Henry Cuellar

To finish this, we added in the fiscal year 2024 $10 million for additional expedited removal assistance.

So it sounds like the backlog is going to remain?

OK. I thought the Secretary was going another direction, but we can follow up.

So my question again, sir, is--so can you consider somebody on a monitoring system or a check-in to be part of the detained population, or do they have to be physically inside of a four-wall place?

I look forward to discussing with you the present fiscal year 2025 budget request.

Thank you for all the years of service that you have provided.

There is still the limit of the amount of money we have.

This is not, quite honestly, it is not the way I envisioned this program at the very beginning.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I congratulate you on the new role as chairman of this subcommittee and welcome and look forward to working with you in a bipartisan way.

As I mentioned, this is a program that, when our former chair, Kay Granger and myself were in Laredo, we saw the needs for this so we established this, I think 2013 or 2014.

I would ask you to please look at title 8, expedited removal, when they are under custody under DHS.

I just want to add, when I said CBP, I meant DHS custody, would mean CBP and, of course, ICE.

The two last appropriation bills where we added $1.4 billion to CBP, every single person on the other side of the aisle, except for two that are still in Congress, voted no for that extra money.

I certainly ask you that whatever monies that we added for technology, the non-intrusive, move on that as much as possible.

Most of the drugs that we have coming in are coming through ports of entry.

When somebody is asking for asylum, don't they all have to do is just touch the riverbank?

Expedite removal is only if you have somebody in detention. And if they are out, then we need some changes of the law, like the Senate deal does.

If Congress would do its job and pass the Senate bill, that I think is the first time since 1996 that we actually make some changes.

One of the tools, legal tools, that you have at your disposal is the use of expedited removal.

I always say I don't go visit the border, I live at the border.

I want to say thank you to the work that you do, your men and women that do the work every single day.

It adds money to Stonegarden so local law enforcement can do their work. I would say, Madam Speaker, this is the strongest border security bill that we have. It is fair. I ask folks to support this bill. Again, I live at the border. I…

The crime rate is lower at the border than other places.

I would like to follow up on some of, see where we are on the services.

I certainly want to invite you there, because the border area, Laredo, Corpus, the valley, used to be part of the San Antonio.