the director of the national association security company. i ask unanimous consent that our witness's names be included in the record. you may proceed. >> thank you. i am david wright. i am also an inspector with the federal protective service since 1986. federal employees and facilities are vulnerable to attack from criminal and terrorist threats. they as secure as they should be, they are not. if that -- is that security as this office building?

definitely not. solutions include pushing staff to the field, effective on-site security, and effective tools for risk assessment and recruiting. regarding the culture of 2013,tability, and 2010, gao reported problems with certification requirements and training. there is no excuse for these failures. three years later they should have been fixed and responsible managers should have been held accountable. often lost in the broad brush of gao reports these are not organizationwide failures. in several of 11 regions almost everything seems to go well. not used guards are for screening. firearms qualification is monitored and guards are trained on active shooter scenarios. fps delivers.ns, it appeared to treat the failures is a structural issue

to be resolved -- soft by reorganization. this resulted in an unclear direction funneled through next her layer of management who either ignored or missed -- missed problems. dhs should remove the extra layer and fire or demote managers who failed to accomplish critical tasks or uphold the fps code of conduct. this is serious business with serious consequences. regarding the shift of staff, the federal law enforcement officer response, arrest offenders, and deliver assessment and guard monitoring are short staffed and struggled to get it done. 60% of total staff to field law enforcement is not indicative of the lean and agile and high performing organization. with less than 1400 employees it

has eight senior executives, 39 over and 138 gs-14 with half of these assigned to headquarters as top-heavy. the remedy is congress should sgs.lish a ceiling for mandate reduction of headquarters to 12.5% of total fte. use buildings to specific charges to add fte when officers are dedicated to the facilities paying the charges and restore the minimum staff to its 2007 equivalent of 1150. regarding effective on-site security services, unlike the senate and house office buildings where the on-site of federalomprised police officers, gsa facilities rely on contract guards for this function. contracts do not use economies of scale to reduce hourly costs.

the size of the procurement staff has doubled but now takes 400 days to implement a new contract. our remedy, take action to direct the use of federal police officers for large multitenant facilities that are open to the public and provide direction to efficiently consolidate guard contract within the same state or contiguous areas. also mandate a reasonable procurement staffing model and mandate cost-effective procurement options such as the potential use of gsa. regarding effective tools for recruiting and risk assessment, fps currently uses an interim .isk tool the gao found it was not compliant with the governmentwide standards and there are available tools that do. fps --is to mandate that a risk tool.cquire

regarding retention and recruiting, when applicants for federal law enforcement look at fps, one of the questions, is are we covered by law enforcement retirement, the best in the brightest start looking elsewhere. at the national law enforcement memorial where the names of u.s. law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty are inscribed, we recognize this premium -- this supreme sacrifice of the heroes. there are six officers of the federal protective service who died in the line of duty. should any other officer die in the line of duty there name will be added. if we live and die as law enforcement officers, congress should recognize the service by allowing us to retire is one. inc. you for the opportunity to testify at this important hearing. officers in ps and employees away your expedition on these matters.

associationlargest whose member companies employ more than 300,000 commercial officers. since its founding in 1972, the put in place higher standards and requirements for security companies and private security officers. member companies provide security officers to numerous federal agencies including the majority of protective service officers under fps. not counting the military services, there are 35,000 contract security officers across the federal government. the use of contract security is

an effective and cost-efficient countermeasure for safeguarding federal facilities, employees, and visitors. has identified challenges that fps faces in its mission to keep federal facilities secure. including issues related to the psl program. we have been working with fps, congress, gao, and gsa to address these issues. the pace of progress on some issues might not be as fast as gao would like, progress is being made. since the appointment of director paterson in 2010 the degree of dialogue and cooperation between fps and security contractors has been unparalleled. there is no doubt that stricter patterson and others are committed to improving the program and fps is working on initiatives that will improve the program. to address deficiencies in the capability to provide the crucial x-ray and magnetometer

training, fps has launched a pilot program conceived with nasco. divideng instructors to training. this training has been revamped and expanded by fps. in the area of active shooter training, nasco has met several times with fps to discuss development of new active shooter training for psl pause -- psl's. looking at what other agencies are doing with other contracts. it is also looking at revising trainingardizing pso plans. they recommended having all pso training instructors certified. in other areas, fps came out with a much-needed revision of

the pso manual. it governs and instructs pso's on how to act. there is a new chapter on active shooter response. there is better language on the psoting of bso -- authority. fps is undertaking a review of pso post orders. for this effort nasco recommends fps work with contractors who have to provide an upload the data. one area that resents challenges is the authority to act. and liability for acting. in preventing or responding to an extreme situation such as an active shooter. congress should consider providing dhs with statutory

authority to authorize pso's to make arrests on federal property. there are other elements of the federal facility risk assessment and security process not related pso's that need to be addressed. the decision to implement the civic security countermeasures for facilities. -- or owned or leased recommendsldings, fps [inaudible] ofch is made up representatives from tenant agencies. representatives generally do not have any security knowledge or experience but are expected to make security decisions for their respective agencies. puttinghtened budgets

pressure to accept more risk it calls into question whether they are making informed, wrist-based decisions. bentermeasures should not projected because either a lack of understanding or unwillingness to fund them. supported fors training members and allowing dhs to challenge the decision not to implement countermeasures. workingoks forward to to find ways to support the mission to render federal property safe and secure for federal employees, officials, and visitors and an effective and cost-effective manner. the firstnow begin round of questions limited to five minutes reach member. if there are additional questions we will have additional rounds as needed. you highlight in your testimony challenges with the staffing of

law enforcement officers and point out 67 officers are assigned to headquarters. do you know if they are assigned ps headquarters or other parts of dhs? >> they are assigned to fps headquarters. those individuals do not respond to law enforcement calls for service on a daily basis. in my mind, they do not meet the definition of field law enforcement staff. mentioned the delegation of law enforcement authority of building outside fps and the duplication of services at other agencies. can you explain how this duplication impacts federal facilities and the chain of command? >> most recently was the issue securityac in which

staff took control of nac security. recently in past years, immigration and customs enforcement has stood up their own security unit. they use hr 1315 as their authority and the ss their i.c.e. buildings across the u.s.. fps conducts those surveys and so does i.c.e. that is the most recent example besides nac. >> you highlighted differences oversees and manages guards. you highlight doe and the u.s. marshals.

what do those agencies do differently in terms of the authorities and training they provide to their guards? >> the major difference is that with their contract security officers, they have authorized them to be able to make arrests on the federal properties where they are employed. authorityatutory granted to doe through an act of congress and that is something we would like to see considered by congress for the pso's at fps. there would be additional training required with that additional authority. >> have you looked at how private contractors have been security, thee u.s. marshals service and even at dod to identify how fps can better utilize and train its guards and improve security at other buildings?

