Mace Opens Hearing on Utilizing Technology to Enhance Immigration Enforcement

WASHINGTON – Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Chairwoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing titled “Leveraging Technology to Strengthen Immigration Enforcement.”In her opening statement, Subcommittee Chairwoman Mace emphasized that innovative technology must be procured and implemented to strengthen law enforcement efforts in tracking down criminal illegal aliens residing in the United States. She continued by emphasizing that the Biden Administration willfully ignored available technologies that would have reduced border crossings and exacerbated the migration crisis. She closed by thanking the expert witnesses for appearing before the subcommittee and looking forward to hearing the methods by which cutting-edge technology could be adopted by U.S. law enforcement.

Below are Subcommittee Chairwoman Mace’s remarks as prepared for delivery.

Good morning.

It’s well documented that the Biden Administration used technology to facilitate the invasion of our nation by millions of illegal aliens – the CBP One app being just one example of this.

Today’s hearing will explore how technology can help strengthen the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.

Cutting-edge technology enhances immigration enforcement and reduces risks for immigration enforcement officials.

From facial recognition software to data analytics powered by artificial intelligence to GPS monitoring, advanced technologies empower U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement—or ICE—to track, apprehend, and deport illegal aliens in our country.

Tracking illegal aliens and identifying threats to the homeland allows ICE to more effectively enforce our nation’s immigration laws and remove those who are unlawfully present in the United States.

Former President Biden, and his Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, willfully and intentionally unleashed an invasion of illegal aliens into the U.S. from around the world.

Illegal aliens shepherded into the country by the Biden Administration include terrorists, murderers, rapists, pedophiles, cartel members, and drug traffickers—not exactly the kind of people you want roaming the streets of our communities.

By systematically dismantling President Trump’s policies from his first administration, the Biden Administration flung the border wide open for any and all who wished to enter the U.S. illegally.

This has led to the unlawful entry of over ten million illegal aliens into the United States and nearly two million ‘known gotaways’ who entered the country without being apprehended.

As of last July, there were over 646,000 illegal aliens with additional criminal histories free in the United States.

And those are only criminal aliens known to ICE officials, so the actual numbers are likely significantly higher.

Why is this issue important? Why must we use all means at our disposal to identify, locate, and deport all illegal aliens in the U.S.?

It’s because of the heinous nature of the crimes committed by those who enter the U.S. illegally and treat this nation as their playground to get rich by selling human beings and illegal drugs while victimizing women and children.

The most dangerous criminals include cartel organizations that control the border who force women into indentured servitude or sex slavery to pay for their entry into the U.S. They subject children to child pornography.

If you speak to law enforcement at the border you will hear about “rape trees” where the underwear of women and girls brutally raped on their journey to America are hung like trophies.

Ten years ago, I didn’t even know what fentanyl was, and now I personally know multiple people who have died of a fentanyl overdose.

The Biden Administration shoulders the blame for the record deaths of American citizens, the record number of illegal aliens, and the record profits for drug cartels due to fentanyl and human trafficking.

To protect American citizens, we must undo the horrors caused by the Biden Administration’s immigration policies that rewarded criminal illegal aliens.

A core component of this is the ability to track and monitor all illegal aliens in the country when detention isn’t feasible for some reason.

When used as part of the Alternatives to Detention—or ATD—program, modern technology can be used to monitor illegal aliens within the country and assist with proper enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

When detention is not possible, these modern technologies can enhance security by monitoring and tracking illegal aliens to ensure they can be removed once a final order of removal is in place.

The Biden Administration, however, refused to use the ATD program as intended, frequently and prematurely removing illegal aliens from monitoring before a final order of removal and allowing them to scatter throughout the interior of the country and victimize American citizens.

For example, at the Biden Administration’s direction, one of the illegal aliens who murdered Jocelyn Nungary, a 12-year-old Texas girl, who was raped and strangled to death, had his GPS ankle monitor removed prior to committing these horrific crimes. This is the face of the consequences of these policies.

The Biden Administration allowed this to happen, all while unconscionably ignoring easy-to-use and available technologies that could have prevented the release of illegal aliens with criminal histories in the first place.

I look forward to the testimonies of our witnesses, which include former ICE officials, to hear about their first-hand experience and suggestions on how we can leverage technology to strengthen immigration enforcement and facilitate the mass deportations Americans overwhelmingly support.

I now yield to Ranking Member Brown for her opening statement.