‘Who’s Chartering The Midnight Flights?’: Andy Harris Grills ICE Director On Relocation Of Migrants

5 months ago

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this month, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) questioned ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner about 287(g).

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00:00 >> Recognize the floor is yours.

00:01 >> Well, I want to thank the chair very much

00:03 for that consideration.

00:04 Hi. Thank you very much for appearing before the subcommittee

00:10 and for doing an important job.

00:12 First question I'm going to ask you is about the 287(g) program

00:16 because the secretary somehow didn't know whether

00:19 or not there are more or less, you know,

00:21 local jurisdictions who are part of the 287.

00:26 He didn't know whether there's a trend

00:27 in decreasing or increasing.

00:29 Maybe you know.

00:29 I mean, I thought the secretary should know that,

00:31 but maybe you know.

00:32 What's the trend in 287(g) cooperation?

00:35 >> Well, good afternoon.

00:37 I thank you for having me.

00:38 It's been under review and on hold since early '21,

00:41 so there's been no new agreements since the end of '20.

00:45 >> Right. How many have been ended since then?

00:49 >> The most recent -- I have to take that as a get back

00:52 to see how many have ended in those three years,

00:54 but the latest ending was at the end of '23, I believe.

00:58 >> Right. So when the secretary came

01:00 and he said he's doing everything he can

01:02 to keep our communities safe, I take it

01:07 that it was this administration

01:08 that basically ended the program.

01:10 >> It's been on hold since --

01:12 >> It's been on hold since -- so I don't understand.

01:16 Can you explain to me how that protects communities

01:18 by suspending new agreements under the 287(g)?

01:21 >> No, sir.

01:23 >> Okay. I didn't think you could

01:24 because it's intuitively obvious to anybody who thinks about it

01:27 that obviously if you care about protecting communities,

01:29 287(g) is a valuable tool, and this administration doesn't want

01:33 to use a valuable tool.

01:34 Okay. I get it.

01:35 I think the secretary should have known that, but --

01:37 >> It's like a slice of bread.

01:40 >> Look, I don't get it.

01:42 Anyway, in your -- the ERO part of the --

01:46 I had a question because it said in your testimony here

01:50 that commercial and charter flight services continue

01:52 to increase.

01:53 Now, why is that?

01:55 My impression was that we are not deporting as many people.

01:58 Well, we deport -- we might --

01:59 it's about the same number, I guess.

02:01 So are these the flights that transport people

02:04 into the interior from the border?

02:06 >> No, sir.

02:07 No, these are decompression flights moving people

02:10 from one part of the border to another.

02:13 These are not interior flights.

02:14 We haven't ever removed anyone to the interior.

02:18 >> Okay. So that's another agency --

02:20 another branch of the agency does that, interior flights.

02:23 >> No, I'm not aware --

02:23 >> Chartering the midnight flights.

02:25 That's all I want to know.

02:26 >> It's not us.

02:27 >> Okay, good.

02:27 Good. Because we can't even get answers about, you know,

02:30 when these midnight flights arrive, you know,

02:32 notification that they're sending them

02:34 into your district, things like this that a member

02:36 of Congress probably ought to know.

02:37 So you're decompressing to other detention facilities,

02:41 to other processing facilities when you're --

02:44 you know, when we were down at Del Rio, I mean,

02:46 we were there a couple weeks after that,

02:48 8,000 people in one day.

02:50 So are you -- what's the decompression?

02:52 Is it for people who have already gone

02:53 through the CBP process?

02:55 What's the -- what's the decompression?

02:57 >> Yeah, it could be a little bit of above.

02:58 So like if Arizona is seeing surges, as an example,

03:02 and they're getting overrun,

03:03 they just don't have the capacity there to deal with that,

03:05 we may help with CBP and move those individuals

03:09 through decompression maybe into Texas or, you know,

03:12 other parts of the border.

03:13 So back and forth and move individual

03:15 around the different detention centers or areas

03:17 where we can have more capacity to deal with the numbers.

03:20 >> Okay. And I imagine as these numbers increased

03:23 in the last fiscal year of people who are, you know,

03:28 who need to be processed,

03:29 that's the reason why these flights, I guess, have gone up.

03:32 I imagine, is that right?

03:33 >> That's correct.

03:33 >> Okay.

03:34 >> That's correct.

03:35 >> Last brief period of time I have,

03:38 I'm going to discuss a problem in Maryland

03:40 because there are counties in Maryland

03:43 like Montgomery County just to the north of here

03:46 where the county executive strangely claims

03:48 that they are not a sanctuary county.

03:50 But according to a story of February 28th,

03:53 ICE has issued 119 detainers in fiscal year 2024 in the county

03:59 and ICE says none of those have been honored.

04:02 Is that true to the best of your knowledge?

04:04 In Montgomery County, Maryland,

04:06 ICE has correctly issued 119 detainers

04:09 and none have been honored as of February?

04:12 >> That specifically, I don't know.

04:14 I will have to get--

04:15 >> If you could get back to me and confirm whether that's true

04:18 or not because, you know, I'm reading in a press report

04:20 and goodness knows you can't always trust a press report.

04:24 But that being said, there were two fairly high profile cases

04:28 in Montgomery County where detainers were issued,

04:30 where in one case the detainee was subsequently arrested

04:35 for being part of a murder of a two-year-old, as I recall,

04:39 and then another one with another violent crime.

04:44 And fortunately, because I just looked at the ICE website,

04:48 I think it might even be today or yesterday,

04:51 there was a press release about how ICE has in fact,

04:55 despite the best efforts of Montgomery County

04:58 to let this person prey upon Marylanders,

05:02 ICE has arrested that Salvadoran and detained them.

05:06 So congratulations for doing it despite the best efforts of some

05:10 of our-- and I'll put in air quotes, "leaders in Maryland"

05:16 who continue to make these jurisdictions,

05:19 who brag about these jurisdictions,

05:20 the sanctuary's jurisdictions and turn a blind eye

05:24 to the crime problem that you

05:26 and your agency are trying to solve.

05:29 So thank you very much for your service.

05:31 I yield back.

05:31 >> Thank you.

05:34 The chair now recognizes the--

‘Who’s Chartering The Midnight Flights?’: Andy Harris Grills ICE Director On Relocation Of Migrants

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