Rob Portman

We do not enforce the laws in the sense that what the laws say is that we are supposed to detain people pending the process of asylum, and we do not do that.

I think we need to be straight with the American people as to what is happening here.

About a million people came to the border unlawfully and were admitted into the United States.

If we do not make changes quickly to provide for an alternative to Title 42 we will be even more overwhelmed.

Do you disagree that there were 50 people who were released into the country as Afghan evacuees who have security----

I hear what you are saying. You are not going to give us any information unless we can do it in a classified setting.

You are saying you cannot tell us today whether any of them were released into the United States.

This is a shock to all of us, and I think to your people as well.

According to information we have received, about 1.2 million unlawful migrants have been issued a final order of removal.

Would you go back to a policy where you are actually removing people who do not qualify, who have had a full adjudication?

Most of them have claims under the asylum system, a system where, at the end of the process, once their claims are adjudicated, more than 80 percent are denied.

When the Title 42 public health order is lifted, we anticipate migration levels will increase, as smugglers will seek to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants.

It is just not accurate to mislead the American people.

You have been using Title 42 to turn back about another 1 million people.

Unfortunately, decisions to deemphasize internal enforcement... do nothing to actually deter unlawful migration.

But you and the Administration have a policy not to do that.

I worked with you then. You were Deputy Secretary. Your deportation numbers are 80 percent lower than they were under the Obama-Biden administration.

You are not doing it to the fullest extent you can, and you know that.

More than two decades after September 11, 2001 (9/11) our borders can still be breached by those who mean us harm.

There is no plan to substitute for Title 42.

It is clear to all that losing Title 42 will turn this border crisis into a catastrophe.

That would be the lowest percentage in the history of the country.

A significant increase in migrant encounters will substantially strain our system even farther.

I noted that we were facing the worst unlawful migration crisis in our country in two decades.

I have heard personally from so many Ohioans who told me, hey, I am willing to help--I want to open my home.