Filemon Vela

Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) assertion that they do not have sufficient capacity to process asylum seekers is a poor excuse.

The right to seek asylum is enshrined in United States and international law.

I worry that there are no reliable mechanisms in place to ensure that families can be reunified later.

I am opposed to tearing kids away from their parents.

The effect of family separation is also traumatizing.

Blaming and punishing the people who are seeking protection is inhumane.

I would like to express my deep concern about the so-called policy wall proposed by the administration.

Democrats want explicit language restricting border construction to the same see-through fencing that was already authorized under current law.

Would you say that the $18 billion requested by the Trump administration to build border walls over the next 10 years is an accurate cost estimate?

I reiterate my opposition to this practice, and I caution the Department from pursuing other such policies that do not honor our values as a Nation of immigrants.

Last month, all 12 Democrats on this committee and 63 other Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Secretary Nielsen asking her to halt the practice of separating migrant parents from their children.

Customs and Border Protection has absolutely no metrics to show how a wall or even land-based technology contribute to border security in general.

This plan does not provide estimates of the full cost, time, and resources that will be required to take land from private landowners to build this border wall.

These CBP staffing issues are critical to border security, yet the administration continues to ignore these problems.

The way I see it, this border security improvement plan illustrates how the Trump administration has politicized the way we identify border security gaps.

Data also shows that people on the terrorist watch list are encountered by CBP along our Northern Border significantly more frequently than along our Southern Border.

However, CBP and U.S. Coast Guard officials have testified before this subcommittee time and time again that the solutions to these threats are broader than simply using physical barriers.

CBP faces serious challenges in recruiting and maintaining a professional work force to accomplish its mission, and these challenges are only getting worse.

The capability gaps identified in this DHS report would in no way be acceptable or tolerable had they been found along our Southwest Border.

I am concerned that, over the last decade, resources have been disproportionately focused on the Southern Border at the expense of the Northern Border.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time. Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).

While the White House focuses its border security rhetoric on building a wall along the Southern Border, attention and resources should be paid to issues like overstays.

Those of us who represent congressional districts on the U.S.-Mexico border know first-hand the essential role several agencies within the Department of Homeland Security play in securing America's borders and facilitating legitimate trade…

I forcefully reject the idea of building a wall along the Southern Border.

I thank the chairman, ranking member, Representative Farenthold, the Army Corps, and the committee staff for their work on this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting…