[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


   BIDEN AND MAYORKAS' OPEN BORDER: ADVANCING CARTEL CRIME IN AMERICA

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION
                               __________

                             JULY 19, 2023
                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-25
                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
                                     

                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                                     
        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
54-482 PDF                WASHINGTON : 2024 


                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

                 Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas             Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, 
Clay Higgins, Louisiana                  Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi           Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Dan Bishop, North Carolina           Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida           Eric Swalwell, California
August Pfluger, Texas                J. Luis Correa, California
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York        Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia      Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Tony Gonzales, Texas                 Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Nick LaLota, New York                Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Mike Ezell, Mississippi              Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Anthony D'Esposito, New York         Robert Garcia, California
Laurel M. Lee, Florida               Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Morgan Luttrell, Texas               Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Dale W. Strong, Alabama              Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma              Dina Titus, Nevada
Elijah Crane, Arizona
                      Stephen Siao, Staff Director
                  Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
                       Natalie Nixon, Chief Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               Statements

The Honorable Mark E. Green, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Tennessee, and Chairman, Committee of Homeland 
  Security.......................................................     1
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress 
  From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on 
  Homeland Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     4
  Prepared Statement.............................................     6

                               Witnesses

Mr. Jaeson Jones, Private Citizen, Former Captain of Intelligence 
  and Counter-Terrorism, Texas Department of Public Safety:
  Oral Statement.................................................     8
  Prepared Statement.............................................    10
Ms. Jessica M. Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies, Center for 
  Immigration Studies:
  Oral Statement.................................................    12
  Prepared Statement.............................................    13
Mr. Derek S. Maltz, Private Citizen, Former Special Agent In 
  Charge, Special Operations Division, Drug Enforcement 
  Administration:
  Oral Statement.................................................    22
  Prepared Statement.............................................    24
Ms. Vanda Felbab-Brown, PhD, Director, Initiative on Non-State 
  Armed Actors, The Brookings Institution:
  Oral Statement.................................................    37
  Prepared Statement.............................................    38

                             For the Record

The Honorable J. Luis Correa, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of California:
  Press Release..................................................    58
The Honorable Glenn Ivey, a Representative in Congress From the 
  State of Maryland:
  Article, The Washington Post, July 14, 2023....................    75
  Article, July 12, 2023.........................................    76
The Honorable Elijah Crane, a Representative in Congress From the 
  State of Arizona:
  The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States 
    Taxpayers--2023 Cost Study...................................    95

 
   BIDEN AND MAYORKAS' OPEN BORDER: ADVANCING CARTEL CRIME IN AMERICA

                              ----------                              


                        Wednesday, July 19, 2023

             U.S. House of Representatives,
                    Committee on Homeland Security,
                                            Washington, DC.
    The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:06 p.m., in 
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Mark Green 
[Chairman of the committee] presiding.
    Present: Representatives Green, McCaul, Higgins, Bishop, 
Gimenez, Garbarino, Greene, Gonzales, LaLota, Ezell, 
D'Esposito, Lee, Strong, Brecheen, Crane, Thompson, Jackson 
Lee, Correa, Carter, Thanedar, Magaziner, Ivey, Goldman, 
Garcia, Ramirez, Menendez, and Titus.
    Chairman Green. The Committee on Homeland Security will 
come to order.
    Without objection, the Chair may declare the committee in 
recess at any point.
    The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on 
President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas' open border policies 
and how they have advanced cartel crime in America.
    I now recognize myself for an opening statement.
    The Southwest Border is wide open and the evidence is 
clear. More than 5.5 million encounters, more than 1.5 million 
known gotaways since fiscal year 2021. Nearly 380,000 
encounters of unaccompanied minors, a record number of fentanyl 
poisonings in the United States, largely driven by drugs 
flooding across our Southwest Border. The crisis is a direct 
result of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' dereliction of 
duty. This committee's interim Phase One report is being 
published later today and makes all of this clear. Today's 
hearing and subsequent hearings will examine the costs and the 
consequences of these policies.
    Now, before I get to the subject of today's hearing, I want 
to briefly talk about some of those numbers, because I am sure 
we are in for a few days of some unjustified celebration about 
what they mean. Keep a few things in mind. Every number that 
you hear the other side of the aisle talking about is still a 
number far above crisis levels. Even by the measure of 
President Obama's former DHS Secretary. We are still averaging 
more than 3,000 Border Patrol apprehensions a day. Jeh Johnson 
once said that 1,000 overwhelms the system and is a crisis. We 
are also seeing the number of inadmissible aliens arriving at 
the ports of entry continuing to skyrocket, jumping to more 
than 45,000 in June. Encounters at the ports this fiscal year 
already exceed last year's by more than 100,000. Last June, 
they were around 15,000 and 10,000 the year before that. Why 
the change? Well, because tens of thousands of inadmissible 
aliens are taking advantage of Mayorkas' new parole programs 
and his illegitimate CBP One policy, accepting his offer of no-
questions-asked release into the United States. More than 
170,000 people have used the CBP One app to schedule an 
appointment since January alone--170,000. The OFO numbers 
aren't even being released by the administration. Everyone in 
this room knows these individuals have no lawful basis to enter 
the country. Everyone also knows that Mayorkas is playing a 
massive shell game by shifting encounters between the ports of 
entry to the ports of entry, again, not disclosing the OFO 
numbers. The outcome, tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens 
entering Customs and Border Patrol and being released into the 
country. It is the same. Let's just be honest about that simple 
fact.
    Further, Secretary Mayorkas' insistence that this is legal 
is a lie. Mass parole is against the laws passed by previous 
Congresses. As we are going to talk about today, the 
humanitarian costs of the Secretary's policies are still 
horrific. The people flooding to our border, whether between 
the ports or at them, are still having to put themselves in the 
hands of cartels, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to 
get to the border, no matter where they cross. The cartels are 
still raking in the profits and migrants are still being 
smuggled, trafficked, and abused.
    Our focus today is on the Mexican drug cartels and how they 
are running wild under Secretary Mayorkas' policies. One thing 
is clear, the cartels have seized control of our border. These 
organizations are the most vicious, evil organizations in the 
Western Hemisphere. What you will hear today from our witnesses 
will lay that out in eye-opening detail. As you listen, these 
groups are whom Mayorkas has turned our border over to.
    What is unprecedented is the level of control these evil 
organizations now exert at both our Southwest Border and in the 
interior of our country. The boldness with which they operate 
in open defiance of law enforcement and the profits they are 
raking in, both Americans as well as migrants are suffering 
from their wrath. It is virtually impossible to cross the 
Southwest Border without first paying the cartels. People are 
killed simply for trying to do so.
    While Secretary Mayorkas' policies have pulled thousands of 
Border Patrol agents off the line to process and release these 
aliens into the interior as quickly as possible, this is not 
the work they signed up to do. The former chief of the Border 
Patrol recently told us has made many agents feel like 
smugglers themselves. Their words, not ours. Cartels purposely 
overwhelm Border Patrol agents with illegal crossers in one 
area as a distraction so they can smuggle other aliens or drugs 
across in the areas just vacated by those agents. Amazingly, 
Secretary Mayorkas admitted to the Senate under oath in March 
that he was not aware of this strategy. Meanwhile, his attorney 
general did know the tactic used by the cartels. Unbelievable. 
Business is so good that the cartels have devised a complex 
system for the massive number of people trying to illegally 
cross the Southwest Border. For instance, cartels use colored 
wristbands, as I am showing here, to inventory those who are 
attempting to cross. Secretary Mayorkas told the Senate in the 
same hearing he was unfamiliar with these wristbands too.
    The violence and atrocities are not just being felt along 
the border. Our American communities throughout the country are 
suffering as well. A lot of the violence can often be traced 
back to the cartels because they often subcontract their mayhem 
to gangs that effectively function as the cartels national 
distribution network. Per a recent New York Post headline, 
``Honduran Migrants Working For the Mexican Cartels brazenly 
took over San Francisco's drug market thanks to lax policies.'' 
Another outlet reported in February that the cartels have 
started operating, ``on a very large scale'' in Montana, 
hundreds of miles from the border. Drugs and the violence 
associated with them are engulfing communities across our 
country, and it can all be tracked back to the cartels.
    The tidal wave of human smuggling and trafficking has led 
to an increased number of car crashes on our streets, putting 
law enforcement, innocent Americans, and the migrants 
themselves at risk. One sheriff told of us his department 
arrested 169 human smugglers in 2021 and is on pace to arrest 
more than 900 this year. Another sheriff said his county deals 
with 3 to 4 chases per day involving groups of 20 people or 
more. The cartels are recruiting American teenagers to drive 
for them, implicating our youth in these horrendous crimes. 
Meanwhile, innocent Americans, like Maria and Emilia Tambunga, 
have been killed in crashes by those smuggling illegal aliens 
on our streets and highways. Transnational gangs like MS-13, 
whose motto is kill, rape, control, are also taking advantage. 
A senior Border Patrol agent has said that gang members attempt 
to evade arrest by exploiting the influx of migrants attempting 
to enter our country. These gangs work closely with the cartels 
to support operations on both sides of the border. According to 
ICE, 40 percent of MS-13 members they arrest arrived in the 
United States as unaccompanied alien children. MS-13 also 
forces women and girls into sex trafficking to make money for 
the gang.
    Cartels have made a record amount of money over the last 2 
years. In 2021 alone, the cartels made an estimated $13 billion 
just from human trafficking and smuggling. Then there is the 
fentanyl. It costs as little as $.10 to produce a fake 
prescription pill laced with fentanyl, which can be sold for 
$10 to $30. Ten kilos of fentanyl is worth about $20 million, 
but only costs about $50,000 to produce. Every dollar the 
cartels rake in comes at the cost of an American life or 
livelihood. There were more than 109,000 drug deaths in 2022, 
107,000 in 2021 alone, many of them from fentanyl. The cartels 
are continuing to push fentanyl into our country in record 
amounts, destroying our communities one family at a time.
    I am sure we will hear today the same tired talking points 
that ``Most fentanyl is seized at our ports of entry''. But a 
couple of things are worth noting. The majority of fentanyl 
that is seized has come through the ports of entry, but by 
definition, that is what is apprehended. Cartels know there is 
a higher risk of getting caught at the ports of entry because 
our border isn't secure. We don't know how much cartels are 
using unguarded entry points to smuggle drugs. My friends on 
the other side of the aisle won't tell you that while CBP 
reports the majority of drugs like fentanyl are seized at the 
ports, they have also said they believe they only catch 5 to 10 
percent of what is coming through either at or between the 
ports. So that puts it into perspective. Finally, the amount of 
fentanyl being seized between the ports is increasing. In 
March, seizures were up 100 percent from the previous year, 
according to former Chief Raul Ortiz. That is just what is 
being caught.
    As I said earlier, migrants are also victims of cartel 
atrocities. Once individuals are smuggled into the United 
States, the cartels often continue to extort and use them. 
According to Mayorkas' own department, there has been an 
increase in ``alternative forms of payment in exchange for 
passage, including migrants being required to participate in 
smuggling controlled substances or other illicit items across 
the border or to work off those debts through criminal activity 
after they arrive in the United States.'' As many as 60 percent 
of unaccompanied minors are kidnapped and exploited by the 
cartels. Other migrants are sexually abused and assaulted. One 
victim told the New York Times, ``you have to pay with your 
body.'' Some are even forced to allow their children to be 
abused. I can't imagine anything worse.
    Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden's policies have 
encouraged record numbers of people to make the journey to the 
Southwest Border. This has represented a historic business 
opportunity for the cartels, who make thousands of dollars on 
every person they smuggle into our country. Their business 
model continues to work because instead of enforcing the laws 
written by this body or removing or detaining those who have no 
valid claim to enter, Mayorkas' DHS is flashing the neon sign 
open by releasing millions of inadmissible aliens into the 
United States. Millions of people are willing to bet they will 
win the lottery if they make it to the border under this 
administration's policies and it is a winning bet. The cartels 
are more than happy to insist. It is no wonder that a majority 
of Americans think the cartels now have more control of our 
border than the Biden administration--61 percent of America, 
according to a poll last fall. With Border Patrol agents so 
overwhelmed by the historic flow of illegal immigration on 
Mayorkas' watch, the cartels have filled the vacuum.
    While Mayorkas has implemented his open borders agenda, his 
boss in the White House has utterly failed to put meaningful 
pressure on the Mexican government to fight back against the 
cartels and deal with the violence and corruption impacting not 
just Mexico, but our country as well. The United States is the 
most powerful Nation in the world, and yet we do not control 
our own sovereign Southwest Border, according to Chief Ortiz. 
If that is not evidence of Mayorkas' failures, I don't know 
what is.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member, the gentleman from 
Mississippi, Mr. Thompson, for his opening statement.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Chairman, in nearly 2 decades that I have served on 
this panel, a panel created in the wake of September 11, 2001 
terrorist attack, I have seen this committee come together to 
address some of the most important Homeland Security issues 
facing our Nation. From supporting the establishment of the 
Department of Homeland Security in its early days to 
implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and 
more recently, enacting significant cybersecurity legislation, 
this panel has built a record of bipartisanship in service to 
homeland security. But over the past 7 months, the character of 
the Homeland Security Committee has fundamentally changed from 
a bipartisan solutions-focused committee to a platform for the 
most extreme MAGA schemes. To be honest, I am embarrassed for 
the Republican Majority wasting the committee's time on so-
called investigations. This entire endeavor is nothing more 
than a political stunt hatched in back rooms so extreme MAGA 
Republicans can exert power over the Speaker.
    Today's hearing is yet another stunt to appease that crowd 
who are demanding the impeachment of someone, anyone at all. 
That same goes for the sham, ``report'' we are hearing from the 
press that Republicans plan to release today. We have been 
given no time to review this document, much less offer any 
input, but if it is anything like the report Republicans 
released immediately before their last hearing, this one will 
be rife with errors and full of extreme MAGA rhetoric 
masquerading as fact.
    Meanwhile, the Republican Majority is squandering the 
Homeland Security Committee's time and opportunity to deal with 
real work of our committee. In the 7 months since we took our 
oath from the 118th Congress, the Republican Majority has 
proven itself to be uninterested in legislating and incapable 
of serious oversight. Instead of holding oversight hearings 
that would strengthen our Nation's security and improve our 
Department of Homeland Security authorities to carry out its 
complex mission, the Majority is stuck in a Southwest Border 
Groundhog Day. The Majority has held a variation of this 
hearing 9 times.
    But repeating the same hearing over and over again until 
extreme MAGA Members get their way is not oversight. Dragging 
Border Patrol chiefs away from their job for politicizing 
interviews is not oversight. Don't get me wrong, addressing 
problems at America's border is a serious task. But oversight 
is about following the facts, not going on a fishing expedition 
when the facts don't fit an extreme MAGA narrative. The fact is 
that the administration plans to address the challenges at our 
Southwest Border and are working under Secretary Mayorkas' 
leadership.
    Unlawful entries between ports of entry along the Southwest 
Border have plummeted since Title 42 was terminated on May 11. 
The number of border encounters overall has plunged in that 
time, and between May 12 and June 2, DHS repatriated more than 
38,400 non-citizens to more than 80 countries. The Biden 
administration has also taken unprecedented steps to combat the 
fentanyl crisis through a whole-of-Government strategy focusing 
on disrupting the illicit fentanyl trade and traffickers' 
financial activities and addressing substance use here at home. 
Operational Sentinel, which Secretary Mayorkas stood up in 
April, has disrupted criminal networks and TCO's financial 
assets. Operation Blue Lotus, established at ICE in June, has 
surged resources to ports of entry and interior facilities to 
combat fentanyl smuggling and break the fentanyl supply chain. 
Operation Artemis is leveraging intelligence to target 
precursor chemicals, peel presses, and the movement of illicit 
fentanyl. Operation Rolling Wave has surged inbound inspections 
at the Southwest Border, covering every sector.
    As recently-named Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said in a 
transcribed interview on May 5, we have a very robust, targeted 
enforcement effort where we work hand-in-hand with our 
investigative partners to actively disrupt, degrade, and 
dismantle those networks and those pipelines that are the 
smugglers. He went on to say because we have got more detection 
capability, because we have more on the way, we have got the 
additional processing coordinators, we are in a better 
situation than we were in years past.
    President Biden's and Secretary Mayorkas' leadership and 
hard work has paid off. Our borders are not open and those 
arriving outside lawful pathways are being sent home. The facts 
do not support the Republicans' case. You don't impeach the 
President or a Cabinet Secretary because you do not like their 
policies. You surely do not impeach any officer of the United 
States just to placate the most extreme wing of a political 
party. It is time to move from this sham impeachment effort and 
do your duty as overseers and legislators.
    President Biden is fulfilling his duties, Secretary 
Mayorkas is doing his job. If the Republican Majority doesn't 
like what they are doing or how they are doing it, they should 
get off their soapbox and work with Democrats to pass 
bipartisan border security and immigration legislation.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Thompson follows:]
             Statement of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson
                             July 19, 2023
    In the nearly two decades I have served on this panel--a panel 
created in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks--I 
have seen this committee come together to address some of the most 
important homeland security issues facing our Nation. From supporting 
the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in its early 
days, to implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and 
more recently enacting significant cybersecurity legislation, this 
panel has built a record of bipartisanship in service to homeland 
security.
    But over the past 7 months, the character of the Homeland Security 
Committee has fundamentally changed from a bipartisan, solutions-
focused committee to a platform for the most extreme MAGA schemes. To 
be honest, I am embarrassed for the Republican Majority--wasting the 
committee's time on this so-called ``investigation.'' This entire 
endeavor is nothing more than a political stunt--hatched in back 
rooms--so extreme MAGA Republicans can exert power over their speaker.
    Today's hearing is yet another stunt to appease that crowd, who are 
demanding the impeachment of someone--anyone at all. The same goes for 
the sham ``report'' we're hearing from the press that Republicans plan 
to release today. We have been given no time to review this document, 
much less offer any input. But if it's anything like the ``report'' 
Republicans released immediately before their last hearing, this one 
will be rife with errors and full of extreme MAGA rhetoric masquerading 
as fact.
    Meanwhile, the Republican Majority is squandering the Homeland 
Security Committee's time and opportunity to do the real work of our 
committee. In the 7 months since we took our oaths for the 118th 
Congress, the Republican Majority has proven itself to be uninterested 
in legislating and incapable of serious oversight. Instead of holding 
oversight hearings that would strengthen our Nation's security and 
improve the Department of Homeland Security's authorities to carry out 
its complex mission, the Majority is stuck in a Southwest-Border 
Groundhog Day.
    The Majority has held a variation on this hearing 9 times. But 
repeating the same hearing over and over again until extreme MAGA 
Members get their way is not oversight. Dragging Border Patrol Chiefs 
away from their jobs for politicized interviews is not oversight. Don't 
get me wrong--addressing problems at America's borders is a serious 
task, but oversight is about following the facts, not going on a 
fishing expedition when the facts don't fit an extreme MAGA narrative.
    The fact is that the administration's plans to address the 
challenges at our Southwest Border are working. Under Secretary 
Mayorkas' leadership, unlawful entries between ports of entry along the 
Southwest Border have plummeted since Title 42 was terminated on May 
11. The number of border encounters overall has also plunged in that 
time. Between May 12 and June 2, DHS repatriated more than 38,400 
noncitizens to more than 80 countries.
    The Biden administration has also taken unprecedented steps to 
combat the fentanyl crisis through a whole-of-Government strategy 
focusing on disrupting the illicit fentanyl trade and traffickers' 
financial activities and addressing substance use here at home.
    Operation Sentinel, which Secretary Mayorkas stood up in April, has 
disrupted criminal networks and frozen TCOs' financial assets.
    Operation Blue Lotus, established at ICE in June, has surged 
resources to ports of entry and interior facilities to combat fentanyl 
smuggling and break the fentanyl supply chain.
    Operation Artemis is leveraging intelligence to target precursor 
chemicals, pill presses, and the movement of illicit fentanyl.
    And Operation Rolling Wave has surged inbound inspections at the 
Southwest Border, covering every sector.
    As recently named Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said in a 
transcribed interview on May 5, `` . . . we have a very robust targeted 
enforcement effort where we work hand-in-hand with our investigative 
partners to actually disrupt, degrade, and dismantle those networks and 
those pipelines that are the smugglers.''
    He went on to say, ``Because we have gotten more detection 
capability, because we have . . . more on the way, we've got the 
additional processing coordinators, we are in a better situation than 
we were in years past.''
    President Biden's and Secretary Mayorkas's leadership and hard work 
has paid off. Our borders are not open, and those arriving outside 
lawful pathways are being sent home.
    The facts do not support the Republicans' case.
    You don't impeach the President or a Cabinet Secretary because you 
do not like their policies. And you surely do not impeach any officer 
of the United States just to placate the most extreme wing of a 
political party. It is time to move on from this sham impeachment 
effort and do your duty as overseers and legislators. President Biden 
is fulfilling his duties. Secretary Mayorkas is doing his job.
    If the Republican Majority doesn't like what they are doing or how 
they are doing it, they should get off their soapboxes and work with 
Democrats to pass bipartisan border security and immigration 
legislation.

    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    Other Members of the committee are reminded that opening 
statements may be submitted for the record.
    I am pleased to have a distinguished panel of witnesses 
before us today.
    [Witnesses sworn.]
    Chairman Green.Let the record reflect--please have a seat--
let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in the 
affirmative. Thank you.
    Now, to formally introduce our witnesses.
    Mr. Jones is an internationally-respected border 
intelligence expert with decades of experience on the Southwest 
Border. He is a retired captain for the Texas Department of 
Public Safety's Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division, and 
has supervised human intelligence operations in multiple 
nations, including leading the longest 24/7 border operation in 
Texas history, Operation Secure Texas. He was responsible for 
leading multiple investigations targeting Mexican cartel 
leadership, and collaborating closely with the U.S. 
intelligence community to save numerous lives in both Mexico 
and the United States.
    Ms. Vaughan is director of policy studies for the Center 
for Immigration Studies, a D.C.-based research institute that 
examines the impact of immigration on American society and 
educates policy makers and opinion leaders on immigration 
issues. She has been with the Center since 1992 and her area of 
expertise is immigration policy and operations covering topics 
such as visa programs, immigration benefits, and immigration 
enforcement. Ms. Vaughan is an expert on immigration 
enforcement and public safety, having directed a Department of 
Justice-funded project on the use of immigration law 
enforcement and transnational gang suppression. Prior to 
joining the Center, Ms. Vaughan was a foreign service officer 
with the State Department, where she served in Belgium, 
Trinidad, and Tobago.
    Mr. Maltz is a retired special agent for the Drug 
Enforcement Administration who dedicated 28 years of his life 
to service. He is currently working as a national security and 
public safety executive who appears on national news networks 
as a subject-matter expert. Mr. Maltz was the special agent in 
charge of the United States Department of Justice Special 
Operations Division for almost 10 years before he left the 
Federal Government. Mr. Maltz also previously held the position 
as the chief of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, which 
is the oldest and largest drug task force.
    Ms. Felbab-Brown--did I pronounce that correctly--is a 
senior fellow in the Strobe Talbot Center for Security Strategy 
and Technology in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings. She 
is the director of the Initiative on Non-State Armed Actors. 
She is also the co-director of the Africa Security Initiative 
and the Brookings series on opioids, the Opioid Crisis in 
America: Domestic and International Dimensions. Previously, she 
was the co-director of the Brookings Project Improved Global 
Drug Policy: Comparative Perspectives Beyond UNGASS 2016, as 
well as another Brookings Project Reconstituting Local Orders. 
She is an expert on international and internal conflicts and 
nontraditional security threats, including insurgency, 
organized crime, urban violence, and illicit economies.
    I thank the witnesses for being here.
    I now recognize Mr. Jones for 5 minutes for an opening 
statement.

 STATEMENT OF JAESON JONES, PRIVATE CITIZEN, FORMER CAPTAIN OF 
INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTER-TERRORISM, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC 
                             SAFETY

    Mr. Jones. Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and 
distinguished Members of the committee, I am truly honored to 
be here in our Nation's Capitol to talk to all of you today 
about without question what is the most significant national 
security threat and public safety threat to the American people 
in this country. That is our common enemy, the Mexican cartels.
    After retiring from the Texas Department of Public Safety, 
I was so frustrated that what was not getting out about their 
evolution I decided to do it publicly myself. So today I am on 
your border every other week riding with law enforcement, 
trying to illuminate their activities and the impacts to the 
American people. What you have not been told is that these are 
no longer drug cartels. They have evolved from organized crime 
in 2006 into an insurgency in Mexico. I was there on the ground 
with people and we were stunned at what we were seeing, 6- to 
10-hour gun battles with 50 caliber belt-fed machine guns, 40 
millimeter grenade launchers, RPGs and LAWS rockets as they 
truly were fighting back against the most elite special forces 
in the Mexican government. This was the insurgency.
    What brought that about were the Los Zetas. They brought 
two forms of discipline. The Los Zetas were former Gafe Special 
Forces who came to work for Cartel del Golfo. What they brought 
was discipline and tradecraft. From that every other cartel was 
then forced to create an enforcement wing and rise to the 
occasion or fall. That is why you see such wide variety of 
violence, hyper-violence across Mexico today.
    In 2010, another major tripwire, and that is when the Zetas 
began executing mass migrants and Mexican citizens. You may 
remember the 72 migrants killed in San Fernando. I worked that. 
The 300 men, women, and children they chopped into pieces, and 
then ``Guisoed'', because the Zetas had a saying that you can't 
count a body that doesn't exist.
    Then the final evolution as we see them today, into a true 
parallel government in Mexico. What was the indicator when that 
happened? Two thousand fifteen, Operation Jalisco, when their 
most elite soldiers went in to get El Mencho, the head of Carta 
Jalisco New Generation, and they were shot down. When we went 
after Ovidio Guzman in 2019 and the Mexican president of the 
country was forced to release him. What you weren't told is 
because the Sinaloa cartel, Ivan, the head of the Chapitos, had 
so many people's heads at knifepoint, ready to cut them off if 
the president did not release him.
    This is where Mexico is. So how does that impact you here? 
How does it impact Americans today? I am telling you with 
everything I am, if we do not designate these cartels as 
foreign terrorist organizations or at least get the tools of 
national power, the hundred thousand Americans that we are 
losing year after year to date is just the beginning. The 
cartels will not stop because they can't stop. This is what you 
are not told. The U.S. Intelligence Agency should be briefing 
you. They do not fear you. They fear their rivals. The reason 
they continue to escalate in hyper-violence and in capability 
is because if they don't, then their rivals could completely 
take them over.
    Today, they have evolved again. In February 2021, I broke 
this story. This is the adjustment, ladies and gentlemen, from 
the smuggling of people by Cartel del Golfo into the 
trafficking of men, women, and children. These are wristbands, 
the Cartel del Golfo, and each one represents a different alien 
smuggling organization who began moving them into country under 
debt bondage. We have never seen this before. What I am holding 
in my hand before you today, I want to be very clear. This is 
America's new slave trade. Now we have moved these people 
throughout the country for the best means, but we have sent a 
virus of debt bondage across the Nation. I am happy to talk to 
you about that as I broke that story in February 2021.
    Finally, I want to say to you this, is they will continue 
to increase because they have to. Validation to all of you. 
Look at fentanyl as a great example. The fentanyl that we're 
seizing mostly in the streets now is not regular fentanyl. 
They've gone from regular fentanyl to para-fentanyl to cera-
fentanyl, and now introduction of xylazines. You've got four 
more xylazines coming on board. Get ready. China, they've 
already evolved around them.
    The last part of this, I'll say, because I know I'm running 
out of time, is that you have to take aggressive action. Texas 
has spent $9 billion to fight the cartels, and it's still not 
enough. What we need are authorities beyond the law enforcement 
capability and the mothers and fathers across this Nation. The 
indicator to you that this Government is on the right track to 
end this problem in this country is when we designate these 
cartels, or at least get the tools of national power and go 
after them.
    Thank you all for having me today.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Jones follows:]
                   Prepared Statement of Jaeson Jones
                             July 19, 2023
                              introduction
    Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and distinguished Members 
of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to speak today about a 
common enemy we all face and must unite against. This threat represents 
the most significant national security and public safety threat to the 
American people. It is the threat we face from the Mexican cartels and 
Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs).
    I am grateful for the opportunity today to share my experience as 
someone who had a long and rewarding 24-year career in Texas law 
enforcement, retiring as a captain with the Texas Department of Public 
Safety's Intelligence & Counter-Terrorism division, commanding the 
Texas Rangers Border Security Operation Center (BSOC), which operates 
as a cross-border operations center, working closely with U.S. 
intelligence agencies, Federal, State, and local law enforcement along 
the border region.
    During my career, I was assigned to 9 different duty stations 
across Texas and on the U.S.-Mexico border in multiple cities, 
including El Paso, Brownsville, and Laredo, Texas. I have worked and 
led some of the most complex investigations and intelligence collection 
against several cartels, including the most hyper-violent at the time, 
the Los Zetas. It would be their tradecraft and discipline brought into 
the narco-underworld that would cause the rise of the Mexican cartel 
evolution from organized crime, into an insurgency, to terrorism, and 
ultimately into a parallel government as we see them today.
    While today's focus is on the impact of Transnational Criminal 
Organizations (TCOs), it is crucial to address the distinction that 
exists between TCOs and the Mexican cartels. By comprehending this 
distinction, elected leaders can better develop comprehensive 
strategies to combat the Mexican cartels and set priorities that will 
leverage new authorities for the Homeland Security Enterprise's (HSE) 
success to defeat these dark networks.
    It is imperative to understand the vast disparity between TCOs and 
the Mexican cartels. In South Texas, for example, it is common for law 
enforcement to apprehend juveniles almost daily who smuggle people, 
drugs, and act as lookouts or halcones (falcons), as they are also 
known across the Southwest Border. I have personally witnessed young 
juveniles as young as 12 years of age smuggling hundreds of pounds of 
narcotics in a stolen vehicle; ultimately, crashing into a residence 
after fleeing from law enforcement. There are many instances of 
juveniles crossing into the United States overseeing stash houses who 
direct the care, custody, and control of dozens of economic migrants 
who illegally entered the United States. These activities constitute 
the distinction of a TCO.
    The Mexican cartels on the other hand control territory, which 
stretches far beyond Mexico's borders. The Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel 
Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) are Mexico's two largest cartels. Their 
activities are no longer isolated to Mexico. These complex dark 
networks span the world building relationships with other underworld 
networks now impacting nations in every region of the globe.
    The Mexican cartel's evolution would also spark mass hyper-violence 
upon innocent Mexican citizens and economic migrants seeking a better 
life just trying to pass through Mexico. Since 2007, there have been 
over 340,000 murders in Mexico with disappearances now exceeding 
100,000 people. The cartels have a saying, ``You can't count a body 
that doesn't exist.'' Therefore, they have begun mass incineration of 
human bodies known as ``Guiso,'' where human remains are cut into 
pieces and their remains are cooked to ash.
    The cartels leverage what is known as ``Sicario's,'' trained 
assassins who operate as enforcers. Today, they employ tens of 
thousands of these individuals, including possessing entire enforcement 
wings within the organization. What is not well-known publicly is that 
many of these sicarios go through basic, intermediate, and advanced 
training. Most of the training is conducted by former law enforcement 
and special forces operators like Guatemalan Kaibiles, Mexico's elite 
Gafe (similar to American Green Berets), and many other countries. 
Training is also conducted by known terrorist organizations such as the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) which are designated as a 
foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department.
    The cartels employ a vast array of military-grade weaponry, 
comprising of surface-to-air missiles, vehicle-borne improvised 
explosive devices (VBIED), shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons like the 
AT4, LAW rockets, RPGs, heavy weapon mounted systems including 50 cal. 
belt-fed machine guns, grenade launchers, 40mm grenades, hand grenades, 
and fully automatic-machine guns manufactured from around the world. 
The majority of these military-grade weapons are purchased through 
corruption in armories throughout Central American countries. The 
cartels also operate first-, second-, third-, and fourth-generation 
armored vehicles as they battle for control of territory. The cartels 
over time have learned mobility is life, and with each generation of 
armored vehicles, they employ lighter more agile armored vehicles.
    The cartels contract globally with long-haul smugglers and their 
alien smuggling organizations. They have adjusted from a human 
smuggling model over the last 2\1/2\ years, into a human trafficking 
model, placing hundreds of thousands of economic migrants into debt 
bondage. As an example of this transition, Cartel del Golfo also known 
as CDG, which operates along the Texas/Mexico border from Brownsville 
to Roma, Texas was so emboldened in February 2021, by the mass 
migration of economic migrant's numbers that they began placing 
wristbands on men, women, and children to ensure the tax/piso (payment 
process) was established. This process created an ongoing payment 
model, which first collects the migrant's personal identifying 
information (PII) into the cartel's database. This provides the ability 
to keep them into debt bondage as their family's personal information 
in the country of origin is firmly documented including establishing 
the migrants' destination in the United States. This ensures future 
payments can be secured in the long term. For the first time in 
American history, people both legally and illegally in the United 
States are in debt bondage to terrorist/criminal organizations, 
operating in a foreign country for years, if not decades to come. This 
transition firmly establishes America's new slave trade.
    As someone who has documented the cartel's evolution into a 
parallel government, led some of the most complex investigations, and 
sent critical real-time intelligence supporting precision-led 
operations with Mexico's most elite special forces, to both rescue 
migrants from mass murder and apprehend leaders with the cartels, I 
want to be very clear, the Mexican cartels will not stop, they are 
going to have to be stopped. The entire approach for success against 
the cartels hinges on new authorities, prioritizing tools of national 
power, allowing the use of network theory, and a desperately-needed 
departure from the failed law enforcement investigative model.
    The Mexican cartels have no choice but to increase their 
capabilities. Their fears are driven by territorial disputes and new 
advancements by rival cartels that could result in their destruction. 
This is the reason for their ever-increasing development of new 
tradecraft, technology, and the weaponization of controlled substances. 
Examples are the evolution of fentanyl analogs by cartel chemists from 
regular fentanyl, into para-fentanyl, then to cera-fentanyl, and the 
recent introduction of xylazine (or tranq, as it is referred) and their 
increasing appetite for horrific acts of hyper-violence against the 
innocent.
    The Mexican cartels are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of 
thousands of Americans over the last several years and yet they are 
still not designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). There 
is not one designated terrorist organization in the world responsible 
for killing this many Americans, and yet we still see no action from 
the U.S. Government to hold the Mexican government, and the Mexican 
cartels, accountable for the deaths of so many Americans.
                               conclusion
    In closing, there is a vast disparity of capabilities between TCOs 
and the Mexican cartels. The threats from the Mexican cartels to our 
citizens today are unparallel. It is imperative that we marshal our 
collective will and direct the full force of our national power to 
confront these organizations. The time for half-measures and fragmented 
efforts has passed. Now is the moment for decisive and unwavering 
action to restore safety and security to our communities. This body 
must be committed to the protection of our citizens (your constituents) 
as the utmost priority. The future of our great nation depends on our 
focus against this common enemy.
    To all mothers, fathers, and loved ones who have lost someone to 
these cartels, you are not forgotten. It is with steadfast commitment 
that I stand before you today, knowing that there can be no appeasement 
or reasoning with this evil. This is a good versus evil fight. May 
history remember this day as an important moment when our Nation 
committed in a resounding decree to end the Mexican cartels, to protect 
American citizens, and in doing so, we secure a brighter future for 
generations to come.
    Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and I look 
forward to taking your questions.

    Chairman Green. Thank you.
    Ms. Vaughan, you are recognized.

