homeland security secretary jeh johnson spoke thursday about innings are immigration, bordered security and airport ebola screenings, secretary jobson's remarks came at an event hosted by the center for strategic and international studies. he spoke for about an hour. án >> good afternoon. welcome to the center for strategic and international studies. my name is juan, i'm a seniors a individualer here at csis.

welcome to all of you. for those who haven't been here, hope you like and it feel welcome at this new venue. today we're privileged and honored to have the secretary of homeland security, jeh johnson, with us, to deliver remarks on border security in the 21st 21st century. it's an honor and privilege to not only have secretary johnson here but to have him speaking on such a critical issue at a critical time for the nation's security as well as the department. i've got ton know the secretary over the last year, and i will tell you, he is one of the most serious, sober, and substantive public servants i've met, and it's really an honor and privilege to have him here at csis. you know the secretary's background so i won't recite this bio, but certainly you know he has a distinguished legal and public career. he has served in the public sector numerous times, before his stint as the fourth secretary of homeland security,

served as the general counsel at the department of defense, he may have been running the largest law firm in the world. about 10,000 lawyers or so. but dealing with some of the thorpyest issues that the president and the nation had to deal with, from guantanamo and terrorism, to "don't ask, don't tell" policies. the secretary was asked to come back to run the department. an enormous challenge at a critical time in our history. it's a department with enormous responsibilities, authorities, and capabilities. one that has responsibilities for everything from counterterrorism and cyber security, to border response, natural disasters, and pandemics. and so today we're privileged to have the secretary speak to us about border security. one of the pillar responsibilities of the department and the secretary. to talk about protecting our borders, to talk about what that means in the context of the

variety of threats and actors that may threaten the united states. this is a time, obviously, where these issues not only have national and homeland security import but obviously play into the political dynamics with respect to the questions of immigration reform. and so it's with a great honor and privilege that we have the secretary here today. we will conduct this as we have other statesmen and speaker series. we'll hear from the secretary and then have a question and answer period, which we will moderate with discretion and discipline. so with that, i want to introduce secretary johnson and, again, thank him for the privilege of having him here with us to talk about border security in the 21st century. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, juan. and i want to thank this

terrific organization for the opportunity to be here this afternoon. today i want to talk to you about the important subject of border security, particularly the security of our southern land border with mexico. i see many good friends here. including my good friend the ambassador from guatemala, who i had the honor and the opportunity to spend time with this summer several times. in fact, over the last 15 years, across the clinton, bush, and obama administrations, our government has invested more in border security than at any point in the history of our nation. in fact, over the last 15 years, the number of apprehensions on our southwest border, a major indicator of total attempts to cross the border illegally, has declined significantly. it is now less than a third of

what it was in the year 2000 and it's at its lowest level since the 1970s. in fact, over the last 15 years, the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in this country grew to a high of 12.2 million in 2006, dropped to around 11.3 million, and has stopped growing for the first time since the 1980s. without a doubt, we had a setback this summer. with the unprecedented number of unaccompanied children and others who crossed a narrow area of our southern border in the rio grande valley in search of a family member and a better life in this+} country. we responded aggressively to this spike. and in fact, now the numbers of up accompanied children crossing into the rio grande valley are at the lowest they've been in almost two years. can i have my next slide?

thank you. oops. but this is not a mission accomplished speech. we can and should do more to best enforce the security of our borders. in this speech i will discuss the past, present, and future of our border security efforts.hvx not enough has been said publicly by our government, in a clear, concise way, about our border security efforts on behalf of the american people. and in the absence of facts, the american public is susceptible to claim wes have an open, pourous border, through which unaccompanied minors and members of terrorist organizations such as isil, may pass. in late june and july, millions of americans saw the images of the processing centers filled

with kids, far fewer americans know that by early june, the spike in illegal migration by unaccompanied kids had turned the corner and now it's in fact at its lowest number since january 2013. in september, the publicdy heara claim that four individuals with suspected ties to terrorism in the middle east has attempted to cross our southern border. far fewer know that in fact these four individuals were arrested, their supposed link to terrorism was thoroughly investigated and checked, and in the end, amounted to a claim by the individuals themselves that they were members of the kurdish workers party, an organization that is actually fighting against isil, and defended kurdish territory in iraq. nevertheless, these individuals have been arrested for unlawful entry, they are detained and they will be deported.

in the recent outbreak, there has been only one case so far of ebola diagnosed in this country. nevertheless, this department, my department, the department of homeland security, the department of defense, and cdc, are heavily engaged. we arey/&fancing our ebola screening of air passengers from the three affected african countries, and we are continually evaluating whether more is appropriate. as secretary of homeland security, i'm committed to more transparency about our border security. this speech today is part of that effort. given all we do today, it is hard to believe that as recently as 1904, we had virtually no border patrol at all. our land borders were completely open, to all forms of migration. in 1904, teddy roosevelt created

the united states immigration service. this force consisted of just 75 men of horseback, based in el paso, texas, responsible for the patrol of the entire 2300 miles southwest border. it was not until 1921 that we began to restrict the numbers of immigrants who entered the country legally with the pass yack of something called the emergency quota act of 1921. that law restricted yearly immigration to three percent of each nationality already present in this country, according to the 1910 census. prior to that, the only limits on immigration were restrictions on so-called undesirables. with the limits crated in 1921 came a dramatic increase in illegal immigration, which led to the creat649j of the u.s.

border patrol in 1924. originally the border patrol was part of the department of labor and was created to prevent illegal migration across our southern land border with mexico and our northern border with canada. in those days, there were actually more personnel devoted to the northern border than the southern border to prevent the smuggling of liquor into the u.s. from canada during prohibition. while other government agencies have faced cutbacks and limits, in these times of fiscal constraint, our national leaders in congress, and the executive branch, have chosen to build the border patrol to an unprecedented level in resources. today's border patrol is itself one of the largest agencies of our government, with a budget of 3.5 billion, a total of 23,000 personnel, 20,833 border patrol agents, and the largest ever

level of technology and equipment. let's look at that in more detail. in fiscal year 2000 we had 8,619 border patrol agent. dedicated to the southwest border. in 2014 that number isç, 18,127 and growing. in fiscal year 2000, we had just 57.9 miles of primary fence along she southwest border. today we have 352.7 miles of primary fence. in fiscal year 2,000 we had ten miles miles of secondary fence. today we have 36.3-miles of secondary fence in fies scat year 2000 we had ten miles of vehicle fence in the remote areasíof the southwest border. today we have 299 miles of vehicle fence.ç8#t

