ms. saldana. secretary saldana: thank you senator grassley, ranking member feinstein, and other members of this distinguished committee. like you-all and everyone in this country i am greatly moved , by the stories i heard this morning anti-tragedy that is have occurred and the pain, the very palpable pain that's been inflicted on the families that we heard from today. to them i say i am so sorry for the loss each of you has experienced and i know many of you have shared those condolences as well. and i say that not only as a director of immigration and customs enforcement, but i say it as a mother, a sister, an aunt, and a grandmother, one of my grandchildren being here today with me. i can only imagine what such a loss would be like. and i want to say that, for over a decade first as a prosecutor then as a united states attorney for north texas and now as the head of immigration and custom enforcement, the largest law enforcement agency in the department of homeland security, i am committed to do

ms. saldana and mr. rodriguez. would you come please? before you sit -- and before i introduce you, i'd like to ask you to affirm. do you affirm that the testimony you're about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you very much. leon rodriguez is director of u.s. citizenship and immigration services. he was confirmed by the senate on june the 24th 2014. director rodriguez was born in brooklyn, new york graduated from brown university and earned j.d. degree, juris doctor degree from boston college. sarah saldana is assistant secretary for u.s. immigration customs enforcement. she was confirmed by the senate december 16th, last year. she's born in corpus christi, texas. graduated from texas a and i university and received her juris doctorate from southern methodist university. director rodriguez, would you please begin and then we'll call the other director. >> thank you, chairman. thank you ranking member, thank you members of the committee. in august

ms. saldana. etary saldana: thank you, senator grassley, ranking member feinstein, and other members of this distinguished committee. like you-all and everyone in this country i am greatly moved by the stories i heard this morning anti-tragedy that is have occurred and the pain, the very palpable pain that's been inflicted on the families that we heard from today. to them i say i am so sorry for the loss each of you has experienced and i know many of you have shared those condolences as well. and i say that not only as a director of immigration and customs enforcement, but i say it as a mother, a sister, an aunt, and a grandmother, one of my grandchildren being here today with me. i can only imagine what such a loss be like. and i want to say that over -- for over a decade first as a prosecutor then as a united states attorney for north texas and now as the head of immigration and custom enforcement, the largest law enforcement agency in the department of homeland security i am committed to do all

ms. saldana that you're talking with -- is not going to change the situation. do you have any cities that have indicated to you they are going to make a change in their policy? secretary saldana: i mentioned the numbers earlier, sir. just as a matter of focus we have looked at these 49 particular and 33 are working, have come and said they will work with us in some way or another. again, tailored to their needs. we only had five of those 49 say no. we'll continue to work with them. senator session: i'm sure after all the events of the last few months are certainly should be willing to listen about this. but i have serious doubts that we are going to see any change unless congress takes some action or unless this administration takes some action. ms. saldana, i know one problem you have i'm sure is frustrating to you is countries not taking back criminals that you have arrested and ordered deported. can you tell us the status of that situation? secretary saldana: yes. as you know the department of state obviously has a vast interest in this and i have work with t

ms. saldana, that you're talking with -- is not going to change the situation. do you have any cities that have indicated to you they are going to make a change in their policy? secretary saldana: i mentioned the numbers earlier, sir. just as a matter of focus we have looked at these 49 particular and 33 are working, have come and said they will work with us in some way or another. again, taylored to their needs. we have -- tailored to their needs. we only had five of those 49 say no. we'll continue to work with them. senator session: i'm sure after all the events of the last few months are certainly should be willing to listen about this. but i have serious doubts that we are going to see any change unless congress takes some action or unless this administration takes some action. ms. saldana, i know one problem you have i'm sure is frustrating to you is countries not taking back criminals that you have arrested and ordered deported. can you tell us the status of that situation? secretary saldana: yes. as you know the department of state obviously has a vast int