 STATEMENT OF JESSICA M. VAUGHAN, DIRECTOR OF POLICY STUDIES, 
                 CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES

    Ms. Vaughan. Good afternoon and thank you.
    President Biden and Secretary of Mayorkas inherited the 
most secure border we've probably ever known. But they 
discarded that security in favor of what they want and what 
they call a more humane, more equitable system. What they seem 
to really want is to normalize illegal immigration.
    Their system is far from humane. Plenty of people benefit 
from it, to be sure. Employers seeking exploitable workers, 
NGO's seeking Government contracts. But the biggest winners are 
the criminal cartels who've been raking in huge profits made 
possible only because these policies give them an endless 
supply of vulnerable customers that they can exploit and abuse, 
and hundreds of thousands of them are children. The human cost 
of these policies is unconscionable and for some, irreparable, 
and indeed most worthy of a hearing.
    So the three main elements of the Biden-Mayorkas policies 
are the catch-and-release policies for illegal border crossers 
that have brought in more than 2 million people since January 
2021, the CBP One program which gives out about 1,500 
appointments to inadmissible aliens to enter through the ports 
of entry, and importantly, the dismantlement of immigration 
enforcement in the interior so that there's next to no threat 
of removal for the migrants, including those who abscond from 
their proceedings, which is the majority. Importantly, so that 
the employers and traffickers of these illegal workers can 
avoid scrutiny of their hiring practices.
    Biden officials have claimed that CBP One policy is a great 
success because the illegal migrants no longer have to do 
business with the cartels, we should be skeptical of this 
claim. First of all, CBP One can only be used from locations in 
northern Mexico and the migrants still have to get there. For 
most, that still means paying a cartel-approved smuggler. The 
CBP One appointment itself turns out to be yet another 
opportunity for them to extort the migrants. Of course, the 
gotaways and the runners who are the bad guys are still coming 
in, as are the unaccompanied minors.
    The situation now is nothing to brag about. We've merely 
gone from truly catastrophic to very bad. To the extent that 
there is a decline in illegal entries is also helped by the 
efforts of Texas, of course, to block the most popular crossing 
points.
    Biden and Mayorkas have been shockingly indifferent to the 
consequences of their policies for the migrants whom they are 
enticing into the cartel's web. The dangers begin on the 
journey with the high risk of robbery, assault, extortion, 
injury, illness. As we've discussed, for many, the abuse 
continues after they get here. Some people pay a discounted fee 
and give up their children for the smugglers to use to give to 
other single adults, others agree or are forced to be drug 
mules. A large number just make a down payment on the smuggling 
fee that's paid off in fear-driven forced labor debt bondage 
arrangements that are difficult for them to escape from.
    So we now have a thriving market for cartel-involved human 
trafficking. According to one source, about one-fourth of the 
victims are children. Part of this is because of the policies 
of how these kids are handled once they are brought into the 
country as unaccompanied minors. The Border Patrol has to turn 
them over to the HHS assembly line where the goal is to flip 
them over to a sponsor as soon as possible with few questions 
asked. Not surprisingly, they end up in domestic servitude, 
working illegally at factories, poultry processing plants, on 
farms, or in the worst cases, trafficked for sex. These kids 
are vulnerable targets for criminal gangs like MS-13 and 18th 
Street, many of whom came here through the very same policies 
and are looking for new recruits or commodities to make money 
for the gang.
    Some of the worst cases of this I've ever seen are 
happening very close to here, in PG County, Montgomery, 
Frederick, Baltimore, Ann Arundel, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince 
William County, have all had horrific cases. The cartels are 
into the forced labor too, what some have called narco slavery 
slavery, not just drug mules, but farm workers on the illegal 
marijuana grows in Oregon and California.
    These public safety threats come on top of other 
significant costs to taxpayers. We have effective tools to 
fight back against the cartels directly. But the most obvious 
step is to secure the border and control illegal migration, to 
deny the cartels the opportunity to make money off the 
migration dreams of vulnerable people.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Vaughan follows:]
                Prepared Statement of Jessica M. Vaughan
                             July 19, 2023
    Thank you, Mr. Green and Mr. Thompson, for the opportunity to 
testify today. The mass migration crisis instigated by the Biden 
administration's misguided immigration policies has caused incalculable 
harm to American communities, to the integrity of our immigration 
system, and, tragically, to many of the migrants themselves. While 
there are a number of beneficiaries of these policies, including 
employers seeking cheap, exploitable workers; NGO's who are awarded 
huge contracts to provide services to migrants; and politicians who 
welcome the addition of non-citizen constituents to their districts, to 
name a few, the biggest winners under the Biden-Mayorkas policies are 
the criminal cartels and other transnational criminal organizations who 
are reaping profits on a nearly unimaginable scale. Drug trafficking is 
big business, and we've witnessed an alarming spike in the most 
dangerous drugs like fentanyl, but reportedly in recent years the 
cartels actually have been making more money from human smuggling and 
trafficking than from drugs. The fiscal and human cost is serious and 
enormous. Congress should take certain steps to combat the cartels 
specifically, but the most effective action would be to address the 
main cause of the problem--the array of policies, unauthorized entry 
programs, and legal loopholes that generate the most profitable 
customers for the cartels--illegal migrants.
    Biden-Mayorkas Policies Set Off Flood of Illegal Migrants; Millions 
Released into the United States.--When he took office, President Biden 
inherited what many experts considered to be the most secure land 
borders in U.S. history, with expanded and improved barriers, updated 
technology, and more personnel, all of which was backed up by policies 
that deterred migrants from crossing illegally. Yet on his very first 
day, President Biden began dismantling these policies and activities 
that had largely succeeded in controlling recent waves of illegal 
migrants. Within a short time, on the watch of DHS Secretary Alejandro 
Mayorkas, that largely secure Southern Border was transformed into a 
chaotic, lawless, and dangerous frontier, with cartels and criminal 
smuggling organizations orchestrating illegal crossings of migrants 
with impunity. The incentive: the understanding that the vast majority 
of illegal migrants would promptly be released from Government custody 
and transported to their destination (often with Government funds), 
despite low expectations that the migrants will comply with immigration 
proceedings or ever qualify to remain legally.
    The Biden-Mayorkas policies, are built on the concept of increasing 
immigration by ``managing'' a much higher level of illegal migration 
and laundering the unauthorized entries using parole and work permit-
issuing authority, together with the near-suspension of interior 
enforcement. The result is a system that is outrageously lucrative for 
the cartels and the smugglers, traffickers, gangs, and other criminal 
enterprises involved. Specifically, the Biden administration has 
arranged it so that the majority of those who do business with the 
smuggling organizations, which necessarily work under arrangements with 
the cartels who control the border area, will succeed in gaining entry 
to the United States with the opportunity to live and work here for an 
indefinite period, without a meaningful threat of removal. Under these 
policies, there is a near-endless supply of paying customers willing to 
risk working with criminal organizations to seek passage to the border.
    These policies include:
    1. Terminating construction of physical barriers at the border, and 
        suspending operation of other tactics that were effective in 
        deterring illegal entry, such as checkpoints and certain 
        technology-based detection systems.
    2. Directing the Border Patrol to coordinate with Mexican 
        authorities to permit groups of migrants to cross the border 
        illegally.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Todd Bensman, Biden DHS Coordinating Illegal Immigration In-
Flows with Mexico (cis.org), Center for Immigration Studies, May 10, 
2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3. Directing the Border Patrol to undermine the border security 
        enhancements installed by Texas authorities.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Todd Bensman, Dispatch from a Militarized Texas Farm--Where 
Biden's Federal Agents Are Sabotaging the State's Desperate Border 
Enforcement (cis.org), Center for Immigration Studies, July 13, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4. Allowing inadmissible migrants to make appointments to be 
        escorted through the ports of entry for processing and release 
        into the United States. Those arriving without appointments may 
        withdraw their applications and subsequently enter with an 
        appointment.
    5. Virtually guaranteed release of families, minors traveling 
        without parents, and those claiming to be a family or minor. 
        These categories of illegal migrants, now represent 30 percent 
        of the current border apprehensions. Little to no vetting is 
        done to verify claimed family relationships (DNA testing was 
        recently suspended). Typically, after processing the migrants 
        are turned over to contractors who provide shelter and arrange 
        transportation to their destination, where they are told to 
        check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to receive an 
        immigration court date. Intake agencies are prohibited from 
        sharing information on the minors with ICE, and ICE is 
        prohibited from moving to deport anyone who sponsors a minor.
    6. Unaccompanied minors are handed off to the Department of Health 
        and Human Services, which will house them until a sponsor is 
        located. Most are released to individuals claiming to be 
        parents or other relatives, while others are released to 
        lightly-vetted sponsors. Home studies, background checks, and 
        financial assessments are rare, and little meaningful follow-up 
        monitoring is done. The expectation is that any problems will 
        be handled by State and local authorities.
    7. Migrants are encouraged to comply with immigration proceedings 
        in order to receive a work permit. This benefit may also lead 
        to qualifying for additional services, including a driver's 
        license. Their conduct is only lightly monitored to remain in 
        compliance with the terms of their release.
    8. Migrants who do not comply with the conditions of their release 
        are not considered targets for immigration enforcement. Only 
        those migrants who commit very serious crimes and serve out 
        their sentences are considered for removal, and only if the 
        crimes occurred recently and no other mitigating circumstances 
        are presented. Tens of thousands of migrants who absconded from 
        proceedings in the past, or whose cases are now considered low 
        priority have been closed, eliminating any threat of removal.
    9. Besides giving a pass to illegal migrants who don't comply with 
        release conditions, Mayorkas has directed ICE to refrain 
        generally from investigating employers who hire unauthorized 
        workers and from attempting to detect illegal workers who are 
        using stolen or false identities.
    As Border Crossings Rise, So Do Cartel Profits.--Not surprisingly, 
the number of illegal border crossers and inadmissible migrants has 
exploded, in response to what the migrants call Biden's ``invitacion.'' 
This has been a boon for the cartel profits; in the last 2 years, 
reportedly, the cartels have reaped more revenue from the human 
smuggling and trafficking business than they have from drug 
trafficking, and have accumulated more wealth than some entire states 
in Mexico, reaching sums of as much as $14 billion a year, according to 
some experts.
    Border Patrol encounters of illegal migrants at the border have 
consistently breached 2 million each year since 2021, and as of May of 
this year, are already over 2.1 million.
    While the number of encounters measures attempted illegal 
crossings, the more important metric in the context of this discussion 
is the number of inadmissible aliens who are being released into the 
country. These are the cartel success stories, and consist of three 
categories of unauthorized migrants:
    1. Illegal border crossers released after apprehension--Under 
        Biden-Mayorkas policies, since January 2021 more than 2.2 
        million inadmissible aliens have been released into the country 
        after turning themselves over to the Border Patrol or after 
        apprehension.\3\ This massive catch-and-release program is 
        operating in defiance of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 
        which requires the Government to return, remove, or detain all 
        illegal border crossers, including those express an intent to 
        make an asylum claim.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Andrew R. Arthur, Decoding CBP's Southwest Border Statistics 
for May (cis.org), Center for Immigration Studies, June 26, 2023.
    \4\ See Hillel R. Smith, ``The Law of Immigration Detention,'' 
Congressional Research Service, updated September 1, 2022, IF11343 
(Congress.gov) and Andrew R. Arthur, DHS Can't Just Release Illegal 
Migrants at the Border (cis.org), Center for Immigration Studies, 
October 22, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2. ``Gotaways''--Prior to the implementation of Biden-Mayorkas 
        policies, typically the number of aliens evading apprehension 
        by the Border Patrol remained just over 100,000 per year. 
        Beginning in 2021, that figure rose to nearly 400,000 
        ``gotaways,'' and then nearly 600,000 in 2022. So far in 2023, 
        reportedly 530,000 illegal aliens have evaded capture, for a 
        total of at least 1.5 million ``gotaways'' entering under the 
        Biden administration.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Andrew R. Arthur, `Got-Away' Tsunami Is the Best Measure of the 
Decline in Border Security Under Biden (cis.org), Center for 
Immigration Studies, June 29, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3. Unauthorized parole programs--In an attempt to lessen scenes of 
        chaos at the southern land border, Mayorkas recently launched a 
        controversial program to funnel inadmissible migrants to land 
        and air ports of entry and away from illegal land crossings. 
        Migrants make an appointment in advance using a phone app known 
        as CBP One, and are allowed to enter through the land ports on 
        the day of their appointment. In addition, those who show up at 
        legal crossings without a visa and without a CBP One 
        appointment are allowed to withdraw and enter later using the 
        app to make an appointment, usually bypassing the waiting 
        lists, which can be as long as 5 weeks for other users. 
        Initially set at 1,000 per day on May 12 (following the 
        rescission of Title 42), now there are 1,450 appointments 
        available every day at the land ports. In addition, according 
        to our sources, every day more than 1,000 additional migrants 
        who are citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua 
        reportedly are being permitted to fly directly to certain U.S. 
        airports, where immigration officials allow entry without a 
        visa. The estimated total number of unauthorized parolees is 
        250,000 since January.
    New Policies Fail to Make Illegal Migration Safer.--Biden officials 
have claimed that the policies and programs implemented after the 
termination of pandemic expulsions have created new ``legal'' pathways 
for migrants so that they do not need to do business with the cartels. 
In remarks at a meeting with Mexico's President Lopez Obrador and 
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden said:

``People have to make it through jungles and a long journey to the 
border. And many are victimized, not only in terms of what they have to 
pay but victimized physically in other ways. And so, we're trying to 
make it easier for people to get here, opening up the capacity to get 
here, but not have them go through that godawful process.''\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Joseph R. Biden, Remarks by President Biden, Prime Minister 
Trudeau, and President Lopez Obrador in Joint Press Conference/The 
White House, January 10, 2023.

    Biden officials now claim (without releasing the official 
statistics to confirm) that illegal crossings have declined by 50 
percent or more in the last month. However, there are reasons to be 
skeptical that the new programs actually have solved the border 
problems, especially the human smuggling and trafficking problems and 
the involvement of the cartels. First, since the CBP One app can only 
be used from locations in central and northern Mexico, migrants still 
need to get to that area from other parts of Mexico, from Central 
America, and all the other departure points around the globe. Typically 
that requires hiring a smuggler who specializes in a particular market, 
and work and shares profits with the cartels that control the border 
and passage through other countries.
    Notably, U.S. authorities had to shut down the CBP One processing 
in the city of Laredo for 2 weeks because migrants with appointments 
were being extorted for amounts in the range of $500 to $13,000. 
Eventually they reinstated the program, even as the risk of extortion 
continues. Upon re-opening appointments U.S. officials said that to 
avoid being extorted in Laredo, migrants should consider applying from 
other Mexican cities.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ Daina Beth Solomon and Laura Gottesdiener, Exclusive: U.S. 
restarts asylum appointments at Mexico border town despite extortion 
threat/Reuters, June 28, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Even with the new policies, the numbers of illegal crossers is 
still unusually high, averaging over 3,500 daily encounters with Border 
Patrol, and essentially has progressed only from ``catastrophic'' to 
``very bad.''
    In particular, the number of family units and minors does not seem 
to be abating. According to reports, despite the threats of 
consequences for illegal entry, many migrants are abandoning the CBP 
One process in favor of illegal crossings because there is a 5-week 
waiting period to enter once an appointment is made, and they are still 
likely to be released into the United States anyway--so there is little 
advantage to using CBP One. Minors, the category most vulnerable to 
abuse, are still crossing in very high numbers, with nearly 10,000 
apprehended in May 2023.
    Moreover, the cartels, along with other bad actors, still need to 
move their products and operatives across the border for their illicit 
business purposes, and they do not want to risk detection by using the 
pathways established by Mayorkas. They continue to exploit the weak 
links in physical border security to move drugs, gang members, single 
males, and anyone else who is likely to be flagged and removed if 
caught.
    The Border Patrol and Texas authorities continue to announce 
significant apprehensions and encounters of illegal crossers, this 
month, even in the brutal heat of summer. This week, Mexican 
authorities intercepted least two tractor trailers loaded with hundreds 
of migrants.
    To the extent that there is any improvement at all, it is most 
likely due to efforts by the State of Texas to physically block the 
entry points, such as by patrolling on the Rio Grande river, installing 
razor wire and buoys, and arresting some of those who make it across in 
areas away from where the Border Patrol is processing illegal migrants.
    Lax Border Policies Expose Migrants to Abuse by Cartels.--President 
Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and their allies maintain that the arrival 
of 4 million illegal border crossers in less than 3 years (on top of 
several million legal immigrants and new temporary workers in the same 
time frame) is a necessary humanitarian response and good for the 
country as well. This claim is perhaps naive, but strikes me more as 
shockingly indifferent to the plight of the large number of migrants 
who are abused, exploited, and even trafficked after surrendering 
themselves, their family members, and sometimes their life savings to 
the criminal organizations who are actually in charge of this system.
    The dangers begin on the journey to the United States. Depending on 
the country of departure, the migrants travel by plane, boat, bus, 
train, and on foot, usually traversing multiple countries in which they 
have to be stashed and staged in houses or fleabag hotels, or camp in 
the wilderness and on the streets of various towns they pass through. 
Bribes have to be paid to authorities, gangs or cartels on the way, and 
even if Mexico is the only foreign country they cross, they usually are 
subjected to threats, robbery, assault, kidnapping, extortion, illness, 
injury, and more. An unknown number don't survive the journey to the 
U.S. border.
    Depending on the place of origin, the smuggling fees run in the 
thousands of dollars. Some migrants will accept discounts on the fees 
by giving up their children to cross with other adults traveling alone. 
Others will agree or are forced to be drug mules, perhaps in exchange 
for a lower fee.
    Many migrants agree to a contract stipulating that after making a 
down payment on the smuggling fee, after they arrive at their pre-
arranged destination in the United States, they will work in a job and 
live in housing arranged by the smugglers. Their smuggling debt and 
numerous other ``expenses'' will be deducted from their (low) wages, in 
the classic debt bondage arrangement, now possible on a much larger 
scale because of the Biden-Mayorkas policies.
    The trafficking and debt bondage incidents involving children are 
especially horrifying. In 2021, about 27 percent of the cases reported 
to human trafficking hot lines Nation-wide involved minors. From 
January 2021 to May 2023 approximately 380,000 unaccompanied minors 
have been taken into custody by the Border Patrol. Under the current 
rules, after a cursory screening, the Border Patrol must turn over the 
minors to the Department of Health and Human services, which, under 
Biden policies, rushes to place the child with a sponsor. These 
placements occur without any of the precautions established by State 
child welfare agencies, and too often put the minors in abusive 
situations.
    This irresponsible process was the subject of a Judiciary hearing 
several months ago, in which expert witnesses described how countless 
children have ended up in sex trafficking, forced labor, domestic 
servitude, or are released to the custody of gang members, predators, 
or illegal employment in violation of child labor laws.\8\ The 
trafficking and other abuses also have been chronicled in numerous 
media investigative reports. One of the most informative accounts was 
the report of a grand jury empaneled in Florida in 2021 to investigate 
the problem. It observed:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing, The Biden Border 
Crisis: Exploitation of Unaccompanied Alien Children/House Judiciary 
Committee Republicans, April 26, 2023.

``Some `children' are not children at all, but full-grown predatory 
adults; some are already gang members or criminal actors; others are 
coerced into prostitution or sexual slavery; some are recycled to be 
used as human visas by criminal organizations; some are consigned to 
relatives who funnel them into sweatshops to pay off the debt 
accumulated by their trek to this country; some flee their sponsors and 
return to their country of origin; some are abandoned by their so-
called families and become wards of the dependency system, the criminal 
justice system, or disappear altogether. Meanwhile ORR's efforts and 
resources are less directed at preventing or remedying any of these 
maladies, and instead appear fully focused on maximizing the number of 
children they can process, heedless of the downstream consequences to 
either the children or the communities into which they are 
jettisoned.''\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ Florida Grand Jury report, p. 4.

    Biden officials have been clear that they are more interested in 
moving UACs through the system as quickly as possible than they are 
concerned about the safety and well-being of the minors in their 
custody. In a shocking video that was widely circulated earlier this 
year at just about the time of one of the news media reports on the 
burgeoning problem of UAC labor trafficking, HHS Secretary Xavier 
Becerra urged HHS staff to further accelerate the processing of the 
kids, saying, ``This is not the way you do an assembly line.''\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ White House promises crackdown on migrant child labor 
(usatoday.com).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Typically, the traffickers promise the young migrants and their 
families that they can go to school or work in the United States, and 
instead lure them into indentured servitude, peonage, sex trafficking, 
extortion, or demand that they work for the smugglers to pay off their 
debts to the traffickers. In other cases, desperate, unsuspecting, or 
opportunistic parents will arrange for their child to cross with a 
trafficker to work in the United States at a farm or factory, or worse. 
In one notorious case implicating an egg farm in Ohio:

`` . . . The defendants and their associates recruited workers from 
Guatemala, some as young as 14 or 15 years old, falsely promising them 
good jobs and a chance to attend school in the United States. The 
defendants then smuggled and transported the workers to a trailer park 
in Marion, Ohio, where they ordered them to live in dilapidated 
trailers and to work at physically demanding jobs at Trillium Farms for 
up to 12 hours a day for minimal amounts of money. The work included 
cleaning chicken coops, loading and unloading crates of chickens, de-
beaking chickens and vaccinating chickens.''\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\ U.S. Department of Justice, ``Two Defendants Plead Guilty to 
Forced Labor Scheme that Exploited Guatemalan Migrants at Ohio Egg 
Farms,'' August 25, 2015.

    In 2021, the Federal Government reportedly stopped releasing 
unaccompanied minors in at least two locations--Enterprise, Ala. and 
Woodburn, Ore.--due to concerns about organized labor trafficking. The 
Department of Justice and two other Federal agencies launched 
investigations based on suspicious clusters of arriving minors: ``Some 
of these situations appear to involve dozens of unaccompanied minors 
all being released to the same sponsor and then exploited for labor in 
poultry processing or similar industries without access to education,'' 
according to an email from a Justice official. So far, one couple in 
northern Alabama has been convicted of money laundering and conspiracy 
to transport illegal aliens unlawfully, and the other investigations 
apparently are still in progress.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ U.S. Probes Trafficking of Teen Migrants for Poultry-Plant 
Work (bloomberglaw.com).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The establishment and resurgence of the transnational gang MS-13 in 
the Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia area, whose members are largely 
illegal aliens, many of whom originally arrived as unaccompanied 
minors, has brought an increase in cases of brutal sex trafficking in 
the area. The gang preys on young teenage girls who run away from 
shelters, foster care, or broken homes:

``In the United States, victims of MS-13 tend to be Latino immigrant 
girls or girls from the Northern Triangle countries who came into the 
country as unaccompanied minors . . . HHS places minors either in 
foster care, with family or a sponsor . . . MS-13 preys on the 
vulnerability of the unaccompanied minors; some have previously 
suffered sexual abuse either in their home country or during the trip 
north; others lack a community and do not speak English. Members of MS-
13 seek out the vulnerable young girls using violence and other 
coercive tactics to intimidate the girl into having sex for money to 
help financially support the gang. Runaways are also appealing to the 
MS-13. Family problems, transitions from foster care and economic 
problems are some of the reasons that unaccompanied minors run away 
from their homes. Many of the unaccompanied minors may have experienced 
sexual abuse, exploitation, or physical abuse in their home countries 
or during their migration to the United States and even more suffer 
from poverty and lack of a stable social network. These are all factors 
that make young girls more susceptible to human trafficking.''\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ The Connection between the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Human 
Trafficking (humantraffickingsearch.org).

    Recent typical cases occurring in the area resulted in the 
prosecution of 11 MS-13 gang members for sex trafficking, assault, and 
other charges related to the prostitution of a 13-year-old and 16-year-
old runaways. ICE officials have stated that an estimated 40 percent of 
MS-13 members they arrest originally arrived as UACs.
    It is not only minors who end up being trafficked; the cartel-run 
system sets up adults for abuse as well. In 2021, Texas and New York 
had the largest number of cases reported on trafficking hot lines, but 
the places with the highest number of cases per capita were New Mexico, 
Mississippi, Georgia, Nevada and Washington, DC. Trafficking for 
commercialized sex is a serious problem, although the type of human 
trafficking that is most likely to involve illegal border crossers is 
forced labor trafficking. The most common sectors for this form of 
trafficking are agriculture/farm work and domestic work.
    There are no comprehensive national statistics to quantify the true 
scale of trafficking or even recent trends, but the prevalence of new 
cases indicates that the criminal exploitation of workers is thriving 
under the Biden-Mayorkas border policies. For example, in April 2023, 
three Brazilian men were criminally charged for targeting and smuggling 
Brazilians over the Southern Border, for a fee of $18,000-22,000. The 
illegal migrants were put to work in restaurants owned by the 
traffickers in Woburn, Mass., and had to share apartments owned or 
controlled by the defendants, who withheld wages from the victims in 
order to pay off their smuggling debts and forced them to work long 
hours, often performing difficult manual labor, while subjecting them 
to threats of serious harm--including financial harm, violence, and 
deportation to prevent them from quitting and demanding better pay and 
working conditions. The defendants carefully monitored changes in 
immigration policies at the border, coached the migrants on how to 
answer questions from authorities, and offered to give fake documents 
to the victims to support bogus asylum claims.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\ Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts/Three 
Indicted for Forced Labor and One Charged with Labor Trafficking at 
Woburn Restaurants/United States Department of Justice, April 4, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    While some of the labor trafficking involves relatively small-time 
cruel and unscrupulous employers, the cartels are directly involved in 
employing an unknown, large number of trafficked illegal migrants on 
illegal marijuana farms in Oregon and California, and probably other 
States, in a form of forced labor known as ``narco-slavery.'' One 
illegal operation using trafficked workers was discovered after the 
body of a dead worker was discovered at a gas station, and 
investigators traced the matter back to the farm, uncovering other 
problems:

``Once Maria began working on the [illegal pot] farm, armed guards 
prevented her from leaving until the harvest was over. She said there 
were no bathrooms or beds for the more than 200 workers there. She 
slept on the floor or on an air mattress.
``In the summer heat, she and others were forced to work from 7 a.m. to 
10 p.m., Maria said. The guards would determine when they would wake 
up, eat and sleep.''\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ Allie Weintraub et al, `Narco slaves': Migrant workers face 
abuse on Oregon's cartel-run, illegal pot farms--ABC News, December 15, 
2022.

    Authorities sometimes refer to these operations, which usually are 
run by either the Sinaloa or Jalisco (CJNG) cartels, as ``blood 
cannabis'' producers. They typically are found in remote areas of the 
country and produce marijuana to sell all over the United States. The 
illegal cartel-run farms are places of squalor and violence, where 
female employees in particular frequently are sadistically abused and 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
other workers are exploited:

``A man from Spain said he was victimized on a grow in Josephine County 
[Ore.], to the west of Jackson County and bordering California. The man 
[said] he was promised $120,000 but was paid $300.
``When the worker demanded his earnings, the growers shot at him. He 
ran, hopped into his car and sped off as a truck followed him. He hid 
out in the woods for a couple of days before escaping . . . 
``He said other workers are made to work 16 or more hours without a 
break and sometimes without a meal. And women are sometimes sexually 
assaulted.
``They come from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Honduras, El 
Salvador, Venezuela, and Colombia and have often spent all of their 
money to get to the cannabis farms. Workers on illegal cannabis grows 
like this one in Jackson County, Oregon, are sometimes lured to the 
region with promises of hotel rooms and six-figure salaries. They often 
live in squalor without a bed or clean water.''\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\ Beth Warren, Cartel-backed pot grows linked to California, 
Oregon human trafficking (usatoday.com), June 18, 2023.

    Lax administration of the legal visa programs also has allowed 
trafficking to flourish, particularly in the H-2A temporary farmworker, 
H-2B seasonal temporary worker, and J-1 exchange worker categories, but 
this trafficking is most frequently run by labor contractors and other 
staffing companies.
    All of these problems are facilitated by the moratorium on worksite 
enforcement imposed by Mayorkas. Immigration enforcement at the 
worksite is the obvious place to detect instances of exploitative 
employment of migrants, but the Biden administration has shifted most 
work on these cases to the Department of Labor, which should also be 
involved, but lacks some of the authorities of DHS agencies, especially 
concerning non-citizens, who are responsible for at least half of the 
forced labor trafficking violations that have been prosecuted in 
Federal court each year, according to the Human Trafficking 
Institute.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ Federal Human Trafficking Report/Human Trafficking Institute.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Biden-Mayorkas Policies Expose U.S. Communities to Threats.--The 
flood of people to the border brought on by the Biden-Mayorkas policies 
has created conditions that make it difficult, and at times impossible, 
for border officers to determine the identity, age, citizenship, and 
background of those they apprehend. The emphasis is on swift release of 
those caught crossing illegally and those seeking entry at the ports of 
entry, including those allowed to enter using CBP One. A cursory 
biometric and biographic screening is done, but if migrants have not 
previously been in the United States, there is little basis for 
assessing whether any individual migrant might pose a threat. The few 
documents that migrants might bring with them (those not ditched prior 
to crossing) are of little use to U.S. authorities.
    These careless policies have created scores of new victims in 
American communities--all of which were preventable crimes. For 
example:
   Last month in El Paso, Eddy Jose Ortega Alvarado, a 
        Venezuelan man who reportedly was allowed to enter using CBP 
        One on May 20, 2023, has been accused of murdering a Honduran 
        woman he was staying with in a dwelling that has been 
        identified as an illegal alien stash house. Border Patrol 
        agents told the news media that they had run a criminal history 
        check on Ortega, but with the recent high volume of people to 
        be processed and very limited access to criminal histories in 
        other countries, there are ``bad apples'' who make it 
        through.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ Dave Burge and Fernie Ortiz, Migrant arrested, charged with 
capital murder in death of another migrant/KTSM 9 News, June 5, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   In a case highlighted by the Florida Grand Jury, a 24-year-
        old man made it through Border Patrol screening posing as an 
        unaccompanied child, and qualified to be placed with a sponsor 
        in Jacksonville, whom he later murdered.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\ Illegal immigrant who posed as minor while crossing border 
charged with murder (nypost.com).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Several Venezuelan men who recently arrived in Chicago have 
        been charged with a variety of crimes, including stabbings and 
        shoplifting. Some have been arrested multiple times during the 
        few months since their arrival. The State judge in one case 
        lamented the lack of information on the men:

      ``These are individuals who've not been in the country very long. 
            You're now telling me that they were arrested at Macy's, 
            committing a felony retail theft. So the court wants some 
            idea of who is in front of me. Additionally, as the public 
            defender just indicated, one person has already indicated 
            he's using another name. So, who are these people? Who are 
            these individuals?''\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\ Venezuelan migrant arrested 3 times since arriving in Chicago 
3 weeks ago: prosecutors--CWB Chicago, May 9, 2023 and John Binder, 
Sanctuary City Chicago: Migrants Accused of Stabbing, Shoplifting While 
Living in Taxpayer-Funded Shelters (breitbart.com), May 18, 2023.

   School resource officers around the country are asking the 
        same questions about some of the students they are observing in 
        the public schools. Officers I have met have described 
        disturbing cases of gang infestation and violence in the 
        schools attributed to newly arrived unaccompanied minors, the 
        entrapment of recently-arrived girls into sex trafficking, and 
        kids arriving at school after working the overnight shift at a 
        poultry processing plant, and more.
   Federal agents recently prosecuted members of the MS-13 gang 
        in Virginia for sex trafficking case, among other crimes. They 
        recruited a group of girls who had entered as unaccompanied 
        minors, were placed in a group home in Fairfax, Va, and then 
        ran away, into the clutches of the gang. The teen victims were 
        brutally beaten to initiate them into the gang, and then 
        repeatedly forced to engage in prostitution both to members of 
        the gang and outsiders. From once court document:

      ``MINOR 2 was sex trafficked by numerous MS-13 gang members and 
            associates shortly after she and MINOR 3 ran away from 
            Shelter Care on August 27, 2018. According to MINOR 2, 
            MINOR 3 informed her that she would engage in sex in 
            exchange for money, food, and other things that MINOR 2 
            needed. During interviews with law enforcement, MINOR 2 and 
            MINOR 3 both discussed staying at the residence of MOISES 
            and JOSE ELIAZAR, two brothers who lived together . . . in 
            Woodbridge, Virginia . . . MINOR 2 informed law enforcement 
            that multiple men engaged in sex with MINOR 2 in the wooded 
            area behind MOISES' apartment . . . Geolocation data 
            obtained during the investigation shows that MINOR 2 was 
            harbored at multiple locations in Northern Virginia and 
            Maryland . . . Numerous social media conversations 
            involving MOISES, GUTIERREZ, and others, show their active 
            involvement in finding different residences to harbor MINOR 
            2 for purposes of commercial sex.''\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\ Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint and Arrest Warrant 
in United States v. MOISES et al, July 31, 2020.

   There are reports of several instances of individuals who 
        had been watchlisted as known or suspected terrorists who still 
        managed to enter the United States, either as asylum seekers 
        \22\ or because overwhelmed border officials could not react to 
        the derogatory information. The latter case was the subject of 
        a scathing report from the DHS Office of the Inspector 
        General.\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \22\ Todd Bensman, The Biden Admin Released a Suspected Terrorist 
into the United States After He Illegally Crossed the Border (cis.org), 
Center for Immigration Studies, March 4, 2022.
    \23\ Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector 
General, OIG-23-31--CBP Released a Migrant on a Terrorist Watchlist, 
and ICE Faced Information Sharing Challenges Planning and Conducting 
the Arrest (REDACTED) (cis.org), June 28, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Besides the array of past and future individual criminals who have 
been allowed to enter after crossing illegally, either by the design of 
the Biden-Mayorkas policies or as ``gotaways'', there is an even more 
concerning threat to the public from the cartels and other 
transnational criminal organizations that routinely exploit the border 
policies for their illicit business purposes. Most are sophisticated 
organizations, and the most successful are nimble in adapting to 
emerging opportunities, whether in human and drug trafficking across 
the U.S. border, or even more complex ways. Not only have they evolved 
``horizontally'' to branch out into new ventures, for example getting 
involved in human trafficking as well as drug trafficking, in fentanyl 
trafficking as well as heroin and marijuana trafficking, and stealing 
oil as well as automobiles--they also have shown that they will evolve 
``vertically,'' to control every level of production, distribution, and 
retail sales of their illicit products.
    This vertical evolution presents a very serious threat to American 
communities. The Mexican cartels (and numerous other transnational 
criminal organizations) have not been content to remain in Mexico; they 
already have established operations in the United States. Federal 
agencies made more than 300 arrests for Mexican cartel-related crimes 
in 2022, according to one analysis.\24\ To manage these operations, the 
cartels need to move their people into U.S. communities. This requires 
thwarting U.S. immigration controls, which is not difficult at the 
moment. Once here, they will try to gain control of the environments in 
which they operate, whether through violence or through the corruption 
of public officials. Some communities have already experienced such 
violence, such as in the case of the illegal marijuana grows in 
California and Oregon, or in the case of Goshen, Calif., where in 
January 2023, 6 people were executed in an ``early morning massacre'' 
that authorities described as a likely cartel hit.\25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\ Andrew Dorn and Steve Joachim, Map: Tracking drug cartel 
arrests across the United States (newsnationnow.com), February 16, 
2023.
    \25\ Stella Chan, Goshen, California shooting: 6 people, including 
a baby, were killed in a `cartel-style execution,' sheriff's office 
says/CNN, January 17, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    These public safety threats come on top of the other significant 
costs to taxpayers, including the cost of expanded services to the 
migrants and lost job opportunities and depressed wages for legal U.S. 
workers. For example, Texas has told Federal courts that State 
taxpayers have incurred expenditures of hundreds of millions of dollars 
a year for medical care, schools, shelter and criminal justice costs 
attributed to the illegal migration brought on by the Biden-Mayorkas 
policies.
    Recommendations.--The Biden administration has implemented policies 
that incentivize illegal migration on a massive scale, to the profit of 
criminal smugglers and traffickers, even with full knowledge of the 
risks that such policies will endanger the safety and well-being of the 
migrants. Some supporters of these policies have defended them on the 
belief that they are aiding the reunification of families, providing a 
safe haven from difficult living environments in their home countries, 
and even benefiting U.S. employers. On the contrary, I submit that 
there is no possible rationalization for policies that facilitate the 
abuse and exploitation of migrants and the endangerment of American 
communities on such a scale. There is no possible humanitarian or 
economic motive that could justify or make up for the damage that has 
been done by the cartels and the smugglers and traffickers who work 
with them.
    Some suggest that a strong law enforcement agency response to 
target the cartels would solve the problems. Certainly that would help, 
and these reforms should occur, but such a surgical approach limited to 
targeting individual cartels and transnational criminal organizations 
will not be enough, even if a few cartels could be eradicated.
    As long as the careless and poorly-managed immigration policies of 
the Biden administration remain in place, which allow for the near-
unlimited illegal entry of migrants who do not have to establish 
admissibility, eligibility, or qualifications in any form, we can 
expect that the cartels and other criminal groups will exploit these 
policies to their own profit and convenience. If the policies are 
reversed, to end the mass catch-and-release of illegal crossers, to end 
unauthorized parole entry programs, to return Border Patrol agents to 
patrolling the border, to resume enforcement of immigration laws in the 
interior--especially at the work place, then it becomes much harder for 
the cartels to make a profit off of the migration dreams of vulnerable 
people in other countries, and they will find other business 
opportunities. To solve the problem, Congress must change the 
immigration laws and rein in the executive policies that are 
incentivizing the mass illegal migration of both adults and minors. 
When we reach the point where migrants understand that there is no 
point in entering an agreement with a criminal smuggling organization 
or a labor trafficker, or even attempting to illegally join a family 
member in the United States, because such illegal entry and employment 
will not be tolerated and result in the consequence of being sent home 
promptly, then the smugglers and traffickers will have few clients, and 
the Government agencies will have a much greater ability to deal with a 
far fewer number of exploitation cases.
    Many of these reforms would be accomplished by H.R. 2640, the 
Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023, introduced by Mr. 
McClintock and Mr. Biggs, which passed the House and is now before the 
Senate. Congress should also make use of its appropriations authority 
to de-fund the most egregiously damaging programs established by the 
Biden administration, including CBP One, other parole programs, the 
Mayorkas immigration enforcement prioritization scheme, and migrant 
resettlement initiatives that in reality are the final leg of illegal 
human smuggling operations. In addition, Congress should appropriate 
funds to be awarded to State and local governments to initiate programs 
to combat human trafficking, smuggling, and other activities that 
involve the cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

    Chairman Green. Thank you, Ms. Vaughan.
    I now recognize Mr. Maltz for 5 minutes.

 STATEMENT OF DEREK S. MALTZ, PRIVATE CITIZEN, FORMER SPECIAL 
AGENT IN CHARGE, SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION, DRUG ENFORCEMENT 
                         ADMINISTRATION

    Mr. Maltz. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today on 
this very important topic.
    After a 28-year career with DEA, I've been supporting law 
enforcement agencies all over the country and I also support 
the grieving families that are burying their loved ones on a 
daily basis. I believe the safety and security of America must 
be a top priority. The current border policies are placing 
every American at risk. The Mexican cartels are taking over and 
taking advantage of the vulnerabilities at the border, but 
they're working with the Chinese transnational criminals at 
levels we've never seen in the country. They're operating with 
no fear.
    The brave men and women in CBP are doing tremendous work, 
but they're distracted every day because they're dealing with a 
tsunami of migrants coming in from over 150 countries. How can 
any reasonable person in America think the current situation at 
the border, which is now impacting all of America, is safe and 
secure? Makes no sense. Look at the historic number of deaths, 
right--I deal with this every day--9,161 dead Americans. 
Headline news today, 9 in Cleveland, Ohio. Most ever in a 24-
hours period dead. Last month another public service alert 
because there were 5 dead in 12-hour period. This is what's 
happening. What about Ray Lewis, the legendary NFL player? What 
about this famous actor Robert De Niro's grandson, dead? What 
about baby Elijah in Florida with the fentanyl that a mother 
mixed in the blender?
    Look at the escalating crime in the country. Look at the 
known gotaways, 1.5 million that are all over the country. We 
don't even know who they are, where they are, what they're 
doing here. Look at the 143 migrants have been apprehended this 
year at the border. Think about that. There was only 3 in 2020 
during the last administration and in the last year. Think of 
how many terrorists and criminals are part of the gotaways. 
This is common sense. You don't have to be an expert to 
understand that. Look at the record number of migrant deaths 
from them making treacherous journeys to get here. Baking in 
the desert and in the back of tractor trailers and this man is 
pulling them off the desert with the sheriffs and stuff on the 
ground. Look at the sexual assaults and the rapes and the 
migrants on the journey. Remember, depression, anxiety, and 
mental illness are on the rise and all of our Americans are 
turning to drugs for help. But unfortunately to the illicit 
drug supply. Allowing Mexican cartel operatives and 
unidentified people from around the world to enter the country 
illegally at record levels is enhancing the ability of 
criminals to kill Americans.
    This is not what the Government should be doing to keep us 
safe. You don't have to be a border expert, an immigration 
expert to understand that the administration's policies related 
to the border are a recipe for disaster. I'm not a MAGA 
lunatic, OK. Look at the recent Statement on China made by FBI 
Director Wray. Now let's think about it. He said how China is 
the most--biggest national security threat to our long-term of 
this country. Based on that warning, let's look at the facts. 
Already this year, 14,655 Chinese nationals, many of them 
military-aged men, are being apprehended on the border. Let's 
look deeper. That's 1,540 percent increase from last year and 
over a 10,700 percent increase from 2021. So my question to 
everyone here, what are they coming here for? Military-aged men 
from China? How many are in those gotaways? Remember the 
bombing campaign from China continues from the Chinese labs 
with the xylazine. This is a tranquilizer for horses. It's 
rotting people from the inside out, causing necrosis. Mike 
McCaul, thank you sir, because you made this statement and I'll 
never forget it. Selling fentanyl to America is a great foreign 
policy for China. He's right on point and the man's been around 
homeland security issues a long time.
    Synthetic drugs made in labs in China and Mexico are record 
levels game-changer for the United States. The Chinese 
criminals are providing critical money-laundering services 
which I can answer questions about. This is a disaster for 
America and I'm concerned. It's not a red or a blue issue. It's 
a red, white, and blue issue, and every American should care.
    So in my view, it's chemical weapons destroying our country 
rapidly. One of the biggest obstacles for us law enforcement is 
the corrupt, high-level government corruption. We can't rely on 
soft-on-crime and corrupt leaders in Mexico to save our kids. 
So as far as I know, there's never been a terrorist 
organization in the history of America that has killed this 
many Americans. The cartels must be dealt with accordingly and 
severely for what they're doing to our families and 
communities.
    Law enforcement's done tremendous work, and my hat goes off 
to all of them, saving lives every day. DEA last year 58 
million fake pills, 13,000 pounds of fentanyl, 400 million 
deadly dosage units taken off the street. Homeland Security 
Investigations, CBP during operation Blue Lotus, 8,200 pounds 
of fentanyl, 2 months at two POEs. The sad part everyone has to 
think about, how much is being produced and how much is already 
here. So DEA warns Sinaloa and Jalisco are the biggest threats, 
drug threats we've ever seen. So, folks, where's the Operation 
Warp Speed COVID-like thing for fentanyl?
    Last thing, without border security, we have no country. 
Thank you very much.
    For the Ranking Member, sorry, we're wasting your time.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Maltz follows:]
                  Prepared Statement of Derek S. Maltz
                             July 19, 2023
    Chairman Mark E. Green, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, and 
distinguished Members of the committee, I would like to thank you for 
this opportunity to speak today about the catastrophic situation in 
America caused by the Mexican Cartels, the open borders and the 
escalating fentanyl poisoning crisis. I am grateful for the opportunity 
to share my experience and thoughts as America faces complex challenges 
with this unprecedented national security and public health disaster. I 
had a long rewarding 28-year career as a special agent in the Drug 
Enforcement Administration (DEA). I retired from the DEA in July 2014 
but remain actively involved in the private sector supporting law 
enforcement agencies around the world as they aggressively target 
Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). I'm also very engaged in 
supporting families around the country who have lost loved ones to the 
devastating substance fentanyl entering America at historic levels.
    During the last 10 years of my career, I was the agent in charge of 
the DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) in Northern Virginia. In 
that capacity, I ran the SOD operational coordination center with 30 
participating agencies, to include representatives from Canada, 
Australia, and the United Kingdom. SOD's primary mission is to support 
and synchronize the investigative efforts of Federal, State, local, and 
international law enforcement agencies. SOD focused substantial 
resources on the Mexican cartels since they have been one of the 
greatest threats to the United States for several years. SOD was 
instrumental in supporting the Mexican government and several U.S. 
agencies to capture the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, El Chapo 
Guzman, on two occasions, and coordinating the world-wide 
investigations against the cartel. SOD also has a long history of 
coordinating the efforts of agencies around the world disrupting and 
dismantling major criminal networks.
    Unfortunately, the threat of the Mexican cartels has grown 
tremendously over the years from drug cartels to TCO's to narco-
terrorists. In my view they remain the greatest daily threat to the 
citizens of this country. They have killed more Americans than any 
other terrorist organization and the rate of death and destruction 
continues to escalate. The cartels control the importation and 
distribution of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and deadly fentanyl. 
They work closely with Chinese Criminal Networks (CCN) and together 
they are destroying communities and families throughout the United 
States and are killing record numbers of our future generation.
    I remain committed to work with Congress, my colleagues in the 
Government agencies and fellow citizens who have lost their loved ones 
to the drug crisis to help develop recommendations and solutions to 
build more effective approaches to eliminate the current threats. Too 
many Americans are dying from fentanyl poisoning and citizens all over 
the United States are impacted by the Mexican cartels and the CCN.
    It is time to work together and put politics aside. ``The current 
unprecedented fentanyl poisoning crisis that's killing our kids at 
record levels is not a Red or Blue Issue. It's a Red, White, and Blue 
issue. We need all Americans to work together now to save lives.''
    We must utilize the best and brightest patriots serving the country 
and combine the arsenal of capabilities and authorities to decimate the 
cartel's deadly production operations in Mexico. We must simultaneously 
dismantle their importation and distribution networks to eliminate the 
growing threat to the United States and our citizens. The U.S. agencies 
must continue to work together with innovative strategies to shut down 
the flow of precursor chemicals shipped to Mexico from China, India, 
and other countries around the globe that are used in the production of 
dangerous synthetic drugs. The evolving sophisticated money-laundering 
schemes offered by the CCN to the cartels must also be shut down.
    The U.S.G. must also use all Treasury and economic sanctions to 
disrupt the movement of criminal proceeds to the foreign leaders who 
run these networks. As the country faces these growing threats, 
especially with the involvement of the CCN's and their partnership with 
the cartels, law enforcement needs the full support of Congress. This 
historic ongoing national security threat requires a true ``whole-of-
America approach.'' While we must continue to treat those with mental 
illness and drug addiction, the Mexican cartels and the CCN must be 
held accountable for their devastation and damages. They can no longer 
operate with impunity, and we need Congress and Government leadership 
to step up their efforts with a greater sense of urgency.
    President Biden said appropriately on December 15, 2021, while 
speaking about his Executive Order on Imposing Sanctions on Foreign 
Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade,

``trafficking into the United States of illicit drugs, including 
fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, is causing the deaths of tens of 
thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal 
overdoses with their own tragic human toll. Drug cartels, transnational 
criminal organizations, and their facilitators are the primary sources 
of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals that fuel the current opioid 
epidemic, as well as drug-related violence that harms our communities. 
I find that international drug trafficking--including the illicit 
production, global sale, and widespread distribution of illegal drugs; 
the rise of extremely potent drugs such as fentanyl and other synthetic 
opioids; as well as the growing role of internet-based drug sales--
constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national 
security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.''