>> of the three agencies that worked most closely with the u.s. marshals service i can cite experience there. the contract security officers in these federal courthouses are all hired as former law enforcement. they all have been through some sort of law enforcement academy. -- they are deputized by the u.s. marshals who have that authority. they are an effective force in i think iturthouses. is the marshals that is most important. >> you mentioned other agencies other companies to provide

training. can you provide us with other examples and how they can be applicable to fps? the contractes security companies that they contract with to provide all the training for the contract security officers there, the training is very comprehensive. weapons training and use of intermediate force. basic training, and all that thening and many of agencies, the training that is provided to contract security officers is done by instructors and also theyied are responsible for 100% of the training. a big issue is that for some reason, fps has held back the authority to provide the x ray magnetometer training and because of personal resource as mr. goldstein pointed

out, sometimes that x-ray magnetometer trading -- training is not provided. >> thank you. fps'sight, what is the -- from the to the union's perspective. as an inspector i have worked with differing facilities across the government. firstly, it is a matter of how serious the agency takes that security committee. with is a smaller property fewer agencies, even less budget, they do not tend to take those facility security ready recommendations seriously.

we are the experts at the table. for the most part. as you go up in the size of buildings you have more tenants, thesegency heads, like anys tend to other undesirable task it becomes a collateral duty. my experience is why becomes a collateral duty or when agency the is not available recommendations do not make it through. matter what an inspector says. note countermeasures are going to be funded. that is the primary problem with facility security committees.

no agency is funded for security countermeasures. >> how often are members of your association find are penalized for not having proper documentation and also to your knowledge has any contract guard beenny working with fps debarred for not fulfilling their contractual duties? >> in terms of the information on the rate or the amount of times that contractors have been fined for not having officers who have their training and certifications, i do not have that information. -- weasco, we've fully fully believe that proper action should be taken. contractors have to pay back for provided.they are it should affect their performance rating for potential

future contracts. we have no problems with fps enforcing the provisions of the contract against contractors but at issue is how -- who has the right data? one company has data and then it has to provide it to fps and fp s's data management system is problematic. but definitely if there are pso 's being put on post to do not have the training and certifications in violation of the contract that companies should be held in violation of the contract and be punished. >> how does the lack of recognition of fps officers as law enforcement officers for purposes of retirement and recruitment and morality, it has itsmpact clearly but is extensive enough that we need to look more deeply into this?

sense thatts in a sometimes you have law thercement officers passed age of the mandatory retirement to 57. you tend to have officers that stick around perhaps a lot longer than they should for their own safety and for the public safety. >> thank you. i yield back. what is the protocol to respond to an active shooter ps officer may not be on the scene? limitedtract guards are by their post orders which are basically subscribed by their

private contract. the contract spells out what the guards, what services will be provided. that is translated to what the facility needs and goes into the post orders. generally, guards do not leave their post. guards are responsible for maintaining that post, locking letting the tenants out and letting the good guys in. to come to pursue the active shooter. but generally these cards will not leave the post and that is per post orders and basically per contract which is also tied to state and locality issues with their authority. >> is an area where an active where guard may be

another floor and begins , the guard does not leave his post. there is no authority that guard would have to do other than to wait for help. >> correct. technically, the guard should not leave that post. in some federal ill things, you which is noter tied to a post but those are few and far between. what is going to happen when it happens, we have a lot of good security officers in the field. i think just like any law enforcement officers, individuals are going to do what they have to do. then you face the consequences of what comes after. highlighting the

ps have taken to prove orders. on the authorities of the contract officers? >> they are getting provided -- better at providing that. one thing that we emphasize is that the post orders need to be and tailoredific to the building. are trying to provide better instructions and guidance and that includes this recent issuance of the new pso manual. i would like to respond or to comment on that last question. in 2010, there were three active shooter incidents involving federal facilities.

one was at the holocaust museum, the pentagon, and one was at a federal courthouse. in all three incidents, and active shooter came in and had a gun and started shooting at the personnel. security personnel on duty. thell three incidents shooter was neutralized. two of the incidents, they were contract security officers and a one incident he was a law enforcement officer. have the, they do guidance and instructions to engage in active shooter and protect self and third parties. that goes to the issue of the .tate law and the state powers under most state licensing laws and armed security officer death valley has the authority to use his weapon to neutralize an active shooter. >> thank you. >> my last question.

can -- in your testimony, you indicate that members of your -- offtion use all the the shelf technology to manager contract guards, training, and certification. have you shared this technology and if so, have they indicated they will use this technology and if not, why not? >> that is great question. i was talking with the pso row gram manager about this issue when i read in previous testimony of how pso is developing to -- is prototyping a guard tracking system when t are commercially available. i think some of the difficulty is in terms of the layers of when he to putps on it security officer, certification, and tracking data

management system. whatever system they use, it is going to have to interface with the systems that are being used by the contract security companies. there are as mr. goldstein said, there are commercially available technologies that fps might be able to use the laments of those technologies on their side. without a doubt, that is a big problem and i think it can be solved because there was no reason why there cannot be a database management system where both the security contractors access and upload data. the idea that contractors are sending in paper forms and fps is manually uploading that seems and i chrism. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you. the question will be directed to mr. amitay. the federal protective services

has four alarm facilities that monitor federal government security alarm accounts. the centers also have the law enforcement function of dispatching federal protective service officers on emergency call. has your agency ever done an analysis on what the overall operation cost is to maintain facilities and whether he would be more cost effective for the taxpayer to move the alarm monitoring function or -- functioning to a commercial center? >> we have not looked into that. notm monitoring is inherently a governmental function so i think that is something that someone could look at. that goes to the issue of response. 's see a problem they also -- should always contact the mega-center.

