▶ 0:38:33Chair Grassley: We have had some uncertainty about -- >> we have had uncertainty about votes on the senate floor so we appreciate your patience.
▶ 0:39:32Chair Grassley: The senate subcommittee on border security and immigration will come to order. The purpose of today's hearing is to examine the devastation that criminal aliens have caused in communities across the united states. Particularly we aim to show the american people how the realities on the ground are very different from the narrative peddled by the mainstream media.
▶ 0:39:56Chair Grassley: Rather than truthfully and honestly reporting the facts, media outlets have spread misinformation, allowing harmful, false rhetoric to dominate the airwaves. The result of these falsehoods is that radical far left activists have taken to the street and targeted and demonized the very people who are charged with enforcing the law. Laws that congress has passed. And that would be ice immigration enforcement officers.
▶ 0:40:27Chair Grassley: The first false narrative I want to address is a claim that illegal aliens are not criminals but law-abiding individuals. Neither the democrats nor the media are willing to tell the public the truth. That the moment an illegal alien illegally enters the united states they have committed a crime. A crime to enter U.S. illegally. America is a country of laws and we expect anyone who wishes to come to our country to obey those laws.
▶ 0:41:00Chair Grassley: Another false narrative peddled by the far left is that illegal aliens are not receiving due process when they are arrested by immigration and customs enforcement. This naturally begs the question, what sort of process are these individuals actually due? The idea that someone could break our laws and enter our country illegally and then be entitled to all the rights and privileges of an american citizen is a little far-fetched, to be sure.
▶ 0:41:29Chair Grassley: While the fifth amendment to the united states constitution applies to all individuals within the united states, illegal aliens are not entitled to the same level of due process as american citizens. The fact of the matter is that by the time any alien has received an order of removal, they have had all the due process they are owed under the law.
▶ 0:41:55Chair Grassley: Most aliens with final orders of removal have been in the immigration system for almost a decade. Many have had the opportunity to have their day in court. The very essence of due process that they neglected to show up. Another false narrative is that ice is not targeting the worst of the worst criminals.
▶ 0:42:18Chair Grassley: That the fact of the matter is that as we speak there are 291, 141 criminal aliens in the united states today who have final orders of removal. Just this morning in the senate judiciary committee a comment was made that ice was targeting gardeners.
▶ 0:42:40Chair Grassley: Well, 291,141 criminal aliens who are under final orders of removal are still in the united states. For this fiscal year alone 213,279 criminal aliens with final orders of removal already have convictions, while 78,546 have pending criminal charges.
▶ 0:43:09Chair Grassley: Even more disturbing is the fact that 282,194 of these criminal aliens are still roaming free and not in ice custody yet. There are many criminal aliens in the united states continuing to commit heinous crimes, even to this day. Some of these criminals are part of transnational criminal networks and organized gangs.
▶ 0:43:34Chair Grassley: All you need to do is look at the posters in his room to see some of the worst criminals ice has apprehended recently. Murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and sex traffickers. One of our witnesses here today, sheriff roy boyd, can attest to the types of crimes he sees even in a texas county with a population of less than 8000.
▶ 0:44:01Chair Grassley: The friday before the july 4 weekend sheriff boyd's officers arrested a 29-year-old iranian national who entered the U.S. illegally, not once but twice. The first time this criminal committed a violent aggregated felony in indiana, and while he was charged with a crime he received a suspended sentence in exchange for his removal from the united states. But his crime spree did not and there -- not end there.
▶ 0:44:34Chair Grassley: Despite being deported he returned to the U.S. again illegally. And what did he do when he came back? He murdered a man in galveston, texas, a murder that was caught on video. Thankfully he was arrested less than 12 hours later with the murder weapon still in his possession. This crime should never have happened.
▶ 0:44:56Chair Grassley: I want to remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that there was a time in the not so distant past when they agreed criminal aliens should be deported but it seems like amnesia has set in, especially because we now have a president in office who has restored the rule of law and now requires enforcement of existing laws. Recall the deep order in chief? That would be president obama.
▶ 0:45:26Chair Grassley: Who was in charge of immigration enforcement during president obama? Tom homan, president trump's current border czar. Tom homan received the presidential rank award during the obama administration for his service as the head of ice enforcement and removal operations. The laws hasn't changed since president obama was in office. Only the party of the president in office has changed.
▶ 0:45:54Chair Grassley: Today, we have a pro enforcement president who was elected in a decisive victory, winning the electoral college, the popular vote, and every single swing state. He was elected in part -- in large part I would submit, because of his pro-immigration enforcement provisions, something 54% of americans support, including hispanic americans in my state, many of who's families have come here
▶ 0:46:25Chair Grassley: Lawfully and followed all the rules. American voters know full well that deterrence is an important part of immigration enforcement in preventing the flow of criminal aliens into the united states, which means swift apprehension, detention, and deportation. And that works.
▶ 0:46:44Chair Grassley: Congress just recently passed what has been called the one, big, beautiful bill that includes billions of additional dollars for ice detention facilities and for more personnel to make sure that our laws on the books that congress passed we signed into law are actually enforced. The state of florida has stepped up to the plate recently, helping the administration to open a detention facility that has come to be known as alligator alcatraz.
▶ 0:47:12Chair Grassley: I'm hopeful that other states will step up to help in similar ways, if we can find a way to make something like this work in texas, I would strongly support it. And I would encourage our governor as secretary noem to explore the possibility of locating future detention facilities in texas. The far left activists and the mainstream media who support their efforts continue to fan the flame with their rhetoric and misinformation.
▶ 0:47:41Chair Grassley: This is done with one goal in mind, to do anything and everything to undermine president trump's domestic agenda. Just as they did during his first term. And finally I would like to end my remarks with a reminder. We are here today to remind the public of the real tragedy of president biden's open border policies. The hundreds of victims from criminal illegal aliens, crimes that could have been avoided if the laws on the books had simply been enforced.
▶ 0:48:12Chair Grassley: That is why we have two wonderful angel moms here today. First, marie vega, the mother of an officer who was killed august 3, 2014. Hobby air' -- javier's angelversary is less than two weeks away.
▶ 0:48:36Chair Grassley: He died 11 years ago but he was murdered by illegal aliens who never should have been in the united states in the first place. I was proud to honor javier and work with the border patrol council to have a border patrol checkpoint named in his honor. I also want to welcome tammy nobles, the mother of hamilton.
▶ 0:49:02Chair Grassley: This is a difficult week for her because her birthday is this thursday in the anniversary of her death is july 27, this upcoming sunday. I am grateful she is willing to join us here today to tell her story it she said the most joyful day for her was when her daughter was born and the saddest day for her was her daughter's heaven date, july 27.
▶ 0:49:31Chair Grassley: Kayla was viciously murdered by an ms-13 gang member who originally entered the united states as an unaccompanied minor and was released into the custody of an unvented sponsor. We are honored to have both marie and tammy with us today to share their stories and tell about the loss of their loved ones and how it continues to impact their lives.
▶ 0:50:00Chair Grassley: I also want to welcome victor avila. Victor and his partner were shot by a gang member and victor was seriously wounded and his partner lost his life on that day. I intend to introduce a bill in the senate to honor her daughter.
▶ 0:50:22Chair Grassley: The bill will require hhs conduct mandatory checks on all unaccompanied minors and bar criminal alien sponsorship from being allowed to assume custody of such children. A similar bill was introduced by representative russell fry in the house. You may ask why it is necessary to pass a law to get health and human services to do mandatory checks on unaccompanied minors and to bar criminal alien sponsors.
▶ 0:50:52Chair Grassley: That is because laws barring that do not currently exist and we need to make sure that this can never happen again. And now I yelled to ranking member padilla to give his opening statement.
▶ 0:51:07Sen. Padilla: Good afternoon and thank you all for being here. Prior to the start of this congress, for nearly four years I served as chair of the subcommittee with then ranking member cornyn and now our roles have been reversed. So I am happy to be here as the ranking member under chairman cornyn's leadership here.
▶ 0:51:32Sen. Padilla: When I was chair we held hearings examining everything from immigrants serving in the military and our health care system, to america's refugees admissions program, and the need to better resource our overwhelmed immigration courts. So today, six months after president biden has left office, we hear republicans continuing to talk about how donald trump has solved our border crisis.
▶ 0:52:04Sen. Padilla: But you won't be surprised to learn that they are also focusing on, guess what? The biden border betrayal, that is what they call it. I I suspect that years down the road they will continue to point the finger at president biden. But here is what republicans will not be saying. That if donald trump and republicans were truly focused on just targeting violent criminals, democrats would have no objections.
▶ 0:52:35Sen. Padilla: I have been saying it. If that is really what was going on there would be no discussion or debate. There would be no disagreement. You also hear republicans share -- you also won't hear republicans state the fact that a large number of immigrants that are undocumented here came here legally.
▶ 0:53:05Sen. Padilla: They are only undocumented because they overstayed their visa, or they enter the country following the rules of the temporary protected status programs outlined by prior administrations f administrations , but protectios that have been removed, turning a legal immigrant into an undocumented immigrant. You won't hear them share those facts.
▶ 0:53:29Sen. Padilla: Six months into donald trump's second term as president, it is increasingly clear who the administration is going after. Just look at how they are doing it. They are raiding working places and court hearings. They are going after farmers and farm workers, students, families, and business owners, many of whom, other than being undocumented, do not have any violent criminal record.
▶ 0:53:59Sen. Padilla: And many who have been living here contributing to the success of their communities and the country for years and years, if not decades. So none of what we are seeing happening around the country, or very little, is actually targeting criminals. I'm not going to ask you to take my word for it. It is hard for some to take my word for it. So let's look at the administration's own data.
▶ 0:54:27Sen. Padilla: Less than 10% of immigrants who ice has taken into custody have serious criminal convictions. Less than 10%. Again, don't just take my word for it, this is this administration's data.
▶ 0:54:46Sen. Padilla: In fact, compared to the first trump administration, donald trump and stephen miller's quotas have led to a 500% increase in the number of arrests of noncitizens without criminal records.
▶ 0:55:02Sen. Padilla: As a federal judge ruled less than two weeks ago, there is quote, a mountain of evidence, end quote, showing federal agents are illegally profiling and arresting people based on their race, accents, or work. So let's not pretend this is only cracking down on violent criminals.
▶ 0:55:26Sen. Padilla: This is increasingly about sending armored vehicles and agents and tactical gear into communities to intimidate and sow fear, not to protect. We should also at some point ask the questions about where resources are being redirected from to escalate the immigration enforcement activities.
▶ 0:55:48Sen. Padilla: Because a fact of the matter is whether they are being diverted from elsewhere within the department of homeland security, from the department of defense, the department of justice, they are being taken away from other critical missions, missions that are critical to our nation's security. Not just white-collar crime, although we could have a whole session about that.
▶ 0:56:12Sen. Padilla: Fentanyl taskforces are now under resourced because of these strategies. All of this is not only morally wrong, it is bad for our economy. The people being targeted are often people harvesting our fruit and vegetables, who work at meatpacking plants, who are in the service industry. The very same group of people who just a few years ago, at the outset of the covered pandemic, donald trump declared essential.
▶ 0:56:46Sen. Padilla: The fact of the matter is donald trump has simply gone too far, and the public is starting to turn against him. A gallup poll published july 11, just a couple weeks ago, showed a dramatic swing in public opinion. In public awareness and understanding, is how it should be. In just the last year the percent of american who think immigration is quote, a good thing for the country, has jumped 15 points to a record high 79%.
▶ 0:57:16Sen. Padilla: At the same time, americans who want to see immigration decreased dropped from 55 to 30%. Americans across the country are rejecting the cruel and indiscriminate treatments of the neighbors they have known for decades.
▶ 0:57:36Sen. Padilla: Yet earlier this month, republicans in congress rubberstamped more than $150 billion to fund this administration's disastrous enforcement agenda. $150 billion. Not to help hire additional asylum officers we desperately need to process the cases to meet the demands on our system.
