Brandon Gill Has Extremely Tense Exchange With Biden's ICE Chief Of Staff

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) spoke about the Trump administration's border policies.

Transcript

00:00Gentleman yields back. Okay, and I recognize the gentleman from the great state of Texas, Mr. Gill.

00:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this hearing today on what I believe to be one of the most,

00:16probably the most important issue that our country faces right now, which is illegal immigration.

00:23Mr. Hauser, I've got a few questions for you. You were chief of staff for ICE, is that correct?

00:28Yes, sir.

00:28What years were you there?

00:302021 to 2023.

00:31So that was during the Biden administration, is that right?

00:34Yes, sir.

00:35Got it. So presumably you're well-versed in border security and immigration enforcement, is that right?

00:40Yes, sir. I would say that I'm very worried. I also worked at CBP under the Obama administration, yes, sir.

00:45Got it. So you've got a lot of experience there.

00:47Let me ask you a few questions. In an interview with the Daily Blast on February 28, 2024, you mentioned,

00:54quote, you can't deter and punish your way to lowering encounters at the border, end quote.

00:59Do you think you were right or wrong about that?

01:02A hundred percent, sir.

01:03What we've seen-

01:04A hundred percent what?

01:06Right or wrong?

01:06A hundred percent I was correct.

01:07You were correct about that?

01:08Yes, sir.

01:09Okay.

01:09The idea that you just dismantle an immigration system is not- there was a mandate to the Trump administration-

01:14The illegal alien border encounters are down 95 percent right now. I think you were wrong

01:18about that. You also said, quote, the idea that you can turn off the border is just not

01:23factual. Do you think that was right or wrong?

01:26Sir, the threats that we're still seeing across the border-

01:28Do you think you were right or wrong about that statement?

01:30What's that, sir?

01:30My question is, were you right or wrong about that statement?

01:33When you turn off the immigration system, sir, yes, you will not see encounters.

01:37Well, southwestern border encounters are at a 15-year low under President Trump.

01:44Another thing that you mentioned, quote, just shutting off the border to asylum seekers is not

01:48going to do that, meaning close the border. What I think is going to do that is make it more erratic

01:53and sporadic for the sort of large surges of migrants you would see coming across the border.

01:58Do you think that was right or wrong?

02:00100 percent correct. It was correct, sir. We're going to see that over the next couple years.

02:04Border apprehensions are down now because President Trump has secured our border.

02:10He's stopped the flow of illegal aliens coming across our border and coming to our border.

02:16Do you think that we have a better or worse border situation now than we did under Joe Biden?

02:24Sir, I believe the border is secure.

02:25You believe the border is secure. That's right. But you were wrong about a lot of other things,

02:29about what would secure the border. Is that right?

02:31No, sir. It's only been 100 days.

02:32You were wrong about what it would take to stop the flow of illegal aliens coming into the United States.

02:37You were wrong that secure enforcement that we're seeing under President Trump would stop the flow

02:43of illegal aliens. You ought to keep that in mind as you're going to the media and mouthing off about

02:47the president. Can I answer that question?

02:48Let me ask you another question. This is from a New York Times op-ed that you wrote just a month ago.

02:55Yes, sir.

02:55You mentioned, quote, federal law enforcement under President Trump is engaged in dangerous political

03:00theater. What about President Trump's law enforcement do you think is dangerous political theater?

03:05Do you think that seizing 235,000 pounds of fentanyl on the border is dangerous political theater?

03:11It's a problem. Do you think seizing fentanyl at our border is dangerous political theater?

03:15Do you know who Gilberto Avila Jara is? So that's exactly where ICE should have their resources focused.

03:21That's exactly where this administration is. And we did. And he was arrested last month

03:25and charged with over 20 sex crimes against minors. Yes, sir. These were the kind of people

03:29that Joe Biden and under your leadership were coming into our country.

03:33For the next three months doesn't make us more safe. Taking HSI agents away from drug interdiction.

03:38Taking murderers and rapists off our streets makes the American people more safe.

03:43It's your testimony that taking murderers and rapists off our streets does not make us more

03:47safe? Is that what you're telling me? What I'm saying, sir, is what we have heard from this

03:49administration is over the next few months, there's going to be thousands of law enforcement

03:52focused on non-criminal migrants. We'll see. You were wrong about a lot of things. I don't put a

03:57whole lot of stock into that, candidly. And I don't think the American people do either.

04:00Do you support amnesty? No, sir. Do you support amnesty for illegal aliens? No, sir. In this New

04:09York Times article, you wrote, quote, that means that the best solution for public safety is not

04:13mass deportations. It's giving undocumented. I'm speaking right now. This is my time, not yours.

04:19I'm speaking. It's giving undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for a long time

04:24the opportunity to come forward, pay a fine and gain legal status. That sounds a lot like amnesty to me,

04:29doesn't it, to you? It's a process, sir, under the law that could exercise and allow them for

04:34migrants to come out of the shadows and then focus. That's what amnesty is. This is a deliberate

04:40semantic obfuscation, and you know it, and I know it, and the American people know it as well.

04:45Do you think that illegal aliens should be given welfare once they get amnesty?

04:49Sir, that's not my department. You've got a lot of opinions on a whole lot of different things.

04:54You don't have an opinion on that? There is where I've worked for 20 years, sir. Yes, sir.

04:56And finally, let me ask you, do you think that Biden was successful at stopping illegal immigration?

05:03There was failures at the beginning of the Biden administration to deal with the flow of migrants

05:09post-COVID, and then there was failures of implementation of policies across all of the

05:14immigration system. That's the same problems we're seeing now. The idea that you can enforce

05:19your way out of immigration and the challenges that we see across the Western hemisphere,

05:23it's not going to work. We had an open border under Biden. The border's secure now. I think

05:28that's a successful Trump policy and a failure of the Biden administration. I yield my time back.

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