House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing On Sanctuary Cities

[1:02:01] Thank you all for being here today. This is a regular meeting of the Subcommittee on Oversight. [1:02:07] The women sitting in front of us today, you shouldn't have to be here. You shouldn't have [1:02:14] to have a hearing on this topic. And what you should have, and we can't do, is to have your [1:02:22] children back. But the systems of governing across this country have failed you. So you're here, [1:02:31] and damn it, we're going to listen to you. Folks have said on the other side sometimes [1:02:37] a lot of things in defense of sanctuary city policies. And I say tell that to Laura Wilkerson, [1:02:43] whose 18-year-old son Joshua was murdered. He was murdered by an illegal alien from Belize. [1:02:50] Belize. He was beaten with a wooden rod. His hands and feet were bound. His body was set on fire. And [1:02:59] I'm sorry, I even have to say this. And he was left in a field. Joshua gave his killer a ride home [1:03:08] from school that day. That was Joshua's crime. That's the kind of kid that he was. [1:03:14] Tell it to Patricia Fox, whose daughter, Carissa, was riding on the back of a motorcycle when an [1:03:20] illegal alien with no license and no insurance caught across three lanes of traffic and hit her. [1:03:29] And then he fled the scene and left her for dead. Tell that to Jen Hyling, whose son Brady, 19 years [1:03:38] old, a football and track athlete who had turned down college scholarships just to stay close to his [1:03:44] family and his girlfriend, was killed, was murdered when a drunk illegal alien drove the wrong way [1:03:51] on an interstate at a blood alcohol level just about three times the legal limit. So go ahead, [1:03:59] tell them sanctuary policies make communities safer. Look them in the eye and say that. Tell them that [1:04:07] blindly letting in millions of unknown people into this country makes us safer. It doesn't. We know it. [1:04:16] It doesn't. And I know all of you know it. Yet here we are. This is a direct documented undeniable line [1:04:25] between the policy choices that have directly led to the deaths of innocent Americans. In New York, [1:04:34] failure to honor ICE detainers resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens, criminal [1:04:43] illegal aliens, almost 7,000, with crimes ranging from 29 homicides, 2,500 assaults, 200 burglaries, [1:04:53] 300 robberies, 400 dangerous drug offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 200 sexual predatory offenses. [1:05:04] In Illinois, they had the man who shot and killed Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old freshman, [1:05:10] walk in a park with her friends in custody. But they let him go. And we know because this committee [1:05:18] obtained the Border Patrol documents when Jose Medina crossed into this country, he made no asylum claim, [1:05:25] and agents determined he was unlikely to run away. And look what he did. And the Biden administration [1:05:33] released him anyway, into our communities, onto our streets, into the park where Sheridan Gorman was [1:05:40] walking with her friends. These same sanctuary policies protected the man who killed Katie Abraham, [1:05:47] an Ohio University student who was sitting at a car, stopped at a red light, when a drunk, [1:05:54] illegal alien who had already been deported once before, slammed into her at 78 miles an hour, [1:06:03] and left the scene. He was driving on a fake identity, with fake documents, under a fake name. [1:06:11] He had gone to three different bars that night. Sanctuary policies protected the man who killed [1:06:18] Richard Williams, his seniors too, an 83-year-old veteran, an Air Force veteran, who was standing on a [1:06:25] subway platform, not bothering anybody who served his country. When Mr. Hernandez, a Honduran national, [1:06:32] who had been deported from this country four times, with 15 prior criminal charges, 15! How many times [1:06:40] does it take for us to learn? He came up behind him, and he shoved him on the tracks. They call these [1:06:49] policies sanctuary to make them sound nice. I want to let you know what I call it. I call it negligence. [1:06:56] I call it a dereliction of our duty to protect the American people that we serve. When your policies [1:07:02] repeatedly release dangerous criminals who go on to kill innocent Americans over and over again, [1:07:09] and you do it knowingly, and I don't mean to be harsh, but the only word I can think of is murder. [1:07:17] An ICE detainer doesn't ask for much. Hold a person who has committed a crime for 48 hours so federal [1:07:23] agents can take them into custody. Two days. That's all he asked. And these governors, and these mayors, [1:07:31] and these officials, we're all sitting in our comfortable offices, in our ivory towers, continuing [1:07:37] to ignore the duty and ignore the safety of their constituents, and it continues to lead to one [1:07:44] tragedy after another. We have had too many different types of hearings on this, and yet it continues. [1:07:51] That's why I applaud all of you when we talked in the back, that you have the guts, that you have [1:07:56] the strength, that you have the love in your heart for those that you lost, and the love in your heart [1:08:02] to try to help other Americans, to try to change the system. You asked me back there, do the good guys [1:08:09] win? Not all the time, but damn it, it's worth the effort, and you've