if you include primary, secondary, tertiary, and vehicle fence, today there is about 700 miles of total fence across the southwest border, compared to just 77 miles of fence in the year 2000. in 14 years, we have built almost ten times more fence across the southwest border. in fiscal year 2000 the border patrol had just 17 miles of all-weather roads to get to and from the southwest border. today we have 145.7 miles of these roads, strategically placed where we have determined they are needed. in fiscal year 2000, we had just 29 miles of lighting along the southwest border. today we have 70 miles of lighting strategically placed in places where we determined it's needed. 14 years ago we had few, if any, underground censors to detect

illegal migration at the southwest border. today we have 11,863 of these devices. in fiscal year 2000 the border patrol had 56 aircraft. today that number is 107. in the year 2000 the border patrol had no unmanned aerial vehicles. today we have eight of these for surveillance of illegal activity over the southwest border. in the year 2000 the border patrol had just two boats to patrol the entire southwest border over waterways like the rio grande. today we have 84. in the year 2000 the border patrol had one mobile surveillance system. today we have 40. in the year 2000 we had little, if any, mobile video surveillance video capability. today we have 178 of these. in 2000, we had 140 remote video surveillance systems. today we have 273 of these. in fiscal year 2014, the border

patroleq had 9,255 pairs of nigt vision goggles. in the year 2000, the border patrol had little or no thermal imaging capability. today we have 600 of these devices. today the border patrol has the largest deployment of people, vehicles, aircraft, boats, and equipment, along the southwest border in its 90-year history. more than the large numbers of people and equipment, i have high regard for today's border patrol. in nine and a half months in office, i have been to the southwest border seven times. over the hot summer i observed the border patrol and its leadership, take on the unprecedented number of kids and families crossing the border into south texas. they did this in a calm and professional manner, without complaint, and worked overtime and took on duties far beyond the job description.

i salute the border patrol, chief fisher, for making the border patrol's use of force policy public earlier this year. and rewriting it to more expressively address instances of rock-throwing at the border and the threat presented by vehicles. i salute cvp commissioner curl curly cow ski for making pock the report on the use of force by the bored patrol, and salute the commissioner for implementing a uniidentified formal review process that will more0y effectively respond to, investigate, review, and resolve, any use of force incidents involving the border patrol in a timely manner. this nation's long investment, long-term investment, in border security, has produced significant positive results over the years. illegal migration into this country peaked in the two 2000

with 1.6 million an preparations this year. as you can see from this slide, illegal migration into this country has dropped considerably since then reflected by the decline in total apprehensions from 1.6 million in 2000 to around 400,000 a year in recent years. the overall downward trend is no doubt due in large part to economic conditions in both the u.s. and mexico but we're certain it is also due in very large measure to the deterrent factor of our border security efforts. apprehensions are at the lowest rate since they've been in the 1970s. slide 24 reflects both the increase in border patrol agents and the simultaneous decrease in total apprehensions in the same period.yf the bottom line of all this is, in recent years, the total

number of those who attempt to cross our southwest border has declined dramatically. while the percentage of those who are apprehended has gone up. put simply, it's now much harder to cross our border and evade capture than it used to be, and people know that. the final indicator is the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in this country. according to pew research, the number grew to a high of 12.2 million in 2006, dropped and has remained at 11.3 million ever since. so the population of undocumented immigrants in this country has stopped growing for the first time since the 1980s, and over half these individuals have been in this meanwhile, mexico has become our third largest trading partner with $507 billion in total two-way trade' in 2013.

it is the country's second largest goods export market and more than 1.1 million u.s. jobs are sported by exports from mexico. our estimate for fiscal year 2014 -- it is still an estimate -- as the fiscal year just ended nine days ago -- shows a modest increase in apprehensions to about 480,000, reflect on that slide. this increase is almost entirely due to what happened this summer in the rio grande valley. in fact, in fiscal year 2014, about 53% of all apprehensions across the southwest border were in what we refer to as the rio grande valley sector of the southwest border. indicated by the red arrow there on the slide. this summer we saw an unprecedented spike in illegal migration into south texas. almost all of this migration came from guatemala, honduras,

and el salvador. and as everyone knows its con 'tied on large numbers of unaccompanied children, and adults with children, which presented a humanitarian dimension to the problem. you saw the photos of overcrowded processing centers. in south texas. unlike other spikes in migration in the past, many of these families and kid expected to be apprehended once they crossed the rio grande. they were not seeking to evade our border patrol agents and our surveillance and probably knew they could not. in rolponse we did a number of things. our message was simple. our bored is not open to illegal immigration, if you come here illegally you will be sent back consistent with our laws and our values. so we put additional border security in and law enforcement@ resources into south texas.

we opened new processing centers across the southwest, to handle the additional illegal migration; in mcallen texas, nogales, arizona, and elsewhere, we re-assigned hundreds of border patrol agents to the rio grande valley sector to manage the increased apprehensions in that sector, re reduced the time it takes to repatriate adults from an average of 33 days down additional flights to repatriate people faster to their hem countries. we built more space. we dedicated resources to the prosecution of the criminal smuggling organizations, the coyotes, that were inducing people to take the long, dangerous journey, from central america. we launched a renewed public messaging campaign in central america, highlighting the dangers of the journey and correcting the misinformation that coyotes are putting out

about free passes if you come to the united states. vice president biden visited central america and met with leaders. president obama met with the, president odd got mall los angeles honduras and el valve door in washington to coordinate our response to the situation. the government of mexico did a considerable amount to interdict migration from central america. the good news is, since mid-june, the numbers of illegal migrants crossing into south texas has gone down considerably. slide 30, please. if you saw slide 30 you'd see a

big sharp ski slope. we'll get there. there we go. june 10th, 2014, since the number of unaccompanied children -- since then in the number of unaccompanied children has declined steadily. the same thing is reflected on a monthly basis. next slide, please in may, 2014, 10,580 unaccompanied children crossed the southwest border. in june, 10,622 crossed the south border in july, 5,000 a hundred 1, august, 3,341, and september was 2,424. the monthly numbers are now the lowest they've been in almost two years. in terms of the year-end number, our original projection in january was 60,000 unaccompanied children, would cross the southwest border illegally in

