Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

This morning, DHS Secretary Nielsen will be testifying in front of the House Homeland Security Committee. I'll be watching the first hour of it before I have to head off for meetings. Expect @SecNielsen to double down on a "crisis" and Dems to push back.

Before we begin, a brief note on yesterday's reporting that February apprehensions (66,450) were the highest # for a February in a decade. But let's put this in context.

May 2014 apprehensions (61,357) were the highest May # since 2008... and since then. Because spikes happen.

Last month's high numbers are only 8.3% higher than the spike in 2014, and yet CBP didn't say they were "close to breaking" or that there was a "national emergency."

Yes, more family units are arriving now. But again, only twice more than in June 2014 (16,330 vs. 36,174).

As the hearing begin, Chairman Bennie Thompson (@BennieGThompson). He begins by acknowledging the tornado deaths in Alabama. He then turns to asylum turnbacks, says there's no national emergency, and discusses how Nielsen didn't tell the truth about family separation.

Rep. Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) now giving an opening statement for Republicans. He also begins by discussing the awful situation in Alabama and thanks DHS for their help (FEMA is part of DHS).

Rep. Rogers's opening focuses on everything @CBP talked about yesterday, describes a crisis at the border due to more families.

Rogers says "CBP seizes more pounds of drugs between ports of entry than at [POEs]." But that's marijuana! Opioids come through POEs.

Now @SecNielsen is here talking. She says she's here to focus on "securing our borders," and paints that as one of the most important roles of "any country."

Worth noting that until the late 19th century, the United States had essentially pure open borders; anyone could come.

Now @SecNielsen says her first verifiably untrue thing; "Illegal immigration is spiraling out of control."

There is literally no evidence of this. @pewresearch says that the undocumented population has dropped for years and is lowest level in decades. pewhispanic.org/2018/11/27/u-s…

As @SecNielsen talks about "dire" projections, she compares FY 2019 to the "entirety" of FY 2017.

FY 2017 was the lowest apprehension number in almost 50 years, the "Trump effect"

It was a massive drop in all flow. Comparing anything to 2017 is cherrypicking at its worst.

Now @SecNielsen says something that even her colleague @CBP_McAleenan doesn't believe, that "only 1 in 10" Central Americans is granted asylum

This is a COMPLETELY false statement. I debunked it here.

One irony @SecNielsen says that it is of "great concern" to her when smugglers use children "as pawns."

Family separation was a government-promoted policy of using children as pawns to deter asylum-seekers coming to the US. Extraordinary for her to make that statement.

Now @SecNielsen talks about how she's going to sign a "regional compact" to address push factors from Central America, and says that this will prevent people coming to the US.

The Obama administration tried working to fix push factors. It... didn't work.

.@SecNielsen says that the "Migrant Protection Protocols" are about countering asylum fraud. This is ridiculous. The screening for MPP has literally nothing to do with asylum-fraud. It forces people to say in dangerous conditions in Mexico. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/advocacy/lette…

.@SecNielsen says that Congress needs to change the law to "promote family unity." That is some Orwellian claim; what she means there is that we should be able to detain families for longer and be able to send unaccompanied children home without court hearings.

We now turn to questioning, from Rep. @BennieGThompson, who asks why asylum seekers have been turned around "contrary to law."

Nielsen says "We're not turning people around."

We have sued because they ARE turning people away from ports of entry. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/litigation/cha…

Rep. Thompson seems to be asking @SecNielsen about metering and she appears to not know what he's referencing (he didn't use the term).

They're talking at cross-purposes here; Nielsen thinks he's talking about MPP and he thinks he's talking about metering... I think. Hard to say

Rep. Thompson asks @SecNielsen if she's aware of families being separated and deported back to their countries.

Nielsen says she is aware, and agrees to provide more info.

One side note on tone This is must less confrontational than the last time @SecNielsen testified.

