Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

This morning the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) is holding a hearing on "Unprecedented Migration at the U.S. Southern Border: The Year in Review."

It starts at 9:30, but I'll be livetweeting it starting around 10:00.
c-span.org/video/?466262-…

I'm back, and the HSGAC hearing is under way. Testifying today are:

Acting USCIS Director @USCISCuccinelli
Acting CBP Commissioner @CBPMarkMorgan
Acting Deputy Director of ICE Derek Benner
Director of @DOJ_EOIR James McHenry

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR Testifying currently is ICE Acting Deputy Director Derek Benner, who is arguing that the "face" of the border over the past year should be a man who brought a girl to the border and sexually abused and physically abused her once inside.

First time they've rolled out this story.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR Benner is currently highlighting the role of ICE HSI, the criminal law enforcement arm of ICE, mentioning the arrest of 400 MS-13 members.

Of course, this directly contradicts Trump's claim that the agency is arresting "thousands" of MS-13 members every year.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR Benner now giving some specifics on ICE HSI's program investigating so-called "fraudulent families," saying they identified over 1,000 such family units or fake UACs.

Of course, HSI has never made clear whether they consider an aunt claiming to a mom to be a "fraudulent" family.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR Benner mentions that 86% of ICE arrests were of "convicted criminals" or people with pending criminal charges.

What ICE often doesn't say is that the vast majority of those arrests/convictions are immigration offenses or traffic offenses; extremely low-level crimes.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR ICE's Derek Benner emphasizes the Trump administration's new line: "Almost every community in this country is now a border community."

The Trump Administration's official position now is that everyone needs to be afraid, very afraid, of the scary immigrants coming to get you.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR Now on to @DOJ_EOIR director James McHenry, the head of the immigration courts.

Under McHenry, the court backlogs have grown massively, the immigration judge's union has decried policies turning them into "assembly-line justice," and the agency has become deeply politicized.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR McHenry's first statistic is one that is somewhat contested. He says that "EOIR recently concluded its third consecutive year of increased immigration court completions."

But as the IJ union pointed out, per capita completions actually didn't increase from 2016-2017.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR McHenry is now talking about the way that asylum seekers have "taxed our resources to an unprecedented degree." He then blames a "surge of illegal immigration" on taxing the agency.

This testimony itself is evidence of the need for independent courts. It's deeply political.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR McHenry is now calling for specific changes to the law which would make it easier to deport more immigrants, including eliminating the categorical approach.

Again, this is the director of a supposedly independent court, calling for legal changes to make deportation easier.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR We move to the questions, and @SenRonJohnson asks Benner about ICE ERO's supposed 3 million case load.

Benner says this is EOIR's number, plus people who have already been through adjudication and on appeal, plus people ordered removed in absentia.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson And Benner repeats the completely false claim that 86% of recent families were ordered removed in absentia!

This is a totally false claim, which I've debunked *repeatedly.*

I wrote an entire Op-ed about this. It is totally wrong. wsj.com/articles/trump…

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson ICE and DHS keep making the outrageously wrong claim that 86% of families haven't showed up in court over the past year.

Here's a long thread debunking this, which is a repeated error that ICE has made throughout multiple congressional hearings.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1182351415177568259

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson Now @SenRonJohnson requests information about on "gang members" and "drug kingpins" spilling over the border.

@CBPMarkMorgan says CBP apprehended "over 1,200 gang members, the majority being MS-13."

This is false. It was 976. MS-13 was a plurality, not a majority.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson .@CBPMarkMorgan also says that it's estimated that 150,000 people entered without being apprehended.

I'm really not sure where this figure comes from. All recent DHS statistics suggest a much lower rate of successful unlawful entries, under 100,000.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson We now move to @SenGaryPeters, who begins by asking "how many hours of training do new Border Patrol agents receive."

