of war correspondents, the struggle was among the foremost experiences of our career. i was one of those who flew out of the u.s. embassy on that tumultuous day. >> 's most recent book is the soon-to-be released operation pedestal, other books include catastrophe, 1914, europe goes to war. chastise and overlord, dj and the battle for normandie. join in the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets on in-depth live at noon eastern sunday with max hastings on book tv on c-span2 and be sure to visit c-span shop .org to get your copies of books from our featured authors. >> homeland security secretary testified before congress about the president's budget for his

department and cybersecurity, covid-19 vaccinations and border security. house of percy vision subcommittee is chaired by connecticut congresswoman rosa delauro. on

order set forth in the house rules. we will alternate by party. we will go to members who are not present when the hearing was called until every member present has had a first round. members can submit information in writing using the email address since it >> let's begin, i will keep my opening remarks brief to allow maximum times for questions. i welcome the honorable secretary of the department of home and security mayorkas who is here to discuss the departments operations and resource requirements. mr. secretary, this is your first appearance before the subcommittee in your current role. you are certainly not new to the department and its diverse set of missions. ing time.

we scheduled this hearing with you hoping we could discuss the details of the department's fiscal year 2022 budget request. unfortunately, we will not be getting the full budget request until friday. you are limited in what you can say about it. nevertheless, i hope to have a good discussion this morning, not only about the current operations of the department and its use of appropriated resources, but also about how to continue addressing the many challenges this fiscal year. i recently visited the border with you. i want to commend all the personnel who have been working so hard over the last few months to manage an incredibly difficult challenge. working closely with the department of health and human services, you were able to reduce the number of unaccompanied children in

custody from over 5000 to now around 500. i understand that cbc and ice recently established a coordination shut -- so to stop the over -- a coordination so to stop the overcrowding of families at facilities. with several creatures -- breaches of government and the private sector over the past several months. the colonial pipeline breach in particular was a wake-up call for many americans about how malicious cyber actors, often backed by foreign states, can disrupt the u.s. for economy -- can disrupt the u.s. economy. i was pleased to hear about the impending directive, but i was surprised to have found out about it given our engagement with tsa on the colonial pipeline issue over the past few

weeks. mr. secretary, since january 2020, that apartment has seen 51 line of duty deaths. on behalf of sub -- of the subcommittee, our most sincere condolences. mr. secretary, the department has a challenging mission that is not always fully appreciated. this subcommittee does appreciate what you do and the men and women who work for you do every day to help keep our nation safe. please convey to the men and women of that apartment that they have our continued support during this very challenging time, that we will continue to do our best to provide the

resources necessary to protect their health and well-being, and that they have already gratitude for their service to our country. i now turn to the distinguished gentleman from tennessee, ranking mentor -- ranking member fleischman for opening remarks. rep. fleischmann: thank you for your presence here today and stepping up to serve in a most difficult and challenging time in our nation boss hit -- our nations history. i welcome you to the subcommittee and i think you for waking out -- reaching out to me the other week. i look forward to meeting with you in person as soon as possible. i know we are all hoping that we would have had a chance to talk about the fiscal year 2022 budget for the department of wellness security, but timing is not on our side. i am sure your people have a few up and down on all the facts and figures.

so, please feel free to share any budget information with us today that you can that you would deem helpful. with that some very positive oversight readiness hearings with the components of this department. coast guard, secret service, tsa, cisa, fema, cpb, and ice. it is good to know that you have very capable leaders and people in the components working to keep our country safe. i wish we could have discussed the budget proposal, but we covered a lot of ground in our earlier hearings. mr. secretary, though, there are difficult issues that this administration needs to address. about the security at our borders and our infrastructure and how our laws are upheld. as the secretary, we are looking to you to provide answers. i fear we are at a crisis point.

border apprehensions are at an all-time high. budd, eyes apprehensions are at an all-time low. -- but, eyes apprehensions are at an all-time low. i have been to the southwest border this year, as well as in the past, to speak with agents and officers on the front lines. we have hundreds of youth coming through an airport in chattanooga on their way to facilities across the region. what we are seeing today is not sustainable. i'm not seeing any actions from the administration that progress is being made to address these problems. instead, we are just seeing more problems. i told mr. johnson with ice when he was with us about two weeks ago, that ice is a crucial component in our ability to enforce immigration, customs, and trade laws in this country. but wash -- the washington post

last night published an article about how ice is basically doing nothing, because they have been basically told not to do their jobs. this was a washington post article. i worry that without operational law enforcement, we will lose the battle against bad actors coming in to our country unvented -- unvented -- unvett ed, cartels, smugglers, and traffickers. if the administration continues to send the signal that people who enter the country illegally face no consequences, the cartels are in voided -- and bolded by exploiting a lax system. i look forward to your testimony and everyone's questions. as appropriators, we must come to an agreement for the annual spending bill. i am sure we are all up to the task. i am optimistic we can return some balance to the system.

thank you, mr. secretary. madam chair, i yield back the remainder of my time. >> mr. secretary, we will submit the full text of your here -- your statement for the hearing record. please begin your oral summary for five minutes. >> thank you very much distinguished members of the subcommittee. good morning. i appreciate the opportunity to be with you today. the department of homeland security is confronting serious, conflicts -- complex, and dynamic threats on a daily basis. under the biden harris administration, we are aggressively pursuing efforts to address our most pressing concerns from cybersecurity to domestic violence extremism, to the covid-19 pandemic and more. this is hard work. but, that is what 240,000 colleagues in the department of

homeland security do every day. they are dedicated -- their dedicated efforts to keep our communities safe and secure. the resources afforded by congress help ensure we can effectively meet our mission and recruit andrew -- and retain our nation's most talented professionals. the president's proposed budget will invest in a broad mission set, including preventing terrorism, securing and managing our borders, repairing the broken immigration system, safeguarding cyber and critical infrastructure, and strengthening national preparedness and resilience. it will provide dhs with the resources we need to keep our country safe, strong, and prosperous. while i am unable to address specific details of the president's budget, until it is officially released later this week, i welcome this opportunity

to discuss several key agency priorities for fiscal year 2022. this request includes approximately 1.2 billion dollars for border infrastructure improvements, to fund modernization of our ports of entry and border security technology. and, to ensure the safe and humane treatment of migrants in custody. it would also support our enhanced efforts to combat these smuggling and trafficking of people, illicit drugs, and weapons, while providing for more efficient travel, trade, and commerce. we are working tirelessly to rebuild our immigration system into one that upholds our nations laws and is fair, equitable, and reflects our values. to achieve this, the fiscal year