in terms of operation, whether it can be privatized, we have not looked at that. >> with that be something you would seek to do from a cost-saving standpoint? is there a concern that there would be a breach in security or a diminution of security by doing such a thing? >> i think in this type of centers act as the more in a management function, fps would want to retain control of that management function. that is just something that we have never looked at. >> thank you. i yield back. you.ank and thank you for your testimony. been helpful have to today's discussion. if there are no further

questions i would ask unanimous consent. let the record remain open until such time that our witnesses have provided westerns that may be submitted to them in writing and consent that the record remained open for 15 days for information submitted by members or witnesses to be included in the record of today's hearing. without objection, i would like to thank our witnesses again for their testimony today. i am concerned about what we have learned today. -- responsible for protecting one we know by experience that federal facilities are targets. the documented numerous security shortfalls over the years and -- thecommend recommendations remain largely incomplete. rather than focus on the department's efforts on addressing these problems and

enhancing fps, we learned department -- we learned the department had removed its security role at the headquarters. we learned dhs has reassigned fps's resources and staff for other purposes. buildings,protecting stretching already thin even thinner. we learned dhs has taken law enforcement authorities and delegated some of them to the toartment security officers fema, customs enforcement and the federal law enforcement turning center. unfortunately, this looks a little like what we saw happen to fema. dhs, dhs was moved to dispersed its authorities and response abilities throughout the department, greeting real confusion as to who was in charge for responding to a disaster. that inhe results of

the poor response to hurricane katrina. i hope this is not what is happening here. ,hen i look at this may 1 memo it says there is no clear unity of command at nac. this is very disconcerting. frankly, i wonder if we had the correct witnesses hear from dhs. it seems decisions are being made about fps from somewhere else in the department. it is not clear by whom. i expect we will have a number of follow-up questions as we assess what we have heard today. if no other members have anything to add, this subcommittee stands adjourned.

>> coming up in one hour, president obama is expected to name shaun donovan as the nominee to become the next white house budget director. replacing sylvia burwell, who will now likely be the next director of hhs. the president will introduce cooling castro as the next housing secretary nominee. -- julian castro. he gave the address at the democratic convention in 2012. here is a portion of what he had to say during that speech. >> the unlikely journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. my brother and i grew up with my mother. my grandmother. my grandmother was an orphan.

as a young girl, she had to leave her home in mexico and moved to san antonio. takerelatives agreed to her in. she never made it past the fourth grade. she had to drop out and start working to help her family. my grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a babysitter. ,arely scraping by, but still working hard to give my mother her only child a chance in life so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one. as my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give her grandchildren. she prayed to god for just one grandbaby before she died. you can imagine her excitement when she found out her prayers would be answered. twice over. that, the dayited before my brother and i were born, she had a cook off and she won $300. that is how she paid our hospital bill.

by the time my brother and i came along, this incredible woman had taught herself to read and write in both spanish and english. the roomll see her in that my brother and i shared with her, reading her agatha christie novels. i remember her every morning as we walked out the front door to saying, "may god bless you." my grandmother did not live to see us begin our lives and public service, but she probably would have thought it asked ordinary that just two generations after she arrived in san antonio, one grandson to be the mayor and the other would be statesway to the united congress. [applause] >> that is julian castro from 2012. his twin brother is a texas

congressman. julian has been discussed as a possible democrat vice presidential candidate for the next election. you can see the personal announcement today at 3:30 p.m. on c-span. >> if we don't step up the enforcement side, the enforcement side brings the media attention. to say, the only thing we can rely on to make these universities and colleges do what they should be doing is for them to get a bad story, that is a lot of victims. that, to me, would be a depressing conclusion. we have to figure out some way to up the ante that is short of waiting for another tragedy to hit the pages. guest: less the dollar amount, the more about the number of

people to do the work. the changes i have seen institutions start to make our when they are immediately under investigation. i would almost rather see the investment in a bigger team. >> the fines will be hanged for this. we have an issue with budget in our government. what is the money come from -- where does the money come from? they can fund their own enforcement. that is just as. this weekend, the first of several discussions on combating rape and sexual assault on college campuses. saturday morning at 10:00 eastern. examinesv, lynn cheney the political philosophy and presidential tenure of james madison. sunday morning at 11:00 on c-span2 two. the life and work of american red cross founder.

we will visit her missing soldiers office in washington. followed by your questions and comments. that is on c-span3. the house has a brief pro form a session coming up at 3:00. isma's personal announcement at three: 30. a discussion on immigration and the chances for house legislation. host: we want to welcome marc rosenblum to teh program. what is the migration policy institute?

guest: we are an independent think tank in washington dc. host: how did you get involved with that? rated your interest come? test, i began doing immigration research in middle school. i have some in my family that kept me interested. host: how may people immigrated in 2013? guest: we have one million lawful immigrants per year and another half-million nonimmigrant workers and students. host: how many people illegally came into the u.s. last year? guest: the flow has been zero for the last six or seven years. it may have ticked up a little bit last year. immigration hit a peak that a number of unauthorized immigrants peaked at a little over 12 million in 2007 and it has fallen to 11.7 million.

host: when you say we have a zero net effect of illegal or unauthorized immigrants, how do you come up with that? guest: the same number entered as left. we have better estimates of the numbers who are here then of the flow. we don't have a good way to count unauthorized immigrants coming or leaving because there's no sense of that. we have a pretty good at methodology for estimating how many people are here by comparing the total foreign-born and the censes to the total lawful immigrant population from immigration records. we can look at how that changes over time. we have some tools to estimate outflow by looking at mexican census data. host: one million per year lawfully.