(Executive Order on Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in 
the Global Illicit Drug Trade, 2021)

    Based on the President's statement above, and knowing the Mexican 
cartels are responsible for shipping record amounts of deadly 
substances and sending their operatives into the country from Mexico, 
any reasonable person can understand that the current border policies 
are enhancing the cartel's ability to operate successfully, contradict 
the President's statement, and that the border must be secured to 
ensure increased public safety and security in America.

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                                overview
    On July 12, 2023, White House Office of National Drug Control 
Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta released an update on drug 
overdose deaths in America. The latest CDC report shows 109,940 
predicted overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in February 
2023. Most of these deaths are caused by illicit synthetic drugs like 
clandestinely-manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine, often in 
combination with other drugs, including cocaine and heroin. (Dr. Rahul 
Gupta Releases Statement on CDC's New Overdose Death Data, 2023) This 
alarming statistic reflects that America is losing around 9,161 people 
per month to drugs.
    When you look closer into the statistics in some areas of the 
country like New Orleans, 95 percent of overdose deaths in 2022 were 
from fentanyl according to Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna. (Robin, 2023)
    When you look at the death statistics in San Diego, California, 
there was a 2,375 percent increase in fentanyl-related deaths in the 5-
year period 2016-2021. (Fentanyl Seizures at Border Continue to Spike, 
Making San Diego a National Epicenter for Fentanyl Trafficking, 2022)
    According to the Families against Fentanyl who have analyzed CDC 
statistics and have done a tremendous job educating the public on the 
troubling trends involving fentanyl, they revealed the following in the 
recent report ``The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths.''
    (The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths, 2023)
   Synthetic opioid (fentanyl) poisoning was still the leading 
        cause of death among Americans 18 to 45 in 2021.
   Synthetic opioid (fentanyl) fatalities among children are 
        rising faster than any other age group.
   In just 2 years, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among 
        children ages 1 to 4 more than tripled, and increased 4-fold 
        among infants less than one, and children ages 5 to 14.
   Since 2015, deaths among infants increased nearly 10-fold; 
        among children ages 1 to 14 deaths increased 15-fold: an 
        increase of more than 1,400 percent.
    These are staggering statistics impacting communities all around 
the country, and all Americans should be alarmed and demanding 
accountability from the leaders.
    Look at the recent press stories involving celebrity families, a 9-
month-old baby and Black and Hispanic Americans impacted by deadly 
fentanyl. This again highlights how citizens are suffering, from all 
walks of life, because of the ruthless cartels and the wide-open 
borders.
   Ray Lewis III, the son of two-time Super Bowl champion Ray 
        Lewis, has died, police said in an incident report detailing a 
        suspected overdose. (Press, 2023)
   Robert De Niro's grandson Leandro died from fentanyl-laced 
        pills (Ushe, 2023)
   Teen mom charged with aggravated manslaughter for giving 9-
        month-old baby fentanyl (El-Bawab, 2023)
   As Fentanyl Overdose Rates Rise Among Latinos, So Do Calls 
        for Government Action (Gunderson, 2023)
   Mass. set a record for opioid overdose deaths. Black 
        residents were hardest hit (Bebinger, 2023)
    Sarah Richardson, Program Manager at the Chicago Department of 
Public Health Office of Substance Use, said city data shows a deepening 
crisis. ``What we're seeing in Chicago right now is that 80 to 90 
percent of our overdose deaths involve fentanyl, and a growing number 
of those deaths involve fentanyl as the only opioid in that death,'' 
Richardson said. ``The number of Latinos in the community that have 
experienced a fatal overdose has significantly increased in recent 
years. We've seen those increases across every demographic group, but 
the greatest increase has in fact been in our Latino communities in 
Chicago.''
    There are so many stories around the country that highlight the 
unprecedented nature of the fentanyl poisoning crisis. Please see the 
mass poisonings all over the country at the end of this document.*
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    * The information has been retained in committee files.
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    Over the last few years while actively supporting law enforcement 
in the private sector, I participated in the production of 
documentaries, national media segments, Congressional, think tank and 
educational sessions, and rallies with grieving families and non-
profits from around America to help educate the public and bring needed 
awareness to the dangerous and evolving synthetic drug crisis.
    I will continue to engage with families who lost children from 
these poisonous substances hitting our communities like a tsunami. It's 
hard to imagine the lack of engagement and action from of our national 
leaders in Washington especially on the education for young Americans 
and the mixed messages from the leadership. I have worked tirelessly 
with families to recruit celebrities, professional athletes, role 
models and social media influencers to help create a movement to get 
specific messages to the kids. Sadly, these efforts to date haven't 
been very successful due to the stigma related to drugs and lack of 
knowledge on the current crisis. All Americans must realize this 
ongoing poisoning crisis is like nothing we have ever seen and the I 
believe if the right celebrity pushed out short social media videos, 
the kids would get the important messages. We must all accept that most 
children are not watching Congressional hearings, mainstream media, 
cable news, or listening to podcasts so it's critical to have role 
models step up in a big way to fill the educational void.
    The Mexican cartels are also working in close partnership with CCN, 
operating with impunity and killing our citizens at historic levels. 
The threats posed by the cartels are growing rapidly as they make 
billions of dollars, especially benefiting from human smuggling with 
the porous Southern Border. The current border policies are 
irresponsible and placing all Americans at risk. As we see all the 
troubling news on the fentanyl poisoning crisis, there are also 
dangerous connections between the criminal activity of the Mexican 
cartels and terrorist groups like Hezbollah. The topic of narco-
terrorism has been a priority of mine for many years, and we documented 
a very disturbing partnership during DEA's priority operation Project 
Cassandra to show the growing role of Hezbollah, working with the 
cartels in drug trafficking and global money laundering.
    As we look at the latest statistics from the U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP), all Americans should be concerned with the 
fact that in fiscal year 2023 through May there were 127 U.S. Border 
Patrol Terrorist Screening Data Set (TSDS) encounters between ports of 
entry of non-U.S. Citizens. This reflects a staggering increase 
compared to the 3 apprehended for the entire fiscal year when the last 
administration enforced strong border security policies.
    The country is currently being invaded by an overwhelming number of 
illegal immigrants from over 150 countries and deadly drugs killing 
Americans at historic levels. The brave men and women of CBP are being 
inundated with administrative duties and migrant processing instead of 
focusing on protecting our national country. The outrageous dereliction 
of duty by the current administration with the weak border policies 
distracting our CBP from securing the country is placing every American 
at risk.
    The New York Times headline published on July 13, 2023, says ``This 
Agency Was Created With a Terrorism Focus. Now It Also Has to Care for 
Migrants.
   Customs and Border Protection was set up after 9/11 amid the 
        fight against terrorism. Its responsibilities have ballooned 
        with the influx of asylum-seeking migrants crossing the 
        Southern Border.''
    You don't have to be a border or immigration expert to understand 
that the current administration's policies related to the border are a 
recipe for a disaster. Look at the recent statement made by FBI 
Director Christopher Wray,
   ``I've said before, there is no doubt that the greatest 
        long-term threat to our nation's ideas, our economic security, 
        and our national security is that posed by the Chinese 
        Communist government.'' (Inside the FBI: The China Threat, 
        2023)
    In June there were several news reports on the disturbing number of 
Chinese nationals crossing the U.S. Border.
    Fox Business reported on June 26, 2023,
   ``There are certain Chinese coming in that are really 
        disturbing,'' Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang 
        said. Packs of Chinese males of military age, unattached to 
        family groups pretending not to speak English. These are 
        probably saboteurs who arecoming in on the first day of war 
        with Asia.''
   Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., also claimed that ``10,000-plus'' 
        Chinese nationals have been apprehended in fiscal year 2023, 
        ``a massive 300 percent increase'' from the year prior. (Altus, 
        2023)
   A recent Fox News report also reflected that over 12,000 
        Chinese nationals were apprehended at the border this fiscal 
        year thus far.
    This concerning statement by the FBI Director combined with CBP's 
statistics related to the massive increase of military age Chinese 
national men apprehended at the border and that over 1,500,000 known 
got-aways have been documented during this administration, I would say 
as an experienced public safety and law enforcement executive, the 
entire country is at serious risk.
    Below provides the very alarming statistics of the fiscal year 
through May of Southwest Land Border Encounters: (CBP.gov, 2023)

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    On July 12, DEA Principal Deputy Administrator George Papadopoulos 
testified before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border 
Security and Enforcement at a hearing entitled, ``Protecting the U.S. 
Homeland: Fighting the Flow from the Southwest Border'' Mr. 
Papadopoulos stated the following:
   The Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels pose the greatest criminal 
        drug threat the United States has ever faced.
   The availability of fentanyl throughout the United States 
        has reached unprecedented heights. In 2022, DEA seized more 
        than 58 million fake pills containing fentanyl, and 13,000 
        pounds of fentanyl powder, equating to nearly 400 million 
        deadly doses of fentanyl. This is enough fentanyl to supply a 
        potentially lethal dose to every member of the U.S. population. 
        These seizures occurred in every State in the country.
   These ruthless, violent, criminal organizations have 
        associates, facilitators, and brokers in all 50 States in the 
        United States, as well as in more than 100 countries around the 
        world.
   The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel and their 
        affiliates control the vast majority of the fentanyl global 
        supply chain, from manufacture to distribution.
   The cartels are buying precursor chemicals in the Peoples 
        Republic of China; transporting the precursor chemicals from 
        the PRC to Mexico; using the precursor chemicals to mass 
        produce fentanyl; using pill presses to process the fentanyl 
        into fake prescription pills; and using cars, trucks, and other 
        routes to transport the drugs from Mexico into the United 
        States for distribution. It costs the cartels as little as 10 
        cents to produce a fentanyl-laced fake prescription pill that 
        is sold in the United States for as much as $10 to $30 per 
        pill. As a result, the cartels make billions of dollars from 
        trafficking fentanyl into the United States.
   The business model used by the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels 
        is to grow at all costs, no matter how many people die in the 
        process. The cartels are engaging in deliberate, calculated 
        treachery to deceive Americans and drive addiction to achieve 
        higher profits.
    Steven Cagen, assistant director, Homeland Security Investigations, 
testified at the same Congressional hearing as Mr. Papadopoulos and 
made the following statements:
   TCOs flood the United States with deadly drugs, including 
        illicit fentanyl and other opioids.
   Criminal organizations in the 21st Century do not limit 
        themselves to a single criminal enterprise. These criminal 
        organizations have expanded beyond narcotics smuggling and have 
        morphed into poly criminal TCOs involved in the associated 
        crimes of weapons trafficking, human trafficking, human 
        smuggling, money laundering, and other crimes.
   TCOs have also evolved beyond insular entities and have 
        sought out partnerships with competing TCOs in furtherance of 
        their criminal activities. For example, the illicit 
        collaboration between Chinese TCOs and Mexican cartels has 
        created a complex criminal ecosystem that is fueling money-
        laundering and narcotics-trafficking operations, specifically 
        illicit fentanyl, into and within the United States.
   Chinese money-laundering organizations have developed 
        sophisticated networks in the United States, Mexico, China, and 
        throughout Asia to facilitate money-laundering schemes.
   Mexican cartels have taken over fentanyl production and 
        operate on an industrial scale, they are obtaining precursor 
        chemicals from China and synthesizing these chemicals in Mexico 
        to produce fentanyl. Mexican cartels then smuggle the fentanyl 
        into the United States in either powder or pill form for 
        distribution.
   Chinese TCOs also facilitate the trafficking and 
        distribution of illicit fentanyl pills by providing the Mexican 
        cartels with the pill press equipment to make the fake 
        oxycodone pills.
   The Mexican cartels are purchasing these pill presses 
        directly from Chinese manufacturers that are producing the 
        equipment specifically for illicit activity.
    CBP has also reported staggering drug seizure statistics for the 
first 8 months of fiscal year 2023. CBP reports they seized 19,800 
pounds of fentanyl. Although, I appreciate the incredible work of CBP 
and all the law enforcement agencies and I'm totally impressed with the 
dedication of the men and women on the front lines, these large 
seizures of deadly drugs should be a ``wake up call'' for all 
Americans. It's obvious and alarming to anyone who works in drug 
enforcement or border security that if this is what agencies are 
seizing, then everyone should be concerned on how much is being 
manufactured in Mexico, imported, and now on the streets in America.

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    To be clear, the current crisis can't be solved with law 
enforcement alone. This complex and emerging problem requires that all 
Americans unite. The United States needs more focus and resources on 
drug education, treatment, and rehabilitation in addition to law 
enforcement. This is an unprecedented public health, national security, 
and community safety matter that also has huge mental health 
ramifications for the addicted as well as their families. Sadly, 
Americans are turning to what they think are legitimate prescription 
pills for help and are getting ``fake'' pills containing deadly 
fentanyl. Our citizens are being deceived to death in an exorbitant 
number of cases. There are many great American patriots working in the 
medical, education, addiction, science, technology, financial, and 
other private-sector industries that can help develop comprehensive 
strategies and plans to deal with this matter.
    The status quo is an unacceptable option as too many lives are on 
the line. There must be accountability for all resources provided to 
these initiatives since it's not good enough to just provide funding. 
We need to see the death rates decline across the country.
    America has outdated technology and laws, limited resources 
directed at these national security threats, deceptive political 
leadership and huge morale issues across the agencies who are 
responsible for keeping the country safe. There is a concerning 
movement involving experienced law enforcement personnel retiring 
rapidly. This is happening as the cartels are building up their 
capabilities, enhancing their weapons systems, expanding their product 
line and unfortunately after forming a lethal partnership with CCN. 
Sadly, this has resulted in increased violence and escalating deaths in 
the United States.
    As a DEA supervisor for many years, the agent in charge of SOD for 
almost 10 years and as an huge supporter of law enforcement and 
grieving families since retirement, I learned so much about the 
evolution of the opioid addiction crisis, the ``bombing of America'' 
from synthetic drugs coming from China and Mexico, the growing role of 
CCN in drug trafficking and money laundering and the increased threats 
posed to our country from the Mexican ``terror'' cartels.
    Over the last year, there has been increased press reporting and 
Government warnings about new and more powerful synthetic opioid drugs 
or New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) like Nitazene, Etonitazene, 
Isonitizene, and Protonitazene. Nitazines are being sourced from China 
and being mixed into other drugs. DEA, Washington Field Division put 
out a warning on June 1, 2022, alerting the public about this emerging 
threat. (New, Dangerous Synthetic Opioid in D.C., Emerging in Tri-State 
Area, 2022)
    In addition to the Nitazene class of drugs, American communities 
have been saturated with Xylazine mixed with fentanyl, known as Tranq. 
Xylazine is a non-opiate sedative, analgesic, and muscle relaxant only 
authorized in the United States for veterinary use and not approved for 
human consumption. However massive amounts of illicit Xylazine are 
being produced in Chinese labs as well and now this deadly flesh-eating 
drug is destroying Americans all over the country.
    On March 20,2023, DEA put out an emergency public warning on the 
widespread threat of Xylazine mixed with Fentanyl and on July 11, 2023, 
the White House announced warnings and a plan to deal with this 
emerging drug threat. As stated in the press release, ONDCP Director 
Dr. Gupta said,

``Xylazine has been detected in nearly every State in the country.'' 
And ``I have seen the devastating consequences of xylazine combined 
with fentanyl firsthand.''

(FACT SHEET: In Continued Fight Against Overdose Epidemic, the White 
House Releases National Response Plan to Address the Emerging Threat of 
Fentanyl Combined with Xylazine, 2023) (DEA Reports Widespread Threat 
of Fentanyl Mixed with Xylazine, 2023)
(The Growing Threat of Xylazine, 2022)

    Deadly chemical substances are being manufactured in Chinese labs 
and being distributed all over America. Although I appreciate of the 
Government warnings and plans to deal with these emerging drug threats, 
SYNTHETIC DRUGS COMING FROM CHINA AND MEXICO HAVE BEEN A GAME CHANGER 
FOR THE UNITED STATES and we are under attack in my view. The U.S.G. 
must be way more aggressive in dealing with this growing public health 
and national security threat. Aggressive action plans, operational 
implementation and accountability on the leaders should be a top 
priority. Allowing the Mexican cartel operatives and people from around 
the world to enter the country illegally at record levels is enhancing 
the ability for criminals to kill Americans.
       systematic corruption in mexico and growth of the cartels
    Another disturbing aspect involving the Mexican cartels is their 
role as narco-terrorists and their advancement with the use of 
technology and weapon systems to enhance their deadly business 
enterprise. They are not typical crime groups as they conduct acts of 
terrorism not solely in furtherance of drug trafficking but for the 
purpose of instilling fear in the public and influencing.
    The cartels are responsible for utilizing terror tactics to 
silence, torture, and kill civilians, government officials, Catholic 
priests, and news reporters, who publicly speak out against the 
violence inflicted by the cartels. The Mexican cartels have become 
Mexico's insurgency's and have utilized terror tactics. They have 
corrupted the system and undermine the Mexican government and the rule 
of law. The Mexican cartels have recruited hundreds of trained law 
enforcement and military personnel who now carry out executions and 
assassinations on behalf of the cartels. The cartels routinely conduct 
beheadings, in which corpses and heads are hung on public display. The 
cartels are also indiscriminately killing to scare the general 
population into submission and subservience.
    The conviction of Genaro Garcia-Luna, former director of Mexico's 
Public Security, in Federal court in New York and the DEA arrest of 
Salvador Cienfuegos, former defense secretary of Mexico, reflects the 
level of corruption at the highest level of the Mexican government. 
(Mexico's former public security chief convicted in U.S. drug case, 
2023)
    (Golden, 2022) Having the top government officials on the Mexican 
cartel's payroll, help the cartels operate with impunity moving tons of 
drugs around the world and make billions. One of the biggest obstacles 
for U.S. law enforcement is overcoming the presence of high-level 
corruption in Mexico.
    In my view, the U.S. Government mistakenly views the Mexican 
cartels as only transnational crime organization, and its current 
strategy to attack the cartel threat at the border and in America are 
insufficient to end the Mexican cartels chaos and massive deaths to 
Americans. Look at the amounts of young Americans dying daily from 
their poisonous substances. The production is on the rise and the 
supply of these poisonous drugs are vast. The United States must accept 
and come to the realization that the cartels are operating like the 
most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world.
    As far as I know, there has never been a terrorist organization 
like al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, or ISIS, that has killed this many Americans. 
The U.S. Government assessment of the cartels must be updated. From my 
perspective, it doesn't matter what the U.S.G. decides to name the 
cartels, but rather what does matter is that the cartels are held fully 
accountable with the right force. The consequences for their actions 
must be appropriate based on their level of devastation they have 
caused American families. On September 11, 2001, approximately 3,000 
Americans were killed, and the United States responded appropriately. 
With hundreds of thousands being killed from poisonous fentanyl, it's 
about time the cartels feel the full force of America.
    The United States and Mexico efforts and strategies against the 
Mexican cartels have been proven to be ineffective in its ability to 
curtail and significantly reduce the level of drug trafficking and 
violence inflicted by the cartels. America must confront the level of 
violence and terror carried out by the cartels. The U.S.G. should not 
limit the strategy to combat the cartels with law enforcement alone. 
Additional capabilities must be put on the table to combat the Mexican 
``terror'' cartels. The U.S.G must use whatever authorities are needed 
to create a seamless plan to bridge the gap between the law 
enforcement, military, and the intelligence community to decimate these 
ruthless networks.
    The cartels utilize military grade weapons and C4 explosives and 
have been found to be in possession of weapons such as assault rifles, 
pistols, grenades, RPG rocket launchers, claymore anti-personnel mines 
and man portable air defense systems. The Mexican cartels have taken 
control of Mexico through active means of terrorism. During my last 
trip to the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, I was extremely concerned to 
learn about the 9,000 drones used by the cartels for surveillance 
inside America especially knowing how the cartels are now dropping C4 
explosives on their adversaries in Mexico. It's a threat growing daily 
on our Southern Border and the use of drones and explosives is a huge 
risk to our brave men and women of CBP who are fighting daily to keep 
us safe.
    On July 12, 2023, as reported in ABC News, A drug cartel set off a 
coordinated series of 7 roadway bombs in western Mexico that killed 4 
police officers and 2 civilians. The governor of Jalisco state said the 
explosions were ``a trap'' set by the cartel to kill law enforcement 
personnel. This is another recent example of the advanced terrorist-
style attacks carried out by the Mexican Cartels. (STEVENSON, 2023)
                            recommendations
   The President should hold a White House Summit immediately 
        to declare a national health and security emergency based on 
        the historic number of deaths from fentanyl and the escalating 
        growing lethal relationship between the Mexican cartels and the 
        CCN. All Americans must understand this is not the same old 
        drug problem and synthetic drugs have changed the game.
   Create an Operation Warp Speed type of response for Fentanyl 
        like we had for COVID and apply the best practices and lessons 
        learned to address the current fentanyl poisoning crisis.
   The President should direct the Department of Education to 
        implement a mandatory and robust curriculum at all schools to 
        ensure young Americans are learning about the emerging deadly 
        synthetic drug threats.
   The President must mandate the CDC to update the processes 
        on reporting timely and producing accurate statistics on 
        fentanyl and other synthetic drug poisonings and deaths.
   The White House should collaborate with professional 
        athletes, role models, celebrities, and social media 
        influencers to start an immediate outreach campaign to push 
        impactful video reels on social media sites targeting the 
        younger generation. The White House is currently using social 
        media influencers to push campaign messages out so why not 
        message about fentanyl to save American lives in the current 
        state of emergency.
   Declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.
   Work with Mexico and provide full U.S. support to decimate 
        the cartel's operations.
     Hold high-level security meetings with the Mexican 
            counterparts to accurately assess their commitment to shut 
            down the cartels and implement bilateral strategies.
     Offer the use of U.S. military assets for training, 
            capabilities, and resources to ensure the appropriate 
            resources are directed at the threats.
     Apply pressure on Mexico for increased information sharing 
            and bilateral investigations.
     Increase operations to arrest and extradite the highest 
            members of the cartels to face justice in the United 
            States.
     Increase operations in Mexico to identify and destroy 
            fentanyl and methamphetamine manufacturing labs.
     Consider precision strikes on the cartel's production labs 
            in Mexico.
   Declare the Sinaloa and CJNG cartel's terrorist 
        organizations based on their growing direct threats to the 
        United States and Mexico and apply the appropriate U.S. 
        authorities, resources, and capabilities.
     Since this recommendation is stuck in U.S. bureaucracy and 
            doesn't seem to have the full support of U.S. leadership, 
            the United States must at least respond appropriately based 
            on the gravity of the threats posed by the cartels. The 
            current response is unacceptable and irresponsible by 
            anyone who took the oath to support the U.S. Constitution 
            and protect America.
   Increase U.S. Treasury designations and sanctions to target 
        people and businesses facilitating the deadly criminal 
        enterprises and flooding America with poisonous drugs. Seize as 
        many assets derived from criminal activity as possible.
   Expand multi-agency task forces with additional resources to 
        target the supply of precursor chemicals from China and other 
        countries to the Mexican cartels.
   Build up relationships with China, India, and other 
        countries involved in shipping pre-cursor chemicals to the 
        cartels.
   Strengthen border security with the policies that work and 
        always place the interest of American citizens first.
     Need additional scanning resources at the border.
     Implement border walls with appropriate technology where 
            necessary based on Homeland Security expertise not based on 
            political motives.
     Continue the border wall construction.
     Implement remain in Mexico sound and common-sense policies 
            to address the tsunami of illegal migrants entering the 
            United States.
     Eliminate the loopholes for the fraudulent asylum claims.
   Office of National Drug Control Policy of United States 
        should develop Public Service Announcements immediately and 
        establish close partnerships with grieving families and 
        nonprofits who are fighting daily to spread awareness and save 
        lives.
   Hold social media companies accountable for facilitating the 
        movement of deadly drugs and other serious criminal activity 
        like ``sextortion'' on their platforms.
   Increase resources for mental health, treatment, and 
        rehabilitation for drug addiction and apply strict 
        accountability for the resources. Need to articulate the 
        results and progress.
   Provide resources for lab analysis and medical examiners to 
        expedite the process.
   Set up fentanyl death task forces like Task Force 10 in San 
        Diego and multi-agency task forces like in Los Angeles to 
        aggressively prosecute fentanyl dealers who are killing 
        citizens.
     Increase resources and prosecutions of synthetic drug 
            violators and ensure maximum penalties.
   Establish a more formal DC-based multi-agency ``Synthetic 
        Drug Task Force'' to use existing resources at the National 
        Targeting Center at DOD, National Targeting Center at CBP, DOJ 
        OCDETF Fusion Center, SOD, DEA's Special Intelligence, HIDTAs, 
        HHS, FDA, USPS, Treasury, and other key agencies.
     Build new strategies to stop the complex money-laundering 
            schemes used by the CCN to assist the cartels by moving 
            funds efficiently back to the leaders.
   Must address the outdated laws and polices especially 
        related to criminal communications.
     Work with technology companies and law enforcement to 
            collaborate on the growing concern of encrypted 
            communications and the impacts to national security.
     Address the DOJ policy regarding the December 16, 2022, 
            memorandum to all Federal prosecutors on charging, pleas, 
            and sentencing on drug crimes.
         The perception from law enforcement around America is 
            their own DOJ is way to ``soft on criminals''. The 
            dedicated law enforcement is working hard to keep citizens 
            safe are feel strongly they are being undermined. There are 
            huge moral issues developing.
   Must engage with mail services companies like UPS, FEDEX, 
        DHL, and others to address the movement of deadly substances 
        into America.
     Need updated technology at mail facilities to screen and 
            identify contraband moving around the country.
** The above is not an all-inclusive list of recommendations to address 
this very complex and escalating crisis.
                               conclusion
    The Mexican cartels, Sinaloa, and CJNG, currently operate 
throughout the United States and around the globe. They are working 
with CCN and are flooding America with deadly synthetic drugs. They are 
operating with impunity while taking full advantages of the 
vulnerabilities in the U.S. system and failing border policies and 
immigrations laws. The cartels are growing in strength and power and 
using advanced technology and weapons systems to grow their operations. 
Migrants are dying in record numbers on their journey to America and 
being exploited and trafficked by the cartels at the most inhumane 
levels we have ever seen.
    The current enforcement focus, treating the cartels as only 
criminal organizations, is not enough to stop the death and 
destruction. The United States must shut down the cartel's ability to 
operate with or without Mexico placing the safety and security of 
Americans first. We must use all authorities and capabilities of not 
only law enforcement but the intelligence community, the Department of 
Defense and Treasury Department as one force to decimate the cartels.
    CBP must focus their resources on border security and not have to 
be inundated with migrant processing, baby sitting, and administrative 
duties. The country is saturated with crime, drugs, and violence fueled 
by the Mexican cartels and, the cartels are taking full advantage of 
the massive addiction and the demand for opioids and methamphetamines 
all over the United States.
    During his Senate testimony on February 15, 2023, Dr. Rahul Gupta, 
Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy of United States, 
stated the following related to the current drug situation:
   ``Worst drug crisis we have ever seen.''
   ``Unacceptable to me''
   ``Unacceptable to the President''
   ``Direct threat to public health and national security''
   ``New era of drug trafficking''.
    Based on these statements, the American public and specifically the 
families who have lost loved ones to poisonous fentanyl, deserve full 
transparency and way more action. Solving this unprecedented national 
security and public health crisis won't go away from just words. We 
need new strategies and way more action. We must recognize that this is 
something America has never faced before, and we are losing the future 
generation rapidly.
    Terrorists will continue to tap into the incredible amounts of 
money generated from drug trafficking and many other criminal 
activities such as human trafficking, counterfeiting, weapon sales, and 
sex trafficking so it's imperative that our hard-working law 
enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel get the resources and 
support to enforce the laws and keep Americans safe.
    We need the leadership of the Attorney General, the Secretary of 
the Department of Homeland Security, executives from the Department of 
Defense and the intelligence community to unite and battle these 
growing adversaries. We also need to work closely with our State and 
local counterparts who are under-resourced trying to deal with this 
crisis on the front lines. We need to unite our agencies as the 
complexity of the threats continues to grow. The threats to this great 
country are moving at lightning speed and we need a sense of urgency at 
this point. It's evident that the Mexican cartels are moving extremely 
fast while our investigators and assets are getting ``stuck in the 
mud'' of politics, bureaucracy, and antiquated laws.
    In my view, fentanyl is a chemical weapon and the narco-terrorists' 
Mexican cartels are destroying our country as their work closely with 
the CCN.
    We need to step up the game with a sense of urgency. Law 
enforcement will continue to do their best in enforcing the laws, but 
America needs Congress and White House leadership to further engage on 
these growing issues. The death rates are spiking and impacting 
Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We must come together and 
develop updated strategies to combat these threats.
    As DHS Secretary Mayorkas stated during a Senate hearing in March 
2023, ``The record number of Americans dying of fentanyl overdoses is 
now the ``single greatest challenge we face as a country.'' Based on 
this statement, America needs policies and actions consistent to this 
assessment.
    Thank you for the opportunity to speak on these important topics 
impacting our national security and public safety.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

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from fentanyl-laced pills. Retrieved from USAToday.com: https://
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    Chairman Green. I now recognize----
    Mr. Thompson. Hold on a minute. Why do you reference me?
    Mr. Maltz. Because in your opening statement, you said that 
this was a charade, it was a waste of time, whatever words you 
used, and the kids are dying at record levels, and I don't 
appreciate that.
    Mr. Thompson. Look, I had said----
    Chairman Green. Hold on. The Ranking Member is not 
recognized.
    We are going to continue on with our witnesses.
    Ms. Felbab-Brown, you are recognized for 5 minutes.