Now @SecNielsen says something that's.... extremely misleading. She says that people who were deported without their kids had the opportunity to tell their consulate they want their kids with them.

But ICE was doing the deporting, and ICE didn't have custody of kids.

Rep. Thompson asked about barbed wire and concrete at ports of entry. @SecNielsen says this is to promote security of migrants themselves(??) plus the officers. She says it was done in a "case by case" basis. Hard to believe. Here's what that looks like.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1100149197913903106

Rep. Mike Rodgers now asks about @SecNielsen's false "1 in 10" claim, and asks her why asylum seekers are even allowed to enter the country if that's true (it's not!).

For those not familiar with the basics of asylum law, here's a primer:americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/asylu…

Now @SecNielsen says that her goal is to expand "Remain in Mexico" / "Migrant Protection Protocols" to the entire border so that NO asylum seekers will be permitted into the United States from Mexico.

That would be a MASSIVE change. @ACLU is suing.
aclu.org/cases/innovati…

Rep. Mike Rodgers asks @SecNielsen; since people are fleeing countries other than Mexico, aren't they safe waiting in Mexico?

Sec. Nielsen dodges the question. Maybe b/c she'd have to say no.

90% of migrants felt unsafe in Mexico. 46% were harmed. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/advocacy/lette…

Now Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is up asking Qs. She asks whether @DHSgov can make independent decisions from the White House, to disagree with what Trump says.

@SecNielsen says she took an oath to the Constitution.

Rep. Lee asks for data on the emergency declaration.

Whoa. @SecNielsen says that "much of what I give to the President" is covered by executive privilege, when asked about what she told the President about an emergency declaration.

Frustrating for her to invoke executive privilege for something she's promoting.

Rep. Jackson Lee now talking about reuniting families who were separated, and asks about reunifying children in HHS custody with family in the US, asks about reuniting separated children.

There's confusion again here about what each person is talking about.

Now Rep. Peter King here to talk about a "slaughter within the immigrant community" in Long Island b/c of MS-13 members who came as unaccompanied children.

Worth noting that police reportedly ignored early signs that kids were being killed. propublica.org/article/challe…

As Peter King talks about the "threats" of unaccompanied minor children, worth noting that the vast majority of kids came here fleeing MS-13 (a gang founded in California), not as part of them. A very small number of active MS-13 members did come. This was never a huge problem.

Now up to Rep. Langevin, who begins by acknowledging that we all "want stronger border security." He's discussing how, just 20 years ago, apprehensions were at 1.6 million people, massively higher numbers. Despite recent rises in apprehensions, we're at historic lows.

A frustrating moment where @SecNielsen utterly refuses to admit that President Trump lied when he said a month ago that "we were at the largest number of apprehensions" ever.

Nielsen is being spectacularly evasive here, will NOT admit that Trump was wrong.

One very important note here as well. In Sept. 2017, DHS wrote that " available data indicate that the southwest land border is more difficult to illegally cross today than ever before."

And that's true. People today aren't evading Border Patrol. dhs.gov/sites/default/…

.@SecNielsen is given an opportunity to respond and basically again evades context that border numbers are much lower than in the past (75% lower than 1999), and says it's about the "type of migrants system is not set up to protect."

But that's not about border security!

In response, Rep. Thompson tells @SecNielsen that she really needs to start giving "yes or no" answers to questions. He seems a bit peeved, but this hearing is still very polite in comparison to previous hearings.

And with that, I need to head off to a meeting and have to stop listening to the hearing.

Please go follow others like @Kat_Obser who are also livetweeting this hearing!

https://twitter.com/Kat_Obser/status/1103311199029116930

Also, go check out @OjedaUrsela for a thread on today’s Senate hearing on border smuggling.

https://twitter.com/ojedaursela/status/1103312697486135296?s=21

Also check out @jenquigley for her live tweeting of the Senate hearing

https://twitter.com/jenquigley/status/1103307892663480325?s=21

And I'm back. Looks like I missed some outrageous behavior from @SecNielsen, including an utter lack of willingness to take any responsibility for what happened during family separation.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1103338785188859904

This exchange in particular shows how little regard @SecNielsen seems to actually have for children. Last week we heard that Commander Jonathan White at HHS raised alarms about the trauma family separation would cause children.