fy2014. during the summer we revised that projection upward to 90,000. the fact is, the year-end number is 68,434. not far off the original projection of 60,000. the decline in illegal migration by parents, who brought their children, followed a similar path. next slide, please. this year. the worst is owe for now. from -- it over from now. from the spike this summer and the high in illegal migration 15 years ago, the president and i are committed to building an even more secure border. and a smart strategy to get there.- much of illegal migration is seasonal. the spike in migration we saw this summer could return. the poverty and violence that are the push factors in central america, still exist. the economy in this country, a pull factor, is getting better. thus there is still more we can

and should do. first, as we are doing across the department of homeland security, in a variety of contest -- contexts we'll build a risk based strategy for border security. the southern border if a miss tour of winding river, desert and mountains. simply building more fences is my press scissor used to say, build a 50-foot sense and i'm sure someone else will build a 51-foot ladder. today we have the intelligence capability, surveillance equipment and technology to do more. much of that is already deployed on the border today. we need to go further in this direction so that we can focus or our resources where our intelligence and surveilens tells us the threat exists. this is a smart, effective and efficient use of taxpayer resources. here's a vivid example of what i

mean. we know where the risks are. we need to focus on these areas. and the risk areas start to move someplace else, we get there first. second, to best accomplish our border security goals, along the southern border, and consistent with the overall community of effort initiative i announced in april, i directed the department of homeland security embark on a common department-wide southern border campaign plan. this plan will put to use in a strategic and coordinated way the assets and personnel of customs and border protection, immigration and customs guju(qsqgt, citizenship and immigration services, the coast guard, and other resources of the department, when and if they're necessary. to pursue this southern border

campaign plan, we are first developing a department-wide strategy for the security of the southern border and approaches. we will then direct the resources and activities of the department's components accordingly. our overarching goals will be effective enforcement and interdiction across land, sea and air, degrade transnational criminal organizations, and do these things without impeding the flow of lawful trade travel and commerce across our borders. we're now in the midst of developing the more specific plan to pursue these goals. and associated metrics. a planning team from acrossé+@ce department, led by coast guard developing lines of efforts, actions and milestones to accomplish these goals in an effective, cost efficient manner. we will then take the next logical step which you see on

this slide in this plan it established three new department task forces each headed by a senior official of this department to direct the resources of cbt, i.c.e.,cis and the coast guard in three discrete areas. the first joint task force ease in the blue box, bill will be responsible for maritime approach across the southeast. the second is joint task+x forcs west will be responsible for the west coast ofkpa6 california ae southern land border, and the third is a standing joint task force for investigations to support the work of the other two task forces. these efforts departmentwide campaign planning,ds and joint task forces, will enable more effective, more efficient, and more unified homeland security and border security efforts across our southern border and

approaches. so that the data publishized by this office reflects what is happening departmentwide. with transparency comes responsibility. those of us in public office, and in the media, whether in describing the border, isil or ebola, owe the public informed, careful, and responsible

dialogue. not overheated rhetoric that is certain to feed the flames of fear and anxiety and suspicion. as i've said many times, homeland security means striking a balance. in the name of homeland security i can build you a perfectly safe city but it will be a prison. i can build more fences, install more invasive screening devices, ask more intrusive questions, demand more answers, and alarm the public enough to make everybody suspicion of each other and simply stay at home. but this will cost us who we are as a nation. people who respect the law, cherish privacy, enjoy the freedom to travel and associate, celebrate our diversity and who are not afraid. in the final analysis these are the things that constitute our greatest strength as a nation. thank you for listening. [applause]

>> thank you, mr. secretary. i think you proved what i said in terms of serious, sober, and substantive preparation. -- presentation. the new offices will be busy under your watch. what you just presented, prosecutor, making the case that the border is more secure than what -- >> i do have a lot of -- >> i know you do. talk to us about where you see the vulnerabilities? you obviously have now announced this campaign plan on the border. that means that more needs to be done, both within the department and at the border. you have laid out where things are improved. where are the vulnerabilities still? >> well, i wouldn't describe it as vulnerabilities, though i'll get to where i think we need to

do more work. the department of homeland security is 11 years old, and in 2002, congress brought together pre-existing components, coast guard, immigration components, border patrol, that, as you saw on the presentation, were around long before dhs and so they had their own way of doing business, their own culture, their owíau÷ headquarters, they're own office of statisticians, and the way we have done business up to now is each component would make its own budget request, up through the stovepipe, come to headquarters, go to owe mb and then to congress. and we want to do a couple of things. we want to at an earlier stage have a more strategic department-wide view toward what we need to deliver more efficient services for the

taxpayer, and we also want to have a more strategic department-wide look at, hey, what do we need in the rio grande valley sector this cup up coming year? what do we need on the southwest bored are, relying on the resources of the adapt, coast guard, cpb, i.c.e., rather than just receiving it all stovepipe. this past summer i saw the virtue of bringing to bear all these components toward one mission, which we need to do more of, and so when i'd go to mcallen station, texas, i would meet with border patrol personnel, i'd meet with cbp personnel in blue uniforms, i'd meet with immigration enforcement personnel, cis personnel, fema, the coast guard, and literally the only person that all of them had in common in their command and

control structure was me. there was nobody in between them and me and washington, and so we want to create a structure through a task force model that puts in place somebody geographically who is focused on southwest border, southeast border, investigations so we can bring a more strategic approach and have somebody at a slightly lower level than me focus on various parts of the country and what is needed there. and will approve the allocation of resources and the mission each year. so, to me that is a better, more efficient, more strategic way of developing border security. now, the graphic i showed with the hot spots, is my way of saying, hey, the proper approach, whether it's border security, aviation security, is a risk-based strategy where you

focus on where you see the hot spots, and we have the ability to see that through our surveillance capability to focus on the illegal migration trending. so that's what i believe should be the approach of the future. we have already begun to move in that direction and i want to continue to make strides. >> let me cue of something you said about the management challenges. one critique of the department of homeland security is it is putting too many department and agencies together, different cultures and systems, et cetera. is it the department that's too big to manage and maybe even more broadly, is the homeland security enterprise that involves not just the department but also the department of defense, department of justice -- is it just too unwieldy at this point? >> well, people ask me that question. the first thing point out is you have to ask where were all these components before? and all these components under

the broad umbrella of homeland security used to be in something like 20 different agencies of government, ranging from treasury, agriculture justice, with a lot of component heads who did not have a homeland security, law enforcement core mission. and so we brought them together, and interestingly, a lot of my european counterparts, middle eastern counterparts, have ministries of the interior with almost identical jurisdiction sets. and i, from my point of view, i just in nine and a half months in office, have seen the efficiencies that can be brought about by having all these components at one table for the purpose of a common mission. i think it makes a tremendous amount of sense. is it big? yes.