how many programs? guest: there are four main programs, humanity, employee, humanitarian, refuge. there are 25 or 20 subcategories. the great majority of lawful permanent immigration to the u.s. is family-based, two thirds. the other third is divided -- most of the other third is divided half-and-half between refugees and employment base. and a small number is aversive he visas, which is the lottery that allows immigrants from other countries that are otherwise underrepresented. host: can any of those countries participate? guest: you have to be the

equivalent of a high school graduate and clear background checks. host: how many people come in under that program? guest: about 50,000 per year. host: what is the obama administration's policy and hat that evolved or changed from a different policy? guest: we just published a big report on this. there has been a trend over the last two decades or so further increasing robust immigration. most of the policy has been a continuation of that increasingly tough enforcement. we have seen a huge held up in terms of infrastructure and personnel and in terms of the types of consequences that people face if they are apprehended at the border. one of the big trends that began under president bush but has revolved is to really expand the

reach of immigration enforcement within the u.s., including the secure communities program, which is a program that automatically when people are booked into jail in the u.s., when they go for criminal background checks they also are submitted to the department of homeland security for immigration checks. dhs is able to identify on authorized immigrants if they get arrested for an jurisdiction in the country. the broad contours of president obama's policy is to continue those programs. the other thing that has happened, beginning in 2011, the administration announced that in addition to having those programs in place they're going to focus on the resources on high-priority cases and they defined high priority cases as people who were recently convicted of a crime.

there has been a real effort -- traditionally dhs has supported the first number of people they have encountered and under the obama administration they have systematically tried to prioritize people they consider a high priority. host: we will talk about immigration for the next 45 minutes. we set aside a fourth line for immigrants. that includes legal and illegal immigrants. we did this before on washington journal. we do not keep your phone numbers. we simply want to hear your stories. how did you get in, what were the conditions, how do you feel about changes in u.s. immigration policy? the line is set aside. this is for both legal and

illegal immigrants. is it easy to get into this country? guest: to get in lawfully it is a pretty competitive and difficult -- the two main mechanisms, family and employee based, the waiting list can be 20 years, 50 years, or even longer. if you are entitled to be in line you may have to wait for those countries. for employee base to the weight can be 10 years based on your skills and what country you are coming from. that is part of the problem. host: has congress said only x number of family-based can come in? guest: there are no immediate limits to family and citizens. there is no limit and you can get in pretty quickly.

there is processing time. the other family categories are the immediate families of lawful permanent residence and they have longer wait times. the adult children and the adult siblings of citizens have longer wait times. and then the other half of your question is it easy to come and unlawfully? that has definitely become much more difficult. we think about one third one third to one half of unauthorized immigrants come in legally on either tourists visa or student visa. they don't leave when their visa expires. if you are eligible for tourists or student visa that is

relatively easy. it is not that arduous of a process. host: we basically go wherever we want in the world, or we think we can. if a mexican citizen wants to come visit disney world, can they just come into the country and go to the airport like we do? guest: one of the things the state department looks at is whether the person intends to overstay a visa. there is a screening process. there are certain countries that are eligible for a visa waiver. it is mostly european countries. they can easily get a visa. they have to register online to do it.

there is some screening that goes on but it is not a visa application process. there are about 33 waiver countries. you have to go in person an d interview at the u.s. consulate and there is a determination made by the consulate officer about whether or not they believe that you will go home at the end so they can look at things like do you own property, do you have a job that you're going to come back to, do you have family here? people get turned down for sure. host: do other countries have similar policies that we do? guest: those are mostly reciprocal. u.s. citizens are eligible for similar treatment in their countries. visa policy really varies a lot.

there are countries that make it very easy to visit them and there are countries that it is a process to go through. i recently visited russia. it took me four trips to the consulate. there was a big fee attached to it. certainly there are countries that do real vetting and don't make it as easy as they could. host: we are talking about u.s. immigration policy and potential changes to that policy. from the mpi and department of homeland security, 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the u.s. as of january 2011. 25% resided in california. 16% in florida. six percent in new york.

134,000 according to the immigration and customs enforcement were removed from the u.s. 235,000 removed from the border area trying to enter the u.s. illegally. 59% of all removals, 217,000 individuals, had been previously convicted of a crime. in their own countries are here in the u.s.? guest: here in the u.s. with the priorities dhs announced in 2011 and even before that under the obama administration there has been a real effort to focus enforcement of people who had been. when people think about deportations, there are two main ways people can get deported. one is formal removal. that is a legal administrative process. it carries penalties, including

that you are not going to be able to come back to the u.s. in the future. other people are just returned, which means you're put on a bus and there are no additional consequences. the more high-stakes enforcement, that is what really is focused on criminals. host: north carolina, please go ahead with your question or comment. caller: i'm trying to listen to all this. i'm originally from miami, florida. a girl i had gotten to know -- she was talking like, "let's get married."

she was an illegal alien him she was really nice. she said she just wanted to become a u.s. citizen. host: what was the conclusion to your story? caller: i told her to find somebody else. host: how common is that to have green card marriages? guest: that is a typical story. a lot of marriage fraud -- it is a fuzzy line. it is not like you're marrying a stranger. it is like a friend like that. certainly, the part of dhs that would authorize a spouse visa in that case, they do a lot of anti-fraud investigation. i don't have a number in my head

of how common it is. it is something they are tuned into and it is a series of investigations that took place before a green card would be issued in a case like that. host: herold calling from georgia on the republican line. caller: i would like you to comment on recent reports of the release of convicted felons, illegal aliens, from the custody of ice. minor children coming to the border as amnesty discussions are increased. guest: on the first one the caller is commenting on this report that was released that

described 36,000 convicted criminals. i don't know the details of any of those specific cases. one of the constraints on immigration enforcement is we have about 31,000 immigrant detentions. the average wait time is now close to two years. we have close to 12 million unauthorized immigrants and 30,000 deaths and a two-year wait. most people are not detained while they are waiting to go before a judge. some people go throughout an expedited process. there is just a real limit on how many people can be detained. we already spend over $2 billion per year on immigrant detention.