@CBPMarkMorgan says Border Patrol agents get 700 hours of training, whereas CBP OFO agents get slightly less if no need to teach Spanish.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson @SenGaryPeters Now @SenGaryPeters asks how many CBP agents have been disciplined in the last year. @CBPMarkMorgan says it's around 3,500.

It's worth noting, however, as @immcouncil has documented, that there is a serious impunity problem at the Border Patrol.

americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/still…

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson @SenGaryPeters @immcouncil In response to a question about the awful Facebook group run by the Border Patrol, @CBPMarkMorgan says the agency for the first time unrolled a mandatory social media training, that 99% of agents undertook.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson @SenGaryPeters @immcouncil We now move to metering and MPP. @SenGaryPeters lists repeated anti-asylum-seeker efforts, and asks "In light of the many reports detailing kidnappings, sexual violence, extortions" and so forth, is DHS considering re-thinking MPP?

Great question!

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson @SenGaryPeters @immcouncil Mark Morgan starts by basically saying that MPP was designed to eliminate overcrowding—not what DHS has publicly said previously.

Morgan essentially handwaves harm away entirely and refuses to acknowledge it happening beyond anecdotes.

He is so wrong. vice.com/en_us/article/…

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson @SenGaryPeters @immcouncil Morgan says of harm to people in MPP "The data is just not there" and says he's trying to visit shelters and using @UNmigration data.

"Those reports are not being substantiated by the Mexican military or national guard," he says.

PEOPLE ARE DYING, MARK.

@USCISCuccinelli @CBPMarkMorgan @DOJ_EOIR @SenRonJohnson @SenGaryPeters @immcouncil @UNmigration @CBPMarkMorgan says his data shows that MPP is effective because it has reduced overcrowding.

Then @SenRonJohnson mentions @humanrights1st's reporting on MPP, basically saying 340 claims of horrible violence isn't that much compared to 57,000 sent back.

humanrightsfirst.org/resource/trump…

@CBPMarkMorgan with an *egregious* claim about MPP, saying that if anyone subject to MPP is afraid: "If they have any concern, any fear at all, all they have to do is come to a port of entry and express that, and they'll be given due process."

This is 100% false. Just wrong.

@CBPMarkMorgan There is no real process for people to be taken out of MPP if they experience harm between their court hearings. It does not exist. This has been a *repeated* problem raised to CBP.

@CBPMarkMorgan's claims to the contrary shows he does not know what is going on at the ground.

@CBPMarkMorgan We move back to Benner, who is being questioned by @SenatorLankford, who asks for details on ICE detention beds.

Benner analogizes to FEMA and says ICE should get extra funding to hold 5,000 beds "that are ready to go, to immediately address a spike in numbers at the border."

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford Now @CBPMarkMorgan calling for CBP as well to get permanent facilities built along the border that can sit vacant and then ramp up in the arrival of large numbers of people at the border.

DHS wants a loooooot more money, folks.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford Now @SenatorLankford asks about ICE raids in Mississippi, and once again gets Benner to elicit the figure that 86% of people arrested have criminal conviction.

But as @TRACReports data shows, three out of five of the top criminal convictions are traffic and immigration offenses.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports We now move to @senrobportman, who asks about changing demographics. @CBPMarkMorgan mentions a change in recently months to Mexican families arriving at the border.

"It's the families and kids that really tax our system," says @CBPMarkMorgan.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman Now @CBPMarkMorgan says that "hands down" Mexico is supporting the US government's efforts to limit families arriving, citing the Mexican National Guard deployments and Mexico's agreement to allow MPP to be carried out.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman A big tell here: @CBPMarkMorgan describes the asylum ban IFR as is an initiative to "expeditiously return individuals."

Of course, that's not the official explanation for the program.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman Morgan on MPP: "We would not return an individual like a parent to Mexico, and keep the child. If we decide to separate based on a specific criteria, like for example the parent is a convicted murderer or rapist or a violent crime, yes we would separate the child from the parent"

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman Now @senrobportman endorses the argument that "we're all border communities now," mentioning the crystal meth problem in Ohio. He says meth is "coming from one place, it's coming from Mexico."