▶ 0:58:03Sen. Padilla: Not $150 billion to ensure that unaccompanied children, some as young as two or three years old, have legal counsel as they pay for a judge on their own with their own feature on the line. And not $150 billion to hire additional immigration judges, even as more and more people are detained and the administration is firing immigration judges at alarming rates.
▶ 0:58:32Sen. Padilla: Instead, this is additional taxpayer dollars to ramp up the massive deportation raids that have been so poorly executed. They are scooping up united states citizens, including veterans. And so I do ask, why are we here? What more do you want? It's clear why we are here today. We are here because donald trump is scapegoating immigrants. It has always been his outlet.
▶ 0:59:04Sen. Padilla: It has long been his way to distract from a massively unpopular agenda. Like making the largest cuts to medicaid in history in order to pay for tax cuts for the rich. And to make ice's budget larger than the budget of the fbi, the atf, the dea, the U.S. marshals service, and the bureau of prisons combined.
▶ 0:59:32Sen. Padilla: This is their break glass in case of emergency option when public sentiment turns against them and their agenda. It hasn't been only about targeting violent criminal and it certainly is not about fixing or modernizing our immigration system. The democrats are glad to be here today to help set the record straight. My message to the trump administration is this. The numbers don't back you up.
▶ 1:00:04Sen. Padilla: The heartbreaking stories we hear on a daily basis do not back you up. And the american public doesn't back you up. So I urge this subcommittee and the committee as a whole to please let's get back to the real work of reforming our immigration system. And with that, if I can introduce the minority witnesses.
▶ 1:00:24Chair Cornyn: Let me please ask all the witnesses to stand and I will administer the oath. Your right hand and repeat after me. Do you swear to tell the whole truth so help you god? Let the record reflect witnesses have all entered in the affirmative. Please be seated.
▶ 1:01:00Chair Cornyn: I'll introduce the majority witnesses and then I will turn it over to senator padilla. Tammy nobles as you heard is the mother of kayla hamilton, who was murdered by walter javier martinez, an illegal alien gang member who entered the united states as an unaccompanied alien child from el salvador. When kayla was being murdered she managed to call and left a voicemail on her boyfriend's phone.
▶ 1:01:28Chair Cornyn: In the voicemail you can hear the struggle going on in the background and kayla can be heard crying. Martinez can be whole -- heard in the voicemail hushing her and near the end telling her I am sorry in spanish while strangling her with the phone cord. After kayla was dead, martinez tied her up and sexually assaulted her. Kayla fought for her life that day.
▶ 1:01:53Chair Cornyn: She had bruises up and down her arms, her fingers and left side of her face, her back, and down her leg and deep wounds to her neck from the cord. Victor avila is a retired ice homeland investigation supervisory special agent. As an hsi special agent, victor served on the border and is an accredited diplomat to mexico, spain, portugal.
▶ 1:02:24Chair Cornyn: He advised those governments on complex and wide-ranging criminal investigations. Including narcotics trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, financial violations, commercial fraud, and counterterrorism. While he was on official assignment to mexico victor suffered multiple gunshot wounds and survived a violent ambush by the mexican cartel, where a special agent tragically lost his life in the line of duty.
▶ 1:02:58Chair Cornyn: Marie vega is the mother of former U.S. marine and border patrol agent javier vega junior. On sunday, august 3, 2014 javier vega was out with his family with two criminal illegal aliens ambushed him and tried to steal his truck. The two aliens jumped out of the stolen vehicle they were driving and without hesitation or warning began shooting at javier and his family.
▶ 1:03:26Chair Cornyn: The illegal aliens shot javier in the back and his father in the chest in front of his children. Andrew author is resident follow that law and policy at the center of immigration studies in washington, D.C. he previously served as staff director for the U.S.
▶ 1:03:51Chair Cornyn: House of representatives on oversight and government reform, national security subcommittee from january 2015 to september 2016 and was counsel for the united states house of representatives committee on the judiciary in washington, D.C. from july 2001 to november 2006. Sheriff roy boyd is the sheriff of goliad county, texas.
▶ 1:04:23Chair Cornyn: Goliad is a rural south texas county with a population of around 1000 situated about halfway between houston and borrego along highway 59. Sheriff boyd has been a police officer for 31 years and retired from the victoria police department and the sheriff's office prior to becoming sheriff of goliad county. Sheriff boyd has also worked as one of the leads on texas's operation lone star.
▶ 1:04:54Chair Cornyn: Senator padilla?
▶ 1:04:56Sen. Padilla: Thank you. Before introducing the minority witnesses I want to take a moment to express my sympathies with Mrs. vega and Mrs. nobles for your loss. And on behalf of democrats, I want to make sure we are clear where we stand on the side of the aisle.
▶ 1:05:23Sen. Padilla: First, I would like to introduce alejandro barranco, a marine veteran from orange, california. An older brother to two active-duty marines, and son to an immigrant from mexico who has lived in the united states for more than 30 years, and has never committed a crime in the united states.
▶ 1:05:51Sen. Padilla: Today, alejandro will testify about the violent and outrageous treatment is father experienced at the hands of border patrol agent's the betrayal he feels as a veteran who proudly served his country. Thank you for being here. Next I would like to introduce deborah fleischaker. Ms. fleischaker has served in several political and career roles at the department of homeland security as well as ice, including as ice's acting chief of staff.
▶ 1:06:22Sen. Padilla: Ms. fleischaker also served as ice's assistant director for regulatory affairs and policy and is dhs's executive secretary and acting dhs secretary. Ms. fleischaker will lend her expensive -- extensive variance and understanding in her testimony today. And finally I would like to introduce retired police commander Dr.
▶ 1:06:50Sen. Padilla: Giovanni veliz who served with the minneapolis police department for over 30 years before retiring in 2023. As an officer he worked with drug enforcement agency and the federal bureau of investigation head taskforces as well as the minneapolis tp -- police department. After emigrating from ecuador and growing up in new york city, Dr. veliz was the first immigrant to serve as a police lieutenant and vander in the minneapolis police department.
▶ 1:07:20Sen. Padilla: He will testify about the importance of building bridges between law enforcement and immigrant communities from his professional and academic perspectives. Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. Thank you Mr. chair.
▶ 1:07:33Chair Cornyn: I know we are anticipating the attendance of chairman grassley here momentarily but in the meantime we will hear opening statements from the witnesses. Mr. avila, can we start with you? If you can please keep your statement to five minutes and then we will get through everybody and we will come back and ask some questions and have more of a discussion.
▶ 1:07:56Mr. Avila: Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. My name is victor avila, I am a retired ice supervisory special agent. Hsi is responsible for investigating crimes involving immigration, trade customs, and border security that threaten the security of the american homeland.
▶ 1:08:26Mr. Avila: While serving with hsi a person lead criminal investigations of drug smugglers and violent criminals, many of whom were criminal illegal aliens. During my tenure as a federal officer I served under three different administrations, and has an hsi special agent I served on the border, born and raised in el paso, texas, and like you mentioned, an accredited diplomat in mexico, spain and portugal.
▶ 1:08:51Mr. Avila: I advised his governments on complex criminal investigations including trafficking, armed trafficking, financial violations, commercial fraud, and counterterrorism. You mentioned this while on official assignment in mexico, I suffered three gunshot wounds and survived by the grace of god after a violent ambush by those at the cartel where my partner tragically lost his life in the line of duty. I have witnessed what a human being is capable to do to another.
▶ 1:09:22Mr. Avila: Especially a child. As a subject matter expert in human trafficking investigations and victim of identification, I tragically have seen things that I will not ever be able to take away from my head. I would describe it as pure evil. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, human smuggling are just a few crimes that illegal aliens are involved with.
▶ 1:09:48Mr. Avila: I have experienced violence and the imminent threat that we face from not just illegal aliens, many of whom are associated with mexican cartels. What is happening today with our eyes officers and agents is unprecedented. The doxxing of our men and women of ice and accusing them of kidnapping when it is a lawful arrest, or disappearing people, simply must stop. They are upholding their oath and duties.
▶ 1:10:18Mr. Avila: Vilifying officers because some people disagree with the enforcement of the law, or because it contradicts their ideology, is just not acceptable. Thousands of police officers arrest people every single day, and that officer is not singled out for doing their job. Why, then, are ice officers being targeted? This I believe is a politically driven issue. How did we get here?
▶ 1:10:41Mr. Avila: The biden administration opened the border utilizing illegal policy like the cdp one app and exploiting our asylum criteria and parole systems. The biden administration was very successful in limiting the budget for ice. They were successful at bringing the morale down in law enforcement, especially border patrol. They were successful in having them lose their identity, stripped of their authority, tied their hands behind their backs to not do their jobs.
▶ 1:11:12Mr. Avila: The interior enforcement you are seeing right now was nonexistent. They were silenced by the media. The priority of ice is the removal of criminal illegal aliens, those with existing criminal histories in the U.S. for their home country. However there are illegals in the U.S. that were not properly vetted and although no criminal history is registered in our databases, many are affiliated with gang or cartel activity.
▶ 1:11:43Mr. Avila: Those caught as collateral will also be processed for removal as well. Illegal aliens detected and arrested by ice are receiving due process. It is important to note that not all illegal aliens face the same removal proceedings. It depends how they entered the U.S., where they entered, the country of origin, many different factors. Some illegals are subject to mandatory detention while others can be removed immediately like visa overstates.
▶ 1:12:09Mr. Avila: They have due process subject to a mast -- arrest and removal immediately. To be clear, eyes officers and special agents do not require a warrant to conduct an arrest. 90-plus percent of the rest I made in my career were warrantless. It is important for congress to engage with other countries to establish memorandums of understandings especially in mexico and central america.
▶ 1:12:41Mr. Avila: Congress plays a vital role to better support the mission of cbp, ice, and the role they play every single day safeguarding our border. We have many things to talk about that the big, beautiful bill where you will see a big difference coming very soon to augment their capacity. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 1:13:10Andrew: Thank you for inviting me to discuss the salient topic. There's been a great deal of contention over ice arrests of aliens in the interior. With 33 years of immigration experience as a prosecutor, professional staff or an immigration judge, I hope those to put those arrests into contacts. Some 300,000 aliens have been arrested in the interior under the second trump administration according to dhs.
▶ 1:13:37Andrew: That is more than the 132,000 aliens ice arrested in 2024 and the 174,6000 the 174,600 ice arrests in 2023. The agency is on track to make twice as many arrests than in 2009.
▶ 1:13:56Andrew: That said, as the supreme court noted in a case addressing the legality, the average immigration officer made 500 alien arrests per year in 1984, at a time when the unauthorized population was significantly smaller. If ice were operating at that same pace today the agency would have made roughly 3 million interior arrests since january.
▶ 1:14:29Andrew: C1 72% of the aliens ice arrested since january have criminal histories. That is roughly equivalent to 172% of ice arrests involved in criminal histories, but higher than the 43% arrest rate in fy2023.
▶ 1:14:49Andrew: Most of the ice enforcement attention both in congress and the media is focused on what ice refers to as "at-large arrests" in homes and public places. When I was trial attorney in california in the mid-1990's, there were few at-large arrest because most jurisdictions arrived immigration officers into their jails another facilities to take custody of criminal aliens.
▶ 1:15:17Andrew: As the new york city criminal justice coordinator told the house judiciary committee hearing I staffed, the nypd cooperated "with federal authorities in investigating and never-ending aliens -- apprehending aliens suspected of criminal activity." as I note in my written testimony, that cooperation degraded in the mid-2010s as jurisdictions began implement an "sanctuary policies" to impede ice enforcement.
▶ 1:15:47Andrew: Sanctuary policies only protect criminals, and if they were to end, ice would be too busy processing criminals and local hotels to perform any at-large arrests. Alienage isn't a factor in most prosecutions and serves no weight in whether a have criminal records. What is known is that 100% of criminal aliens have criminal records and the recidivism rate is high.
