Ashley Hinson Questions CBP Commissioner About Agency's 'Broader Cost-Savings' Under Trump Admin.

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) questioned Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Pete Flores about budget savings that the agency has made under the Trump administration.

Transcript

00:00Iowa, which represents the home of the river buoy tender Wyaconda, for your

00:06questions for the Acting Commissioner. The floor is yours. Yes, and thank you for

00:10hearing me out during our Coast Guard hearing yesterday about our need for a

00:13new cutter on the Mississippi River. I understand you do a lot of great work

00:17with US Coast Guard and you talked about some of the introductions already, so I

00:21just want to extend my sincere gratitude to you and the men and women at CBP for

00:24all the work you do to not only care for those individuals as was just discussed

00:28in the last line of questioning, but to really keep our country safe, to stand

00:32up to those terrorists, those transnational crime organizations, the

00:36traffickers who are taking advantage of those very people every single day. So

00:40thank you for what you're doing to help keep them and all of us safe. We know

00:44under the Biden administration every state became a border state, even states

00:47like Iowa. We saw those consequences firsthand through fentanyl. We saw those

00:52consequences through illegal drugs flooding into our communities, putting

00:56American lives, Iowa lives at risk. So I'm grateful to the President for

01:00taking that action on day one. I mean, you talked about a 95% decrease year over

01:05year. That is incredible to see those numbers shift in the other way. And we

01:09know you need the necessary tools, the authorities to be able to execute and do

01:13that job. We didn't need new policy. We needed a new president. And we

01:18consistently heard from Border Patrol under the previous administration. You felt your

01:22hands were tied. Agents were telling me they didn't feel that they could do their jobs

01:25effectively, specifically the jobs that they were trained to do. So I'm excited to

01:30see a return to core mission here. So thank you for helping to lead that.

01:33President Trump's policies reinstating remain in Mexico, changing over the CPP1

01:39app to make it the CPP home app, resuming border wall construction as you talked

01:44about, the barrier construction as well. Those are all established and proven tools to

01:49really help us to deter illegal immigration and again empower our frontline agents to be

01:55able to do their jobs. So which of the binary Biden era policy reversals would you say have been

02:02most effective in having the greatest impact on enforcement, deterrence, and in the safety and

02:09morale of your agents and officers? So I would say the actually enforcing our

02:15immigration laws and providing consequences to those that break that law. So our ability to get out of

02:22of processing, caretaking, transportation, a lot of those administrative or non-LEO type

02:29enforcements that we had agents and officers doing on a regular and reoccurring basis.

02:34They were able, we're able now to get them to do law enforcement type work, to patrol the border,

02:40to create deterrence, to make those arrests, have time to interview aliens that we're encountering on, and develop

02:50further information and intelligence in order to continue prosecutions and to continue down the

02:56road in regards to closing off aspects of the border that were open. The other piece I think that

03:04significantly helped us is the inject of equipment personnel from DOD, being able to have more line of

03:12sight, being able to have more technology, to have more coverage on the border, allowing our agents to be able to

03:19respond and intercept and actually arrest those individuals crossing our border. So we've seen-

03:24So you're talking like automated surveillance towers, cameras?

03:26Right, absolutely. So our automated autonomous surveillance towers and those type of, that type of

03:32technology that we're using across the board today. The increase of what we're doing from aircraft and unmanned aircraft

03:38patrols on the border to provide additional visibility and reaction time for our agents. So those have

03:45significantly helped in what we're seeing today in those numbers. The other piece is the consistent

03:50messaging for us, not only within what's happened at the border and within the U.S., but to countries that

03:57we had seen aliens arrive at our border from. So that messaging, and the messaging obviously matches the

04:05consequences that are being provided. Well, it's very clear with that reduction in numbers coming

04:10across the border, and to my colleague's earlier point about, and making sure people are cared for,

04:16you're clearly able to do that because you have fewer people that you're having in custody. And I think

04:22that that's really important that you can redirect those resources where they need to go. And again,

04:26I think that probably is a good morale booster for the workforce as well. Can you speak to a little bit

04:32the broader cost savings from the changes that have been made under the Trump administration? You talk

04:36about interdiction, deterrence, being able to use some of these automated technologies like the CVP

04:41Home app. How are those efforts helping you to carry out your mission more effectively? I mean, I remember

04:47coming down to my colleague, Tony Gonzalez's district, and seeing those soft-sided facilities that now we

04:52don't have to pay for anymore. So how have you been able to really maximize those savings?

04:57So I think the first thing I'll start with is being able to get our law enforcement officers

05:01back to doing law enforcement work. So we've cut man hours there in regards to non-law enforcement

05:08work and being able to patrol the border, which makes us more effective and efficient

05:12based on using law enforcement hours for law enforcement work. That'd be the first thing I'd mention.

05:19The other thing I would say on the soft-sided facility. So soft-sided facilities were costing us

05:25about $83 million a month, is what that was costing us. So with the ability, with the numbers being

05:32significantly lowered, with our in-custody numbers, again, down from 20,000 people every day that we had

05:39individuals in custody, down to 500 to 800 a day, we were able to shut down all those soft-sided facilities.

05:46So saving the American taxpayers $83 million each month on the cost of that. So being able to take

05:53that, be able to do that internally with the resources was a significant savings for the American taxpayer.

05:59I would say that in regards to the CBP Home app and what we're doing, it's a cost effective way to allow

06:07individuals that are here illegally or undocumented to be able to get back to their home countries on their own.

06:13So it's cheaper than providing for custody and providing for transportation flights with ICE, who typically does

06:21that transportation. So it is a cost savings mechanism that allows for those in the country to depart on their own terms.

06:30Well, thank you for the great work you're doing, Acting Commissioner, and appreciate you coming to testify today.

06:34Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

06:35The floor now for five minutes for questioning belongs to the gentleman from the namesake of the

06:43Uniroyal Laredo all-terrain tire.

06:46Hey, that is very good.

06:49It's a little vintage.

06:50Don't anybody think I'm giving him an ad?

06:52The floor is yours.

06:54Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

06:55I am impressed by that detail and ranking member.

06:59Thank you so much.

06:59I was texting Rodney Scott.

07:02He told me to be kind, so for the record, I will be very kind, Commissioner Flores.

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