2022 request includes 340 $5 million to u.s. citizenship and immigration services to address naturalization, asylum, and other program backlogs. the budget request also supports up to 125,000 refugee admissions for fiscal year 2022. to meet the president's bold vision for combating climate change, the discretionary request includes an additional investment of $540 million above the enacted level to increase resilience efforts and enhance predisaster planning. it will support resiliency in infrastructure am a particularly for vulnerable and historically underserved communities. and it would resource the federal emergency management agency with the ability to hire additional staff to prepare our neighbors -- and response to the

increasing number of emergencies and disasters our nation has experienced. in recent months, dhs has made it a top priority to address domestic violence extremism, which i believe to be the most lethal and persistent terrorism related threat to the united states to date. -- today. the fiscal year 2020 two requests includes $131 million to support innovative methods to prevent domestic violence extremism while reflecting and accepting -- privacy, civil rights, and civil liberty. it also supports resources into the causes of radicalization, enhance community outreach, and funding for locally driven efforts. finally, in the face of increasing cyber threats, it is critical that we promote resilience not only within the federal government, but across the public and private sectors

in our critical infrastructure system. the recent ransomware attack on the colonial pipeline serves as a stark example of this present threat. our discretionary request includes $2.1 billion for our cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency. which leaves dhs and interagency efforts to defend against today's threats and build a more secure and resilient future. we will also further strengthen the cyber capabilities of the transportation security administration, the u.s. secret service, homeland security investigations, and the u.s. coast guard. the budget also proposes $618 million for needed investments in research and develop it. the innovation across dhs lays out a strong foundation to not just respond to the threats of today, but to prepare for and

defend against these threats of tomorrow. thank you to be -- for the opportunity to be here today. i'm grateful to your continued support. i look forward to discussing the president's proposed fiscal year 2022 budget in greater detail when it is officially released. i welcome your questions today. thank you. >> thank you mr. secretary. i want to commend you and the personnel working hard over the last few months to manage an incredibly difficult situation on our southern border. significant challenges remain, of course, but you and your team have been able to impose order on what otherwise could have spiraled into an unmanageable situation. can you update us on the current status of the border and what

trends you are seeing and how they may be different from what we saw during the last major influx of migrants in 2019? >> thank you madame chairwoman. i must echo your commendation of our frontline personnel. the united states border patrol, also the men and women of fema and u.s. immigration services whom we have deployed to address the influx of unaccompanied children at our border. you correctly noted that we have reduced the number of unaccompanied children in border patrol custody from almost 5000 30 days ago to less than 600 today. we continue to see the migration, the irregular migration of unaccompanied children, but we continue in our success of managing that flow. moving those children more

rapidly to hhs shelters that are properly equipped to address the needs of unaccompanied children. we are reengineering the process to move children from border patrol facilities to health and human service facilities and to more expeditiously move children from the hhs facilities to the parents and legal guardians who are responsible for their care here in the united states. so, we continue with our success . the challenge is not behind us. but, neither is the progress in reengineering to better improve the system. so, i appreciate that opportunity. >> dhs continues to use the title 42 authority granted by

cdc in march 2022 rapidly expel most migrants. when you see the -- when you think the authority will be lifted? are there specific metrics that cdc will use to this decision? >> the title 42 authority we employed to expel individuals and family members at the border is the authority of cdc. it is based upon a public health imperative. it is based upon the ccs vestment -- assessment of public health.

daily basis serve as a predicate for our use of that authority. >> once it doesn't go away, the cdc will begin giving margaret's the due process by law, such as the right to claim asylum. how are you preparing for that change? >> we in the department of homeland security, our personnel have dealt with surges many times before. these surges occur periodically.

more specifically, seasonally. we are not only looking at the tools we have historically used under our different authorities, under title eight of the united states code. but, once again, we are looking at processes we have and how we can build upon them and improve them. so, we are looking at, for example, the asylum system and is iteration, the links of time it takes to achieve a final adjudication and how we can use our regulatory authorities to bring forward greater efficiency to that system. so, we are looking not only at the tools we historically have had, but also, how we can improve the processes that have existed. we did our sincere hope and our urge that congress passed --

congress passed legislation to reform a system we all understand to be fundamentally broken. >> mr. fleischman. >> thank you madame chair. mr. secretary, thank you for being with us today. as you know, sir, i want to thank you again. my colleagues know that when i deal with administration officials in any administration, such as yourself, i want to deal with you with the utmost respect . but, today, sir, i have to have pointed questions. i do that with the utmost respect towards you in your office. i am deeply troubled, sir. in my opening statement, i mentioned a recent article from the washington post about your shut down of the -- the near

shut down of the agency charts enforcing immigration laws. the agency's 6000 officers currently average one arrest every two months. is that an accurate statistic? is that the intended outcome of the various orders and directives, a near stop of all immigration violation arrests? >> mr. braking member i have a few things to say, if i may. -- mr. ranking member, i have a few things to say, if i may. that is a data point with which i am completely unfamiliar. i do not believe it is accurate. we will provide your office with accurate data. i think there are a few important things to say in addition to that. number one, i very much

appreciated our conversation a few weeks ago. i appreciated the respect you have for this office and for our department and the support that you provide to the men and women of our department. i welcome the pointed questions. i well understand that it is our shared responsibility to both ask pointed questions and to deliver answers for them. law enforcement effectiveness is not a quantitative issue. it is a qualitative one. the question is, whom are we dedicating our resources? what will deliver the greatest public safety results for the american public? that is what i am focused on. i have a tremendous amount of experience in this realm. not only because of my service,

but my 12 years of service in the united states department of justice as a federal prosecutor investigating and prosecuting criminals for nine years on the front lines in the trenches in the federal courtrooms, as well as serving as the united states attorney for three years. so i am very well aware of what is needed to deliver for the american public at the public safety that we all deserve and to which we aspire. >> i do acknowledge and honor your experience, sir. another quote from this article. one of the priority groups, recent border crossers, are effectively no longer subject to arrest once they reach the u.s. interior. i have two questions. is this true?

has president biden already abandoned the directive that recent border crossers would be held to basic immigration laws? are there no consequences for illegally concert -- crossing the border at this point? friendly, sir, it appears that president biden's message is that the u.s. has no limits to whom can come, because the administration will not enforce any laws. is that message this country will not enforce its immigration laws? i will let you respond, sir. >> know it is not. -- no it is not. the president could not have been clearer in his articulation of this administration's mission. nor could i have been clearer. the border is closed. this administration, its ministers and enforcers -- this administration enforces the laws of the united states of america. that is not only the laws of accountability, but also the

humanitarian laws that congress passed many years ago. there are three priority areas specifically and explicitly articulated in both the january 20 memorandum of then acting secretary and the february 8 guidance of acting ice director kate johnson. those three areas are national security, public safety, and border security. border security is specifically defined as recent border crossers. i think those documents and our actions speak powerfully to the fact that the border is closed and we enforce the laws congress has passed. but, we will do so effectively to ensure the greatest impact and outcome for the resources we have. >> mr. secretary my time has expired. i thank you for your responses.