got to try to win. This is worth [1:08:18] the effort that you all are making. I mean it. I thank you. That's why I call this hearing, not for [1:08:26] shrewd arguments, not for talking points, not for technicalities, not for all the legal words and the [1:08:34] legalese. It's just a hearing for people. I wanted to hear from real people. I didn't want to hear from, [1:08:41] and we put plenty of attorneys up there too, so I'm not being critical, Mr. Romanucci, but I wanted to hear [1:08:48] from the American people who have been hurt and want to make a difference. I called this hearing. [1:08:54] I called it for Joshua. I called this hearing for Carissa. I called this hearing for Brady. [1:09:01] I called this healing for Haley, for Sheridan, and Katie, and Richard, and Stephanie. Do you want me to [1:09:09] read all the names? I don't think you do, because it hurts. These are real people, and they're real [1:09:19] tragedies, real pain and real hurt, and you know what? Condolences don't do it. Feeling sorry, [1:09:25] doesn't do it. The words don't do it. Speech is like the speech I'm giving now. It can't suffice. [1:09:31] It can't do it, and I don't want anybody to sit here. I've heard people say, and I say this as a [1:09:37] father and now the grandfather of two little ones, don't say you know how you feel, because we don't [1:09:43] know how you feel. We will never pray to God know how you feel. Nobody can unless you go through it. [1:09:51] Nobody knows how you feel, so I'm going to ask all of us today that sit up here on this dais, and more [1:09:58] will be coming in to look you all in the eyes, and to look at you directly, and to listen to you, [1:10:05] and I want all of us to hear for ourselves the failure of sanctuary policies, and I thank you. Now [1:10:14] I'm going to recognize the ranking member, Ms. Crockett, for an opening statement. Thank you so much, [1:10:21] Mr. Chair, and let me echo the condolences that he said not to give. Regardless, as someone who I don't [1:10:33] think will ever get comfortable with trying to explain the unexplainable, specifically to parents, [1:10:40] there is a due order that we all believe will exist, especially when you bring your beautiful [1:10:48] child into this world. And the one thing that no parent ever anticipates is for that order to be [1:10:59] disrupted. Prior to coming to Congress, I was frustrated. I did a lot of the same work that [1:11:08] Mr. Romanucci does. I had to face so many parents that lost their children and shouldn't have, [1:11:18] whether it was doing the civil rights work, or whether it was sometimes being the criminal [1:11:24] defense attorney that would have to walk into court and represent people and make sure that their due [1:11:30] process rights were preserved, because they have been accused of killing somebody else. So I will say [1:11:41] that I agree with the chairman when he says that speeches cannot suffice. They never have, [1:11:47] they never will. But I must say that our actions have to speak louder than any words. And one of the [1:11:57] reasons that I got into politics is because I felt like politicians are very good at lip service. And [1:12:04] frankly, this hearing is a hearing that we have had over and over and over, where we've talked about [1:12:12] sanctuary cities. And it frustrates me if I'm being perfectly honest, because it doesn't lead to [1:12:21] solutions. It feels like political gamesmanship. And the chairman is my friend. But I always keep it as [1:12:32] real as I can. So I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for being here today. And let me be [1:12:39] clear about something. Anyone who commits a crime, especially a violent crime, should be fully held [1:12:46] accountable, no matter their citizenship status, race, sex, how much money they do or don't have, [1:12:53] whether they went to school or not, or even if they're a government official. No one should be above [1:13:02] the law. I've listened to similar witnesses give their accounts and their stories, but specifically as [1:13:12] relates to the witnesses that sit before us today. I've read your written testimony, and I agree with [1:13:20] some of the specific things that have been said in your written testimony. For example, Ms. Fox, [1:13:27] that policies have consequences, and that public policy should not require a threshold of victims [1:13:35] before it's taken seriously. The only people in disagreement with this statement are the Republicans [1:13:40] on this committee. They've held multiple hearings on this topic, but still haven't invited the families [1:13:46] of anyone killed by ICE or who have died while in ICE's custody. More people died in ICE's custody last [1:13:54] year than any time in the 21st century, and Republicans still haven't invited any of their families to [1:14:00] testify before this committee. ICE and CBP have either shot or shot at at least 24 people, including [1:14:09] American citizens. Some have died. Others have been severely injured. A college student even had to have [1:14:17] their eye removed after being shot in the face. Republicans have not invited any of their families [1:14:22] to testify before this committee. As far as I know, Republicans have not even contacted the families [1:14:27] of those killed or harmed. What our witnesses went through is tragic and devastating, and their loved ones, [1:14:36] you deserve justice. But I have to be clear and say that their lives are not worth more nor