Commissioner Mcaleenan's Vision for the Future of Cbp Hearing
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BORDER SECURITY, COMMERCE, AND TRAVEL: COMMISSIONER MCALEENAN’S VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF CBP HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON BORDER AND MARITIME SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION APRIL 25, 2018 Serial No. 115–62 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 30–900 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:00 Oct 15, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\115TH CONGRESS\18BM0425\18BM0425.TXT HEATH Congress.#13 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas, Chairman LAMAR SMITH, Texas BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi PETER T. KING, New York SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas MIKE ROGERS, Alabama JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts JOHN KATKO, New York DONALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey WILL HURD, Texas FILEMON VELA, Texas MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York J. LUIS CORREA, California MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGA´ N, California JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania RON ESTES, Kansas DON BACON, Nebraska BRENDAN P. SHIELDS, Staff Director STEVEN S. GIAIER, General Counsel MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk HOPE GOINS, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON BORDER AND MARITIME SECURITY MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona, Chairwoman LAMAR SMITH, Texas FILEMON VELA, Texas MIKE ROGERS, Alabama CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania J. LUIS CORREA, California WILL HURD, Texas VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGA´ N, California DON BACON, Nebraska BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi (ex officio) MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas (ex officio) PAUL L. ANSTINE, Subcommittee Staff Director ALISON B. NORTHROP, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director/Counsel (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:00 Oct 15, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\115TH CONGRESS\18BM0425\18BM0425.TXT HEATH C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Martha McSally, a Representative in Congress From the State of Arizona, and Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 1 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 3 The Honorable Filemon Vela, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 4 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 12 The Honorable Michael T. McCaul, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 12 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 14 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 14 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 16 The Honorable Lou Barletta, a Representative in Congress From the State of Pennsylvania: Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 16 WITNESS Mr. Kevin K. McAleenan, Commissioner, U.S. Customs And Border Protec- tion, U.S. Department Of Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 17 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 19 FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Filemon Vela, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security: Statement of Anthony M. Reardon, National President, National Treasury Employees Union .............................................................................................. 5 Letter From the Electronic Privacy Information Center .................................. 8 APPENDIX Questions From Chairwoman Martha McSally for Kevin K. McAleenan ........... 47 Questions From Ranking Member Filemon Vela for Kevin K. McAleenan ........ 58 Questions From Honorable Mike Rogers for Kevin K. McAleenan ..................... 59 Questions From Honorable Lou Barletta for Kevin K. McAleenan ..................... 60 Questions From Honorable Nanette Diaz Barraga´n for Kevin K. McAleenan ... 75 (III) VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:00 Oct 15, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\115TH CONGRESS\18BM0425\18BM0425.TXT HEATH VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:00 Oct 15, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\115TH CONGRESS\18BM0425\18BM0425.TXT HEATH BORDER SECURITY, COMMERCE, AND TRAV- EL: COMMISSIONER MC ALEENAN’S VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF CBP Wednesday, April 25, 2018 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON BORDER AND MARITIME SECURITY, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:16 p.m., in room HVC–210, Capitol Visitor Center, Hon. Martha McSally [Chair- woman of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives McSally, Rogers, Bacon, Thompson, and Vela. Also present: Representatives McCaul, Barraga´n, Correa, Demings, and Richmond. Ms. MCSALLY. The Committee on Homeland Security, Sub- committee on Border and Maritime Security will come to order. The subcommittee is meeting today to examine Commissioner McAleenan’s vision for the future of Customs and Border Protec- tion. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. I would like to start by welcoming the newly-confirmed U.S. Cus- toms and Border Protection commissioner, Kevin McAleenan, to testify before our committee today. Congratulate him on your Sen- ate confirmation last month. The Commissioner and CBP have been and will continue to be the focal point for many of the Trump administration’s border security priorities. The Nation is fortunate that the Commissioner is a seasoned vet- eran, a consummate professional who knows the agency and its issues well having been with CBP since the early days of its cre- ation. CBP is a massive law enforcement agency created from the fu- sion of several legacy agencies established in 2003. In fact, today it is the largest law enforcement organization in the Federal Gov- ernment. But up until 2015 it was not even authorized in statute, a situation that was finally addressed by the work of this sub- committee. The 19 codified duties of the commissioner are some of the most important responsibilities that Congress has given any single offi- cial: Securing the border, facilitating legitimate travel and com- merce, and administering important National security programs that prevent bad actors from gaining access to the country. With any organization this large, there are significant challenges. (1) VerDate Mar 15 2010 15:00 Oct 15, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\115TH CONGRESS\18BM0425\18BM0425.TXT HEATH 2 Staffing shortages at both the ports of entry and in the Border Patrol exacerbated both by a hiring process that takes far too long and retention challenges that have persisted for years with no signs of abatement, CBP is critically understaffed and remains well below its Congressionally-mandated staffing levels by more than 1,000 CBP officers and 1,900 Border Patrol agents. Combined with the growing crisis along the Southwest Border, this shortage has the potential to put our Nation’s National secu- rity at risk. The number of illegal border crossings during this month of March show an urgent need to address the on-going situ- ation. We witnessed a 203 percent increase from March 2017 to March 2018 and a 37 percent increase from last month to this month, the largest increase in month-to-month since 2011. Before 2013, approximately 1 out of every 100 arriving aliens claimed credible fear or asylum. Today more than 1 out of 10 do. Saying the words, ‘‘credible fear’’, just as many aliens are coached by the drug cartels and mules to do, often permits them to be re- leased into the country regardless of the merit of such claims to await for a court date years in the future that many do not even show up for. We also continue to see our system plagued by increased levels of fraud among individuals crossing the border, which then makes it more difficult to help those who need it the most. In the past, over 90 percent of arriving aliens were single adult males; today 40 percent are families and children. The traffickers and smugglers know that if you arrive with a family you have got a better chance of being released into the United States, with most families only able to be detained for less than 20 days due to court rulings. We have seen smuggling organizations advertise