Hearing of House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims - Interior Immigration Enforcement Resources

HEARING OF HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY, AND CLAIMS - INTERIOR IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES

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Ms. Sanchez. Thank you. Mr. Callahan, I found your testimony particularly compelling, I must say, because you're one of those folks that, day in and day out, are on the front lines. And what I found particularly interesting about your testimony is that on numerous occasions, we have had Department heads from ICE and Border Patrol tell this Committee that they have sufficient resources to do the job, and yet I'm hearing the exact opposite from your mouth. I just want to reassure you that you're not alone, because I recently heard from several ICE Agents that, in fact, they oftentimes have to pay for their own gasoline to do their patrols and conduct their raids.

Now, a question I have for you is why do you think there's this discrepancy between what the Administration officials are telling us and what the folks who are on the front line doing the job day in, day out, are experiencing firsthand?

Mr. Callahan. Well, I think it comes down to the fact that the senior leadership in the Department serve, honestly, at the will of the President, and so they need to reflect what--they need to show support for his budget, and that's where I think the discrepancy comes from. It's not that they don't want to come out and say, we need more; I think you'd have to ask them that question themselves, but I think they honestly feel that they need to support the President's budget.

Ms. Sanchez. Let me ask you something. Do you think that we're safer since September 11 in how we conduct our internal security and our homeland security?

Mr. Callahan. I think we're more focused than we were before September 11, but we've got a long way to go.

Ms. Sanchez. As another note, as an IBEW member myself, I know how helpful unions can be in giving workers a voice and say in what is going on and getting some of these concerns addressed by higher-ups in the organization. What are some things that you can suggest perhaps to Congress that we can do to help return--or retain, pardon me, ICE Agents and to overall try to improve the retention rate of employees for the Department of Homeland Security?

Mr. Callahan. Well, that's a very good question and one of the ways is awarding--recognizing employees that perform. It's funny that you bring that up, because I'm told that we don't have funds right now to award employees for performance, and as you know, in the future, the very near future, we will be moving to a pay-for-performance system, and if our budget is so tight that we can't afford to award employees, then effectively you're saying to them, you didn't perform well enough this year.

Ms. Sanchez. Excellent. Another question that I have for you is with respect to the training, or the lack of training, I guess is a better way of addressing it. How important do you think training is for new officers who are just coming onto the job?

Mr. Callahan. Well, training is critical, not just for new officers. I mean, obviously, you have to get them through a basic level of training to begin with, but it's also important for those that go into the field, especially these Immigration Enforcement Agents that were Detention Enforcement Officers before that had never gone through the type of training to identify someone who's here illegally. It's critical for that. If you're going to give them the authority to determine their alienage, or determine alienage and put people into removal proceedings, they need to know the law, and right now, they don't have it. So that's absolutely critical.

Ms. Sanchez. Let me ask you something. Do you think it would be--this is my last question--a good idea to have local law enforcement officers who have no training to do the job that agents like you are supposed to be doing? Does that sound like a good idea to you?

Mr. Callahan. Well, without any training, certainly, it's not a good idea. If the idea is to hold someone until an INS-trained officer can come in and determine alienage and begin the removal proceedings, that would be a good idea. That would actually be helpful, because that--and that does happen somewhat in the field.

Ms. Sanchez. But doing something proactively, going out on a day-to-day basis trying to do the similar type of job that you are doing, do you think that's a good idea, without any training?

Mr. Callahan. Without any training, I would disagree with that.

Ms. Sanchez. Okay. Thank you. I have no further questions. I yield back.

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