fundamentally, with so many unauthorized immigrants it is hard to detain through that process. one of the arguments people make in terms of taking people out of the enforcement queue is to focus resources on the real bad guys. host: ray is calling from winter haven, florida. please go ahead. caller: i had about two concerns. one would be the time it takes for a person-- say a person who has been here for years, were to go into the process. how long does it take for them to actually even -- from start to finish, i am receiving my paperwork. how long is that time? what are the costs to a local community? how much money out of the

taxpayers for law enforcement is being set aside for immigration versus actual law that is here locally? host: are you from the u.s.? caller: born yes, in michigan. my parents were doing the migrant work from florida to georgia, all the way up to michigan. host: where are they from originally? caller: mexico. host: where are they living now? caller: we are all providing here. being a part of this wonderful place. i have a lot of feelings on both

sides because, being from here, when you go to mexico you get judged because you are an american. but you are here and you are also judged that you're not good enough, you look different and it is sad. it is almost like you don't belong there, you don't belong here. you are literally on the fence. host: you talk about your parents being agricultural migrant workers? caller: it is a long story. my father was a resident. he actually went back to mexico and had his children. he found a wife and came back and brought her illegally.

host: thank you for sharing your story. guest: to his first question, there is no process currently in place for somebody who is here and has been here illegally. there is no existing program under the great majority of those cases for that person to come and wave their flag and pay a fine and get right with the law. that is what the current debate is about. if somebody of you like that marries a u.s. the decision and would be eligible for a visa that way, if they have been here for more than six months they can automatically ineligible for

a visa for three years. if they have been here for a year there in eligible for 10 years. one thing the proponents of legalization are focused on is turning back those rules because they are about 20 years old. before that summit would be able to more easily get right with the law. that is a question that gets a lot of study. the bottom line is it varies by state as a function of whether states -- whether they don't have income taxes. they have higher sales tax and property taxes so they contribute through buying things and paying rent, with higher income taxes and having a more progressive tax cuts of people paying fewer taxes.

in general a lot of those costs are harder to estimate. one of the big cost is the children of unauthorized immigrants. most of them are u.s. citizens. some people score that against the immigrants. some people score that against immigrants. you might score that not against immigrants. immigrants certainly pay a lot of taxes -- mostare ineligible for federal services and for most state services. host: the wall street journal had this article -- it says bringing in some of the foreign workers raises everyone's pay. guest: those skilled workers, they make investments in their communities.

to pay all people .long the pay scale things we know is immigrants are disproportionately likely to be entrepreneurial. a high percentage of silicon ,alley firms, google, ebay immigrant founders, there is a high percentage of immigrants. effect that people take the risk of being immigrants. they may be risk takers. with the skill workers were we know those people are recruited and have the skill to be able to qualify for that visa, i think most economists would tell you

that they are significant net contributors to the economy. host: this article we talked about earlier, the new york times reports the u.s. is setting up emergency shelters in texas as youth crosses the border alone.

host: six thousand convicted criminals go back into our system because we don't have money. that's ludicrous. guest: let me quickly comment on your comment and then i love to respond to the caller. on your comment, the unaccompanied alien children who tough taxes, this is a huge crisis. those numbers have doubled each of the last four years. fewer than 7000 in 2011. so it's a real crisis that"

on the caller's three comments. the caller is correct the way i.c.e. defines a removal change -- can actually changed in 2007 under president bush, i.c.e. began counting some of the ñw

ice puts them on an airplane. obama often gets blamed with that, but that was in 2007. the caller is right that there is very little infrastructure in place or programs in place to find people who overstate a visa. dhs has in the last several years ramped up its efforts to count overstays, but only for people flying or taking cruise ships in and out of the country. they match up -- they get departure manifests from the airlines and match them against entry records so they can identify people who overstate that way. there's no system in place to identify people who overstate after coming in by car. there's no system in place if they identify somebody who overstays to go and find that person and remove them. a hugeson is that is

effort. somebody comes in on a tourist visa, they say the they are staying out the hilton in washington, and when their visa expires three months later, they do not leave, you have no idea where that person will is. -- that person is. a huge effort. with someone like that, at least we know by the fact that they got a tourist visa they cleared a background check, they are not a terrorist or a criminal. they have not been viewed as a high priority. it is viewed as a cap in the enforcement system. enforcement system. people come into i.c.e. custody after serving their criminal sentence. that's not really a fair way to look at it. they have all completed their sentence. the issue is did i take custody of them and prioritize them for removal afterwards. if you look at the numbers, it's the case that i.c.e. has been

prioritizing people who have been convicted of a crime. those numbers have gone way up. there are people who slip through. host: kenny maryland on immigrants. what's your story? caller: my story i came into the country about 14 years ago now. host: from where? caller: from nigeria. there's not been any process that i can go through that can make me right with the law. but the question i want to make about the deportation is that, any time you're deported, you

either end up -- you get deported, i want to correct that statement. it's not true. right now, like me, i cannot even deport myself. that means i go back to my country. when i get back, my wife is a u.s. citizen. i can go back do everything and come back. but there's no way for me to do it because i have not committed any crime, i have not done anything that will put me on that. i've been in the united states for so long, i couldn't go back

even if i have not committed any crime. host: you say your wife is a u.s. citizen? caller: yes. my wife is a u.s. citizen. i have three children. host: they are also u.s. citizen? caller: yes my children are citizens. they were born here as citizens. host: marc host: rosenblum is he stuck? guest: he's a classic example. he were try it lear and -- leave and come back, he would have to wait ten years. because he's been here illegally

for more than a year, he becomes ineligible for any kind of return visa for at least ten years. the thing is, is that a huge percentage of the unauthorized population have those kind of roots in the u.s. about half unauthorized adults have children in the u.s., many of whom are u.s. citizens. there's about 95% unauthorized immigrants have at least one family member here in the u.s. most unauthorized immigrants have stories if not exactly like that, more or less like that. i think that's part of what makes it so difficult to think about sort of enforcement only response because you'd be disrupting a lot of those kinds of situations. host: majority leader harry reid talked about immigration potentially passing the congress

this year. here's a little bit what he had to say. [video clip] >> there's a reel human cost that costs inaction. 11million people have been waiting in shadows. many of their family and children having suffering. house republicans for their inaction is one they've used over and over again, we don't trust president obama to enforce the law. even though that's not true. president has proven he'll enforce immigration law. over the past 29 days all we had from house republicans excuses why they can't act. today, it's my understanding, that the speaker said, i want to do immigration reform. well that's pretty to accomplish. we can't allow the radicals in

the house, like steven king, a man who said that the dreamers are drug dealers, we can't let people like him determine the fate of this legislation. that is what has happened in the house. here's suggestion to resolve the impasse. let's pass immigration form today. make it take effect until 2017. if republicans don't trust president obama, let's give them a chance to implement the bill under president rand paul or president theodore -- to be clear, delaying implementation is not my preference. i feel so strongly this bill needs to get done i'm willing to show flexibility. aisle do whatever i can to help pass this important bill. we need to get it cross the finish line. i hope republicans will consider this offer and done seriously to show some compassion and start acting.

