The committee’s chairman, Andrew Garbarino, gaveled in the hearing shortly after 10 a.m., reminding members and the public about proper decorum as the testimony gets underway.
“Today’s hearing provides the American people the ability to hear directly from the leaders that enforce our nation’s immigration laws,” Garbarino said. “Informing Congress and the public is not casting accusations, nor is it a punishment. Congress has a duty to hear directly from the executive branch, a duty I take seriously.”
Garbarino said “while this hearing was long planned, we sit here today at an inflection point — an opportunity to assess and reinforce the integrity of immigration enforcement and to strengthen public trust.”
“An opportunity to emphasize and underscore the Department of Homeland Security’s no-fail mission as a whole,” he added.
The New York Republican cited the DHS funding fight, stressing that “shutting down DHS makes America less safe.”
“The Department of Homeland Security is the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agency. It is this committee’s duty, regardless of administration, to conduct oversight,” he said. “We need to examine how DHS components are enforcing the law and ensure they have the resources in place to do work safely, effectively and properly.”
Garbarino praised the Trump administration’s efforts to combat illegal immigration, but he said “the credibility of these successes is on the line.”
“We must take the temperature down and look at the record of enforcement actions through rational eyes,” he said.
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