00:00We also have a number of elected officials here today. I think I see, well, maybe one. This is good. Nice. Oh, and you. Nice to see you. Absolutely. Good to see you.
00:12It's nice that folks are here to talk about a very important issue for West Virginia.
00:18I think just about everyone here serves our state or our nation in one form or another.
00:25And I want to always thank the people that are doing the hard work because you're making a difference.
00:31You know, I know that when I served as the state attorney general, I was always very focused on the drug fights and what was happening and the undocumented aliens that were flooding into our country.
00:43And I used to call it the Biden border disorder because I knew that West Virginia was a border state because we had to wrestle with the consequences of seemingly unlimited amounts of fentanyl flooding into our state.
00:59And that was in part to what was happening and the absolute callous indifference to human life that we were seeing over that period.
01:09Fentanyl was slaughtering our citizens, still is to some degree, but the numbers are coming down.
01:14So I was always motivated on these immigration issues by what we could do in West Virginia to reduce the drug problem.
01:21And so that's what got me very interested.
01:23Earlier this year, we started, we were working with corrections and others on the 287G program.
01:30And I wanted to quickly signal my intent to let the state know we're going to stand by President Trump and his efforts to tighten up the border because it will matter for West Virginians.
01:43And that's exactly what we've done.
01:45And by the way, you could see the results with the Trump administration.
01:48They've been phenomenal.
01:49And I'm just so proud of our president and what he's done.
01:52It's not getting enough attention that this president is standing up.
01:56And what he's did from a border perspective is truly unbelievable.
02:00I want people to know that.
02:02And I know West Virginians are deeply grateful because I think it also ties into our broader efforts to get substance abuse deaths down.
02:12During the Biden administration, millions and millions of people unlawfully entered our country.
02:19We had no knowledge of who they were or if they were a threat to our citizens.
02:24This was an assault on our sovereignty and the rule of law.
02:28And quite frankly, it's an insult to those who immigrated here the right way.
02:33Biden's border disorder and the refusal to take action on illegal immigration made our country less safe.
02:40And West Virginia, well, we paid a very heavy price for that.
02:45Our state was flooded with massive amounts of fentanyl and other illicit drugs that tore apart so many of our communities.
02:52Now, we're still dealing with that mess.
02:57Fortunately, we've been working and I've signed an executive order and we've been taking action to direct the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security,
03:06the state police and corrections to fully cooperate with ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies to help this president enforce implementation of his goals to close down the border.
03:20We also sent a letter to local enforcement, law enforcement, letting them know of their options to be part of this as well.
03:28And our intent is to take any legal necessary action to protect our citizens.
03:35So I've always done as attorney general.
03:37That's what I'm going to keep doing as governor.
03:39We need to make sure that we're stepping up in this area.
03:43And that brings us to why we're here today.
03:47I talked a little bit earlier in the year about the importance of the 287G program.
03:52Well, today I'm pleased to announce that the West Virginia National Guard, the state police and the Division of Corrections have all signed memorandum of agreement with ICE to begin formal participation.
04:06Now, we had some announcements earlier this year, but now it's clear these agencies are going to be putting the time in and they're getting trained.
04:16And in many cases, this is training of about 40 hours for the individuals who will be participating in.
04:23That's significant.
04:24287G, as many of you know, is a program from ICE that delegates to states and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration enforcement functions.
04:39And the National Guard and state police, they're going to participate in the task force model, which includes a number of different authorities.
04:48I'll just tick off a few, but the others will be available on our website.
04:52This gives them the ability to interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to remain in the United States, to process for violations those individuals who have been arrested for state and federal criminal offenses.
05:09And then there are a number of other areas to arrest without warrant for felonies which have been committed and which are cognizable under any law of the United States regulating admission, exclusion or removal of aliens if the officer had a reason to believe that a violation of law occurred.
05:31And there are a number of other tasks as well.
05:32And there are a number of other tasks as well that are very important.
05:36And what's happening here is that the local and state authorities were going to be working very closely with ICE in order to make a huge difference in helping this president achieve his goals and helping our citizens, quite frankly, feel safer in their communities.
05:52That's what it's all about.
05:53Now, if you remember from some of my previous press conferences earlier in the year, West Virginia had a number of illegal aliens that were detained at our state correction facilities.
06:05Back in February, we would count about 60 to 70 on any given day.
06:10And that number fluctuates hour to hour on a daily basis.
06:15As of nine o'clock this morning, West Virginia has 88 illegal aliens in its custody.
06:21We have 13 illegal aliens that are housed in West Virginia prisons who are convicted of crimes and serving a sentence.
06:3028 who have been arrested on federal or local charges and have active ICE detainers.
06:36And 46 are being detained on immigration charges, including for matters such as failing to appear in court before a deportation judge or entering the country after previously being deported.
06:49So we've been busy working to get these memos signed, and we have three agencies that are going to be fully cooperative with the federal government to help participate in the efforts to protect our people.
07:06I think that's critically important, and I'm going to make sure that we're doing everything we can to back up some of the people behind me to make sure that folks know that West Virginia, we're going to protect our citizens.
07:20West Virginia does feel the impact of illegal immigration.
07:24And so all these people that pretend it doesn't matter, it really does.
07:28We're going to get the fentanyl off our streets.
07:30We're going to make sure that illegal immigration doesn't have the impact in West Virginia that, quite frankly, it did during the Biden administration.
07:40I'm excited about the training program.
07:42I think that's a great opportunity for a lot of our state workers and for the Guard.
07:47And, you know, I can tell you that the training programs are going to be beginning very, very soon.
07:53The goal is to get as many of our personnel trained in order to be effective partners with ICE, Homeland Security, and the Trump administration.
08:03Here in West Virginia, we stand for law and order.
08:07And with President Trump in the White House, we're going to restore the rule of law at our borders and throughout our country.
08:15This is about protecting our citizens, and West Virginia is going to do its part to keep our communities safe.
08:21Now, I'd like to recognize a couple of the people who come up and say a few words about what's going on with their agencies.
08:29We'll hear from Jim Seward first, Major General Jim Seward, who's our terrific adjutant general.
08:35He's doing a – let me tell you, he's doing a really good job.
08:38What a jewel for West Virginia.
08:40So we're really happy with him.
08:42We have Colonel Jim Mitchell, and Jim Mitchell's doing a great job as the superintendent of the West Virginia State Police.
08:48He's really stepped up, and I think people are seeing the cultural difference that Jim is making.
08:54This is outstanding.
08:55Then David Kelly, former delegate who's now our commissioner of corrections and rehab.
09:02He's putting so much time and energy in, and people can see the difference that these gentlemen are making.
09:07And I also want to make sure I recognize Joe Gigliotti, who's the assistant field office director for ICE based out of Philadelphia.
09:16So we're really grateful that you're in today.
09:19And obviously our elected officials, Delegate Foggans and Senator Azinger.
09:25We spend a lot of time up here in Wood County and the mid-Ohio Valley.
09:30That's because this is an important part of the state, and we want to let people know whether we're talking economic development,
09:37whether we're talking protecting our citizens from crime, or a host of different items.
09:43We'll have more news related to BEAD and our broadband infrastructure this week.
09:48We're going to keep doing everything we can to help this region of the state, and quite frankly, all parts of West Virginia remain safe and strong.
09:57So it's great to be up here again today, and now I'm happy to turn the podium over to Major General Jim Seward.
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