they is say -- house republicans are willing to act. host: your reaction to what senator reid had to say. guest: the senate passed their bill back in june almost a year ago. it is a comprehensive immigration reform bill. it includes legalization for many of the almost 12 million unauthorized new enforcement measures and it would have quite robust additional enforcement. then also reforms to the visa systems to try to achieve sort of a better supply and demand match. most people believe that part of the problem today is that there's not as many visas as

there are applicants and sort of eligible applicants. host: let's go back to legal immigrants. is the cap set at one million? all the different programs we talked about earlier? guest: well, there's different caps in different categories and there are some people exempt from caps. i believe the quota family p(ñcp is 225,000. that's other than immediatelx family members of u.s. citizens. host: that's set by congress? gastonia yes -- guest: yes that's set by congress. host: is# that h1b's. guest: i'm talking about green 4)á"tusp'ent employment based visas. 50,000 for the diversity visa, the lottery.

and then the refugee cap is a flexible but aboutsz 50,000 al. then about another 200,000 come in as nonquota family, immediate families. i don't have those numbers. i maybe giving you a low number on the employment base. but that's about right. there are certain -- there's a couple other exempt categories. all of those numbers are set by congress then congress also sets numerical limits on most of the temporary employment based visas like h1b's and h2's. employment base visas are not numerically limit. those programs are designed in a

way they don't attract a lot of participation because they're difficult for employers to use. all of the visa rules and the numbers -- the numbers and the process definitely run through congress. congress definitely -- if you read the immigration nationality act, those rules are spelled out in some detail. host: vick from california from republican lane. you're on the air. caller: of a couple of things to comment on. please don't cut me off. are kicked around about how many are in this country illegally is a bunch of garbage. nobody knows how many are here illegally. you think they're going to volunteer to be counted? it's been left bouncing around

11 million or 12 million for the past ten years. then to the -- once they come here on visas, they covered pretty well. nobody keeps track of them. then two, once they come here understand about illegal? they do not automatically earn full benefits of u.s. citizens. on those that com%áqat least part of their family at home come here legally or illegally. when somebody raises a rowel about it, we get blamed for separating the families. nobody forcing them to come here. once they come here to work illegally, i can understand that but they should not be given the

rights that all u.s. citizens get and the right to stay here indefinitely. once they're here illegally, they're here eillegally. host: i think we got most of your points. mr.rosenblum. guest: on the number. it's actually a pretty broad consensus. most of the groups that look at this issue from an enforcement perspective, they tend to agree with the dha sin the pew hispanic center. everybody agrees that it's about 12 million. what part of illegal don't you understand, i think that the caller get to a huge issue and the debate -- there are sort of two ways to look at the question should we do legalization. what are the practical solutions

we can do to grapple with millions of people here unlawfully. what kind of resources we have to debate to devote to rare all of them to leave versus what would it cost to allow some of them to stay. then, there's another question about what's the fair answer. is it fair for people to be able to get legal status even though they broken the law at some point and being here illegally. i think that first question is pretty easy for a lot of people. that second question is a lot harder. the only sort of place i would push back on the caller is that, i think it's easy to look at it in the broad context why people are here illegally and how we gotten to a point where there is so many. it has to do with sort of how we have structured our rules

several decades of nonenforcement and employers offering them jobs and the global economy. there is individual responsibility but there's a systemiu that underlines that. i lost it. host: terry is calling in from long beach. caller: good morning. my first question is, what first rate country allows a country with third world living conditions to dictate their immigration policy? this has created a total cottage industry from attorneys all the way down to people on the streets and making illegalç documents. no one knows who these people really are. first off, what about the people

that are looking come here legally that are in lane and playing by the rules? what happens to the rule of law? is that not important here? we hear about what we should be done on this side of the border, like the gentlemen in california stated, no one made these people send these kids out into the desert. how desperate is that? here's another thing, as american citizens, we need to come together and class action lawsuit, move this into the world court. we got 400 people sitting on the hill in washington d.c. that has already sold us out. millions of us, few hundreds of them. we can go there and take them if need be. if that's serious out hear. last friday's edition of the l. a. times their fire bombing of

african-americans that live in l.a. they're killing african-american kids that's walking to school. i'm talking really immigrants immigrant -- illegal immigrants from new mexico. nobody is talking about that. this country is coming apart at the scene. i called on the immigrants, i live in l.a. and i still like illegal immigrants. no one speaks english miles from me. it's ridiculous. we're not going to stand and allow this to continue to happen. either we deal with it in washington or who will deal with it in the streets. guest: i think, again, there's this issue of what's fair. certainly, to put people who are here here unlawfully people in the country in front. the point i was going to make before. when you look at the senate bill for example and the other

legalization proposal, all of them are designed to -- it's not just sort of a blanket amnesty. it's not they sign their name and they get a green card. they tried to build into these legalization proposals and some to require people that pay a fine and to learn english and pass a civic test and wait ten years to get their visa. the other thing to think about what the fair response is, to have sort of a proportional response. if you will require people to uproot themselves and leave the place they lived for five to 20 years, that maybe disproportionate to the crimes they may have committed. many of the unauthorized citizens haven't committed a crime. i think that fairness base, that's really the heart of what makes this so hard. i don't think that it's a black

and white where either everybody gets deported or everybody becomes u.s. citizen tomorrow. when you look at the proposals that are out there, most of them are very much in between. host: to answer terry's question from long beach. what percentage is estimated to be illegal in the l.a. area? do you have a number? guest: well, i don't have an l.a. number california has a couple of million unauthorizessed immigrants. there's a lot of in l.a. it's not most l.a. it's almost 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the country. that's a huge number. that's like more the metro chicago area. the whole metro chicago everybody unauthorized. there are more unauthorized immigrants in the u.s. than there are immigrants in any other country.

