JUST IN: Josh Hawley Explodes At Mayorkas Over App He Says Helps Illegal Immigrants Enter US

I look forward to following up with you Senator thanks Senator Padilla Senator Hawley thank you Mr chairman Mr secretary thank you for being here let me start with what I hope is a simple question do we need to have more or fewer people coming to our Southern border uh Senator Senator we are working on diminishing the number of people whom we encounter at our Southern border because of the challenge it presents with trying to build lawful safe and orderly Pathways to accomplish that okay fewer so we need to have fewer which means we need to roll back incentives to come so I I would have I would have thought that would have been the answer let's talk about what you're doing though in January of this year you rolled out a new phone app called CBP one an app for a cell phone I've got a picture of it behind me here this phone app allows and I'm going to quote from your own fact sheet it allows and I quote non-citizens without appropriate documents for admission to schedule an appointment to come to the Border they can now go on their phone and schedule a time to come to the border and then be admitted and you identified seven separate border points of Entry where they could come five of them in Texas two of them in California one in Arizona it's like a concierge service for illegal immigrants my question is you didn't think the Border crisis was bad enough that now we're going to have an app that allows illegals to schedule their appointments and come and be admitted to this country a senator you're mischaracterizing the use of the application let me let me explain it to you we are currently enforcing the public health order of title 42 and I know you're very familiar with it there is a process for individuals who claim an exception to the title 42 expulsion Authority because of an acute medical condition well let's talk about this app if I may finish an urgent um an urgent humanitarian reason so instead of them coming in between the ports of Entry to claim that urgent medical condition that extraordinarily acute humanitarian cause we allow a limited number to arrive at our ports of entry and seek the emergency relief that they need schedule you you allow them let's let's be let's be particular about what you do a CBP one app was not uh unveiled for the first time on January 5th of this year oh no but you changed it you made it available on January 5th to the illegals themselves you don't have to be a lawyer to use it you don't have to be a member of a non-governmental organization anybody can download the app and use it on their phone and for the first time you allowed them to schedule appointments now let's talk about what actually happens when they come to the Border it's interesting you characterize this when you rolled it out as an application for applying for Asylum but nowhere on the app do you actually require the illegal migrants to apply for Asylum or to claim Asylum or anything about Asylum and in fact when they then get to the Border you don't ask them questions you don't do interviews you just release them here's the Texas monthly not a notable conservative Outlet who reports and I quote at no point does the app ask you users are you seeking Asylum those arriving for the cbp1 appointments are given no interviews asked no questions about vulnerabilities that they may or may not have listed in the app or about why they're coming to the United States they're simply released into the country end quote so rather than building a wall Mr secretary you have built Ticketmaster for illegal immigrants you are um Senator you are conflating programs let me let me just just respond to this is it true that they are given no interviews ask no questions and simply released into the country let me explain to you what we announced on January 5th no I want you to explain to me what's happening I I know what you announced I read it to you so I so I will explain to you what is happening are they giving interviews let's start with that are they given interviews we were previously experiencing this almost starting to sound like a no well let's just let's just hone in here Mr secretary my time is is very limited I don't mean to interrupt you but I want to drive to some clarity here are the the Texas monthly has reported that once illegal immigrants go on their phone and Reserve their time to come to the Border once they use your concierge service that you've created for them when they come they are given no interviews they are asked no questions about any vulnerabilities they are simply released into the country is that happening Senator you are mistaken and if I may explain are they given interviews so I may explain individuals who seek parole under our January 5th program for Cubans Haitians nicaraguans and Venezuelans are screened and vetted before they arrive at our border wait a minute wait a minute no no they go on and they go on the phone and they just reserve a time and then they show up and they're not given they're given nothing listen to this even immigration Advocates are amazed about this here also from the Texas monthly here's one immigration Advocate whose first name is orda she says that's the crazy part nothing in this new program requires you to actually seek Asylum somehow we've decided to punish those who arrive at the border without the app who may be seeking Asylum but we just let in anybody who may or may not have any particular reason to seek Asylum so long as they've made an appointment on your Ticketmaster app this seems crazy to me Senator it's a complete mischaracterization of the program that we announced and