be quiet now, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Colonel McCraw follows:]
Prepared Statement of Colonel Steven C. McCraw
March 15, 2023
Good morning, Chairman Green, and Members of the Committee on
Homeland Security. My name is Steven McCraw; I am the director of the
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and our mission is to protect
and serve Texas. Thank you for traveling to the border region of our
State to talk to our citizens, community leaders and members of local
law enforcement who possess first-hand knowledge about the on-going
border crisis.
It is our assessment that the most significant public safety and
homeland security threat to Texas and the Nation is an unsecured
international border with Mexico. I have testified on this issue before
Congressional committees 11 times since becoming the director of DPS,
and each report has been grimmer than the last. Unfortunately, that
trend continues today and the reason is simple: The Federal Government
has failed to do its Constitutional duty and secure the border. This
failure comes at the detriment of our citizens and the benefit of the
Mexican cartels.
In my 2018 Congressional testimony I stated that crime was
increasingly transitory, transnational, organized, and discreet. I
reported that terrorism had become more disaggregated, and that an
unsecured international border with Mexico represented a grave national
security vulnerability. Our Southern Border was porous back then. Our
Southern Border is porous now. This provides the Mexican cartels a
reliable means to smuggle people, some of whom are members of
transnational gangs, criminal aliens or foreign nationals from
countries hostile toward America.
I also testified that the Mexican cartels have exploited the porous
U.S./Mexico border to dominate our Nation's lucrative illicit drug
market, working closely with transnational and U.S.-based gangs to
support their criminal operations on both sides of the U.S./Mexico
Border, and they provide a readily-available retail distribution chain
for their drugs.
At the 2018 Congressional hearing, we warned that if Texas were to
see a repeat of what occurred in 2014, U.S. Border Patrol agents will
again be overwhelmed with detaining, transporting, and processing large
numbers of individuals through Federal immigration procedures. A surge
of unaccompanied children and family units into Texas resulted in over
300,000 apprehensions of illegal migrants for calendar year 2014. These
large numbers overwhelmed the U.S. Border Patrol and Texas communities.
We witnessed how a scenario in which droves of individuals seeking
asylum at the U.S./Mexico border resulted in substantial security gaps
along the border.
In 2018, policy makers were more concerned about the possibility of
a mass migration event at our border as a consequence of a failed state
in the Western Hemisphere or a catastrophic event. Nobody considered
that a global mass migration event could be the result of U.S.
policies; however, there is now compelling evidence that because the
Federal Government incentivized--rather than criminalized--illegal
migration, crime and disorder have followed.
In calendar year 2021, there were more than 1.3 million
apprehensions in Texas, which is 1 million more apprehensions than what
occurred in 2014. And, in calendar year 2022 there were more than 1.4
million apprehensions in Texas. These numbers do not include the many
known and unknown got-aways.
In our profession it is the absence of crime and disorder that
defines success, and the border crisis has increased the difficulty of
doing so in every community throughout the State and Nation.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott and our State legislature care
deeply about protecting its people and have appropriated billions of
dollars in State funds to support the mission of the U.S. Border Patrol
and its agents. To continue addressing the border crisis in full force,
Governor Abbott has made border security an emergency item for the
legislative session occurring in Austin right now.
The Governor is working with members of the legislature to:
Secure $4.6 billion to bolster border security efforts
Pass legislation making it at least a 10-year mandatory
minimum jail sentence for anyone caught smuggling in Texas
Enhance the minimum penalty for operating stash houses to a
third-degree felony
Enhance criminal penalties for foreign terrorist
organizations and increase intelligence operations against such
organizations.
Nobody has done more to secure the Southern Border with Mexico than
Governor Abbott. His leadership on this issue should be your example.
Texas is a law-and-order State and the people of Texas overwhelming
support the U.S. military, law enforcement, and the rule of law and
they want meaningful action, not excuses. The State of Texas does not
need the permission of the Federal Government to protect its citizens
from transnational threats and it will continue to do so by working
closely with our local and Federal partners to address the on-going
border crisis.
In March 2021, Governor Abbott launched Operation Lone Star (OLS)
to deter, detect, and interdict transnational criminal activity using
all available State resources as part of a fully integrated,
multidisciplinary strategy to address security lapses at the border.
Thousands of National Guard soldiers, Texas State troopers, DPS special
agents, Texas Rangers, DPS tactical teams, and Texas game warden
personnel were deployed to the border region to conduct around-the-
clock patrol operations on the river, in the brush, on the roadways and
in the air in smuggling corridors.
Importantly, Texas border sheriffs and chiefs of police serve on
the front line in protecting their communities and OLS provided them
much-needed funding to address the border crisis in their communities.
Infrastructure and technology are also vital to securing something
as vast and diverse as the Texas/Mexico border. Governor Abbott
enlisted the Texas Facilities Commission to continue work on a
permanent wall at identified hot spots. These projects are complex and
implementing them takes time. In the interim, the Texas National Guard
has worked with Texas landowners and communities along the border to
install temporary fencing to deter crossings on private property. The
temporary fencing (such as cyclone fencing), concertina wire, or Conex
boxes also serve as notice that those who cross over these barriers are
subject to State criminal trespassing charges.
Governor Abbott designated the Mexican cartels as terrorist
organizations and directed that DPS special agents and analysts conduct
State-side criminal enterprise investigations targeting the command-
and-control elements of the Mexican cartels operating throughout Texas
working closely with DEA, FBI, and HSI in cities throughout Texas.
Another key element of the OLS strategy includes Texas' Anti-Gang
Center Program that funds centers located throughout the State where
there is a prevalence of gang activity. The Mexican cartels work
closely with these gangs that support cartel smuggling and trafficking
operations and the gangs are also involved in the retail distribution
of the drugs. The TAG Centers provide a venue to collocate local,
State, and Federal gang enforcement, analytical, investigative, and
prosecutorial resources to maximize the impact on violent gang activity
and dismantle gang networks working with the Mexican cartels.
Other State agencies also play a key role such as the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice which has provided jail space and
transportation to address the many OLS-related arrests. The Texas
Department of Emergency Management continues to provide valuable
support to local and State agencies as well.
I am submitting for today's record a table which contains some of
the OLS activity numbers. Of note is the over 360 million lethal doses
of fentanyl that were seized by DPS and more than 19 tons of
methamphetamine. Moreover, members of the Texas National Guard, Texas
game wardens, and DPS personnel have detained and turned over 350,000
illegal migrants to Border Patrol that would have otherwise been got-
aways.
Again, thank you for taking the time to travel to the Texas/Mexico
border to witness the crisis for yourself and speaking with local
experts and citizens who live and work here. This is a beautiful part
of our State, or rather our country. The Federal Government owes it to
the people who live here to do their job and secure the border. These
communities and our State is doing everything possible to maintain the
rule of law, protect human life, and protect property. All of this
comes at great expense and sacrifice.
Chairman Green. Well, thank you. I should have asked this
at the beginning: Do you prefer to be called director or
colonel? But thank you for your----
Colonel McGraw. Those are two nice terms. I've been called
much worse.
Chairman Green. Well, thanks for your opening statement.
I'd now like to recognize Sheriff Coe for 5 minutes to
summarize his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF SHERIFF BRAD COE, KINNEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE,
BRACKETTVILLE, TEXAS
Sheriff Coe. Thank y'all for being here. Like I said, my
name is Brad Coe. I'm the sheriff of Kinney County, Texas. I'm
currently in my second term. Prior to this, I spent 30 years
with U.S. Border Patrol, all of which I spent my time in Kinney
County. Kinney County has 16 miles of riverfront property with
Mexico. We are the 27th largest county in the State, but
population-wise, we only have 3,200 people.
I have 6 full-time deputies and 8 part-time deputies to
cover the 1,300 square miles, which most of our time is spent
close to town, leaving very little coverage for the rest of the
county.
Currently, we are under siege by illegal aliens and
smugglers coming through the county, trying to get to
destinations within the United States.
With the current open-door policy, Kinney County has seen a
dramatic increase in illegal alien activity. The number of
migrants seen on game cameras that I currently have deployed
throughout the State thanks to DPS, we're averaging between 160
and 180 people per night that are going through the county
unchallenged. That comes out to roughly 60,000 people that
enter through my county this year. These are also considered
got-aways by Kinney County because we don't have the resources
to go out and track and try to apprehend these people walking
through the county.
The damage to fences, waterlines, and structures has
ranchers spending more than they can afford to keep their
properties up and running. The loss of the ability to grow
crops is also a huge issue. Large groups of people walking
through the property creating trails kills the grass that the
livestock, the sheep, the goats, and the cattle depend on for
survival. Hard game ranches--we have exotic game ranches where
you can hunt animals year round. Some of these animals--these
hunts will cost you anywhere between 40--on the high end on the
$40- to $80,000 per animal.
With the number of illegal aliens walking through the
county, it's making it more and more difficult for the hunters
to be successful paying these large fees to get the animal of
their choice. If we lose them, I lose the county.
On the smuggling aspect, we have 6 roads that lead directly
away from the border and 2 others that circumvent the Border
Patrol checkpoint in Uvalde County just east of us. These
highways have seen an unprecedented increase in human smuggling
activity. For calendar year 2022, which was last year, Kinney
County deputies apprehended 741 human smugglers. We fought over
3,000 felony cases against these smugglers. It's a huge
increase from calendar year 2021 when we apprehended 169 human
smugglers. We are currently on track right now to exceed 900
smugglers for the year. In February alone, the shortest month
of the year, we did 95 smugglers.
With the increase in human smuggling, increase the chances
of vehicle pursuits or bailouts. The number of pursuits
increased with the human smuggling apprehensions. These
increase the risk to traffic accidents, death, and damages to
property. With the increase of pursuits that result in traffic
accidents puts a huge strain on our community resources.
Kinney County only has EMS crew on duty at any given time.
Our first responders for the fire department are all volunteer.
We had an accident earlier in the year--well, actually it was
in December--there was a pursuit. The vehicle tried to avoid
this being spiked, lost control of the vehicle, killed 3,
including the driver, plus 3 others critically injured. We had
to borrow resources from another county to handle that
situation. Our EMS crews were completely tied up, which took
them away from their regular duties of servicing the county.