less than, [1:14:48] say, the life of Renee Good, or the life of Alex Pretty, or the life of Ruben Martinez, [1:14:53] a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by ICE in March of 2025, or the life of Miramar [1:15:00] Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot five times by federal agents. Now Ms. Martinez [1:15:06] miraculously survived, but to Ms. Fox's point, it, quote, should not require a threshold of victims [1:15:14] before it is taken seriously. Just six months after federal agents murdered Ruben Martinez, they tried to [1:15:20] murder Miramar Martinez, but failed. Just two and a half months later, federal agents killed Renee Good. [1:15:26] Just 17 days after that, federal agents killed Alex Pretty, and each time Republicans on this committee [1:15:32] have blamed the victims. If they had only been exercising their First Amendment rights, they'd be alive today. [1:15:40] Or if Martinez hadn't, Ms. Martinez hadn't panicked after federal agents ran up behind her, put an AR-15 [1:15:49] to her head, and said, quote, do something, bitch. If she had just stayed calm, maybe she wouldn't have [1:15:56] been shot five times. This is what failed policy looks like. And these families deserve to have a voice [1:16:03] when they're discussing immigration enforcement policies in the United States. Republicans would [1:16:09] rather parade families experiencing tragedy around the halls of Congress for political purposes than to [1:16:14] actually fix our broken immigration system. In fact, I don't know how many people remember, but prior to [1:16:24] the presidential election, the House and the Senate had worked on legislation, and there was a candidate [1:16:31] that did not want us to take up the legislation because they wanted to campaign on a broken system. The bad [1:16:39] part about campaigning on broken systems is that they continue to allow for harm to be permeated [1:16:46] throughout the entirety of our country. And that's exactly what happened, and that's what's happening [1:16:50] right now. In fact, Republicans are ignoring all crime across the United States. They refuse to enforce [1:16:56] congressional subpoenas to advance the investigation into the Epstein pedophile ring. They've been [1:17:02] completely silent on the fact that Donald Trump issued unconditional pardons for January 6th insurrectionists, [1:17:08] many of whom were convicted on separate charges of rape, stalking, child abuse, domestic violence, [1:17:13] drug trafficking, and possession of child porn. For months, they've ignored Trump's and Hexef's war [1:17:19] crimes when they ordered the killings of non-combatant civilians, many of whom were just fishermen, [1:17:25] and now they're ignoring the president's illegal war and genocidal threats against the Iranian people. [1:17:30] Republicans have completely abandoned the American people. ATF case referrals are down, DEA case [1:17:36] referrals are down, the number of weapons seized by DHS dropped by almost 80%, drug arrests are down. [1:17:43] In just the first six months of his administration, Trump's DOJ ended 23,000 criminal cases, including [1:17:51] investigations into terrorism, tax evasion, drug trafficking, and other violent crimes. And Republicans [1:17:56] on this committee haven't held a single hearing, started any investigations, or done anything about it. [1:18:02] Drug traffickers, men who prey on children, murderers, and potential terrorists are all roaming the streets [1:18:08] of America because they'd rather use these families' tragedy for political gain. [1:18:13] I'm gonna be real honest about this. Your children should be here today. Believe me when I tell you that. [1:18:24] And while I sit in this imperfect government, and we all know that government is run by imperfect people [1:18:31] because we are all human, there are policies that can be changed. And it would be my hope and prayer [1:18:39] that we start to bring about policy changes that can prevent loss of life all around. Right now, as [1:18:48] federally elected officials, the one thing that we could do to start to save at least some folk is to [1:18:55] focus on the fact that we have what seems to be government-sanctioned violence that is leading to [1:19:03] people dying. And we are the ones that oversee these government officials. And I would encourage [1:19:09] the chairman to hold a hearing so that we can do that part because we are not elected to run any city. [1:19:17] We are elected on the federal level and we are the ones that are supposed to have oversight over [1:19:22] DHS and others. And with that I will yield. I thank the ranking member. When I make a mistake, [1:19:29] I make a mistake. So it's important to me to start each meeting, and I forgot to do it, [1:19:35] with the pledge. So we're going to stand up and do the pledge. And then a moment of silence, [1:19:39] just thinking about all that's transpiring. Please stand. [1:20:27] I am now going to recognize the chairman of the Committee of the Whole, Mr. Jordan. [1:20:31] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for that moment of silence. Thank you for doing this hearing. I [1:20:36] thank our witnesses, particularly Ms. Hyling, Ms. Fox, and Ms. Wilkinson for being here and for your [1:20:43] loss. I just said this on the House floor, but I think it's worth saying again. Think about what's [1:20:48] happened in our country. For four years, the Democrats allowed 10 million illegal migrants [1:20:55] to enter our