Rep. Mike Waltz Questions Democratic Witness on Biden's Immigration Policies

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My colleague from Florida mentioned leading with love, and I think we're going to talk about some love in the next few minutes, or true hate, which is the sexual violence against women, against these migrants. But before I get to that, in 2021, the Department of Homeland Security implemented the parole plus alternative to detention with conditions. These so-called plans allow the release of migrants from CBP custody into the country on an expedited basis without being placed in removal proceedings, and with little to no vetting and no monitoring, and without court dates. So they're essentially just fully released. Florida has sued DHS and federal court, asserting that DHS was ignoring federal law, which they are, and including Secretary Mayorkas is ignoring federal law with this program that requires people entering the country illegally to be detained. So I have up here statements from the judge in Florida, Judge Kent Wetherill, who ordered federal authorities to vacate the parole policy. And he said, for the most part, the evidence establishes that defendants, DHS, have effectively turned the southwest border into a meaningless line in the sand. A little more than a speed bump for aliens flooding into the country. And you can see here where, again, the judge says that essentially these policies have said, come in, we're open. Come. So let's talk about the effects on these migrants that we all care about. Let's talk about leading for love, as Mr. Frost from Florida has talked about. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to enter into the record that Doctors Without Borders, don't take this from me, or don't take this as a partisan issue. Doctors Without Borders, an international NGO, says 40% of the girls and women making this transit that we've essentially invited them to do are being sexually assaulted and abused. And just a series, again, don't take it from me, a series of articles. Hundreds of migrants face sex attacks in the Darien Gap, says Doctors Without Borders. They treated nearly 400 in a week, one week alone, in 2023. Migrant children sexually abused in, quote, rape tents while crossing the Darien Gap, according to the New York Post. The reality of women en route to the US, rapes and no access to hospitals. Again, rape tents and sexual violence towards migrants plague those trying to make the dangerous journey to the US. And finally, New York Times, you have to pay with your body the hidden nightmare of sexual violence on immigrants from cartels and gangs. Mr. Bair, what would you say to the, I mean, I could keep going, to the abuse on these millions. I mean, if you just look at the numbers and do the math, we've got, just in two months, DHS released a quarter million, enough to fill entire stadiums. Do you disagree with the judge that essentially these policies say, come in, we're open, and I'm a father of a daughter too, which is where I think you're going? And how abhorrent this is that our policies are saying, come, so you can get a job and go in the United States. I don't want people to have to immigrate illegally. I want them to be able to come legally. Do you want them to be able to come legally? If you don't want them to be able to come legally, then this is what you're for. I am for legal immigration, for orderly immigration. However, you're espousing policies that invite people to come however they can. No, I want them to come legally. And 40%, 40% by gangs and by cartels and by smugglers of these poor young girls are forever scarred and abused because of policies that the other side of the aisle and that you are advocating for. And it's disgusting, and it has to stop. And HR2 would put a stop to it. So my friend can call it bigoted if he wants. He can throw those ad hominem attacks around. We're looking to put a stop to it. Let me just ask you in my remaining time. If this were Al Qaeda and ISIS killing 100,000 Americans a year, more than we lost in Vietnam in 10 years by pumping in and smuggling in chemicals, would you oppose using military resources to take down Al Qaeda and ISIS? I oppose the war on terror. Yes, it was a disastrous mistake. It completely disrupted the Middle East and made the problem- For the record, Mr. Beer has opposed the war on terror to keep Americans safe. I think that says it all. If we bomb Mexico, it will make the problem-