i yield back. >> thank you. thank you for what you do. some of us have dealt with madam secretary since the bush administration. everybody comes in with their own thoughts and philosophies. no matter what you do, some people will think you're doing too little or too much. i know you have a very calm potato job. we want to be as supportive as we can to help you succeed. my question is, i need for you to help me give a message to my border communities. what would you tell by border communities when we talk about reopening the southwest border to non-essential travel? in laredo, for example? -- in laredo, for example, there

have been about 150 businesses that have closed. people lost their businesses. they lost their savings. because one, you have the covid-19 situation. on top of that, some of those businesses depend on 30%, 50% on mexican shoppers. some of them are asking me, why is it that mexicans can fly in or undocumented people can, in through either a bridge in laredo through the metering system or at the bus stations are the airports in laredo. i say -- sees them every time i fly to d.c.. families going into the interior. so, we have done everything. i have talked to mexicans. i talked to your health advisor, gary. after out to the cdc. this friday i have a call with dhs, cdc, and ihs on voter openings.

every -- on border openings. everybody says we are ready to open up this month. i am hoping we can get some good news, mr. secretary, because when we said it was temporary restrictions, you know, it has been over a year, and the word temporary, to me, i notice health driven, but what message you give us of some hope to border communities from laredo down to the valley and up and down the border from california, new mexico, arizona. give us some news that hopefully this month will be the last time. at least we can open up in some way. i understand it is health driven. i understand. i just want to be very helpful to you to help you open it border. -- open up the border. >> thank you, congressman. i had the privilege of visiting the border with you when i

served as deputy secretary. i know how much of a champion you are for those border communities. thank you also for mentioning gary. gary is a fantastic public servant. i will take the luxury of 30 seconds, since we did give a shout out. i must give a shout out to to the budget team of the u.s. department of homeland security. it is just as good as it gets. i must say. congressman, we are watching not only the public health situation, on a daily basis, but also, the economic situation, on a daily basis. we very well understand the economic consequences of our use of title 42 on the one hand and,

more important, -- more portly, the public health situation it reflects on the impact -- and the impact on border communities and how much the flow of people and goods, it criticality to the prosperity of those border communities. we confer every single day on that. the assurance that i can give to people whom you represent and throughout the border communities on our southern border and on the northern border is that we will not restrict travel one day more than the public health imperative requires. that is the assurance i can give you. >> thank you. i have about 20 seconds left. so, we are going to have compensation. hopefully, you allow your undersecretary, gary, to join us so we can talk to the cdc.

last time i talked to the cdc, they said it was homeland specific area you are telling me that the cdc. hopefully, you allow me to be part of this conversation friday morning. but, thank you for your service. i have some other questions, but i will save them for the second round. thank you. >> thank you congressman. let me be clear. i apologize if i was not. this is an all of government effort. we are working across the federal government enterprise to make these decisions. >> mr. plaza. -- mr. palazzo. mr. palazzo? i will then go to mr.

rutherford. >> thank you madam chair. thank you ranking member. mr. secretary, it is great to be with you. i first want to ask you a question about, i know, i read with great delight the support from your administration of the -- and the president concerning the jones act. i think that is critical to our national security, that we have a strong maritime organization in this country. i think the jones act helps in that regard. but i do have a few questions. i see when the colonial pipeline shut down, there were two jones

act waiver is granted. we see them being granted during hurricanes, often times. but, it is my understanding that during these two requests for waivers, one vessel never arrived until the weekend when things were actually back up and running. and the second waiver might never be used. so, my question is, mr. secretary, are we getting to a point where these jones act waivers almost become, you know, a box that is checked? when we have any kind of national disaster? because, i do not know that that is helpful for our maritime industries. >> congressman, thank. the jones act is a very important statutory framework to

protect american vessels. the colonial pipeline cyberattack that emanated from a very pernicious use of ransomware with which we are all too familiar posed a very significant threat to the flow of materials that are much-needed in a particular region of the united states. and, we by no means addressed the waiver requests and checked the boxes. far from that. we -- we by no means addressed the waiver requests with the check the boxes approach. we worked round the lock assessing the statutory requirements and addressing the question whether or not american flagged vessels were sufficient to deliver product on an

emergency basis. we made the decision that in fact they were not. if, in fact, the region needed a supplemental supply because colonial pipeline could not come through in time, and bring the system back up, we would permit foreign flagged vessels to bring in much-needed supply to the american people. whether or not those waiver requests were used speak of colonial pipeline's ability to bring systems back up and deliver in a timely fashion. but, we felt, as a matter of law, and as a matter of the market, the assessment was that we needed to have that facility available should, in fact, colonial pipeline not be able to come through. that was a very measured, scientific, and legal analysis, under the law. >> thank you very much for that.

the administration is facing several crises at one time here. we have an economic crisis with the inflation that is creeping in. the energy crisis. i want to talk a minute about the national secured crisis. looking at domestic violence intervention, -- i am sorry, domestic violence extremists. i noticed your priority area, one of them was, for -- and as a former police officer i appreciate that focus. can you talk a little bit about the $20 million you just directed towards targeting violence prevention in -- and

terrorist prevention? which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] thank -- >> thank you very much congressman. thank you very much for your prior service as a police officer. i had the privilege of bringing police officer work to bear in a federal courtroom and vindicate the tremendous work that law enforcement performs. the $20 million grant program is to equip communities, our state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, to develop innovative programs to address the rise of domestic violent extremism in this -- and the serious threat to process that it poses. the program is designed to equip local communities, because, as you well know, it is about the local communities, the

neighborhoods, the people, the families, loved ones, friends, who can identify individuals who are beginning to exhibit traits of concern and intervene so that we can prevent the further development of violent tendencies born of hateful ideologies and extreme ideologies. it is the front lines. they are our best defense to preventing this type of violence. the grant program is designed to resource and equip our local authorities and our nongovernmental institutions in that fight. >> i will have a follow-up in the second round on that. madam chair, i think my time has expired and i yelled back. -- i yield back.

>> this is underwood -- rep. underwood. >> the charwoman and i are both concerned about shortcomings in the way medical services are managed across the department. mr. secretary, i understand you and the chairwoman are concerned as well. the department chief medical office is currently isolated, confusingly, within the weapons -- within the countering weapons of mass destruction office. at the same time, each component has its own medical officer overseeing its own medical contract, leading to disparate guidelines and little to do -- little to no meaningful

coordination across the office. >> congresswoman, thank you very much for your question. this is an issue that indeed i did discuss with the chairwoman and an issue that i am studying very closely with our team here in the department of homeland security. we have an a store and a chief medical officer. i ami am concerned our organizan is fractured in this area, both in respect to ensuring the health and safety of our personnel, but also in addressing medical issues that arise in the course of our day-to-day work across the department of homeland security enterprise. i am studying this based on materials i have been provided. i've been speaking with a number of people. my intention, so that i can assure you this is receiving the utmost focus, is to actually

speak with people across the department. i owe it to the experts that work in this area on a day-to-day basis, to speak with them, to receive their assessments, to understand the arguments for and against the current structure, and to reform it -- reform in a currently -- reform it accordingly, which i intend to do. >> you have already begun to give information in your conversations. with those organizational changes, could you use your existing authorities or would it require congressional action? >> it is my understanding congressional action will be required because the placement of the chief medical officer in the office cwmd was in fact a legislative change.

