Jason Chaffetz

We need metrics. Metrics that we can work on the same pages.

I will be brief. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I think that is a crisis. I think that is a huge problem.

We need some help understanding that because we're trying to look back at the law.

I advocate for more legal immigration. I want to fix legal immigration. It is not working.

But the perverse incentive here is come here illegally. Claim asylum. And then guess what? You are going to get free education, free healthcare, and you are going to apply and, most likely, odds are you are going to get a work permit.

If hundreds of thousands of people who would just ignore the law, they ignore the judge, they are supposed to be deported, they thumb their nose at us, and they just continue on here. That is the problem.

What is unconscionable, what we cannot stand for are people that abuse the system.

The integrity of our immigration system is compromised, and potential threats to our communities and national security are able to legally live and work here.

This is a problem, and it is an abuse, and I am glad we are addressing it.

I simply want to thank both sides of the aisle. I want to thank Mr. McClintock, the chairman of this subcommittee, for allowing us to move this forward, and I appreciate the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva), the ranking member of the…

This is unbelievable, and unbearable, and it is a total lack of leadership throughout the Department and agency.

Don't tell me that you need more dollars, more resources. You heard Nancy Pelosi saying, we are at bone bare--you know, the cupboard is bare.

There are tens of millions of dollars, taxpayer dollars, that are being abused. They are being stolen from the American people.

Our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from their government.

Americans deserve an efficient, effective government that works for them.

We exist to secure two fundamental principles. First, Americans have a right to know that the money Washington takes from them is well spent.

It is terribly frustrating. And I don't understand the games that the legislative liaisons sometimes play.

And I think we need that. We have a bigger obligation for this Country to make sure we get it right, rather than we get it fast, and that is my deep concern.

Well, given that the Congress had already passed this law more than 10 years ago, I do think that the American people have spoken that, yes, they want to have this happen.

I watched dozens of kids probably in the third, fourth, fifth grade, pretty young, crossing the borders all by themselves.

I don't understand why this is so difficult.

We have had no response. Please provide all documents describing the average length of time and longest length of time for a notice to appear before an immigration judge for an asylum proceeding.

If you would indulge me for one moment. I just want a point of clarification from Mr. Ramotowski.

Why such a dramatic increase? We have nearly 300,000-plus, more than 300,000 border crossing cards issued in the Obama Administration than the Bush Administration.