▶ 1:16:13Andrew: A 2011 gao study found that criminal aliens had on average seven separate arrests of peace. As most of the criminal aliens live in and prey on immigrant communities, other immigrants are home to the most wasn't ice agents are into the community where the threat of violence and resistance is higher and they encounter other aliens here unlawfully, likely the key reason why the percentage of ice arrests involving aliens with
▶ 1:16:43Andrew: Criminal histories isn't higher. Note that all aliens including criminals are entitled to constitutional protections including due process of law. The process due those aliens differs from what the constitution or criminal defendants and is often less than that accorded U.S. citizens.
▶ 1:17:03Andrew: The due process clause applies to all personss in the united states, but this report has held "the nature of that production a very depending may vary depending on status and circumstance." I was a congressional staffer on 9/11. Congress responded to those attacks by tightening the vetting process to aliens coming lawfully to protect americans from criminals and security threats.
▶ 1:17:27Andrew: The hard-earned lessons of september 11 were ignored over the last four years as the last administration released millions of unvented aliens into our communities-- unvetted aliens into our communities, to many of whom have gone on to harm citizens here. We have the most generous immigration system in the world, but americans will only support those policies if they are safe from criminal threats and know the laws will be enforced.
▶ 1:17:54Andrew: That is likely why 75% of respondents in the most recent harvard/harris poll supported the current administration's " efforts to deport criminals here illegally." I closingn, thank you again, and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 1:18:08Chair Cornyn: Thank you, Mr. arthur. Sheriff boyd?
▶ 1:18:13Sheriff Boyd: Chairman cornyn, members of the senate committee, thank you for having me here today. I'm the sheriff of goliad county, texas. We are on a major quarter for legitimate and illegitimate products going to and from the border. I will get straight to the point.
▶ 1:18:39Sheriff Boyd: The border biden policy has had the most significant negative impact on the safety and security our community in south texas in my 31 years of law enforcement. As an example, in goliad county at the sheriffs's office prior to 2021, the sheriff's office averaged 77 arrests per year from january 2021 to date, 413 arrests per year. That is a significant increase.
▶ 1:19:10Sheriff Boyd: I looked at our records and found records of smuggling of human cases or engaging in organized criminal activity cases prior to january 2021 for law enforcement agencies. From 2021 to 2025, the goliad county sheriff's office arrested 96 people for smuggling of humans, and 126 for engaging in organized criminal activity. These kinds of activities have skyrocketed throughout texas as a result of biden's open border policy.
▶ 1:19:40Sheriff Boyd: On top of that, we have turned over 145 illegal aliens to border patrol for processing and possible deportation. This policy has brought quite a bit -- quite a few other things including significant property damage. In south texas there have been thousands of events where smugglers have driven through fences and caused much damage to private property, tearing down fences.
▶ 1:20:04Sheriff Boyd: There are multiple ranches in south texas that have over $100,000 in defense damage per year as a result of the open border all see and cartel -- open border policy. Many houses have been amended out of fear of cartel smugglers coming through. There has been a drastic increase in the auto theft of pickup truck throughout south texas because what many people don't realize is that smugglers are using stolen trucks.
▶ 1:20:34Sheriff Boyd: That takes tens of thousands of vehicles to get millions of people through south texas every year. Those vehicles are stolen from texans and used in this illicit trade. Trespassing on private property has become commonplace, to the point where many of the ranches have been abandoned, where people fear being on. In goliad county alone even though we are 180 miles from the border, in 2020 when we discovered 16 cartels -- sites in our county.
▶ 1:21:04Sheriff Boyd: Those are just the ones we found by going out and looking. We had what was described as the largest inland cartel stash site discovered in the united states of america. But in the property damage is just part of it. It is the physical and psychological damage -- I will give you a few examples starting in 2021. We have a lot of residents in rural south texas with credible fear of cartel smugglers coming through their property.
▶ 1:21:35Sheriff Boyd: In april 2021, a traffic stop in goliad county went through interest, and what we found is Ms. santana had been recruited by gentlemen in mexico and she had gone down to the border and picked up three girls in their late teens and early 20's and they were told they were being brought in the united states to be reunited with family members who were already illegally here in the U.S. our investigation revealed that Ms.
▶ 1:22:02Sheriff Boyd: Santana had fake social security cards in their underwear -- and her underwear when we got her to jail. What the investigation revealed was those three young ladies were considered -- they were never going to be reunited with their families here. They were being taken to chinatown in houston to be put in sex slavery and indentured servitude. As you pointed out, earlier this month we caught the motor in our county -- caught the murderer in our county.
▶ 1:22:30Sheriff Boyd: We dealt with a lot of different violence as a result of the biden open border policy. For anyone who does not believe that these things are happening, I will leave you with a quote from a letter I found in a sex slave house from a raid I did in texas. "dear daughter, in usa sometimes we have something called a slave voyeur, slave girl.
▶ 1:22:54Sheriff Boyd: We call it an indentured servant." the letter goes on to articulate that it takes five to 15 years for these slaves to buy their freedom when they're in the united states of america, unless they are sold to a new master before the debt is paid off. Thank you for your time, your consideration. I will yield for any questions you have.
▶ 1:23:15Chair Cornyn: Ms. nobles?
▶ 1:23:18Ms. Nobles: Thank you for having me here today and allowing me to speak. On july 27, 2022, I received the worst news apparent can ever get, that my newly 20-year-old daughter was found deceased with injuries consistent with homicide. There are no words to describe the heart-wrenching, soul- crushing pain of losing a child so horrifically. Kayla was a happy and loving person.
▶ 1:23:46Ms. Nobles: She loved life and god, she loved going to church and the learning about jesus and the bible stories. She showed the world that being yourself was ok and you do not have to follow everyone else. She was extreme the ambitious, she was determined to make her way in this world. -- and despite having autism, she was determined to make her way and this role. She loved animals and caring about the homeless. We knew very few details about the murder.
▶ 1:24:14Ms. Nobles: Until march of 2022, he was apprehended by border patrol crossing illegally into the U.S. at the southwest border in rio grande city, texas. He stated he was 16 years old and he feared gang activity in his country in el salvador. As a uac, he was granted access into the united states with no background checks or vetting.
▶ 1:24:40Ms. Nobles: Health and human services and homeland security did not verify the sponsor and allow martinez to live in frederick, maryland. There were behavior issues with him living with the sponsor and he ended up staying with his half brother, who lived in the same mobile home park as kayla. Several behavioral issues with walter, so the half-brother called the property manager of the mobile home park, which I thought was a legit company.
▶ 1:25:04Ms. Nobles: We learned that an illegal immigrant who was a priest owned some of the mobile homes and allowed his cousin to rent a home to a 16-year-old gang member in the same mobile home as kayla. Through the investigation of kayla's murder, we found that this priest and his cousin knew walter martinez from el salvador and knew he was running from homicide. And they decided to put him in t he same mobile home as kayla.
▶ 1:25:31Ms. Nobles: Kayla and her boyfriend and young family did not know walter javier martinez, and they did not know their rental rights and did not know they had a right to say no. They were afraid to say no in fear of getting kicked out onto the streets, so they said nothing. Martinez was only living there for five days before he violently and brutally murdered my daughter. Walter javier martinez broke into kayla's room while she was sleeping that morning.
▶ 1:26:03Ms. Nobles: Kayla left a voicemail on her boyfriend's phone. According to the voicemail a struggle was going on and kayla was heard crying and struggling to breathe. Martinez was telling her "I'm sorry" in spanish while continuing to strangle her with her phone cord. After she was deceased, martinez tied her up and sexually assaulted her. This was confirmed I the swabs that matched martinez's dna. Kayla fought for her life that day.
▶ 1:26:32Ms. Nobles: She had bruises up and down her arms and fingers and deep wounds to her neck from the court. Local police knew from the beginning that he was a main suspect just by their initial investigation. It took the aberdeen police department to confirm that martinez was a known ms-13 gang member and that he had a criminal record in el salvador in 2020.
▶ 1:26:55Ms. Nobles: If health and human services and homeland security would have been a background check, they would have known this and martinez would have not been able to be on U.S. soil. With martin being 16 years old, maryland child protection services took custody of him until the dna results came back. The aberdeen police department was very transparent to cps.
▶ 1:27:17Ms. Nobles: They told -- they did tell child protective services that he needed to be held in a secure location because he was a threat to society, and based on the murder and injuries of kayla hamilton.
▶ 1:27:33Ms. Nobles: It was learned after kayla's murder that child protective services place martinez in a group home with other children work he was able to attend a public high school and then when he had behavioral issues at the group home they put him in a foster home which allowed him to enroll in another maryland high school.
▶ 1:27:55Ms. Nobles: While in jail, a letter was intercepted that martinez wrote confessing to four murders and two rapes and admitting he was an ms-13 gang member. He pleaded guilty and took the plea deal of seven years. Even though he was a juvenile at the time, martinez could not get life without possibility of parole. Not only was kayla's life put at risk and taken, so many other children and adults were at risk.
▶ 1:28:23Ms. Nobles: The biden-harris administration did not put the american citizens' safety first. We need to ensure the safety of our citizens and protect children from being in the wrong group homes with unsuspected gang members. Background checks and vetting should be required at the start so that agencies can check for criminal records and gang affiliation in their home country. Sponsors need to be screened and verified.
▶ 1:28:50Ms. Nobles: Under the kayla hamilton act introduced last week, health and human services will be required to gather background information on all potential sponsors in every adult in their household. If homeland security and health and human services that checked martinez's background, they would have known he was an ms-13 gang member and my precious daughter would be alive today.
▶ 1:29:14Ms. Nobles: All agencies had to do was make one phone call to el salvador and they would have known he was an ms-13 gang member and had a criminal record for illicit gang activity. To prevent such tragedies from happening again, the kayla hamilton act will mandate background checks on uac's and sponsors so no person will be at risk.
▶ 1:29:32Chair Cornyn: Thank you, Ms. nobles. Mrs. vega?
▶ 1:29:38Ms. Vega: Thank you, senator, for having me here and allowing me to tell our story. My name is marie vega, I am an angel mom and the mother of two incredible sons. Javier, my firstborn, one might two pride and joys, and an amazing grandson, son, husband, father, you name it. He was amazing, with a heart of gold like no one you have ever met.
▶ 1:30:09Ms. Vega: An american with a love for his country, law enforcement, life, and family. Harvey joined the united states marine corps five months after graduating from high school. He served four years after leaving the marine corps, attended college while working a full-time job. Immediately after graduation, he was hired by a hospital is a biomed technical engineer. In 2006, he joined united states border patrol until 2014.
▶ 1:30:42Ms. Vega: Javier harvey vega, jr. Remember that name. My second baby, another amazing son, joined the united states marine corps as well, same as his big brother. He was deployed to iraq three times. We nearly lost him when the convy you-- convoy he was traveling and hit an ied. On his fourth deployment, this time to afghanistan he and his men were ambushed and he was shot in the arm.
▶ 1:31:11Ms. Vega: He served nine years in the military. He lives in louisiana and works for an american company. Sunday, august 3, 2014, was a day that started off with wonderful memories of our U.S. marine and border patrol agent son and family visiting us. The entire day was planned. Good, quality family time, a barbecue, shopping, buy full setting and preparation for hunting season, and fishing to end the day before they headed back home.
▶ 1:31:41Ms. Vega: Instead, late that afternoon, our beautiful day turned into a nightmare when two criminal illegal aliens decided to ambush us in an attempt to steal both four-wheel drive trucks. The two illegals jumped out of the stolen vehicle they were driving, and without hesitation or wanting they began shooting at us, even a dish without even asking us to hand over the keys for -- without even asking us to hand over the keys. Harvey was shot in the chest.
▶ 1:32:12Ms. Vega: My husband was shot in the back. They continued shooting at the rest of us, which included me, my daughter not, two grandson data -- daughter-in-law, two grandsons, and friends. I fell back on the chai was sitting on and I struggled to get up, but instead had to crawl to my son, who had tried to pick up an ar he had left leaning by the truck to defend us. Do you know what it is like to see your son go down after being shot?
▶ 1:32:41Ms. Vega: Do you know what it is like to hear the gunshots, bullets whizzing past you? Do you know what it's like when your mind is trying to process everything, telling your grandchildren to duck while thinking your son is on the ground with a bullet in his chest? Do you know what it's like to hear your son's last words to his father, "keep shooting, dad"?
