Thread by @charlottecuthbo

"Most of these family members we’re allowing in, we can’t properly vet. We’re letting in tens of thousands a day and we have no idea who they really are.

Only 15% of those coming in have valid asylum claims."

— Mark Morgan, Obama’s Border Patrol chief #BorderSecurity

"Under current estimates, we’re going to let in 650k illegal immigrants that will stay indefinitely."

— Mark Morgan, Obama’s Border Patrol chief at Senate hearing #BorderSecurity

"50% of the border is wide open.

"40% of resources are diverted to humanitarian issues.

"We have no idea, no idea, what’s coming in our southwest border."

— Mark Morgan, Obama’s Border Patrol chief, at Senate hearing

Mark Morgan mentions Angel families, as well as Drew Rosenberg, a young Californian man killed by an illegal alien.

"We have failed."

"American citizens are dying.

"We have to fix this."

The majority of current illegal immigrants are men traveling with a child. Many say they have a wife and other children at home and they have come to find work and send money back home.

The chief beneficiaries of these migrant flows are Mexican cartels and smuggling networks. Migrants must pay a tax to cross the border.
—John Daniel Davidson, senior correspondent, The Federalist, at Senate hearing

This black market is sophisticated - starts in villages or towns. If you want to migrate, contact a local smuggler and if you bring a child it’s cheaper bc of ease of getting across the border.
—John Daniel Davidson, senior correspondent, The Federalist, Senate hearing

Fixes:

1--Fix asylum system. Don’t want the asylum system used for economic migration.
2--Need to work with Mexico to strengthen their migration system.
3--Tackle smuggling networks
4--Invest in Central America

—Andrew Selee, Migration Policy Institute at Senate hearing

"More drugs pound-for-pound are coming between the ports of entry.

"The real thing we should be focusing on is that we have no idea what’s coming through our border."

— Mark Morgan, Obama’s Border Patrol chief, at Senate hearing

Nothing’s going to change unless Congress acts to change the Flores Settlement and TVPRA -- that’s the pull factor. All other actions would be moot without these changes.
—Mark Morgan

"We have to attack the cartels with the same intensity and severity as we do terrorists."

— Mark Morgan at Senate hearing