should we consider a more efficient command and control structure? a more efficient supervisory chain? yes. and the slide you saw, the last slide, is a step in that direction. >> one last question before opening it up. my prerogative. you focus on the southwest border and the campaign there. talk to us about your thinking about defense and depth with partners, not just along the border but around the world, in the context of the summer crisis, obviously working with mexican partners, central american partners, has become key, obviously. then you look at the ebola crisis and dealing with the issue of the transportation channels and what our partners around the world are doing, particularly in west africa. how does the defense in depth of the homeland security enterprise fit into you -- your model and dealing with these issues.

>> i spend a lot of time with my counterparts to the south and my counterparts to the north. i was in ottawa last week, meeting with minister steven blaney, my canadian counterpart, and other members of that cabinet. i've been to conferences with my european counterparts. i visited with my middle eastern counterparts, and we're building what i believe to be a better system of immigration -- of information sharing, of working together, common on border security issues, homeland security issues. i think that given the current world situation, we all appreciate the need to do that, and so i think we're creating a pretty good environment for doing that.

when i was in office just a couple of weeks, i went down to mexico for the meeting of our president, the mexican president, and prime minister harper, the north american leader summit, and they're -- their there the focus is on trade and travel and how to promote those. there are initiatives signed in 2011, the three leaders entered into our beyond the border initiative, which we're constantly pushing with different lines of effort. so there's an increased emphasis on working with other governments as i see it. >> let's open this up. a little bit of the rules of the game. if you're called on, the secretary is going to call on you, identify yourself, please, and please keep it short. we want to have as many questions as possible and make it a question, please, not a

commentary. >> yes, sir. >> -- isis impacted border patrol thus far? >> isil is, of course, the most prominent terrorist organization on the world stage right now, and we're taking the fight to them in iraq and syria, with air strikes and there's an international coalition that is being assembled that will participate in this overall effort. isil is obviously a dangerous terrorist organization. they've demonstrated a willingness to kill americans in a very brutal, public way, simply because we are americans. they've called for attacks on the west, and they have very slick social media and very slick propaganda.

so, you put all those things together, and in my view, they represent a very significant potential threat to our homeland, for which we have to be vigilant. we're vigilant around a couple of different things. one is the issue of foreign fighters. people who leave their home country, go there, spend some time there link up with some extremist elements and then return to their home countries, either this country or a country in our visa waiver program. so we'9 are very focused on tracking those individuals. i think the fbi does a pretty good job of that. and also, we're concerned about -- this doesn't go to the border but it is in my view, very significant issue to focus on, we're concerned about domestic-based, lone-wolf acts of terror, inspired by the

social media of these groups or the literature of these groups, and we have seen cases where somebody arrested, prosecuted, was motivated by some literature but out by a terrorist organization. i'm not in the business of singling them out because i don't want to give them promotion, but in many respected they that's the terror threat i worry most about because it's the hard toast detect and can happen on very little notice. one thing we're doing in the department of homeland security in addition to partnering with law enforcement, is our countering violent extremism initiatives, outreach to communities in this country, that have large muslim populations. so, two weeks ago, i was in columbus, ohio, and i was at the -- an islamic cultural

center right outside of columbus, ohio to meet with 50 or 60 community leaders, who. thes have the capacity to reach young people in their communities, whom may be temptd to turn toward violence. i was in a chicago suburb where i did the same thing, with a somali american community organization, and i'm going to other cities, minneapolis in a couple of weeks. boston, dearborn, los angeles, and when i'm done i want to be able to reach personally a large percentage of the community have the ability to reach people in this country in communities where that potential might exist. and so while we monitor threats from overseas, potential overseas threats -- our intelligence community does a pretty good job of that and while we're focused on aviation security, we continue to be focused on aviation security,

the new phenomena i worry about are the foreign fighters and the threat of violent extremism here at home. i think those two phenomenon in particular are new post-9/11 phenomenon that our government needs to prepare for. >> thank you very much. right here. >> i am ted hissen, a report with fusion. my question is, is the president still committed to taking executive action on immigration, and what sort of action is he considering at this time? >> yes. the president is very committed to taking executive action to fix our broken immigration system. in the absence of action by congress and so am i. and we're developing a set of reforms that i would characterize as comprehensive in nature, but within our existing

legal authorities. there are a number of things we can do, and we should do, to fix our immigration system, which i anticipate will be announced somewhere between the mid-term elections and the end of the year. i think that's what the president said. >> okay. yes, sir, right here. >> thank you, sir. i i'm matt, with abc news. >> louder. >> i'm matt lauer with abc news, question. on the question of foreign fighters, a recent poll from dhs went to local law enforcement warning that people who have gone to syria and hence returned to the uniteêáñ states might be posing a threat. how worried are you precisely on the threat of foreign fighters that have already returned to the homeland? >> i think our law enforcement does a pretty good job of tracking individuals who may be

tempted toward violence, who may be committing criminal acts or are about to commit criminal acts, and together, between tracking individuals of suspicion in their travel, in their activities here at home, and their activities abroad, i think we do a pretty good job of tracking these people. you can never know what you don't know, but when i look at the level of detail that goes into this effort, and the systems we havetpjeñ place, i he a reasonable degree of comfort that we're doing a pretty good job in that regard. i would not say i have a complete degree of comfort but i have a reasonable degree of comfort that we're doing a pretty good job in that regard. okay. right here, sir, with the gray suit on. and the tie. >> thank you, mr. secretary.

i'm wondering -- >> your name, please? >> ben with crossmatch technologies. >> what organization? >> crossmatch technologies. abiometrics company. i'm wondering, where does an exit program fit in your program for the southwest border -- biometric exit program? something that congressman debted but not yet funded. >> biometric entry and exit. is the gold standard. but it costs money. and so we're working toward a biometric exit system, but it costs movement it's the gold standard. there are several important agenda items that i'd like to see completed, but i have to rely on my partners in congress to do that. we need the right technology in place to do it efficiently, but biometric exit and entry is the gold standard.

