Price Statement on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 2015 Budget Request

Good morning gentlemen.  We appreciate your appearing before the subcommittee, and we appreciate your service to the country, particularly during this time of transition for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  I am hopeful that an individual will soon be nominated to be the Director of ICE; that is all the more important in light of the national debate we continue to have about reforming the immigration system.  But for this morning, I am happy to have the benefit of your expertise and experience.

Much of the discussion this morning will likely focus on ICE’s role in detaining and removing aliens from the country, but I hope we can also pay attention to the other important ICE activities, many of which are as critical to homeland security as civil immigration enforcement and should be resourced accordingly.  These activities include investigations to combat illegal cross-border trafficking in weapons, illicit drugs, and other contraband; money laundering and other financial crimes; fraudulent trade practices; identity and benefit fraud; and human trafficking and child exploitation.

ICE’s efforts in these areas are not controversial in the way that immigration enforcement has become, but they are extremely important. Too few people understand this aspect of ICE’s mission or give ICE enough credit for the good work it is doing.

The debate surrounding immigration enforcement is important, however, and I will have several questions in that area as well.  As I said at the Secretary’s hearing on Tuesday afternoon, this is not only because of the fact that our immigration system is fundamentally flawed, but also because the politics surrounding it are so contentious – plagued, I am afraid, by exaggerations of both facts and rhetoric as well as legitimate policy differences. The politics of this issue have been on full display this week on the House floor as well, as the Republican majority has the House considering two bills as deeply misguided as they are unprecedented. Heaven forbid the House consider unemployment insurance or raising the minimum wage instead.

My experience on this subcommittee ever since its creation has convinced me of the futility of approaching immigration as simply an enforcement issue or simply throwing money at the border or any other aspect of the problem. We must have comprehensive reform.

One of things that the subcommittee would greatly benefit from – and that would help clear the air around the overall immigration debate – would be more comprehensive and timely data about how the Department is managing its border and immigration enforcement responsibilities. 

We hear lots of disturbing stories about families being broken up when ICE deports a family member who, as far we know, is not a criminal and poses no threat to the community. These are families in many cases who have been in the country for decades, working, paying taxes, attending church, and contributing to their communities.  So we need more information about who you are apprehending; detaining, and removing, and how they fit into your enforcement priorities.

We need to have more confidence that our detention resources are used for those who are threats to the community or are serious flight risks, and that ATD programs, which are much less expensive, are fully utilized as a detention alternative.    Better information may not be the way to reach consensus on questions of border and immigration enforcement policy, but it would help elevate the discussion to one based more on empirical evidence.

The agency’s budget request is for $5.36 billion, a reduction of $255.3 million, or 4.8 percent, below the current year.  We will want to hear from you regarding the rationale behind all of the agency’s funding proposals and how they fit into the your overall strategy for prioritizing activities.

I know some of my colleagues will be quick to attack the proposed reductions in ICE’s overall budget, and particularly the proposed reduction in the detention bed requirement and elimination of the detention bed mandate.  ICE’s budget request must be considered in the proper budget context, however. In this era of limited resources, we simply can’t do it all.  If we want to fix holes we identify in the President’s budget, we’re going to have to find savings elsewhere in the bill, which we will be hard-pressed to do.   Of course, many of the other appropriations subcommittees have even bigger challenges than we do under this constrained budget. 

Let me be clear: it is a good thing to have an agreed-upon top-line funding level for the coming fiscal year, which should help us get our work done.  But there are consequences to arbitrarily limiting investments in important priorities, and we are experiencing those consequences right now. 

Before I end, I want to reiterate what I and many others have said for years now:  we are setting the Department, and ourselves, up for failure by not enacting legislation to reform and rationalize our immigration system.  According to a variety of recent polls, a clear majority of Americans want Congress to enact immigration reform and support a pathway to legal status, and eventual citizenship, for most unauthorized immigrants.

Gentlemen, thank you again for joining us this morning.  I look forward to our discussion.