At today's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) questioned DHS Sec. Kristi Noem.
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00:00Mr. Chairman thank you. Absolutely. Senator Blumenthal. Thanks Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here Madam Secretary. I'm sure you've seen the recent reports that your agency is going to sponsor a reality show, TV show, in which immigrants would compete for U.S. citizenship.
00:25Is DHS seriously vetting a reality show for immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship? Your spokesperson is quoted in the Wall Street Journal, I'm going to ask that article be in the record, Mr. Chairman, if there's no objection, saying that, quote, it's in the very beginning stages of that vetting process. Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval.
00:53Sir, we have no knowledge of a reality show. There may have been something submitted to the department, but I did not know anything about this reality show until the reporter reached out. We told him we have no knowledge of it, we don't know what he's talking about, and they still printed wrong information.
01:09So that article, in fact, they had to change it later because they lied so bad and they had us on the record saying, I had no knowledge of a reality show, the department didn't, there may have been something submitted somewhere along the line because there are proposals pitched to the department, but me and my executive team have no knowledge of a reality show and it's not under consideration.
01:28Your response is to confirm that you will not do a reality show.
01:32There are no plans whatsoever to do a reality show.
01:35And that your spokesperson was completely misquoted as saying that it was being vetted.
01:40That article was completely inaccurate, completely inaccurate and false.
01:44And the fact that they printed it when they knew it was false was a dereliction of their work.
01:49Let me go to some of the expenditures that your department is making.
01:54200 million for an ad campaign fawning over President Trump's supposed accomplishments.
02:0121 million between January and April for transporting around 400 immigrants to Guantanamo Bay.
02:07About half of them were flown back to the United States.
02:106 million to El Salvador to imprison 300 individuals in a prison known for grave human rights violation.
02:18And many more including $1,000 to immigrants wishing to self-deport.
02:25I understand one of the planes left within the last 24 hours.
02:29None of these expenditures are in your present budget.
02:34Aren't you going to run out of money before the end of this fiscal year?
02:38The continuing resolution doesn't cover any of them.
02:40No, all the dollars being spent are being utilized as authorized and appropriately for the situation.
02:47None of them have been authorized, though, under the continuing resolution or any other way that we normally authorize money.
02:55You're just spending recklessly, and it would seem wastefully, without authorization.
03:01That's against the law.
03:02Well, Senator, I completely disagree with you.
03:04I'm doing the job that the Secretary of Homeland Security is supposed to be doing,
03:08the one that the last Secretary refused to do, that endangered the future of our country.
03:12You may think you're doing the job, but you operate under authorization that this committee provides.
03:20You are acting in a way you think you're doing your job, but you also have a responsibility to follow the law.
03:26The American people overwhelmingly in the last election said, we want a secure border.
03:31We want to make sure that no longer are the scales of justice tipped in favor of criminals.
03:36And spend money that is not in your budget.
03:39All money is being spent according to how it is authorized appropriately.
03:43it appropriately. Let me ask you about the money that is being used to supposedly repatriate
03:51Afghan allies, refugees to this country from the Taliban, Ukrainians who have fled here
04:00from Russian aggression. Can you confirm that money is being taken from the foreign aid
04:07allocation? Are you talking about the temporary protective status program? Correct. Yeah.
04:13So the repatriation supposedly of those individuals here under the temporary protected status program.
04:22Yeah. So we do have thousands of individuals that are here that have been protecting or been
04:26participating in the TPS program. That has been reevaluated to see if that program is still
04:32being utilized the way that it is supposed to be as intended by Congress when it was laid out.
04:37But there are documents that have been publicly reported that say the administration is going
04:43to use money from the foreign aid program, AID, to send those people back to countries where
04:51they will be persecuted, tortured, and perhaps killed as the Afghan allies would be. Let me
04:57finish my question, ma'am. Sure.
05:00Can you confirm that's the plan that's been reported in the Washington Post this morning? No, I won't confirm that because that's not true. Those individuals have an opportunity to
05:08apply for asylum and other programs where they will be protected if their lives are in danger. There is a plan to send back anyone who can't
05:17qualify for asylum.
05:25There is a plan to send back anyone who can't qualify for asylum.
05:27There is a plan to send back anyone who can't qualify for asylum.
05:29Time has expired.
05:30Senator Mooting.
05:31Thank you, Chairman Rahn, and welcome.
05:33Thank you for being here.
05:36I think I can speak for everyone in this room.