okay. yes, ma'am, right here. >> i'm julia edwards with reuters. you laid out numbers to show how families and unaccompanied children from central america -- the number are quibbling, what are -- quicking. why are we -- are dwindling. why are we are still building facilities? >> a lot of migration is seasonal, and so look at the pattern this past summer of adults, adults without children, it followed almost idly the migration patterns in prior yearsfé in terms of the numbers and the trends, and so a lot of the migration you saw and a lot of that spike you saw is definitely seasonal. but then there was a sharp

dropoff, which may have been attributed to a lot of the aggressive efforts we put in place, the public messaging, and so we have got in my view, guard against the same thing happening again, and so we want to build additional capability that can be converted from one type of use to another on pretty short notice. and so i think there's some lessons learned from tom experience -- from that experience but we don't want to totally dismantle all the things weea1m in place this summer to deal with that because it could come backy' again. i watch the numbers several times a week to detect any upward trends but it could come back again because the traditional migration pattern for adults is right after the new year, starts to inch up

again and again and peaks in early summer and then drops off when it gets hot in the southwest, and the late summer, and so we can see the same thing come back again, and i want to build against that. okay. i've got time for one or two more questions. gentleman way in the back. that's you, yes, with the gray suit. >> i got lucky. arthur with the polish embassy. my question concern. >> what your organization? >> the polish embassy. my question concerns the visa waiver program you mentioned, as you well know there are some still some eu member states that are aspiring candidates to enter the program but folks on the hill are pushing back contingent on dhs publishing oversay numbers. your predecessor assured that would happen over a year and a half ago. are you any closer to the

numbers being determined and are you concern about the isil threat in3 supported the united states and iraq and afghanistan and do with the isil threat right now. thank you. >> that's a three-part question. let me answer it. first, as you probably know, the criteria for getting into the visa waiver program is statutory. so, congress sets out the criteria and we assess whether a nation has melt -- met it and is qualified. so it's set up by congress. subpart a, b., was -- overstay numbers, right. how i can forget that? there is a report in the works which i reviewed a while ago, and i thought it needed some red-teaming. i wanted to have some good

scrutiny aph7rqb to it before we made it public because it's an important number, and i want to be sure we get it right. so, i'm -- you know what red-teaming means, right? i wanted to have some scrutiny put to it, to ensure that we have it right. we have the methodology right. in terms of dealing with the foreign fighter issue, we are evaluating whether there is more information we could get from participants in the visa waiver program with respect to people who travel from their country to ours. member in the visa waiver program, they sign up to something called homeland security presidential directive 6, which is a series of security assurances, and we want to see if we're obtaining all the

information we could and should pursuant to those agreements. and so my folks and others are evaluating that right now. i think it's very important that we do that.á okay. let me go over here. let see. yes, sir. right there on the end. >> thank you, mr. secretary. greg shin felon the american immigration lawyers association. you responded to the question that the reporter from reuters asked about the unaccompanied children and the families that are coming here by responding about the seasonal change in the numbers coming here. but the american immigration lawyers association has had attorneys going on a volunteer basis to new mexico which is a new facility opened in june to detain families. mothers and children, as you know well, who have come here from central america that are being held in these jail facilities, and what our attorneys are seeing are that these mothers and children are

coming, fleeing violence, horrific violence, domestic violence, gang-based violence, much of which would qualify them for asylum and refugee status in the united states, at very high numbers, great majority of the women who have strong claims for asylum. as the reuters reporter asked before, why is the adapt -- why is this administration continuing to build more facilities, not just the ones in inflame -- in new mexico and another one in texas and another one in texas that will bring the number of detention facilities up to 4,000. why this massive expansion when we talking about asylum seekers here two deserve our protection, and we understand the surge issues but these are asylum seekers that deserve real protection and can't be treated this way, especially mothers and children. >> a lot of the spike that we saw this summer were not just

unaccompanied kids, unaccompanied kids got the most attention but a lot of it, perhaps on the same numbers, if not larger, were what we call family units, parents with kids, which is what you're asking me about. wef÷ have -- we had detention space for about 34,000 individuals. only 95 beds total for family units. only 95 family unit capabilities out of 34,000. and so we believe it's necessary to build more of that capability in the event we have another spike, like we had last summer. 95 out of 34,000 is just not acceptable. and so i want to build additional capability that can be converted from one use to the

other. i've personally been to artesia. i was there when i first opened. every time i visit artesia or nogales or mcallen i spend time talking to migrants myself. the moms and dads. to understand why they made this journey. and i'm certainly aware of the issues that counsel have had with communications with their clients at are tee should, and i direct -- artesia, and i directed my folks to put in place a number of things to make the attorney-client relationship easier there. so, -- i certainly appreciate the attorney-client relationship. okay. one more question. yes, sir. the mic is coming, and then i might have one more.

>> okay. >> i have a two-part question -- >> mike spalding. >> one relate ode to the last question. you indicated in your prepared remarks that both you and the vice president visited central america mitchell question is did cowom away from the meetings satisfied they have both the resources and the will to help address some of the questions that precipitated some of that spike? the second question, you talked about aviation security and particularly southern northern border security. can you say a few words about your level of comfort on maritime security given as much as 95% of goods come into the country come in cargo containers. >> okay. question one. central america. first of all, in the course of my visit to guatemala, i got to know the ambassador from guatemala, who is right here in the front row. a wonderful public servant.

and i had a good session with his president. both here and in guatemala, and the members of his cabinet and the first lady. i came away from central america, from guatemalaxd in particular, knowing that there was a very personal heartfelt commitment to encouraging their youth to stay at home. the first lady of guatemala, very committed to that. she put her heart and soul into it with a public campaign this summer, which i believe contributed to the downturn. undoubtedly there are issues of poverty and violence in central america, particularly in honduras, and el salvador and guatemala. so in our discussions, which including the president, president obama, the vice

president, myself, secretary kerry, we talked about longer term ways in which we can address those issues. we want to help in central america with their border security efforts. we want to help government of guatemala with their border security efforts. we have in place some resources to do that now, but we talked about more of that, and i believe that in the course of our dialogue we came away with a renewed commitment to do better and to do more in that regard among all of us. and so we're going to cona9ue that dialogue and continue those discussions. question two, maritime security. that was we three. question two was -- [inaudible] >> yes. when i visited ports, like port

of los angeles, i'm pretty impressed by our screening capabilities. we are pretty sophisticated at identifying high-risk cargo by the profile of the manifest, the source, the country source, and then subjecting to secondary screening higher level of screening stuff that fits the profile, that potentially problematic. ...