STATEMENT OF VANDA FELBAB-BROWN, PH D, DIRECTOR, INITIATIVE ON 
        NONSTATE ARMED ACTORS, THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Thank you for this opportunity to 
testify.
    As was said, I'm a senior fellow at the Brookings 
Institution. The Brookings Institution is U.S. nonprofit 
organization devoted to independent research and policy 
solution. My testimony represents solely my personal views and 
not those of anyone else.
    U.S. domestic prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and 
law enforcement measures are fundamental and indispensable to 
countering the devastating fentanyl crisis. Mexican criminal 
groups, particularly e Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva 
Generacion, source fentanyl and fentanyl precursors in China, 
synthetize them into fentanyl in Mexico, and then smuggle them 
into the United States. Some 90 percent of fentanyl seizures 
occur in legal ports of entry, and this is very likely where 
most fentanyl is smuggled through. Mexican cartels 
predominantly hire U.S. citizens to smuggle drugs across the 
border. U.S. citizens represent more than 85 percent of those 
convicted of fentanyl charges.
    Drugs are hidden frequently in personal vehicles or within 
legal cargo. New ports of entry scanning technology authorized 
by the Biden administration are expected to significantly 
increase the percentage of inspected vehicles and cargo. A most 
welcome development. A highly pernicious recent development is 
the establishment in Mexico of pharmacies that sell fentanyl-
laced drugs and other dangerous substances, as well as drugs 
such such as antibiotics and steroids without prescription. 
These are located in major tourist areas and very likely are 
linked to Mexican cartels. Yet, although they operate in plain 
sight of Mexican authorities, the Mexican authorities appear to 
take little action against them.
    Increasing payments for precursors originating in China are 
now occurring in wildlife, a significant problem endangering 
public health and safety, as well as food and security and 
global biodiversity with repercussions for the United States.
    In Mexico, the collapse of rule of law is profound and goes 
far beyond the high rates of homicides and disappearances. 
While the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez 
Obrador persists in its do-little policy vis-a-vis Mexican 
cartels, the groups are increasingly resorting to more brazen 
violence, enjoying high levels of impunity as well as governing 
large scope of economies, institutions, and a significant 
number of people while seeking to influence elections.
    In contrast, in the United States, because of the high 
effectiveness of U.S. law enforcement and policies, Mexican 
criminal groups are far less violent and do not behave in the 
same way. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of violent, serious 
crime in the United States are committed by U.S. citizens.
    U.S. counter-narcotics and law enforcement bargaining with 
Mexico is constrained by the U.S. reliance on Mexico to stop 
migrant flows to the United States. If the United States were 
able to pass the comprehensive immigration reform that would 
allow legal pathways for those seeking protection and 
opportunities in the United States, it would be far better able 
to induce the Mexican government to meaningfully cooperate on 
counternarcotics and other law enforcement issues.
    In its engagement with the Mexican government the United 
States should prioritize shutting down Mexican pharmacies that 
sell fentanyl and methamphetamine-laced drugs, the actual 
dismantling of drug-trafficking networks, not merely seizures 
and labs and more effective Mexican prosecutorial action.
    Rather than designating Mexican criminal groups as foreign 
terrorist organizations, the United States should further 
significantly intensify border inspections. That requires 
adequately resourcing U.S. Customs and Border protection, both 
with resources and personnel for legal ports of entry, as well 
as developing packages of leverage, such as indictment 
portfolios and visa denials against Mexican officials who 
sabotage rule of law in Mexico and facilitate cartel 
activities.
    The United States should also adopt a true whole-of-
Government approach to countering fentanyl smuggling, 
authorizing a wide range of U.S. agencies, including the 
departments, to support U.S. law enforcement. Because the 
cartels are no longer specializing simply in drug trafficking, 
but a whole variety of legal and illegal economies, the 
approach needs to be multifaceted. That means increasing 
intelligence collections against a wide variety of activities 
the cartels engage in, such as crimes against nature and 
consequently the number of U.S. Fish and Wildlife special 
agents and investigators, as well as other specialists for 
other economies. It also means bringing a wide set of law 
enforcement actors to organized crime drug force task forces.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Felbab-Brown follows:]
                Prepared Statement of Vanda Felbab-Brown
                             July 17, 2023
    Dear Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and distinguished 
Members of the Committee on Homeland Security: I am honored to have 
this opportunity to testify at this hearing entitled, ``Biden and 
Mayorkas' Open Border: Advancing Cartel Crime in America.''
    I am a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution where I direct 
The Initiative on Non-State Armed Actors and co-direct the Africa 
Security Initiative. Illicit economies, such as the drug trade and 
wildlife trafficking, organized crime, and corruption, and their 
impacts on U.S. and local security issues around the world are the 
domain of my work and the subject of several of the books I have 
written. I have conducted fieldwork on these issues in Latin America, 
Asia, and Africa. I have been studying crime and security policies in 
Mexico and their impact on public safety in the United States for over 
two decades and have recently returned from a month-long research trip 
in Mexico in June 2023.
    This testimony draws extensively on my many publications on crime 
issues in Mexico, available on my page on Brookings's website,\1\ as 
well as my latest research trip in Mexico.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Vanda Felbab-Brown, The Brookings Institution, https://
www.brookings.edu/people/vanda-felbab-brown/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Brookings Institution is a U.S. nonprofit organization devoted 
to independent research and policy solutions. Its mission is to conduct 
high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to 
provide innovative, practical recommendations for policy makers and the 
public. The testimony that I am submitting represents solely my 
personal views and does not reflect the views of Brookings, its other 
scholars, employees, officers, and/or trustees.
                           executive summary
    U.S. domestic prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and law 
enforcement measures are fundamental and indispensable to countering 
the devastating fentanyl crisis.
    However, the structural characteristics of synthetic drugs such as 
fentanyl, including the ease of developing similar, but not scheduled, 
synthetic drugs and their new precursors--increasingly a wide array of 
dual-use chemicals--pose immense structural obstacles to controlling 
their supply.
    Nonetheless, given the extent and lethality of the synthetic opioid 
epidemic in North America and its emergent spread to other parts of the 
world, even supply control measures with partial and limited 
effectiveness can save lives and thus need to be designed as smartly 
and robustly as possible.
                        the trafficking patterns
    Mexican criminal groups--principally the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel 
Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG)--source fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, 
and pre-precursors from China. In Mexico, they synthesize the 
precursors into fentanyl. Sometimes they traffic finished fentanyl to 
the United States in an unadulterated form; other times, they mix it 
into other drugs, press it into pills, and traffic such fentanyl 
contraband to the United States.
    Some 90% of fentanyl seizures occur in legal ports of entry.
    Mexican cartels predominantly hire U.S. citizens to smuggle drugs 
across the border; U.S. citizens represent more than 85% of those 
convicted of fentanyl charges. Drugs, such as fentanyl, are frequently 
hidden in concealed vehicle compartments driven by U.S. citizens with 
U.S. license plates. Traffickers also extensively hide fentanyl and 
other drugs within legal cargo entering the United States through legal 
ports of entry.
    Yet despite efforts to increase port-of-entry inspections, the U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency is able to inspect only some 
of the entering vehicles. New ports-of-entry scanning technologies 
authorized by the Biden administration are expected to significantly 
increase the percentage of inspected vehicles, a most welcome 
development.
    Yet drug trafficking groups also utilize other smuggling methods, 
such as tunnels, maritime boats, and drones.
    A highly pernicious recent development is the establishment of 
pharmacies in Mexico, particularly in major international tourist 
areas, that sell fentanyl-laced drugs, other dangerous substances, and 
regulated medications, such as antibiotics, without prescription. Most 
likely linked to major Mexican cartels, these pharmacies significantly 
increase the dangers of fentanyl trafficking as well as increased 
threats to global public health, security, and the economy. Yet 
although these pharmacies operate in violation of Mexican laws and in 
plain sight, there appears to be little meaningful action by Mexican 
law enforcement and regulatory authorities to shut them down.
Money laundering
    Chinese actors have come to play an increasing role in laundering 
money for Mexican cartels, circumventing the U.S. and Mexican formal 
banking systems. Other money laundering and value transfers between 
Mexican and Chinese criminal networks include trade-based laundering; 
value transfer utilizing wildlife products, such as protected and 
unprotected marine products and timber; real estate; cryptocurrencies; 
casinos; and bulk cash. Indeed, despite intensified efforts by the 
United States to counter the flow of bulk cash to Mexico across the 
U.S.-Mexico border across several administrations, extensive amounts of 
illicit money and weapons continue to flow from the United States to 
Mexico.
    The increasing payments for drug precursors originating in China in 
wildlife products are particularly noteworthy. This method of payment 
engenders multiple threats to public health and safety, economic 
sustainability, food security, and global biodiversity. If this 
wildlife trafficking spreads dangerous zoonotic diseases, it could even 
pose a threat to national security.
The Behavior of Mexican Cartels in Mexico and in the United States
    In Mexico, the collapse of the rule of law is profound and goes far 
beyond the high rates of homicides and disappearances of people 
perpetrated by criminal groups. While the administration of President 
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador persists in its do-little policy, Mexican 
criminal groups are resorting more and more to brazen violence while 
enjoying high levels of impunity in Mexico.
    In Mexico, Mexican criminal groups increasingly govern a large 
scope of territories, economies, and institutions and a significant 
number of people. They have also profoundly intensified their efforts 
to influence elections at all levels of the government.
    Investigative and prosecutorial capacities in Mexico remain 
limited. They are overwhelmed by the level of crime in Mexico and 
suffering from criminal infiltration, corruption, and political 
interference despite decades-long efforts at reform.
    In the United States, because of the high effectiveness of U.S. law 
enforcement, Mexican criminal groups behave strikingly differently: 
they are far less violent and do not have the capacity to govern 
people, institutions, or territories. The overwhelming majority of 
violent and serious crimes in the United States are committed by U.S. 
citizens.
    Indeed, even in Mexico, Mexican criminal groups intensely fear U.S. 
law enforcement actions. Yet the Mexican government has gravely 
undermined the capacity of U.S. law enforcement to operate in Mexico.
    Mexican drug cartels are expanding their role into crimes against 
nature, and they are also increasingly infiltrating and seeking to 
dominate a variety of legal economies in Mexico, including fisheries, 
logging, and agriculture, and extorting an even wider array of legal 
economies.
    Because of the diversification of the economic portfolio of Mexican 
cartels and Chinese criminal networks, focusing primarily on drug 
seizures close to their source is no longer an adequate approach for 
effectively countering drug smuggling networks that send pernicious 
drugs to the United States or their financial systems.
    Countering poaching and wildlife trafficking in Mexico and 
thwarting illegal fishing in Mexican and Latin American waters are 
increasingly important aspects of countering Mexican drug-trafficking 
cartels and their damaging effects in the United States and Mexico. 
Indeed, this convergence of illicit economies also provides the United 
States with new opportunities for intelligence gathering and law 
enforcement actions, even as China-Mexico law enforcement cooperation 
against the trafficking of fentanyl and precursor agents for meth and 
synthetic opioids remains minimal.
Mexico's Inadequate Law Enforcement Cooperation with the United States
    Just like with China, Mexico's cooperation with U.S. 
counternarcotics efforts is profoundly hollowed out. The Mexican 
government of Lopez Obrador has eviscerated counternarcotics and law 
enforcement cooperation with the United States since 2019 and 
particularly since 2020 when U.S. law enforcement activities in Mexico 
became shackled and undermined by Mexican government actions.
    The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, 
and Safe Communities \2\ of the fall of 2021 reiterates multiple 
dimensions of counternarcotics cooperation, including law enforcement, 
and emphasizes the public health and anti-money-laundering elements of 
the agreement, as the Mexican government sought.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ ``Summary of the Action Plan for U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial 
Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities: A Fact 
Sheet,'' U.S. Department of State, January 31, 2022, https://
www.state.gov/summary-of-the-action-plan-for-u-s-mexico-bicentennial-
framework-for-security-public-health-and-safe-communities/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In practice, however, the Mexican government's actions and 
cooperation on its side of the U.S.-Mexico border remain profoundly 
inadequate, including and particularly in law enforcement actions to 
counter the Mexican criminal groups and their production and 
trafficking of fentanyl. Crucially, even when drug laboratories are 
actually busted by Mexican authorities, little network dismantling and 
few meaningful drug prosecutions follow. Traffickers can thus easily 
survive and recover from limited financial losses by erecting new drug 
labs.
    U.S. counternarcotics and law enforcement bargaining with Mexico is 
constrained by the U.S. reliance on Mexico to stop migrant flows to the 
United States. Both the Trump and the Biden administrations strongly 
prioritized securing Mexico's cooperation in stopping the flows of 
undocumented migrants to the United States. This prioritization--and 
the dependence on Mexico's cooperation on that issue--has left the 
Mexican government feeling emboldened to disregard other U.S. interests 
and Mexico's commitments, such as on counternarcotics and law 
enforcement cooperation. If the United States were able to conduct a 
comprehensive immigration reform that would provide legal work 
opportunities to those currently seeking protection and opportunities 
in the United States through unauthorized migration, it would have far 
better leverage to induce meaningful and robust counternarcotics and 
law enforcement cooperation with Mexico and would be better able to 
save U.S. lives.
Policy Priorities and Tools
    Although supply control measures have partial and limited 
effectiveness, improving them to supplement U.S. domestic treatment and 
harm reduction measures is important.
    Strengthening border controls at legal ports of entry through which 
the vast majority of fentanyl enters the United States is one such 
important measure, as is demanding better cooperation from the Mexican 
government.
    Since Mexican drug cartels have diversified their activities into a 
wide array of illicit and licit commodities, primarily focusing on drug 
seizures close to the source is no longer sufficient for effectively 
disrupting fentanyl smuggling and criminal networks implicated in it.
    Rather, it is imperative to counter all of the Mexican criminal 
groups' economic activities. This includes countering poaching and 
wildlife trafficking from Mexico and illegal logging and mining in 
places where the Mexican cartels have reach, acting against illegal 
fishing off Mexico and around Latin America and elsewhere, and shutting 
down wildlife trafficking networks into China. These are all 
increasingly important elements of countering Mexican and Chinese drug-
trafficking groups and reducing the flow of fentanyl to the United 
States.
    In its law enforcement engagement with the Mexican government, the 
United States should prioritize:
   shutting down Mexican pharmacies that sell fentanyl- and 
        methamphetamine-adulterated drugs;
   not merely seizures and busts of laboratories but the actual 
        dismantling of drug trafficking networks, particularly of their 
        middle-operational layers that are hard to recreate and the 
        removal of which significantly hampers the ability of criminal 
        groups to operate and smuggle contraband;
   and far more effective Mexican prosecutorial actions against 
        suppliers.
    The United States has various tools to induce better cooperation 
from Mexico: Designating Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist 
Organizations (FTOs) would enable intelligence gathering and strike 
options for the United States military, such as against some fentanyl 
labs in Mexico. But the number of available strike targets in Mexico 
would be limited, and the strikes would not robustly disrupt the 
criminal groups. Neither would the FTO designation add authorities to 
the economic sanctions and anti-money laundering and financial 
intelligence tools that the already-in-place designation of 
Transnational Criminal Organization carries.
    Moreover, such unilateral U.S. military actions in Mexico would 
severely jeopardize relations with our vital trading partner and 
neighbor and the FTO designation could significantly limit and outright 
hamper other U.S. foreign policy options, measures, and interests.
    Instead, the United States should:
   consider further significantly intensifying border 
        inspections;
   adequately resource U.S. law enforcement agencies such as 
        the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to adopt the most 
        advanced scanners and increase the number of CBP inspectors at 
        U.S. legal ports;
   develop packages of leverage, including indictment 
        portfolios and visa denials, against Mexican national security 
        and law enforcement officials and politicians who sabotage rule 
        of law cooperation in Mexico, facilitate cartel activities, and 
        undermine law enforcement cooperation with the United States.
    Importantly, to effectively counter the fentanyl-smuggling actors, 
the United States should expand and smarten up its own measures against 
criminal actors, including by:
   truly adopting a whole-of-Government approach to countering 
        fentanyl-smuggling entities;
   authorizing a wide range of U.S. Government agencies, 
        including the Departments of State and Defense, to support U.S. 
        law enforcement against Mexican and Chinese criminal actors and 
        fentanyl trafficking and crimes against nature;
   collecting relevant intelligence on crimes against nature to 
        understand criminal linkages to foreign governments and 
        criminal groups and elevate such intelligence collection in the 
        U.S. National Intelligence Priorities Framework;
   expanding the number and frequency of participation of U.S. 
        wildlife investigators and special agents in Organized Crime 
        Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF);
   increasing the number of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
        special agents and investigators, which have flatlined since 
        the 1970's even as the value of wildlife trafficking has 
        significantly increased since then; and
   designating wildlife trafficking as a predicate offense for 
        wiretap authorization.
                        the trafficking patterns
    Synthetic opioids are the source of the deadliest and unabating 
U.S. drug epidemic ever. Since 1999, drug overdoses have killed over 1 
million Americans,\3\ a lethality rate that has increased significantly 
since 2012 when synthetic opioids from China began supplying the U.S. 
demand for illicit opioids. In 2021, the number of fatalities was 
106,699 \4\; in 2022, it is estimated at 107,477.\5\ Most of the deaths 
are due to fentanyl, consumed on its own or mixed into fake 
prescription pills, heroin, and increasingly methamphetamine and 
cocaine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Julie O'Donnell, Lauren J. Tanz, R. Matt Gladden, Nicole L. 
Davis, and Jessica Bitting, ``Trends in and Characteristics of Drug 
Overdose Deaths Involving Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyls--United 
States, 2019-2020,'' Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70, No. 50, 
December 17, 2021.
    \4\ Merianne Rose Spencer, Arialdi M. Minino, and Margaret Warner, 
``Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2001-2021,'' NCHS Data 
Brief No, 457, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National 
Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services, December 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/
db457.pdf.
    \5\ ``Dr. Rahul Gupta Releases Statement on CDC's New Overdose 
Death Data,'' The White House, Office of National Drug Control Policy, 
January 11, 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2023/
01/11/dr-rahul-gupta-releases-statement-on-cdcs-new-overdose-death-
data-2/
#:?:text=Rahul%2520Gupta%252C%2520Director%2520of%2520the,period%2520- 
ending%2520in%2520August%25202022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    After years of intense U.S. diplomacy, China placed the entire 
class of synthetic opioids on a regulatory schedule.\6\ Yet it remains 
the principal (if indirect) source of U.S. fentanyl.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Mark Landler, ``U.S. and China Call Truce in Trade War,'' The 
New York Times, December 1, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/
world/trump-xi-g20-merkel.html.
    \7\ Vanda Felbab-Brown, ``China's Role in the Smuggling of 
Synthetic Drugs and Precursors,'' The Brookings Institution, March 
2022, https://www.brookings.edu/events/chinas-role-in-the-smuggling-of-
synthetic-drugs-and-precursors/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The fentanyl scheduling and China's adoption of stricter mail 
monitoring have created some deterrence effects. Instead of finished 
fentanyl being shipped directly to the United States, most smuggling 
now takes place via Mexico.
    Mexican criminal groups--principally the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG--
source fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, and pre-precursors from China. In 
Mexico, they synthesize the precursors into fentanyl. Sometimes they 
traffic finished fentanyl to the United States in an unadulterated 
form, other times, they mix it into other drugs, press it into pills, 
and traffic such fentanyl contraband to the United States. The Mexican 
cartels are also increasingly exploring the possibility of moving 
fentanyl production and pill-pressing sites to other parts of the 
world, such as Colombia and Guatemala.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ Luis Chaparro, ``Sinaloa Cartel Exports Fentanyl `Kitchens' 
from Mexico to Colombia amid International Crackdown,'' Fox News, June 
13, 2023, https://www.foxnews.com/world/sinaloa-cartel-export-fentanyl-
kitchens-mexico-colombia-international-crackdown; Vanda Felbab-Brown, 
``How the Taliban Suppressed Opium in Afghanistan--and Why There's 
Little to Celebrate,'' Time Magazine, July 17, 2023, https://time.com/
6294753/taliban-opium-suppression-afghanistan/; Vanda Felbab-Brown, 
``The Foreign Policies of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG--Part V: Europe's 
Supercoke and On-the-Horizon Issues and the Middle East,'' Mexico 
Today, https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-foreign-policies-of-the-
sinaloa-cartel-and-cjng-part-v-europes-supercoke-and-on-the-horizon-
issues-and-the-middle-east/; Vanda Felbab-Brown, ``The Foreign Policies 
of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG--Part IV: Europe's Cocaine and Meth 
Markets,'' Mexico Today, September 2, 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/
opinions/the-foreign-policies-of-the-sinaloa-cartel-and-cjng-part-iv-
europes-cocaine-and-meth-markets/; and Vanda Felbab-Brown, ``The 
Foreign Policies of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG--Part I: In the 
Americas,'' Mexico Today, July 22, 2022, https://mexicotoday.com/2022/
07/22/opinion-the-foreign-policies-of-the-sinaloa-cartel-cjng-part-i-
in-the-americas/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It appears that the vast majority of fentanyl enters the United 
States through legal ports of entry. Certainly, in 2022, 90% of 
fentanyl seizures occurred at a legal port of entry or interior vehicle 
checkpoints.\9\ In 2022, Border Patrol agents who were not at vehicle 
checkpoints accounted for just 9% of fentanyl seizures.\10\ Since 
October 2022, i.e., the start of the 2023 fiscal year, 92% of fentanyl 
seizures occurred at legal ports of entry.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ``Drug Seizure 
Statistics fiscal year 2023'' and ``Drug Seizure Statistics fiscal year 
2022,'' https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics.
    \10\ David J. Bier, ``Fentanyl Is Smuggled for U.S. Citizens by 
U.S. Citizens, Not Asylum Seekers,'' CATO Institute, September 14, 
2022, https://www.cato.org/blog/fentanyl-smuggled-us-citizens-us-
citizens-not-asylum-seekers.
    \11\ Adam Isacson, ``Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: Fentanyl, 
CBO One, `Friendship Park,' Washington Office on Latin America, March 
24, 2023, https://www.wola.org/2023/03/weekly-u-s-mexico-border-update-
fentanyl-cbp-one-friendship-park/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mexican cartels intensively hire U.S. citizens to smuggle drugs 
across the border because U.S. citizens generate less suspicion and are 
often subject to less inspection scrutiny than foreign nationals. 
Drugs, such as fentanyl, are frequently hidden in concealed vehicle 
compartments driven by U.S. citizens with U.S. license plates. In 2022, 
88% of fentanyl trafficking convictions were of U.S. citizens.\12\ In 
2021, U.S. citizens accounted for 86.3% of fentanyl convictions.\13\ 
Only 0.02% of people arrested by Border Patrol crossing illegally into 
the United States possessed any fentanyl.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ U.S. Sentencing Commission, ``Quick Facts: Fentanyl 
Trafficking Offenses,'' 2022, https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/
pdf/research-and-publications/quick-facts/Fentanyl_FY21.- pdf.
    \13\ [Footnote not provided.]
    \14\ David J. Bier, ``Fentanyl Is Smuggled for U.S. Citizens by 
U.S. Citizens, Not Asylum Seekers.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Traffickers also extensively hide fentanyl and other drugs within 
legal cargo entering the United States through legal ports of 
entry.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ``2020 National Drug 
Threat Assessment,'' March 2021, dea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-02/
DIR-008-21_2020 National Drug Threat Assessment_WEB.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Yet for years, CBP has been able to inspect only a small percentage 
of the vehicles that cross the U.S. land borders. In 2019, CBP 
acknowledged that it was able to inspect only 2% of all private 
vehicles and only 16% of commercial vehicles at land legal ports of 
entry.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\ Leandra Bernstein, ``Vehicle Scanning Technology at the Border 
Is about to Ruin the Drug Trade,'' NBC Montana, August 29, 2019, 
https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/vehicle-scanning-technology-
at-the-border-is-about-to-ruin-the-drug-trade.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Biden administration has appropriately sought to redress this 
challenge by installing powerful scanners at legal ports of entry. 
Their augmented efficiency allows for better visibility into individual 
vehicles and their cargo as well as the scanning of more vehicles.\17\ 
Once the new scanners are deployed, the number of inspected vehicles is 
expected to rise dramatically to 40% of passenger vehicles and 70% of 
cargo vehicles.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ Nick Miroff, ``U.S. Deploys Powerful Scanners at Border to 
Fight Fentanyl Smuggling,'' The Washington Post, March 9, 2023, https:/
/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/09/united-states-arizona-border-
fentanyl/.
    \18\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    But even with the installation of advanced technology to better 
scan more vehicles entering through U.S. legal ports of entry, a 
significant percentage of vehicles and cargo will still go unchecked.
    Yet drug trafficking groups also utilize other smuggling methods, 
such as tunnels under the U.S.-Mexico border and postal or courier 
services. Increasingly, the smuggling methods feature drug trafficking 
by boats on the seas and by drones across the land border with Mexico. 
The very high potency-per-weight ratio of synthetic opioids and 
improving payloads of commercial off-the-shelf drones make the 
smuggling of fentanyl through this method increasingly feasible and 
profitable.
    A highly pernicious recent development is the establishment of 
pharmacies in Mexico, particularly in major international tourist 
areas, that sell fentanyl-laced drugs and other dangerous substances. 
Proliferating in places such as the Mayan Riviera and Los Cabos over 
the past 3 years, these pharmacies are physical buildings that appear 
like other Mexican pharmacies. Yet they openly advertise drugs such as 
antibiotics, anabolic steroids, and prescription opiates and sell them 
illegally without a prescription. Investigative work by The Los Angeles 
Times and separately by Vice discovered that drugs sold as Percocet, 
for example, also contained fentanyl and methamphetamine.\19\ During my 
June 2023 fieldwork in Mexico, shop assistants in these pharmacies 
claimed they could mail any of these drugs to the United States without 
a prescription.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\ Connor Sheets and Keri Blakinger, ``Fentanyl-tainted Pills Now 
Found in Mexican Pharmacies from Coast to Coast,'' The Los Angeles 
Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-
06-14/fentanyl-tainted-pills-now-found-in-mexican-pharmacies-from-
coast-to-coast; and Deborah Bonello, ``Cartels Are Using Pharmacies To 
Sell Fake Pills Laced With Fentanyl and Meth to Unwitting Tourists,'' 
Vice, June 14, 2023, https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7bbxv/mexico-
pharmacies-fake-pills-cjng-sinaloa-cartel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Amidst an already terrible drug epidemic, these pharmacies greatly 
magnify the threats to public health. U.S. citizens have long been used 
to buying medications that are too expensive in the United States from 
Mexico. Unwittingly, intending to buy other medication, they may end up 
buying drugs causing lethal overdose or addiction. The legitimate 
veneer of these pharmacies also exposes a much wider set of potential 
customers to fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, ranging from teenagers 
to the elderly. Because the pharmacies aggressively target 
international tourists in major vacation resort areas, they also export 
the fentanyl epidemic to other regions of the world, such as Western 
Europe. Many of these pharmacies are likely linked to the Sinaloa 
Cartel and CJNG. Further funding the Mexican cartels and other drug 
trafficking networks, a geographic spread of fentanyl use would augment 
the global public health disaster.
    The adulteration of fake medications with fentanyl and 
methamphetamine is not the sole problem. The unauthorized sale of 
antibiotics without prescription at these pharmacies also poses other 
massive global public health, economic, and security harms, such as the 
intensified emergence of drug-resistant bacteria.
    Shutting down these unscrupulous pharmacies to minimize the 
criminals' market access and to reduce exposure to customers is 
imperative. Simply seizing illicit pills while letting the pharmacies 
operate is inadequate. Shutdown and strong prosecutorial actions are 
necessary against suppliers. Yet while these pharmacies operate in 
violation of Mexican laws, in plain sight, and visibly saturate major 
tourist areas, there appears to be little law enforcement action by 
Mexican officials and regulatory authorities, such as from Mexico's 
Federal Commission for Protection Against Sanitary Risks 
(COFEPRIS).\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\ In June 2023, COFEPRIS finally raided three such pharmacies in 
Los Cabos, arresting 4 and seizing some 25,000 pills. See Brittny 
Mejia, ``Mexico Raids Pharmacies in Probe of Fentanyl-Laced Pills,'' 
Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-07-
07/mexican-authorities-raid-pharmacies-in-inquiry-into-fentanyl-
tainted-pills.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            money laundering
    The National Drug Intelligence Center of the U.S. Department of 
Justice estimated in 2008 that Mexican and Colombian drug trafficking 
groups earned between $18 billion and $39 billion a year from wholesale 
drug sales.\21\ In 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
estimated bulk cash smuggling to Mexico at between $19 billion and $29 
billion annually.\22\ Other estimates from the United Nations Office on 
Drugs and Crime, research organizations, and news media have assessed 
Mexico's drug export revenues to have been in the range of $6 billion 
to $21 billion a year between 2010 and 2018.\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\ ``Illicit Finance,'' in National Drug Threat Assessment 2009 
(Washington, DC: National Drug Intelligence Center, U.S. Department of 
Justice, December 2008).
    \22\ [Footnote not provided.]
    \23\ See ``Estimating Illicit Financial Flows Resulting from Drug 
Trafficking and Other Transnational Organized Crimes: Research 
Report,'' (Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, October 
2011); Beau Kilmer, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Brittany M. Bond, and Peter 
Reuter, ``Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico: 
Would Legalizing Marijuana in California Help?'' (Santa Monica, Calif.: 
RAND Corporation, 2010); Gabriel Stargardter, ``Mexico's Drug Cartels, 
Now Hooked on Fuel, Cripple the Country's Refineries,'' Reuters, 
January 24, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/
mexico-violence-oil/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mexican cartels utilize many money-laundering methods, among which 
are illicit money-laundering systems such as the black-peso market, 
trade-based money laundering, real estate, cryptocurrencies, casinos, 
and bulk cash.\24\ Indeed, despite intensified efforts by the United 
States to counter the flows of bulk cash to Mexico across the U.S.-
Mexico border across several administrations, extensive amounts of 
illicit money and weapons continue to flow from the United States to 
Mexico.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with current and former U.S. 
and Mexican officials and law enforcement officers, Mexico City, and by 
virtual platforms, October and November 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The cartels are also increasingly using a novel approach: Chinese 
informal money exchange systems based out of the United States and 
Mexico.
    Although it is not clear what percentage of the cartels' illicit 
profits is laundered through Chinese money transfer networks, U.S. 
officials fear that the effectiveness of the Chinese networks' money 
laundering is such that it is even displacing established Mexican and 
Colombian money launderers and putting the flows of cartel money even 
more out of reach of U.S. law enforcement.\25\ In some cases, a 
particular Chinese money-laundering network managed to get itself hired 
by both the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG; in other cases, they worked 
exclusively with just one of them.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \25\ Drazen Jorgic, ``Special Report: Burner Phones and Mobile 
Banking Apps: Meet the Chinese Brokers Laundering Mexican drug money,'' 
Reuters, December 3, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-
china-cartels-specialreport/special-report-burner-phones-and-banking-
apps-meet-the-chinese-brokers-laundering-mexican-drug-money-
idUSKBN28D1M4.
    \26\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with U.S. Government and law 
enforcement officials, Mexico City, and by virtual platforms, October 
and November 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The increasing payments for drug precursors in wildlife products 
coveted in China--for Traditional Chinese Medicine, aphrodisiacs, other 
forms of consumption, or as a tool of speculation, such as in the case 
of the highly-prized swim bladder of the endemic and protected Mexican 
totoaba fish poached for Chinese markets--are particularly 
worrisome.\27\ Other wildlife commodities used for money laundering, 
tax evasion, and as barter payments between Mexican cartels and Chinese 
precursor networks include abalone, jellyfish, and lobster.\28\ Instead 
of paying in cash, Chinese traffickers are paid in commodities. The 
amount of value generated by wildlife commodity payments, likely in the 
tens of millions of dollars, may not cover all of the precursor payment 
totals, but could cover a substantial percentage since the total 
payments for precursors likely amount to tens of millions of dollars 
also.\29\ Wildlife barter may not displace other methods of money 
laundering and value transfer. But the increasing role of this method 
can devastate natural ecosystems and biodiversity in Mexico as the 
cartels steadily seek to legally and illegally harvest more and more of 
a wider range of animal and plant species to pay for drug precursors. 
In Mexico, poaching and wildlife trafficking for Chinese markets are 
increasingly intermeshed with drug trafficking, money laundering, and 
value transfer in illicit economies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ Vanda Felbab-Brown, ``China's Role in Poaching and Wildlife 
Trafficking in Mexico'' (The Brookings Institution, March 2022, https:/
/www.brookings.edu/events/chinas-role-in-poaching-and-wildlife-
trafficking-in-mexico/). For background, see also Vanda Felbab-Brown 
and Alejandro Castillo, ``Restore US-Mexico seafood trade & save the 
vaquita,'' Mexico Today, May 7, 2021, https://mexicotoday.com/2021/05/
07/opinion-restore-us-mexico-seafood-trade-save-the-vaquita/; Enrique 
Sanjurjo-Rivera, et. al., ``An Economic Perspective on Policies to Save 
the Vaquita: Conservation Actions, Wildlife Trafficking, and the 
Structure of Incentives,'' Frontiers in Marine Science (August 27, 
2021), https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.644022.
    \28\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with current and former U.S. 
and Mexican officials and law enforcement officers and Mexican fishery 
experts and high-level fishery operators, Mexico City, and by virtual 
platforms, October and November 2021.
    \29\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with U.S. law enforcement 
officials, Mexico City, and by virtual platforms, October 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   the behavior of mexican cartels in mexico and in the united states
    The connections between the illegal drug trade and the timber and 
wildlife trade and trafficking from Mexico to China are all the more 
significant as poaching and wildlife trafficking in Mexico is 
increasing and Mexican drug cartels are expanding their role in crimes 
against nature.
    They are also increasingly taking over legal economies in Mexico, 
including logging, fisheries, and various agricultural products such as 
avocados, citrus, grain corn, mining, and water distribution in parts 
of Mexico. Such takeover of legal economies by the cartels does not 
merely entail extortion--enormously wide-spread as many businesses in 
Mexico do not have the capacity to shield themselves from extortion by 
Mexican criminal groups. These organized crime groups across Mexico, 
especially the Sinaloa Cartel, often seek to monopolize the entire 
vertical supply chain. Fisheries provide a prime example. Beyond merely 
demanding a part of the profits from fishers as extortion, the criminal 
groups dictate to legal and illegal fishers how much the fishers can 
fish, insisting that the fishers sell the harvest only to the criminal 
groups, and that restaurants, including those catering to international 
tourists, buy fish only from the criminal groups. Mexican organized 
crime groups set the prices at which fishers can be compensated and 
restaurants paid for the cartels' marine products. The criminal groups 
also force processing plants to process the fish they bring in and 
issue it with fake certificates of legal provenance for export into the 
United States and China. They charge extortion fees to seafood 
exporters. They also force fishers to smuggle drugs.
    Mexican criminal groups are also expanding into illegal fishing 
outside of Mexico.\30\ There have long been suspicions about the extent 
to which Latin American fishing fleets are also engaged in the 
smuggling of drugs such as cocaine to the United States.\31\ The 
penetration of legal fisheries by Mexican cartels further facilitates 
their drug smuggling enterprise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \30\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interview with a top executive of a large 
Mexican seafood exporter, Mexico, November 2021.
    \31\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with Latin American law 
enforcement officials, December 2017, November 2021, and February 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Similarly, massive Chinese fishing fleets have long engaged in 
illegal fishing, sometimes devastating marine resources in other 
countries' exclusive economic zones. However, there also appears to be 
a growing involvement of Chinese fishing ships in drug trafficking, 
compounding the extensive problem of Chinese cargo vessels carrying 
contraband such as drugs and their precursors as well as wildlife.\32\ 
And there is the possibility that Chinese fishing flotillas or 
individual vessels operating around the Americas and elsewhere in the 
world may carry spy equipment collection intelligence for China.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\ Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with U.S. Government and law 
enforcement officials, October 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Within Mexico, Mexican criminal groups often control extensive 
territories where the government has only limited control and sporadic 
access and some of which have become outright no-go-zones for 
government officials.
    They have also profoundly intensified their efforts to influence 
elections at all levels of the government.
    Indeed, the collapse of the rule of law in Mexico is profound and 
goes far beyond the very high homicide rates; since 2017 more than 
30,000 Mexicans have been killed per year \33\ while more than 112,000 
remain disappeared.\34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \33\ Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI), 
Defunciones por Homicidios, Gobierno de Mexico, https://
www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/olap/proyectos/bd/continuas/- mortalidad/
defuncioneshom.asp?s=est#; and Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema 
Nacional de Seguridad Publica (SESNSP), Datos Abiertos de Incidencia 
Delictiva, Gobierno de Mexico, https://www.gob.mx/sesnsp/acciones-y-
programas/datos-abiertos-de-incidencia-delictiva?- state=published.
    \34\ Comision Nacional de Busqueda, Estadisticas del El Registro 
Nacional de Personas Desaparecidas y No Localizadas (RNPDNO), Gobierno 
de Mexico, https://versionpublicarnpdno.segob.gob.mx/Dashboard/
ContextoGeneral.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In Mexico, Mexican criminal groups increasingly govern a large 
scope of territories, economies, and institutions and a significant 
number of people.
    Because of the high effectiveness of U.S. law enforcement, in the 
United States, Mexican criminal groups behave far less violently and do 
not have the capacity to govern people, institutions, or territories.
    The overwhelming majority of violent and serious crimes in the 
United States are committed by U.S. citizens. For example, according to 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26,031 crimes were 
committed in the United States in 2021 and 24,576 in 2020.\35\ Yet in 
the fiscal years 2022, 2021, and 2020, which span the calendar years, 
non-citizens in the United States committed only 62 homicides, 60 
homicides, and 3 homicides respectively, according to CBP.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \35\ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center 
for Health Statistics, ``National Vital Statistics System, Mortality 
2018-2021,'' https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/datarequest/
D158;jsessionid=A6B25FA1C3F284E8DEF7DC5C5846#Citation.
    \36\ ``Criminal Noncitizen Statistics Fiscal Year 2023,'' U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-
enforcement-statistics/criminal-noncitizen-statistics.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Indeed, even in Mexico, Mexican criminal groups intensely fear U.S. 
law enforcement actions.
    Yet the Mexican government has gravely undermined the capacity of 
U.S. law enforcement to operate in Mexico. At the beginning of his 
administration, Lopez Obrador announced a strategy of ``hugs, not 
bullets'' toward criminal groups that sought to emphasize socio-
economic programs to deal with crime and address the causes that propel 
young people to join criminal groups. But that strategy never 
articulated any security or law enforcement policy toward criminal 
groups. Worse, as the Lopez Obrador administration persists in its do-
little policy, Mexican criminal groups are resorting more and more to 
brazen violence and impunity in Mexico.
    Like other Mexican presidents since the 1980's, Lopez Obrador 
reshuffled Mexican security institutions. Most significantly, he 
abolished the Federal Police--because of its infiltration by Mexican 
criminal groups, a systematic and pervasive problem for all of Mexico's 
law enforcement forces for decades. (Since the 1980's, the many 
iterations of law enforcement reforms have failed to expunge such 
infiltration and corruption across Mexican agencies.)
    In its place, Lopez Obrador created a National Guard staffed mostly 
by Mexican soldiers and police officers from the former Federal Police. 
However, the National Guard is not and could never be an adequate 
replacement for the Federal Police. The Federal Police, with all its 
faults, had the greatest investigative capacities and mandates, while 
the National Guard has no investigative mandates and very little 
capacity; it can only act as a deterrent force by patrolling the 
streets, something that it has not been effective at, or acting against 
crime in flagrancia. As a Mexican lawyer told me in 2021: ``The 
National Guard are the most expensive mannequins in Mexico.''
    Investigative authorities in Mexico are predominantly under the 
Office of the Attorney General (Fiscalia General de la Republica, FGR), 
the Federal Ministerial Police, and state prosecutorial offices. But as 
with other law enforcement institutions in Mexico, the FGR's capacities 
are limited, overwhelmed by the level of crime in Mexico, and suffer 
from criminal infiltration, corruption, and political interference 
despite decades-long efforts at reform.
    The effective prosecution rate for homicides in Mexico continues to 
hover at an abysmally low 2% and remains in single digits for other 
serious crimes.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \37\ Catalina Kuehne Peimbert, et al, ``Impunidad en homicidio 
doloso y feminicidio 2022,'' Impunidad Cero, December 2022, https://
www.impunidadcero.org/uploads/app/articulo/- 175/contenido/
1669895146I15.pdf; and Vanda Felbab-Brown's interviews with Mexican 
security and legal experts, Mexico City, June 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Essentially, the Mexican president has hoped that if he does not 
interfere with Mexico's criminal groups, they will eventually redivide 
Mexico's economies and territories among themselves, and violence will 
subside. That policy has been disastrous for many reasons: Most 
important, because it further undermines the already-weak rule of law 
in Mexico, increases impunity, and subjects Mexican people, 
institutions, and legal economies to the tyranny of Mexican criminal 
groups. But also because Mexico's out-of-control criminal market, 
plagued by a bipolar and increasingly internationalized war between the 
Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG, has little chance to effectuate such 
stabilization.
   mexico's inadequate cooperation with u.s. counternarcotics efforts
    Just like with China, Mexico's cooperation with U.S. 
counternarcotics efforts is radically eviscerated. The profound 
hollowing out of Mexico's cooperation with U.S. counternarcotics 
efforts is part and parcel of the overall lack of a security policy of 
the Lopez Obrador administration. But it also goes beyond that.
    In the spring of 2023, Lopez Obrador began falsely denying that 
fentanyl is produced in Mexico, deceptive statements echoed at his 
behest by other high-level Mexican officials and agencies.\38\ Blaming 
fentanyl use in the United States on U.S. moral and social decay, 
including American families not hugging their children enough (the 
statement an apparent nod to his strategy of confronting Mexican 
criminals with ``hugs and not bullets''), the Mexican president also 
proceeded to deny that fentanyl is increasingly consumed in Mexico.\39\ 
With his statements, Lopez Obrador is not just unwittingly (or 
knowingly) echoing China's rhetoric, but also publicly dismissing two 
decades of a policy of shared responsibility for drug production, 
trafficking, and consumption between United States and Mexico.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \38\ Ken Dilanian, ``Drug war cooperation between the United States 
and Mexico is at its lowest point in decades. What went wrong?'' NBC 
News, March 17, 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-
security/no-cooperation-us-mexico-drug-war-rcna75093; Vanda Felbab-
Brown, ``The U.S.-Mexico Fentanyl Meltdown--Part I: The State of 
Noncooperation,'' Mexico Today, March 19, 2023, https://
mexicotoday.com/2023/03/19/opinion-the-u-s-mexico-fentanyl-meltdown-
part-i-the-state-of-noncooperation/.
    \39\ Mark Stevenson, ``Mexican president to US: Fentanyl is your 
problem,'' Associated Press, March 9, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/
mexico-fentanyl-epidemic-overdoses-26f735a54ee0- ba075c394ce85aef03d0; 
``Mexican president blames US fentanyl crisis on `lack of hugs' among 
families,'' Associated Press, March 17, 2023, https://
www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/17/mexico-president-fentanyl-hugs-
children-amlo#:?:text=%25E2%2580%259CThere%2520is%- 
2520a%2520lot%2520of,said%2520of%2520the%2520US%2520crisis; Vanda 
Felbab-Brown, ``AMLO's Security Policy: Creative Ideas, Tough 
Reality,'' The Brookings Institution, March 2019, https://
www.brookings.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2019/03/FP_20190325_mexico_anti-
crime.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    But that spring crisis was merely the visible tip of the iceberg of 
how Mexico has eviscerated counternarcotics and law enforcement 
cooperation with the United States during the Lopez Obrador 
administration. When Lopez Obrador assumed office in December 2018, he 
started systematically weakening that collaboration. From the beginning 
of his administration, he has sought to withdraw from the Merida 
Initiative, the U.S.-Mexico security collaboration framework signed 
during the Felipe Calderon administration. And he sought to redefine 
the collaboration extremely narrowly: U.S. assistance to Mexico was 
intended to reduce demand for drugs in Mexico, while the United States 
focused on stopping the flow of drug proceeds and weapons to Mexico and 
reducing demand at home. Previous Mexican governments also certainly 
sought a significant increase in U.S. law enforcement focus on those 
two types of illicit flows but were willing to collaborate also inside 
Mexico.
    After the United States arrested former Mexican Secretary of 
Defense Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos in October 2020 for cooperation with a 
vicious Mexican drug cartel, Lopez Obrador threatened to end all 
cooperation and expel all U.S. law enforcement personnel from 
Mexico.\40\ To avoid that outcome, the Trump administration handed Gen. 
Cienfuegos over to Mexico where he was rapidly acquitted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \40\ Vanda Felbab-Brown, ``A Dangerous Backtrack on the U.S.-Mexico 
Security Relationship,'' Mexico Today, December 21, 2020, https://
www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/12/21/a-dangerous-
backtrack-on-the-us-mexico-security-relationship/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    But despite this significant U.S. concession, Mexico's 
counternarcotics cooperation remained limited. Meanwhile, U.S. law 
enforcement activities in Mexico became shackled and undermined by a 
December 2021 Mexican national security law on foreign agents.\41\ As 
Matthew Donahue, a former high-level Drug Enforcement Administration 
(DEA) official, stated, since then and because of the continually 
immense level of corruption and cartel infiltration in Mexican security 
agencies, Mexican law enforcement spends more time surveilling DEA 
agents than it does cartel members.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \41\ ``Mexico softens rules for controversial new foreign agents 
law,'' Reuters, January 14, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-
mexico-usa-security/mexico-softens-rules-for-controversial-new-foreign-
agents-law-idUSKBN29J24M.
    \42\ Dilanian.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    With the threat of Mexico's unilateral withdrawal from the Merida 
Initiative, the United States Government worked hard to negotiate a new 
security framework with Mexico--The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework 
for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities \43\--in the fall of 
2021. The United States emphasized the public health and anti-money 
laundering elements of the agreement, as the Mexican government sought. 
The Framework reiterates multiple dimensions of counternarcotics 
cooperation, including law enforcement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \43\ ``Summary of the Action Plan for U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial 
Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities: A Fact 
Sheet,'' U.S. Department of State, January 31, 2022, https://
www.state.gov/summary-of-the-action-plan-for-u-s-mexico-bicentennial-
framework-for-security-public-health-and-safe-communities/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In practice, however, the Mexican government's actions and 
cooperations on its side of the U.S.-Mexico border remain profoundly 
inadequate, including and particularly in law enforcement actions to 
counter the Mexican criminal groups and their production and 
trafficking of fentanyl.
    The U.S.-Mexico law enforcement cooperation has thus been only 
limping. The Mexican government has conducted some interdiction 
operations based on U.S. intelligence, and some collaboration has 
persisted at the sub-Federal level in Mexico. While the DEA's 
operations in Mexico remain hampered and limited, other U.S. law 
enforcement actors in Mexico have been able to induce some cooperation, 
with some Mexican government agencies even sharing some intelligence 
with the United States.
    Crucially, as DEA Administrator Anne Milgram stated in her February 
Senate testimony, the Mexican government continues to be unwilling to 
share samples and information from its claimed lab busts and fentanyl 
and fentanyl precursor seizures.\44\ It is still not allowing the 
participation of DEA agents, even in only an observer role, in the 
interdiction operations it claims it has conducted. All of which raises 
questions about the drug busts. Extraditions of indicted drug 
traffickers to the United States from Mexico also remain limited.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \44\ Questions and answers period, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee hearing ``Countering Illicit Fentanyl Trafficking,'' February 
15, 2023, https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/countering-illicit-
fentanyl-trafficking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There have been some recent improvements. Finally, at least some 
senior Mexican law enforcement officials began acknowledging again that 
fentanyl is produced in Mexico, an admission necessary for improving 
U.S.-Mexico collaboration.\45\ In fact, the Mexican military now claims 
that it seized 7 tons of fentanyl over the past 5 years and busted 
1,740 drug laboratories.\46\ However, as Reuters' investigative work 
showed, even in recent months, the Mexican military was fabricating and 
manipulating drug seizure and bust data.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \45\ Luis Chaparro, ``Mexico's President Says His Country Doesn't 
Produce Fentanyl. His Military Seized 7 Tons in 5 Years,'' Vice, June 
28, 2023, https://www.vice.com/en/article/93k3kp/mexico-president-
fentanyl.
    \46\ Ibid.
    \47\ Drazen Jorgic, Jackie Botts, and Stephen Eisenhammer, 
``Exclusive: Amid U.S. pressure on Fentanyl, Mexico Raises Drug Lab 
Raids Data,'' Reuters, March 17, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/
americas/amid-us-pressure-fentanyl-mexico-raises-drug-lab-raids-data-
2023-03-17/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Crucially, even when labs are busted, little network dismantling 
and few meaningful drug prosecutions follow in Mexico. Traffickers can 
thus easily survive and recover from limited financial losses by 
erecting new drug labs.
    Overall, Mexico's law enforcement cooperation with the United 
States has dramatically weakened and is still troublingly inadequate.
         conclusions, policy implications, and recommendations
    As vast numbers of Americans are dying from fentanyl overdose and 
Chinese and Mexican criminal groups expand their operations around the 
world and into a vast array of illegal and legal economies, the United 
States finds itself in hollowed out and weak cooperation with both 
countries. Below I offer some policy implications and recommendations 
on how the United States can attempt to induce Mexico to better 
cooperate with U.S. counternarcotics and law enforcement objectives. I 
also provide suggestions for what law enforcement and policy measures 
the United States can undertake independently, even if Mexico continues 
to reject robust cooperation.
    The structural characteristics of synthetic drugs, including the 
ease of developing similar, but not scheduled synthetic drugs and their 
new precursors--increasingly a wide array of dual-use chemicals--pose 
immense structural obstacles to controlling supply, irrespective of 
political will to prohibit and regulate their use, enforce the 
regulations, and take actions against trafficking.
    U.S. domestic prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and law 
enforcement measures remain indispensable and fundamental for 
countering the devastating fentanyl crisis. It is likely that the most 
powerful measures to address the opioid crisis are internal policies 
such as expanded treatment and supervised use.
    However, given the extent and lethality of the synthetic opioid 
epidemic in North America and its emerging spread to other parts of the 
world, even supply control measures with partial and limited 
effectiveness can save lives. That is a worthwhile objective. The 
Commission on Combatting Illicit Opioid Trafficking stressed that 
targeted supply reduction and the enforcement of current laws and 
regulations are essential to disrupting the availability of chemicals 
needed to manufacture synthetic opioids.\48\ The commission also 
highlighted how improved oversight of large chemical and pharmaceutical 
sectors and enhanced investigations of vendors or importers in key 
foreign countries can help disrupt the flow.\49\ The commission offered 
supply-side control recommendations include reducing on-line 
advertising, encouraging enhanced anti-money laundering efforts in 
China and Mexico, enhanced interdiction efforts, and increased 
international scheduling of at least synthetic drug precursors that are 
only used for illicit purposes and enhanced control of precursor flows 
through collaboration with China and international counternarcotics 
organizations.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \48\ Commission on Combatting Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, The 
Final Report, February 2022, https://www.rand.org/hsrd/hsoac/
commission-combatting-synthetic-opioid-trafficking: xiv.
    \49\ Ibid.
    \50\ Ibid: 36-44; and 54-57; 61-64.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In its law enforcement engagement with the Mexican government, the 
United States should prioritize:
   shutting down Mexican pharmacies that sell fentanyl- and 
        methamphetamine-adulterated drugs;
   not merely seizures and busts of laboratories, but the 
        actual dismantling of drug-trafficking networks, particularly 
        of their middle-operational layers that are hard to recreate 
        and the removal of which significantly hampers the ability of 
        criminal groups to operate and smuggle contraband;
   and far more effective Mexican prosecutorial actions against 
        suppliers.
    My recommendations below analyze and recommend tools to induce 
Mexico to cooperate more robustly with U.S. law enforcement measures.
    U.S. counternarcotics and law enforcement bargaining with Mexico is 
constrained by the U.S. reliance on Mexico to stop migrant flows to the 
United States. If the United States were able to conduct a 
comprehensive immigration reform that would provide legal work 
opportunities to those currently seeking protection and opportunities 
in the United States through unauthorized migration, it would have far 
better leverage to induce meaningful and robust counternarcotics and 
law enforcement cooperation with Mexico and would be better able to 
save U.S. lives. Nonetheless, even absent such reform, the United 
States can take impactful measures that I discuss below.
                    inducing cooperation from mexico
    Various U.S. lawmakers have proposed designating Mexican criminal 
groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
    An FTO designation would enable intelligence gathering and strike 
options for the United States military, such as against some fentanyl 
laboratories in Mexico or visible formations of large Mexican cartels--
principally CJNG.
    However, such unilateral U.S. military actions in Mexico would 
severely jeopardize relations with our vital trading partner and 
neighbor whose society is deeply intertwined with ours through familial 
and other connections. Calls for U.S. military strikes against 
fentanyl-linked targets in Mexico have already been condemned by 
Mexican government officials, politicians, and commentators.
    Meanwhile, the number of available targets in Mexico would be 
limited. Most Mexican criminal groups do not gather in military-like 
visible formations. Many fentanyl laboratories already operate in 
buildings in populated neighborhoods of towns and cities where strikes 
would not be possible due to risks to Mexican civilians. Moreover, 
fentanyl laboratories would easily be recreated, as they already are.
    Nor would the FTO designation add authorities to the economic 
sanctions and anti-money laundering and financial intelligence tools 
that the already-in-place designation of Transnational Criminal 
Organization (TCO) carries. The latter designation also carries 
extensive prohibitions against material support.
    But an FTO designation could significantly limit and outright 
hamper U.S. foreign policy options and measures. Clauses against 
material support for designated terrorist organizations have made it 
difficult for the United States to implement non-military and non-law-
enforcement policy measures in a wide range of countries, such as 
providing assistance for legal job creation or reintegration support 
for even populations that had to endure the rule of brutal terrorist 
groups. To be in compliance with the material support laws, the United 
States and other entities must guarantee that none of their financial 
or material assistance is leaking out, including through coerced 
extortion, to those designated as FTOs.
    Yet such controls would be a significant challenge in Mexico where 
many people and businesses in legal economies, such as agriculture, 
fisheries, logging, mining, and retail, have to pay extortion fees to 
Mexican criminal groups. The attempted controls could undermine the 
ability to trade with Mexico as many U.S. businesses would not be able 
to determine whether their Mexican trading or production partner was 
paying extortion fees to Mexican cartels, and thus guarantee that they 
were not indirectly in violation of material support clauses.
    The FTO designation could also hamper the delivery of U.S. 
training, such as to local police forces or Mexican Federal law 
enforcement agencies, if guarantees could not be established that such 
counterparts had no infiltration by criminal actors.
    Instead, if the Lopez Obrador administration continues to deny 
meaningful law enforcement cooperation, the United States may have to 
resort to significantly intensified border inspections, even if they 
significantly slow down the legal trade and cause substantial damage to 
Mexican goods, such as agricultural products. Even with the significant 
improvement in vehicle and cargo inspection expected to be reaped from 
the scanning technologies the Biden administration authorized for 
deployment at the U.S. ports of entry, a significant percentage of 
vehicles and much cargo will still go unchecked.
    Under optimal circumstances, U.S.-Mexico law enforcement 
cooperation would be robust enough to make legal border crossings fast 
and efficient. Joint fentanyl and precursor busts and seizures could 
take place near the production laboratories and at warehouses. The 
inspections of legal cargo heading to the United States could take 
place close to the production and loading site in Mexico. Under the 
Merida Initiative, the Obama administration, in fact, sought to develop 
with Mexico such systems of legal cargo inspection inside Mexico and 
away from the border. But if Mexico refuses to act as a reliable law 
enforcement partner to counter the greatest drug epidemic in North 
America, which is also decimating lives in Mexico, the United States 
may have to focus much-intensified inspections at the border, despite 
the economic pains.
    But if the Lopez Obrador administration refuses to cooperate, 
manual inspections, even though costly to Mexican--and U.S.--
businesses, should be mounted.
    Effective border interdiction, however, requires meaningfully 
resourcing U.S. law enforcement agencies at U.S. legal ports of entry 
through which the vast majority of fentanyl enters the United States. 
That means allocating sufficient resources for CBP port-of-entry 
inspectors as well as high-tech scanners. Any reduction in CBP budget 
allocation to inspections at legal ports of entry would severely and 
perniciously intensify the flows of dangerous drugs to the United 
States.
    Furthermore, packages of leverage, including indictment portfolios 
and visa denials, should also be developed against Mexican national 
security and law enforcement officials and politicians who sabotage the 
rule of law in Mexico, assist Mexican criminal groups, and perniciously 
hamper law enforcement cooperation with the United States. Calls to 
undertake such sanctions by Republican senators led by Senator Bill 
Hagerty of Tennessee should be carefully and diligently explored.\51\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \51\ Adam Shaw, ``Senators Urge Biden Admin to Slap Sanctions, Visa 
Bans on Mexican Officials to Force Action against Cartels,'' Fox News, 
June 21, 2023, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senators-call-biden-
admin-impose-sanctions-mexican-officials-force-action-against-drug-
cartels.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   expanding and smartening up u.s. measures against criminal actors
    Importantly, the United States has significant opportunities to 
rapidly strengthen and smarten up its own measures against Mexican 
criminal actors participating in fentanyl and other contraband 
trafficking.
    Already, the Biden administration has sought to intensify and 
harmonize U.S. law enforcement actions against fentanyl trafficking. In 
March 2023, for example, it launched Operation Blue Lotus to coordinate 
cooperation across CBP, Immigration and Customs (ICE), Homeland 
Security Investigations (HSI), and other Federal, State, Tribal, and 
local law enforcement agencies.\52\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \52\ ``DHS's New Operation Blue Lotus Has Already Stopped More Than 
900 Pounds of Fentanyl from Entering the United States,'' U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security March 21, 2023, https://www.dhs.gov/
news/2023/03/21/dhss-new-operation-blue-lotus-has-already-stopped-more-
900-pounds-fentanyl-
entering#:?:text=Since%20its%20launch%20on%20March,states%20- 
through%20Sunday%2C%20March%2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Scaling up such efforts is necessary.
    Some new anti-fentanyl law enforcement measures would also 
simultaneously enhance U.S. measures to counter wildlife trafficking 
and protect public health and global biodiversity.
    But since Mexican drug cartels have diversified their activities 
into a wide array of illicit and licit commodities, primarily focusing 
on drug seizures close to the source is no longer sufficient for 
effectively disrupting fentanyl smuggling and criminal networks 
implicated in it.
    Rather, countering other economic activities of the Mexican 
criminal groups is imperative. This includes countering poaching and 
wildlife trafficking from Mexico and illegal logging and mining in 
places where the Mexican cartels have reach, acting against illegal 
fishing off Mexico and around Latin America and elsewhere, and shutting 
down wildlife trafficking networks that extend into China are 
increasingly important elements of countering Mexican and Chinese drug-
trafficking groups and reducing the flow of fentanyl to the United 
States.
    To effectively counter fentanyl-smuggling actors requires a whole-
of-Government approach--not simply on paper, but truly in 
implementation. A wide range of U.S. Government agencies should be 
authorized to support U.S. law enforcement against Mexican and Chinese 
criminal actors, fentanyl trafficking, and crimes against nature. These 
include U.S. intelligence agencies, the Department of State, the 
Department of Defense, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
    Moreover, the focused collection, analysis, and reporting of 
intelligence by a variety of U.S. Government actors against wildlife 
trafficking, illegal fishing, and illegal mining could beget new 
opportunities to understand the criminal linkages to foreign 
governments, including China's, to confirm or dismiss concerns as to 
whether Chinese fishing vessels carry spy equipment, and to identify 
the crucial vulnerabilities of Mexican and other dangerous cartels.
    To such end, crimes against nature should be elevated as a 
collection and reporting priority of the U.S. intelligence community, 
and within the U.S. National Priorities Framework.
    Stove-piping in information and intelligence gathering across a 
wide set of illicit economies should be ended. Gathered information and 
intelligence should be shared with interagency analysis groups intent 
on interdicting the illicit international flow of scheduled drugs and 
endangered species. Such efforts could be enabled by significantly 
increasing the number of USFWS special agents and by augmenting their 
respective participation in interagency Organized Crime Drug 
Enforcement Task Forces investigations.
    The relevant intelligence on crimes against nature to understand 
and dismantle criminal networks could include names, phone numbers, 
license plates, courier accounts, bank accounts, and wiretapped 
conversations. Conversely, countering groups perpetrating crimes 
against nature could be productive in terms of freezing accounts and 
visas to interdict the smuggling of drugs, guns, and humans that 
they're conducting.
    Enhancing intelligence collection and law enforcement action 
opportunities stemming from such an expanded lens to cover all of the 
activities, including crimes against nature, of dangerous and nefarious 
actors, such as Mexican cartels and Chinese criminal groups, requires 
enlarging the pool of USFWS special agents and uniformed wildlife 
inspectors at the U.S.-Mexico border and transportation hubs within the 
United States. The DEA appropriately enjoys strong capacities, 
currently maintaining a force of 4,000 agents.\53\ In contrast, the 
number of USFWS special agents has for years hovered at a mere and 
insufficient 220.\54\ For years, this inadequate number has not 
increased even though poaching, illegal logging, mining, and 
trafficking in natural resource commodities have grown enormously over 
the past three decades, are continually expanding, and increasingly 
involve Mexican drug cartels as well as Chinese criminal networks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \53\ DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, DEA Leadership profile, 
https://www.dea.gov/about/dea-
leadership#:?:text=As%20Administrator%2C%20'she%20leads%20an,foreign%20o
ffices%20- across%20the%20globe.
    \54\ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, 
``Law Enforcement at a Glance,'' Fiscal Year 2022, October 28, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As a corollary and imperative effort, U.S. law enforcement 
agencies' legal authorities to counter wildlife trafficking should be 
expanded. Importantly, wildlife trafficking should be designated as a 
predicate offense for wiretap authorizations.\55\ Such expanded 
authority would bring about multiple benefits: including the enabling, 
understanding, and demonstration of the connections between wildlife 
and transnational organized crime networks and foreign bad actors, 
enhancing the ability to disrupt fentanyl trafficking, and allowing for 
more expeditious and pointed prosecution of wildlife trafficking 
crimes. Currently, Federal legislation at the foundation of wildlife 
crime prosecution, at the core of which is the Lacey Act, often entails 
proof of knowledge on the part of the defendant, a requirement that 
wiretap authorization would greatly facilitate, in the interest of 
prosecuting transnational wildlife trafficking and convicting criminal 
syndicates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \55\ See 18 USC 2516, Authorization for interception of wire, oral, 
or electronic communications.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Many fentanyl-trafficking networks are not narrowly specialized in 
fentanyl or drugs only. Many Mexican cartels and criminal groups no 
longer solely focus on drug smuggling. Fentanyl smuggling networks have 
powerful protectors among corrupt government officials worldwide. 
Incentivizing better cooperation from the Chinese and Mexican criminal 
governments is important. But particularly given the challenges in 
inducing such cooperation in the current geopolitical environment and 
given the policy orientation of the current Mexican government, it is 
equally crucial to enhance the United States' own policy tools to 
counter fentanyl-trafficking networks. Expanding the intelligence-
gathering aperture and mandating and resourcing a whole-of-Government 
approach in support of U.S. law enforcement will save U.S. lives 
currently decimated by fentanyl overdoses.