But Nielsen says...

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1103335110051594240

We're now on to Rep. Titus, who talks about the amazing "choreography" from @SecNielsen, who notes that every time a Republican asks a question, Nielsen knows the exact answer, but ever time a Dem asks a question, Nielsen says she doesn't know. Suggests this is deliberate.

Rep. Titus also mentions the failed Accenture contract to hire new Border Patrol agents, and the ways in which CBP is wasting money. npr.org/2018/12/11/675…

Rep. Titus asks @SecNielsen if she's ever met a DREAMer or someone on DACA. Sec. Nielsen, twice, does not answer the question but says she supports status.

Has she still never met a single DACA-holder? By refusing to say she has, she's kind of indicating that she hasn't.

Despite @SecNielsen saying she supports legal status for DREAMers, she says she does NOT support a "clean bill" for DACA (just DACA), because that might create a "pull factor."

Literally no DACA bill would provide ongoing status to new migrants entering after the bill.

And @SecNielsen says she ALSO does not support a clean bill to provide support for people with Temporary Protected Status, saying every time a bill has been passed providing new status, it's a pull factor. There are tons of experts who would STRONGLY disagree with her about that.

Now Rep. Joyce, who talks about the "consistent inability of Congress to comprehensively address" border security, and talks about how we have a lack of border security, as it relates to the "opioid crisis"

Again, the VAST majority of opioids come through ports of entry.

Now we're on to a Dem Rep. (can't see her nameplate) who asks "What does a chain link fence, enclosed into a chamber, on a concrete floor, represent for you. Is that a cage?"

Nielsen says (true) that the facility has existed for a while and rejects claim it's like a dog cage.

Now @SecNielsen is being asked about the death of Marie Juarez, who became ill while in ICE family detention and died several weeks later. There's a big lawsuit about this. And family detention centers have woefully bad medical conditions. abcnews.go.com/US/mother-todd…

And on a TOTALLY different topic, questions about a program where Saudi Arabian air marshals will be paid by TSA. Nielsen agrees to give the committee information about that program.

Now onto Rep. Guest, who asks Nielsen whether there is an "immigration crisis" on the Southwest border.

@SecNielsen says the numbers are increasing so quickly that the system is breaking.

But the rise has been pretty steady over the past 18 months...

.@SecNielsen says that the most important thing to address the opioid crisis is to have "operational control" over the Southern Border.

Most fentanyl comes in from China. Heroin is most often smuggled through ports of entry in vehicles. Cartels can use boats.

One fun side note; at least @SecNielsen is now saying "We need a barrier" and not resorting to her much-maligned Hulk-esque "We need Wall" from last December.

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1075839997687803905

A real hard-hitting question from Rep. Guest to @SecNielsen, asking her if ICE should be abolished. She says no.

Interestingly, Sec. Nielsen then goes on to cite the great work of.... ICE Homeland Security Investigations (though not by name). Doesn't once mention immigration.

Rep. Barragan (@RepBarragan) asks @SecNielsen whether she has ever taken any contemporary memos on meetings with Trump. Nielsen says she has not.

Rep. Barragan now asks @SecNielsen how many children have died in CBP custody. Nielsen says "So far, three" and Rep. Barragan pounces on the "so far" phrase.

Nielsen does count the stillborn in ICE detention, despite ICE itself saying it didn't count as a death in custody.

WOW. @RepBarragan now says Nielsen is lying about people being turned away form the border, and says she PERSONALLY witnessed CBP turning away a Honduran asylum seeker at the border, with a CBP officer telling him to go away. We know this happens! Does @SecNielsen?