>> >> simply because we don't have the capability or the resources or the many. which we don't control those ports by the way and logistically is not their. so we're developing and i promise the principal sponsors of the law we will develop the plan with one dissent scanning but we don't have the resources congress has not given us the resources to do that but we're developing that. i'd like to see us get to a higher percentage.

but i looked at what comes into the country for screening and it is pretty sophisticated. but to take away from that a pretty good story to. >> last question we are now screening for ebola do we have contingencies that work? >> we definitely have the capability to deal with the ebola virus every time there is an outbreak of the world we have the best health care the best infrastructure is a treatable disease. but you receive the right

medical care and treatment in time. we have had one case in the united states but the facts are there is no direct flights going through different points mostly in europe and on average 150 people per day and they come in touche jfk of chicago or atlanta. given the nature of the diseases and public concern we determine to enhance the screening will already have in place.

but when you get on the plane to leave the airlines have been given a lot of information. passengers have been given information. and where you observed them put through the normal customs process is more active aggressive screening at the point when you arrived to have travelers from the three countries allowed a declaration without contact information for the next 21 days e-mail, cellphone passport numbers are you feeling ill

or have of fever? have you been around anyone that has ebola? and additionally every passenger we will have this in place as early as this weekend said the airport's my goal is that we create internationally as many different checkpoints as possible to go through the system. thank you very much. [applause]

[inaudible conversations]

>> for our panelists thanks for being here. and serving in the pentagon since 2003 serving in space better spanish than i do which is pretty impressive. and before he served as lieutenant governor the last week writing a letter to the mexican government that is highly critical of the

deployment to the national guard. musec mexico's response of legalization is a that has been in the news. in deal of a texas democrat to serve also serving on homeland's security and the only democrat to vote with the republicans on the measure. >> they voted with may. [laughter] >> israel's backup provision to the trafficking lot is that is for the raiders coming over the border

into his left agricultural commissioner from 2007. before that he was in the texas house and senate and now with the texas gas and oil association and in 2011 with the protected texas border that farmers and ranchers with everything that is going on in the border. and some of them from the valley. he is from el paso and sets

of the veterans affairs gentlemen security committee behavior self. [laughter] >> it is so much more relaxed now. >> serving on the city council and in 2011 with dealing dread death and drugs that the congressman said of a dialogue or the violence also with the struggle at the same time right wing law-enforcement that was a big point of controversy and last but not least the colonel was the head who served of more than

two decades in drizzle so precarious head of border security and beginning a 1.$3 million operation i don't know how many have been down here lately but you can without seeing of 58 or 20s but there is a lot of black and whites out there country from the national guard the national guard recently joined those efforts. [applause]

i want to start with you to release those statistics the their brief recap panetta something people want to know about and as it relates to what is going on. and weak 11 the way we started retard about the search operation just saturation controls but the first week period operation

13,606 there was a concern of the population but then it was to the special crimes but then walking 1,197 from week 11 so it's not that the numbers that matter but added time we the point is if it's from the state leadership of the legislature of the home invasions that are expressed also the stash house when i

talk about the human stash house the business model of the cartel you may have paid your money to get here you're not going anywhere. >> what about the national guard specifically there has been questioned of the enforcement powers so there are sensitivities to let the public know because that is possible. >> and when they were called up path what we have done is a tad partners to defy the observation post the texas military guard personnel just by being there can observe so they can look at and see that smuggling activity.

when the report for public safety is a great concentration i don't want to leave local law enforcement in the equation. >> you have the top bid rework critical but looking at the entire border he did elaborate. >> i question the cause and effect relationship plan for the drop in children and family in central america. and then the hot summer months people willing to make that journey there is the natural peak the mayor may not have been reached. but let's get this

realistically 50 years ago on the eve of 9/11 1.6 million apprehensions along the southern border last year 420,000 to even from the surge of central america will probably not hit half-million. spending more than twice what we were. and el paso texas but the safest city in the entire country with the immigrants of the community being right on the border. >> you have the recent shooting of off-duty border patrol and nationals tour violently murdered an

interested in sexual assaults committed by a legal intervention so there is not on the border? so what are you saying? >> i am not saying there's not a crime on the border but it is much safer on average in not just tell pasco and despite the presence of immigrants. not to commit crimes but to provide a better life for themselves news their crimes sometimes on the border? yes. smuggle drugs? and people? yes. my hats off to border patrol. in to ensure the border. in coming from central

america is disproportionate. the scary thing is to concentrate all resources on the border. that is the northern border homegrown extremist. let's be ditched -- vigilant but whether talking about immigrants or terrorist the southern border has never been safer. would get any metric -- liggett any metric. >> you cannot just exclude you have to look at the relationship because extortion and smatter and even for people that come

across to be victimized with the exploitation i cannot tell you how many cases young girls being recruited by organized crime or creed -- preyed upon been gang rape then forced into prostitution by its it is fully impacted. >> with all due respect i have been in and out of bell pass of so many times my grandparents lived for years for years. but the violence in el paso tuesday and is safer than other cities around the country is delusional. >> what specifically?