▶ 1:33:09Ms. Vega: "keep shooting" were his last words. That should never have happened. The illegals not only possessed a stolen vehicle, they also possessed guns that were stolen. They each had a long list of crimes including holding a gun to a toddler's head if the family did not hand over the keys, their money, their phones, their vehicles. Who does this to a toddler?
▶ 1:33:42Ms. Vega: They had served time in county jail, been previously deported, fined $10, in order to self-deported again. The same illegals had dropped our friend on his very own ranch, holding a gun to his grandson's rib cage and threatening to shoot him if that did not hand over the keys to the truck.
▶ 1:34:07Ms. Vega: He did as he was told, and the illegals drove off with a truck, trailer, and the lawn equipment. Going back to the nightmare that we lived, had my husband and I not returned fire, the illegals would have killed everyone there, leaving no witnesses. And that is including my grandbabies. Five days from today it will be harvey's 11th angelversary. 11 years is how long I have lived with survivor's guilt.
▶ 1:34:39Ms. Vega: 11 years is how I have struggled, how much I've struggled to survive without my baby. 11 years I have lived with flashbacks during every waking moment. 11 years we have celebrated the boys birthdays, graduations, weddings, starting new families, nuclear, and amazing accomplishments without my baby.
▶ 1:35:01Ms. Vega: 11 years I have witnessed how his killing has impacted the community, and families, his work families, his child hood friends. I've seen the heartbreak in everyone's voice, hearts, and actions. Illegal and have impacted american lives in a negative way. They have no regard for human life, as I witnessed firsthand. The illegals that killed harvey shot my husband in the back and shot at innocent children and women.
▶ 1:35:31Ms. Vega: My grandbabies and their friend were eight and 11 years old. Take a moment and imagine your child or grandchild witnessing this horror.how does that make you feel ? Would you be ok with this? Had our immigration laws been enforced, our son would be here. Barack obama failed me, my family, our community, and our nation. My husband suffers from ptsd.
▶ 1:36:02Ms. Vega: He is handicapped because of the extent of damage the bullet caused. Nerves and ligaments were severed when the 45 caliber bullet traveled from one side of his waist, narrowly missing his spine before exiting on the other side of his body. I want you to know that we do not have an issue with people coming to america legally. We do have immigration laws in place for a reason. And they need to be enforced. And as politicians, you need to allow those in charge to enforce these laws.
▶ 1:36:33Ms. Vega: We are not a lawless nation. I myself was not born in america. I am the daughter of an american-born father and mexican -born mother. However, my father did not smuggle or sneak us into this country. After marrying my mother he stayed by her side in mexico until he applied to move us back to his country. He waited patiently, filled out all the necessary documents, and paid all the fees.
▶ 1:36:59Ms. Vega: He never even asked for government assistance, making do with his pay as a farmer and carefully planning for times when the weather did not permit work. He taught me and my siblings to be god-fearing, hard-working, law-abiding citizens. My older siblings and I are proud naturalized citizens, and my little brother is a U.S. citizen. My little town's population is about 7000.
▶ 1:37:27Ms. Vega: Our little community has lost three young lives to illegal alien crime. A 26-year-old teacher murdered by criminal illegal alien in 1999. Some of you might remember him as the railroad killer. He was a serial killer who murdered so many people throughout america. Javier harvey vega, jr., 36 years old, U.S.
▶ 1:37:55Ms. Vega: Marine and border patrol agent, murdered in cold blood in front of his family in 2014. They both had a long list of crimes. -- long list of crimes they committed throughout the rio grande valley. If committing these crimes was their job, it doesn't seem to me like they had -- producing anything in the community.
▶ 1:38:27Ms. Vega: They were not contributing to the community. A 37-year-old mother of three beautiful young gutters, killed in a car accident -- dutifully young daughters, killed in a car accident caused by an illegal alien in 2022, who instead of trying to render aid, fled from the scene of the accident. That is three young lives for my town. This is what family separation really looks like. Not one angel family will see their loved ones again.
▶ 1:38:57Ms. Vega: Their lives were taken by illegal aliens. Now that you know when mother that had to shoot back to defendant protector family, do you still believe we should have open borders? Open borders have consequences, and you can see from what I have experienced because of the crimes committed by illegals that pain lives with us for the rest of our lives. You took an oath to uphold the constitution and work for we the people.
▶ 1:39:26Ms. Vega: That means working with their fellow politicians regardless of which side of the aisle you are on. Four supposed to work together representing us -- you are supposed to work together representing us, ensuring that those coming in or rubbing immigration laws. They need to be properly vented not only for that -- properly vented not only for their safety, but yours and hours. Thank you, senator.
▶ 1:39:47Chair Cornyn: Thank you, Ms. vega. Ms. fleischaker?
▶ 1:39:53Ms. Fleischaker: Chairman cornyn, ranking member pad illa --
▶ 1:40:00Chair Cornyn: Please punch the --
▶ 1:40:02Ms. Fleischaker: It's on, can you hear me? Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I serve as a principal consultant at blackbird ventures and I served with the department of homeland security including as the acting ice chief of staff and director for regulatory affairs and policy. The views I'm showing on my own and do not reflect the official positions of dhs or ice.
▶ 1:40:34Ms. Fleischaker: At the core of today's hearing is a critical question, how come enforce immigration laws in a way that protects national security, public safety, and respect legal rights? The answer must be grounded in facts, professional judgment, and strategic use of limited resources, not fear, spectacle, or indiscriminate enforcement. Unfortunately, the trump administration's approach has strayed from these principles.
▶ 1:41:01Ms. Fleischaker: Rather than focus on individuals who pose a real risk, like those with serious criminal convictions or recent unlawful entries, the administration has embraced a quota-driven model that prioritizes volume over safety. Officers have reportedly been pressured to meet 3000 arrests per day, regardless of risk level. As of june 2025, nearly half of all ice arrests involve people with no criminal history at all.
▶ 1:41:32Ms. Fleischaker: This isn't just unjust, it's ineffective. It diverts resources from genuine threats, floods the immigration courts and detention system, and lowers morale among career officers. It also erodes public safety. When we target low-risk individuals simply to boost numbers, we lose focus on serious threats like organized crime, child exploitation, and human trafficking.
▶ 1:42:00Ms. Fleischaker: We've also seen a rollback of critical safeguards. Ice arrests at sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and courthouses have surged. This deters crime victims from seeking help and punishes people for following the law and appearing in court. That makes everyone less safe. Enforcement tactics have become a more aggressive and less accountable.
▶ 1:42:27Ms. Fleischaker: Officers increasingly conduct operations wearing masks and without clearly identifying themselves, and the trump administration has eliminated ice body worn camera program and weakened key oversight offices. In a democracy, the public has a right to know whos'exercise -- who's exercising government power and under what authority. In short, what we need is not broader enforcement we need smarter enforcement.
▶ 1:42:53Ms. Fleischaker: Enforcement that is targeted, lawful, transparent, and focused on protecting communities, not padding arrest statistics. And we cannot ignore the toll this approach takes on law enforcement officers themselves. When professionals are asked to meet daily quotas, arrest quotas, it undermines their sense of mission and integrity.
▶ 1:43:16Ms. Fleischaker: Being told to privatize administrative arrests of low-risk individuals over pursuing serious threats corrodes morale and creates a culture of frustration and burnout. This isn't sustainable, and it's not what public safety demands. We also must remember that how we enforce our immigration laws sends a powerful message.
▶ 1:43:39Ms. Fleischaker: Are using our laws to instill fear and divide, or are we using them to reflect values of safety, fairness, and accountability? Policies driven by quotas instead of evidence and expertise ultimately compromises our national security. Andpublic safety . Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 1:44:03Chair Cornyn: Thank you very much. Mr. barranco?
▶ 1:44:10Mr. Barranco: Good afternoon chairman cornyn, ranking member padilla, members of the subcommittee for subcommittee f. My father was violently attacked and attend on saturday, june 21, 2025 in santa ana, california, while working a job he has held since the 1990's. He was surrounded by masked men who did not identify themselves, never presented any type of warrant. Terrified, he ran.
▶ 1:44:38Mr. Barranco: They chased him, pointing a gun at him, pepper spray him, and eventually tackled him to the ground and kicked him. After he was handcuffed, these men held him down while another beat him repeatedly in the head and neck area. After all of this, they threw him in the backseat of an unmarked vehicle. Growing up, my father was always working from sun up to sun down. He did his best to provide for a family even if it meant working seven days a week at extremely long hours.
▶ 1:45:07Mr. Barranco: We had food on the table, a roof over our heads, clothes to wear to school. He taught us to be good people and try our best to give back, respect this great country, and be thankful for all the opportunities we would have growing up in america. Before I continue, I want to make clear my views and opinions do not reflect those of the marine corps. I was the first and my family to graduate high school and eventually go to college, a dream come true for my parents.
▶ 1:45:32Mr. Barranco: While in college, I would keep asking myself if I was doing the best I could or if I could do more for myself and my family. That is when I looked into joining the military. I joined the marine corps out of the love I have for this country and continue to bring honor to my family name when I told my dad I was going to a list, he cried with pride. He told me to give everything I had because we will do anything and everything to get back to our country.
▶ 1:45:59Mr. Barranco: I deployed to kabul in 2020 12 assist evacuation, standing with marines who made the ultimate sacrifice I carried their caskets home. Today both of my brothers are serving on active duty. My father tells everyone all three of my sons are marines. He is so proud that he raised sons who wanted to serve. My brothers and I are a reflection of who my father really is, a law-abiding, proud, and patriotic man. My father has no criminal record and should have never been treated with the -- sorry.
▶ 1:46:34Mr. Barranco: My father has no criminal record and should never have been attacked by these people. My dad is a human being, but he was not treated with the dignity he deserved. He makes sure to do his best and giving back to supporting this country just like we all do. That is who he is. That is to our country punched, threw in detention, and is trying to deport. What I saw in the video that they broke my heart. Since my father was detained, it has been a nightmare for my family.
▶ 1:47:01Mr. Barranco: He was held in a cage with 70 to 100 other people, one toilet, no shower, no change of clothes. People were in work uniforms because they were literally taken while trying to do their jobs, supporting their families and community. When he went to another facility, conditions were still grim. He went 14 hours without water. The plumbing failed. Duty blankets made people sick. When he finally got a hearing, the government attorney arrived unprepared.
▶ 1:47:30Mr. Barranco: If we didn't have a lawyer, we wouldn't have even know he had a court date. My father was granted bond and came home, but the trauma that day and the brokenness of the system remains in our hearts. My father is an outstanding member of the community and should have never been attacked the way he was. These people had no warrant for him and had no reason to chase and beat him. He was working his job, which has had over 30 years.
▶ 1:47:56Mr. Barranco: I believe my father was racially profiled, which led to a lot of stress and mental trauma for everyone in my family. We have received an overwhelming amount of support from everyone in the community, from our neighbors and councilwomen to members of congress. This kindness is the country I know when love. But I also know this is not the only case in which officers have crossed the line and ignored all types of training and how to detain someone.
▶ 1:48:20Mr. Barranco: I do believe that the vast majority of the undocumented people in this country are here to work and support the country as well as raising children like my brothers and me. In fact, an estimated one in 12 U.S. residents are undocumented or live with an undocumented individual. Among latinos, it is one in three. I'm here today because I want other people with that family members like my dad taken away to know they are not alone. Thousands of families like ours are being ripped apart and their stories matter.
▶ 1:48:49Mr. Barranco: I want this committee to understand the human impact of immigration policies on this administration. I want them to know that the people being ripped from our communities are hard-working, honest, patriotic people who are raising america's teachers, nurses, and marines. Deporting them doesn't just hurt my family, it hurts all of us, it makes a communities less safe, less prosperous, less resilient. The current system is broken.
▶ 1:49:14Mr. Barranco: Cruel and indiscriminate raids are tearing families apart and punishing hard-working people who contribute to our communities every day. My father like so many others deserves a fair chance to stay in the country he called home. This country is better because of people like my dad. It is time are policies reflected that. Thank you.