the next largest immigration country in the u.s. is russia. they have 12 million immigrants total. the size of that unauthorized population -- it's only about 3.5 million in 1990. it's gone up almost three fold in the last couple decades. the size of the population makes the policy difficult. we were talking about what are we going to do with the million unauthorized millions in the u.s. that would be a much ease conversation to have. when you're talking about such a large number of people, it's like four percent of the u.s. >> a live picture from the white house where president obama is set to make a couple of

personnel announcements. shaun donovan is the choice to become the director of the omb, and julian castro nominated to hud.the helm at castro was the keynote speaker 12 democratic convention. the journey began many miles from this podium. i brother and i grew up with my mother, and my grandmother. my grandmother was an orphan. as a young girl she had to leave mexico and moved to san antonio where relatives took her in. she never made it past the fourth grade. she had to drop out and start working to help her family.

my grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid am a cook, and babysitter. barely scraping by, but still, working hard to give my mother her only child a chance in life so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one. as my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give her goddchildren, she prayed to for just one grain baby before she died. you could imagine her excitement when she found out her prayers would be answered, twice over. she was so excited that the day before my brother and i were $300.she won that is how she paid our hospital bill. by the time i brother and i came along, this woman had taught herself to read and write in both spanish and english. i can still see her in the room that my brother and i shared with her, reading her agatha

christie novels late into the night. i can still remember her every morning as my brother and i walked out the front door to school, making the sign of the cross behind us, saying, may god bless you. i grandmother did not live to see us begin our lives and public service, but she probably thoughtve brought it -- it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived one grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way, the good people of san antonio willing, to the united states congress. [cheers] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] that was julian castro who

today is expected to be announced as the choice to lead donovan,acing shaun who will be nominated to take over as director of omb. announcementsl expected in just a couple of minutes. you will have it live for you on c-span as members of the cabinet are being seated. we expect the president in just a couple of moments.

>> we are live from the white house, expecting the president to appear shortly. shaun donovan will become the director of the office of management and budget, and julian castro will take over as the head of housing. shaun donovan has been at his castro is a009, and three-term mayor of san antonio. he is been mentioned as a possible vice-presidential running mate. live coverage here on c-span.

nancy pelosi among the the folks awaiting the president's announcement this afternoon. the president set to name housing director shaun donovan as the new office of management and budget director, and julian castro would take over as housing director.

while we wait, this is heated press reporting john kerry says he is willing to testify before the house oversight committee on the benghazi attack. the state department has sent a letter to the chairman saying that hermetic responsibilities will prevent kerry from appearing on may 29, but the letter suggests alternate eight

dates.

>> ladies and gentlemen, this is the two-minute warning.

ladies and gentlemen, the president and vice president of the united states, accompanied

by shaun donovan and julian castro. >> all right. thank you. i can, everybody. thank you. these have a seat. have a seat. have a seat. office businesses were shedding 800,000 jobs a month. our deficits were heading trillion a year, and every member of my cabinet had a tough job in front of them. thanu have a tougher job shaun donovan. the housing bubble that burst triggered the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, and the irresponsibility of a few bad actors badly hurt millions of

responsible, hard-working americans. 20% fromes had fallen the year before. new housing starts had fallen nearly 80% from their peak. hundreds of thousands of construction workers were out of a job. and a record number of people were behind on their mortgages. later, things look a lot different. home sales are up nearly 35%, construction is up by more than 120%, new foreclosures are down by nearly half, and while we are to anywhere where we need be yet, millions of families have been able to come up for air because they are no longer underwater on their mortgages. a $50 in settlement by the big banks means justice has been ofne for thousands homeowners who were targeted by

deceptive mortgage schemes, and all this is in part because of the outstanding work of shaun donovan. here is the problem. when you are good at your job, people always want you to do even more. [laughter] that is why today i am nominating sean to be the next director of the office of management and budget. id to take his place at hud, am nominating another all-star who has done a fantastic job in san antonio over the past five years, mayor julian castro. before i talk about julian, i want to embarrass shaun a little more. has takenears, shaun an agency with a $40 billion moret, made it smarter, efficient. he has changed the way hud uses data to save taxpayer dollars. he has helped build strong

neighborhoods and connect the neighborhoods with good schools and jobs. his helped reduce homelessness among our veterans by 24% since 2010. he has helped 4.3 million families buy their piece of the american dream, a new home. shaun has helped us navigated unexpected challenges as well. when hurricane sandy slammed ashore, it was personal for shaun. he was born in new york city, rate is get in brooklyn. driving testok his on a road that was wiped out by the storm. he understood what this devastation meant to a community he loved. when we were looking for somebody to lead the recovery and rebuilding efforts, i knew shaun was the right person for the job. he has come through, helping the communities you know so well rebuild, but rebuild smarter and better. repetition ised a

a great manager, a fiscally responsible leader, and somebody who knows how the decisions we make here in washington affect people's lives all across the country. that is why i am absolutely confident he will do a great job leading the office of management and budget and help even more hard-working americans get ahead. my guess is shaun is grateful to my outgoing head, sylvia mathews burwell, and her leaving behind a deficit that has been cut by half since i entered office. i was a saying that was helpful. [laughter] we have also got to make sure that as we move shaun into a new position that we have got somebody who is going to do an outstanding job at hud, and that public servant is julian castro. mosthe first time americans heard this man speak is when he gave a speech at the

convention almost two years ago. they saw this young guy, a pretty good speaker, not bad looking -- [laughter] talk about how america is the only place where his story could even be possible. i watched and i thought, that is not bad. [laughter] but the people of san antonio have known about julian and his inother, congressman joaqu castro, who is here today with leader pelosi and congressman and chair of the congressional they haveucus, known about him for a long time. as mayor, julian has been progress on revitalizing one of our most wonderful cities and planning thousands of housing units downtown, attracting hundreds of millions of dollars of investment. his old relationships with

