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Senator’s remarks and questions
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Senator’s remarks and questions
Senate hearing comes as the Tucson Sector ranks among the busiest border sectors in the country for migrant encounters
Senator will use insights gathered at hearing to continue developing solutions providing lasting relief to border communities
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema chaired a Government Operations and Border Management Subcommittee hearing examining how the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) procedures for migrant encounters at the Southwest border have changed following the termination of Title 42 in May of this year.
The hearing brought together the key entities of border operations – Border Patrol, Office of Field Operations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations, and Citizenship and Immigration Services – to provide the subcommittee with a comprehensive look at the challenges at the border.
“Congress needs to understand this process in order to modernize our border management system and keep Arizona families safe and secure. My border and immigration proposal with Senator Tillis includes several important improvements to this process to ensure our border is secure and that migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” said Sinema, Chair of the Border Management Subcommittee.
The Tucson Sector is currently one of the busiest sectors in the country for migrant encounters, which increases the risk of street releases – threatening the safety of Arizona communities and migrants themselves. In July, CBP reported that they apprehended 132,600 along the Southwest Border.
When Title 42 ended on May 11, 2023, DHS started processing all migrants arriving at the Southwest border under regular immigration authorities. The Senator questioned witnesses – including U.S. Border Patrol Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Directorate David BeMiller, Office of Field Operations Executive Director of Admissibility and Passenger Programs Matthew Davies, Enforcement and Removal Operations Deputy Executive Associate Director Daniel Bible, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Deputy Director Andrew Davidson – about how migrant arrival processing has changed since Title 42 ended, and how these changes affect the country’s border management system.
The Senator intends to use the insights she gathered at the hearing to continue crafting bipartisan solutions that modernize the broken border system, keep families safe, ensure the fair and humane treatment of migrants, and finally provide lasting relief to border communities.
At the end of last year, Sinema and Republican Senator Thom Tillis (N.C.) drafted a bipartisan proposal that would alleviate many of the ongoing challenges – fueling investments in Border Patrol Agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations Officers; improving control of the border through increased enforcement, technology, resources, and more; modernizing the asylum system; and establishing a pathway for legal citizenship for roughly 2 million Dreamers who were brought to this country when they were children through no fault of their own.