▶ 1:49:33Chair Cornyn: Dr. veliz?
▶ 1:49:42Mr. Veliz: Chairman quentin, ranking member does chairman quentin, ranking -- chairman cornyn, members of the committee, it is my honor to justify for safe communities for all. I'm a retired police commander with over 30 years of law enforcement.
▶ 1:50:03Mr. Veliz: I have served in various critical roles and taskforces in the united states drug enforcement task force, the federal bureau of investigations, and police commander of the special crimes investigations division, and more. My years of experience have shown me time and time again that reducing crime in partnership with communities reflects use of sustained engagement, trust building, and "near caps -- open communications.
▶ 1:50:32Mr. Veliz: It supports effective public safety and the safety of honorable sworn police officers who have taken the oath to protect communities with due process and dignity. My testimony today reflects my personal views and experience it does not reflect the official positions of the minneapolis police department. As a patrol officer, I recognize the profound value of community relationships.
▶ 1:50:58Mr. Veliz: By actively engaging community members and local business owners and attending countless meetings, I've gained insight into the community's needs and concerns. I was privileged to be welcomed by immigrant families and community leaders into their spaces come where I listened to the stories of dangerous journey into the united states, stories of hardship, resilience, and a yearning for safety and opportunity.
▶ 1:51:25Mr. Veliz: This family often expressed fear of crime and reluctance to contact law enforcement. These fears have been shaped by past experiences with abuse or injustice systems. Other much from these encounters, and they compel me to reflect on the -- I learned much from these encounters, and they compel me to reflect on the value of giving voice to the voices and treating every individual with dignity and respect.
▶ 1:51:50Mr. Veliz: In the response for the call for a stronger relationship with immigrant community, I led initiatives in partnership with community stakeholders, including the creation of a multicultural advisory committee and the development of workshops.
▶ 1:52:10Mr. Veliz: These workshops reach thousands of families, teaching them about police services, in getting them to build trust with police officers, and helping to reduce crime in their neighborhoods.
▶ 1:52:23Mr. Veliz: The trust and cooperation generated through these efforts, like the critical public safety outcomes, including information in major drug trafficking investigations, the rescue of a kidnapped community member, the apprehension of suspects and shootings, and successful large-scale fraud investigations involving organized crime in minnesota.
▶ 1:52:45Mr. Veliz: I respectfully share my concern that increased local law enforcement involvement in aggressive and fear-based ways on immigrant communities is eroding trust, cooperation, and public safety in our neighborhoods. When residents fear law enforcement, their willingness to report crime, cooperate with investigations, or assist in identifying violent offenders is diminished.
▶ 1:53:16Mr. Veliz: The erosion of trust not only undermines crime prevention, but places officers and community members at a greater risk. Trust between law enforcement and communities we protect is vital and can only be achieved through community cooperation. Without community cooperation, police agencies across the country will have a difficult time identifying and after having violent offenders. -- apprehending violent offenders.
▶ 1:53:45Mr. Veliz: This will more likely create risk for both police officers and community members. Today I offer this testimony granting my experience as a law enforcement leader, scholar, and lifelong advocate for justice and community partnership. I urge this committee to fully recogniz the dangerous consequences to public safety these aggressive tactics present.
▶ 1:54:12Mr. Veliz: I urge you to work together with community leaders and public safety experts to rebuild trust and to continue to keep our communities safe. Thank you for your service and leadership.
▶ 1:54:23Chair Cornyn: Thank you, Dr. veliz. We will start with a round of questions, five-minute rounds. As you can see, due the conflicts, and number of our members have other commitments and are not able to be here in person. But I know senator padilla and I will have questions and perhaps others will join us along the way. Ms. vega, like Ms.
▶ 1:54:50Chair Cornyn: Nobles, you have shared a painful experience in your life. Most people don't know exactly what you had to do during the incident that resulted in your son's death and the wounding of your husband that is holding a gun against the perpetrators to defend her family.
▶ 1:55:11Chair Cornyn: Nor do many people understand the lasting impact on your children as they witnessed the death of their father -- grandchildren -- father before their very eyes. You mentioned flashbacks. Are you still dealing with the effects of that incident tonight?
▶ 1:55:31Ms. Vega: Yes, sir, I am.
▶ 1:55:34Chair Cornyn: How so?
▶ 1:55:36Ms. Vega: It's horrible. I need to stay busy around-the-clock, because the minute your head hits the pillow, everything plays out over and over, and you can't stop it.
▶ 1:55:51Chair Cornyn: Now, Ms. vega, I think some people wrongly suggested that the hispanic community in this country are somehow opposed to enforcement of our immigration laws. I think it was sheriff boyd made the important decision between legal immigration and illegal immigration. To be sure, legal immigration has been one of the secrets to our success as a nation, a nation of laws.
▶ 1:56:24Chair Cornyn: But illegal immigration has been an unmitigated disaster for so many families, including the hispanic community in texas and elsewhere. Your family came to the united states legally. Some of our colleagues here and others you heard in the news say that, well, people can break the law and come to the united states illegally, but because they have been here in a while, they ought to be able to stay and should not be forced to return home to ge legalt status.
▶ 1:56:54Chair Cornyn: Do you agree with that?
▶ 1:56:56Ms. Vega: No, sir, they have had ample time to rectify their citizenship status. It's -- when you are from another country and you come here, it's an honor.
▶ 1:57:13Chair Cornyn: Ms. nobles, what are some of the worst things reported in the news about your daughter's death that you want corrected for the record?
▶ 1:57:21Ms. Nobles: A lot of it is they confuse the terms immigration and illegal immigrants. We are talking about illegal immigrants who have broke the law. Kayla did not live with walter martinez. He was put there without their say in anything.
▶ 1:57:45Ms. Nobles: Also, the whole thing about that illegal immigrants commit less crimes. How do we know that? We don't know who is in this country. They have not been vet ted, background checke.d we have no identification of them, we have no idea who they are, they are not in the system. We were really lucky to get a conviction from walter, because they checked and he was not in the system.
▶ 1:58:14Ms. Nobles: They had to find out who he was by calling border patrol and getting his name and his date, and they had a call el salvador to get any information about him. Nobody knew him. He wasn't in the system. No finger prints, nothing. We don't know who they are. You don't know who is coming here. And we don't know what crimes they committed because they haven't been caught. We are lucky that he was caught. The ones that we do know of, they got caught.
▶ 1:58:41Ms. Nobles: There is no way of knowing, because they can live in the communities, they can -- her murderer can act like a 16-year-old child. I've seen him in the beginning of the investigation, he was sitting there acting all scared, asking permission to eat. And then in the end when he got caught, his whole demeanor changed.
▶ 1:59:05Ms. Nobles: He sat in that chair and they told him he was being arrested for homicide, he sat in the back chair and he looked so much older, so much wiser, and he was like -- he said " homicide" in spanish. Like that, laughing about it, like it was a joke that he murdered my daughter and just left her on the floor like trash. It was a joke to him.
▶ 1:59:29Chair Cornyn: Sheriff boyd, it seems like during the four years of the biden administration, the U.S. government outsourced its immigration policy to transnational criminal organizations, otherwise known as cartels. As part of operation lone star, that task force, I know you have tracked the human smuggling flowchart and also the flowchart of cartel drug operations.
▶ 2:00:01Chair Cornyn: But in your experience dealing with the broken borders, or the open border policies of the biden administration, didn't it allow not only the trafficking of children and women, but the movement of drugs and other contraband across the border without any stiction between dish any distinction between that and people -- any distinction between that and people who want to come here and work and achieve a better life?
▶ 2:00:31Sheriff Boyd: Yes, senator, what happened is border patrol has turned from an enforcement agency into a babysitting and processing agency. They were tied up on the border actually processing people to get them into the country as fast as possible. Friends of mine in border patrol said they would get in trouble for not processing of people in the country in a timely manner. What that it was left our borders wide open for people to come through and bring stuff through.
▶ 2:00:59Sheriff Boyd: I will tell you that during that time period, slave trade outpaced narcotics as far as the revenue that the government was aware of that the cartels made. And so that is one of the problems we are seeing now. This is not immigration issue. This was a slave trade issue. These people were brought here by the cartels because we ceded our authority of the border from the U.S. government to the cartels. They brought those people here and put them in indentured servitude. And I've seen it firsthand.
▶ 2:01:28Sheriff Boyd: We have imported millions upon millions of people, we have put them in a peon class, and they are trying to pay off their debts to their masters. They are beholden to workplaces, whether it be in a farm, whether it be in a kitchen, whether it be in a hotel, or whether it be unloading 18 wheeler loads of dope, moving product, or killing people. They are beholden to the cartels to do whatever it is they are told to do by the cartels and affiliate organizations, and that is a direct result of the last four years.
▶ 2:01:58Chair Cornyn: Sheriff,'s at your expense that the only thing our main thing cartels care about is money?
▶ 2:02:04Sheriff Boyd: That is absolutely yet. We'll touch on one thing that senator padilla mentioned about people working in the field. I don't know if y'all have ever sat down face-to-face with sicario in a small room, but I've done it on multiple occasions. They didn't just kill people for a living, they worked out in the fields. They worked on pipelines, they had regular jobs during the day, and they killed people on their time off for the cartels.
▶ 2:02:32Sheriff Boyd: So just because somebody works at a local farm or works in some industry doesn't mean they don't have the capacity to do evil and do those things. And so that we need to understand.
▶ 2:02:43Chair Cornyn: And finally, you were part of operation lone star task force, and I believe you supplied us with a couple of charts here. One a human smuggling flowchart, and one a simplified flowchart of cartel drug operations. Is that correct?
▶ 2:03:01Sheriff Boyd: That is correct, and those are based off of our expensive of conducting --experiences conducting investigations.
▶ 2:03:11Chair Cornyn: Without objection these will be made part of the record. Senator padilla?
▶ 2:03:13Sen. Padilla: Thank you, Mr. chair. One of the first things I want to clarify, something I keep hearing not just during this hearing, but for months and months now from the trump administration, is that they are going after the worst of the worst. That's the soundbite, that's the rhetoric. And their aggressive show of force is accomplishing the goal. That is their claim.
▶ 2:03:41Sen. Padilla: The way they talk about president biden' administration and prior democratic administrationss is like it was never a priority for democratic administrations to go after middle, and that democrat -- go after criminals, and that democratic administrations did not care about the presence of dangerous people in our communities. It's simply not true. So I want to help set the record straight. If you can't take my word for it, let's turn to an expert. Ms.
▶ 2:04:10Sen. Padilla: Fleischaker, you were in ice leadership. In your experience, the biden administration ever restrain ice from pursuing serious criminals? Part b to that question, because one of the other witnesses implied that the biden administration was restraining ice by policy or resources from doing its job. True or false, can you expand on both of those?
▶ 2:04:35Ms. Fleischaker: We absolutely did not stop ice agents from enforcing the law and going after public safety threats. We encourage them to do so. We very much want to find an arrest but safety threats in the community --public safety threats in the community for
▶ 2:04:51Sen. Padilla: Thank you for that. Anybody on this side of the dais who is familiar with the appropriations process in congress, particularly in the senate, given the filibuster rules, knows that spending plans are adopted in a bipartisan basis. On a bipartisan basis. We can discuss and debate the need for additional investments in a not just enforcement, but as a mission previously, immigration judges, hearing officers, etc.
▶ 2:05:21Sen. Padilla: In fact, not too long ago there was a bipartisan proposal on the table to significantly ramp up the budgets for those agencies, and republicans walked away from that deal. That's a fact. Second, I want to tackle -- secondary I wanted -- second area I want to tackle is the area of indiscriminate enforcement. Show of hands -- raise your hand if you think all immigrants are criminals.
▶ 2:05:51Sen. Padilla: Let the record show that not all immigrants -- I'm very precise in my questioning. Raise your hand if you believe all immigrants are criminals. >> are you talking but illegal immigrants or regular immigrants?