the separation of the chief medical officer and the office that now resides in our management directorate. that is not to say reforms could not be implemented outside of the legislative construct. but it is something i am looking at very carefully. >> okay. when can you provide us with a path forward -- provide us a path forward? >> i would expect to be able to do so in just several weeks. >> oh, thank you. i look forward to working with you and my colleagues to strengthen the coordination and ensure your entire workforce as well as everybody at dhs custody has consistent access to high-quality care. mr. secretary, we all know vaccination remains a critical part of ending the cova 19 pandemic and saving lives. vaccinating both the workforce and detainees is essential both for their well-being and the

health and safety of communities across the country. i want to start by talking about your workforce. i know you have worked hard to stand up operations and vaccinate the workforce, to rapidly increase access to vaccines. can you clarify what percentage of the entire dhs workforce is fully vaccinated? >> congresswoman, two things, number one, by my response to your earlier question, i will have an assessment to you within the next few weeks. i imposed upon myself to aggressive a timeline. -- too aggressive a timeline. we have focused so intensely on operations to vaccinate our workforce for the well-being of our frontline personnel. i don't have an answer to your specific question.

i will get that information to you as soon as i can. >> x aleppo would with that, i yield back. -- thank you. with that, i yield back. >> madam chair, thank you. ranking member, thank you. mr. secretary, thank you for being here today. i just got back from the border late last night. i was down there with 12 of my colleagues. what we are seeing and hearing on the border, what we are hearing from the administration, the mainstream media, there is absolutely an invasion taking place in our southern border. single adult men by the hundreds every night trying to break into our border. unaccompanied children, family units are just walking up and turning themselves in. there's one winner in all this.

right now it's a cartel. -- the cartel. -- the number one loser is the american people. my understanding is families will pay thousands of dollars to have one person smuggled into america. smuggled across the northern triangle, through mexico, sometimes it cost several thousand dollars for them to pass. the cartels bring them in, and just as we have seen a couple of weeks ago, they will dump children, even over the border fence. if it wasn't for our brave and committed cbp officers, children's lives could have been in danger. but it's not just children. on my flight back last night, there was a lady who also paid smugglers to get into our country. she had a full body cast on. they pushed her over the fence and she broke her back.

where then the american people took care of her and provided for her medical services. now she is off to whoever knows where, to her sponsors. but she was alone on that flight. there were several illegal people who came in our country, minors flying all across the u.s.. so effectively, he is not the only person -- because we are turning all of our states into border states with our policies. what is the administration doing to stop this? because it does not look like what they are doing is working. he rolled out a big welcome mat and say send us your kids. and that is incredible, as long as they know they can get to our border, we are going to take them and turn them into american citizens, and let them, you know, run free around the country, these people, desperate in these countries, are going to

continue to take that risk, an unnecessary risk, i might add. tell me what this administration is doing. >> congressman, a few things. first of all, i appreciate your recognition of the bravery of the men and women of the united states border patrol. secondly, i appreciate your articulation of the cruelty of the human smuggling networks and the cartels. that is precisely why we have enhanced our efforts to tackle the activities of the smugglers, the traffickers, the cartels. we have operated, for example, we have launched operation sentinel over the last few weeks to build on the work that preceded this administration. your characterization however,

with respect to how we are addressing individuals apprehended at the board, i must respectfully disagree with from beginning to end. individuals are expelled under title 42 of the u.s. code. those who are not expelled are placed into immigration proceedings, where they are able to make claims for relief under the laws that congress passed. and if their claims for relief do not prevail, then they are removed from the united states. and so we continue to enforce the immigration laws. and i should say, we are improving the administrative processes in a way that has not been done before, not by the prior administration nor administrations before then. most notably, i should

comment the asylum system, making sure that it follows to process -- due process requirements is more expeditious and delivers justice with greater speed for the american public and for the migrants claiming hereditary and relief -- claiming humanitarian relief. people are not coming in without regular order. they are being placed in immigration proceedings. they have the ability to make claims, as the law provides, to an asylum officer, to an immigration judge, and the courts of the u.s. >> i look forward to our second round of questioning. i yield back. >> thank you, madam chairman. thank you for being here.

you touched on the grants. for those watching, those are urban area security initiative grants that assist high threat, high density urban areas like chicago, to help us build and sustain the capabilities necessary to prevent/protect against/respond to/and recover from active terrorism, all threats foreign and domestic. let me ask broadly, what is your vision? i should thank you as well, i was pleased to hear dhs under your leadership prevented some of the quick changes to the formula that was proposed previously. i appreciate that. as we go forward, as we see evolving threats, what is your vision for this? can you talk about some of the challenges the program currently faces? >> thank you very much, congressman. i did indeed put a halt to

changes in the grant formula that would've redirected urban area security initiative grants in a way that in my view and in the view of fellow experts would not have delivered security in the most effective way to the urban areas across the united states. those grants, we have calibrated to address the most urgent priorities affecting our home in -- our homeland. twin born changes i made was to require a certain percentage of the grant funds. 7.5% dedicated to combating the mystic violent extremism. that equates to $77 million. in addition, again, to address the most urgent th i increased the minimum amount that must be dedicated for

cybersecurity from 5% to 7.5%. one of the things that i am looking at very closely, congressman, in partnership with the law enforcement community and the emergency and first responder community at large is whether the formulas need to be redesignedla to better deliver r the urban areas that the grant program is designed to serve. and so, we are going to be engaging with stakeholders across the country to better understand their concerns with the existing formula and see what changes, if any, are suitable to meet more effectively the moment. >> and you would come back to us before implementing those, i would assume, at least for some thoughts and consultation.. >> most certainly, congress men.

>> you know, part of this is -- as the threats grow and obviously we have seen from what you've had to address with cyber and you are talking about increasing that and others asking for this, which in the formula changes would have diluted the effort, right?? is there a need, not just to reassess who needs what, but just how much we need and perhaps an overall increase given the enhanced threats again, not just foreign as we were focused on the clearly domestic now? >> i would welcome that conversation, congressman. i think it's a very, very important one to have. >> finally, any new tools that you are talking about with state and local leaders? the example i hear about is updating, integrated information, sharing networks to improve analyzing and disseminating info and to prevent such attacksks.

>> thank you so much, kurtzman. indeed we are engaged in discussions with our state and local, tribal and territorial partners. one of the things which you mentioned is the provision of information to them, not only in real-time but to make sure that the information we provide is actionable for them. one of the things that we discussedof or i discussed with our office of an intelligent and analysis is whether that office, ina, everything seems to be known by an acronym in the ffederal enterprise in the offie of intelligence and analysis has the infrastructure to deliver real-time actionable information on both, secure environment and unclassified environment, and we, with the support of this subcommittee and congress, our building a better infrastructure for that.

