There are many answers owed to this Subcommittee and the American people regarding the impact of sequestration and the Continuing Resolution on ICE and, in that context, the recent release of detainees.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your calling this hearing and in particular agreeing to my request that Assistant Secretary Morton be here today.
There are many answers owed to this Subcommittee and the American people regarding the impact of sequestration and the Continuing Resolution on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, in that context, the recent release of detainees. Late last night, we received cursory information about how many people have been released and we still need to know under whose order, how the determination was made on which individuals to release, what form of alternative supervision they are now currently under, or if we can expect additional releases such as this the longer sequestration stays in place.
Some of these actions are surely the result of unworkable and onerous conditions the Republican majority has placed on ICE funding. I'm referencing of course the floor on 34,000 detention beds that ICE must maintain. Assistant Secretary Morton, you have stated many times that this language mandates not only that you maintain 34,000 detention beds, but that you fill those beds with detainees on a daily basis - further limiting your flexibility. No doubt, eliminating such an unnecessary threshold would provide ICE the flexibility required during these tight fiscal times. Instead, the majority has doubled down on this unwise approach in the CR passed by the House last week, maintaining the 34,000 bed threshold while doing nothing to prevent the devastating impacts of sequestration across your other programs. And this was done in a bill touted as increasing agency flexibility!
I hope this hearing will give us a better understanding of how these contrived cuts, which the majority obviously prefers to a comprehensive fiscal plan, are affecting your programs overall. For example, ICE apprehensions are currently at an all-time high; by what percent can we expect apprehensions to drop as a result of sequestration? What will the reduction in deportations be, particularly for criminal aliens, where removals are double what they were in fiscal year 2008? What is the impact on investigations into human smuggling or child pornography rings? I hope your testimony today will answer such questions.
Finally, I should remind the Subcommittee of what this hearing was originally supposed to be about. For weeks now, this date has been set aside to hear from Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Aguilar prior to his departure. It would have provided an important examination of CBP's ongoing budget issues, of their technological needs to keep ensure harmful goods and materials are not entering the country illegally, and of the impacts of sequestration on CBP personnel - which we know could include furloughing thousands of Border Patrol Agents and Officers. So while I look forward to the testimony today, I remain concerned that we are sacrificing precious time and resources, canceling that pre-planned CBP hearing when we just as easily could have had Assistant Secretary Morton appear after the release of the FY14 budget.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