Some wonderful questions from @RepBarragan about the members of Congress (inc. @RepJayapal) who were turned away at Otay Mesa.

"Where in the asylum law does it say that when you present yourself at a port of entry ... that you can sent by an agent to another port of entry?

.@RepBarragan asks about the asylum list in Tijuana, demands to know what legal authority DHS has.

@SecNielsen: "We do not have the list, to be clear, the list is in Mexico."

@RepBarragan: "So you have the authority to do the list but you don't have access to the list?"

As Rep. Dan Crenshaw talks now about how he thinks people don't care about the border, some citations about what @RepBarragan was discussing.

Here's some more information about "La Lista" in Tijuana, an unlawful practice. nytimes.com/2018/11/30/wor…

Here's information about the encounter (where @ImmCivilRights, @karalynum, @avabdc and others were present at) where @RepJayapal and @RepJimmyGomez had to wait overnight to force CBP to let in asylum-seekers. splinternews.com/members-of-con…

And here's information about our lawsuit against this illegal practice of turning away asylum-seekers at the border, along with @theCCR and @splcenter americanimmigrationcouncil.org/litigation/cha…

Had to step away for a moment, missed Rep. Crenshaw's comments + something after that Now we're on to Rep. Green, who begins by asking "What happened to 'Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

A wonderful statement from @RepAlGreen, who emphasizes that seeking asylum is not illegal. Thank you Rep. Green! As we've emphasized over and over again, it is legal to seek asylum!

immigrationimpact.com/2018/07/17/it-…

This is great. @RepAlGreen making some wonderful points about how in the past, American has stepped up to care for refugees, like with Cubans.

Rep. Green makes a powerful point that those who came through Ellis Island also also included criminals, but we celebrate Ellis Island.

I thank @RepAlGreen for taking his time to, in an eloquent fashion, draw important historical lines between our immigrant ancestors, our country's history of embracing the tired and poor, and what's happening at the bordern ow.

We're on Poetry corner here, as Rep. Cleaver now continues on to talk about a poem Robert Frost wrote called "Mending Walls," that begins with "Something there is that doesn't love a wall."

Rep. Cleaver summarizes: "Nature, or God, does not love a wall."

poetryfoundation.org/poems/44266/me…

Rep. Cleaver asks @SecNielsen "Do you have any idea how many times China has been invaded since China built the wall?"

Nielsen: "No sir.

Rep Cleaver. "I mean, you wouldn't know that... Most historians would say, a lot."

@KevinMKruse can you confirm it is in fact "a lot"?

Now on to @RepValDemings who asks Nielsen if she would approve of a national emergency declaration for mass shootings, from the perspective of "the security of our nation."

Nielsen agrees it's an "emergency" but demurs on whether the President should declare one.

.@RepValDemings asks how many CBP agents have died in the line of duty recently at the border. @SecNielsen admits that it's zero.

Rep. Demings asks how many serious injuries have occurred at the border. Nielsen says she'll give numbers, then notes assaults have gone up 40%.

A great catch from @RepValDemings that Nielsen's claim of an increase in assaults by 40% could obscure the reality without raw numbers.

Another note? CBP counts "assaults" in an extremely odd way that overinflates actual assaults. theintercept.com/2018/04/23/bor…

Now questioning about eminent domain against American landowners along the Rio Grande River who are going to have their property taken from them for the wall. This is a particularly concerning issue for landowners. washingtonpost.com/national/trump…

And with that, the hearing is over! I missed an hour of it, but the portions I saw were at times breathtaking in @SecNielsen's refusal to acknowledge any alternative perspectives of the law and the facts at the border.

On issues like family separation and turning back of asylum seekers @SecNielsen refused to give an inch despite being presented with contrary facts. She wouldn't even admit Trump was wrong when he claimed border arrests were higher than ever. I look forward to more oversight.