>> we appreciate that. my time is up but i look forward to those communications and pain with you and giving you the resources you need. thanks again for your help and h yield back. >> ms. hansen. >> thank you madame chairwoman and thank you mr. secretary for joining us today. i appreciate this hearing and i do wish to echo some concerns that i know several members have talked about and that we have been given our goodly different information on subject plans so if we can look at those details more closely. ... on an experience we have right here in the district. in august of 2020, a derecho storm descended on eastern iowa. week one, like outs. people didn't have internet or power for over a month. damage to our communities will take literally years to recover from. according to noaa,

according to noaa august duration is considered one of the top ten most expensive disasters in the past five years at a price tag of the $11 billion. one of the primary concerns i have my constituents is about their interaction with fema homeland program with seeking federal disaster assistance. i'm grateful for all the work fema has done for iowans. several disasters including more than $11 million in individual assistance grants in response. however, i believe there are significant room for improvement. ihp particularly when it comes to clarity and transparency with the average american is going through this process, so i recently wrote a letter to the administrator requesting data on the ihp program, acceptance rates, the appeals process to fema ruling denying assistance. and in september the gao issued a report on the effectiveness of

ihp citing that of the 4.4 million people who applied for that assistance, only 2 million were found eligible aid.eceived that specifically gao found fema needs to increase clarity in the application process for those who need to supply more information in their application. we saw that happen with our constituents. in this report gao recommended 14 action directly to fema on how to improve this program. so mr. secretary, my question to you today is can you provide a status update on the department work to publication dash to -- t those recognition of jailed? >> thank you very much. i'm familiar with the program. familiar with the gao report and i will circle back with your office to provide you with the status of our actions in response to the 14 recommendations. i know one of the primary reasons why the assistance rate

is what it is is because one of the thresholds that must be met is the inadequacy or the lack of insurance coverage. and, in fact, people who do have insurance and to recovers insurance proceeds in response to disaster may not be eligible for thehe individual assistance under the fema grant program. i'm also very well aware of the concerns with respect to clarity and transparency in terms of the eligibility criteria and making sure the publicki understands wt the assistance program is for and when its resources can be triggered. it's something we are very focused upon because this impacts real people in real ways. i would welcome the opportunity to circle back with you personally and, of course, with our respective teams so i can deliver the specificity in response to your question that you desert.

>> i appreciate that, mr. secretary, because it is one thing we have heard is theirs some challenges going to this g process, and which think that constituents during the greatest time of need it when they don't have a roof over the head or they don't have that power. we need to find a meaningful path forward here so we can best serve the people who are going through thisth process. a lack of clarity in the application process obviously is contributing to lower acceptance rates. do you think if that's the case the agency should be working to prevent it? >> we have an obligation to be clear and transparent and to communicate things appropriately to the american people, so we're taking a veryis serious look at this and, of course, we have an obligation to remedy any infirmities. i do want to say though, i must champion the men and women of

the federal emergency management agency. they are just extraordinary what they do. we all have room for improvement and that does not diminish their excellence. but room for improvement. we will use this as an opportunity to be better, rest assured. >> i appreciate that, mr. secretary, and ireth will resere follow-up questions around two but we appreciate fema's work. they help us to major flooding 2008 and obviously the derecho in august. try to i yield back. >> i understand the chairwoman of the full appropriations committee is with its and so i will now yield to her. >> thank you so much, and i apologize to you and to the secretary mayorkas. i am chairing and nothing but i did want to the opportunity to really to greet the secretary, thank you for his great work and his years of great work in public service. if i can't i just want to get

the question asked here. mr. secretary, as chair of the labor, health and human services appropriations committee, and we fed conversations before, i spent a significant amount of time on the unaccompanied minor program and a new of the department of health and human services been in contact with you and advocates as to how we could potentially divert childrenen from entering the unaccompanied children program. in particular, discharging children for the non-parental relatives they enter the united states with. eifert from advocates that the number of children in the use program who came with a nonparental relative could number in the thousands. so look, i would also note i am not advocating for family detention but i am looking at how we are able to discharge a grandmother and a granddaughter together as quickly as possible. so with that can you tightenca

what the status is of these conversations with hhs, and other barriers on your end to delay the removal of these relatives so they can serve as sponsors while the children go through their immigration court proceedings? >> madam chairwoman, thank you so much for this important question. i know we discussed this previously a number of weeks ago. one of the things that we are very, very focused on is expediting, moving more efficiently in the union of the unaccompanied child with a legal guardian or qualified sponsor here in the united states. we are reengineeringre that process. whenoc a child arrives in the custody of relative who is not a parent or legal guardian, then

that child is, in fact, defined as an unaccompanied child. and to change that it would require legislative action ivy league to change the terms of the trafficking victims act. but we're looking at processes in the meantime with respect to how we can more effectively unite and unaccompanied child with a qualified sponsor here in the u.s. that is where our current focus is. i will look into it, along wh my colleagues and the chair of the homeland subcommittee. we are particularly interested in these areas. to look at what may be required in terms of legislative language. your goal as well as our goal is

to see that the children, when they are in our custody, are there for the lowest length of time in custody. and that they can move to be discharged as quickly as possible. we want to look for the ways in which keeping the child safe and in good hands, be able to expedite this process. we are also very much aware that we've had to cut back on the license shelters that children are in because of covid. we will revisit that to see some of the new guidance and the science behind that guidance, to see whether or not those, at least some of those licensed beds can be used. but the issue is, i appreciate

what you said about reimagining, i think that is the right word here, what we can do to expedite this charge. we know, you know that the longer these children are held in an emergency and take shelter, -- intake shelter, it is so disruptive of their lives. it has physical repercussions. it has very serious mental and traumatic repercussions. i know what you want to do and what we want to do is to try to work with you to see if we can reimagine with you ways in which we move to discharge as quickly as possible and at the same time protect the child and continue to try to protect that child

with the services that he or she may need while they are in the custody of the united states, which is what we are charged with by law. i thank you for your work, and i thank you for understanding this issue, and the compassion and the professionalism that you bring to this issue. thank you very much. >> thank you, madam chairwoman. mr. price >> -- >> mr. price. >> thank you, madame chair. thank you, mr. secretary. congratulations are still in order for your early appointment and confirmation. happy to work with you. i'm going to pursue a line of questioning with the ice administrator having to do with the department's philosophy,

their approach with respect to enforcement actions, targeting those actions, and the exercise of discretion. probably aware that -- you are probably aware that this has been a difficult issue over many administrations. with this subcommittee, there was a particular effort 14 years ago to push for more precise and more targeted enforcement to focus on dangerous individuals. we directed funding back then with the assumption most deportations would link up with the penal system. as people emerged from the system. it does raise the question of the direction of local law enforcement, which i will get to later or maybe in the next time.

the result was eventually the secure committees program in the bush administration, as you know, that program turned out to be controversial, pretty difficult. namely because it was much less targeted, much less discriminating. during the obama administration, there was discussion about the blanket policy and the establishment of the priority enforcement program during the obama administration. that program came away achieving greater targeting, greater prioritization of individuals. unfortunately, the secure

committees program was brought back with a vengeance by the trump administration. bringing back a much more capricious targeting strategy. the number of individuals who had serious criminal records declined. the percentage of those detained with no criminal record at all rose to six to 4% -- to 64%. in other words, highest rates became more frequent and less discriminating. i saw this in my district the impact of more rates and more random quality to those rates and a lot of anxiety and fear in

the community as a result. ministration -- with the submitted -- what this administration intends to do? >> when i was a federal prosecutor in the united states attorney's office, we had 186, approximately 186 united states attorneys who enforced federal criminal law. and we dealt with drug trafficking, business crimes, public corruption, foreign corrupt practices, cybercrims. -- cybercrimes. 186 prosecutors could not address every single federal crime that occurred in a jurisdiction that was populated by 18 million people.