    Chairman Green. Thank you, Ms. Felbab-Brown.
    I just want to make a statement here. Look, witnesses as 
well as Members of the Committee, we have some rules. Those 
rules are that you direct your comments to the Chair. So if you 
direct them to another Member on the dais or even within the 
committee, we don't do that unless we ask for time to yield and 
then you can ask a question. There are procedures on how to do 
that. Your comments, especially for the witnesses, should be 
directed to the Chair.
    I want to make sure that is real clear.
    Mr. Ivey. Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Green. Yes, the gentleman is recognized.
    Mr. Ivey. I appreciate that comment, but I really want to 
raise a point of order here.
    Chairman Green. OK.
    Mr. Ivey. I don't think I have ever seen a witness 
personally attack a Member like that at a hearing.
    Chairman Green. OK. Let me just--here, I will clarify it. 
You are no longer recognized.
    Mr. Maltz, the better way to have said what you wanted to 
say would have been to someone on the committee or to say, it 
has been said that this is a waste of time, and you could say 
that is offensive to me, there are Americans dying. You could 
make the comment like that. But to direct it at the Ranking 
Member is inappropriate, and I think everyone would agree with 
that.
    With that, I recognize--Mr. Carter, you are recognized.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you.
    Parliamentary inquiry. Shouldn't our role be to discourage 
disrespectful behavior and not coach on how to do it more 
appropriately?
    Chairman Green. Look, no--hold on, hold on. Let me be clear 
here. In previous hearings, we have had individuals attack 
individuals on my side of the aisle, and I gaveled them down.
    Mr. Carter. No, I----
    Chairman Green. Hold on. You cannot address your comments 
to an individual about an individual, but you can say Secretary 
Mayorkas lied. But you can't say Secretary Mayorkas is a liar. 
I know it is a subtle difference, but the rules are very clear. 
The rules of the House are very clear on that. So the point is, 
you cannot direct anything other than to the Chair. That is the 
rule, and that is the rule we will live by.
    Mr. Carter. And to preserve decorum and respect. Rather we 
agree or disagree, no Member, Republican, Democrat or other, no 
Member of the Committee should disrespect a Member of--that is 
a witness. But what we witnessed a second ago was a direct 
attack.
    Chairman Green. Yes. Well, what--yes.
    Mr. Carter. I appreciate you telling him he shouldn't have 
done that, but I would like to go a step further. May I? If I 
would, very respectfully.
    Chairman Green. Yes, sure.
    Mr. Carter. That we may----
    Mr. Bishop. Look, if we are going to entertain a debate on 
this, it needs to be two-sided.
    Chairman Green. Hold on just a second, Mr. Bishop.
    Mr. Bishop. If we are going to entertain a debate, I insist 
that it be two-sided.
    Chairman Green. Mr. Bishop, you hold on just a second and I 
will recognize you in a moment.
    Mr. Bishop. Very well.
    Chairman Green. Don't do that again, please.
    Mr. Bishop. I will be heard if we are going to hear both 
sides.
    Chairman Green. Mr. Carter, finish your comment.
    Mr. Carter. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
    My only comment is that we should always preserve decorum 
and respect. We can disagree without being disrespectful. You 
think that is a debate, Mr. Bishop, I am sorry.
    Chairman Green. You are disagreeing with me. I appreciate 
that. What I am saying is there is a way to say things without 
directing your comment against an individual. You can say that 
Secretary Mayorkas lied, you can't say, Secretary Mayorkas is a 
liar. You can say, I don't think this is a waste of time and I 
am offended when someone suggests that it is a waste of time. I 
think making that point clear is important for the whole 
committee.
    Mr. Bishop, you are recognized.
    Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    At the outset, the Ranking Member said he was embarrassed 
that we would undertake this hearing, that it was so worthless, 
it was embarrassing to him. That witness responded to that 
because it was an attack on that witness, every witness on this 
panel and every Member on this side of the dais. I would like 
to know why a Member of Congress, because he sits up here at 
this dais, can feel free to disrespect people who come at our 
invitation to testify by declaring what they have to say about 
youth being killed by fentanyl poisoning across this country, 
that that is not worth this committee's time. But a response to 
that is objected to.
    I will say another thing. Forensically, in every hearing 
that I have attended where witnesses testify, they address 
their remarks to the Chairman and to the Ranking Member. I have 
never heard it done otherwise, I have never heard anybody 
remonstrated for addressing the Ranking Member, and I don't 
know why this would be the first time that would be brought up. 
I object to it.
    Chairman Green. We are not going to debate this.
    Mr. Ivey. May I respond to that?
    Chairman Green. No. I will advise Members that under Clause 
1 of Rule 17 of the Rules of House, they must observe the House 
standards of decorum in debate and conduct. They must speak and 
act respectfully and may not use disorderly words, 
unparliamentary language, such as words impugning the motives 
of their colleagues, or words that are personally offensive.
    I would encourage the Members to adhere to the House 
standards of decorum and proceed in order. We need to get on 
with this.
    Members will be recognized by the order of their seniority 
for their 5 minutes of questioning. An additional round of 
questioning may be called after all Members have been 
recognized.
    I now recognize myself for 5 minutes of questioning.
    My first question is to Mr. Jones. The cartels have 
essentially taken over a lot of the drug networks inside many 
of the United States cities. Some headlines just in the past 
few weeks about San Francisco alone, they basically have seized 
control and are coordinating with the gangs to seize control of 
drug trade in San Francisco. They have essentially taken over 
all the criminal networks, much like a mafia. The Attorney 
General, Merrick Garland, has admitted to the Senate that the 
cartel strategy was to flood the Border Patrol and by tying up 
Border Patrol, because Border Patrol now is doing basically a 
catch-and-release system, then the drug cartels will slip 
people around the other side.
    Can you tell us how this policy of the open border and this 
strategy of the cartels have combined to allow them to 
basically take over crime in the cities?
    Mr. Jones. Chairman, the way it works on your Southwest 
Border, you hear the term all the time, operational control. 
The problem is, no one ever tells you how the cartels have it. 
That's what I'm going to share with you here today and to 
answer your question.
    That is that they utilize a network known as the Halcon 
Network. Halcons are scouts, they're lookouts. They check on 
and off just like law enforcement, anywhere from 8-hour shifts, 
10-hour shifts, 12-hour shifts. I've seen them in South Texas 
as far as 30 miles into the United States, I have seen them in 
Arizona as far as 70 miles. They leverage two-way handheld 
encrypted radio, sometimes encrypted apps, and they communicate 
back to what is known as synthral. So what happens is you have 
these lookouts everywhere. When what they call the gate is 
open, the gate, meaning a bend in the river or a bend at your 
border, when there is no law enforcement, they surge with 
whatever commodity it is that they want to push. So when you're 
talking about based on the policies of all of these migrants 
that have come from all over the world, what is happening is 
the cartel by design will push hundreds of people, as you have 
seen on every news station over the last few years, and the 
media focuses on that, that causes the surge of local, State, 
and Federal law enforcement to that location. They do that by 
design because it opens up the other gates. Now, if they're 
going to move a commodity directly linked to a cartel boss, 
they'll shut down more gates to ensure that commodity makes it 
in.
    What they do, Chairman, is they contract directly with 
U.S.-based street gangs and what we call tier one gangs, those 
are gangs which impact multiple regions in our country, they 
work directly with the cartels. Today, it is very important to 
understand your U.S.-based street gangs are working side-by-
side, contracting with the cartels. I could go on and on here, 
but in 2009, eMe--Mexican Mafia--I was a lieutenant Laredo, 
Texas over two major drug squads as the war broke out between 
CDG and the Zetas, and we were stunned at what we found. We had 
Mexican Mafia working in Mexico, working operations, going 
through basic, intermediate, and advanced training from former 
Special Forces and law enforcement, conducting hits in the 
United States, and getting reduced costs of cocaine for that. 
That is the way it really works.
    So when you wonder today why you are being overrun with 
drugs, it is because the tier one gangs and U.S.-based street 
gangs are contracting and working directly with these cartels. 
I will go back to this, and that is that they will not stop. 
They can't. They're going to have to be stopped. We're going to 
have to really take extreme aggressive action to fix this.
    Chairman Green. How has the open policies, the basic catch-
and-release, and this stimulation of a mass wave of migration 
by having an open border facilitated this process?
    Mr. Jones. This is it. I want to be very clear here. 
Historically, your cartels, the Mexican cartels, we call them 
drug cartels because that's what they work today, they are in 
over 54 countries around the world. This is not a U.S.-Mexico 
problem, ladies and gentlemen. Cartel Jalisco New Generation we 
know is in 48. This will not stop. Now they've transitioned 
into the final version of human trafficking known as debt 
bondage. I am holding it in my hands. This is it. This is how 
emboldened they've become.
    So I can't stress to you that you have to take extreme, 
extreme action to go after these cartels and to truly create 
relationships with Mexico and the rest of the world in what we 
call a unified command and treat them as the dark networks that 
they are.
    I'm happy to discuss that with you as to how to go after 
them.
    Chairman Green. Thank you. I now recognize the Ranking 
Member for 5 minutes questioning.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Jones, you talked about that Congress should take 
extreme action. Let me tell you what was in the last omnibus 
package that we passed in 2023. We provided $17 billion for 
Customs and Border Protection, including an increase in 
spending by 17 percent over the previous year. It allowed for 
hiring operations along the Southwest Border. We also provided 
funding for 19,855 Border Patrol agents, an increase of over 
300 agents, the most since 2011. We also appropriated $60 
million more to hire 125 Customs and Border Protection officers 
and mission support staff at our ports of entry.
    But I would also tell you, not a single Republican on this 
committee voted for it. It was passed only by Democrats. We are 
the ones who are trying to put by the resources to the good men 
and women along the border who are addressing this. Every time 
an opportunity presents itself to put resources on the border 
Democrats are the one who vote for it. You can talk tough, but 
when it comes time, as a Member of Congress, you really need to 
vote your conviction. So if you don't give the men and women 
the money they need to help protect us, then that is our fault. 
But thank goodness the Democrats in Congress gave the money 
that was asked for by the Department. We need more.
    I look forward to when the next time that people ask for 
money, like I hear you talking about resources, that they will 
vote for it, because that is the only way we can address this 
problem.
    The other situation, as I said, I have been on the 
committee a long time. Responsible men and women can disagree, 
but there is a way you can be disagreeable. I understand the 
witness is on the Republican side. This is a great democracy, 
and it is only great because of the men and women who live in 
it. It is not a personal attack, it is just the facts.
    I hope, Mr. Maltz, you understand that. But be that as it 
may, there are some policy differences. I think 9 hearings on 
this subject is a bit much. I am embarrassed at that because we 
are wasting time trying to impeach a Secretary when we ought to 
be providing our men and women along the border resources. I 
have never voted against the Homeland Security budget since the 
Department was created. I don't plan to ever vote against it 
because it is not the right thing to do.
    Now, I will disagree with this Chairman, I will disagree 
with that Chairman, and we will probably continue, but we are 
adults. I just think as long as we act as adults, we will get 
things done.
    People around the world look at us. They want to be like 
us. But what I see happening and trying to disagree and trying 
to somehow take it to another level, is just not who we are.
    So, Dr. Felbab-Brown, can you tell me what kind of programs 
you have seen that have been helpful along the border in 
addressing this problem?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Certainly. Improving input technologies 
so that inspections of vehicles, cargo, and people crossing the 
border can be intensified is a very useful measure. The CBP 
several years ago stated that it is only capable of inspecting 
about 2 percent of personal vehicles crossing and about 17 
percent of cargo vehicles. Raising that number to a much higher 
level, especially because the vast majority of fentanyl is 
seized and very likely smuggled through legal ports of entry, 
is a good way of reducing the amount of fentanyl coming into 
the United States.
    It's not a sufficient policy. A whole-of-Government 
approach needs to be adopted. Increasing collection 
intelligence on a variety of activities that the criminal 
cartels, Mexican cartels engaging, deploying various tools, 
various agencies of the United States to be able to facilitate 
U.S. law enforcement work.
    Mr. Thompson. I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. McCaul.
    Mr. McCaul. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Mr. Jones and Mr. 
Maltz for your service, your law enforcement service in the 
line of duty in very dangerous conditions. Mr. Maltz, I want to 
thank you also for your comment about foreign policy because I 
can't think from a Communist China standpoint a better foreign 
policy than introducing poison through Mexico into the United 
States, killing Americans and making money off it. It is almost 
like a reverse Opium war. They see it that way. It has killed 
70,000 young people, 20,000 pounds of fentanyl seized, enough 
to kill 4.6 billion people. My children have been to 5 funerals 
of their friends who thought they were taking Xanax or ADD 
medication and they never woke up.
    Mr. Jones, I know I commend you for being, No. 1, my great 
State of Texas, what you have done. We know this better, I 
think, than anybody. I remember going down after Mayorkas 
rescinded Remain in Mexico. I talked to the Border Patrol 
chief, and it was chaos. I said, what do you attribute this to? 
Is there any cause and effect, a direct cause and effect 
between what you are seeing now and what the policy change of 
this administration? He said, Congressman, there is no question 
there is a direct cause and effect between the rescission of 
Remain in Mexico and what we are seeing today.
    What else are we seeing? A human trafficking event of my 
lifetime. I have never seen anything like this. I was a U.S. 
Attorney at Western District of Texas at the Texas border, I 
was a Chairman of this committee. We were, Ms. Vaughan, getting 
this under control. We were controlling political asylum 
because the cartels manipulate political asylum claims. When 
the Remain in Mexico went into place, they couldn't manipulate 
anymore. You know why? Because they couldn't get into the 
United States. Their claims were adjudicated with them in 
Mexico. Therefore, catch and release was ended finally. The 
very first bill I introduced in Congress 20 years ago. Imagine.
    Here we are today. It is alive and well, and this Secretary 
is responsible, in my judgment. The rising crime, and the women 
go into sex trafficking, the unvetted homes that these kids go 
to, and the men go to MS-13. There is a criminal enterprise now 
not just in Mexico and in Latin America, but right here in the 
United States, and it was created by this administration's 
policies.
    So my question to the three of you Mr. Jones, Ms. Vaughan, 
Mr. Maltz, do you believe that the actions of this Secretary by 
rescinding Remain in Mexico, a policy that was effectively 
working, that has created this criminal enterprise, do you 
believe that this Secretary is responsible for and complicit 
with the criminal enterprise that has resulted as a result of 
these policies being rescinded?
    Mr. Jones.
    Mr. Jones. Yes, I do. That is validated by not only the 
data from the United States Customs and Border Protection that 
validates the numbers that crossed into our country as a result 
of the exemptions created under Title 42, which Secretary 
Mayorkas is the architect behind that. In addition, the 
overdose deaths in this country due to the sheer impact to 
mothers and fathers and families across this country. The data 
validates it.
    Mr. McCaul. One thing to add, the district court said you 
must re-implement Remain in Mexico. The Secretary did not 
comply with that order. He failed to comply with that order.
    Ms. Vaughan.
    Ms. Vaughan. I do believe that the Biden-Mayorkas policies 
are responsible. A disaster. They're what's responsible for the 
situation that we have today. No amount of money that is 
funneled to these agencies is going to help the situation until 
the officers and agents are allowed to do their job. The 
policies at this point are more important than the money.
    Mr. McCaul. In fact, they said, sir, we are turning our 
backs on you because you turn your back on us, as I recall.
    Mr. Maltz.
    Mr. Maltz. Well, I say it starts at the top with the 
President and it comes down. I just want to say that I make 
these collages of these dead kids on my own time to help spread 
the awareness. So the results are just dead children and 
families going to funerals. That's what it comes down to. I'm 
not an expert on immigration law or border policies, but I know 
what's going on in America. That's why I'm here today.
    So thank you.
    Mr. McCaul. That is why we marked up a bill in my committee 
to designate fentanyl as a chemical weapon under the Chemical 
Weapons Convention, Mr. Jones. I will give us more authorities 
to go after him.
    I yield.
    Mr. Bishop [presiding]. The former Chairman yields back.
    I now recognize the gentleman from California, Mr. Correa, 
for his 5 minutes of questions.
    Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Before I start with my comments, I wanted to submit for the 
record, without objection, CBP release, June 2023. Just came 
out yesterday, showing the lowest Southwest Border encounters 
since February 2021. If I may read, total Southwest Border 
encounters in June, including individuals who presented at 
ports of entry with or without CBP One appointments were down 
30 percent to 144,000. If I could submit that to the record, 
sir.
    Mr. Bishop. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]
                 CBP Releases June 2023 Monthly Update
 statistics show lowest southwest border encounters since february 2021
    WASHINGTON.--U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today 
released operational statistics for June 2023, which show a significant 
and continuing decline in migrant encounters along the Southwest border 
as well as successful drug interdiction efforts resulting from new 
enforcement initiatives. CBP's total encounters along the Southwest 
border in June were the lowest in over 2 years, dropping nearly a third 
from May.
    ``Our sustained efforts to enforce consequences under our 
longstanding Title 8 authorities, combined with expanding access to 
lawful pathways and processes, have driven the number of migrant 
encounters along the Southwest Border to their lowest levels. in more 
than 2 years. We will remain vigilant,'' said Troy A. Miller, CBP 
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner.
    ``As our June statistics show, CBP's mission is vast, and thanks to 
the dedication of our personnel and Federal partners, we are delivering 
results that keep the American people safe: ensuring border security, 
seizing drugs, stopping the flow of illicit weapons, rescuing people in 
distress, facilitating lawful travel and trade, and stopping the entry 
of harmful agricultural pests.''
    Below are key operational statistics for CBP's primary mission 
areas in June 2023.
Ensuring Border Security and Effectively Managing Migration
    CBP is processing all migrants under Title 8 immigration 
authorities, and generally placing individuals who cross the border 
unlawfully into Expedited Removal or Section 240 Removal Proceedings. 
Noncitizens who cross between the ports of entry or who present at a 
port of entry without making a CBP One appointment, are subject to the 
lawful pathways rule, which places a condition on asylum eligibility 
for those who fail to use lawful processes, with certain exceptions.
    In June--the first full month since the lifting of the Title 42 
Public Health Order--the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 99,545 encounters 
between ports of entry along the Southwest Border: a 42 percent 
decrease from May 2023. Total Southwest Border encounters in June, 
including individuals who presented at ports of entry with or without a 
CBP One appointment, were 144,607, a 30 percent decrease from May 2023. 
These are the lowest monthly Southwest Border encounter numbers since 
February 2021.
    People who made the dangerous journey to cross the Southwest Border 
unlawfully have died of dehydration, starvation, and heat stroke. 
Smuggling organizations abandon migrants in remote and dangerous areas. 
To prevent the loss of life, CBP initiated a Missing Migrant Program in 
2017 that locates migrants reported missing, rescues individuals in 
distress, and reunifies decedents with their families in the border 
region. In June 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted nearly 1,700 
rescues, bringing the total number of rescues in fiscal year 2023 from 
24,056 at the end of May to 25,735 at the end of June.
Safeguarding Communities by Interdicting Dangerous Drugs
    CBP continues to interdict the flow of illicit narcotics across the 
border. CBP has significantly increased non-intrusive inspection 
scanning capabilities and forward-operating labs to swiftly identify 
suspected drugs and recognize trends. CBP has found packages of 
narcotics in roofs, floorboards, door panels, bumpers, tires, gas 
tanks, car batteries, seats, speaker boxes, false floors, drones, and 
more.
    Nation-wide in June, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, 
fentanyl, and marijuana (combined, by weight) increased 7 percent from 
May. To date in fiscal year 2023, CBP has seized more than 22,000 
pounds of fentanyl--compared with 8,300 pounds over the same period in 
fiscal year 2022.
    To disrupt supply chains used in the development and movement of 
fentanyl, CBP launched two new interagency operations in June: 
Operations Artemis and Rolling Wave. A parallel intelligence and 
analysis operation, Operation Argus, is providing trade-focused 
analysis. These efforts build on the success of Operations Blue Lotus 
and Four Horsemen, which seized nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl.
    Operation Artemis began on June 5 and has made over 130 seizures, 
which include:
   21 pill presses and 54 pill molds
   More than 5,000 pounds of precursor chemicals
   More than 300 pounds of methamphetamine
   And over 5,000 pounds of other drugs.
    The U.S. Border Patrol is concurrently running Operation Rolling 
Wave, surging inbound inspections at Southwest Border checkpoints. This 
operation has seized:
   More than 1,500 pounds of fentanyl
   More than 1,000 pounds of cocaine
   More than 8,000 pounds of marijuana
   More than 6,500 pounds of meth.
    Under Operation Blue Lotus 2.0, which launched on June 12, CBP and 
HSI have also continued to surge resources to Ports of Entry, where 90 
percent of fentanyl is trafficked primarily in cars and trucks. This 
operation has seized over 1,500 pounds of fentanyl and over 23,000 
pounds of other narcotics like cocaine, methamphetamines, and heroin.
Facilitating Lawful Trade and Travel and Promoting Economic Security
    To improve the traveler experience while maintaining the highest 
levels of security, CBP has increased the deployment of technology that 
provides a more seamless and faster entry into the United States by 
air, land, and sea. In June, CBP announced the deployment a new 
Electronic System for Travel Authorization mobile application. CBP 
continues to improve the travel experience and reduce wait times while 
enforcing over 400 laws for 40 other agencies and stopping thousands of 
violators of U.S. law.
    Travel volumes continue to rebound globally from pandemic lows. 
Travelers arriving by air into the United States increased 20 percent 
from June 2022 to June 2023, and pedestrians arriving by land at ports 
of entry increased 12 percent over the same period. Passenger vehicles 
processed at ports of entry increased 11 percent and commercial trucks 
increased 2 percent from June 2022 to June 2023.
    CBP works diligently with the trade community and port operators to 
ensure that merchandise is cleared as efficiently as possible, and to 
strengthen international supply chains and improve border security. In 
June 2023, CBP processed more than 3.1 million entry summaries valued 
at more than $278 billion. CBP identified an estimated $7 billion of 
duties to be collected by the U.S. Government. In June, trade via the 
ocean environment accounted for 39.5 percent of the total import value, 
followed by air, truck, and rail.
CBP One App
    The CBP One mobile application remains a key component of DHS 
efforts to incentivize migrants to use lawful and orderly processes and 
disincentivize attempts at crossing between ports of entry. In June, 
more than 38,000 individuals who scheduled appointments through the CBP 
One app were processed at a POE.
    Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One was introduced 
in January through the end of June, more than 170,000 individuals have 
successfully scheduled appointments to present at a POE using CBP One. 
The top nationalities who have scheduled appointments are Haitian, 
Mexican, and Venezuelan. Beginning on July 1, CBP announced the 
expansion of available appointments for noncitizens through the CBP One 
app to from 1,250 to 1,450 per day.
Protecting Consumers and Eradicating Forced Labor from Supply Chains
    CBP continues to lead U.S. Government efforts to eliminate goods 
from the supply chain made with forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur 
Autonomous Region of China.
    In the year after the agency began implementing the Uyghur Forced 
Labor Prevention Act on June 21, 2022, CBP has reviewed a total of 
nearly 4,300 shipments valued at nearly $1.4 billion. In June 2023, CBP 
stopped 405 shipments valued at more than $239 million for further 
examination based on the suspected use of forced labor.
    Intellectual property rights violations continue to put America's 
innovation economy at risk. Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods 
threaten the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, the livelihoods of 
American workers, and the health and safety of consumers. In June, CBP 
seized 1,709 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more 
than $120 million.
Defending our Nation's Agricultural System
    Through targeting, detection, and interception, CBP agriculture 
specialists work to prevent threats from entering the United States.
    In June 2023, CBP issued 5,400 emergency action notifications for 
restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the United 
States. CBP conducted 97,101 positive passenger inspections and issued 
678 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for 
failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.
CBP
    U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency 
within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the 
comprehensive management, control, and protection of our Nation's 
borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and 
agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry.