nation. Second, they set up sanctuary jurisdictions all over the country to make it more [1:21:02] difficult to remove illegal migrants who commit crime. And now third, they don't want to fund [1:21:11] the people who actually remove those illegal migrants who commit crime. They don't want to fund [1:21:16] ICE. I mean, that's their plan, and they're executing it. And of course, what's the end result? [1:21:21] Tragedies like all of your families have had to endure. That's what happens. That's what happens when [1:21:28] you adopt the plan that they're putting in action. That's exactly what happens. And so this is not [1:21:35] political, as the ranking member just said. This is the facts. You've lived it in the worst way [1:21:40] possible. The worst way, the most personal to your entire family. What's happened is tragic, [1:21:46] and you all know that, but you're willing to come here and testify because you want that plan [1:21:50] to be stopped. Let in 10 million, create sanctuary jurisdictions where illegal migrants commit crimes. [1:21:57] Almost a third of the country is in that kind of jurisdiction. 18 cities, 11 states, [1:22:02] three counties in the District of Columbia, that kind of jurisdiction. And then, oh, the guys who go [1:22:09] out and stop those bad guys, illegal migrants who did crime, they defunded them. Wow. That's the [1:22:16] Democrats' plan? That's scary. And so this is not political. This is for you to come tell your story, [1:22:23] so hopefully we can stop what they've started to the tune of 10 minutes. Oh, by the way, it just got worse. [1:22:29] It just got worse because on the House floor, they said anyone who came here under temporary protected [1:22:34] status is now going to be permanent. 300,000 Haitians who entered the country during the [1:22:39] Biden administration were going to make that permanent. So they're making it even worse. [1:22:43] So this is not a political hearing. This is to get the facts and the truth about the tragedy [1:22:48] you've had to endure because of Democrat policies, plain and simple. So I want to thank the chairman [1:22:53] for his work, for this hearing, and for your courage and your willingness to come here today and tell [1:22:59] the story. With that, I yield back. I thank the chairman, and I recognize the ranking member from the [1:23:05] state of Maryland. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the family members who came to [1:23:12] Washington today to tell us the stories of how they lost their children. Please forgive my black and [1:23:18] bloody eye. I am nursing a medical injury, but I did not want to miss this important hearing. And if the [1:23:23] light gets too intense, forgive me if I put the sunglasses back on. There is no pain, Mr. Chairman, [1:23:30] no anguish, no trauma, no catastrophe worse for any parent than having to bury your child. In my heart, [1:23:38] and my sympathy go to all of you who lost a child, as I did, and to your children who lost a brother [1:23:46] or a sister. Nothing hurts more than losing a child, a family member, in the prime of their life, [1:23:53] or having them suffer a catastrophic injury or assault because someone else decided that their [1:23:59] life didn't matter. You are all here today bravely to tell us how much the lives of your children did [1:24:06] matter and do matter, and to ensure that their legacies here on earth, while senselessly cut short [1:24:12] or dramatically altered, still live on in your work and in your families. In telling your loved ones [1:24:19] stories, you are advancing the righteous goal of ensuring that no other person suffers the pain [1:24:24] of what you have gone through. You will not find a single member in this body who disagrees with your goal [1:24:30] or your mission. This is a house, this is a Congress, filled on both sides with mothers and fathers, [1:24:37] uncles and aunts, grandparents, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. We all want to protect our [1:24:44] families and to keep them safe from harm. The terrible crimes that your families have suffered must be [1:24:52] universally condemned. Victims of violent crimes, all violent crimes, victims of vehicular homicides, [1:24:59] victims of reckless driving, all of them must be listened to, must be heard and must be respected. [1:25:12] Victims must receive justice for the dreadful crimes that took their loved ones away. Perpetrators [1:25:19] must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of our laws. Those who attack police officers or those who attack [1:25:26] civilians must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of our laws. No one should be granted a blanket pardon [1:25:33] without proof of remorse or rehabilitation or restitution to their victims. And once perpetrators [1:25:42] have served their sentence here, if they're in our country illegally, they should be removed from our [1:25:48] country. This is not a partisan problem and nobody should try to turn it into a partisan problem. [1:25:54] Tragically, the stories that we hear today can be told of any president. President Bush, President Obama, [1:26:00] President Trump, President Biden, each of their administrations released undocumented immigrants [1:26:05] who went on to commit violent crimes. We could fill the room with people speaking of their lost family [1:26:14] members at the hands of people who came into the country illegally under Democratic and Republican [1:26:20] administrations alike. It's