Of course, almost all of that is through ports of entry.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson says that drug cartels in Mexico have total "impunity" in many places, which @USCISCuccinelli then immediately endorses.

Hey asylum lawyers! The USCIS head, the President, and the HSGAC chair agree Mexico is "unwilling or unable" to control cartels.

Cite them!

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli Now moving on to @SenatorCarper, who wants to "remind us all that we could build a wall from sea to shining sea" and then gives a speech about how often he's supported the Border Patrol and DHS, and criticizes the witnesses for claiming Congress hasn't done anything.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenatorCarper says of his visits to Central America that "folks down there live lives of misery. ... If I lived down there with my family, I'd want to get out of there too."

He criticizes crime and violence, corruption, and lack of economic opportunity.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper Senator Carper now talking corruption in Honduras and El Salvador. Hasn't asked any questions, mostly just giving a speech.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenRonJohnson asks @USCISCuccinelli "I was surprised at only 105,000 credible fear interviews this year," and asks why that number was so low.

The answer is releases from the border and CBP NTAing people. Cuccinelli pleads ignorance.

Only McHenry knew the right answer!

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @CBPMarkMorgan says that families were being released from the border without NTAs because of Flores.

This is not true; there wouldn't have been enough beds even if Flores was gone.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper Now @SenRonJohnson asks about what the 86% criminal conviction for ICE ERO arrests mean. Benner is forced to admit that many of those are immigration arrests.

Johnson says "It would be nice to separate ... it would be nice to have that split out."

Again, TRAC did it for him!

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper As this hearing wraps up, @CBPMarkMorgan and others again emphasize drugs "pouring into this country."

But what they repeatedly, repeatedly don't mention is that this is almost entirely through ports of entry. That's where anti-drugs resources needed to go.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper From @SenGaryPeters:

"I'm holding a redacted [NTA] which was issued earlier this year. It clearly shows that a 7-year-old child was given an NTA without specific hearing dates or locations... How is a 7-year-old supposed to navigate the system if basic information" is missing.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters Glad to see @SenGaryPeters asking notice issues about in absentia orders!

Now Peters moves on to FCMP, asking what the agencies are doing to expand on similar ATDs, given that the agencies got extra $$$ this year for them.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters Benner says of alternatives to detention is "the limited amount of those resources to keep that monitoring on throughout the pendency of a total hearing."

The FCMP provided for that, he says (ironically, previous DHS officials have attacked FCMP for no good reason).

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters Benner says the challenge was the bandwidth, that ATDs were capped at 100,000. "It's just a dedication of a lot more resources in a more intensive way," he says.

Of course, ATDs are *massively* more cheap than detention, so his protestations aren't great.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters McHenry now asked about implementation of increased LOP funding at @DOJ_EOIR—but then admits no new LOP sites yet. McHenry says it's all been implemented by the end of the fiscal year, plus all new hiring for full immigration judges teams.

Formal authorization is 534 IJs.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters @DOJ_EOIR Benner says that ICE OPLA is about 800 attorneys short in immigration court and needs a lot more funding.

Benner notes that with EOIR expanding rapidly, ICE OPLA has not gotten the same expansion and they are very short on lawyers.

This is a very under-reported issue.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters @DOJ_EOIR McHenry also highlights the need for increased OPLA funding, and says IJ and ICE attorney hiring need to go "hand in hand"

Of course, McHenry doesn't mention the problems with immigrants who don't have lawyers, which should also be needed.

@CBPMarkMorgan @SenatorLankford @TRACReports @senrobportman @SenRonJohnson @USCISCuccinelli @SenatorCarper @SenGaryPeters @DOJ_EOIR As the hearing ends, @SenRonJohnson once again attacks people who criticize law enforcement agents at DHS and calls for major changes in the law that would crack down on the border.

"Let's have the skill and courage to admit we have a problem," he says.