▶ 2:06:09Sen. Padilla: All immigrants --
▶ 2:06:11Ms. Nobles: Are you talking about illegal immigrants or immigrants legally?
▶ 2:06:16Sen. Padilla: By show of hands --
▶ 2:06:18Ms. Nobles: That's not going to be a proper answer.
▶ 2:06:22Sen. Padilla: Or even most.
▶ 2:06:23Ms. Nobles: No, all illegal immigrants are criminals.
▶ 2:06:27Sen. Padilla: I don't think anyone here would disagree with the idea of ridding the worst of the worst, even if we disagree over what immigration policy should be. But I believe it is unacceptable that these raids are so indiscriminate that they sweep up people with no history of violent crime. Hard-working people trying to give their children a better life, like alejandro's father.
▶ 2:06:57Sen. Padilla: Alejandra, question is for you. I'm so sorry about what happened to your father and what your family has been going through. Targeting somebody like him does not seem to make the community, state of california, or the country any safer. And it's an insult to our history of welcoming people who want a better life. Now, I agree we need to modernize our immigration system to make it more strategic and effective. Is there anything else you would like to share about the cruelty with which your father was treated, or what your family has gone through?
▶ 2:07:28Mr. Barranco: I think the way they treated him and the way they handled that situation was very unprofessional. It showed men who were not trained, it doesn't seem like it. They were running with fingers -- they were running with guns in their hand, fingers on the trigger, pointing it at civilian vehicles. Honestly, I don't think that is for the best of public safety.
▶ 2:07:55Mr. Barranco: I believe that they should have better training and go out and chase after the real criminals.
▶ 2:08:04Sen. Padilla: Well, I couldn't agree more. The more resources, personnel, funding, and otherwise that is directed at broad-based enforcement is less focused, less prioritization of those violent criminals that we know are out there, the administration knows are out there, but they are not the clear priority or focus. If I make, Mr. chair man, one more question in this round.
▶ 2:08:34Sen. Padilla: We know the massive show of force by the department of homeland security has scared people across communities, not just in los angeles, not just throughout my home state of california, but other parts of the country, to the point that we are now seeing people hesitate to go to work. Hesitate to patronize stores. And to visit public spaces. Even go to church.
▶ 2:08:56Sen. Padilla: I'm deeply concerned that this fear will deter people from reporting crimes like the mystic violence section -- like domestic violence, sexual assault, robbery, etc. Dr. veliz, you have three decades of expense encouraging community members to come out of the shadows and trust you and your officers to report crimes, to engage in law enforcement, to improve public safety.
▶ 2:09:19Sen. Padilla: You spoke to this a little bit during your opening statement, but can you describe the impact of these indiscriminate raids on the types of relationships you train your officers to build with immigrant communities?
▶ 2:09:31Mr. Veliz: Thank you, senator padilla, for the question. Under my leadership I spent days, weeks -- I spent 30 years building trust. Trust is the fulcrum to crime reduction, to the savior community members, to the safety of police of -- safety of community members, to the safety police officers. This is our goal daily interactions.
▶ 2:09:54Mr. Veliz: When the community has -- they are not going to come forward and report crimes, they are knocking to come forward and access police services -- not going to come forward and access police services. That will increase percentage of immigrant communities to be re victimized by violent offenders. Once again, that will put a risk for police officers.
▶ 2:10:23Mr. Veliz: Community members are the ones who are home in their community 24-7. They are our eyes and ears. When we respond and try to reduce crime.
▶ 2:10:32Sen. Padilla: Thank you, Mr. chair. I have additional questions, I will rate for the next round.
▶ 2:10:38Chair Cornyn: Senator moody.
▶ 2:10:40Sen. Moody: Thank you, Mr. chair. I am the newest senator here, certainly the newest on judiciary, and I am so glad that I am here in this capacity now, because I served as florida's attorney general and watched in horror as biden and his handlers and the radicals in charge of his administration systematically and intentionally broke down all of the structures
▶ 2:11:12Sen. Moody: And security safeguards at the border. It was only through litigation that we were able to uncover documents that showed their plan was in place from day one.
▶ 2:11:30Sen. Moody: When they started rolling out executive orders dismantling everything that the trump administration had put into place, they were warned by those in the administration and border patrol and dhs that if you do this, we will immediately be overrun. We will immediately lose any control at the border. And we do not have the ability to keep pace with the detention capacity that will be needed.
▶ 2:11:58Sen. Moody: And in fact, ignoring all of those warnings by their own administration, they not only went ahead and issue the orders dismantling everything that trump put into place, they then asked for less money for detention beds.
▶ 2:12:18Sen. Moody: And the consequences and the chaos that unfolded not only was predicted by their own administration, it put law enforcement at the border at risk. It put families and communities at risk. It put our nation's sovereignty and security at risk. As more and more people flooded into this country with previous criminal backgrounds and those that were on the terrorist watch list.
▶ 2:12:48Sen. Moody: And as I pursued litigation, a judge said biden and his administration has turned our border into nothing more than a meaningless line in the sand. . And when there were warnings that our border would be overrun title 42 was expiring, florida uncover documents saying that there grand plan was to step back and let it be overrun.
▶ 2:13:18Sen. Moody: And in my litigation as florida's attorney general, I uncovered that not only were they pushing more and more and more and more historic numbers into our country unvent-- unvetted, that they established quotas everyday to make sure that border patrol pusher certain number into our country that was barely vetted.
▶ 2:13:41Sen. Moody: As attorney general, when I had sheriffs although for my state calling me to say that the biden administration was canceling detainers for criminals in their jails and release them back into the communities, I was horrified. Not only because I work with law enforcement across the state and I knew what that was doing to their communities, but horrified because I knew that went against not just the policies of republican and ministrations, but democratic administrations.
▶ 2:14:13Sen. Moody: It was a radicals wishlist. They had changed the entire policy on whether or not we were going to the report serious felony offenders, and their agenda was noted the crime that occurred across this country as result was predicted. I predicted from the beginning of this administration -- I was one of the first states to see when they stop deporting people here illegally that were committing crimes against americans in our communities.
▶ 2:14:44Sen. Moody: The gas lighting that started under the last administration when mayorko when mayorkas showed evidence of the border is secure and I guess he thought the american people would believe that, it is still going on. There are so many felony offenders that are here illegally in our country that because biden released to them, this administration has to do the hard work of tracking people down and deporting anywhere from 11 million to 20 million people,
▶ 2:15:15Sen. Moody: Because we don't know who is in this country. On a conservative estimate, 11 million people is more than the population of 42 of our states, and most of those people were un vetted. You will hear about people here who want a better life. But make no mistake, biden and his administration purposefully unleashed those here illegally committing crimes on you and on your families. And it was intentional.
▶ 2:15:46Sen. Moody: When I brought it to their attention that there were no longer even deporting those in federal prisons that were completing sentences that were here illegally, that they were taking them back to where they were prosecuted and pushing them into those districts like no other presidential administration had done, they fought me on giving me the information and I had to sue them for that, too.
▶ 2:16:05Sen. Moody: We can have hearings all day long, and I can hear about these stories, but make no mistake, in the american public should not fall for this dem deception, this was intentional, it was purposeful, and they are going to roll out everything they can think of to stop any sort of progress to shoring up and making of this country safe again until they get somebody back in office who will do the same thing.
▶ 2:16:29Sen. Moody: I appreciate you, chairman, for standing strong, and I would like to ask sheriff -- I know we have a share with us from the lone star state, from your state, I want to know if you are the same thing from people, from sheriffs that were forced because detainers were canceled to release people back into the communities.
▶ 2:16:47Sheriff Boyd: Yes, you are absolutely correct, senator. They were forcing them to release people back into the community. We have had a long-standing partnership with the border patrol, department of homeland security, and federal partners. Regardless of what is said, they were not issuing any orders to border patrol or ice telling them don't enforce this, don't do that.
▶ 2:17:12Sheriff Boyd: But the administration was doing was sending people to the stations and giving them verbal orders -- you are no longer allowed to help law enforcement do this. Too much of border patrol's credit, they would sit down and figure out how we can circumvent this order and help them in another way. They would figure out how to help us in a way they hadn't been starkly forbidden from doing until the biden administration would realize they'd figured a way around that order and then the biden administration issued a new verbal order to them telling them they couldn't do that, and they would sit down and figure out another way.
▶ 2:17:42Sheriff Boyd: The administration wasn't dumb enough to send out a paper trail. What they were smart enough to do was send people to those stations and go you quit helping local law enforcement, you quit taking these actions --
▶ 2:17:56Sen. Moody: They held back as much paper as they could until attorneys general like me and others pushed in court and got it and found the documents that show they knew this was happening the first month in office, they knew we would be overwhelmed, and they did it anyway. If c1 I am a mother as well and I just want to say thank you.
▶ 2:18:19Sen. Moody: I cannot imagine the loss of a child, but sharing stories and making sure this never happens again in our country, I want to share the parents that shared their stories and I want to thank every law enforcement man and woman who signed up to share -- signed up to wear the badge and make sure this country stands for what we were founded on, and that is the people governing ourselves under the rule of law and that's so important and I'm so grateful to
▶ 2:18:52Sen. Moody: Them every day.
▶ 2:18:52Sen. Hirono: Thank you Mr. chairman. I think we can agree that our immigration system is broken. We have a visa system that has a huge backlog of people waiting to come into our country and also a number of undocumented people.
▶ 2:19:17Sen. Hirono: I want to correct the record in that there are some 11 million undocumented people here and a large percentage came here with legal visas and are overstaying, they were already vetted. The issue of immigration is complicated we agree we have a broken system and I'm glad when I was first elected to the U.S.
▶ 2:19:45Sen. Hirono: Senate, one of the major bills I worked on as a member of this committee was the comprehensive immigration reform bill. While it didn't have all of the kind of provisions I would've supported, it was a good start, a good faith effort to address the complexities of immigration reform and I thought it was a fair bill so I voted for it. Unfortunately the house never got around to addressing the bill or doing anything with the bill and here we are.
▶ 2:20:16Sen. Hirono: The issue has become highly politicized. We now have a regime that wants to deport a million people per year if not more, they would like to deport 11 million people and how that is supposed to happen is beyond me but maybe that's one of the reasons they are basically moving so much of our law enforcement community, whether it is the doj or all of our various agencies into focusing on deportations.
▶ 2:20:47Sen. Hirono: I think we can all agree that people who should be deported are the ones who are violent criminals who have committed crimes and that's not what is happening in our country. The kind of roundups where the quota or requirement is that I should arrest 3000 people per day -- that leads to all kinds of actions on the part of ice
▶ 2:21:19Sen. Hirono: And other agencies they have focusing on deportation, rounding up people who pose no danger, no safety danger to communities, but certainly creating havoc and fear in our communities so that's what's happening.
▶ 2:21:35Sen. Hirono: Rather than working on what I would consider to be comprehensive immigration reform that I hope we could all agree on some of the provisions, we are continuously blaming the prior administration.
▶ 2:21:51Sen. Hirono: Let's not forget one of the major issues relating to trump's first administration was the fact that they separated children from their parents and never kept track of who the parents are and some of these children have never been united with families. That's not the way we should be conducting our immigration enforcement.
▶ 2:22:19Sen. Hirono: I would say we should have ice prioritize violent criminals, people who have that kind of record and that's not what is happening. I have a question -- am I pronouncing your name correctly? Last month on june 23, ice forced a disabled purple heart veteran to self deport.
▶ 2:22:49Sen. Hirono: He was a green card holder but his undiagnosed ptsd led to a drug dependency which is friendly all too common among veterans. After an arrest for bail jumping into thousand nine, his green card was revoked but he was allowed -- this is 2009 -- he was allowed to stay with yearly check ins with ice.
▶ 2:23:16Sen. Hirono: He did that every year, he has been living in hawaii the past 10 years where he has raised two kids and cares for his 85-year-old mother who is in the early stages of dementia. That changed this year when ice under this administration threatened to lock him up unless he left the country. So he self deported.
▶ 2:23:43Sen. Hirono: Does he strike you as someone who should be a priority for detention and removal?