>> on shootings, people coming across the border but >> with the allegations about car bombs and that my eighth grade kids are there right now. >> let me ask you a question focusing on the humanitarian side it is only part of it less than 20% would get the other 80% a lot of these people coming into the united states coming into texas since 2008 are not legal created hundreds of

thousands of crimes in texas including thousands of murders. this is law enforcement efforts to secure the border the federal government has failed miserably in horribly to do the constitutional job to secure the border. so i believe the federal government fails to do their constitutional job the states have more than just a great day and an obligation to do that job. that is our number one responsibility for elected officials. >> with the senator of appropriations? it with the border patrol levels and staffing with the extremist on the southern border so what do people

say? with the homeland's security committee? >> i'll answer that quickly if you don't mind the day before yesterday on the director of komen security and asked point-blank is anything on the southern border with texas from visa -- isis that we should know about? there is none there has never been a connection otherwise recorded by terrorist here in the united states connected to the southern border. should we remain vigilant? search of the. can get the possibility but that claims that the border

is violence he claims people are coming here to get us it is bad to waste resources and where the real threats are but very hard to attract capital and investment and talent with the public headline that governor bear -- governor perry with the bombs going off it is not true. and then that was products three years ago is very real but commissioner with the military's support. but i want to follow-up in

the former sheriff of the county found al qaeda. day take that seriously now? but i did dash specifically that there is no credible fear. with that information and intelligence officers don't know but i am one of those you are ready just in case. because the bad guys have to get right one time. just once. but let me just talk about the border and border security. but the border is a region

and has millions of people on both sides. every dave 1.$3 billion of trade half a billion dollars last year. the movement the largest around from los angeles to new york. >> in going through laredo customs this year. now looking at the border of place with a lot of activity asides. so you can see the energy but on the other side with able have the same thing that they have. that is the way i see the border.

>> let me say we see the border differently. how to readdress the threat? first of all, anytime there is the threat yet to identify organized-crime so first you identify the threat than the appropriate measure to address that. if you put a wall a border patrol and national guard you have to look how best to address that issue will lot of times they can just focus from ports of entry that is very important to us. the other thing is generally speaking to address the threats we can keep playing that -- defense where we spend $80 billion or we look at playing defense on the

20-yard line with mexico and central american countries. >> it is the tale of two quarters we have a robust economy over 500,000 jobs in the loadstar state just between our states and the nation than we have a very dangerous situation that is not conducive to solve the drug problems and the crime and unlawful entry because an increasing by 100 percent. >> with 119,000 in 2011 estimate that is the apprehension. >> if the cameras detected

95,000 people. but less than half are apprehended. litus separate the drug runners from the job-seekers. and immigration reform. in the bad guys are the ones that we focus. we do need to secure our border our policy to have a guest worker program. >> if i could say it was harsh with of mexican government could do you

think is that on purpose? but on where most americans are sensitive the mexican government put out of a letter that said our actions on the border to include the texas national guard were a political stunt where we were political -- paulette put -- politicizing. that cannot be further from the truth. when the government was incapable or unwilling to do their job and armor pleaded tugboat's insurance departments that we're very

lucky to have. to run a surge on the rio grande valley to have people crossing the border. mexico militarized its border for years. has the colonel just got your explaining this is a force multiplier with the national guard. >> that a few years back mexico does have an army presence. and using their military every day. with a 25 year history. and ask them to do police work instead of military work we know the story is of

the man who was shot and redeployed the marines. the men and women whose served the uncertain circumstances to find the better life. >> in with border patrol agents i would be right there with you. >> i will agree chairman of the security committee wrote border security results act that i am a co-sponsor. that would make sure reuse existing assets where they are needed without having to

spend billions of dollars more we all like to consider ourselves as conservatives almost 15 years ago. we don't want to throw money at the problem but current assets were there needed. >> when i was in the radio with the national guard nobody seemed to be upset about that. is the politics? >> my position as a little different ones they bring that national guard darren understanding that it cannot enforce they can't do it. so they're there to support so did i think the national

guard was a different time? but then let's go ahead. and for 281 kids and families i would use the resources. >> focusing on the kids tell law-enforcement side. but again the focus is once the national guard went down there i would support them. and i will support them when they go down there but they have been there for years. they have been there a lot of years to understand there will not be there at the border to enforce immigration reform.

>> the etfs was very specific to raise concern they will not do any what exactly that is the undocumented immigrant and it calms the honors. >> and to recognize first and foremost,. i have a reasonable suspicion of federal crime scene and gauged in the situation we don't have the enforcement. >> and to deputize.

>> we have enough to do to stay on the highways and the roadways. number two with the regulatory a checkpoints and i am the one that made that call in that. is the cost-efficient way and also insurance of compliance. in the inconsistent with supreme court. and the senator said he did that like it's we will shut it down we will not do well unless the legislature says we wanted to do what do the

next few months have that they keep dropping? and it seems to have subsided because of other factors. number one it is the legislature. [laughter] >> but your search is basically focused the one rio grande valley sector by not correct? that is 120 miles. 120 miles of 1,200 porter we are focusing on 10 percent of the border. that is 56 percent of the problem right now.

and tell and unless we can address though whole border of hundred miles and the way they have done enough for immigration and. move that is where the country has to go. for the people that led to be here but we will not get there until we secure the border at. >> we could literally place the border said -- border patrol agent 1 foot apart or tanks lined up for lower alligator's. [laughter] fatah we will bring tears

to? it is the unrealistic goal to get at 100 percent deterrence or security. the separate engen said doesn't mean the total number equally. 65% drop from one on june 23rd approximately? that is the reason that we appropriated from the house almost a hundred million dollars for the spotter aircraft helicopters to have this force multiplier. and to give the people of texas the confidence. we have a lot of friends that live between the border and the checkpoints and

their homes are armed. we have common friends because it is dangerous to live on the ranch. i see a border patrol do i heard people say they need more so how many more kids to give us an amount? to say they have the same. >> and then look at what members of border patrol that have very low apprehension but a lot of border patrol here should be

shifted around half went to arizona i said wiry sending half over there? with the mobile strike force? that could be moved around at any time. then they're not very mobile. share enough i asked him and he just looked at me with a blank stare i had disagreements how they move people around for apprehension levels but let me jess say this playing defense on the 1 yard line because i would rather play defense on the 20-yard line. one of the things we have been asking mexico to focus on the border.

i am starting to do that but you literally had people just going up with no control at all. if it is open down there than we just play defense on the 1 yard line. >> i think the reason it is strictly a charitable to send a signal we will not tolerate unlawful entry the reason it is so bad today and what is a secure border their resources that are necessary to be a southwest border security commission made up of bipartisan

members of the senate's before you vote on homeland security appropriations every year. that here on the ground every day that we cannot get to that point but if we can get congress to work together to work with our friend and partner my heart goes out to mexico everything they have done they lost 40,000 people with the drugs in northern mexico. so they have been fighting this war to come together to play on the hard-line.