Like I said, our volunteers for the fire department, they
were all on scene. They had to leave their jobs to come handle,
help with that accident. Because it was a rollover, because
people were ejected and killed, we had to call in air support.
We had to call in air life from San Antonio and San Angelo in
the event they were going to be needed, which brings up the
question, who's paying for this? My county doesn't have the
resources to pay for air life. As soon as the air life
helicopter hits the ground, it is roughly $45,000. We don't
have that kind of money. The people that they're hauling,
transporting to and from the hospitals, don't have that kind of
money. They don't have the insurance.
We had an incident last year. We had rollover. EMS shows
up. Our only crew shows up. They're about 20 miles south of
town. One of our locals in town suffers a heart attack. He
didn't make it. Would he have made it had EMS been able to get
to him in time? That's one of the questions we will never know.
That is all I have--well, one other thing.
I have to fight tooth and toenail to get what I have to
protect my ranchers. That's all we have. We had a movie
industry, ``Lonesome Dove,'' ``The Alamo,'' on and on, about
150 movies were made in Kinney County during the lifespan of
Alamo Village. That has gone away.
The sheep and goat industry, we reigned supreme in the
world with our sheep and goat industry. That has gone away. All
we have now is our hunters. That's all we have to protect the
county, to support the county. We have one grocery store, one
gas station, and 3,200 people. If I lose any of that, I lose
the whole county. I will go to my grave fighting for this to
keep my county as safe as I can. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Sheriff Coe follows:]
Prepared Statement of Brad Coe
My name is Brad Coe and I am the sheriff of Kinney County, Texas. I
am currently in my second term as sheriff. Prior to being elected as
sheriff, I spent over 30 years with the U.S. Border Patrol, all of
which was in Kinney County.
Kinney County, Texas lies in southwest Texas and has 16 miles of
border with Mexico. Kinney County is roughly 1,370 square miles, raking
27th in size. Currently the population is under 3,200 people. Kinney
County is primarily agricultural land for the raising of sheep, goats,
and cattle. One of the primary sources of revenue is the hunting
industry.
My office has 6 full-time deputies and 8 part-time to cover the
1,370 square miles of the county. This causes large areas of the county
to go unpatrolled. The majority of their patrol areas are within the
city limits of Brackettville and Fort Clark Springs, which is a gated
community within the county.
Currently Kinney County is under siege by illegal immigrants either
walking through local ranches, or being smuggled through the county on
the back roads that circumvent U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints. I am
here today to discuss the impact this immigration crises is having on
Kinney County's resources and revenue.
out of control immigration
With the current ``open door'' policy, Kinney County has seen a
dramatic increase in illegal alien activity. The number of migrants
seen on our game camera system is currently averaging 165 people per
night (60,225 this year). These are also considered got-away since
Kinney County does not have the personnel or equipment to actively
pursue these subjects.
Damage to fences, water troughs, and structures has ranchers
spending more on repairs than they can afford. There currently is no
way to recoup those losses. The loss of the ability to grow crops is an
issue also. With large groups walking cross country, creates trails
that prevent the grass and natural foliage to grow, reduces the grass
for the livestock.
Our ``game ranches'' specialize in exotic animal hunts year-round.
Some of these hunts cost up to $40,000.00 per animal. With the constant
foot traffic walking through these ranches, the animals are harder to
locate and often are spooked by illegal aliens while the hunter is
watching the animals. Which can and will result in the loss of revenue
for the rancher.
smuggling
Kinney County has 6 highways that lead directly from the border
area into the county, plus two other roadways that circumvent the U.S.
Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. Highway 90. These highways have seen
and unprecedented increase in human smuggling activity. For calendar
year 2022, Kinney County deputies arrested 741 human smugglers and
filed over 3,000 felony charges. This is a huge increase from calendar
year 2021 in which we arrested 169 human smugglers. Currently we are on
track to exceed over 900 human smugglers for calendar year 2023.
With the increase in human smuggling comes the increase in vehicle
pursuits and bail outs. The number of pursuits has increased with the
increase in human smuggling arrests. With these increases, the risk of
traffic accident and deaths associated to these accidents also
increase.
With the increase in pursuits that result in traffic accidents puts
a huge strain on our first responders. In December 2022 an accident
that was the result of a driver trying to flee from law enforcement,
lost control of the vehicle, killing himself and 2 other, later
identified as being in the United States illegally, and required 3
others, who were thrown from the vehicle, to be transported to area
hospitals due to severe injuries.
first responder resources
Kinney County only has one EMS team on duty at any given time. Our
Fire and Rescue Department is all volunteer. This accident required
Kinney County to request EMS assistance from neighboring Val Verde
County. As a precaution, Air-Life was also dispatched in the event they
would be needed. This accident tied up all of Kinney County's first
responder resources. Resources that are provided for by tax payers of
Kinney County. Kinney County does not have a tax base that sustain this
type of emergency. Not only were our first responders tied up, but
resources from Val Verde County were tied up as well.
It's not uncommon for EMS to be called out for illegal aliens who
have suffered an injury or has become dehydrated while walking cross
country. Often EMS has to transport these individuals to Val Verde
County since Kinney County does not have an emergency medical facility.
This too ties up a county resource. Often the county does not get re-
imbursed for these services, creating another burden for the local
taxpayer.
During one instance where EMS was tied up with injured illegal
aliens, a resident of Kinney County suffered a heat attack. A second
team had to be called in to respond to the call. The Kinney County
resident didn't survive. Would he have survived if the primary on-duty
EMS team responded? We'll never know.
closing
Kinney County has no industry to support it. We depend on our
ranchers and hunters. We have no port of entry for international trade,
or tourism. At one time Kinney County was a world leader in the
production of wool and mohair. That has gone away. Kinney County was
the Movie Capital of Texas. John Wayne's The Alamo, Lonesome Dove, The
Gambler, Bad Girls,
Just name a few that were filled here. Alamo Village was huge
tourist attraction, which brough in people from across the county. That
has closed. All we have left is our agriculture and hunters. If out
ranchers sell due to loss of revenue, who's going to buy the property?
If the hunters quit coming, our gas station, our grocery store, and
restaurants are going to close. What happens to the residents of Kinney
County when the ranchers go out of business and the hunting quit
coming? This is why I am fighting so hard, so I don't lose the county.
Questions pertaining to:
Landowner re-imbursement
Landowner liability
Interstate Compact to allow State-level officers to arrest
and prosecute Federal violations
Ex. Illegal entry to the United States
Inter-agency cooperation
Needs improvement
Turn over aliens for prosecutions
Prosecution Levels
Need additional resources 8 years behind
Facilities
Jail closed
No female space
Radio Communications with other agencies
Can no longer communicate via radio to outside agencies
Grant funding
School safety
Salary supplements
Advanced Training
Fleet repairs/fuel/etc.
Chairman Green. Thank you, Sheriff. I really appreciate
your testimony.
I now recognize Mr. Cabrera for 5 minutes to summarize his
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF CHRIS CABRERA, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER
PATROL COUNCIL
Mr. Cabrera. Good morning, Chairman Green. Thank you for
providing me the opportunity to testify on behalf of the
National Border Patrol Council. The NBPC represents 16,000
front-line agents of the Border Patrol.
My name is Chris Cabrera. I joined the Border Patrol in
2001 after serving 4 years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper. I
spent my entire Border Patrol career here in the Rio Grande
Valley sector of Texas.
In fiscal year 2022, the Border Patrol made an
unprecedented 2.2 million apprehensions. This figure is
approximately 5 times the number of apprehensions made in the
last year of the Trump administration. It's a clear sign of how
the border policies of this administration are failing.
Approximately half of the individuals we arrested last year
were expelled under Title 42. As you know, this authority will
cease after May of this year. What happened to the other
million that were not expelled? The vast majority were released
into this country under either a notice to appear or paroled.
In addition to apprehensions we made, there were well over
1.2 million confirmed illegal immigrants that evaded capture in
the last 2 years. They got away simply because we didn't have
enough manpower to apprehend them. To put this in perspective,
the Rio Grande Valley has approximately 1.3 million people in
the population. We had almost the entire population of this
region escape, just walk right into this country last year.
If this isn't the definition of a problem, I don't know
what is. If we are going to address this chaos on the border,
we need two things: First and foremost, we must end catch and
release.
Winston Churchill once famously said that Americans always
do the right thing only after they have tried everything else.
When it comes to catch and release, I believe that Winston
Churchill was right.
The first time I testified before Congress was before the
Senate Homeland Security in 2015. I told the Senate then, and I
will tell you today, as long as we continue to release illegal
immigrants into this country, they will continue to come. It's
that simple.
Ending catch and release not only makes common sense, it's
the law. Section 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
requires Homeland Security to detain all migrants apprehended
entering illegally.
Homeland Security may--and I emphasize may--parole
individuals on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons or
significant public benefit. That's not what the Biden
administration has been doing these past 2 years. A Federal
judge just vacated the administration's parole policy, which is
catch and release by a different name.
The second issue is Congress' responsibility. You need to
resource the Border Patrol to accomplish our mission of
securing this border. Border Patrol staffing hovers around
19,300 agents. The Tucson sector chief just recently testified
before House Oversight Committee that the Border Patrol needs
22,000 agents to deal with this current crisis.
Increasing our net manpower by 2,700 agents is going to
take tremendous effort that will require us to do two things
simultaneously: First, we need to keep the agents we already
have, and we need to recruit more agents. It sounds like a
simple problem.
Our Border Patrol attrition rate is 6.9 percent, which is
72 percent higher than the Office of Field Operations. The bad
news is that our attrition rate is expected to climb over 9
percent by 2028.
The primary reason we cannot retain and recruit agents is
the lack of pay parity with other Federal law enforcement
agencies. I have spent most of my life protecting this country,
whether it be for the Army or the 20 years--21 years I've spent
in the Border Patrol.
I've told my wife that you don't join the service to get
rich. However, if I were to leave for another agency, I'd
probably make about $15,000 more. For many agents with young
families that come from different parts of the country, it's a
no-brainer for them. So they leave as soon as they get here.
It's simple for them.
If we continue to hemorrhage personnel, there's no way
we're going to secure this border. We spent billions on
aircraft, on technology, on fencing, and that's great. We
appreciate all of that stuff that you guys have given us.
