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. Waters. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Members. I am new to this Committee, but I have witnessed this Administration organize the so-called war on terror and they said that homeland security was perhaps the top priority. To come into this Committee today and hear that we do not have enough agents, that we don't have enough beds to detain illegal aliens who have been involved in criminal activity, to find out that we're releasing aliens out into the general public and we don't track them, we don't know where they are, it's all very strange to me.
Mr. Martin, does the President of the United States know that his homeland security is at great risk because of the problems that were identified here today and other problems we have?
I want to add to this the fact that I just learned that suspected terrorists can buy handguns in the United States, and also, we are--and I am from Los Angeles here. We're real worried about a lack of security at our ports, and still we don't have the answer to how we secure containers, let alone nuclear facilities. So, I mean, every day, I learn something new.
Mr. Martin, does the President of the United States know that homeland security is not working in the United States?
Mr. Martin. Congresswoman, since March of 2003, the immigration enforcement effort has been moved out of the Department of Justice to the Department of Homeland Security. We are the Inspector General's office for the Department of Justice, so I think that's probably a more appropriate question for the IG's Office of Homeland Security.
Ms. Waters. But you haven't heard anything? Aren't you concerned about security, even though it's not in your Department, as you have described?
Mr. Martin. As the father of three daughters, I'm concerned about security.
Ms. Waters. So what have you heard? Tell us what you know about this. You must know more than you say.
Mr. Martin. Again, what we're reporting on today at this hearing are studies that we have conducted in 1996 and 2003 that focus on the INS's effectiveness at removing detained and non-detained aliens.
Ms. Waters. All right. Well, let me just ask Mr. Cutler, you mentioned something about sleeper cells.
Mr. Cutler. Yes.
Ms. Waters. Is that true?
Mr. Cutler. Well, if you're concerned about sleepers, then what you need to do is remove the foliage that they hide behind. I mean, that's the whole idea of embedding. If somebody is in the United States looking to hide in plain sight, which is really what a sleeper is, it's somebody that you might pass on the street 1 day and not realize that this person is waiting for that phone call or that letter to arrive in the mail telling him or her to go out and commit an attack against us. That's what a sleeper is.
What we saw when you look at the report from the 9/11 Commission was that the terrorists who attacked us became very adept at using our systems against us to go out there, hide in plain sight, and then position themselves so that they could attack us. And we're not using the resources and we aren't getting the resources that we need to defend ourselves against this sort of thing and it makes no sense to me. I don't understand it.
I don't understand why have a 9/11 Commission if you're not going to take the advice that they give you at great expense and at great effort.
Ms. Waters. I agree with you and I guess, you know, being new to this Committee, I don't understand why the Members on the opposite side of the aisle who represent the majority in the Congress of the United States can't convince their President that there's something wrong with not having enough agents to investigate and protect the interior and not having enough detention beds, not having a real homeland security program as it does with immigration. I don't know why we are here. This is the kind of problem that should be discussed right inside the Administration and the Members on the opposite side of the aisle, we would like us to feel safer since 9/11, should be in the forefront of this in ways that we shouldn't be dallying around. It should be reflected in the budget. I just don't understand.
Mr. Cutler. I want to say one thing. I don't think it's one side of the aisle or the other. If you look at what happened in 1993 after the first Trade Center attack, nothing changed in terms of immigration enforcement. We don't, as a country, seem to learn the lessons, and I blame both sides of the aisle for this. We've got to get away from the idea that we can ignore the problem and it'll go away. It only gets worse.
Ms. Waters. Yes, but we've had 9/11 and it's been referred to many times here today as you talk about the Commission----
Mr. Cutler. Absolutely.
Ms. Waters. The definition of this Administration is the war on terror.
Mr. Cutler. Absolutely.
Ms. Waters. This is what the President is all about. This is his big push. This is his top priority. So we are to sit here and talk about he's nickel and diming us on the agents that are supposed to be responsible for the investigation and enforcement in the interior? What are we talking about? So what do you suggest we do, Mr. Callahan?
Mr. Callahan. I think we definitely need to go beyond what was requested in the President's budget. We need to go with what was recommended on the Congressional side.
Mr. Hostettler. I thank the gentlelady.
Ms. Waters. I'm not finished yet----
Mr. Hostettler. Well, the red light is--we're facing----
Ms. Waters. Unanimous consent for 30 more seconds so I can put a little heat on you. [Laughter.]
Mr. Hostettler. For 30 more seconds, without objection.
Ms. Waters. Well, let me just address my comments in these 30 seconds to say time is very precious around here and it seems absolutely ridiculous that we should be spending time trying to convince the President of the United States to do what he said he was doing, and that is protect the homeland. And so I would hope we would not take up more time with witnesses, we would not keep identifying what's wrong in immigration, that somehow, my friends on the opposite side of the aisle would just tell the President to do the right thing and to advance the budget, increase the numbers for the agents, put the money where it's supposed to be, and let's protect the homeland.
Mr. Hostettler. I thank the gentlelady.
Ms. Waters. I yield back the balance of my time.
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