and therefore, we set forth guidelines that guided our use of resources to bring to bear the greatest impact for the safety of the people in the central district of california. that approach is near cross prosecution offices from coast to coast and border to border. that is no different than what we are endeavoring to do here in the u.s. to part and of homeland security. how can our resources be dedicated in the enforcement of federal immigration law to deliver in the enforcement arena the greatest public safety impact? so we are not pursuing cases indiscriminately. we are not pursuing them devoid of factors that educate and inform the admonition of coming on justice or civil immigration

justice. we are doing so by looking at what poses the greatest threat, what resources do we have, and what delivers the best outcome for the american people, and that is what we are doing. >> thank you, sir. thank you, madam chair. >> mr. agee la -- mr. aguilar. >> thank you, madam chair and mr. secretary for being here. i wanted to follow up briefly on the line of questioning that my colleague miss underwood talked about, given the byzantine nature of the dhs medical officer's perspective, i wanted to ask what role that individual dhs' chief medical officer will clay in establishing guidelines to process individuals at the southern border, as we look

toward a post title 42 world? >> the chief medical officer and one of his colleagues and their team have done extraordinary work, not only on the board, but quite frankly with -- the border, but quite frankly with the workforce in tandem with other colleagues delivering operation vow, that was referenced earlier, vaccinate our workforce. they have designed and built an architecture across the southern border to ensure and partnership -- in partnership with state and local authorities, community-based organizations, with the mexican government, that testing, isolation, and quarantine, as needed, of

individuals who are up her hand and placed in immigration proceedings. they have done and extra ordinary job. i would be privileged provide the details to you and your team. >> sure, but i guess the question is, what role specific to title 42 will they continue to -- will you continue to follow their guidance and follow their lead when it comes to the conditions and the processing of individuals in a post title 42 world, and establishing those guidelines to process individuals who present themselves for lawful asylum? >> we are -- our chief medical officer and others are connected with the cdc. we communicate with respect to the data, the science, what the

public health imperative requires, both with respect to the situation now in a title 42 environment, as well as planning for what will occur when the use of title 42 is no longer needed, because the public health imperative no longer requires it. i hope i am answering your question. but they are involved in the planning and execution of those plans to ensure on the one hand, the public health of the american people, and on the other hand, the health of the migrants themselves. >> i appreciate that. i wanted to talk briefly about detention facilities. since i've been in congress, i've heard from immigrants, individuals and detention -- in detention, advocates about this treatment in detention centers across the country. i was surprised to see dhs chose

to close the korea immigration detention center. these closures are one step closer to ensuring that we treat individuals in our custody with dignity and respect. is dhs -- as dhs continues a review of the detention facilities across the country, can we expect to see the closure of additional detention facilities, including family detention facilities? >> congressman, we are studying the issue very carefully. my direction could not have been clearer, which is that we will not tolerate the mistreatment of individuals in detention or substandard conditions. and we will take whatever actions are needed 20 sure that that directive is honored across the board -- to ensure that directive is honored across the board. >> head of this week's budget relief, can we expect to see a decrease in immigration to tending trending -- immigration detention funding?

>> congressman, one of the things i had observed is the detention of individuals that do not pose a threat to public safety or do not pose a risk such that we are not confident in their appearance and future immigration proceedings. i am concerned about the overuse of detention. and where alternatives would suffice. ensuring the integrity of the system. we will indeed be looking at that and executing accordingly. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i yield back, madam chair. >> that completes the first round. we will be going into a second round. mr. secretary, before i go on to my questions, i just want to

point out one other thing. with regards to the article that was referenced in the washington post, it also states that ice agents arrested 645 people who matched the administration's new priorities in march. then more than double that number in april to -- the data shows the individuals with the highest level of criminality that are now being targeted. which is really the intent in terms of being sure that the american people are safe, by targeting those with the highest criminal and the most dangerous in our country. i just want to reference that. the other part of the article

talked about who exact was being targeted. to help free up space in overcrowded cbp facilities, i've recently began using two large family detention centers as families enter where they are held for up to 72 hours while being processed. ice has also begun using several hotels as emergency family staging centers, or efc's. how are decisions made on how to release families or to transfer them to ice or efc's for processing? >> if i can make one comment, i appreciate your citation to other data that was captured in the washington post article. the one data that your

colleague, the congressman, cited, the data point that i am unfamiliar with, i will drill down on that. the article mix a very -- makes a very, very important point. that article's foundational point, which is that the resources of immigration and customs enforcement are going to be dedicated to the greatest impact on behalf of the american people. we will not be enforcing law indiscriminately, misusing resources that don't deliver quality for the investment of resources. with respect to the ice facilities, the reason that we are employing those facilities in the way that we are is because of the fact that we are indeed still addressing the

covid-19 pandemic imperative. and we need facilities to test and importantly, isolate and quarantine family unit members, as the science requires. so we have transformed those facilities and we are using the hotels for that purpose. and if and when, for example, a local facility or committee to base organizations that could provide similar services are inadequate. so what we have done is we have built an architecture to ensure the appropriate testing, isolation, and quarantine a family unit members home we are unable to expel under title 42. >> what was the process for rewarding the contract, for

managing the efc's? what are your plans for the contract going forward and more broadly for family detention in the future? >> madam chairwoman, i'm not familiar with the particulars of the contract and how that was arranged. it is not appropriate for me to be involved in the specific advertising and selection of contractors. but i know that has received questions and is the subject of a review by the office of inspector general. >> these facilities have not been used to their full capacity. can you describe what changes will be made as a result of the cbp i scored a nation -- ice

coordination cell that was recently established? >> that coordination cell is but one coordination cell. we also have a transportation coordination cell that speaks to the partnership, not only across of the permit of homeland security enterprise, but across the all government enterprise that is addressing -- all of government enterprise that is addressing the migration of unaccompanied children to our southern border, and both bringing greater efficiency to the processes we currently have as well as reengineering the processes. that coordination's cell of which you speak specifically is designed to take a look at the influx of unaccompanied children. and family members, whom we are unable to expel under title 42 because of limited capacity in mexico to receive them, to understand the

available resources we have here along the border for the testing, isolation, and quarantine as needed of the individuals, and to make sure those resources are being utilized efficiently and effectively, and including most cost-effectively. >> just one quick final question on this. the migrants are being released from either ice or cbp custody pay what are they being enrolled into alternative ice funded case manager services? >> they are. that is our objective, madam chairwoman. they are in immigration proceedings. they receive a notice to appear either at the border or at an ice facility, placed in immigration proceedings, and we are working to build a better infrastructure in partnership with committee base organizations to revive them

with legal process and guidance along the way. it is the data that demonstrates quite powerfully that individuals who are guided in the process, who receive information and access to counsel have a for hire appearance rate in immigration proceedings than those who don't. >> thank you, madam chair. mr. secretary. i appreciate the questions on both sides. let me say this, while i applaud ice for going after dangerous criminals in this country, that are posing threats, the biden administration, and i am adamant about this, is doing nothing to this incentivize -- dis-incentivize a wave of migrants coming in, overwhelming the entire system, including ice.