However, we have not sufficiently invested in our agents, which
is the most important element in border security.
Last Congress, Senators Portman, Sinema, and Lankford
introduced S. 4775, which has a provision, section 4, to
address our recruitment and retention issues.
I know the committee is working on comprehensive
legislation to address this crisis. I appreciate your effort
and the fact that you came all the way down here to have this
hearing that we need. Now that you know what we need, I
respectfully ask that you take action, and that action must
include addressing our retention and recruitment issues.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I will gladly
answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cabrera follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chris Cabrera
background
Chairman Green and Ranking Member Thompson, thank you for providing
me the opportunity to testify on behalf of the National Border Patrol
Council (NBPC).
The NBPC represents the interests of 16,000 front-line agents at
the Border Patrol and my name is Chris Cabrera. I joined the Border
Patrol in 2003, after serving 4 years in the U.S. Army as a
paratrooper. I have spent my entire Border Patrol career here in the
Rio Grande Valley Sector of Texas.
In fiscal year 2022 the Border Patrol made an unprecedented 2.2
million apprehensions. This figure is approximately 5 times the number
of apprehensions made in the last year of the Trump administration and
a clear sign of how the border policies of the Biden administration are
failing.
Approximately half of the individuals we arrested last year were
expelled under Title 42. As you know, this authority will cease to
exist after May of this year. What happened to the other million that
were not expelled? The vast majority were released into this country
under either a Notice to Appear (NTA) or paroled.
In addition to the apprehensions we made, there were well over 1.2
million confirmed illegal immigrants that evaded capture in the last 2
years. They got away simply because we did not have enough agents to
apprehend them. To put this in perspective, right now we are in the Rio
Grande Valley which has a population is 1.3 million people. We had
almost the entire population of this portion of South Texas walk right
into this country illegally because we lacked the manpower to stop
them. If that is not the definition of a problem, I don't know what is.
issues
If we are going to address the chaos on the border, we need two
things. First and foremost, we must end catch and release. Winston
Churchill once famously said Americans always do the right thing, only
after they have tried everything else. When it comes to catch and
release, I feel like Winston Churchill was right. The first time I
testified before Congress was before the Senate Homeland Security
Committee in 2015. I told the Senate then and I will tell you today, as
long as we continue to release illegal immigrants into this country,
they will continue to come. It is that simple.
Ending catch and release not only makes common sense--it is also
the law. Section 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires
Homeland Security to detain all migrants apprehended entering
illegally. Homeland Security may, I emphasize may, parole individuals
on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant
public benefit. That is not what the Biden administration has been
doing the past 2 years and a Federal judge just vacated the
administration's parole policy which is just catch and release by a
different name.
The second issue is Congress's responsibility, and you need to
resource Border Patrol to accomplish our mission of securing the
border. Border Patrol staffing currently hovers around 19,300 agents
and Tucson Sector Chief Joe Modlin testified in February before the
House Oversight Committee that Border Patrol needs at least 22,000
agents to deal with the current crisis.
Increasing net manpower by 2,700 agents is going to take a
tremendous effort that will require us to do two things simultaneously.
First, we need to keep the agents we already have and recruit more
agents. Sounds simple, but we have a problem. Border Patrol's attrition
rate is currently 6.9 percent which is 72 percent higher than the
Office of Field Operations. Worse news is that our attrition rate is
expected to climb to over 9 percent by 2028.
The primary reason we cannot recruit and retain agents is that we
lack pay parity with other Federal law enforcement. I have spent most
of my adult life protecting this country--first in the Army and for the
last 20 years with Border Patrol. I love my job, and as I often tell my
wife, you don't join the military or Border Patrol to get rich.
However, I would make about $15,000 more per year if I left Border
Patrol. For many agents with young families the extra money and better
work-life balance these other agencies offer makes the decision for
them.
Let me be blunt, if we continue to hemorrhage personnel there is no
way we will secure the border. We have spent billions on fencing,
aircraft, and technology over the course of my career. All of these
investments are important--and I want to thank you for it. However, we
have not sufficiently invested in our agents, which are the most
important element in border security.
Last Congress Senators Portman, Sinema, and Lankford introduced S.
4775 which has a provision, section 4, to address our recruitment and
retention issues. I know the committee is working on comprehensive
legislation to address the crisis. I appreciate your efforts and the
fact you came all the way down here to have this hearing to learn what
we need. Now that you know what we need, I respectfully ask that you
take action and that action must include addressing our recruitment and
retention issues.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I will happily answer
any questions you might have.
Chairman Green. Gentlemen, I want to thank all three of you
for being here. I really appreciate it.
I want to ask the Members that they'll be recognized--or
tell the Members they'll be recognized in order of seniority,
as typical for our committee, for questioning. If there is time
for an additional round, we may allow that to happen, and
again, will be recognized in order of seniority.
I now recognize myself for my 5 minutes of questioning.
Mr. Cabrera--is that Cabrera? I want to make sure I'm
pronouncing your name correctly.
Mr. Cabrera. Cabrera is fine.
Chairman Green. Could you briefly talk about how the Border
Patrol agents have been affected by the border crisis
physically and mentally?
Mr. Cabrera. You know, physically, it's been a rough patch
for us these last few years. We lost many agents to COVID. We
lost quite a few to COVID, and we've had a couple officer-
involved deaths with--just recently in December, we lost an
agent to a vehicle accident.
On top of that, suicides. Border Patrol, I think, lost 17
people in the last year. To put that in perspective, the NYPD
has 35,000 officers, I believe, more or less, and they lost 4.
So it is a big issue.
We see a lot of stuff out there that the average person
doesn't see. I think that what hits folks the hardest is what
happens with the children we see. We see a lot of young kids
coming across, 3, 4, 5 years old, 7 years old, that are
unaccompanied. Their parents are already here in the United
States, and they send them by themselves. Who knows about the
hundreds if not thousands more that never make it through.
So that, I think, is more on the mental aspect of it as
well as some of the physical. It's a difficult job. It's
increasingly getting harder by the fact that we're not put in a
position to do the job that we were trained to do.
I mean, we're--I think the Border Patrol is the only union
you're ever going to see in the history of unions that is
actually asking for more work, where we're just, just let us
work, let us do our job. We don't care where you put the
coffeepot. We don't care about lumbar supports for our chairs.
We just want to go to work, and we're just asking that you let
us work.
Chairman Green. I really appreciate that.
Let me ask this question of you as well, sir: What do your
agents share with you? What are their thoughts about the policy
changes that occurred, you know, in 2021?
Mr. Cabrera. The morale is down. The morale is down
significantly. If you look at our numbers now versus our
numbers 2 years ago, you'll see that the numbers are lopsided.
Most of our agents are frustrated with the job. They're
frustrated with the fact that we're babysitters. Maybe 30 to 40
percent of our agents actually get out to the field on any
given day, and then a lot of times they get called back in to
process or transport somebody.
So the real bad guys, the smugglers, the ones that are
harming people, the people that are bringing in drugs into this
country or trafficking in humans or kids, they're getting away.
That affects the agents in their desire to do their job.
You know, let's face it. If you have a young kid, say, that
comes from Charlotte, North Carolina, and he joins the Border
Patrol and his wife comes down. Say, they go to Big Bend. It's
2\1/2\ hours to get to a Walmart, much less a hospital. The
wife can't find a job because she can't speak Spanish.
Then ICE comes around and says, Hey, we'll give you more
pay, Monday through Friday, weekends and holidays off, and
we'll get you back home. Of course, they're going to jump ship.
So we're not only losing seasoned agents, we're losing brand
new agents. So there's no way we're going to catch up with it.
Chairman Green. Let me ask Director McCraw a quick
question: How much is DPS spending per month for border
security, and how much was DPS spending before January 2021?
Colonel McGraw. The State legislature and the Governor have
invested a lot of money over the years, and certainly $800
million in the Department of Public Safety alone.
But when we saw the record numbers--when I say record
numbers, 1.3 million apprehensions in Texas in 2021 and, again,
1.4 million in 2023, the Governor and legislature has dedicated
billions of dollars now. So when we do these intensified
operations and we continue to send troops down and conduct
these around-the-clock operations, they're threefold of what
they were before.
Importantly, now we have the National Guard, and the State
is paying for that National Guard. It's a very important part
of it, because as Border Patrol and probably Chief Ortiz
already talked about, you know, personnel, you've got to have
technology, you got to have infrastructure. You also need
doctrine, right, the correct doctrine and policies in place to
be able to secure the border.
One last thing, I'd like to at least put a pitch in for
Border Patrol. The Federal Government has always undervalued
the patrol function, they always have, and don't recognize, the
post-9/11 environment, that patrol function, how important it
is in terms of prevention. Certainly, they do need to be on par
with their other Federal counterparts. We need more boots on
the border, less wing tips when you get right down to it.
That's really what, you know, Border Patrol brings us.
Chairman Green. I got your reference. Thank you.
Colonel McGraw. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green. Just to summarize, that it was your budget
has had to go up three times, if I understood you correctly,
not counting the National Guard's additional cost at the
border.
Colonel McGraw. At least threefold exactly. Yes, sir.
Chairman Green. All right. Thank you.
My time is up. I now recognize Chairman Higgins.
Mr. Higgins. Colonel McCraw, what's the relationship like
between DPS and DHS right now? How has it been impacted by the
policies of the new administration?
Colonel McGraw. We don't let the policies of the
administration impact our relationships with our partners, the
bottom line. There's too few many law enforcement officers in
Texas, you know, 70,000, you know, local and State. So we work
well with our Federal partners. We integrate operations. It's
Texas. We get along with each other. We like each other. We
respond and we got each other's back. So it hasn't changed. It
hasn't changed.
Mr. Higgins. That's the kind of answer I would expect from
a law enforcement professional, because you're referring to
your relationships with the men and women you work with on a
regular basis to perform your mission to the best of your
ability.
But the current administration, as every executive
administration in the United States, has a Constitutional
responsibility to secure the international border. To help our
sovereign States maintain operational control with the Mexican
border is absolutely a Constitutional requirement.
Do you feel that this administration, compared to the last
administration, is fulfilling that obligation?
Colonel McGraw. Well, absolutely not. Obviously, I
testified and my written statement is that we've incentivized,
you know, a global mass migration event, and that deliberately
impacts on Border Patrol and law enforcement and our
communities across the border.
