Goodlatte Statement at DHS Oversight Hearing

Washington, D.C. — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today delivered the following statement during the Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee’s hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.” Chairman Goodlatte: When President Obama’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson first testified in front of this Committee, I told him that he was not responsible for the dangerous and irresponsible decisions made by DHS before he was sworn in.  And I told him that we could only hope that he would bring back a level of adult responsibility to the enforcement of our immigration laws. The same rings true today.  The current Secretary is not responsible for the actions of her predecessors, but she carries the burden of reversing the course of years of implemented policies that flagrantly disregarded and hindered the rule of law in the U.S. immigration system.  She carries the burden of ensuring that immigration enforcement is on track, and that immigration benefits are issued only to those eligible to receive them.  She carries the burden of ensuring that U.S. immigration law and policy is workable and that it benefits America. Historically our immigration laws and policy have been written to balance national security with humanitarian generosity, and meeting the workforce needs of a fluctuating economy.  Sometimes the laws and policies need to be updated to respond to situations that have arisen over time. That is the case with our asylum laws, with our laws governing inadmissible and removable aliens, with our laws governing detention of aliens, and with our laws governing legal immigration, among many others. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of many of us in Congress, we have not been able to pass legislation to change those laws. And unfortunately, over the last two years, nearly every time DHS has attempted to enforce the immigration laws as they were written by Congress or to make sure that their policies adhere to those laws, the agency has been thwarted by politicians who want this to remain a political issue, the open borders lobby, the biased media, and activist judges on Federal courts.   Even the Obama Administration had problems with activist courts – which was apparent when they challenged the ruling a Central District of California judge, in the Flores settlement case. So DHS is left to deal with the repercussions.  The number of apprehensions of illegal aliens between the ports of entry along the southwest U.S. border is increasing exponentially.  During FY 2018, 396,579 aliens were apprehended entering the U.S. illegally between Southwest border ports of entry.  This trend is continuing into FY 2019, with 51,001 such aliens apprehended in October and 51,856 apprehended in November.  These numbers include increases in family units as well as unaccompanied alien children. At the same time, DHS is faced with ever-increasing violence and lawlessness at the southwest border.  One need look no further than the explosive events of November 25 when the San Ysidro Port of Entry had to be shut down to prevent the Port from being overrun by a rush of migrants associated with the caravan from Central America.  For weeks we were told by the open borders lobby and by much of the media that the thousands of Caravaners were peaceful.  And that they were fleeing violence – not seeking to invoke it. Instead on that day upwards of a thousand caravaners attempted to storm the entry lanes to San Ysidro, and when they couldn’t do so, they attempted to storm into the Port through the southbound exit lanes.  And when that failed, they began to go around to the side of the Port, jump fences and force entry.  They hurled rocks, bottles, and whatever else they could use as a projectile to attack Border Patrol and other CBP officials.  Four agents were injured during the altercation. CBP officials used tear gas – as has been used many times in the past – for crowd control, and were able to eventually turn back the vast majority of the migrants. And this is just one of the difficult and dangerous situations that the men and women of DHS encounter every day.  Whether it is rescuing over 4,300 aliens last year from drowning or dehydration while they were attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, or effectively removing high profile dangerous aliens from the U.S., or extricating trafficking victims from their abusers, the employees of DHS are to be commended. But the DHS immigration functions are much more than just enforcement-related.  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is taking seriously its responsibility to the integrity of immigration benefits and the rule of law.  For instance, many immigration benefit applicants in the United States who are found ineligible for the visa or status they are seeking, are now appropriately issued a Notice to Appear in immigration court.  And the Agency has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to, for the first time ever, give regulatory clarity to the statutory requirement that aliens in the United States be able to support themselves financially.  And last year, the Agency naturalized over 756,000 new Americans – more than in any of the previous five years. I look forward to hearing from Secretary Nielsen about DHS’ mission regarding immigration and what we here in Congress can do to help advance that mission.

###