mayors crossed the country, become a leader in housing and economic the moment. today companies are creating to create jobs in in san antonio, and this year the east side was named a promise zone, a place where the citizens and the government are working together to make the community family by family and blocked my blog. it speaks to the fact that julian cares deeply about the people he serves and the city that he loves. it is also a reminder that he has never forgotten where he comes from. julian's grandmother came from this country from mexico. she worked as a maid, cook, babysitter karma whatever she had to do to keep a roof over her family and her family fed. that is because for her and generations of americans like her home is more than just a house. home is a source of pride and raise a, a place to family and put down roots and build up savings for college or a business or retirement or

write a lifetime of memories. one day a kid grows up in that home and is able to go on to get a great education and become the mayor of san antonio and become a member of the president's cabinet. spanish] it is precisely because he has lived out the american dream and he will work his tail off to make more people can travel that same path. shann'un'shank wife, liza, and her outstanding boys, one of whom who badly beat the in ping-pong during a super bowl game. i want to thank them for sharing husband and dad with us a little bit longer. i want to thank julian's wife erica and this adorable young lady who gave me a hug before we

came in were agreeing to let julian take on a new challenge. i am confident absolutely that these two individuals are going to do a great job because they have done a great job and everything they have done in the past. leaders, proven managers, they are going to be effective, and most importantly, they have got huge part. they-- haereart. they are involved in public service for the right reasons, and for that reason i am hopeful that the senate will confirm them without games and delay. i want to give them a few opportunities for them to say a few words. we will begin with shaun. [applause] >> thank you so much, mr.

president. i first heard the name barack obama in 1991 at a dinner with a closestho are among my friends. the night before, the husband had taken over the harvard law review, but was in a grumpy mood. i asked how could that be. he explained he was required to address the entire law school immediately after the outgoing head, barack obama. [laughter] he had it easy. try going between barack obama and hugh julian -- and julian castro. then his wife said that barack obama would one day be president , because he was one of the most remarkable people she had ever met. after watching you guide this country to one of its most trying periods in history with scourge and grace, i believe those words even more today than i did 5 1/2 years ago when i joined your team. iq for your -- thank you for

your -- [applause] thank you you for your leadership and confidence that you have shown in me. i also want to offer my congratulations to mayor castro. you have done outstanding work in san antonio. i have seen it with my own eyes. and i know you will do exactly the same in your new role. let me tell you, you're one lucky guy amid because the hud team is a group of extraordinary public servants. it has been my honor to work with them to help the nation recover from an historic economic crisis that began in the housing market. i am proud to say that together we have worked with millions of families to fight off foreclosure, reduce the number of veterans experiencing % in theness by 24

last two years, and revitalizing distressed neighborhoods so that children's futures will not be determined by their zip code or t by their talent. i reminded that dr. king said human progress is noeit inevitable. made up of such individuals. i will miss everything about working with them. thank you, hud team. [applause] well, almost everything. i am the owner of the office as inumbers guy, and at hud often hear groans when asked to see a spreadsheet that someone is holding at a meeting. if confirmed, i will be glad to go to a place where my love of

spreadsheets will finally be embraced. [laughter] in all seriousness, as the president said earlier this year, the budget is not just about numbers. it is about our values and it is about our future. that is why i have always viewed omb's unique role as critical. let me recognize sylvia mathews burwell, whose extra-large shoes i have to fill. some of you know sylvia and i actually lived in the dorm freshman year in college and we have been friends ever since. i know she will not mind late-night calls for her sage advice and guidance. i look forward to building on your work, sylvia, with the remarkable team that you have built at home in the, biranrian, beth, and everyone of you who are here today. a stellar team. if congress approves my nomination it will be a great honor to join your white house, mr. vice president, to join

yours as well, and work closely with you to continue to move our nation forward. i want to say a special thank you to my colleagues in the cabinet. you have become good friends. now i'm going to be taking your calls for more funding -- [laughter] but i know the mutual respect and trust that we have built -- [laughter] will allow us to make difficult decisions to lead this country -- leave this country a better place for the next generation. thank you. [applause] finally, i want to thank my wife, liza, and our two sondss, lucas and milo. i will never forget the morning i was first nominated in 2008. liza and i will come up early, papa and onto our bed, to have a difficult conversation that i would not be there on school

days, but as i would make it back on weekends whenever i could. after explaining everything, the very first thing that came out mouth, it was not about the hardship they would endure. he said, first of all, daddy, congratulations. is their service public service. i cannot thank them enough. [applause] once again, congratulations, mayor castro. thank you, mr. president, mr. vice president. [applause] >> thank you.

of all, mr. president, this is quite an honor. thank you very much for the honor and for the opportunity. i haveetary donovan, some very big shoes to fill, i know. i understand that fully. however, i just want to say you understand the importance of urban development and housing in your new role. [laughter] it is anpresident, honor to join your administration, the president's administration. i want to thank madam leader and the chairman for being here, and i'm here today with my father, with my mother, who, along with my grandmother, raise my brother uin and i after a single -- as a single. after the age of 8. i'm here with the two ladies who have won my heart, my wife,

erica, and my daughter. [applause] nominee, president obama, is simply a blessing to me. i am here alone at the podium right now, but i stand on the shoulders of so many folks over the generations who have worked very hard and dreamt the american dream and have reached it, and i feel blessed to have reached it as well. and especially to the great many folks in san antonio, i want to say a huge thank you. thank you very much for your support. and my brother and i grew up on the west side of san antonio, taking public transportation and living in rental homes as we grew up, and it was there that both of us got a sense of what is possible in america and an

understanding that just because of you being from a modest means does not mean that your aspirations or your opportunity ought to be limited. and it certainly means that you can have the talent to succeed and achieve the american dream. after five years as mayor of my hometown, i know this much -- we are in a century of cities. america's cities are growing again, and housing is at the top of the agenda. i look forward to being part of the department that will help ensure that millions of americans all across the country have the chance to and to reach their american dreams. if confirmed, i stand ready to , andt you mr. president your administration, and local administrations across the