GOP's Michael Guest Cites Bill Clinton's Own Words To Defend Expedited Removal Of Illegal Immigrants

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At today's House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Michael Guest (R-TX) questioned DHS Sec. Kristi Noem.

Transcript

00:00Ready to go on with the next testimony. Mr. Guest, you're recognized for five minutes.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, thank you for being here. Thank you for your leadership.

00:10Please thank the men and women that serve under you for the incredible job that they do.

00:15I want to particularly thank you for enforcing the law, something that we did not see under the

00:21previous administration. In the short time that you have been serving as secretary,

00:27we have seen a dramatic decrease as much as 95% along our southern border. And I also want to

00:33thank you for locating the 5,000 plus missing children that just in three months you and your

00:42agency have been able to find and in some cases possibly rescue them from what could have been

00:48very dangerous situations. Echo what Congressman Higgins talked about a minute ago. The law has

00:55not changed since you have become secretary. The budget has not changed since you've become

01:01secretary. The resources that you have, the number of agents have not changed since you've become

01:07secretary. But yet we have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings because you and

01:13the men and women who serve under you have chosen to enforce the law. I want to push back a little bit

01:21on some of the narratives that are being put out by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

01:29First is the allegations, the reckless allegations, which are completely false and untrue that you and

01:37your agency are deporting American citizens. And I heard you try to answer that question. I don't know if

01:44you were able to be able to get that answer out there. And so I want to give you that opportunity. But as I

01:49understand the situation, we were deporting an illegal alien who was a parent and that parent then

01:54decided to make the decision to take their children with them. And so I don't know if my friends on the

02:00other side of the aisle would ask that we separate those and say, no, those parents cannot do that,

02:05that the federal government knows better and that these children are going to have to stay in the United

02:09States. Or maybe they believe that a parent who is an illegal that has a child therefore is going to be

02:16allowed to remain here indefinitely, regardless of whether or not there's a final law removal,

02:21regardless of whether there are any criminal charges or anything pending against those individuals.

02:26And so in the instances that have been brought up, Madam Secretary, where there have been allegations

02:33that you or your agency has removed American citizens, I just want to give you a brief opportunity

02:41to address that. Is that true? And if it's not true, please tell us and please share with this

02:47committee the truth behind those those situations. Congressman, the children that were referenced

02:53previously in the testimony of the gentleman in both of those cases, the mothers chose to keep their

02:59children with them when they returned home to their home country. That is a priority of President Trump

03:04to keep families unified. We have instances where mothers from other countries have decided that their

03:10children should stay here in the United States and left them with family members or someone else that

03:15they trusted. But these two mothers that they were referencing earlier decided to take their

03:19children home with them and wanted to return to their home countries as a family. And so we are giving

03:25the parents the choice and then we are honoring whatever their request. Is that what I understand for you,

03:30Madam Secretary? That is correct, sir. All right. And then I want to talk about one more issue in the last minute and a

03:35half that I have, this issue of due process, where you were asked earlier, are we giving individuals due

03:41process? And you talked about the fact that we are complying with the law that Congress has given the

03:49department. And I think specifically, and tell me if I'm wrong, I think you're talking about the Legal

03:54Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 that created this process known as expedited

04:01removal. And we know that that law in 1996 that it passed Congress overwhelmingly at both the House

04:07and the Senate. I will tell you that I see here a comment that was made by that time President Clinton.

04:13And this is what President Clinton said about that law. It said, President Clinton asserted that the

04:19legislation strengthened the rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the

04:25workplace and in the criminal justice system, without punishing those living in the United States

04:31legally. And so as I understand, as it relates to the issue of due process, you are following the law,

04:38as Congress gave you almost 30 years ago. And this illegal immigration reform and immigration

04:43responsibility act has been upheld repeatedly over the last 30 years by the court. You're enforcing final

04:49orders of removal. And so, Madam Secretary, in the last 10 seconds that I have, are you following the

04:55law? And are you giving these individuals the due process that you are required to give them?

05:01Yes, Congressman. We are using the due process tools that Congress has afforded us in these instances to

05:07ensure that everyone is treated the same and appropriately. Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

05:12Chairman, I now recognize Mr. Magaziner for five minutes.

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