So, clearly, it's had a negative impact. There's
consequences when there's an unsecured international border.
Mr. Higgins. Would you agree, Colonel, would you concur
that ultimately, the responsibility for that failed policy is
upon the shoulders of Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?
Colonel McGraw. I'd say it's certainly the administration.
Exactly who, it doesn't really matter. It's a failed policy.
It's a Federal responsibility to do it and it's not being done,
period.
Mr. Higgins. I would say that it falls upon the shoulders
of Secretary Mayorkas, as the executive that allegedly has the
background and the knowledge to perform according to the
instructions of the President of the United States.
He also has the responsibility to advise the President if
the President's policies are failing in the mission and
actually bringing injury upon the Nation. So I would say the
failure of our policies, as we see them at our Southern Border,
fall squarely upon the shoulders of Secretary Mayorkas.
Sheriff Coe, my 1911 brother, thank you for being here.
Sheriff Coe. Thank you.
Mr. Higgins. Let's talk about what happens to these
illegals when they get into the country and into your county.
You come across these guys. You have to take them into custody
in some way.
What happens after you have concluded your law enforcement
interaction with them? What's the responsiveness of ICE under
this administration versus the last?
Sheriff Coe. Well, if my deputies come across them, say, on
somebody's property, we file charges on them for criminal
trespass. DPS and the Governor have been very gracious, giving
us a $2.5 million grant to assist with the prosecution and hire
people so that we can get this done. The same thing if we catch
a human smuggler, we file charges on them on everything that we
can stack on them. It's been very successful.
One of the issues we do have, working with ICE and some
Border Patrol, is Border Patrol will catch them, and the
landowner is present when they're caught. The landowner will
say, I want these turned over to the county, the Sheriff's
Office, so I can file criminal charges against them. Border
Patrol refuses.
If we have--if we catch an illegal alien and for whatever
reason we cannot prosecute them because we don't have bed space
for female or they're underage or whatever the case may be, we
have problems having ICE to come pick them up. They say, No, it
doesn't meet our status, we need to kick them down the road.
Mr. Higgins. So, Sheriff, the State charges, if you're able
to prosecute under State charges for, say, criminal trespass,
you conclude that adjudication at some point and they're still
illegal within the country.
Has the Federal Government put you in a position to
illegally release aliens within the country?
Sheriff Coe. Several times they've tried. I'll give you an
example. We had an accident. There were 3 that had very minor
injuries. They refused to go to the hospital. EMS cleared them.
I called Border Patrol to come pick them up. They said, no,
because they've been in an accident, we will not take them. ICE
refused to take them. They wanted me to kick them down the
road.
I took it upon myself. We took them back to the
international border, we took them to the port of entry and
sent them home.
Mr. Higgins. That's real good, Sheriff. Thank you for your
testimony, gentlemen.
Mr. Chairman, I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize Vice Chair Guest.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Colonel McCraw, first of all, I want to thank you. I want
to thank Governor Abbott, the men and women under your control,
for the billions of dollars that the State of Texas has
invested in fighting this crisis. I see that that investment
has been successful in some aspects.
In your written testimony, I see that during the 2-year
activity of Operation Lone Star you report that there's been
more than 350 million dosage units of fentanyl that have been
seized, 19 tons of methamphetamine, and that you and the men
and women of the Texas National Guard, the game wardens, DPS
officials, have helped apprehend and turn over to Border Patrol
over 350,000 illegal immigrants.
In your statement, there are some very compelling parts, in
the second paragraph particularly, where you say that the Texas
Department of Public Safety, that it's your assessment that the
most significant public safety and homeland security threat to
Texas and the Nation is our unsecured international border with
Texas. You go on to say the Federal Government has failed to do
its constitutional duty and secure the border, that this
failure comes at the detriment of our citizens and the benefit
of the Mexican drug cartels.
Colonel, would you agree with the statement that border
security is national security?
Colonel McGraw. Absolutely.
Mr. Guest. You go on to describe our Mexican border as
porous. Then finally at the end of page 1 of your written
statement, you say that there's compelling evidence that the
Federal Government has incentivized, rather than criminalized,
illegal immigration.
Then you said 4 specific figures as the number of
immigrants who have been apprehended just within the State of
Texas, not within the border as a whole. Two thousand twenty-
one, you talk about 1.3 million immigrants being apprehended
just within the State of Texas; 2022, we see that number grew
to 1.4 million. Your testimony goes on to make sure that we
know that that does not include the number of got-aways, which
would significantly inflate those figures.
We know that in May of this year, the administration has
indicated that they will end Title 42, which this
administration has said in December that we could see across
the Southern Border a number up to 14,000 immigrants a day
coming across the Southern Border.
My question to you, Colonel, is, in your opinion, based on
the information that you have, once Title 42 expires, what
impact will that have on the number of immigrants that you're
seeing coming into the State of Texas on a daily basis?
Colonel McGraw. It will certainly increase. How much, it's
difficult to project. But there's no doubt that anything that
incentivizes or encourages or something that the cartels can
exploit from an information standpoint, they're going to
encourage more to come.
The more that comes, then the less Border Patrol is able to
do their job and the more difficult it is for the State to be
able to step in and help them do their jobs.
Mr. Guest. What information have you received from DHS as
to their plan of action as to how they plan to address this
coming surge of immigrants when Title 42 expires?
Colonel McGraw. Well, we work with our local Border Patrol
sectors. So there's a State plan. Whether there's a Federal
plan or not we can't tell, but we certainly have a State plan
that brings together all law enforcement in Texas and the
National Guard in an integrated way to determine the response
if it gets--if it--as it continues to get worse.
But right now, it's never been worse at 1.4 million. This
is an historic high. You got to go back to 1986 to see these
types of numbers in Texas. We track it by calendar year.
Mr. Guest. Well, and I know, just looking back at December
alone, again, across the entire Southern Border, over 250,000
immigrants seized in a single month. If Title 42 goes away, if
the predictions that this administration has in place, those
numbers will far exceed the worst month in the history of
immigration.
So, I guess my question is, is there currently a plan in
place that you're aware of by DHS as to how they intend to
handle the surge? Have they briefed your agency? Because,
clearly, you're providing a support capacity to our front-line
CBP officers.
So, here we are roughly 2 months away, 60 days away from
Title 42 going away. Is there a plan in place? Have they
briefed you and your Department on what you can do to prepare
for the coming surge?
I'll yield back after you answer that question.
Colonel McGraw. There is a plan in place, because the State
of Texas doesn't need the Federal Government's permission to
protect it. Governor Abbott has made it clear that we're going
to have a plan in place. We have a plan in place. It's
integrated across all three levels of government and it's
multijurisdictional and multidisciplinary. I can tell you that.
Chairman Green. Thank you, sir. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr.
Bishop.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Gentlemen, this hearing has already been extraordinarily
significant, because the U.S. Border Patrol Chief testified to
Congress that the administration's policy of releasing illegals
in the United States as opposed to detaining them and removing
them is the cause and the driver of the crisis at the border,
which he characterizes as being out of control and not subject
to operational control of the U.S. Government. So that's a big
deal.
Now I'm curious. In this stage, Colonel McCraw, you said
something that sort-of got me back on something that sort-of is
something I've focused on a lot or thought about a lot. I kind-
of--I don't know what your answers are going to be. They may be
adverse to me politically, but that would be fine.
Because I think about, you know, we've got--so we've seen--
we all focus on the circumstances as they are, and they're very
bad, and all the bad effects that we're seeing in terms of
members of the Border Patrol, Mr. Cabrera, and their families;
and, Sheriff, what you're seeing in chases in your community;
Colonel, what you're trying to do in terms of the investment
your State has to make to get this under control.
But here's what I wonder about, is where could we go if
this continues as it is for another 2 years? We're only halfway
into this--through this administration. They're devoted to this
policy that's so destructive. So where can we end up later on?
I always--my mind always goes back--the phrase that you used,
Colonel, when you were talking about the cartels, the
transnational criminal organizations, and you mentioned command
and control.
I heard earlier the 35,000 flights that Congresswoman De La
Cruz point out, drone flights. They're coming across. I made
some people sort-of smile, not knowingly, when I asked them in
a hearing a year or so ago, why we don't shoot them down? They
all said, like, you can't do that. So we're having--you know,
they're bringing drugs and people over with the use of far
better equipment than Border Patrol has available.
I always get the name of the town wrong. I think it's
Culiacan in January had not the first, but the latest war
between the Mexican military and the Sinaloa cartel over the
arrest of Ovidio Guzman, son of El Chapo.
I would love to show you these pictures. I don't have them,
but the Los Angeles Times has some great pictures that show
flaming tractor-trailers and smashed cars and one or two of the
narco tanks with these improvised rigs on them, the cartel
members, cartel fighters taking on the Army, firing 50-caliber
weapons at aircraft in the air.
The thing--and I understand it's a whole different deal in
the United States, but if you have--I'm told, Mr. Cabrera, that
Border Patrol always tells me that nothing comes across the
border unless the cartel permits it. I--is that basically true,
sir?
Mr. Cabrera. Yes, sir, that's true.
Mr. Bishop. I hear that $15 billion of income comes to the
cartel just from the fees for people to come across. A lot of
them owe those fees. We're hearing about those stories. I heard
his, or I forget what it is, which agency, but is seeing a
surge in violence relating to collecting those fees.
So you have hundreds of thousands or millions of people
coming in, obviously, very--most of them perfectly fine people
and they want to abide by the law, but they're all under the
thumb of a cartel that's growing across the border.
You talked about the command and control, the capabilities
they have, Colonel. What's to prevent them from developing in
the United States the circumstance that you saw in Culiacan
where they could go to war against American law enforcement and
military forces?
Colonel McGraw. Well, first of all, the Mexican cartels are
already inside the United States. They have command-and-control
elements in here involved to support their operations, drug and
human trafficking. They work with the gangs that we talked
about before.
Where you see most of the violence, OK, manifest itself as
relates to the cartels is with gangs and through gangs. If you
talk to local law enforcement, anybody will tell you, even the
fentanyl, it doesn't matter what market it is, it's the gangs
and their collaboration with each other and with the cartels
are the biggest problem right now.