    Mr. Correa. I just wanted to, first of all, thank our 
witnesses for being here today. I want to quote General John 
Kelly when his Secretary of Homeland Security would say, border 
security does not end or begin at the border.
    Mr. Jones, I want to say I heard your testimony I listened 
to it very carefully. I got to tell you, I really don't like 
what you said. But as an individual that has worked a lot on 
both sides of the border, I have to tell you, you have some 
valid points. We do need some extreme solutions. We need to 
coordinate with Mexico. We need to get it right.
    Speaking to Mexican officials recently, and they reminded 
me that just recently they had seized 46,000 bank accounts, 
were blocked. The equivalent of almost $700 million of money 
from organized crime, have entered into an anti-money-
laundering binational group with the United States, 1,600 
members of the Mexican military today are deployed at 55 
security points along the border, seizures recently, 7.5 tons 
of fentanyl, 1,700 labs shut down, almost 74,000 criminals 
arrested in Mexico. Then, of course, in January of this year, 
the arrest of Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman, that erupted into one 
of those gunfights that you are describing where 12 Mexican 
Marines were killed. So I think the effort is there, but I just 
don't think it is enough because this is an effort that is 
going to require all of us working together.
    Last week, Chairman Higgins and I introduced the bill, 
legislation to really enhance, support homeland security's 
investigation of transnational criminal units--I should say 
investigations of transnational criminal units, Mexico, Central 
America, and South America. Is this the kind of efforts do you 
think that would help us really drill down and work with other 
countries south of the border to identify some of these folks?
    Mr. Jones. Thank you for the question, Congressman.
    I will tell you that those statistics you gave are 
fantastic and I applaud the efforts of all of those in Mexico 
who are in harm's way. They have some incredible people working 
to try to fight for their country. But none of this matters. If 
you notice, not one cartel has fallen. As a matter of fact, 
more Mexican citizens and more migrants have fallen to these 
cartels and been brutalized like we've never seen before in 
Mexico. You also see violence now spreading across the country 
at levels where historically, sir, it was along our frontera, 
with our border. Today it is across the nation of Mexico. Where 
I'm going with that is I want you to know that the effort is 
not near enough. Not even close.
    Mr. Correa. You know, if I may interrupt you, because I 
only have a minute left, but there is a new dynamic emerging, 
leverage partnership dependence. Mexico is now our largest 
trading partner in the world. We are going to depend on each 
other for economic success, livelihood, and we need to work 
together to address these common issues.
    I have 44 seconds very quickly. Any thoughts how to move 
forward on that?
    Mr. Jones. I think that's a great point about how we can 
leverage and work together because of that exact reason. They 
are dealing with guns going south and military-grade weapons 
coming north. We have a lot of areas that we can work with the 
Mexicans and we should, as somebody that has done it. It is all 
with relationships. But I want to tell you and be very honest, 
there is a lack of effort in Mexico right now. They put a lot 
of pretty paint on the wall. It means nothing and it is doing 
nothing. You see it in the deaths of Americans, you see it in 
the deaths of Mexican citizens and it's just pretty paint on 
the wall that doesn't amount to anything.
    Mr. Correa. I do hope we can engage in a transparent manner 
to address these issues that do affect my citizens on Main 
Street on a daily basis in terms of fentanyl deaths.
    Thank you Mr. Chairman. I yield. My time is up.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Higgins from Louisiana.
    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank you ladies 
and gentlemen for being before us today.
    Let's see if we can clarify for the American people.
    Mr. Jones and Mr. Maltz, I am going to go to you in my 
limited time.
    Mr. Jones, confirm please your former title in law 
enforcement. We have here you were former captain of 
intelligence and counterterrorism with Texas Department of 
Public Safety, is that correct?
    Mr. Jones. Yes sir, it is.
    Mr. Higgins. So you have a great deal of expertise in law 
enforcement, do you not?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. You are a resident of Texas?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. You know what is going on down there, don't 
you brother?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Roger that.
    Mr. Maltz, according to my information, you are a former 
special agent in charge of Special Operations Division with the 
Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA. Is that correct, sir?
    Mr. Maltz. That's correct.
    Mr. Higgins. You have a long history in law enforcement, do 
you not?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Where do you live, sir?
    Mr. Maltz. I live in Virginia now.
    Mr. Higgins. Well, congratulations, living off of the 
border. You spent a lot of time down there in DEA operations, 
did you not?
    Mr. Maltz. Absolutely, yes.
    Mr. Higgins. You know what is going on down there?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Let's get to it, shall we?
    Since President Biden was inaugurated and made perhaps the 
poorest decision in the history of poor decisions by hiring 
Secretary Mayorkas to enact his policy, because although 
Secretary Mayorkas has a great deal of expertise, as you 
gentlemen do as well, he has the added responsibility as the 
Secretary to advise the President if the President's policies 
are injurious to America. Once those policies have been 
demonstrated to be clearly injurious to our country, the 
Secretary, further reflective of his oath, has a responsibility 
to step away from that administration if the President does not 
abide by his advice when the President's policies that the 
Secretary is enacting are clearly hurting our country. They 
absolutely are.
    Gentlemen, I am going to ask you a little bit about 
cartels' access to our country. You both have conducted United 
States operations in and with Mexico, have you not?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Mr. Jones, yes? Mr.----
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Yes and yes. The United States operations in 
Mexico, must they follow United States law and be organized 
with the Mexican government and Mexican law enforcement?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Mr. Jones.
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Yes and yes, of course. So we have operations 
in Mexico, law enforcement operations in Mexico, but we have to 
follow the law, do we not?
    Mr. Maltz. Right. If I may add, the best example of that is 
the unified operation to capture Chapo Guzman on two occasions 
working with the Mexican Marines. They did the operation, not 
the United States. They went out and they grabbed them. They 
had the courage to do it.
    Mr. Higgins. Understood. I like your spirit.
    So let's compare that to the cartels. Gentlemen, do you 
consider it a true statement that the cartels have gained 
unprecedented access and networking within the United States of 
America? Mr. Jones.
    Mr. Jones. Yes. Yes, sir. I do.
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Have you seen this increase incredibly over 
the last 2 years? Mr. Jones.
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Mr. Maltz.
    Mr. Maltz. Yes.
    Mr. Higgins. Roger that. Do they have to follow our laws?
    Mr. Maltz. No way.
    Mr. Higgins. Absolutely not.
    Mr. Maltz. There's no fear. They're not going to go to 
jail.
    Mr. Higgins. They have unfettered access to the communities 
of America, and they traffic in two things, drugs and human 
beings. This administration has accommodated their efforts. Oh, 
how can you say that, Congressman Higgins? Well, let me give 
you an example. We have spoken a great deal about technology on 
the border. My colleagues across the aisle stated, we don't 
want a wall, wall is old tech, we don't need a barrier system, 
we have technology. OK. First of all, that is in denial of the 
fact that a physical barrier is part of a security system that 
includes physical barriers to deter and delay an attempted 
criminal crossing or trafficking of human beings and drugs into 
our country. Second, let's talk about the technology. Much has 
been said about drones being used. We have technology on the 
border, was requested by law enforcement on the border during 
the Trump administration, approved by Congress, funds 
appropriated, contracts arranged for to detect and take down 
cartel drones. That is called the detection and mitigation 
capabilities of our anti-drone tech deployed on the border, 
called the defensive and offensive operations of that anti-
drone tech. Somewhere since Secretary Mayorkas has been in 
charge--and I promise you we will find the smoking gun--since 
Secretary Mayorkas has been in charge, the offensive 
capabilities or the mitigating capabilities of that anti-drone 
tech has been suppressed.
    Mr. Chairman, my time has expired, but my passion has not. 
I yield.
    Chairman Green. Sometimes Clay Higgins just says it the 
best way.
    I now recognize Mr. Carter--I think, is who is up next, 
from Louisiana.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the 
record an article titled ``Cadre of Nativist Groups: Figures 
Have Long Pushed Replacement by Immigration Ideas into 
Mainstream'', which explains how the replacement conspiracy 
theory has inspired domestic terrorism and documents that the 
Buffalo mass shooter cited by Ms. Vaughan's research is 
justifying his domestic terror attack.
    Mr. Chairman, this hearing is, unfortunately a sham. It is 
a dangerous national platform that risks legitimizing the 
extremist idea terrorists latch on when carrying out attacks on 
the homeland. In this committee, all of us should frown on 
that. So I would like to enter this to the record so everyone 
will have an opportunity to read it, sir.
    Chairman Green. Without objection, so ordered.*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * The information was not available at the time of publication.
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    Mr. Carter. Most migrants coming to our border have no 
other legal pathway to the United States for citizenship and 
are seeking asylum here because they have no other legal 
pathway, which is their legal right. However, our system was 
not set up for this kind of volume that we are experiencing, 
and it is absolutely unsustainable, I think we all agree.
    Dr. Brown, as director of initiatives for non-state armed 
actors at the Brookings Institute, what are recommended 
practices that can be used at our ports of entry to put human 
rights at the forefront?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Congressman, thank you for your question.
    Certainly, a comprehensive immigration reform that would 
allow legal paths of entry into the United States would 
immeasurably improve U.S. law enforcement domestically, as well 
as it would improve capacities to induce partnership and 
meaningful cooperation from vital partners and countries such 
as Mexico.
    In the mean time, increasing inspection is what is an 
important measure, as well as recognizing that the cartels are 
no longer singularly focused on smuggling drugs, but are 
engaged in a whole variety of activities that require all of 
U.S. Government response.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you.
    We are witnessing a shift around the world of people 
seeking asylum, safety, and economic prosperity. Individuals 
are fleeing economic uncertainty, government corruption, and 
violence. This is not only a struggle here in the United 
States, but world-wide.
    Ms. Vaughan, with your work for immigration studies, would 
you agree that there is an unprecedented movement of vulnerable 
people in the Americas and world-wide?
    Ms. Vaughan. There certainly is unprecedented movement of 
inadmissible migrants into the United States. That is for sure, 
yes.
    Mr. Carter. How is that impacting our points of entry?
    Ms. Vaughan. It is overwhelming the men and women of the 
Border Patrol and CBP to the extent that they cannot adequately 
talk to migrants to detect trafficking, for example. They are 
forced to process and release them as quickly as possible. It 
is distracting them from preventing gotaways who are often the 
bad actors, and the drug loads from coming into the United 
States. It is creating chaos in border communities and 
impacting the safety of those communities, it is compromising 
the safety of the people who live along the border, who have to 
deal with the cartels bringing loads of people and drugs 
through their private property and threatening their lives and 
well-being.
    I mean the problems created by this open border are just 
incalculable. And----
    Mr. Carter. So how would we--we are all ears now and we are 
presumably here to listen, to learn, and to do better. So now 
we are all ears. How should Government interact with our 
regional partners to make a difference?
    Ms. Vaughan. Well, I think that United States needs to make 
it clear to our international partners that this level of 
migration, illegal migration into the United States cannot be 
sustained. It's causing problems with our country, and that we 
need to work together to address it and stop it. Because to the 
extent that the criminal cartels are enriched and emboldened, 
it affects civil society in their countries as well. It's 
destabilizing to Mexico and to some of the other--Panama is 
terribly destabilized because of the trafficking that occurs 
through the Darien Gap.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you.
    Ms. Vaughan. They have an interest in working with us, too.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you very much.
    My time has expired. I yield back. Thank you, ma'am.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Bishop of North Carolina.
    Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Jones, you are the witness I have been waiting to hear 
for months and months in this committee. You talked about the--
and I forgot how you described it--ultra violence? What did you 
say about--what did you call the violence?
    Mr. Jones. Hyper-violence.
    Mr. Bishop. Hyper-violence among Mexican cartels. I have 
questioned witnesses here before about, in January in Culiacan, 
I believe there was open warfare, 50 cal machine guns being 
used, narco tanks driven by cartel soldiers against Mexican 
army. This is the second taking or the second effort to take 
Ovidio Guzman, I believe. You have said--I think it certainly 
is--I have some concern about militarizing this dispute and 
having the United States military take on the Mexican cartels. 
I am open to the debate on that. But there is another aspect of 
this that is of interest to me. I wonder if you can comment on 
it, because the wristbands that you hold up testify to it.
    You talked about bond--what did you call that--bondage 
slavery?
    Mr. Jones. Debt bondage, sir.
    Mr. Bishop. Debt bondage, yes, sir.
    So you got hundreds of thousands, or at least 150,000, 
200,000 migrants entering per month, Mexican cartel has tabs on 
all of them. We saw the headline the Chairman put up during his 
opening statement from the New York Post that Honduran migrants 
were operating the drug trade--or I believe is what they said 
in San Francisco. Very troubled place, as you know. As they 
bring these very vulnerable human beings that they have 
absolute control over and knowledge of into the United States, 
they are keeping tabs on them, these criminal organizations, 
could they not develop the same sort of hyper-violence in the 
United States that we are seeing in Mexico given sufficient 
time?
    Mr. Jones. They will. I can assure every Member here, if 
you do not take action on this and change what we are doing and 
look at them not as you are hearing, as criminals, but truly as 
terrorist organizations and leverage the full weight of this 
Government, it is coming here. I worked in 2015, the beheading 
of an individual in Port Isabel, South Padre Island, that was 
committed by a U.S. Border Patrol, working from the navel up 
all the way up. His entrails were removed in his head, as far 
as we can tell, was taken back to Mexico. I worked the 2013 
lawyer where El Gato spent a million dollars putting tracking 
devices all over his family's vehicles and then were able to 
locate him in South Lake, Texas, and then executed him. So that 
they are here, sir. They are here and they are among us.
    Mr. Bishop. The people who have erased our borders as a 
means of improving their voter population might--already have 
gotten more than they bargained for I would say in the fentanyl 
deaths I am going to ask Mr. Maltz about next. But they also 
may see yet more. We may see the same sort of open militarized 
conflict with our own law enforcement and military resources 
here in the United States. That is what you are saying?
    Mr. Jones. I have video that I've submitted to this 
committee of 50 caliber rifles, fully-kitted individuals, on 
Interstate 10, Tucson to Arizona, passing two Arizona State 
troopers.
    Mr. Bishop. The only thing----
    Mr. Jones. I can go on. They are here, sir.
    Mr. Bishop. My fellow lawmakers only decry the fact that we 
are not spending more money letting that happen.
    Mr. Maltz, I want to ask you, you ever been to Charlotte, 
North Carolina?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Bishop. You know the community just north, very 
affluent community just north of there called Cornelius?
    Mr. Bishop. Not aware of that, no.
    Mr. Bishop. Hough High School. A member of a sports team up 
there, young man died a week or so ago. They say that fentanyl 
has pierced Hough High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. It 
is happening everywhere, not just at the border, everywhere 
across this country.
    But there is something even--I don't know if you can say 
more disturbing than that. I just watched the movie ``Sound of 
Freedom'', and I would urge everybody to go see it. But the 
problem of child sex trafficking is, I understand, at epidemic 
levels as well. Been fed from places south of the United 
States, but now in the United States we have children that--
600,000 children, minors come into the United States under the 
policies Democrats have advocated, Secretary Mayorkas is 
overseeing, 85,000 we have lost track of. These people are 
showing up in factories and the like. But that is not even the 
worst of it, it is the people being sold into another form of 
bondage, Mr. Jones, sex trafficking. You keep up with that at 
all, Mr. Maltz? The sex exploitation of children?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir. Because the cartels control it all at 
the border. They have total control of the border. So they're 
making money on all those young kids, those innocent kids. 
That's why I commented before, because of all these rapes and 
these assaults on these young children as they make the 
journies up into the United States.
    But one thing I would want to add is that Secretary of 
Mayorkas did say that the fentanyl overdoses are the single 
greatest challenges that we have in America. But my question to 
everybody is then why would you reverse the policies that were 
working before to keep those people out? It's the operatives 
that are all over our country now running the business of 
collecting money, of pushing the poison on the streets, and 
they're getting right over the border. They have total control.
    Mr. Bishop. If you think the problem is so insignificant 
that it embarrasses you to consider it, Mr. Maltz, that would 
be your answer.
    I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Thanedar.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the 
witnesses who are here today.
    Two months ago, the DEA confirmed the interception of a 
massive shipment of over 20 kilograms of fentanyl during a 
routine traffic stop in my beloved city of Detroit. Now, just 
think about this for a moment. Fatal dose of fentanyl is only 2 
milligrams. Now, if you look at this 20 kilogram seizure of 
fentanyl, and if I do a quick math here, that 20 kilograms is 
enough to kill 10 million people. That is almost the entire 
population of my State of Michigan.
    But let me clarify. This deadly drug finds its way to my 
district because there is a name, an unattended addict, a path 
of destruction waiting for it. That is the root cause of this 
fentanyl crisis, demand for the opioid.
    My message to my Republican colleagues is that the opioid 
epidemic does not begin or end at our borders. This crisis is 
not a border crisis, it is a public health crisis. We need to 
focus on health care. By doing so, we not only save lives, but 
also disrupt the profitability of these cartels. It is a win-
win situation. We can cripple their operation while healing 
those trapped in this grip of addiction.
    Dr. Brown, can you discuss how treating demand for these 
drugs would hurt cartel operations while saving lives?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Thank you.
    I stated at the beginning of my testimony that focusing on 
treatment, demand reduction, and harm reduction approaches is 
absolutely critical and indispensable. This is indeed what will 
save us lives.
    Law enforcement actions, both on the U.S. side of the 
border and internationally, are also very important because we 
do want to minimize the amount of flows to the United States 
and also because the objective should be dismantling the drug 
trafficking groups. However, expanding access to insurance so 
that more people in the United States could receive treatment, 
adopting the smartest most proven evidence based approaches so 
that people are not dependent on sourcing illicit drugs on the 
illegal market, so they are not dependent on sourcing illicit 
drugs, period, is crucial. With that and a very important 
element of that is also a significant over prescription of 
legal opioids.
    I want to go back to emphasizing another point from my 
testimony. The real big danger currently of pharmacies in 
Mexico that are brick-and-mortar buildings, look like any 
pharmacies, and are selling all kinds of drugs, including 
fentanyl- and meth-laced adulterated drugs to international 
tourists such as U.S. citizens. They need to be shut down.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Dr. Brown.
    My understanding is that the administration is working to 
expand its public health initiative to combat the fentanyl 
epidemic. Do you view this as a necessary step?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Yes. The Biden administration deserves 
enormous credit for framing a lot of our drug policy in terms 
of public health. Significant genuine progress has been made, 
and some of them precedes initiative already from during the 
Trump administration with States, State legislature, and 
Members of Congress, the U.S. Congress recognizing the need to 
adopt much smarter, much wider strategies, such as the 
availability of medications that reverse overdose.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Dr. Brown.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Gimenez from Florida.
    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you. Thank you very much.
    In September, September 11, 2001, terrorists killed around 
3,000 Americans and we went 7,000 miles, and we waged war for 
20 years because 3,000 Americans were killed. Seventy thousand 
Americans are being killed every single year by fentanyl and we 
are doing nothing about it.
    I had the director of the FBI sitting in that chair and I 
asked him, do you think that we should be labeling the Mexican 
cartels, the multinational cartels, as terrorists? He says 
well, this is a technicality. Well, they are terrorists. They 
are killing us. As a matter of fact, we only lost 60,000, close 
to 60,000, people in Vietnam in 10 years of war. They are 
killing 70,000 Americans every single year and they are right 
across the border.
    So my question to you, Mr. Jones, is this: Do you believe 
that the Biden administration policies have strengthened the 
Mexican cartels?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir, I know they have.
    Mr. Gimenez. Do you believe that by strengthening the 
Mexican cartels, we are actually not only destabilizing the 
United States of America, but we are also helping to 
destabilize Mexico?
    Mr. Jones. Yes.
    Mr. Gimenez. There is the crux of the matter. So we can 
fund $10 billion and put CBP agents locked and armed 2,000 
miles on the border, and unless we change the policy, nothing 
changes. Is that correct?
    Mr. Jones. That is absolutely correct. This is an 
authority. This is not a money issue any longer. We, as lawmen, 
do not have the authorities we have needed to go after these 
cartels. That is the problem. I don't believe in going to war 
with the cartels. They are dark networks, Congressman. The way 
we win against them is giving us the authority for full 
spectrum operations, leveraging our full U.S. intelligence 
agencies, law enforcement and military, but mostly clandestine 
operations. How you go after the Sinaloa cartel as a network 
will be much different as to how we go after the Gulf Cartel 
del Noreste and many others, because these networks are 
different and we have to fight in the future differently than 
we have in the past.
    Mr. Gimenez. I agree. But also we need to change our policy 
so that the migrants who are coming through, who think they can 
get into the United States, that are paying them their passage, 
deprives them of that revenue and makes them weaker. Is that 
correct?
    Mr. Jones. It does. But you also need to understand these 
cartels are global. You hear all the time that right now 
they're making billions of dollars off of the human trafficking 
of people. That's absolutely true. They're making more than 
they are off of drugs. But when you look at them in the 
totality today, look at why Cartel Jalisco New Generation has 
risen so quickly, so fast. Because they began moving their 
narcotics overseas to Europe, Russia, and Australia, making 
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Literally, one kilo at one 
time in Australia was $180,000. This is why their rise is so 
massive. But what are you always told by these so-called 
experts? That these cartels--listen, if you just legalize, 
it'll all go away. Look at what has happened to us.
    Mr. Gimenez. You are right. This is not a simple answer to 
the problems that we face in the United States, but we need to 
view them as adversaries. We need to view them as people that 
are killing Americans, 70,000 a year.
    Look, I was in the streets of Miami. I am a paramedic. That 
is my craft, all right So in the 1970's and the 1980's they 
responded to overdoses left and right, all the time, and 
overdoses with opioids. But they weren't laced with this 
poison. This poison hooks them, makes it much more addictive, 
and then it kills us. We have to do something about it. What 
the Biden administration is doing is not doing very much to 
protect American lives. That is the duty of Government. The 
duty of Government is to protect the lives of American 
citizens. In this respect, the Biden administration and this 
Secretary is failing miserably.
    Much has been said about the decrease in the number of 
migrants that are coming through the border. Now, from the 
height and yes, maybe it was, but the number that I got, the 
last in February 2020, only 36,000 migrants were encountered at 
the border. Now we are looking at as 100,000 as being a good 
number, 150,000 being a good number. It is an utter disaster 
what is happening at the border--it is an utter disaster what 
is happening at the border.
    One final thought. My colleagues across the aisle think 
that everything can be solved by throwing money at it, and it 
cannot. In this case, the best thing we can do is change the 
policies. By changing the policies, you will then 
disincentivize the migrants from coming into the United States, 
deprive the cartels of the money that they get from them, and 
then we can start focusing in on destroying the cartels, which 
are the source of the fentanyl, which is killing 70,000 
Americans every single year.
    I yield back. Thank you.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    Without objection, the title of Ms. Vaughan's testimony 
submitted for the record has to be stricken. The wording of 
that title makes an accusation against the President and the 
Secretary that they are accomplices to crime, and we have to 
strike that.
    So, without objection, the title of that testimony is 
stricken.
    We will move to the next question.
    I now recognize Mr. Magaziner for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Magaziner. Well, thank you, Chairman.
    The American people want us to work together in a 
bipartisan way to solve the Nation's problems and to strengthen 
our security. But instead, we are here for yet another episode 
of impeachment theater, the latest installment in House 
Republicans' plans to impeach someone, anyone, from the Biden 
administration. It is disappointing and the facts don't support 
it.
    The premise of the argument--and we all know that this is 
where this is headed--the premise of the argument is something 
like this, that Secretary Mayorkas, President Biden are 
breaking the law because they are not attempting to stop 
transnational criminal activity at the border. Unfortunately 
for my colleagues, the facts are not on their side.
    Here is just a sample of the actions that the Biden 
administration has taken to combat transnational criminal 
organizations at the border. In 2021, Secretary Mayorkas 
launched Operation Sentinel, a collaborative, inter-agency 
effort to disrupt logistical networks of criminal 
organizations. Also in 2021, the administration launched Joint 
Task Force Alpha to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against 
smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico and in the 
Northern Triangle countries. December 2021, President Biden 
issued Executive Order 14060, establishing the United States 
Council on Transnational Organized Crime. The Executive Order 
outlined a policy for the United States to combat TCOs and 
established a council to monitor the production and 
implementation of coordinated strategic plans to do just that. 
President Biden signed legislation to increase funding for 
border security, for better technology at points of entry, for 
more Border Patrol agents. In almost every case, our Republican 
colleagues who were there last year voted against this 
legislation. This year, the Biden administration launched 
operation Blue Lotus and operation Four Horsemen, inter-agency 
surges of operations to seize narcotics, investigate crimes, 
and investigate dangerous individuals associated with TCOs. In 
just 2 months, those operations seized nearly 10,000 pounds of 
fentanyl and more than 10,000 pounds of other narcotics, like 
cocaine and methamphetamines. In the last week alone, Operation 
Blue Lotus arrested 284 people on fentanyl charges.
    I can keep going. Secretary Mayorkas launched Operation 
Artemis to target precursor chemicals, pill presses and parts, 
and finished substances involved in fentanyl. Secretary of 
State Blinken, who some of our colleagues are also trying to 
impeach, organized a ministerial meeting with more than 80 
countries to launch a global coalition to address synthetic 
drug threats, a world-wide effort led by the United States to 
disrupt fentanyl supply chains. In April, the Biden 
administration's Justice Department announced charges against 
28 Sinaloa cartel leaders. Of course, most importantly, since 
the expiration of Donald Trump's Title 42 policy, illegal 
border crossings are down more than 50 percent. That is on 
President Biden's watch.
    So, listen, we can all have our own opinions about whether 
the administration is doing a good job or not. Everybody is 
entitled to those opinions. But if your core argument is that 
the Biden administration is breaking the law by not trying to 
disrupt TCOs, the facts don't support it. We are going to keep 
having this debate, apparently for months to come, but that is 
the central point.
    Here is what it all boils down to. Even though the 
administration have taken numerous actions to address the 
challenges at the border, detaining criminals, seizing drugs, 
some of our colleagues are just hell-bent on impeaching a 
Cabinet Secretary for the first time in 150 years. For some, 
this has been the plan all along. House Republicans first 
introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas 2 
years ago, when the guy had only been in office for a couple 
months. They have been gushing to their donors about 
impeachment behind closed doors before they even took control 
of the House and before any of these investigations even began, 
even though there is no legal basis.
    So, look, the American people want us to work together to 
secure the border on a bipartisan basis. There are things that 
we could be doing. We should invest in technology and 
personnel, we should strengthen our relationships with allies 
in the region who are key partners in this fight, we can reform 
the immigration system to make it more orderly, we can finally 
do something about the guns across the border from the United 
States of Mexico, which is a part of this problem that our 
colleagues don't ever want to talk about. But in order for us 
to move forward in a productive way, impeachment theater has to 
stop so that we can get to work for the American people.
    I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Ms. Lee from Florida for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ms. Vaughan, I would like to return to your testimony. You 
touched on a subject that I think is a very important aspect of 
what we are here to discuss today, and that is human 
trafficking and how these policies are affecting women and 
girls and children who are being trafficked. Specifically, you 
used the phrase in your opening that these kids go into the HHS 
assembly line with few questions being asked. I would like to 
focus a bit there. It is correct, is it not, that when that 
happens, we have seen numerous incidents of children who are 
actually put into placements in homes that prove to be unsafe?
    Ms. Vaughan. Absolutely, yes. There are a number of 
instances where, for example, girls have been placed with older 
men in what is clearly an exploitative situation. There are 
kids who have been turned over to labor traffickers, there are 
kids who get turned over to gang members, there are kids who 
get placed into domestic servitude and other forms of abuse. 
It's really quite horrific.
    Ms. Lee. Well, and I know we have also seen cases where--
and this happened even in my own State--if the children 
themselves aren't screened, that can pose a danger or an 
inappropriate circumstance for a host family. Is that also 
correct?
    Ms. Vaughan. Yes. There are problems at some of the 
shelters, sometimes incidents of predatory behavior on the 
other kids who are housed there until their release. There was 
the case in Jacksonville where the alleged minor, who turned 
out to be 24 years old, because the Border Patrol is not able 
to really screen people, murdered his sponsor.
    Ms. Lee. In your opinion, after children are placed in 
these sponsor homes, is there an adequate level of follow-up 
and supervision that is occurring by HHS?
    Ms. Vaughan. Absolutely not. There's almost no supervision 
or follow-up that goes on. These standards that they have for 
not only placements but also post-placement services, are way, 
way inferior to the procedures that every State in the Union 
uses for foster care placements, for example. It's been said 
that it is harder to adopt a cat than it is to sponsor an 
unaccompanied minor. There are rarely background checks done, 
almost never home studies, no financial assessments. The Biden 
administration has stopped doing background checks on other 
people in the households to make sure that the placements are 
safe. This is something that simply would not be tolerated in 
our foster care system.
    Ms. Lee. You also mentioned that roughly a one-fourth of 
the trafficking victims were children. Would you tell us a 
little bit more about that and the patterns that you see that 
are affecting young people and children that are coming to this 
country?
    Ms. Vaughan. Well, what happens is the smugglers often 
either convince the parents of these kids that they're going to 
have a better life in the United States, so pay us a down 
payment on the smuggling fee now and the child will make enough 
money or be able to go to school or some other tale to get the 
parents to release the kid who, when they get to the United 
States, are released to a sponsor who turns out to be a 
trafficker or are put directly into trafficking situations. 
Sometimes it's forced labor trafficking, sometimes it's 
commercial sex, sometimes it's domestic servitude. But the 
child is isolated from their family members in the complete 
control of the people who have custody of them. There's no 
monitoring of the situation by the Federal Government that put 
them in this situation. There is very little opportunity for 
seeing what's going on in some of these workplaces to rescue 
the kids. It's a lot of, frankly, hear no evil, see no evil, 
there must not be any. Really deliberately kind-of looking the 
other way at what is happening.
    Ms. Lee. Thank you Ms. Vaughan.
    Agent Maltz, I want to return to you. You used a phrase in 
your written--which is important and I want to be sure that we 
today hear the distinction that you make as someone who spent 
so many years with DEA. The distinction is between drug 
traffickers, which is something that we have seen obviously for 
many decades coming across our Southern Border, but you use the 
phrase narco-terrorist. Would you please explain to us the 
distinction between a drug trafficker and a narco-terrorist?
    Mr. Maltz. Well, a drug trafficker is in the business to 
make money only. The cartels, when I first started to work, we 
know them as drug traffickers, right? But they've evolved from 
drug traffickers to transnational criminals. But now they're 
narco-terrorists. Just look at the death and destruction of 
what they're doing in that country. I mean when I was the head 
of the Special Operations Division, I kept on my phone the 
greatest hits of the violence in Mexico with the head, the 
decapitations, the chopping off limbs, throwing people in acid. 
They used to have a guy called the stew maker. He would drop--
they were never found. That's why in Mexico today there's so 
many disappearances. They don't want to put that out because 
it's going to deter any tourism in Mexico. But these cartels--I 
mean Jaeson can tell you, he reports on it every week, every 2 
weeks. They got tanks, they got rockets, they got drones that 
drop explosives. That's another thing that makes me concerned 
as a citizen because as our brave men and women are on the 
border, what happens if one day they drop the explosives on our 
own people? Right?
    So these guys have evolved to the point where--I mean 
they're a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, they have plenty of 
money, they have no rules, they have no bureaucracy. So I'm 
very concerned about their evolution and the lack of the way we 
deal with them.
    Ms. Vaughan. Thank you, Agent Maltz.
    I am out of time.
    Mr. Chairman I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentlewoman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Ivey.
    Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.
    Got a lot of ground to cover. I do want to start off with 
agreeing with Mr. Magaziner with respect to the--we have got 
sort-of two tracks of things going on here. One is there is an 
impeachment track that is pretty obvious that--the dereliction 
of duty language dovetails exactly with Ms. Greene's HRS 598, 
which has articles to impeach President Biden. So we know that 
is part of what is going on. But the fact that you all are here 
as a panel, I do have some questions I want to ask you.
    I appreciate we may have some differing views, but I do 
want to try and figure out some of the things that are going on 
here, because I do think we have a duty to try and address the 
problems that we have got.
    Ms. Vaughan, you mentioned Prince George's County, and I 
was the State's attorney there, the local prosecutor. One of 
the groups that we prosecuted was MS-13 repeatedly. In fact, we 
did a joint prosecution with the U.S. attorney at the time, 
President Trump's deputy attorney general. A lot of the stuff 
that they were doing looks a lot like some of the things we are 
talking about now. The human trafficking piece, the 
prostitution up and down the coast, the enforcers, the money 
and all of that.
    So, Mr. Jones, I want to come to you at some point too, but 
I do wonder about some of the differences that seem to be 
there.
    Mr. Maltz, I think you kind-of touched on this, but in the 
old days, and I will put myself in that category, the sale of 
drugs, they weren't trying to kill their customers, basically. 
So they would sell addictive drugs, cocaine, heroin, whatever, 
but they weren't necessarily killing them off. Fentanyl seems 
fundamentally different to me in the sense that, yes, it is 
extremely addictive, more addictive than those, but it is also 
the fatality rates are incredibly high. The things I would like 
to try and figure out if we get a chance to move to a hearing 
on that front would be why that change in the business model 
has taken place.
    Mr. Jones, I want to get a--I might have to ask you all to 
send in a written response or something just because I am 
almost halfway through my time. Mr. Jones, to you, you have 
made a couple references to, I think, essentially military 
action, I think was the way you phrased it. Need more authority 
and more tools beyond law enforcement was one. Then in your 
last answer that you gave a few minutes ago, you mentioned 
explicitly wanting to have the military get involved in the 
pushback against the cartels.
    I will pause for this answer. What exactly do you have in 
mind on that front?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir. What I'm talking about is the tools of 
national power. Here, what I mean by it. Our system by design, 
as you know, as a former prosecutor, moves very slow. It's 
exactly how we want it under our Fourth Amendment.
    Mr. Ivey. Let me ask you to cut to the chase, because I am 
down to a minute-and-a-half. What exactly--because military 
involvement is a very big step.
    Mr. Jones. If we operate beyond the investigative model 
what it allows us to do is go after their assets and their 
money, real-time versus work in 2-year cases. It allows us to 
limit them mobility globally around the world just to Mexico, 
because now you can't get on aircraft, you can't get on boats. 
Third, it allows us to remove them who are here on visas, 
because most of you would be stunned. They have the money for 
visas. So it puts speed in the system and gives us tools. Now 
we go after the network and that's how we win.
    Mr. Ivey. Let me reclaim my time. I don't know that you 
need the military to do any of those three things. I think the 
Department of Justice does that currently. But we can maybe 
discuss that at another time.
    I also had a question to Mr. Maltz. You mentioned working 
with China and I think Mexico. Here at a previous hearing--I 
can't remember if it is Mr. Higgins or Mr. Bishop, but we had 
someone at the--I want to say it was the White House that also 
said the importance of getting involved with China, especially 
in blocking the amount of precursors that are coming out of 
China and going to Mexico. Because when the relationship 
between the United States and China broke off a few years ago, 
China stopped enforcing the exportation of precursors that led 
to the really explosion of the availability of that in Mexico. 
That witness' thought was that--part of the answer was going to 
be that we needed to work with China to address that.
    With respect to Mexico--I am running out of time--but, Mr. 
Jones, you mentioned another issue too, which was money. You 
are the first witness I have heard in one of these hearings to 
say more money isn't the issue. We have had CBP and those guys 
come up and talk about we need more agents, we need everything 
really, because they are outgunned in a variety of ways. So I 
guess I will have to get that from you later on.
    I would ask for unanimous consent to offer a couple of 
articles, ``How to Stop the Mexican Cartels: Stop Supplying 
Them With Guns''**--Which I think was a point you made, Mr. 
Jones--``On Biden's Border Policy Critics Both Left and Right 
Are Wrong'', ``Southern Border Eerily Quiet After Policy Shift 
on Asylum Seekers''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ** The information was not available at the time of publication.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Chairman Green. Without objection, so ordered.
    [The information follows:]
                      Article, The Washington Post
  opinion: on biden's border policy, critics both left and right are 
                                 wrong
By the Editorial Board
July 14, 2023 at 7:30 a.m. EDT
    Uncontrolled migration across the U.S.-Mexico border is not in 
anyone's interest except, perhaps, for the smugglers who profit by 
charging people to make the difficult and dangerous trek. After much 
hesitation, during which unauthorized attempted border crossings 
reached an all-time high of 2.76 million in fiscal 2022, the Biden 
Administration acted to stem the flow and redirect it into lawful, more 
manageable channels. Initial data from the Department of Homeland 
Security shows progress: Daily Border Patrol encounters with migrants 
fell from 10,000-plus just before May 11, when the policy went into 
effect, to 3,400 in early June. Set forth in regulations finalized May 
10, the plan seems to be preventing the border chaos many had feared 
would follow expiration of emergency powers under Title 42, a public 
health law that had allowed Federal authorities to expel migrants 
summarily during the pandemic.
    There's a catch, though: President Biden's policy has to be 
consistent with Federal law. And critics from both ends of the 
political spectrum have gone to Federal court arguing that it's not. On 
July 19, a judge in Oakland, Calif., is set to hear a coalition of 
immigrants' rights advocates, headed by the American Civil Liberties 
Union, who claim, in effect, that the Biden plan unlawfully truncates 
the right to asylum. Meanwhile, red States, headed by Texas, accuse the 
administration of the opposite: letting in hundreds of thousands of 
migrants without sufficient legal authority.
    The courts should let the administration's approach, which includes 
a 2-year time limit, run its course. Some of the legal arguments 
against it are serious. Yet, so is the Biden administration's case: 
that the President is trying to address a major problem through a 
pragmatic exercise of his existing authority.
    Essentially, the new policy offers migrants incentives and 
disincentives--carrots and sticks--the net effect of which is to 
discourage irregular border-crossing. The disincentive, framed as a 
``rebuttable presumption'' against entry, is swift expulsion and a 5-
year bar on reentry for those who cross between ports of entry without 
first seeking asylum in a third country en route. The incentive is that 
these tough conditions do not apply to migrants who first make 
appointments using a cellphone app to apply for asylum at ports of 
entry and wait in Mexico for their turn. The rule contemplates advance 
processing for asylum in a third country as well. Separately, it offers 
30,000 people per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti--
main sources of the 2022 border surge--direct access to the United 
States via 2-year humanitarian parole, provided they have a U.S. 
sponsor.
                                 ______
                                 