talk about the bill that was legislation offered by conservative republicans. what is next for washington? with full bipartisan support has stalled because everyone said at the outset. and one quick thing on your last question in a pass so last year the average agent made for apprehensions that the commissioner is making we're better deployed for the bill and to the fear that you speak of lieutenant

governor you have to raise rates a bulletproof vest with the security detail. when we say things that are not true about murderous in a grand slam bombs falling off i cannot tell you how much hair hurts this stage the community a represent the people i care for it makes it difficult to get ahead. then the state gets a head. mexico is texas's number one trading partner. when we operate out of fear we must always worked with that. i have to say again el paso is a safe city from what i see but the whole border is not saved. hundreds of thousands of

crimes committed in through texas through the southern border over the years. those are facts. >> from what i understand they were charges and asked if those surcharges or convictions. so how many were charges were convictions? >> cannot have the exact number. but it is where it was. >> but that 70 +% on the border and everybody blames the immigrant. we have people across the border people move across borders to have some sort of sensible comprehensive

immigration reform there is a story about a person in charge of the border and in some of the land to say we ought to do something so he wrote a letter but that was written in 1830 by mexican officer and we just cannot demonize and in the radio. [applause] but the murder rates a couple years ago was three murders per 100,000. and 50 murders so anytime you start to tax the community it is are seven reasons that doctors at the clinic -- the v.a. clinic in

the ratio is a true story we couldn't even get them from san antonio because it was too dangerous and i said what the eff are you saying that it is too dangerous? [laughter] you always have to watch out for a threat. >>. >> guest: to start lining up for questions we will segue into that. >> you know, me very well. talking about securing the border from the love for it -- lot for some point of view those that try to demonize crossing the border

? and what to own and how we use it just like 9/11 coming to this southern border. i am a fan of the northern border as the southern border. >>. >> over the last few years

with the security it is possible to solve the problems with one sarah comprehensive solution is that the discharge solution? >> i don't think we're getting anywhere with an aging comprehensive. with that drug cartel with physical attacks and we suffered from that. but it is easier for an employer to hire someone here that is undocumented then illegally documented worker and that is a tragedy because the system is broken. that is why we need a dynamic trading partner but we need to rid knowledge we

have the border otherwise children could not walk across if the border was secure that is all they a camouflage for the drug cartel to do what they want. >> a few bills would crack down on hiring undocumented folks in the construction and energy what about the republican governor? >> both have led us down to secure the border in reforming the immigration system so we're here today to talk about those solutions. >> thanks for being here today. border security is not all the immigrants but u.s. citizens being recruited by the criminals across the border said druglords don't always cross over. their drive citizens and police officials so is it

better to have more fbi or intelligence instead of more brutes? >> with the intelligence on this side as u.s. citizen recruited to at laredo tex. >> the operating model is corruption. >> but we have seen some recent tragedies but second we do have command and control elements. but talk about transnational kings we had a recent case

with the border and drugs working with the mexican mafia working with the cartel. >> it is policy with a practitioner and former fbi all those models it takes boots and wing tips you have to do it all. it is the great capacity you have to look at command-and-control as well that the end of the day but

people forget if you just looked at the number of people at 251,000 the cartel is a low number. that is half a million dollars a year talking about. it is big money the a did they are involved in all activities can slow that down. the government of mexico is the mexican cartel. >> let me just say we have to recognize they are transnational but the domestic and drug cartels over 250 american citizens doing the same thing that they do over there a bar

prosecutors and airedales there are a lot stronger than those countries as several institutions said drug organization can come into takeover so we have to recognize the trans national organization with intelligence and cooperation >> good morning. i am confused the congressman and stated they were told that isis is not a threat. but last night in the debate the attorney general says he prosecuted successfully won at isis terrace. who tells the truth? >> i can just reiterate we heard from the very highest level of federal law enforcement this week categorically there is no known threat or incredible

intelligence linking the isis or al qaeda or any terrorist organization on the southern border. this is not new. somebody has the zero pass so held post the hit squad suspected on the border whenever we are scared we project the fears to the border the soviets are coming into mexico, libyan terrorist, al qaeda. >> hezbollah, isis, and if we know the facts have a responsibility to share those facts with the public's demand factually three were apprehended and brewster county taxes this summer and a dictionary was found in a border patrol was chasing them these are all real facts but people are coming into the united states it is documented by law enforcement.

>> what is true is the head of isis said i am concerned about the northern border and the southern border i will see you in new york. >> please understand that there is no incredible field right now. but keep in mind to the use of social media the drug organizations the way they recruited the kids the bad guys do that right now so how could they recruit 100 americans in europe fighters have gone over to syria. it could be someone who is

disillusioned to wants to belong to something to think isis is the group. >> i have a two-part question. what is the protocol? and what i the mechanisms for repair that might occur during those pursuits? >> it is a felony. however if we find if there is a great risk to the public to the point that we will not have the policy there is a point where you can we have the obligation.

and look at the circumstances in every situation. >> not that i am aware of. >> that is not my decision. >> let me just say something talking to the ranchers that is an issue also. i have the gao already doing a steady. with that reimbursement mechanism because i know it is an issue. though we have to find a way to be more a efficient than it is right now. >> we heard about hundreds of thousands of people coming across the border and finding their prayer rugs. huggies separate the fact?

how many are in fact, has been found guilty of anything? >> is that the question of charges verses convictions. >> border security is in a bipartisan way with republicans and democrats on the southern border states who look at this annual lee with the appropriations to see the numbers to separate fact from fiction that is the way to bring us together not from political people but appointees and that is the way to approach that. don't delay to put the resources there to have as an oversight is the good message to address your very real questions tonight

senator jeff flake has said that if you have a good fishing guest worker plan were people can do the work for economic reasons with border patrol can focus on the bad guys that have a different motive. >> i'm at the university of texas born and raised in laredo. >> that is a double yes. yes. [laughter] but over the summer there was an increase of women and children crossing is detained they are sent to the detention centers set look-alike jail cells that had looked like tails sales -- sales of how would that change to accommodate for the women and children that are not criminals that are crossing to be with family?

>> about three hours from el paso i have been there twice. it is really a deportation facility where families come , 8303 family members so far all but two have bonded out one of $25,000 because the 25 year-old guatemalan woman is a national security threat and over 250 deported back to countries of origin. they are fleeing very violent situations and also trying to reunite with family in the united states. we owe it to ourselves and our country to honor the traditions of the united states to make sure they're taken care of. we can afford them due process with the most humane option possible. we have done this for many peoples over many decades. this is the latest