The Mexican cartels own Mexico, that's the bottom line,
through intimidation, hyperviolence, coercion, and frankly,
corruption.
Mr. Bishop. If our policy continues to profit them and
build them and build the people they can abuse and manipulate
for their own purposes, couldn't they strengthen in the United
States to the point that they're that kind of a hazard?
Colonel McGraw. Well, a seemingly compassionate policy of
allowing everybody in the world to come to the United States is
anything but, because you turn them over, as you noted, to the
Mexican cartels.
There's too many rapes. There's too many violent crimes
that are committed upon those women and children that are moved
into this country. The extortion continues, not just in terms
when they get to the river.
They got the money. They'll continue it on in stash houses.
In some cases, Chinese in particular, we've come across in
terms of where they're indentured servitude. They don't have
$50-, $70,000 dollars to pay to get here. They owe a criminal
organization that money, OK, to be able to work off their debt.
Whether it's the sex trafficking industry we've seen when
young girls and women have been tracted from and recruited from
Central America and from Central Mexico on the promise of a
domestic servant. I mean, these are brutal, depraved, corrupt,
cowardly criminals that can care less.
Certainly they impact--in our profession, it's the absence
of crime and disorder that defines success. Right now, there's
anything but the absence of crime and disorder as it relates to
the border, and it impacts every community in the Nation.
Mr. Bishop. At risk the Chairman will gavel me down, I'd
like Mr. Cabrera to answer that question too.
Do you see any risk of the kind of specter that I described
in the United States?
Mr. Cabrera. As far as that happening, I mean, we have had
issues here in the Rio Grande Valley. I know that there's
cartel members living among us in our area, not just in our
area, in probably everyone's area, that are just flying under
the radar.
There's always a possibility, whether it's on a small
scale. I can't see the larger scale taking off just for the
fact that our law enforcement is not corrupt like it is on the
Mexican side. But there will be violence.
Mr. Bishop. Thank God for you all.
Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry. Thank you.
Chairman Green. The gentleman is humored and now yields.
The next--I'd like to recognize our next Member from
Florida, Mr. Gimenez.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I heard
a story Monday when I was in Miami about an individual that
tried to cross and was captured by the cartel. Thinking that
everybody in Miami has money, they called his cousin and
FaceTimed. The cousin didn't have the money, and they murdered
his--basically murdered his cousin on FaceTime because he
didn't--he couldn't give up the $10,000. That's the kind of
people that we're dealing with, that have absolutely no value
for human life. It's all about profit.
So, Mr. McCraw, have you told the--has the Biden
administration gotten the word of what it is they need to do in
order to fix the problem at the border?
Colonel McGraw. They have a lot of smart people back there.
It would be impossible not to know what's the right thing to
do. This is not rocket science.
Mr. Gimenez. I agree. So do you think that the--do you
think--do you think the President of the United States is dumb?
Colonel McGraw. I'm not going to comment on that, because I
don't even----
Mr. Gimenez. Do you think that the Secretary of--do you
think that the Secretary of Homeland Security is dumb?
Colonel McGraw. Certainly, he's not. There's no question.
Mr. Gimenez. So the only thing you can come up with is this
is done on purpose?
Colonel McGraw. There's no--I can't see it otherwise. It's
done on purpose. I don't know that it's meant to be malevolent
and to want the problems it has, but it certainly has.
Mr. Gimenez. Well, you'd have to be pretty dumb not to see
that what you're doing is malevolent and it actually has real
dire consequences to the United States.
So it's actually done on purpose. You know, I came to that
conclusion a long time ago. They're actually doing this on
purpose.
Colonel McGraw. Whatever the reason----
Mr. Gimenez. Now, why, I don't know.
Colonel McGraw. Whatever the reasons, you know, because
this is not a political issue. It's a public safety issue and
it hurts.
Mr. Gimenez. I got it. So now--OK. Now that we know that
it's on purpose, OK, now let's move on to something else, OK?
All right. How many different cartels are there on the
Southern Border?
Colonel McGraw. Well, in Texas, which we focus on, there's
6 Mexican cartels that operate.
Mr. Gimenez. How many--do you have any intelligence on how
many members--how many are members of the--I mean, how many
members do the cartels have on the border, on the southern--on
the Mexican side?
Colonel McGraw. No.
Mr. Gimenez. You don't?
Colonel McGraw. We've got good--we've got some estimations
in terms of working with DEA along those lines, but exact
numbers, no, we don't.
Mr. Gimenez. No, not exact. What's your estimation?
Colonel McGraw. I wouldn't even want to--because of the
extensions of the cartels, I wouldn't want even to project in
terms of how many members. But clearly, there's as many members
of the cartel than there are in gangs in Texas, and we've
identified over 100,000 gang members. So it's--it's going to
be----
Mr. Gimenez. So at least 100,000, you think at least
100,000.
Colonel McGraw. There's going to be, because at some
point--and whether they're directly or indirectly cartel
members, there's no question they've got an army of people down
there.
In fact, I mean, we know from past experience, because that
is the Los Zetas part where former Mexican military that went
over to be the enforcement arm of the cartel. The Gulf cartel
moved over, created its own cartel. So you have this
continuing, you know, rebranding and splitting of cartels, and
they continue to, as we've talked about before, metastasize.
Mr. Gimenez. Does the Mexican military have the capacity to
deal with these cartels?
Colonel McGraw. They haven't demonstrated a capacity to
deal with the cartels.
Mr. Gimenez. But do you think they have the capacity?
Colonel McGraw. I don't know, because it takes--the
capacity includes will----
Mr. Gimenez. Well, that's my next question.
Colonel McCraw [continuing]. Is the bottom line.
Mr. Gimenez. You beat me to the punch. Because then do you
think they have the will?
Colonel McGraw. I know the government of Mexico does not
have the will.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you. I do, too. I think the government
of Mexico does not have the will. They may have the will if the
drugs that are poisoning us were actually poisoning the Mexican
people.
So I really am starting to have some doubts about where
this government of Mexico lies. Is there a deal, a secret
alliance, something that says, Hey, keep the drugs out of
Mexico, OK, and I'll leave you alone. You can go ahead and
poison the Americans all you want.
Colonel McGraw. There's no news to the fact that Mexico has
had issues with corruption as it relates to the Mexican
cartels.
Mr. Gimenez. Yet, the policies of the Biden administration
actually helps the cartels, because they're making huge profits
off of immigration, right?
Colonel McGraw. They're incentivizing----
Mr. Gimenez. So these policies actually are helping the
cartels grow in power and their ability to kill Americans, and
yet, the Biden administration knows they're wrong and continues
to do it.
Colonel McGraw. Clearly, there was--at the end of the day,
the impact on the cartels is they're richer and more powerful
than they were before this mass migration began.
Mr. Gimenez. Right. That is all due to the failed policies
of the Biden administration, which we have to assume they know
are wrong.
Colonel McGraw. I'm not going to say what they assume. I
just know that it's not rocket science to figure this out.
Mr. Gimenez. Yes, or brain surgery, actually. I mean, you
know, we have a physician here, so----
Colonel McGraw. I think brain surgery is a little
complicated, but yes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. I got it. OK, thank you.
I yield back.
Chairman Green. Thank you.
I recognize our next witness--or our next questioner, the
gentleman from Texas, Mr. Pfluger.
Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Chairman.
I thank all of you for being here, for your service to
protect this country and keep it safe. We have had what I would
characterize as a groundbreaking testimony today by Chief
Ortiz, chief of the Border Patrol.
He said that he does not believe we have operational
control of the Southern Border; No. 2, he does not believe that
in at least 5 of the 9 sectors along the Southwest Border that
it is secure; and that we have a policy crisis.
Mr. Cabrera, you know, I'd like you to speak on behalf--how
many people do you represent in the National Border Patrol
Council?
Mr. Cabrera. Sixteen thousand, five hundred.
Mr. Pfluger. Please speak on behalf of 16,500. Do you
believe, do they believe that we have operational control of
our Southern Border, that it is secure?
Mr. Cabrera. Absolutely not.
Mr. Pfluger. You know, we've heard a lot today--I
appreciate your testimony--about the morale. Do you feel--
again, speaking on behalf of the those 16,500, do they feel
supported by the Commander in Chief, by Secretary Mayorkas? Do
they feel they have the resources they need to do their job?
Mr. Cabrera. Absolutely not.
Mr. Pfluger. How sad is that, that you have testified that
we have not sufficiently invested in our agents. We hear you.
We support you. How sad is it--do you want a bipartisan
solution or just one party supporting you?
Mr. Cabrera. Oh, we need a bipartisan solution. This is--
this immigration, especially what happens to these women and
children along this border, has nothing to do with politics. I
mean, if we lined all these kids up in the room, I'm sure you
guys would come up with a solution in a matter of hours.
Mr. Pfluger. How sad is it that our colleagues on the other
side of the aisle are not here in McAllen today in the Rio
Grande Valley to see those unaccompanied minors, to hear the
stories, to talk to you and to hear you saying that you have a
recruiting and a retainment problem, that we had 17-plus
suicides last year. It's very sad.
Colonel McCraw, thank you for your service. You know, just
about an hour ago, I talked to a family member, the daughter of
1 of the 3 women who is missing in Mexico from Penitas right
here in the Rio Grande Valley, a very sad situation.
With that event, with the recent murders of Americans in
Mexico, do you see the cartels acting more brazenly? In fact,
let's go a step further. Do you see them employing terroristic
tactics?
Colonel McGraw. They've been employing terrorist tactics
for years. This is nothing new. Kidnappings of Americans is
nothing new. Kidnappings, extortions, torture, these things go
back decades to the Mexican cartels.
So, I don't mean to be gratuitous. It's just not covered in
Mexico. The reason it's not, I mean, being a journalist is not
a good position to be in in Mexico, writing about cartel
violence, plain and simple. They'll target them. I don't care
if it's a blogger or a professional journalist or a judge or a
police officer. No one is exempt from the cartels and their
level of brutality.
Mr. Pfluger. All three of you are law enforcement
professionals with military experience. If you see an enemy use
a tactic, technique, or procedure that threatens the lives of
those that you're in command of or civilian populations, do you
disseminate that information?
Colonel McGraw. Certainly.
Mr. Pfluger. So if there--it's been alleged that there was
an IED that was used by the cartels across the border. Would
that be something that our Border Patrol agents would want to
know?