▶ 2:23:50Ms. Fleischaker: I think the issue for me is when we focus on numbers instead of quality we end up focusing on people without criminal arrests, who are contributing to their communities. We need to be focusing on real public safety and national security threats and recent border crossers.
▶ 2:24:16Sen. Hirono: Mr. chairman, I'm sorry my time is up, but the priority should be to deport people who are a safety danger to the community. A huge number of the people going through the process do not pose a danger to our community. That is a use of resources that cannot be justified. Thank you.
▶ 2:24:39Sen. Graham: Thank you for having this hearing and all you've done to shed light on this, it's very helpful to the country and the senate. Let me ask you a general question. How long were you the chief of staff for ice in the biden administration?
▶ 2:25:02Ms. Fleischaker: One year.
▶ 2:25:04Sen. Graham: Looking at those four years, would you say they were successful in terms of border security?
▶ 2:25:11Ms. Fleischaker: At ice I was responsible for interior enforcement and not border security. The people I know, as far as they could everyday.
▶ 2:25:22Sen. Graham: The caseload, how would you rate border security during your time?
▶ 2:25:29Ms. Fleischaker: I would say it's very important.
▶ 2:25:32Sen. Graham: How do you think the biden administration did in securing our border?
▶ 2:25:38Ms. Fleischaker: I think there were a lot of people who came during the biden administration.
▶ 2:25:43Sen. Graham: Like 11 million. I would say that's not very secure. How would you rate the border security initiatives at security initiatives a presidet biden?
▶ 2:26:06Dr. Veliz: I'm here to testify on my experience as a police officer and I'm not an expert on providing this assessment.
▶ 2:26:19Sen. Graham: Generally speaking, 11 million encounters is a lot.
▶ 2:26:25Dr. Veliz: It seems like a large number yes.
▶ 2:26:30Sen. Graham: The goal is to fix that. How did we go from the worst border to the most secure border in 30 seconds?
▶ 2:26:40Mr. Arthur: A matter of will, the laws were in place at the time president biden took office and he could have continued the same policies president trump had in place when we had a high level of border security. Even before title 42 went into effect, the border was secure based on my three decades of experience. The reason it became insecure is because the policies were reversed and the detention mandates this congress put into place were ignored.
▶ 2:27:10Sen. Graham: We went from 160,000 encounters per month for four years down to a small amount, right?
▶ 2:27:24Mr. Arthur: If you take away deterrence, people will come in and president trump put deterrence back.
▶ 2:27:31Sen. Graham: The point I'm trying to make is people are criticizing president trump and they were the ones that allowed the problem to exist. You would be the last group I would ask advice from about how to keep this going in the right direction. I want the american people to know president trump in six months has gotten the border under control after four years of absolute chaos.
▶ 2:28:01Sen. Graham: My belief is as we move forward we need to make sure we do so not to go backward in securing the border. In terms of enforcement, is it important people get the message that if you come here illegally you will be kicked out?
▶ 2:28:18Mr. Arthur: Absolutely. Unless there is enforcement, people will be more likely to cross the border illegally and more likely to remain in the united states illegally. Barbara jordan said credibility in immigration enforcement is simple, those who get to come in come in, those who should leave, leave, and those here unlawfully should be forced to leave.
▶ 2:28:42Sen. Graham: Clearly some mistakes have been made and I want to fix some people who shouldn't have been caught up in the system we need to get that right, but the consequence of backing off on interior enforcement and deportation, do you think it would send the wrong signal and undercut our efforts?
▶ 2:29:03Mr. Arthur: Absolutely. The immigration laws are impossible to enforce at any stage if they are not enforced.
▶ 2:29:13Sen. Graham: Let's assume that most of the people coming here illegally are not here to commit crimes but a lot of them do a lot of people are dead because of that immigration policy. Lakin riley, the man who killed her was released because of no detention space.
▶ 2:29:38Sen. Graham: My point is, whatever we do, we don't want to go backward, we want to go forward and if we change enforcement policies in the way proposed, I think we will lose gains and I don't want to do that. Thank you for having the hearing.
▶ 2:29:57Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you to my colleagues and I want to express my deepest sympathies to you, Ms. vega and to you Ms. nobles, and to you Mr. avila. I have always, senator graham knows because we worked on a number of bipartisan immigration bills, unfortunately they've not passed, but they have passed through this committee.
▶ 2:30:25Sen. Klobuchar: Several of these comprehensive bills had much funding for the border and changes to border security and I strongly agree that securing our borders and ports of entry must be a top priority. I supported the border agreement negotiated with senator lankford last year and we must prioritize public safety, including deporting violent criminals.
▶ 2:30:47Sen. Klobuchar: I also championed law enforcement efforts, it's well known in this room, whether hiring more police officers through the cops hiring program, or funding cutting edge detection technology to stop the flow of fentanyl at the border. I also know from my time as a top prosecutor for eight years that it's always looking at how do you spend your law enforcement resources?
▶ 2:31:16Sen. Klobuchar: Yes, border security, but how do you handle when you are deciding how to deal with people in neighborhoods and you still want to have the resources for gun prosecutions for people who are felons and possessions of guns, for drug trafficking and the like?
▶ 2:31:38Sen. Klobuchar: I have serious concerns about some diversion of resources when it comes to some of these nonviolent people in the community, fear and chaos we've seen wrongfully deporting people, undermining due process and the rule of law. I'm going to ask a few questions because we have a vote going on, I apologize. Dr.
▶ 2:32:02Sen. Klobuchar: Veliz has been in my state and I want to thank him for his work. I've often said immigrants don't diminish america, they define america, they are america. Our state is home to people from all over the world. I have prosecuted people for serious crimes that come from other places but I've also prosecuted people that were born in our country.
▶ 2:32:32Sen. Klobuchar: I want you to talk a little bit about your 30 year career in law enforcement, you were known as a bridge builder in our community. Could you talk about relationships with the immigrant community and how they have paid dividends in police work and terms of making sure we get the tips we need to go after people that are committing serious crimes.
▶ 2:32:54Sen. Klobuchar: And if you break down those relationships, you will have what I saw, a guy who thought he could go after a 14-year-old and rape her because he thought she would be afraid of being reported because her relative was undocumented. You can have that going on, you have to have relationships in the community. If you could talk about this.
▶ 2:33:16Dr. Veliz: Thank you. Police officers have a variety of technologies and techniques to deter crime and identify offenders, but one of the biggest and most valuable tools I saw in my 30 year career is the human value for the community, providing intelligence information daily.
▶ 2:33:40Dr. Veliz: I recognize right away I was only working eight to 10 hours a day but community members lived there 24/7 and are my eyes and ears, not only me but the entire police department. One of the successful stories I saw, I remember being at home at about 8:00 p.m.
▶ 2:34:00Dr. Veliz: And getting a phone call from a community member and putting the community members identity erased, provided me information about a community member kidnapped by violent gang members.
▶ 2:34:24Dr. Veliz: Even though we put together a swat team and we conduct surveillance, thank god we had this community member who provided exact information about threats and how to rescue this innocent community member who was kidnapped. Thanks to the work of community members we have been able to seize and identify major drug trafficking, members of cartels and organized crime.
▶ 2:34:54Dr. Veliz: In summary, I want to say we could not do the job without community cooperation and we could not do this job without trust building and communities.
▶ 2:35:03Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you.
▶ 2:35:12Sen. Cornyn: To clarify a few things, do you believe all individuals under final orders of deportation should be deported?
▶ 2:35:23Ms. Fleischaker: I believe people with final orders of removal have gone through the legal process and are eligible for deportation.
▶ 2:35:34Sen. Cornyn: You do or don't think they should be deported?
▶ 2:35:38Ms. Fleischaker: I think those of the people who can be removed and should be removed.
▶ 2:35:45Sen. Cornyn: So there are illegal aliens who should be deported. How about convicted criminals?
▶ 2:35:53Ms. Fleischaker: Undocumented convicted criminals are the people I think we should prioritize for removal.
▶ 2:36:01Sen. Cornyn: I think there are a lot of misconceptions about otherwise law-abiding individuals who violate our immigration laws and come into the united states. First of all, illegal entry into the united states is a crime, is it not?
▶ 2:36:19Mr. Avila: It is.
▶ 2:36:25Sen. Cornyn: In your experience dealing with the border, is that the only law people who legally enter the country violate?
▶ 2:36:35Mr. Avila: No, it depends when you enter and how many times you've entered. I think we overuse the term in deportation but most illegals in this country are removed without a deportation order. There's expedited removals, voluntary returns, many different types of removals. The actual deportations are executed by an immigration judge.
▶ 2:37:02Sen. Cornyn: In addition to illegal entry, is it your experience that many individuals who enter the country illegally engage in identity theft?
▶ 2:37:13Mr. Avila: Oh my goodness, I have conducted so many fraud cases, including social security cards, identity theft -- I have a twin sister who was a victim of identity theft by a female illegal alien while she was in law school. It took her so much time and a hard effort to gain her identity back that the social security administration issued her a new social security number, which is very difficult to do.
▶ 2:37:44Mr. Avila: We are talking about marriage fraud, passport fraud. I have conducted many search warrant's where I found many fraudulent documents where these organizations -- visas, you name it. Especially in the employment capacity where employers are denying knowledge and hide behind that when they say the illegal did provide an actual social security number or id and it happens to belong to someone else or someone who doesn't exist.
▶ 2:38:13Sen. Cornyn: Individuals who enter the country illegally, do they engage in identity theft or perhaps have forged social security cards and the like, do they typically comply with other laws like federal tax laws? In other words, my point is, is there such a thing as a person who enters the country illegally who does not violate any other loss?
▶ 2:38:41Mr. Avila: Typically there are other violations that democrats sometimes referred to as civil infractions, there is confusion between the criminal violation of the law versus the civil violation of immigration law. The democrats seem to make it into one which is very different kind -- very different. A lot of come in on civil violations after they come in.
▶ 2:39:15Mr. Avila: Even if they have drivers or vehicle insurance, things that matter in states like texas, why the rates are so high.
▶ 2:39:26Sen. Cornyn: I certainly respect your public service, thank you. I wanted to ask you, based on your testimony, I was wondering if you think all laws should be enforced or just some loss?
▶ 2:39:47Dr. Veliz: Thank you chairman, in my 30 years experience as a police commander working federal test forces, I always focus on the most violent offenders. My team and I were involved in hundreds of felony criminal investigations ranging from drug trafficking, weapons and shootings.
▶ 2:40:09Sen. Cornyn: And we appreciate your service as I started by saying come but the question I have is do you believe all laws should be enforced or just some?
▶ 2:40:22Dr. Veliz: Laws passed by legislation, law-enforcement has the discretion to enforce those laws and personally I prioritize the most violent offenses and making sure communities are safe.
▶ 2:40:35Sen. Cornyn: Don't they frequently in your experience call that selective prosecution? To just go after some cases but not other cases of similarly situated persons?
▶ 2:40:52Dr. Veliz: I saw it as the discretionary powers sworn officers have, to focus on the most violent offenders in communities.
▶ 2:41:04Sen. Cornyn: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a vote on some going to turn the mic over to senator cruz momentarily. I want to thank all of you for being here today and offering your testimony, and to Ms. nobles and Ms. vega, you have our condolences.
▶ 2:41:27Sen. Cornyn: We've had a test case between what happens when you enforce immigration laws, which we've seen under president trump and what happens when you don't enforce immigration laws in a uniform basis under president biden. I think all of you for being here and I will turn the floor over to senator cruz.
▶ 2:41:51Sen. Cruz: Thank you. Thank you for holding this hearing. For four years, this country witnessed an invasion at our southern border. , an invasion that has no precedent in the history of our country. 12 million illegal immigrants were allowed to come into this country and that was deliberate.
▶ 2:42:25Sen. Cruz: It was not an accident, it wasn't negligence, it was a deliberate choice that joe biden and kamala harris and al hunter mayorkas in every democrat senator and house member made.