             Article Submitted by Ranking Member Glenn Ivey
  southern border `eerily quiet' after policy shift on asylum seekers
By Nick Miroff and Toluse Olorunnippa
July 12, 2023 at 6 o'clock a.m. EDT
    EL PASO--On the border bridge from Mexico, about 200 asylum seekers 
lined up on a recent morning with their phones open to a Customs and 
Border Protection mobile app, ready for appointments at a reception 
hall on the U.S. side.
    Thirty miles north, the Biden administration provided a different 
reception for those attempting to enter the United States illegally, 
bringing them to a massive tent complex in the desert for migrants 
facing deportation. The new 360,000-square-foot facility's shelves were 
stocked with diapers, snacks and baby formula, signs of the 
administration's efforts to meet the changing demands of U.S. 
immigration enforcement.
    The two locations illustrate the extent to which Biden 
administration officials have begun transforming the way asylum seekers 
and migrants are processed along the southern border since May 11, when 
the White House lifted the pandemic policy known as Title 42. The 
policy had allowed quick expulsions of migrants who entered the United 
States illegally but no penalty for those who tried to get in again and 
again.
    Now the administration is allowing tens of thousands of migrants to 
enter the United States legally each month through the mobile app CBP 
One, while those who don't follow the rules face ramped-up deportations 
and tougher penalties.
    The preliminary result is a nearly 70 percent drop in illegal 
entries since early May, according to the latest U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection data. After 2 years of record crossings and crisis-
level strains, the Biden administration appears to have better control 
over the southern border than at any point since early 2021.
    The president's critics continue to depict his border policies as 
too permissive--geared more toward accommodating mass migration than 
deterrence. But the decline in illegal crossings undermines a key line 
of attack for President Biden's Republican critics and bolsters 
Democrats' argument that the pandemic expulsion policy was partly to 
blame for record numbers of border arrests.
    Administration officials acknowledge it is too soon to tell whether 
their new approach can achieve lasting effects. Republican State 
officials are suing in Federal court to block Biden's policies 
expanding legal entries through CBP One. At the same time, immigrant 
advocacy groups have filed challenges in Federal court to Biden's new 
border restrictions on asylum seekers who cross illegally.
    The recent drop in illegal crossings does not mean fewer than half 
as many migrants are coming to the United States. President Biden is 
allowing roughly 43,000 migrants and asylum seekers per month to enter 
through CBP One appointments and accepting an additional 30,000 through 
a process called parole. The new legal channels appear to be absorbing 
many of the border crossers who for years have entered unlawfully to 
surrender in large groups, overwhelming U.S. border agents.
    U.S. agents made about 100,000 arrests along the Mexico border in 
June, the first full month that Biden's new measures were in effect, 
down from 204,561 in May, according to the latest CBP data. It was the 
largest 1-month decline since Biden took office.
    Imelda Maynard, the legal director of Diocesan Migrant & Refugee 
Services in El Paso, which aids migrants, described the past several 
weeks in the city as ``eerily quiet.'' The number of migrants released 
by CBP onto the streets of El Paso dropped to zero in recent days, 
according to the city.
    ``We've been so used to putting out fire after fire, we're like: 
Where are all the people?'' Maynard said.
`We're so close'
    On the outskirts of El Paso, where for much of the past 2 years 
migrants have attempted to enter illegally each day through the steep 
canyons of Mount Cristo Rey, a CBP helicopter and a team of agents gave 
chase one recent morning to a single border-crosser. He turned back 
south.
    With CBP using more contractors at its facilities to help perform 
tasks such as data entry, medical screening and child care, Biden 
officials say more U.S. agents can return to patrol duties. That 
appears to be making it harder for border-crossers to sneak through.
    The factors that have fueled migration to the United States remain 
largely unchanged, but for the first time since Biden took office, the 
President's team is testing a new border-management strategy, one it 
considers a more humane and effective alternative to the Trump 
administration's approach. At the heart of the strategy is a belief 
that reducing the chaos and illegality of migration is more feasible 
than trying to stop it.
    Legislative proposals to overhaul the U.S. asylum process continue 
to face steep odds in a polarized U.S. Congress, which hasn't passed 
significant immigration legislation in nearly two decades.
    Blas Nunez-Neto, the top border policy official at the Department 
of Homeland Security, said the Administration's measures remain 
vulnerable to adverse court rulings because they rely on executive 
actions rather than congressional fixes, which remain stalled.
    The fact that the new Biden system is working as intended is 
encouraging, Nunez-Neto said in an interview. ``But it's still too 
early to draw any definitive conclusions about what we're going to see 
in the coming weeks and months.''
    For migrants in Mexican border cities trying to secure a CBP One 
appointment, the wait can be harrowing.
    Jose Ricardo Pimentel, a 33-year-old Venezuelan, stood on the 
bridge on a recent morning. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he 
acknowledged that he'd slipped into the line without an appointment 
that day because he was so desperate to leave Mexico.
    ``I was kidnapped along the highway to Ciudad Juarez and held for 
22 days,'' he said. ``I'm scared.''
    Pimentel reached the front of the line to plead his case, but U.S. 
officers saw his name wasn't on their list. They turned him back.
    Pimentel fell in behind other families who lacked appointments but 
were clinging to faint hopes the CBP officers would allow them to enter 
anyway.
    Leidimar Munoz; her husband, Alexander Gonzalez; and their 7-year-
old daughter, Yefreannys, waited there, too, but they gave up after 5 
hours in the 100-degree heat.
    ``My daughter couldn't stand it any longer,'' said Munoz, also from 
Venezuela. ``She was hungry and asking to use the bathroom.''
    The family walked back down the bridge into Ciudad Juarez, then 
laid out a blanket under the bridge's shade, sharing a plate of chicken 
and fried rice from a foam container. Yefreannys took out Play-Doh and 
Barbie dolls from a dusty backpack with a cat face.
    Munoz had registered the family for a CBP One appointment 8 days 
earlier. The average wait for an appointment was 4 to 6 weeks, but she 
didn't want to move into a shelter farther away from the border bridge. 
They were spending nights under the bridge, sleeping outdoors on the 
patio of a Mexican migrant services center.
    Downtown El Paso seemed within grasp, its skyline visible past the 
border wall and the spools of concertina wire.
    ``We're so close,'' Munoz said.
    Before May 11, the family could have joined the tens of thousands 
of other Venezuelans crossing illegally and surrendering to border 
agents with an expectation they'd be quickly released into the United 
States. Now doing so would risk deportation back to Mexico and 
ineligibility for asylum. Munoz had to wait, glued to the mobile app.
Criticism from all sides
    The drop in illegal crossings has given Biden a reprieve on one of 
his most vulnerable issues ahead of next year's Presidential election. 
White House officials expressed a sense of validation at seeing the 
border numbers fall after the expiration of the pandemic restrictions--
noting how Republican politicians had been warning of impending chaos 
after May 11.
    But even as Biden's aides expressed relief, the president himself 
has largely refrained from calling out his detractors over the issue. 
The challenges with border enforcement have vexed his administration 
since its earliest days, with fast-changing migration patterns, court 
orders that kept Title 42 in place and criticism from both liberals and 
conservatives.
    The issue is bound to remain a sticking point during the 2024 
campaign. Former president Donald Trump--who initiated the Title 42 
policy and predicted that its end would lead to record migration--has 
accused Biden of deliberately undermining border security by lifting 
the restrictions.
    Recent polling indicates that immigration is one of Biden's biggest 
political liabilities, with 6 in 10 adults saying they disapprove of 
his handling of the border, according to a recent AP-NO RC poll. In the 
aftermath of Title 42's lifting, several Republican candidates have 
announced Presidential bids--and almost all of them have used their 
campaign launches to attack Biden on immigration.
    In some cases, the disapproval is coming from Biden's side of the 
aisle--with Democrats criticizing him as being too harsh toward 
migrants.
    Crystal Sandoval, director of strategic initiatives for Las 
Americas, an advocacy group working on both sides of the border, said 
Biden's restrictions have effectively ``ended'' access to asylum. 
Though the administration is allowing tens of thousands to enter with 
CBP One appointments to live in the United States while their 
protection claims are pending in U.S. courts, asylum seekers who might 
be fleeing immediate danger face new hurdles if they cross the border 
illegally.
    ``Is it really due process?'' said Sandoval, whose organization has 
been helping migrants in Ciudad Juarez fix errors to their CBP One 
registrations.
    ``I expected more,'' she said. ``We can and should do better.''
A floating city
    The deceased man lay facedown in a sandy berm about five miles 
north of the border wall and 100 yards from a highway.
    A CBP helicopter first spotted him, sending agents on horseback. 
They estimated he'd been there about a week. Pieces of sponge were 
glued to his boot soles, a tactic used to mask footprints. The sun had 
left his limbs the color of charcoal.
    He was one of two deceased migrants recovered in the Santa Teresa, 
N.M., area, just outside El Paso, on a recent morning.
    Crossings have historically dipped during the peak summer months 
when temperatures along the border soar past 100 degrees. But as 
migrants trying to evade capture face tougher odds to sneak through, 
they often resort to more remote areas with greater risk. They may be 
U.S. deportees, or have criminal records, making them ineligible for 
CBP One.
    Border agents in CBP's El Paso sector are still averaging 400 to 
500 arrests per day, bringing detainees to the sprawling new detention 
facility comprising brightly lit, climate-controlled tents that 
resemble puffy clouds. The size of six football fields, it is the 
largest and perhaps least harsh CBP facility ever built, with capacity 
for more than 2,500.
    The Border Patrol supervisor running the facility likened it to a 
cruise ship--a small self-contained city floating on the desert. With 
hot showers, onsite laundry and scores of private booths where migrants 
can videoconference with attorneys, asylum officers and immigration 
judges, the facility's operating costs exceed more than $1 million per 
day.
    Border Patrol officials said the facility allows them to manage 
detainees using far fewer agents. They can reserve the more austere, 
jail-like detention cells at Border Patrol stations for migrants 
considered security risks. Family groups, unaccompanied minors and 
others deemed lower risk can be held at the tent complex, where 
contractors perform administrative and custodial tasks that have long 
grated on agents.
    Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.), a border-district lawmaker who 
criticized the new facility's price tag after a recent tour, said 
100,000 illegal crossings a month still add up to more than a million 
annually, near historic highs. Asylum seekers who are released into the 
United States while their claims are pending rarely end up deported, 
even though the majority of their cases are rejected in U.S. 
immigration court, he said.
    ``If this is what the administration thinks is a win, they're on 
the complete wrong path,'' Gonzales said.
    He said he is concerned that the arrival of tens of thousands of 
migrants through CBP One has effectively ``streamlined and normalized 
illegal immigration.''
    ``So they won't be deported, but they'll be living in the shadows 
all their lives,'' Gonzales said. ``It's wrong to funnel them down a 
dead end.''
    Under CBP policy, 72 hours is the maximum amount of time migrants 
should remain in the agency's custody before they are released or 
transferred to another agency such as Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement for longer-term detention. The 3-day window is generally 
too short to resolve asylum seekers' claims of persecution in their 
home countries.
    The Biden administration appears to be using the new tent complex 
to hold detainees longer, allowing more time for the government to 
apply the new asylum restrictions and deport those who disregard the 
CBP One route.
    Border Patrol officials providing a tour of the facility did not 
allow interviews with detainees. But one man lining up for a shower 
said he'd been there 18 days.
Olorunnipa reported from Washington.

    Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize. Mr. Garbarino from New York.
    Mr. Garbarino. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to the 
witnesses for being here today.
    Mr. Jones, in its own 2021 Border Security Metrics Report, 
DHS documented an increase in alternative forms of payment in 
exchange for passage, including migrants being required to 
participate in smuggling controlled substances or other illicit 
items across the border or to work off debts upon arrival in 
the United States, as well as reports of harsh negotiations 
concerning payment plans with family members. Can you talk 
about the rising prevalence of debt bondage and how the cartels 
are using those they smuggle and traffic into the country due 
to the work on their behalf?
    Mr. Jones. Absolutely.
    The Gulf Cartel specifically has a saying, and that is that 
people are the gift, they keep giving, because they can make 
them move the commodity just as you just acknowledged. But we 
have seen that on the border where they're now making migrants 
carry narcotics, we have seen where they then exploit them. 
We've seen where other migrants are now being used to transport 
migrants themselves. Because you can truly make this commodity 
do what you want it to do. What these really represent, and 
that's the most important here to understand, is this is a 
process. Because just as Border Patrol was being absolutely 
overwhelmed with these people, so were the cartels. The Gulf 
had to come up with a process that worked. You're seeing it on 
each of these. You've got some you can look here and you'll 
see. That number goes into a database, and if you--at the time 
that we broke this story, if you were a Mexican citizen, it was 
$2,500 just across the river in South Texas, if you were 
Central American, it was $3,000, if you were Chinese, $5,000, 
and if you were Russian or Middle Eastern, $9,000. I've never 
seen money like that, ever. It was always $100, if that, and 
they didn't care where you went. Now, think of this. Now these 
people are moved throughout our Nation, but yet they are 
indebted to these people for years, if not decades to come in a 
foreign country. This is where we really are now.
    Mr. Garbarino. You talked about how you have seen this 
before, but lower numbers with these higher numbers and the 
amount of people, is this relatively a new phenomenon under 
Secretary Mayorkas?
    Mr. Jones. It is. Now, the smuggling of people has always 
been there, but the adjustment from smuggling into the 
trafficking through debt bondage, because due to the sheer 
numbers, they thought, God, we can make so much money and we 
can do it for the long run. This is the game-changer. When you 
think of human trafficking, most people think of commercial 
sex. That's one piece of it. Don't forget, you have forced 
labor, and this is your final form, debt bondage. Now it's 
Nation-wide.
    Mr. Garbarino. Mr. Jones, I want to continue with the 
profits on fentanyl and human trafficking. In July 2021 you 
said I can without any doubt tell you that the profits they are 
making today are like nothing we have seen prior. This is a 
major revenue stream. How have those profits increased since 
Secretary Mayorkas took office? How much do you think the 
cartels are making annually on human trafficking and smuggling 
alone?
    Mr. Jones. We don't really know what the exact amounts are. 
I mean, look, this is going to go on for decades. Many of us 
will be dead and gone before we clean this up. But I can tell 
you this. There will not be a law enforcement agency in this 
country that is going to be doubling down on the threat that we 
are now facing from trafficking as a result of what Secretary 
Mayorkas is the architect behind these changes. When he took 
power and he created the three exemptions under Title 42, 
allowing UACs, unaccompanied alien children, into the country, 
when he allowed pregnant mothers to come into the country, and 
when he allowed family units, this was the game-changing 
moment. It's validated by the data. If you just look at CBP 
when these people began pouring across the country.
    Mr. Garbarino. I was trying to do some numbers before with 
what you said. You said went from $100 to $3,000 for some, 
$2,500 for others, $5,000 up to $9,000.
    Mr. Jones. That was just at the river, sir. Just at the 
river. Never mind what country of origin where you came from. 
Right now, if you're Chinese, to cross from China to Ecuador 
and then make your way up, they're charging $35,000 a head. 
They're moving 35 at a time in Fronton. Then the Cartel del 
Noreste, literally takes all of their ID before they let them 
into the United States and they drop it on the mic side so that 
when it comes across, it holds up Border Patrol longer so that 
they can then move weapons south, and as much commodities in as 
they need to.
    Mr. Garbarino. So for the last 2\1/2\ years, it seems that 
the profits for these drug cartels have increased immensely?
    Mr. Jones. Agreed.
    Mr. Garbarino. How are these profits giving these cartels 
more power, making them more dangerous?
    Mr. Jones. Well, look at the military-grade weaponry 
they're now using, look at the level and span of control in 
Mexico. The people of Mexico have taken the blunt of this. 
They've lost over 340,000 citizens since 2007. In the last 
national election, CNN did a fantastic work. There was 132 
politicians and staffers killed. Anybody can Google it. Mexico 
has truly fallen to these cartels. When I tell you they're a 
parallel government, you are truly looking at a narco-state. 
The problem is when you're killing journalists in Mexico and 
they can't get the information out, this is why we are so far 
behind what these cartels are doing. That's why we and 
Americans are feeling the impact in every part of this Nation 
today.
    Mr. Garbarino. I am out of time, but if you could respond 
in writing more about what is happening to the American 
citizens because of the cartels, that would be great.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentlemen yields.
    I now recognize Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I am kind enough to yield to the next 
individual. I will come back after that.
    Chairman Green. We can go out of order, absolutely.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
    Chairman Green. Ms. Garcia, you are recognized.
    Mrs. Ramirez. Ramirez. Ms. Ramirez.
    Chairman Green. Ms. Ramirez. I am sorry.
    Mrs. Ramirez. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman and Ranking 
Member Thompson.
    We have been here for about an hour-and-a-half and I want 
to thank you for this hearing. Today's hearing should be 
shedding light on the pressing issues surrounding immigration 
policies, what is causing migration, and how do we make sure 
the children we talk about, the children that I actually know 
personally are cared for. Instead, I think we continue to 
politicize an issue that actually both sides need to address, 
which is immigration reform.
    I actually want to get back to why we are all here today. 
The American people expect us to do our job and to solve the 
problems. They expect us to have unbiased people who are 
witnesses here and provide us an opportunity to shed light on 
how we move forward. As I think about the hearing now and 
hearing the witnesses, I think about just last year how a 
horrific domestic terror attack at a Buffalo, New York 
supermarket left our Nation reeling. My colleagues across the 
aisle offered up their thoughts and prayers, but they offered 
no actions to address racially- and ethnically-motivated 
violent extremism. It is not lost on me that before murdering 
10 people at the supermarket last year, the shooter wrote, and 
I quote, ``We are experiencing an invasion on a level never 
seen before in history.'' However, twisted justification, the 
shooter believed he was repelling an invasion of the United 
States by immigrants from Latin America. Does that sound 
familiar?
    Mr. Maltz, in your testimony you said I know what is going 
on in America. So let me ask you, do you support the assertion 
that the United States is experiencing a historic invasion by 
immigrants? That is a yes or no question.
    Mr. Maltz. Illegal immigrants, immigrants from around the--
yes.
    Mrs. Ramirez. Yes or no?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes.
    Mrs. Ramirez. So you believe that we are experiencing a 
historic invasion of immigrants?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes.
    Mrs. Ramirez. So despite knowing that the Pittsburgh 
shooter justified his actions based on the idea of an immigrant 
invasion to replace white people, despite knowing that invasion 
ideology was used to justify the shootings in El Paso and 
Buffalo, you continue to espouse this great replacement theory 
and extremist ideology that people like me, when my mother 
crossed the border pregnant with me, don't deserve to be here 
because we are invading the country?
    Mr. Chairman, this hearing is not a fact-finding mission, 
it is a raw political sham to stoke fear and it will continue 
to justify the violence against immigrant communities. I find 
that unacceptable. This body's job is to address the problems 
in our country, not to spew more hate. That is what we should 
be focusing on, legislative solutions, not divisive 
distractions, and prioritizing the expansion of resources for 
immigrant communities and comprehensive immigration reform. 
That is how we address public safety.
    So let me just end by saying let us direct our efforts 
toward meaningful action that upholds our values and ensures 
the security and well-being of all of us, regardless of 
immigration status. That is the America that I know, that is 
the America that I love.
    With that, Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Ezell for his 5 minutes.
    Mr. Ezell. Thank you Mr. Chairman and thank you panel for 
being here today.
    I know it is a lot going on and we appreciate your time 
here.
    I spent 42 years in police service, 3-term sheriff and 
enjoyed every day of it. I will tell you, the safety and 
security of people has always been on my mind, not only of my 
home State of Mississippi, but across this Nation. I want to be 
clear that due to the Biden administration's open border catch-
and-release policies, cartel crime is transitioning from a 
border issue to a national issue. Every State is a border 
State.
    Border Patrol agents have arrested more than 30,000 illegal 
aliens with criminal backgrounds since Joe Biden took office. 
While this is a staggering number, it does not even consider 
the illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds that have evaded 
Border Patrol and entered the country illegally.
    Mr. Jones, in your estimation, how many criminals, gang 
members, or suspected terrorists are now in the United States 
among the 1.5 million getaways that have evaded Border Patrol 
agents?
    Mr. Jones. Congressman, thank you for your service.
    We have no idea. The border is so wide open.
    Mr. Ezell. That is exactly right.
    What threats do these individuals pose to communities not 
just at the border, but throughout this country?
    Mr. Jones. Everything from terrorism to the unprecedented 
amounts of deaths that we're seeing of American citizens from 
fentanyl and the many other drugs that are crossing that 
Southern Border.
    Mr. Ezell. Mm-hmm.
    Mr. Maltz, we know cartels are the leading criminal 
organizations that manufacture and distribute illegal fentanyl 
in our country. Over the past 3 years, Border Patrol has seized 
over 45,000 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill over 10 billion 
people. Most of that fentanyl has been seized at the ports of 
entry on the border. However, the sheer amount of this drug on 
our streets shows that the ports of entry aren't the full 
story.
    Can you walk the committee through how cartels are using 
Mayorkas' open border between the ports of entry where there is 
little infrastructure stopping them to smuggle these drugs into 
our country?
    Mr. Maltz. So I would say, first of all, they're making 
billions of dollars, so funding is not an issue. Then they're 
flooding the zones. They're sending massive amounts of migrants 
to certain areas where they know Border Patrol has limited 
resources, and then they're using the open border area to just 
smuggle in unlimited amount of people, unlimited amount of 
drugs, and, of course, bringing the weapons south and the money 
south. So it's basically they're just taking full advantage of 
the vulnerabilities and the weaknesses. The poor Border Patrol 
is out there and they don't have the personnel. They don't have 
enough people in certain sectors.
    I mean, obviously, this document--and I deliberately 
attached this into the record--it's all the news, the headline 
news of all the mass poisonings. So that's the ultimate impact 
when the cartels have such control at the border to send their 
people into America to set up operations and move this poison 
all over the place.
    Mr. Ezell. Do you believe a border wall would deter the 
flow of fentanyl in this country?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, because the border wall would then force 
everybody to go into the POEs, where we could put the best and 
brightest and resources and technology and scanning and canines 
and do much more thorough searching. We wouldn't have to worry 
about our manpower running around the open border trying to 
chase people down, sometimes one and two guys. It's very, very 
dangerous to be out there when you don't have the manpower.
    So I would prefer to focus everybody into the POEs. That's 
not going to solve the problem, but it's going to help and 
that's what we're looking to do.
    Mr. Ezell. Very good.
    From what we have heard today, it is completely 
irresponsible that President Biden from his first day in office 
he signed an Executive Order pausing border wall construction. 
The 70,000 fentanyl deaths in America are directly attributed 
to this open border policy.
    Mr. Chairman, I will not stop working with you to protect 
our Nation's families.
    With that sir, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Ms. Jackson Lee from Texas for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I have been in this committee and I have 
watched Chairman Green and Chairman Thompson work very well 
together on a number of issues. In fact, they have shown 
themselves to be respectful of each other. For that I say thank 
you.
    I have had the ability to monitor what has been going on in 
this room and I frankly believe that problems don't get solved 
by castigating and making incorrect statements.
    I also have a 28-year history in this Congress and have 
been involved with immigration for at least that long a period 
of time. In the Judiciary Committee, as Ranking Member of the 
Immigration Subcommittee, and this committee as Chair of the 
Transportation Security Committee, Ranking Chair of the Border 
Security Committee, and as a Texan have been to the border many 
times. I do believe that we can do this and solve the problem 
of immigration reform together.
    What I also know is at least the border in Texas there are 
many who are on the border that don't want a border wall 
because of its intrusiveness. In addition, because of 
topography and design, the border wall sometimes is not 
effectively put in the right place to be able to create any 
kind of criminal incident. After Title 42, we have found 
statistically, as answered by those at CBP, Customs and Border 
Protection, and the Border Patrol that numbers are clear, that 
we have worked to do together on those who are coming across. 
It is clear that not one American, no matter what their party 
affiliation, abhors cartels violence and viciousness, and will 
come together to work on that issue.
    But it does no good for any of us to suggest that the 
President of the United States and the Secretary of Homeland 
Security are the key and only reasons for migration. I take 
offense and it is wrong frankly because migration is a world-
wide concern. Some would say problem, others would say crisis. 
People desperately come even if it is for their economic 
goodness and they argue something else.
    We well know that immigrants contribute $1.3 trillion in 
spending power to the economy. We also realize that not one 
single person sitting in this room was an indigenous person in 
the United States of America. Your ancestors came from 
somewhere. Mine came unwillingly in bondage.
    But it is clear to me that we have to find a better way.
    Let me quickly raise this question. Let me quickly do so. 
In 2018, the Nation was horrified when a domestic terrorist 
shot down 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 
Pittsburgh. Before going on this rampage, the shooter shared a 
manifesto alleging that, ``The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society 
likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by 
and watch my people get slaughtered.'' Two weeks before that, 
he called immigrants hostile invaders on social media.
    Ms. Vaughan, do you believe there is a flood of immigrant 
invaders at the Southern Border who are slaughtering victims in 
American communities? This is a yes or no answer.
    Ms. Vaughan. No. They're taking advantage of the 
opportunities that are offered by the current policies.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. So you have answered no. So let me just 
say this. In your testimony, on page 8 of your written 
testimony, you say there is a flood of people in the border, to 
the border brought on by the Biden-Mayorkas policies, and that 
these careless policies have created scores of new victims in 
American communities, all of which were preventable crimes. Ms. 
Vaughan, the issue of your partisan extremism goes beyond your 
testimony today. On November 4, 2021, you alleged that the 
tragic murder of a man in Florida that year was another 
casualty due to Biden's open border. Two years before that, on 
January 8, 2019, you laid blame for the horrific murder of a 
police officer, Mrs. Singh, in San Joaquin Valley at the feet 
of Democrats' border weakening and sanctuary policies. I find 
this very dangerous, because we need to come together as 
Americans, frankly, to be able to work, not name-call, but to 
be able to say, none of us wanted those kinds of incidents. How 
dare you say that any of us will want to have an officer killed 
or family killed? Neither does the President and neither the 
Secretary.
    Let me move quickly to something that is very important, 
Mr. Green, and I appreciate if you would allow me to do that.
    I happen to be someone who knows that there are barriers 
that can be utilized in certain ways, being a Texan. I also 
know that we need to stop penalizing nonprofits for trying to 
help persons so that cities wouldn't have to put persons 
somewhere because the nonprofits have them. But let me raise 
this to a former DPS. I want to applaud a DPS officer who is on 
duty today in Texas who became a whistleblower to ask the 
question, why is State government and this Lone Star effort 
causing immigrants to die in the water, causing a pregnant 
woman to miscarry over the raised wire and the buoys that are 
there, forcing them to go into deeper water, why a mother lost 
her life, her child's life, and another child is missing, why a 
little 4-year-old was denied water. This is the words of DPS 
whistleblower right on staff today. The question would be to 
all of you, as I asked the question, this is not America. The 
Border Patrol agents saying that the razor wire and the buoys 
are creating a difficult situation for them because as sworn 
officers of the United States of America, they are sworn to 
protect these people even as they will send them back. They are 
going into deeper water to save lives.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady's time has expired.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I am putting that on the record, Mr. 
Chairman, because I want an investigation. These are not 
governmental witnesses, they are witnesses who have come to 
share their stories. But I want an investigation.
    Mr. Jones. Can I respond to that?
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I want an investigation.
    Mr. Jones. Is there availability for me to respond to that 
accusation?
    Chairman Green. Hold on, hold on. I am taking control back, 
the gentle lady's time has expired.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. The gentleman is not----
    Mr. D'Esposito is recognized from New York. You may yield, 
if you would like to, to Mr. Jones.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. The gentleman is not on staff at this 
point.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield to Mr. 
Jones.
    Mr. Jones. I am the only one sitting in this room that's 
been exactly where those accusations were made. On my phone 
I've got video of what the men and women of law enforcement at 
local, State, and especially the Texas Department of Public 
Safety and National Guard are going through as hundreds of 
people 3 miles from the closest port of entry are being crossed 
by the cartels. To say that the men and women of DPS are 
throwing babies into the river is absolute absurd----
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I didn't say----
    Mr. Jones [continuing]. And that they would do that----
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I didn't say that.
    Mr. Jones. That's the accusation in there.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman is recognized. The gentleman 
may----
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Mr. Chairman, he cannot malign me in this 
room. I did not say----
    Mr. Jones. Not only that----
    Mr. D'Esposito. Ms. Jackson Lee, I believe this is my time. 
Ms. Jackson Lee.
    Chairman Green. Mr. D'Esposito, you have reclaimed your 
time.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you.
    So the name of this hearing, ``Biden and Mayorkas' Open 
Border: Advancing Cartel Crime in America'', I have heard this 
described as a sham, I have heard it described as theater, I 
heard it described as a complete waste of time. It is beyond 
explanation. People are dying and crimes are being committed. 
How is that a sham? How is that theater? How is any of that a 
waste of time?
    I want to thank all of you for being here today. Mr. Jones, 
Mr. Maltz, I want to thank you for your service in law 
enforcement. I too spent a career in law enforcement and 
retired from the NYPD as a detective.
    There is no doubt there is a crime crisis in America thanks 
in part to the dereliction of duty of Secretary Mayorkas' wide 
open Southwest Border.
    I am going to ask all of you, it is a yes or no question, 
do you believe the Biden administration's soft-on-crime 
policies, such as their efforts to limit law enforcement access 
to surplus Federal equipment and their restrictions on Federal 
grant dollars to police departments worsen our Nation's crime 
prices?
    Mr. Jones, yes or no?
    Mr. Jones. Yes.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Ms. Vaughan, yes or no?
    Ms. Vaughan. Yes.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Mr. Maltz, yes or no?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Ms. Felbab-Brown, yes or no?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. No.
    Mr. D'Esposito. OK. So I have heard this also mentioned 
that we should be thankful that the numbers have fallen to such 
a low level. They are not low. There are still thousands upon 
thousands of people coming to this country illegally and 
thousands and thousands more that we don't even know about. 
Quite frankly, it is like celebrating a category 3 hurricane 
instead of a category 4 hurricane. It is absurd.
    I want to focus on the law enforcement for a second. Mr. 
Jones, what are some of the main consequences for local law 
enforcement of increased cartel activity in their 
jurisdictions?
    Mr. Jones. They are completely overrun on the Southwest 
Border. If you go to Arizona right now and you sit back with 
Sheriff Mark Lamb, let me tell you, I've embedded with his law 
enforcement agency. You realize out of 1 out of every 10 
traffic stops that man is making and his personnel are in 
pursuits 70 miles into the country. These agencies are overrun. 
The Texas Department of Public Safety has spent $9 billion from 
the State legislature to try to support operations between the 
ports of entry because we are overrun with crime.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Mr. Maltz, do you believe that law 
enforcement throughout this country faces more threats of 
violence because of our open borders?
    Mr. Maltz. Absolutely. I also know they're retiring at 
record levels at the executive leadership level because they 
can't take it anymore. The mixed messages are overwhelming.
    Mr. D'Esposito. So you don't believe the lines at the 
pension section just happened to happen?
    Mr. Maltz. I just know that I talk to people every day and 
they're leaving law enforcement because morale is at a rock 
level, at the lowest level, because of this. They signed up to 
keep America safe.
    Mr. D'Esposito. I agree. It is because of exactly failed 
leadership like this.
    Mr. Jones and Mr. Maltz, I am going to ask you a question. 
Both of you have served in leadership capacities in law 
enforcement, have ever and would you ever make a decision that 
would put any of your officers in danger?
    Mr. Maltz. Never.
    Mr. Jones. Never.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Right. That is why we are here today, 
because we are talking about cartels, we are talking about 
crime that is being committed, and we are talking about 
Secretary Mayorkas and his dereliction of duty. Why? Because he 
makes policies and carries out policies that have put people in 
danger, has put law enforcement in danger.
    I only have 40 seconds left. A general question to Mr. 
Jones and Mr. Maltz, what are the broader impacts on first 
responders, law enforcement, fire service because of the cartel 
along the border? Please, if you could do 10 seconds a piece.
    Mr. Jones. Completely overrun. When you look in South Texas 
right now, you've got Texas troopers who've been deployed for 
2\1/2\ years, 12,000-plus Texas National Guardmen completely 
overrun and overwhelmed after--exhausted.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you.
    Mr. Maltz.
    Mr. Maltz. The criminals don't fear any repercussions of 
their actions because they're not being held accountable.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Exactly. So what we are seeing here today, 
we are answering the question to this hearing. So it is not a 
sham, it is not a waste of time, it is actually a mission. It 
is a mission to make this homeland, our homeland, the United 
States of America, safer for our children and our 
grandchildren.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Menendez of New Jersey.
    Mr. Menendez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    We can all agree that Mexican cartels pose a direct threat 
to U.S. interest. We can all agree that we need to fight the 
scourge of fentanyl in this country. We can also agree that 
this body and the U.S. Government should prioritize addressing 
these issues.
    But today's hearing has not been a serious discussion of 
ways to protect American families from cartel activities or 
fentanyl trafficking. How can we engage in good-faith 
discussions of border policies when this committee's Majority 
is using this committee to arrive at a pre-determined 
destination, the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas, a 
destination they have said both publicly and behind closed 
doors they are set on reaching. No matter what the facts are, 
no matter what the administration has done to address these 
critical issue, when witnesses confirm what the Majority 
already believes instead of engaging in actual fact-finding.
    Ms. Vaughan, you work for the Center for Immigration 
Studies, is that correct?
    Ms. Vaughan. Yes, I do.
    Mr. Menendez. Ms. Vaughan, yes or no, did you speak at an 
event organized by the Social Contract Press?
    Ms. Vaughan. Look, I have said that you----
    Mr. Menendez. Yes or no? Yes or no? Yes or no? Yes or no? 
You were able to answer other questions in a yes-or-no fashion. 
Yes or no?
    Ms. Vaughan. Look, what I said is that----
    Mr. Menendez. You did. Did you appear----
    Ms. Vaughan [continuing]. You're trying to distract from a 
serious topic----
    Mr. Menendez. Did you appear--excuse me, Mr. Chairman----
    Ms. Vaughan [continuing]. By smearing----
    Mr. Menendez [continuing]. This is my time.
    Ms. Vaughan. Attempting to smear me.
    Mr. Menendez. No, I am just asking you questions.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman reclaims his time.
    Ms. Vaughan. Denigrating----
    Mr. Menendez. Did you appear alongside an editor of 
Chronicles magazine, yes or no?
    Ms. Vaughan. Could you repeat it, please?
    Mr. Menendez. Did you appear alongside an editor of 
Chronicles magazine, yes or no?
    Ms. Vaughan. Not that I know of.
    Mr. Menendez. Did you give an interview to the American 
Free Press?
    Ms. Vaughan. I've never heard of it.
    Mr. Menendez. You have never heard of the American Free 
Press?
    Ms. Vaughan. No, sir.
    Mr. Menendez. You have never done work with the American 
Free Press? OK, well, we will go back to the record.
    Ms. Vaughan. Please explain to me----
    Mr. Menendez. It is important that--excuse me. I am 
reclaiming my time. I think it is important that we shed light 
on the organization you work for as well as the three 
organizations that I believe you have either worked for or 
appeared alongside.
    The Center for Immigration Studies has been labeled an 
anti-immigrant hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
    Ms. Vaughan. That is a complete----
    Mr. Menendez. The Social Contract Press, a white 
nationalist publisher, has been labeled as a designated hate 
group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. According to the 
Southern Poverty Law Center, Chronicles magazine is a 
publication with strong neo-Confederate ties that caters to the 
white nationalist movement. According to the Anti-Defamation 
League, the American Free Press is an antisemitic newspaper 
founded by a Holocaust denier.
    On the day that Congress welcomed the Israeli president to 
address us, we have someone who has contributed to an 
antisemitic newspaper founded by a Holocaust denier, a witness 
who makes 9 assertions in her written testimony about the 
administration's policies, assertions the Majority will likely 
rely on to further their cause for the impeachment of Secretary 
Mayorkas. Yet only 2 citations were provided for those 9 
assertions, both of which were provided by the Center for 
Immigration Studies, where you work, again, an organization 
that has been labeled an anti-immigrant hate group.
    I also think it is important that we discuss some of these 
issues through the lens of our values. Members of the Majority, 
along with some of our witnesses, have mentioned their concern 
for the safety of migrants. Ms. Vaughan, you contend that the 
administration's policies expose migrants to abuse by the 
cartels. I am glad that you recognize that the long and 
difficult journey that migrants face is an issue of concern. 
Immigrants travel to the United States by any means they can, 
in search of a better life for their family, including on foot 
for hundreds, if not thousands of miles, enduring exposure to 
injury and illness along the way. That is why it is 
unconscionable to me that you also go out of your way to praise 
what Governor Abbot of Texas has done. You say in your 
testimony that, ``To the extent there is any improvement at all 
it is most likely due to efforts by the State of Texas to 
physically block the entry points, such as by patrolling the 
Rio Grande River, installing razor wire and buoys.'' I am sure 
that many of us saw the reports this week about how Texas is 
telling their medics in the Department of Public Safety to 
treat migrants inhumanely. There has been a soaring heat wave 
in the Southwest, yet medics have reportedly been told not to 
give out water. Governor Abbott has made crossing the Rio 
Grande River a more dangerous and even deadly proposition by 
adding the buoys and razor wire mentioned that you alluded to 
in your testimony, including in areas of the river with high 
water and low visibility.
    This report included a story of a 19-year-old woman trapped 
in the wire who is having a miscarriage. Five immigrants have 
drowned in a 1-week period in the area near where this wire was 
installed. Where is the humanity for these people? Where is 
your outrage when you hear these stories? What are you doing to 
change the outcome for the people trying to get to this 
country, our country to live their American dream for the 
betterment of their families? Where is your outrage when they 
have to encounter these conditions trying to get here to seek 
asylum?
    I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I recognize, Mr. Brecheen of Oklahoma.
    Mr. Breechen. Mr. Chairman, at the onset of my time, I 
would like to yield 30 seconds to Ms. Vaughan.
    Chairman Green. Ms. Vaughan, you are recognized.
    Ms. Vaughan. I am outraged because I cannot imagine a more 
inhumane policy than one that entices vulnerable migrants to 
turn over their life savings, their families, their kids to 
criminal smuggling organizations because they believe that they 
will be allowed to stay in this country, and end up in debt 
bondage and other horrific situations. Frankly, I'm saddened 
that Members feel the need to distract from this horrific 
treatment of people by impugning my motives, insulting me, 
smearing, repeating lies about me to distract from a horrible 
problem.
    I sat and testified as a witness at a hearing about a year 
ago that Ms. Jackson Lee held in which she brought in three 
survivors of human trafficking. It was a very well-done 
hearing. We heard their stories. They were brave. This is a 
real issue, a real atrocity that is occurring at our border. To 
act like this is some kind of political stunt is a shame.
    Mr. Breechen. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I want to give you 
some time, if I may reclaim my time.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman reclaims.
    Mr. Breechen. Look, let's just talk about the difference of 
where we have come in 2 years. Historic lows in 45 years of 
illegal immigration, historic lows by the person at the helm 
who enacts laws, historic lows of illegal immigration. Now we 
have the most illegal immigration in our country's history. 
Decisions matter. A lack of leadership on this front matters. 
People are losing their lives. Children are being sold into the 
sex traffic slave trade because of decisions that are being 
made.
    In 2022, human trafficking arrests have increased 50 
percent, 72 percent of trafficking victims are immigrants.
    Mr. Jones, a minute ago, you talked about some things that 
we have to be concerned about. The new mob, the cartel coming 
into the United States. The new mob. I want you to recite the 
fact that you said a minute ago. How many politicians were 
killed in Mexico?
    Mr. Jones. In the last national election--if you'll look 
up, CNN did some great reporting on this--132, including their 
staff.
    Mr. Breechen. Mr. Jones, are they coming to a State near 
you? Are the cartels richer and more powerful because of this 
administration, President Biden's decision and Secretary 
Mayorkas' decision? Are they more powerful and richer today?
    Mr. Jones. This is a whole new scheme that has resulted in 
them getting richer right here in debt bondage.
    Mr. Breechen. Are they more powerful in America because of 
the decisions at the Executive helm?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Breechen. In America debt bondage, we keep hearing 
about debt bondage. Thirty-five thousand dollars if you are 
coming from China, the cartel is charging you to come into this 
country. Do we not think that they are going to employ not only 
the tactics of the employment, but what about prostitution to 
repay that debt?
    Mr. Jones. In every form that you can think of, they're 
going to require these people--and then when they've paid it, 
they're going to say they did something wrong, and now they owe 
another $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, because that's what they can 
do. You see, they know where their families are in their 
country of origin, and they know where they're going here in 
our country. It's all right here in the numbers in their 
database.
    Mr. Breechen. Mr. Chairman, I am concerned about the Biden 
administration, as I know many of us on this committee are, 
their policies, these unaccompanied alien children, and it is 
run by the Department of Health and Human Services. So some of 
you have some great insight on that fraudulent use of that UAC 
program. Children that are being trafficked, they are being 
abused, they are being sold into sex trade.
    I want to ask Ms. Vaughan, what do you know about children 
that have been involved in the sex trade because of the UAC 
program implementation?
    Ms. Vaughan. Well, in many cases, their lives are ruined. 
In some cases, it happens because they get preyed on when, for 
example, they're in shelters in places like San Antonio or New 
York or Chicago that are overrun. They're there by themselves.
    Mr. Breechen. Is this administration making sure that those 
children who may be forced to say they are related, is this 
administration making sure that they verify that they are those 
children? What change over the prior policy is not making sure 
that they are the children?
    Ms. Vaughan. Well, previously the policy was that no child 
would be without a certain level of vetting of the sponsor.
    Mr. Breechen. Does that include DNA tests to make sure if 
that child's being forced?
    Ms. Vaughan. OK, well, DNA testing was done at the border 
because there was a problem----
    Mr. Breechen. Has that been changed under this 
administration?
    Ms. Vaughan. Yes, it has. They eliminated----
    Mr. Breechen. So are we complicit? Is this administration 
potentially complicit in children who are being forced to claim 
they are related, being sold into a sex trade, and we could 
have caught them at the border if we had have done DNA 
analysis? This administration is undermining that process?
    Ms. Vaughan. The cartels and smugglers are thrilled that 
the DNA testing policy has been abandoned because it makes it 
very easy for them now to rent, kidnap, and use children to 
assist other inadmissible illegal aliens in crossing into the 
United States.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Ms. Titus for her 5 minutes.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Mr. Chairman, may I introduce into the 
record--please, just very briefly.
    Chairman Green. Do you want to ask Ms. Titus to introduce 
that for you, Ms. Jackson Lee? Ms. Titus has been recognized.
    Ms. Titus. I ask unanimous consent to enter into the 
record----
    Ms. Jackson Lee. The Texas troopers accounts of bloodied 
and fainted migrants on the U.S. Mexico border. Also in the 
Houston Chronicle, the Washington Post. These were not my 
words, the words of a Texas trooper words.
    Chairman Green. Without objection, so ordered.*
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    * The information was not available at the time of publication.
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    Ms. Jackson Lee. I thank the lady. Thank you.
    Ms. Titus. I am just wondering how you know that the cartel 
members are thrilled. Have you done polling of these cartel 
members or something to figure out how thrilled they are about 
this?
    Ms. Jackson Lee. It is OK.
    Ms. Titus. That is a rhetorical question.
    I just sit here one more time and listen to one more 
hearing trying to attack the Secretary, trying to attack the 
President, talking about the border with inflammatory titles 
like The Open Border, Advancing Cartel Crime. Meantime, we got 
domestic terrorism, we got antisemitism, we got Asian hatred, 
we got cybersecurity. All of that is being ignored, and all of 
those things are serious problems.
    It is so easy just to point a finger at one person and say, 
oh, it is his fault for being a bad manager. But if you look at 
the issue from a historical, sociological, and economic 
standpoint, you will find that it is much more complicated than 
that. You can look at the complex history of Central and South 
America. You can look at our currently-strained relationship 
with Mexico. You can look at the broken immigration system that 
we don't seem to be able to fix. You can look at the immense 
power of the cartels and their abuses at every level, using 
guns that they have mostly gotten from across the border and 
selling drugs to people in the United States because we have 
customers here who want that, as we have a decades-long opioid 
crisis, and there is no agreement on border policies. We hear 
from some members of the border what we need are more 
resources, we hear from whatever your sources are from 
disgruntled people at the border that it is all management's 
fault.
    Let's look at this comprehensively. I would ask you, 
Doctor, you mentioned in Europe there is a difference between 
the way the cartels work in Mexico and when they come to the 
United States. Largely that can be credited to our law 
enforcement doing a good job. They are not as violent, they 
don't infiltrate governments, they don't raid villages here. 
But we don't have a very good relationship with Mexico on this 
front like we do on some other diplomatic fronts. Could you 
talk a little bit about how we could maybe improve that 
relationship so we can jointly go after some of these cartels?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Several years ago, the U.S. Government 
and the Mexican government established a policy or basic 
understanding of shared responsibility. This notion of shared 
responsibility carried across both Republican administration 
and Democratic administration on the U.S. side and across 
several Mexican governments. Unfortunately, although this 
notion is still in rhetoric, the current Mexican government of 
President Lopez Obrador has significantly walked away back from 
it. We have seen really during his administration a very 
profound hollowing out of cooperation. He is also adopting 
policies, or the lack of policies in Mexico, that are enabling 
in their lack of response the Mexican cartels. It is difficult 
to see how this could be changed during the last year of his 
administration, but there will be elections in Mexico.
    It is clear that any kind of effective policy requires 
respect and recognition of interest on both sides. But 
unfortunately, this is not happening with the current Mexican 
government. The Biden administration has done its best to try 
to induce better cooperation from Mexico. But we have very far 
to go.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you. I hear from your other panel members 
that the way to solve this problem is get rid of Mayorkas and 
maybe build a wall. Are there other things more realistic that 
we could do to make the situation better just on our side?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Absolutely. Certainly there are many 
opportunities to strengthen both treatment, demand reduction, 
and address those important dimensions, as well as access to 
medications, such as overdose medication, other medication for 
those that have substance use disorders.
    There are other opportunities to strengthen law enforcement 
actions. These include resourcing far better legal ports of 
entry so more inspections can take place. This includes 
expanding the policies, how we tackle the cartels, not simply 
thinking of them as smuggling entities or drug-smuggling 
entities only, but targeting their many dimensions, including 
their other access to money through joint task forces that have 
U.S. law enforcement agents as well as other members of 
relevant agencies.
    So whole-of-Government approach that expands both 
Departments of State, Department of Defense, that expands 
authorities of agencies such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
    Ms. Titus. Well, we also hear that some of the Mexican 
pharmacies are selling drugs laced with fentanyl. That is to a 
lot of American tourists who are down there, that is not the 
cartels, but there may be a connection. Also these retail 
crimes here in this country often use what they sell on the 
internet or sell wherever to fund some of these things, like 
trafficking. That would be kind-of part of the all-of-
Government approach that we might address. Is that right?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Absolutely.
    Ms. Titus. Well, thank you.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Crane from Arizona.
    Mr. Crane. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for 
coming here today.
    I continue to hear the same thing. I want to echo what my 
colleague Mr. D'Esposito was saying. I can't help but notice, 
this is a sham, this is more impeachment theater. This is the 
Homeland Security Committee. If we are not talking about this, 
I don't know what else we are going to be talking about. If we 
are not talking about trying to hold the individuals that are 
in charge of leadership on homeland security accountable, I 
don't know what else we are going to be talking about.
    I wish you gentlemen were here yesterday. Some of my 
colleagues on the other side were trying to undermine how 
effective walls and barriers are. It is sad. I spent a lot of 
my life in the military, and I worked in Special Forces, so I 
understand security, I understand security systems. We talked 
about overlapping deterrents, we talked about using trained 
personnel, technology, barriers, intelligence, all of these 
things together. Overlapping deterrents and security systems to 
secure whatever you want to secure. It is sad to me that my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle can't even 
acknowledge that barriers, whether it is around their house, 
their schools, these complexes, whatever it is, are effective.
    Mr. Jones, I want to ask you about that, sir, because I 
know you understand security a lot better than the average 
individual. Do you find individuals that isolate barriers and 
walls and say they are archaic and ineffective, do you find 
those individuals serious when it comes to actual security?
    Mr. Jones. I think they don't understand what's taking 
place. In South Texas, for example, you can be inside a stash 
house in a matter of seconds. So it's not about an electronic 
wall for detection, it's about how fast can you get a law 
enforcement personnel there.
    Mr. Crane. Yes.
    Mr. Jones. When you go to Arizona, for example, you've got 
a lot of space there. You still have the challenge. That where 
we are in 2024, it's not about the detection issue, it's about 
how you get law enforcement able to respond before they're 
picked up or inside these stash houses. That's the core 
fundamental problem.
    Mr. Crane. These overlapping deterrents help give our law 
enforcement officials time to respond. Is that correct?
    Mr. Jones. It's correct.
    Mr. Crane. Mr. Maltz, would you agree with that?
    Mr. Maltz. Absolutely, yes.
    Mr. Crane. OK, great.
    Mr. Jones, you were talking about classifying cartels as 
terrorist organizations. I have heard that argument before. I 
understand why that argument is being made. But I want to ask 
you something, sir. Did you watch the videos of the United 
States pulling out of Afghanistan?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir, I did.
    Mr. Crane. Did you watch the people hanging from planes?
    Mr. Jones. Yes, sir, I did.
    Mr. Crane. Mr. Maltz, did you watch that?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes. I also witnessed my brother coming back in 
a body bag from the war in Afghanistan.
    Mr. Crane. Thank you, sir.
    One of my biggest concerns when we start talking about that 
stuff, sir, is it would be the same leadership fight against 
the cartels. That concerns me. Quite honestly, I don't trust 
them to do that job. That is one of the biggest issues that I 
have.
    I also want to hear your thoughts, sir, because I know you 
have done this for a long time, how that would affect some of 
the asylum claims.
    Mr. Jones. Sure. First, we have to understand that the 
issue right now that we have with these cartels is it's about 
authorities. I don't look to go to war using our military in 
Mexico.
    Mr. Crane. Right.
    Mr. Jones. We have proven in the past, working with the 
Marines, working with SEMAR, driving intelligence-led 
operations. But what we didn't do was network theory. We 
leveraged a law enforcement model and it was too slow. What 
does it do? It goes after the bosses.
    Mr. Crane. Just out of time--for time's sake, sir, so you 
are talking more about using intelligence.
    Mr. Jones. Absolutely. But we will have----
    Mr. Crane. OK. You are not talking about----
    Mr. Jones. We will have to use overt action at times. Look, 
the air is--you're not flying over there without getting shot 
down.
    Mr. Crane. Thank you, sir.
    My last question. The Federation for America Immigration 
Reform, FAIR, recently calculated the cost of illegal 
immigration to be $150.7 billion to Americans. Do you know how 
much a border wall would cost to build? Anybody on the panel 
have any idea, roughly? The same group says about $22 billion. 
Mr. Jones, do you think that would be a good investment?
    Mr. Jones. I think right now, beyond anything regarding 
money being spent by this committee or any others to the 
protection of this country, you have to look at the totality of 
these cartels in providing the authorities we need. That is our 
real issue right now.
    Mr. Crane. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to enter this 
article into record.
    Thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Green. Without objection, the article is entered.
    [The information follows:]