are implementing so how many people have used how many people have used the app then you are referring to so if I can explain how many people have used the app so we have um we had a significant surge of Cubes how many people have used the app Nicaragua it's invented Mr secretary you're here to answer my questions how many people have used the app uh tens of thousands have sought to make an appointment at the Port of Entry under our parole program okay okay good how many have been admitted without an interview at the border uh well uh you are again inserting a fact that does not belong in your question so if I can I will get you I'm reading to you from public reports about how your own app works you're just blanket denied so you're not quite denying it you're saying that maybe we don't understand apparently I don't understand Texas doesn't understand immigration Advocates don't understand you're the only one who understands it you won't answer my question how much did this cost to develop by the way Senator I don't have the cost but let me share with you a critical will you get it for us let me share with you a critical will you get us the cost of what it to develop this app did you use a did you contract with the tech firm to develop it a senator we have seen a approximately did you contract with the tech firm to develop it we have seen an approximately five percent did you contract with a tech firm to develop it yes or no Senator this was led by U.S Customs and Border Protection our technical experts within the agency and I certainly will get an answer to your question whether outside Consultants were utilized you don't know development process you don't know may I may I explain to you since you have a misunderstanding of the program what it is and the impact the positive impact it has had on Encounters of these four populations in between I just want to know why it is that you are allowing people to come to this border to make appointments to not be interviewed and then how many have just been released is it true by the way as the Texas monthly reports that they're simply released into the country on official parole and get this they're not given according to their reporting any kind of follow-up their court dates are in Immigration courts Texas monthly reports not even necessarily Asylum trials they're often General deportation hearings where defendants can make Arguments for remaining in the country is that true that is um uh completely mistaken understanding of how the immigration process works that language is completely confusing and erroneous well it is confusing what's confusing is why anybody would think that an app like this to allow illegal immigrants to literally reserve a time to come to the border and then be ushered in without an interview without follow-up without tracking is stunning it's absolutely stunning let me ask you in my very short time remaining something else about Chinese Nationals I've only got a minute left that is false let me ask you about about the the Chinese Nationals who we all saw coming over the border busloads of them and then being released in the American Interior what's the what's the percentage increase of Chinese Nationals who cross the border this year Mr secretary let's just focus on maybe the Rio Grande Valley the number of the not the number of Chinese Nationals encountered on a southern border uh has increased significantly do you know how much over the past I don't have the precise I do it's not it's 900 just in the Rio Grande Valley sector are any of are any of these people who came in this bust these Chinese Nationals members of the Chinese Communist Party um Senator if an individual presents a national security or Public Safety threat we detain them during the pendants that's not but that's not what I asked I asked if they're members of the CCP hearing dependency of their removal proceedings are any of these individuals members of the CCP I think there's about 70 who came on this bus if indeed they are determined to be a national security threat or a threat to Public Safety we detain them pending their removal proceedings were any of these individuals detained or were they released into the awareness of that particular group of individuals um and so you don't know if any of them were members of the CCP or actually you do know you just won't say I I don't know from the photograph Senator but surely you know about the folks who you've read this report you're the Secretary of Homeland Security you're aware of these individuals or any of the members of the Chinese Communist party coming into this country Senator you're providing me with a group of individuals without names identities or so you're not familiar with this incident that was widely reported on at the southern border don't you think it's strange that we have busloads of Chinese Nationals coming across our Southern border I'm asking you from a hostile country I'm asking you if they're members of the Chinese Communist party and you're you won't you don't know apparently you won't say we are very focused uh on all things with respect to the people's Republicans but you don't know any of the details I plead exhaustion Mr secretary you have exhausted me you have exhausted this panel you have exhausted the patience of the American people you should resign Senator Welch uh thank you very much welcome just a couple of things first of all

Channel: Forbes Breaking News

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Keywords: Sen. Josh Hawley, Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, Senate

Id: 9H8QwrxscGs

Length: 11min 0sec (660 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 28 2023