▶ 2:42:42Sen. Cruz: They looked at 12 million illegal immigrants and saw what they believed would be future democrat voters and were willing to allow americans to be murdered, american women to be raped, american children to be brutalized by violent criminals day after day after day.
▶ 2:43:06Sen. Cruz: It is -- in his first 71 days in office, president biden released 184,241 illegal immigrants. That was a decision -- by the way it was a lawless decision. Federal immigration law says shall be deported.
▶ 2:43:29Sen. Cruz: No president has ever done what this administration did, which is say we don't care about the law, we are all about partisan politics and we will let them all go. God help the communities we release them into. His first 71 days, joe biden average 2600 releases per day. Let's compare that to the same 71 day period in 2025 under president trump. Donald trump, nine.
▶ 2:44:04Sen. Cruz: Not 9000, not 900, 9. That is a 99 point 95 reduction. At the state of the union address, democrats did something else unprecedented, they decided they wouldn't stand for the president or a plot for the president and the only thing they would do is emanate hate and rage for the president of the united states.
▶ 2:44:36Sen. Cruz: Alexis was at the state of the union address, I got to know her, the mother of a beautiful girl raped and murdered in houston and the democrats sat there and would not applaud for the mother whose baby girl was taken from her. President trump at the c1 -- said he could not secure the border.
▶ 2:45:07Sen. Cruz: Unless congress passed new legislation. And as president trump pointed out, it turned out we didn't need new legislation, we just needed a new president. You look at got a ways. Under joe biden, over 3 million gotaways. They are the illegal immigrants we know are here, we see signs of them, we see tracks but they didn't turn themselves in.
▶ 2:45:37Sen. Cruz: Gotaways are much more likely to be murderers, much more likely to be rapists, child molesters, much more likely to be gang members, much more likely to be terrorists. Under the biden administration, cpb was instructed to be -- coming across the border. Why?
▶ 2:46:04Sen. Cruz: Because they declared jihad and the biden open porter policy extended a red carpet for anyone who sought to do harm. If you look at what the trump and administration has done, it didn't just slow the bleeding, it turned it around. Daily border encounters down 93%. Encounters with gotaways down 95%. Illegal alien crossings down 99%. These are historic.
▶ 2:46:35Sen. Cruz: The biggest improvement in border security in the history of the united states. And yet not a single democrat is here celebrating. Not a single democrat is saying thank you that our families are safer. They don't want our family safer. The democrats have decided instead to fly down to el salvador and have margaritas with ms 13 gang members. I don't understand that.
▶ 2:47:02Sen. Cruz: Find me a community in america, find me a mom in america that says we need more gang members. This crisis is not about numbers, it's about lives. A beautiful 22-year-old girl in georgia, murdered by an illegal immigrant the democrats released.
▶ 2:47:28Sen. Cruz: Hey beautiful 12-year-old girl in my hometown of houston, murdered by two illegal immigrants that democrats released. They had them in custody. Her murderers were in custody. The democrats released of them. Her murderer was in custody. Rachel moran was a mother of five. Raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant that democrats had in custody and they released.
▶ 2:47:59Sen. Cruz: Over and over and over again. This was deliberate. And they are not alone. Border patrol agent javier g border patrol agent javier vega jr. Gunned down by gang members. I special agent -- ambushed and murdered by cartel operatives.
▶ 2:48:24Sen. Cruz: Kayla hamilton, strangled to death by a member of ms 13. Their families are with us today. I want to say thank you. Thank you for having the courage to tell your loved ones' stories. I would like to end by giving each of you an opportunity. Mr.
▶ 2:48:52Sen. Cruz: Avila, and then miss nobles and Mrs. vega. Tell this committee and the american people a little bit about javier and kayla and victor.
▶ 2:49:10Mr. Avila: Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity every time I have the opportunity to speak publicly. He sighed -- he died serving the country, defending our homeland, for everyone.
▶ 2:49:32Mr. Avila: Not one side of the aisle or another but what I have continued to do in my life after I retired and my concern is about public safety. It is about national security. That affects our entire community. I don't want anyone to be a victim of a crime. No one. But I cannot tolerate not one murder, not one dui, not one theft or rape of a person that is in this country illegally.
▶ 2:50:04Mr. Avila: We have enough in our country. Enough crime. It is very difficult for me to accept that. That the democrats always put the victims last.
▶ 2:50:18Sen. Cruz: Mrs. vega, would you tell us about javier please?
▶ 2:50:26Mrs. Vega: Thank you for having me here. I feel like you have known javi. You've been there from the beginning, you have supported us, you put our story out there and you are compassionate and I see that in your eyes and I appreciate that stop I also want to say that we do not as angel moms, do this for the publicity. We don't do it for the spotlight.
▶ 2:50:54Mrs. Vega: We do it because we know the pain and we don't want any other family suffering the pain that we have suffered. We are not supposed to outlive our children. I stopped by the cemetery every day and I visit his grave. I miss his voice. I miss him sending me flowers.
▶ 2:51:23Mrs. Vega: I shouldn't be the one taking flowers to his grave. I shouldn't be the one fighting for all of this. I'm not going to stop. I'm not going to stop until my last breath. Thank you.
▶ 2:51:34Sen. Cruz: Thank you for that. Ms. nobles, would you tell us about kayla please?
▶ 2:51:40Ms. Nobles: Kayla just started her life, independently. She worked very hard to become independent. People with autism overcome behavioral issues, they overcome a lot of stuff to be part of and -- overcome a lot of stuff to be productive and she was productive.
▶ 2:52:10Ms. Nobles: She was going to be 20 and I said I know. She celebrated her 20th birthday with her cake and she was murdered and strangled three days later, left on the floor like trash. No one prepares you for that phone call. When I found out it was a known gang member, I was ■angry. How in the world can that come into this country? That monster enter into our country?
▶ 2:52:43Ms. Nobles: -- to bring justice to kayla and also for the safety of others. Nothing prepares you to bury your child, that hadn't had a chance to get married, have children, she just bought a car before she was murdered and nothing prepares you for that and I'm going to continue fighting for kayla and for others and the safety of others because we do not know who had come across the border. They were not vetted or checked.
▶ 2:53:13Ms. Nobles: How many of those uac's that came across the border were gang members? We don't know. All those children that were lost and given to any sponsor, any group home? How do we know they were safe? I've always said from the beginning I was concerned with the children, who they were giving those children to. They allowed her murderer to leave the sponsor's house. He left.
▶ 2:53:43Ms. Nobles: They did not say or do anything. Three months after kayla was murdered when he was going to high school and child protective services. Orr filed a missing teenager report on her murderer, three months after she was killed. Did the sponsor say anything? We don't know.
▶ 2:54:04Ms. Nobles: I think they were just trying to cover their butt because they knew that walter killed kayla, and then they thought we better report him missing.
▶ 2:54:14Sen. Cruz: Let me say to each of the witnesses here, thank you for being here, but especially Mr. avila, Ms. nobles, Mrs. vega . Thank you for being here and thank you for not only sharing your pain but making clear these are real people whose lives were taken and they didn't have to die. They shouldn't have. Your government failed you.
▶ 2:54:42Sen. Cruz: And I want to apologize on behalf of politicians who made decisions that I will never understand, that took the lives of your babies. The record in this hearing will stay open for one week per numbers to submit questions. -- for members to submit questions. >> I see you are moving toward adjournment of this hearing.
▶ 2:55:14Sen. Cruz: As ringing member I would appreciate the opportunity to offer a closing statement as well.
▶ 2:55:18Sen. Cruz: Have you voted in this vote?
▶ 2:55:20Sen. Padilla: I have not.
▶ 2:55:22Sen. Cruz: I think they are calling us.
▶ 2:55:24Sen. Padilla: I will be brief. Let me forgo the questions and just suggest to the witnesses, also a thank you for your participation today. I will follow-up with you with some additional questions for the record in writing and I will touch on some of the topics that I wanted to get to. First of all, the impact of these arbitrary quotas, we've heard 3000 a day to 7000 a day, detentions, arrest, deportations.
▶ 2:55:52Sen. Padilla: If you do the math, you do the math, you're talking about anywhere from -- up to 10 million people would be deported, nearly the entire estimated undocumented population in the united states. That doesn't jive with me as a strict focus on dangerous violent criminals, let alone the investigative process that goes behind each and everyone. I agree, let's focus on dangerous violent criminals.
▶ 2:56:24Sen. Padilla: But we are implementing these enforcement action so indiscriminately, it is diverting resources and attention away from that and from other critical missions as we are moving personnel from other agencies within dhs, the department of defense, nowadays. A couple things I think are important to clarify.
▶ 2:56:50Sen. Padilla: Because of the rhetoric I keep hearing about immigrants and crime as if every single immigrant is a criminal. 70% of people ice is arresting and booking have no criminal convictions. Of the 30% of them who have some sort of conviction, a significant portion of those offenses come from traffic violations or immigration offenses. Immigration offenses are not dangerous or violent crime.
▶ 2:57:20Sen. Padilla: For those who want to talk about the investments by the trump administration in immigration enforcement and crime, the president's requested budget cuts, salaries for the fbi by $545 million, the dea by 212 million dollars, the atf by $468 million.
▶ 2:57:43Sen. Padilla: The department of justice organized crime and drug enforcement task force program, the one that helped arrest el chapo will lose its entire funding and would be shut down completely. I share this because this hearing, I think is representative of how difficult it is to have a constructive conversation about immigration in congress today.
▶ 2:58:12Sen. Padilla: I do think that behind the scenes there are a lot of members of this committee of the senate and congress as a whole that would like to see progress being made on modernizing our immigration laws. We are all in agreement for the need of a safe and humane border.
▶ 2:58:29Sen. Padilla: We all agree we need to modernize the system because it has become so problematic but as we begin to discuss and debate, far too often, one side tries to pigeonhole the other as they just want open borders and they don't want to arrest or deport anybody and the other side is pigeonholed as all illegal aliens are criminals. The truth is much more complex than that.
▶ 2:58:53Sen. Padilla: Our response has to be more thoughtful than a lot of the rhetoric that we are hearing in committee hearings and on the evening news. If you want to be informed, let's be informed by reports like that from the national bureau of economic research that shows the comparison between crime rates and recidivism rates by immigrants versus natural born citizens. I would like to submit it for the record.
▶ 2:59:23Sen. Cruz: Without objection.
▶ 2:59:26Sen. Padilla: You figure the problem would be solved between the trump and administration claiming crossings at the southern border are next to zero, problem solved, mission accomplished. By the way, the budget reconciliation bill has a huge infusion of resources for ice. If the problem is solved, let's move onto the modernization of our immigration system. We must work together to address that. That's not just people on my side of the aisle saying it.
▶ 2:59:55Sen. Padilla: Last month we saw tony gonzales of texas lead five of his republican colleagues on the house side in calling on the trump administration to quote, start prioritizing violent offenders rather than wasting resources on immigrants with no criminal records. Earlier this month, house majority leader steve scalise even helped intervene -- had been living in the U.S.
▶ 3:00:20Sen. Padilla: For nearly five decades was arrested, acknowledging the fact that there are undocumented immigrants here who have committed no crimes. Leaders can lease conceded you have to change the law in congress and that means both parties are going to have to come together to do it. So yes there is a path forward for this subcommittee and for this congress to reevaluate and refocus on what everyone agrees on.
▶ 3:00:50Sen. Padilla: We should prioritize detaining and deporting violent criminals. But we should also be working to support our immigration courts, not standby while mass firings of immigration judges are happening because just throwing money at enforcement will not fix the problem. It will only overwhelm the system.
▶ 3:01:16Sen. Padilla: We should work together and not standby while the administration decimates our refugee program. Just as leaders can lease implied, we have to protect these long-term residents of our country who have lived and contribute it here for decades and deserve a path to citizenship. My sincere hope is for this subcommittee to drop the theater. Being loud does not make you right.
▶ 3:01:44Sen. Padilla: We have to come together and get serious about bipartisan solutions. I am to do the work. Thank you.
▶ 3:01:51Sen. Cruz: Thank you to each of the witnesses. The record will stay open for one week for members to submit questions. The hearing is adjourned.