Mr. Cabrera. Absolutely. I mean, I know, as a Border Patrol
agent, I'd like to know something like that was happening,
regardless of where it is on the border. I mean, I think it
needs to go out to across all agents, all stations that be on
the lookout for something like this, because it could mean your
life.
Mr. Pfluger. Absolutely. I assume the same for the
Sheriff's Department and for DPS throughout the State of Texas.
Colonel McGraw. Certainly.
Mr. Pfluger. Colonel, can you talk to the expense that the
State of Texas has had to endure because of the abdication of
responsibility of the Federal Government? I'm talking all the
expense, from the hospitals to the jails, you know, the
Operation Lone Star and Stonegarden?
Colonel McGraw. Just in the last couple of years, it's
billions of dollars. But there's even more cost, because every
time we get a surge like this where we take troopers, we take
special agents, Texas Rangers, and we take resources from other
parts of the State, as sheriffs know, from those locations and
we send them down to the border to be able to do intensified
operations, and that takes away a public safety value in those
areas.
So it becomes more safe here, supporting our Border Patrol
partners, less safe there. So there's an impact in terms of
State-wide, and we recognize that. Certainly, the Governor
recognizes that, and the State legislature has recognized that,
but they--the Governor has made it very clear to me is that at
the end of the day, is that a secured international border with
Mexico is an absolute imperative. Without that, we don't have
public safety or homeland security in Texas.
Mr. Pfluger. I thank you, gentlemen. I thank you for your
testimony and your service.
With that, Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize the gentlelady from Georgia, Ms. Greene.
Ms. Greene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being here today and engaging in
this important discussion with us. It's a necessary discussion.
Again, we are outraged and angered that our Democrat colleagues
didn't see the importance of our national security and our
border security even to be important enough for them to get on
an airplane and come down here and be here for this hearing.
Shame on them. Shame on them for not coming and listening
to you and engaging in this important discussion about how to
protect our country and protect our border.
During Trump's administration, the entire administration,
there were approximately 2,437,856 alien encounters in that 4
years. During the Biden administration, to date, which is just
over 2 years, there have been 4.7 million alien encounters just
in his time as President. That is double, double. It has
doubled in just that short amount of time.
Now, under the Trump administration, there were 581,257
got-aways during 4 years. During the Biden administration, to
date, it is 1.3 million got-aways. This is an incredible
increase, and it is not by mistake or accident.
In your opinion, each of you, what are the policy changes
that have happened to contribute to this invasion of our
country? Mr. Cabrera.
Mr. Cabrera. I think first you have the parole. We're
paroling people into the United States instead of mandatory
detention, mandatory removal. The talk of ending Remain in
Mexico and then putting it right back on a couple days later,
that had some issues. Before, we could send everybody back.
After Biden restarted it, we could only send certain folks
back.
I think those are the two biggest ones. If we continue to
let people come in, they're going to continue to come in. It's
just like with a kid. If you let them do certain things and you
tell them no, but there's no--there's no consequence to it,
they're going to continue to test those limits.
That's what we're seeing. We can tell them all day long
that if you come, we'll send you back. But once we release them
into the country, they call home, they put it on Facebook or
Instagram or whatever they use, and more people come, because,
regardless of what I say or the commissioner or whoever, their
brother, their sister, their cousin told them how to do it and
how it's done, and so they do it.
Ms. Greene. Open door policies. Sheriff Coe.
Sheriff Coe. I agree 100 percent. Because of the lack of
consequences, they just continue on. That's why we started
prosecuting them for criminal trespass. We've seen it
effective, because we're pushing the foot traffic into another
county.
We're still catching them, but not as many, but we're
pushing them to another county. I hate to do that, but that's
the only way I can protect my county. So there has to be
consequences.
Ms. Greene. That's right. Colonel McCraw.
Colonel McGraw. I agree with Agent Cabrera.
Ms. Greene. Thank you. It is my opinion, and I have
cosponsored legislation to impeach Secretary Mayorkas for his
failure, as Secretary of Homeland Security, to do his job to
protect our country and in not doing his job to enforce
policies or bring policies under the Biden administration that
allow our good men and women of the Border Patrol and ICE to do
their jobs. I think that's something that should be done,
definitely.
But I'd like to talk to you for a second, Mr. Cabrera,
because you said something that struck me, and I want to
acknowledge this. You stated in your opening testimony that you
told your wife that you didn't take this job for the money
because your job, you don't get paid a lot of money.
Border Patrol agents don't get paid a lot of money. As a
matter of fact, men and women in all law enforcement don't get
paid a lot of money, but you do such an important job, and I
thank you for that. You're the right man for the job. So I just
wanted to say that to you.
But also, I looked it up while we were--while the
discussion was going on. Secretary Mayorkas makes $200,000 a
year in his job while he's failing to do his job. I'm a
business owner, and that's what I did all my life before I
became a Member of Congress.
I believe in accountability as well, and that's what you
gentlemen just spoke of is accountability. I believe in
accountability to people that are getting paid to do a job.
Secretary Mayorkas certainly should not get paid the big salary
that he gets to put men and women in the Border Patrol, their
lives in danger like they are every single day.
In the hearing before this one--or, actually, this morning,
it was revealed to us that an explosive device was found by
Border Patrol on January 17, but it didn't seem to be reported
to very high levels. I was just wondering had you heard about
an explosive device being found in January?
Mr. Cabrera. Absolutely not. Actually, the first I learned
of it was this morning, watching the livestream in the room
down the hall.
Ms. Greene. Right. So that--to me, that is--that's the
cartels taking it to a whole different level that puts our
Border Patrol men and women in extreme danger.
You mentioned--how many suicides did you say there were
among Border Patrol agents?
Mr. Cabrera. Seventeen.
Ms. Greene. Out of 18,000, approximately?
Mr. Cabrera. Sixteen thousand.
Ms. Greene. OK.
Mr. Cabrera. Well, 19,000, 19,500, including supervisors
and management.
Ms. Greene. Out of 19,500, there were 17 suicides. You said
there were how many suicides under New York----
Mr. Cabrera. Out of 30-some, 35,000 officers, 4.
Ms. Greene. Four. That shows the tremendous difference in
stress and emotional toll on Border Patrol agents with a much
higher suicide rate. That, again, is devastating.
Is there--what do you see could be done for Border Patrol
agents to make their jobs easier, less frustrating, and for
them to be able to accomplish what they need to do on a daily
basis?
Chairman Green. So if you could answer as quickly as
possible, I'd appreciate that.
Mr. Cabrera. We just need to be--get out there, let us do
our jobs the way we were trained to do it, enforce the laws as
they were written, and let the law supersede the policy as
opposed to the policy superseding the law.
Chairman Green. Well said by a paratrooper. All right.
The gentlelady yields, and I recognize Mr. LaLota from New
York.
Mr. LaLota. Thank you, Chairman.
Gentlemen, thanks for being here, for what you're doing for
our great country. I represent a suburban district in New York.
I'm about a mile--or excuse me, an hour or two east of
Manhattan. I'm the Yankee in the crowd, and I appreciate your
hospitality. I think I've traveled the furthest of any Member
on the committee here.
This issue is important to my constituents. It's important
to me, because New York is, indeed, a border State. We are a
border State because of the sanctuary city policies that come
from my State. We are a border State because of President Biden
and Secretary Mayorkas' failed leadership. We are a border
State because of the lack of infrastructure, technology, and
personnel at the border.
My first line of questioning is going to go to the folks
from the State and local, the director and the sheriff. You
folks are stepping up and are leading where the Federal
Government is not. This should be a Federal issue. The Federal
Government has a responsibility to secure our border. In
absence of that, I commend you and I thank you on behalf of my
constituents for stepping up.
We've had tons of fentanyl deaths in our county, about 400
recently. We have crime. We have overcrowding in our schools.
We have legitimate people looking to go through the immigration
process. Folks have cut that line. But your leadership,
gentlemen, has helped thwart some of that.
So my question is a follow-on to Mr. Pfluger's question.
What is the cost of you stepping up in the Federal Government's
absence in terms of dollars? What have you had to spend? First
you, Director, and then Sheriff after. What have you had to
spend to fill those leadership shoes?
Colonel McGraw. Well, just in the last 2 years the State
spent over $4 billion. They're looking at spending another $4
billion in the next biennium, and they're having to find
revenue to be able to do that.
So they're not planning on it being--the problem
immediately going away and dissipating. Frankly, we would love
to see--and, by the way, 23,000, and we're talking about Border
Patrol agents. You're down to 19,000.
Then you talk about New York City. One police department
has got more officers than the entire U.S. Border Patrol.
They've got two--I mean, it's pitiful in terms of the
underinvestment that the Government has made in Border Patrol
over the years and border defenses. That's my one comment. I'll
keep my other comments to myself.
Mr. LaLota. Many of my constituents don't know this. My
understanding is of Texas' 200-and-some counties, many of the
counties deploy their officers, their deputies to the border to
help secure the border.
Colonel McGraw. Two hundred fifty-four. They certainly
would, but they're usually back at home trying to take care of
the gaps we leave when we send troopers down south. But there's
not a one that doesn't have to deal with border-related
problems in their jurisdiction already.
Mr. LaLota. Thank you.
Sheriff, on the cost in terms of dollars to your agency,
sir.
Sheriff Coe. On my cost, my current budget is just a little
over $1 million. That's to cover everything. We're 6 months
into it, and I've already expended all my fuel money. So we've
got to borrow from somebody else, take it from another
department, because of issues like that.
The cost of EMS having to transport people to and from a
local hospital, which we don't have. We got to go 40 miles to
go to a hospital. About 20 percent of what we're transporting
to hospitals is the result of illegal immigration, aliens that
have succumbed to the heat or have some type of broken leg,
broken arm, been snake bit out in the brush.
We have to transport them. We don't get reimbursed. So our
EMS crew and my office are going to be in the red again this
year because of this.
Mr. LaLota. Safe to say, Sheriff and director, you would
agree that the Federal Government should reimburse you for
those costs?
Sheriff Coe. They should have been reimbursing us a long
time ago, because the Federal Government won't pay for our
transport to and from.
Colonel McGraw. I'm not sure that Stafford Act covers
policy disasters, but clearly it is a disaster and certainly a
crisis.
