During Wednesday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) questioned DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about border security under the Biden Administration.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00is when I put those individuals away, I did it with the weight of the law behind me, and I yield back.
00:06Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to enter an article from Fox 45 that states,
00:15documents reveal a second protective order filed by the wife against Kilmar Abrego Garcia,
00:22whom also had two deportation orders.
00:26Yes. Without objection, so ordered. I now recognize Mr. Higgins for five minutes of questioning.
00:33Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My, my, my. Our Democrat colleagues really love illegals in our country.
00:44It's stunning for regular Americans like me to listen to this passionate and contentious defense
00:55with the previous administration's policies and the resultant millions upon millions upon millions of illegals
01:05that entered our country over the last four years.
01:08I'll tell you where we're, I'm not going to use my colleagues the same language
01:14because I don't think that kind of language should be used in committee,
01:19but I'll tell you where we, where we heard loads of not necessarily genuine statements.
01:32It was from Secretary Mayorkas for four years.
01:35We had to listen to his testimony again and again, how he needed more resources.
01:41He needed more laws and Congress had to pass more laws.
01:46And yet we said for years, what you need is to enforce the laws that we currently have on the books.
01:53You need policies that would actually control the border.
01:56And we have Madam Secretary before us representing an administration that has done just that.
02:02If the same 1,954 miles of border that you had a year ago is now under control.
02:09If the same men and women that you had a year ago, the border is now under control.
02:13If the same equipment, the same all-weather roads, everything is the same.
02:18The only thing that has changed is the policies coming out of the White House
02:21and a Secretary of Homeland Security that will actually execute the laws of our land
02:27and protect the citizenry of our country.
02:30That's Madam Secretary Noem who sits before us.
02:33And she should be spoken to with some modicum of respect from my Democrat colleagues.
02:42It's amazing.
02:43Our border is secured versus wide open and wild.
02:48And Democrats complain and they're angry and they protest.
02:53Illegals are being deported rather than waved in and imported.
02:59And Democrats are angry and protesting.
03:04It's stunning to Americans to witness this.
03:08Madam Secretary, thank you, good lady, for the job that you are doing,
03:13securing our borders and protecting the citizenry
03:16that we are elected to represent in this body.
03:21I work for the American citizenry.
03:24And every one of us has sworn that oath.
03:29The difference between the parties has never been more stark.
03:34We represent law and order and American citizens
03:38and American enforcement of our laws.
03:44My goodness gracious.
03:45Thank you, Madam, for
03:47so graciously enduring
03:51the assault that you have.
03:53I'd like to touch on
03:55the 287G program.
03:57Thank you for partnering with our local and state
04:00law enforcement
04:01to work together
04:02to secure our borders.
04:04This is an this is an excellent program.
04:07You have voiced support for it.
04:09Can you speak, Madam Secretary Noem?
04:12Can you speak to the importance of
04:14of the DHS partnering with local and state law enforcement,
04:19including programs like 287G?
04:23Well, thank you, Congressman.
04:24Yes, 287G has been a wonderful program for many years,
04:28but not utilized during the previous administration.
04:30It's a partnership between federal law enforcement officers
04:35and also our state and local law enforcement
04:39to give them the same authorities
04:41to operate in a task force model
04:43to go out and to really make sure
04:45that we're going after individuals
04:46that have broken our laws,
04:48that have perpetuated violence in our communities,
04:51bring them into incarceration
04:52and get them out of our country
04:53if they don't belong here.
04:55And it has been a fantastic partnership,
04:57one that President Trump has encouraged us to pursue
05:00and to continue to build out across the country.
05:03Yes, ma'am.
05:03We have program and others like
05:06is going to be heavily supported
05:07by Republicans on this committee.
05:09Finally, ma'am, in my remaining 25 seconds,
05:13we speak to the efforts to locate the children.
05:16Thousands and thousands and thousands of children
05:20waved into our country during the last four years
05:23and they're lost to the interior.
05:25Many are being trafficked and abused.
05:27Can you speak to the efforts to find these kids?
05:30Yeah, up to 300,000 children were lost or missing
05:33under the Biden administration.
05:35We have located and returned over 5,000 of them
05:38to their homes and to their families,
05:40but there's many, many more to be found
05:43and to be returned and brought to safety.
05:45So we're continuing to work on that every day
05:46and our HSI officers spend a lot of time
05:50and are the experts in the field
05:51at training local law enforcement to identify
05:53and find them as well.
05:55Thank you, ma'am.
05:56You expect full support there, Mr. Chairman.
05:59I heard and I now recognize...
06:01Mr. Chairman, I'd ask unanimous consent
06:04to introduce the article from PBS NewsHour
06:07entitled,
06:08Children Who Are U.S. Citizens Deported
06:10Along With Foreign-Born Mothers
06:11and Service,
06:13in which the Attorney for the Society to compare
06:14to the
06:26and the to-
06:27and the to-
06:28data.
06:30For the
06:32attention to us,
06:32you know,
06:34Arne.
06:34You know,
06:34to