so you are forced to pick and choose. if we kept the limon immigration -- illegal immigration at a minimum, we would not have the system overrun at all levels. mr. secretary, you were once the head of uscis. you know what is involved in applying for citizenship asylum services. it is a commitment and there is a defined process spelled out in the statute. do you think it is fair that migrants who sees participating in the legal processes related to their immigration status be allowed to remain in this country? i'm talking about people who knowingly failed to show up to their court hearings and are no longer checking in with their localized offices -- local ice offices. if so, why, sir? do you think migrants who have been issued final orders of removal by courts in this nation should be allowed to stay in this country? if so, why, sir?

>> mr. ranking member, let me first express my disagreement with your statement that this administration and this department is doing nothing to dis-incentivize people from regular migration. let me cite two examples, if i may. first, we have engaged in robust commute negation. not only along the migratory path, but in the countries in the northern trying to. -- robust communication. to seek to persuade individuals from taking the perilous journey north. secondly, we are investing in addressing the root causes of migration, so that individuals do not feel compelled to leave their homes out of desperation, combating extraordinary violence

and poverty. and thirdly, we are building legal pathways, so that individuals do not need to take the perilous journey and can, in their countries of origin, avail themselves of refugee processing, and other pathways that apply the laws of the u.s. to their claims of eligible itty, so that they can -- eligibility, so that they can avail themselves in a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system with the intent of congress. we, as i articulated at the very outset of this hearing and throughout the questioning, mr. ranking member, do apply the laws of the united states. we will continue to apply the laws of the united states. and we will do so to maximum effect for the benefit of the american public, as congress

intended. the fact of the matter is that we cannot, with the resources that we have, address the fact that we have over 11 million undocumented individuals in the united states, and we all are in agreement, although there were so much disagreement about immigration policy -- there is so much disagreement about immigration policy, there is unanimity that the system is broken and is in need of reform. and it is my sincere hope, and i am working very hard to achieve legislative immigration reform. that is fundamentally the answer. and until that is achieved, and i hope that is very, very soon, we will enforce the laws to ensure the best outcome and most effective outcome of the american people. >> i thank you for your

articulate and thorough answer to this. obviously, there are some broad areas of disagreements between us on these key issues. but i do agree the system is broken, is overwhelmed, and these issues need to be addressed. and i do commit to work on behalf of my constituents and the american people, as i know you will, to come to some type of a collusion in this regard. thank you for your service, thank you for your testimony today. i yield back, madam chair. >> thank you, madam chair. last time we spoke, mr. secretary, we left at that we were supposed to get together, hopefully sometime we can catch up.

richard champlin told me the city of laredo has been aiding ngos for the last couple months, noticing the volume has now increased from 50 persons a day, now they are getting 250-350 people a day from the valley, or the dell rio area. laredo has two shelters, ngos that have been helping with food and shelter and health assessment. but the directors from laredo are getting concern, because they are saying about 600 out of a hundred people -- six out of 100 people coming in everyday are testing covid-19 positive. that is the migrants or the asylum-seekers. then the other issues, when the shelters are full, because there are only two shelters, border patrol is uploading them

directly at the stations where the airport. every time i fly from laredo to d.c. to do my work, i see folks there. this is not my words, this is the health directors and laredo. they are saying they are worried about u.s. citizens being exposed to infectious disease threats. can keep in mind the frustration that the border -- and keep in mind the frustration that the border is seeing, literally thousands of people being brought into the valley where we are right now. what can you do to help, and what do i tell the city of laredo? the second part has to do with, what do i tell the county sheriff, what do i tell the sheriffs, the laredo police chief, the mcmullen sheriff,

where they are now seeing increases of criminal activity? and this is from the sheriffs, this is not me saying this. they are seen -- they are seeing illegal activity. they are now focusing on this immigration related activity. i know we increased with the money that i fought to increase, it would scale down to south texas, but president trump sent a lot of it to florida. i hope it comes back to the southwest border. i also would like to follow-up with you on the $1.3 billion that was appropriated for the border wall in the laredo sector, which i fought against president trump. and now that that money is there, and we will wait for the budget, now they want to take it out, when there were security requirements in the laredo

sector, now they want to take that money out. now that the wall is not going to be done. my question is, what do i tell the city of laredo, what do i tell the border communities in texas where i am at? what do i tell all the sheriffs about the facts i just mentioned? these are not my words, these are words directly from them. we need your help on this. >> congressman, quite a number of questions, and i have quite a number of answers. perhaps it would be best for me to speak with you directly, so i don't consume the remaining time, but let me just answer six inkling -- as six inkling as i can. -- as succinctly as i can. in 1989, 1990, 1991, three 2001, i left in april of 2001, on the border, there were challenges of

stash houses. so the work on the border, is dynamic. evolving. there are threats of consistency for years and years. i want to make sure the american public understands that the challenges that are noble and grave that law enforcement officers face on the border are by no means new. and the threat of trafficking and the threat the cartels pose and the threat of criminality is nothing new or specific to the border, quite frankly, as we know all too well when we look at the homicide rates across the country. over all too many years. i look forward to engaging with the border sheriffs and

chiefs. have periodic meetings with law enforcement on precisely this issue. i would look forward to hearing from them, addressing their needs and the solutions that we can deliver, operation sentinel is one of them. and enhanced law enforcement any task force model is a stark example. i also would be very pleased to speak with the officials and laredo -- in laredo, because we do have an architecture for the movement of individuals, which also is not specific to this particular time. but it is something we have employed over the many years of addressing irregular migration at our southern border. and to the architecture we have for the testing, isolation, and quarantine of individuals. and so, i would welcome the opportunity to speak directly with the officials whom you reference and of course with you

on a one-on-one -- anyone want to delve into the support and issues. -- in a one-on-one to delve into these important issues. >> listen, you've got a huge job and a huge responsibility. the department of homeland security, you have a huge amount of agencies. to keep america safe. although we may disagree on some adjectives and some language, i do still think we have a -- this is not an invasion, we definitely have a huge crisis on our southern border. just ask the people under your command, i think they would agree with me. we also want to work with you. this committee wants to work for the common good of the american people. we've got to strive towards more bipartisan legislation. and i don't mean just having one democrat sign on, one republican

sign on, but we need to try to get a super majority, because we pass legislation that whether it is immigration reform, which people want to talk about -- but it needs to be bipartisan. it will be good for the majority of americans. you mentioned expelling those who are here illegally. you also said once a pandemic is over, you are going to get rid of title 42. what are you going to use then to expel immigrants that are coming over to america? >> congressman, thank you for your remarks before your question. thank you for the question. title 42 is a public health authority of the cdc. and it requires a public health determination of need. and it is not a tool of

immigration enforcement by law. it is not a tool to monitor or to control people as a matter of immigration policy. it is a public health law. so the data from a public health perspective, the public health data has to support its use. when title 42 is no longer available, we will use immigration law, continue to use immigration law and the other resources that we have available to address irregular migration. >> i do appreciate that. i just know that the border patrol agents, they really want to keep some form of title 42 in place. protection protocols. their fear is they are going to become overwhelmed once again.