Mr. LaLota. I agree with that.
Moving on to opportunity cost, you're diverting resources,
personnel, equipment and otherwise, to cover the Federal
Government's back where the Federal Government has failed.
How would you address where you're having to miss the ball
back at home, in terms of crimes against people, crimes against
property? What are you missing because you have to divert your
resources to a Federal Government problem?
Sheriff Coe. On the county level, part of my job is, yes,
to help get cats out of the trees, hang out with the kids at
school, teach the kids to respect law enforcement, be an
example.
But, because of this illegal immigration, my resources are
going elsewhere. Yes, we still handle some of the domestic
stuff, the big stuff. But being in the public eye like we're
supposed to be, we're out doing Border Patrol's job. No offense
to Border Patrol, because they're being tied up doing other
things.
My crew has--I've got six full-time deputies, and we spend
the majority of our day processing smugglers and illegal
immigrants, because the Border Patrol can't. So we're missing
out on a lot of things we should be doing that we can't.
Colonel McGraw. We have to conduct surge operations and
sustained deployments around the State from resources elsewhere
in the State and continue to move wave after wave after wave,
to be able to keep intensified patrol operations on the river,
certainly in the air, and on the ground in the brush teams.
Mr. LaLota. Let me close by once again saying thank you.
You know, it's a sacrifice that you and your officers and
deputies are making personally, financially. Us New Yorkers, we
do appreciate it.
I yield, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize Mr. Luttrell from Texas.
Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good to see everybody again, Colonel. Sheriff Coe, it's
been a while. It's good to lay eyes on you again.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity with DPS to travel around
the--on the river, and we saw where the cartels--and on the
other side, it was beautiful. Beautiful homes, just
extravagant. But the cartel have come in and taken all that
over and run away all the industry and businesses and families
that were there. So now it's nothing like it used to be.
My question is, Sheriff, with the push across the border
into your county and surrounding counties, what is the--how
many people are leaving? Because you said industry. The sheep
and the goat industry, depleted, it's gone.
Sheriff Coe. Yes, sir.
Mr. Luttrell. Are you seeing that surge more and more, and
is it lateral across the borders on our side?
Sheriff Coe. If we go by the last Census--the current
Census shows we have a populate of 3,100 people, almost 3,200.
The Census before, we had 3,900 people. So, by that, we've lost
700 people in the past 10 years. But what we're starting to see
because of this is, yes, people are leaving, but they're
selling their properties.
We've got one really nice piece of property that I'd like
to have, but he's tired of fixing his fences. He offers hunts
to Wounded Warriors, and he's constantly in the public eye in
our county, anyway, helping with the 4H, FFA, Little League, et
cetera, et cetera.
He's getting ready to pull out, and we won't see him again.
So we will lose that part of the industry, that tax base, plus
his goodwill toward our county, keeping us afloat.
The only people that are buying big tracts of land right
now are the people that are subdividing it. They start
subdividing it. They want to divide it. He's got 3,500 acres.
Somebody wants to come in and buy that and subdivide it into
ten-acre plots, which will completely destroy my county.
Because people are tired, they're getting ready to leave.
Mr. Luttrell. Just to clarify something you and I spoke
about, if a rancher's fence is torn down and their livestock
exit the ranch and get on the highway systems and a vehicle
strikes that animal, it's the rancher's responsibility to pay,
correct?
Sheriff Coe. Correct. The rancher is responsible for that
animal getting on the highway.
Mr. Luttrell. That happens quite often.
Sheriff Coe. That has happened quite often.
Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Cabrera, and this is the hard one. This
is the--we can't seem to crack. When it comes to morale and
health, I mean, in Big Bend, 2\1/2\ hours to the Walmart,
that's not going to change.
Mr. Cabrera. Yes.
Mr. Luttrell. That's just not. We have to figure out
another way. How can we help enhance the want, desire to become
an agent but serve in these challenging areas?
Mr. Cabrera. You know, I think a big part of it is going to
be pay parity. You know, if somebody can leave to a different
organization and get closer to home, I mean, it's just common
sense that, you know, they're going to go home. The old saying
is a happy wife, happy life, you know.
Some guys will--some guys will take the commute. Some guys
drive 2 hours from El Paso, but it starts to become a drain on
them little by little. So I know the patrol has done some
things as far as making it a hardship station where you could
stay for X amount of years, then you could transfer to a
station of your choice. Stuff like that helps out.
Mr. Luttrell. This may be a little technical, but with just
the advancements of technology in the areas that we are short
on officers, would it make more sense if we surged technology
into places that maybe necessarily people don't want to operate
and have that assist a smaller number in order to enhance
numbers somewhere else?
Mr. Cabrera. Most definitely. I mean, you look at the
Aerostats, those big blimps you see. I mean, those things are
wonderful. They work wonders for us out here. I know most of
the Patrol has lost access to those.
We still have them in the McAllen areas. Once we lose
them--and we will--it's going to be a big blow to our agents,
because they're very useful. They can operate around the clock.
They're not worried about fuel like the helicopters. If you
could get those in other places, that would greatly help.
Mr. Luttrell. I think we might work on that.
I yield back, sir.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize Mr. Strong from Alabama.
Mr. Strong. Thank you.
Sheriff Coe, you mentioned that the population of Kinney,
Texas is declining. You already got that question answered.
What is the capacity of your jail in Kinney?
Sheriff Coe. Right now, my jail is closed down, because
it's old and it doesn't meet jail standards.
Mr. Strong. OK. How many schools do you have in Kinney,
Texas?
Sheriff Coe. One.
Mr. Strong. You have one school. Do you have illegal aliens
being taught in your school?
Sheriff Coe. At this time, no.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. I also want to thank you for going
the extra mile and rather than just kick the can down the road
taking those illegals back to the border and sending them back
where they came from. That was very commendable.
Colonel McCraw, do you believe it's time that the U.S.
military stops this invasion of the Southern Border?
Colonel McGraw. Yes. I certainly believe it's time for the
Federal Government to do its sovereign responsibility and
whatever resources it needs to do it.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
I now recognize the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Brecheen.
Mr. Brecheen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Sheriff, you had mentioned something. This was not going to
be something that's part of the record of this hearing. But I
had a chance to introduce myself to you. I liked your 5-inch
brim and your good leather work on your belt.
We had a conversation before this hearing started where you
had mentioned to me in 2005 circa----
Sheriff Coe. Yes, sir.
Mr. Brecheen [continuing]. That there was a policy that you
paid attention to, detention consequences. I'd like for you to
elaborate on what you shared with me in private to this
committee.
Sheriff Coe. OK. Back in 2005, I was with U.S. Border
Patrol. We started a program that was called Operation
Streamline. We started in one little part of Del Rio sector and
expanded it as it went on. But every illegal alien caught,
everybody, male or female, was prosecuted for U.S.C. 1325,
which is illegal entry into the United States.
It worked. We had areas in Eagle Pass, Texas, that were
seeing groups apprehension on a daily basis anywhere between 50
and 150. Once we started that prosecution, they went someplace
else. Once they moved, we moved with them. After about a year,
year and a half, our apprehensions went through the floor.
Where we were apprehending 150, 200 a day in Brackettville, it
went down to 10 or 12 a day. Those were usually they were being
transported in smuggling cases, but they too were prosecuted
for illegal entry.
Then we expanded that into expedited removal. In other
words, right there on the spot, we did the paperwork. They were
removed back to Mexico, and it was considered a deportation. So
if they ever entered again, they were facing felony charges.
That program worked.
Mr. Brecheen. Can you elaborate on--there was jail time
involved in this, correct, as a deterrent?
Sheriff Coe. Yes, up to 180 days in jail for the illegal
entry, which is a misdemeanor. If they were caught again for
reentry after deport, I believe it's 2 years or 5 years? Five
years. They faced up to 5 years for reentry after deport.
Mr. Brecheen. That's great. What do you experience now? Can
you elaborate on if you show up on the scene and your county is
not the first to apprehend them, if the Border Patrol is there,
what happens in terms of your ability to start trespass
proceedings against this person?
Sheriff Coe. If we show up on scene and the landowner wants
the ones that are on caught on his property processed and
prosecuted for criminal trespass, but Border Patrol got their
hands on them first, they will not give them back to us.
It's not because the agents in the field don't want to.
It's not because the patrol agent in charge doesn't want to.
It's coming from Washington.
Mr. Brecheen. There's so many years of experience here in
front of us at this table of dealing with this. President Biden
has made the comment ``not one more foot'' in regards to, you
know, building a fence or a wall.
Director, what can you tell me? We saw, it was either under
DPS or National Guard in El Paso sector, Rent a Fence, that the
Texas Department, whether it's--it was actually where the
Federal Government had stopped the construction. I took a
picture with it. It says ``Rent a Fence.''
Can you talk to me about Texas' position on physical
barriers?
Colonel McGraw. They're an absolute necessity. As
Congressman Luttrell indicated, sometimes you don't need it.
Big Bend's a pretty good infrastructure itself if you've got
technology employed, but clearly El Paso, when you saw when you
have Venezuelans swelling along the Del Norte Bridge and trying
to push in, if you don't have the infrastructure.
Certainly on some of the areas where Texas Military
Department has put concertina wire and other infrastructure,
then you're going to get people able to move in such--in such
quantities that you can't stop it.
So infrastructure plays a key role. I think that whether
it's permanent infrastructure or even temporary infrastructure,
which we've had to use, simply because we don't have time to
build the type of fence that needs to be there, it's important.
Mr. Brecheen. Mr. Cabrera, you represent 16,000 Border
Patrol agents out of almost 20,000. What does the guys and gals
that you work with, what's their position on physical barriers?
We have people across the Nation, post-'86 amnesty, who would,
you know, who would talk about that there's no value in
physical barriers. What are the people that you work with and
your years of experience, what does it tell you on the value of
physical barriers to solve this problem?
Mr. Cabrera. They work. I mean, it works 100 percent. You
know, you may come over that wall. If you climb over that wall,
the chances are that our agents are going to be there to meet
you on the other side. In Hidalgo, if there was no wall there,
from the time you left the river to the time you disappear into
the community, it's less than 30 seconds. But, with that wall
up, that gives us a good 3, 4, 5 minutes for you to get over
and get down and our agents are there. So, without that wall--
it doesn't stop everything, but it gives us enough time to get
in position. I mean, there's one around the White House.