 The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers--
                            2023 Cost Study
                             March 8, 2023
Report by FAIR Research--March 2023
    The following is a summary of our cost study findings. To access 
our full report, including State-specific information, click here.
                             key highlights
   At the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration 
        for the United States--at the Federal, State, and local 
        levels--was at least $150.7 billion.
   FAIR arrived at this number by subtracting the tax revenue 
        paid by illegal aliens--just under $32 billion--from the gross 
        negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion.
   In 2017, the estimated net cost of illegal migration was 
        approximately $116 billion. In just 5 years, the cost to 
        Americans has increased by nearly $35 billion.
   Illegal immigration costs each American taxpayer $1,156 per 
        year ($957 after factoring in taxes paid by illegal aliens).
   Each illegal alien or U.S.-born child of illegal aliens 
        costs the United States $8,776 annually:
   Evidence shows that tax payments by illegal aliens cover 
        only around a sixth of the costs they create at all levels in 
        this country.
   A large percentage of illegal aliens who work in the 
        underground economy frequently avoid paying any income tax at 
        all.
   Many illegal aliens actually receive a net cash profit 
        through refundable tax credit programs.
                              introduction
    This cost study report is currently the only comprehensive 
examination of the financial impact of illegal immigration in the 
United States. Every day, hundreds of millions of dollars in American 
taxpayer money are spent on costs directly associated with illegal 
immigration. Only a small fraction of these costs is ever recouped from 
taxes paid by illegal aliens, with the rest falling on the shoulders of 
American citizens and legal immigrants.
    Our aim in this report is to show the American people the fiscal 
burden of illegal immigration at every level and across nearly all 
aspects of life. These costs range from emergency medical care to in-
State tuition; from incarcerating illegal aliens in local jails to 
Federal budgets that pay out billions in welfare every year. Because 
there are so many different ways that money is spent on illegal aliens 
at both the State and local levels, the information in our report is 
otherwise hard to find (or even intentionally hidden). This report 
supersedes FAIR's 2017 cost study and highlights massive increases in 
spending related to illegal immigration that were implemented while 
American citizens deal with an uncertain economy.
         the number of illegal immigrants in the united states
    Estimating the fiscal burden of illegal immigration on the U.S. 
taxpayer depends on the size and characteristics of the illegal alien 
population. FAIR defines ``illegal alien'' as anyone who entered the 
United States without authorization or anyone who unlawfully remains 
once his/her authorization has expired. Unfortunately, the U.S. 
Government has no central database containing information on the 
citizenship status of everyone lawfully present in the United States.
    The overall problem of estimating the illegal alien population is 
further complicated by the fact that the majority of available sources 
on immigration status rely on self-reported data. Given that illegal 
aliens have a motive to lie about their immigration status in order to 
avoid discovery, the accuracy of these statistics is dubious at best. 
All of the foregoing issues make it very difficult to assess the 
current illegal alien population of the United States.
    However, FAIR now estimates that there were at least 15.5 million 
illegal alien residents as of the beginning of 2022. This estimate 
takes into account drastic, ongoing increases in illegal immigration 
under the Biden administration. This estimate also includes some 
categories of individuals without legal status, like DACA recipients 
and parolees, who are illegal aliens under law but misleadingly 
excluded from many estimates. For more information on how we reached 
this figure, refer to the FAIR study ``How Many Illegal Aliens Live in 
the United States?''
          the cost of illegal immigration to the united states
    At the Federal, State, and local levels, taxpayers shell out 
approximately $182 billion to cover the costs incurred from the 
presence of more than 15.5 million illegal aliens, and about 5.4 
million citizen children of illegal aliens. That amounts to a cost 
burden of approximately $8,776 per illegal alien/citizen child. The 
burden of illegal immigration on U.S. taxpayers is both staggering and 
crippling, with the gross cost per taxpayer at $1,156 every year.
    Illegal aliens only contribute roughly $32 billion in taxes at the 
State, local, and Federal levels. This means that the net fiscal cost 
of illegal immigration to taxpayers totals approximately $150.7 
billion.
    In 2017, FAIR estimated the net cost of illegal immigration at 
approximately $116 billion. This means that in just 5 years, the cost 
of illegal immigration has increased by nearly $35 billion. This rapid 
increase is a consequence of the ongoing border crisis and a lack of 
effective immigration enforcement. The sections below further break 
down and explain these numbers at the Federal, State, and local levels.
           total governmental expenditures on illegal aliens

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

               total tax contributions by illegal aliens
              total economic impact of illegal immigration
                                federal
Federal Spending
    The approximately $66.4 billion in Federal expenditures 
attributable to illegal aliens is staggering, and constitutes an 
increase of 45 percent since 2017. This amounts to roughly $3,187 per 
illegal alien, per year.
    FAIR believes that every concerned American citizen should be 
asking our Government why, in a time of increasing costs and shrinking 
resources, it is spending such large amounts of money on individuals 
who are not authorized to be in the United States. This is an 
especially important question in view of the fact that the taxes paid 
by illegal aliens offset very little of the enormous costs stemming 
from their presence in the country.
   Federal Education--$6.6 Billion
   Total Federal Medical Expenditures--$23.1 Billion
   Total Federal Justice Enforcement Expenditures--$25.1 
        Billion
   Total Federal Welfare Programs--$11.6 Billion
   Total Overall Federal Expenditures--$66.5 Billion
Federal Taxes
    Taxes collected from illegal aliens help offset fiscal outlays and 
therefore must be included in any examination of the cost of illegal 
immigration. However, illegal alien advocates frequently cite the 
alleged large tax payments made by illegal aliens as a justification 
for their unlawful presence and as a reason itself to grant them 
amnesty. That argument is nothing more than a red herring. Such claims 
rarely look at the costs associated with illegal immigration, and 
instead only focus on the amounts contributed to the economy and paid 
in taxes.
    Most studies grossly overestimate both the taxes actually collected 
from illegal aliens and, more importantly, the net amount of taxes 
actually paid by them (i.e., the amount of money collected from illegal 
aliens and ultimately kept by the Federal Government). A predominant 
reason for this is that in recent years, the United States has focused 
on apprehending and removing almost solely criminal aliens (and since 
President Biden took office, many criminal aliens are now protected 
from deportation as well). Because of this, the majority of illegal 
aliens seeking employment in the United States now live in an 
environment where they have little fear of deportation even if 
discovered.
   Federal Tax Receipts from Illegal Aliens--$24.6 Billion
   Net Federal Impact of Illegal Aliens--$50.2 Billion
                            state and local
    The total fiscal burden of illegal immigration on State taxpayers 
has now reached a staggering $115.6 billion, which is 30 percent more 
than it was in 2017. The primary reasons for this, aside from a rapid 
increase in the illegal alien population, are that a number of States 
have opted to expand access to State welfare, education, and medical 
programs to illegal aliens. These expansions have led to taxpayers 
paying tens of billions in additional funding to cover these costs.
    Concerningly, as will be seen in the following section, the taxes 
paid by illegal aliens to State and local governments fall far short of 
making up for the numerous additional State-funded benefits they are 
receiving. Moreover, with many States set to begin offering even more 
benefits to illegal aliens, as mentioned previously, these costs are 
only expected to increase even further.
State and Local Spending
   State Educational Expenditures--$73.3 Billion
   State Medical Expenditures--$18.6 Billion
   State Administration of Justice Expenditures--$21.8 Billion
   State Welfare Expenditures--$2 Billion
   State and Local Expenditures--$115.6 Billion
State and Local Taxes Collected
    As with Federal costs, State and local costs are offset--to some 
degree--by the taxes illegal aliens pay. As noted in the Federal taxes 
portion of this section, proponents of illegal immigration argue that 
the taxes paid by illegal aliens result in a net boon to State and 
local coffers. However, this is a spurious argument. Evidence shows 
that the tax payments made by illegal aliens fall far short of covering 
the costs of the services they consume.
    It is also important to note that calling illegal alien tax 
payments a net receipt is a mischaracterization. The overall wage 
depression inflicted on local labor markets by the presence of large 
numbers of illegal aliens willing to work for less than market rates 
has far-reaching fiscal implications that are often not quantified on 
average balance sheets. Low-wage workers generally access more 
government benefits than higher-paid employees. Furthermore, illegal 
aliens also tend to remit large portions of their earnings back to 
their home countries, and thus less money is incorporated back into 
local economies and less is paid in local sales and excise taxes. 
However, because this study looks at the fiscal impacts of illegal 
immigration, and tax collections are a fiscal offset, we do our best to 
estimate how much of the fiscal costs borne by taxpayers are reduced by 
taxes paid by illegal aliens.
    Illegal aliens are not typical taxpayers. First, the large 
percentage of illegal aliens who work in the underground economy avoid 
paying any income tax at all. Those that do work in the formal economy 
often receive back more than they pay to the Federal Government through 
refundable tax credit programs. Finally, the average earnings of 
illegal alien households are considerably lower than earnings of legal 
aliens and native-born workers, thus they typically fall into the 
lowest tax brackets.
   State Taxes Collected--$15.2 Billion
   Net State Impact--$100.4 Billion
                   combined federal state cost tables
   Federal and State Fiscal Outlays--$182 Billion
   Federal and State Tax Contributions--$31.4 Billion
   Net Cost of Illegal lmmigration--$150.7 Billion
   Cost of Illegal Immigration by State (PDFs)
                        notes about this report
   A Note on the Lack of Transparency in Government Data 
        Reporting
   Summary of Methodology

    Chairman Green. I now recognize Ms. Greene.
    Ms. Greene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Human trafficking is a $150 billion-a-year industry. In 
2021, Georgia had one of the highest number of cases per capita 
that were reported through trafficking hotlines. The northern 
area of Atlanta is well-known. It is one of the highest places 
of human trafficking, human sex trafficking of women and 
children. Women and girls represent approximately 71 percent of 
all trafficking victims globally. More than 90 percent of 
detected female victims are trafficked for the purpose of 
sexual exploitation. Approximately one-third of all human 
trafficking victims are children. This next sentence is hard to 
even read because it is our country. The United States is one 
of the top destinations for human trafficking and is among the 
largest consumers of child sex. The average age of entry into 
the commercial sex market is 12 years old.
    In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of controversy 
about a movie called ``Sound of Freedom''. I can't understand 
why anyone would say anything negative about a movie that is 
trying to expose child sex trafficking, especially when it 
involves our United States border.
    Ms. Vaughan, can you tell me, is it a conspiracy theory? Is 
child sex trafficking a conspiracy theory?
    Ms. Vaughan. It is most certainly not a conspiracy theory. 
It occurs far too much. I have met with and hugged survivors 
and heard what they have gone through. To refer to it as a 
conspiracy is an insult to what they have endured.
    Ms. Greene. Is our border a serious issue, the fact that 
our border is open, and the amount of people coming across our 
border, is that contributing to child sex trafficking?
    Ms. Vaughan. It is most definitely contributing to the 
problem of not only child sex trafficking, but forced labor and 
domestic servitude and debt bondage, as we've discussed today.
    Ms. Greene. Is our current administration's border policies 
contributing to child sex trafficking?
    Ms. Vaughan. They are certainly facilitating it, yes. So 
it's happening with more frequency as a result of the loose 
policies at the border and the lack of enforcement, frankly, in 
the interior of the country as well that would help rescue some 
of these survivors--or at least turn them into survivors as 
opposed to victims.
    Ms. Greene. Thank you, Ms. Vaughan.
    Fentanyl deaths are at an all-time high, 300 Americans 
dying every single day from fentanyl. Having a top government 
official on the Mexican cartels' payroll helped the cartels 
operate with impunity, moving tons of drugs around the world 
and make billions. It cost the cartels as little as $.10 to 
produce the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pill--$.10. That 
is sold in the United States for as much as $10 to $30 per 
pill.
    Mr. Maltz, with your experience in your career in the DEA, 
is the amount of fentanyl coming across our border, is this an 
all-time high?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes. I mean, this is the greatest drug threat 
we've ever faced in the history of the country. But I want to 
add that it's really not a drug, it's a chemical weapon coming 
out of China. Just like the K2, the spice now, the xylazine, 
that is rotting people from the inside out. This is deliberate, 
in my opinion, my expert opinion, from all the years of doing 
this. I lived this nightmare starting in about 2008, and then 
fentanyl started 2012. This is deliberate, and I would say 
based on my experience, it's like--just like the Afghans used 
to say, selling heroin to the West is a Jihad against America. 
Well, for China, they're undermining, they're destroying our 
country and they're sitting back using the Mexican cartels to 
do the dirty work.
    Ms. Greene. I agree with you Mr. Maltz. I believe, and I 
would ask your opinion as well, with the Biden administration's 
policies allowing the Mexican cartels to traffic the amount of 
poison fentanyl that is coming across China, it seems to be it 
is not negligence. It is not that they don't know it is 
happening, they know it is happening. It is hard to deny 300 
Americans dying every single day from fentanyl. But would you 
agree that the Biden administration's policies is helping the 
Mexican cartels traffic this Chinese poison fentanyl into the 
United States?
    Mr. Maltz. Little boy, 3 years old, from Kentucky--and this 
is his mother in the coffin here with the kid because of 
fentanyl. It's happening every day all over the country. I deal 
with the families, I know. That's really sad. It's very sad 
that the current administration overturned strong homeland 
security policies that kept us all safe. That's my passion. I 
mean, I can't believe this is happening to this great country.
    Ms. Greene. I agree with you, Mr. Maltz. It seems that 
border security should be our utmost important issue that we 
are working on, not only to stop child sex trafficking, human 
trafficking, but also to prevent the poison of 300 Americans a 
day.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Chairman Green. Thank you. The gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Garcia for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Just want to also, just to be clear, just to review for the 
hearing, Democrats want to solve drug trafficking, we want to 
solve human trafficking, and certainly want to solve any sort 
of arms trafficking, which funds the cartels. What we don't 
want, and what some on this committee are hell-bent on doing, 
is we don't want to demonize or scapegoat immigrants, refugees, 
and people that need the most help. We are interested in real 
solutions, not going along with Republican attacks and the 
crusade to launch fake impeachments of Secretary Mayorkas for 
political gain.
    Now, I do want to start with a question. Now, less than a 
year after the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh, which we 
know killed 11 worshippers, a terrorist shot up a Walmart in El 
Paso, killing 23 people. Like the Tree of Life shooter before 
him, the murderer in El Paso believed he was fighting in a war 
to end ``Hispanic invasion of Texas''.
    Mr. Jones, yes or no, is there an invasion of Texas at the 
Southern Border by immigrants?
    Mr. Jones. No, sir. We are now in a new phase. We are a 
Nation overrun.
    Mr. Garcia. A Nation overrun. No longer an invasion. You 
don't believe there is an invasion going on?
    Mr. Jones. I'm saying we're even beyond an invasion.
    Mr. Garcia. OK. Because you have on Twitter and on numerous 
occasions said that there is actually an invasion that is being 
caused by the U.S. Government, similar to the same words that 
have been said in this horrific shooting. So I just want to 
know that words actually cause impacts and can be quite 
dangerous here and across the country.
    Our country needs responsible leadership. It needs border 
security. Of course Democrats agree with that. I also want to 
note, just to clarify the record, that more than 90 percent of 
hard drugs such as fentanyl enter the United States through 
legal crossings at ports of entry, which continues to be 
forgotten over and over again. Democrats have increased funding 
for ports of entry in the Government funding package last year, 
which Republicans, of course, overwhelmingly opposed.
    So we keep hearing over and over again solutions that are 
not serious, which is why we never seem to discuss treatment 
programs here in this committee. There is no answers to how to 
improve access to health care or tackle the mental health 
crisis happening in our country. We just keep having the same 
Groundhog Day hearing over and over again, blaming migrants for 
a drug crisis that continues to replay itself hearing after 
hearing.
    I want to just real quickly just go down the list and ask 
each of you yes or no, yes or no for each of you. Yes or no, 
solving the fentanyl crisis must involve addressing not only 
the supply, but also the demand is coming from the United 
States? Mr. Jones, is that correct?
    Mr. Jones. It is. Also we have to remember where the demand 
is being supplied from.
    Mr. Garcia. Just a yes or no. So yes. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Jones. Well, you have to remember what the cartels have 
done now is----
    Mr. Garcia. Sir, this is my time. I just asked you for a 
yes or no. Thank you.
    Mr. Jones. Yes.
    Mr. Garcia. Ms. Vaughan, is that correct?
    Ms. Vaughan. Well, when a teenager ingests fentanyl----
    Mr. Garcia. Do we have to also----
    Ms. Vaughan [continuing]. That they think is Adderall, I 
wouldn't call that displaying demand.
    Mr. Garcia. So you would not agree that U.S. demand is not 
part of the fentanyl crisis?
    Ms. Vaughan. I think it is part of it.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you.
    Mr. Maltz.
    Mr. Maltz. Absolutely. Demand is a disaster right now.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you.
    Ms. Felbab-Brown.
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. Yes.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you.
    Second question, just a yes or no, please. Mr. Jones, have 
you ever received a direct order from the President to stand 
down or open the border?
    Mr. Jones. Have I received a direct order from the 
President to stand down on the border?
    Mr. Garcia. Yes. Yes.
    Mr. Jones. No, sir.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you.
    Mr. Maltz, have you?
    Mr. Maltz. No.
    Mr. Garcia. Ms. Vaughan, are you aware of any such orders 
that have ever happened?
    Ms. Vaughan. Am I aware of?
    Mr. Garcia. Of orders directly from the President?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. No, I----
    Mr. Garcia. To stand down and open the borders?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. I don't have any----
    Mr. Garcia. Ms. Felbab-Brown, have you ever heard of that?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. No.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you very much.
    Also want to just real briefly ask you about some of the 
border policies, though, that have been proposed by some of my 
friends on this committee and on the other side.
    Ms. Felbab-Brown, do you think it would be a good idea to 
build a water-filled trench with alligators along the border? 
Would that be helpful in stopping the border crisis?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. No.
    Mr. Garcia. No? Interesting. Do you think that if we shot 
migrants in the legs and stopped them from coming over, do you 
think that would be helpful?
    Ms. Felbab-Brown. No.
    Mr. Garcia. So those policies were actually proposed by 
former President Donald Trump, just to be very clear. Like 
Members of this committee, I am very concerned that we continue 
to have this hearing to essentially put down immigrants. I 
immigrated to this country when I was a young kid. I am proud 
to be a very proud American that earned and gained my 
citizenship. I hope that in future committees we could stop 
demonizing immigrants.
    With that, I yield back. Thank you.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member for his closing remarks.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    To say the least, it has been a journey the last 3 hours. 
Mr. Chairman, I remain extremely concerned that the committee 
continues to focus its attention on a baseless attempt to 
impeach Secretary Mayorkas to the exclusion of its legitimate 
legislative and oversight work.
    As Representative Magaziner outlined, the Department of 
Homeland Security, under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, 
has taken unprecedented law enforcement actions to disrupt and 
dismantle the cartels. The notion that Secretary Mayorkas is 
working to advance cartel crime in America, as this hearing 
title suggests, is outrageous. He is working to combat it. This 
is a monumentous task, one that entirety of the Biden 
administration is focused on. This committee should be focused 
on how we can help the administration in those efforts. This 
should be bipartisan. In the past, it has been bipartisan.
    But now we need to look no further than the previous title 
for this hearing, which accused President Biden and Secretary 
Mayorkas of being accomplices to crime. To understand the goal 
of this so-called investigation, I will remind everyone that 
Chairman Green struck that title from the record because it 
didn't adhere to House rules. We can also look at the Members 
who accused Secretary Mayorkas of being derelict in his duties 
before their so-called investigation has even concluded. That 
doesn't seem to matter. The investigation has closed before it 
is even open.
    They are explicit about this. In fact, the hearing that 
launched this investigation was called ``Open Borders, Closed 
Case: Secretary Mayorkas' Dereliction of Duty on the Border''. 
That is right, closed case. This doesn't sound like a good 
faith investigation. Releasing a report today without any 
consultation with Democrats isn't a good faith effort at 
bipartisanship. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the witnesses 
for appearing here today.
    This is America and we have an opportunity to voice our 
opinions. The greatness of this country is that we can do it 
without any fear of a cartel or anything doing anything to us. 
But also the greatness of it is that at some point, as 
Americans, we can come together. It is a process. But I don't 
think citing Secretary Mayorkas, who has been here as Secretary 
2 years, 6 months, is the way to go.
    Democrats are prepared to work with Republicans. We have 
put our votes where our concerns have been. We actually support 
comprehensive immigration reform. We support fully funding the 
men and women who protect us along the border. Our votes 
reflect that. Our votes will continue to reflect that.
    So I thank our witnesses, those who are in law enforcement, 
for their service. But you know, when you look at the Democrats 
on this committee and its diversity, it looks a lot like 
America today. So I hope you understand that that diversity 
makes us strong, but it also says that our policies have to 
reflect that diversity. My ancestors came over to this country 
in the belly of a ship, didn't want to come, but they came. I 
am an American. I only know this country. I will defend the 
right for what we do in this country and for others who used to 
come because we invited them to come because we were the 
shining star. Now, for whatever reason, we have decided that we 
don't want anybody else because we have enough. I reject that 
notion. Sure, comprehensive immigration will get us there. 
President Reagan knew we had a problem. He solved the problem 
right off the bat. He said, I am going to let everybody who is 
here stay here. That backlog, he wiped it out with an Executive 
Order.
    We can do anything we want as Americans. But to demonize 
people who travel thousands of miles to try to get to our 
border because what we stand for is not our value system. Our 
value system is what everybody else would like to be like. I 
don't ever want to change it. Comprehensive immigration reform, 
not impeachment, is the way for us to get there.
    I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I want to thank our witnesses for being here. Deeply 
appreciate it. I am sure the Ranking Member knows that 
immigration reform is handled in the Judiciary Committee and 
not here, but I do appreciate him bringing up the need for it. 
I will talk to Mr. Jordan and encourage him to take that up.
    We heard today from the Ranking Member about how 
embarrassed he is that this committee has held 9 hearings on 
the Southwest Border. We have heard from our witnesses, though, 
that the horrific actions of the cartels are worsening 
secondarily to the policies of this administration. We all know 
the process. They allowed instant parole, they stopped 
detention, they stopped deportation, the catch-and-release 
policies happened and the migrants called home, millions have 
come. Make no mistake, there was no change in crime or 
corruption or economic conditions in Latin America. Actually, 
since COVID is gone, the economic conditions in Latin America 
have gotten better. The mass migration is secondary to the 
policies of this administration, period. There is no legitimate 
argument to suggest otherwise. Even Merrick Garland agreed that 
the cartels have taken advantage of these policies and are 
trafficking large groups to overwhelm the Border Patrol and 
then pass nefarious individuals the gotaways and drugs around 
them.
    The Attorney General recognizes it. Perhaps if the Minority 
party owned that current administration is failing, perhaps if 
the administration addressed the problem, we could move on. But 
the numbers are not going down. CBP's One app shell game, not 
releasing the OFO numbers, moving the numbers from crossing 
over to the ports of entry and then giving automatic parole to 
those individuals, not decreasing the incentive. They are still 
coming. The drug cartels will continue to take advantage of it, 
just like Merrick Garland said. We have allowed automatic 
parole through this app and those numbers are not being 
counted. The border is open. The incentive for mass migration 
remains. As I said, they are coming. The drug cartels are 
seizing the opportunity.
    My Democrat colleagues have said it is a waste of time to 
look into cartel crime. They said it was a waste of time to 
address the dead Americans to fentanyl. Nine Committee hearings 
is too many. They say look at all the policies that this 
administration has done. Well, they are not working. Fix it and 
maybe we will stop these hearings. I happen to believe 
personally, as do many people in this country, that the 
Southwest Border, the human trafficking, the overdose deaths, 
the cartel crime, is the greatest threat to this country. So 
yes, we are going to continue until the border is controlled 
and the cartels are stopped. When Americans stop dying, then we 
will stop these hearings.
    Open border, drug cartels seizing the day, partnering with 
gangs that have taken over the criminal activity in many of our 
cities, that is what is happening. The Dems on this panel don't 
want to discuss it.
    No one has denigrated immigration today. Not a single 
individual has picked on a particular race of individuals or 
anything, yet that is what they want to imply. I am offended by 
that. This is about migration policies that have resulted in 
the drug cartels taking advantage of them and killing 
Americans.
    I hope the media is paying attention. Americans are dying 
and the left is saying our committees investigating this as an 
embarrassment. Sixty-one percent of Americans get it, though. 
That is the percentage of Americans who say that our border is 
not controlled by us, yet investigations are an embarrassment.
    As for impeachment, my Democrat colleagues keep saying how 
this is somehow an impeachment effort. I have never used those 
words, not here in this committee and not at this supposed 
recording that they keep talking about.
    They also say that somehow this discussion is racist. It is 
not racist to say we have a problem at our Southern Border. It 
is not racist to say that the cartels are seizing this 
opportunity of our open border and the automatic parole and the 
mass waves of people who are coming. It is not racist to say 
that. The only reason they bring up that it is racist or that 
we are trying to impeach, or it is some kind of dog-and-pony 
show is because they can't tell you that Americans aren't 
dying. They can't say, oh, look, the numbers are going down on 
Americans dying due to fentanyl, look, the drug cartel crime is 
going down in America. They can't make a valid argument against 
those facts and so they say we are racist or imply that we are 
racist, or that we somehow have some game here, or that it is 
embarrassing that we have had 9 committee hearings on this. 
Well, I will tell you when the committee hearings will end. 
They will end when this administration starts fixing the 
problem. They will end when the White House recognizes that 
their Secretary of Homeland Security isn't doing his job. That 
is called a dereliction of duty. That is when the hearings will 
end.
    It is the job of this committee to get to the bottom of 
what is going on and we will do it. The Democrats are on 
record, they think this Homeland Security Committee, its 
investigation of the border, the oversight of the border is 
embarrassing. They don't want these hearings because they don't 
want the light shined on what is going on. The decisions made 
by this White House and the DHS Secretary.
    Well, like I said, we will not stop until we get to the 
bottom of it and the problem gets fixed, period.
    Again, I thank our witnesses for being here.
    As I said, this doesn't end these hearings, but it does end 
this one. The committee is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 5:11 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]

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