also, we are fair people. we believe there are several things, we have been to the border, you know, you need more resources on the board, right -- on the border, right? you need more boots, because they are stretched to the max. you need technology. technology works. we need the best technology ever. but we also need barriers. barriers work. you cannot deny barriers don't work. we rub ourselves -- we wrap ourselves in the capital with two barriers. is there any intention on finishing the fence? a stent was already destroyed that was meant to be replaced. can we get -- we at least not replace the fence that was torn down?

sec. mayorkas: we are studying issues of parts of the wall that have been there for years that is no longer sustainable and whether that can be, should be rebuilt. we are looking at some of the issues you identified and i look forward to circling back with you to discuss our assessments. >> using the immigration laws you just mentioned and once title 42 goes away, wouldn't it be better if we can adjudicate these claims on our border faster instead of releasing them into our interior if they don't have a credible asylum claim, they will disappear after that undocumented number?

we need judges and other resources. can you tell us what we need to do your job? sec. mayorkas: thank you so much. thihs is -- this is an area where i too will circle back with you. we are taking a look at the fact that it is multiple years between the time of apprehension and final adjudication of an asylum claim. that is too long a period of time. what can we do to deliver the process to deliver an outcome more rapidly, which speaks to the efficiency -- this is something that has not been tackled in the past and now it is something we are looking at both with respect to the administration of the asylum

laws, who can make determinations, how quickly can we reach a final adjudication and what are the needs of the immigration court system? we are taking a close look at that in partnership with the department of justice. >> thank you, madam chair. mr. secretary, when you share the percentage of your workforce that has been vaccinated, can you break that down by component? sec. mayorkas: i would be happy to provide that data to you. i don't have it at my thinker tips. -- my fingertips. >> we have to focus on vaccinating every front-line worker, combating disinformation. how has vaccine hesitancy impacted your efforts to vaccinate dhs personnel? what proactive steps are you taking to increase vaccine

confidence and ensure your employees have accurate information about not only the safety and efficacy of the covid vaccine, but the critical importance of vaccination to america's national security? sec. mayorkas: we invested so mightily, not just resources, but individual energy to vaccinate our workforce, not only to ensure those willing to be vaccinated have the vaccine available and accessible. indeed, the number of personnel has increased dramatically, but to inform and educate and persuade those personnel who can receive the vaccine to in fact be vaccinated. it is an ongoing effort of education, information, persuasion, and accommodation. >> thanks.

turning to detainees. i understand dhs is reevaluating its vaccination strategy for migrants in custody. how soon do you expect to be able to offer the covid-19 vaccine for every individual in your custody? sec. mayorkas: that is something we are looking at carefully. i spoke with our chief medical officer earlier this week about this very subject. that is under review and i will provide your office with a timetable. >> >> and do you believe better coordination of medical care across the department will facilitate further improvement in this kindve of vaccination effort and medical operations in general? >> congresswoman, i've not found ordination of resources in our department to be an obstacle with respect to this particular issue. >> thank you. vaccinations for both dhs staff

and detainees is essential not only for the health of both groups but for preventing humanity spread and protecting all americans. please give our office update on your efforts to accelerate this process. i want to switch gears and talk about a major threat to hhomeland, domestic terrorism d domestic violent extremism. i would like to read part of message i received from a mother in my district, quote there is a malicious cell that is becoming more and more emboldened to take the law into their own hands. i am becoming fearful to send my children to the same schools as white supremacist militia members, end quote.. the federal agencies whose job it is to track and respond to threats of violent extremism were caught flat-footed when a white supremacist and other domestic extremist invaded the capital. abc news reported in the months leading up to the january 6 insurrection, the dhs office of intelligence and analysis had

been practically dismantled after it was revealed under the trump administration it had inappropriately targeted journalists reporting on excessive use of force by federal agents in oregon. mr. secretary, i know you were not in charge during these events but since been confirmed, what steps have you taken and what future plans do you have to repair the department's operations operation so we can provide essential intelligence on real threats like the capital insurrection? >> i am, congresswoman, very proud of the men and women of the office of intelligence and analysis. we have prioritized the dissemination of real-time actionable information to our state, local, tribal territorial partners here we are committed to doing so in an apolitical way, guided only by the homeland security imperative.

and, in fact, i penned earlier this week a message to the men and women of the office of intelligence and analysis, underscoring the apolitical nature of our work and expressing my gratitude for their commitment, to our values and principles as well as our underlying mission. >> mr. secretary, that's a policy change that appreciate butue my question was about operational changes. candy detail in operational changes over at intelligence and analysis? >> we are looking if -- i'm sorry if i i didn't answer yor question folsom lake at first. we are looking at the different products we can disseminate to our partners in the community. we issued a national terrorism advisory system bulletin in january. we renewed it but within the

past two weeks we have issued information bulletins. we may well issue additional information bulletins based on the threat landscape today. we are invested in the infrastructure to more effectively disseminate information to our local communities to deliver the technological changes needed to more effectively accomplishing that. we also have renamed an office, the center for prevention programs and partnerships, two more ably equip local communities to more effectively work in partnership with them to address the threat of domestic terrorism and we're looking at our grant programs and how we can both strengthen them and develop innovative communication tools to inform the american public on how to detect the

evolving threat, how to report concerns, and how to prevent, respond, and be resilient to them. >> thank you. madam chair, i yield back. >> ms. hinson. >> thank you, madam chair, and thank you again, mr. secretary, for sticking around for round two back questions. i wanted to call your attention to another communication issue within your department and hope we can work together to resolve this specifically. this subcommittee has already heard from i.c.e. and customs and border patrol this year and there was a common thread that stuck out in those conversations that the agencies didn't seem to be effectively communicating on immigration issues. while they share the common goal of keeping america safe from protecting our border, they don't seem to be sharing information and it's vitally important when you are trying to manage this crisis to arrest and

deport those who have chosen not to follow our laws or pose a risk to public safety as your discussing earlier. do you agree, mr. secretary, that i sent cbp should be sharing that data and information specifically what comes to tracking illegal immigrants? >> absolutely. i speak regularly together with troy miller customs andnd border protection, dave johnson speeded we leave this here. you can watch all of our programs on linux c-span.org. live now to the white house for today's briefing with press secretary jen psaki. live coverage on c-span2. >> encourage report initial claim for unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level and below 400,000 for the first time since a friend in the kit. this is the latest evidence president biden's economic strategy and vaccination plans w