There's a reason that it's there, because it works.
Mr. Brecheen. So, in terms of allocation of resources, you
believe that one agent has the ability with a fence, a fencing
structure, has the ability then to be able to cover much more
ground, whether they're horseback, ATV, that that gives that
agent greater distance and more efficiency in their day-to-day
work activities?
Mr. Cabrera. Yes, it is a force multiplier. It does slow
them down so that our agents can get there and get the job
done. So it is--it's not the only tool in the toolbox, but it
is a very necessary tool.
Mr. Brecheen. Thank you. I yield.
Chairman Green. The gentleman yields. It would appear that
I skipped one of our Members. My apologies. My deepest
apologies to the gentlelady from Florida. You are now
recognized, Ms. Lee.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Today's testimony makes clear that Mexican drug cartels are
trafficking narcotics, weapons, and children across our
Southern Border and that border security is collapsing under
the failed policies of the Biden administration. We must
recognize that the Biden administration's reckless failure to
secure our border is allowing criminals to enter our country
and undermining the rule of law.
Between October 2022 and January 2023, Customs and Border
Patrol officials arrested 9,445 individuals with criminal
convictions, 209 members of known criminal organizations, and
53 people whose names appear on the FBI's terror watch list.
What's even more concerning are the estimated got-aways who we
cannot track.
One argument that has been made by the administration in
support of their failed policies is that our approach at the
Southern Border should be humanitarian-focused. So I would like
to return to a subject of some prior statements, Colonel
McCraw, that you made and discuss the humanitarian effects on
people that are coming across this border, those who are
exploited, injured, or even killed. I would like for to you
share with us, if you would, your impression of whether these
policies of the administration are, in fact, having a
humanitarian effect.
Colonel McGraw. Well, it may seem compassionate, but any
time you attract millions of people from around the world to
essentially turn themselves over to the Mexican cartel--and we
described in detail in terms of how violent and ruthless they
are--you're basically setting them up to be victims of crime.
It happens again and again and again, and not just when they
get--you know, before the river, but on the river, but in the
other side of the river, and Sheriff Coe talked about in terms
of abandonments. You'll see even kids. Because kids are great
that you can bring with them, the younger the better. You can
bring a kid in your family unit, if you're captured in that
regard. But, at the same point, they abandon those kids. I
don't know how many people's lives we lost. I don't know in
Kinney County, but certainly in Brooks County, right by the--
they fell through this checkpoint. All of these things are
playing out. The investigations that we conduct, the
investigations are very important, when we target the cartels,
it's very important to do. But sex trafficking investigations,
we have talked about these major cases.
You know, what these cartels and these organizations do
is--do to these people is undescribable. You don't hear about
it. It's not reported much, but it's happening, and you see it
in our investigations, and you see it in patrol operations.
Ms. Lee. Tell us, if you would, what are the primary types
of those investigation that you see, the common things that are
happening, criminal conduct that's occurring that's victimizing
these individuals who are attempting to cross the Southern
Border illegally?
Colonel McGraw. Well, first, unfortunately, it's very
difficult to tell the difference between smuggling and
trafficking anymore with the cartels. So, first and foremost,
the money on the front side, you can argue, well, that's just
the smuggling fee. But, when they get across, they're
maintained and housed and inside stash houses. They insist upon
calling relatives to get more money. So it's kidnapping, in
effect.
Then you get them when they finally go to their final
destination. They know where they're at. They know how to get
in contact with them in that regard, and now it's extortion.
They continue to pay money back to the cartels that they owe
because they couldn't afford to pay all of it.
You know, going back to the policy side of it is that, you
know, people, you know, will give up--and it's demonstrated
again--they will sell everything they have to be able to try to
come to the United States because it's that important--if they
believe they have an opportunity. They won't if they believe
that there are consequences.
Ms. Lee. Agent Cabrera, I would like to ask a similar
question of you. One thing that you mentioned earlier was your
belief that if the children who you had seen victimized as part
of this flood of individuals illegally across our Southern
Border were here, that we would reach a policy solution. Tell
me, if you would, what it is you have observed with women and
children and how they are being treated coming across our
Southern Border.
Mr. Cabrera. Just the other day, it was about a week or so
ago, maybe 2 weeks, it was about 35 degrees, 40 degrees,
somewhere in there, and we had a little boy that was brought up
by another group that found him crying on the river. He was 4
years old. He had one shoe on. He was soaking wet, and his
parents were already here in the United States. We see that all
the time. We see little girls--5, 6, 7 years old--that their
parents are already here, and they sent them in care of a
smuggler, and the parents are in Houston or Detroit or
wherever.
A while back, I had a 13-year-old girl that came up to us,
turned herself in at the wall, in a group of about 70. We asked
for her documentation, and she handed us her birth certificate.
She didn't say a word. All she did was cry for the hour and a
half it took for the buses to get out there to come pick her
up. She was--we couldn't console her. I mean, it--God only
knows what happened to that young lady.
I saw a lady, I think in her late fifties, and she was just
pummeled to a bloody pulp. This was about a year ago. The
reason she was pummeled is these river guides tried to get to
her 12-year-old granddaughter. Luckily she fought them off, but
she paid the price for it. But we see that time and time and
time again.
If you did mandatory detention, mandatory removal, we
wouldn't see this because we wouldn't be incentivizing people
coming over, and let's do everything we can, let's risk our
lives, let's risk our young children, let's put our young girls
on birth control at the age of 12, or give them plan B because
we know that's part of the journey.
If we disincentivize this journey, people would stop
bringing--taking that journey.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Agent Cabrera.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
I now recognize, from her own district, the gentlelady from
Texas, Ms. De La Cruz.
Ms. De La Cruz. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
I thank you all for being here today.
When I spoke last session, I talked about the importance of
technology and specifically drones and what we had over 35,000
detections and 10,000 incursions. Well, drones can't work
themselves, right? We need the manpower, the agents to be able
to work them. So retention and a recruitment is an important
part of securing the future of our Nation.
So this question actually goes to Mr. Cabrera. Mr. Cabrera,
over the last year, due to the failed Biden policy and the
stress that it has put on our Border Patrol agents, have you
seen an increase in agent retirement?
Mr. Cabrera. Most definitely. You know, like we said
before, technology is great. We can have all the technology in
the world, but if we don't have all the agents on the ground to
stop it, we're not going to be able to do anything.
It used to be, when I first came in and even up until about
5 years ago, when you hit that retirement age, you had maybe a
7-to-10-year gap where you could go, but most guys didn't go.
They stayed until mandatory. Now, when guys hit that retirement
age, they jump as soon as they can. That's a shame because
we're losing very senior, seasoned agents that we're just
letting go.
Ms. De La Cruz. Do you see that trend continuing?
Mr. Cabrera. I see that trend continuing, and I foresee it
getting worse.
Ms. De La Cruz. Share with the committee here about
recruitment, and recruitment being a key part of being able to
make sure that whoever's retiring, that not only do we still
fill those spots but even increase our agents at the border. So
share with the committee about polygraphs and how polygraphs
have affected recruitment.
Mr. Cabrera. You know, I think polygraphs have their place.
I think the Border Patrol polygraph--I think it's a flawed
system. I know we've had guys that come out of the military
with a security clearance, top secret, and they fail the Border
Patrol polygraph. So they get sent on down the road.
I have tons of stories, whether it's people I know or
people that I'm related to, that can't pass the Border Patrol
polygraph, but they passed the one for Customs, or they go into
DPS, or they fail it the first time and pass it the second
time. It's just astonishing that nobody can pass this
polygraph. It's--I mean, they ask some just ridiculous
questions. They even go to--sometimes I've even heard of them
going into people's sexual orientation on these polygraphs.
What that has to do with anything is insane.
But, you know, if there is a place for it, they need to
revamp that system and make it so that we are not losing good
candidates to DPS, which we are. You know, it's good for them;
it's bad for us.
Ms. De La Cruz. So is this something that the polygraph
test and how it's being utilized with the Border Patrol
recruitment something you would like this committee to take a
look at?
Mr. Cabrera. Most definitely. I mean, like we said before,
we are losing tons of great agents for just silly, silly
technology.
Ms. De La Cruz. Tell us about overtime caps and how that
affects maximizing the boots on the ground.
Mr. Cabrera. We have overtime caps. I don't know the exact
numbers on it, but we do have a cap on overtime. So, if we work
it early on in the year--which like this team of the year,
everybody starts taking their overtime--and then toward
September, October, November, there is, you know, no overtime
left because even if it's available, the agents can't go over
that cap to work it because they've made too much already.
Ms. De La Cruz. So let me make an example for my colleagues
here that I think is very important. So people are maximizing
their overtime right now. So let's just say November, if we had
a migrant flow of 10,000 Haitians come over like they did in
the past years, people would be maxed out on their overtime and
could not go out and assist. Is that correct?
Mr. Cabrera. That is correct.
Ms. De La Cruz. Thank you very much, and I yield back.
Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
I just want to add that in the border bill that we have put
together, the polygraph issue is addressed. So, hopefully, the
administration will sign that bill, and the Senate will pass
it. But, for prior law enforcement and military, et cetera,
those are the security clearance--the polygraph will be waived.
A couple of admin notes, first, for the committee Members,
we have some food for you in the roundtable room, and we will
do the press conference in about 20 to 30 minutes.
Mr. Strong. Mr. Chairman, could I ask you, I know that
every Member was notified----
Chairman Green. The gentleman is recognized.
Mr. Strong. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I know that
every Member was notified about this committee hearing. Could
you tell me what date we were notified so that we could make
our schedules available for this most important hearing in
Texas?
Chairman Green. Well, actually the press--give me just a
second. I have got to find the exact date for you. It was at
least a week ago. I want to give you the actual date. February
21 was actually the first notice.
Mr. Strong. Thank you.
Chairman Green. Yes. I thank the panel of witnesses for
being here. Incredibly valuable testimony. The Members of the
committee may have some additional questions for you, and
they'll submit those in writing. You can submit your answers in
writing.
Pursuant to the committee rule 7(d), the hearing record
will be held open for 10 days for such testimony.
Without objection, the committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:53 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]