Secure Border Initiative Funding and Results
Secure Border Initiative - Funding and Results
Thank you Mr. Chairman, and welcome to Commissioner Basham and our distinguished guests.
Today we're here to discuss the progress of the Secure Border Initiative, or SBI - a program that perhaps demonstrates the very reason we created DHS. A program that is integrating what was once stove piped, fragmented agencies into a functional system aimed at addressing one of the most persistent and challenging issues confronting our country - the issue of border security.
Launched in November 2005, the SBI is starting to show us how the robust combination of funding and oversight provided by this Subcommittee is yielding real results.
In FY 2006, DHS:
* Ended the practice of catch and release;
* Reduced non-Mexican illegal alien apprehensions by 35%
* Seized more than 1.3 million pounds of marijuana between the ports of entry, a 13% increase compared with fiscal year 2005;
* Set records by arresting over 4,300 worksite violators, arresting over 1,700 overstay and status violators, and removing almost 190,000 illegal immigrants.
Impressive statistics, to say the least, but results that are long overdue and results that remind us how much further we need to go. For years we've thrown millions of dollars at our border security problems - in fact, this Subcommittee has provided over $40 billion in the last two years towards border security and immigration enforcement. But what is different today is the robust oversight and planning requirements of Congress and the innovative SBI approach - an approach that, for the first time in our history, has looked at border security and immigration enforcement as one system, as opposed to a disjointed organization where roles and responsibilities simply fall through the cracks.
As a result, DHS has changed the way the Federal government approaches this complex issue, removed bottlenecks, and realized greater efficiency at the detection, interdiction, apprehension, and removal of illegal aliens. So what we've learned is that this problem is as much about resources as it is about process improvement and strategic planning. Today I want to congratulate the Department on making real progress.
But I also want to caution those of us sitting here on the continued challenges of border security that lie ahead and ask one, simple question: Now that you've achieved some initial results, what are you prepared to do now? Today, I want to hear the answer to this question. Today, I want to hear about how we can build upon initial progress and take the next steps towards DHS' stated goal of actually securing the entire border in five years.
Now I realize the enormity of this challenge, but to Commissioner Basham and those of you from CBP, I say the time is now. There are no more excuses. This is a man-made problem, so there must be a man-made solution. You have the backing of the American people and Congress to do what it takes to overcome the obstacles, succeed where others have failed, and provide the border security that our great nation both needs and deserves.
On a final note, I want to stress that we are reviewing a system with multiple moving parts and are looking at just one of those parts - physical border security. The SBI is, in fact, three components designed to work together: enhanced border security, strong immigration enforcement, and real immigration reform. And DHS' initial progress on these issues - that I highlighted at the beginning of my statement - is a result of a team effort among CBP, ICE, CIS, and other Departmental components. So I look forward to our hearings on immigration enforcement and reform in late March as well as to today's discussion on CBP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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