not a partisan problem. Everyone knows our immigration system has been broken [1:26:26] for decades. Administration after administration, we have lacked the political will to do the hard work [1:26:33] of putting together a bipartisan solution. We need an immigration system that makes it a lot harder to [1:26:41] come here illegally or impossible to come here legally and a lot easier to come here legally to participate [1:26:51] in the American dream. We need an immigration system that gives dreamers and others who have built a [1:26:56] productive and law-abiding life in our country a pathway to legal status. Alas, this administration [1:27:05] is focused on mass arrests, mass detention, and mass deportation that are dividing our country [1:27:10] in unprecedented ways. To achieve this goal, DHS has not focused on going after the worst of the worst, [1:27:17] the category of violent criminals quickly exhausted. With Stephen Miller demanding 3,000 draconian [1:27:23] immigration arrests every single day, federal agents simply started indiscriminately rounding up [1:27:28] immigrants and American citizens who looked like immigrants, according to the agents. ICE has arrested [1:27:35] kindergarteners, daycare teachers, parents dropping off their kids at school. They dragged U.S. citizen [1:27:40] grandparents out of their homes in their underwear in sub-zero temperatures and ripped children from [1:27:46] their beds in the middle of the night using them as bait to arrest their parents. When ICE does manage to [1:27:53] arrest people with criminal records or charges, those are often people who are currently in custody. In [1:27:58] many cases, ICE is effectively giving criminals get-out-of-jail-free cards by deporting them in the [1:28:04] middle of their criminal sentences, or even worse, deporting them before their trials can even begin [1:28:11] depriving their victims of justice, all so the agency can simply jack up the president's deportation [1:28:18] numbers. This makes it vital to hear from families like yours who have suffered from terrible [1:28:23] crimes to hear about the importance of accountability for those crimes. Your testimony is an important [1:28:29] and powerful reminder that the fundamental responsibility of our federal law enforcement [1:28:33] and justice system is to keep the people safe and to ensure that no one is ever above the law and no one [1:28:39] is ever beneath it. The government must stand on the side of victims of crimes, not their perpetrators. I [1:28:46] tried to remind Attorney General Bondi of that principle when she appeared here before our committee. [1:28:51] That's why we've been so focused on insisting that we hear from the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and [1:28:57] Ghislaine Maxwell and their elite pedophile network. The women survivors who our government has failed at [1:29:03] every turn. We failed to protect them from the appalling human trafficking and rapering in the first place. [1:29:09] Then our government failed them again by not holding any of Epstein's powerful friends accountable, exposing victims' names [1:29:16] while censoring the names of perpetrators and playing outrageous political games with the files in DOJ's [1:29:22] possession that they are legally compelled to turn over to Congress and make public. I was happy to hear [1:29:29] that the first lady of the United States agrees with that, and we hope that our committee will heed her [1:29:35] call to hold hearings, as Mrs. Trump said, with the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's billion-dollar global [1:29:43] sex trafficking ring. This is also why we speak up for all of the people victimized and harmed by the [1:29:50] people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Not only the over 150 police officers who were [1:29:56] bludgeoned, beaten, crushed, and even died because of what happened that day, but also for all of those [1:30:03] who have been harmed by the January 6th perpetrators after they got their pardons from President Trump. [1:30:09] These pardon recipients have gone on to abuse women and children, plot murders, and commit sexual assault [1:30:17] and kidnapping. After January 6th rioter Andrew Paul Johnson got his pardon from President Trump, [1:30:23] he repeatedly sexually abused two 12-year-old children and tried to keep them quiet by promising [1:30:30] to share with them some of the millions of dollars in restitution that he plans to receive from the [1:30:35] Trump administration. If not for President Trump's pardon, these children never would have been [1:30:41] molested. Their innocence would not have been shattered by this monster. It is essential to hear [1:30:48] from people harmed also by the aggressive police state-style immigration enforcement tactics that have [1:30:57] terrified the country. They don't target the worst of the worst. They are the worst of the worst. This [1:31:01] includes hearing from the families of the three American citizens ICE agents have gunned down [1:31:07] point-blank in our streets, like Renee Good, the 36-year-old mother and poet who was shot three [1:31:13] times in the head and body by an ICE officer while she was driving her car. This includes the American [1:31:18] citizens who have been profiled, beaten, detained, and even deported by ICE. It includes the police officers [1:31:25] who are finding it more difficult to do their jobs because immigrant communities no longer trust them, [1:31:31] and prosecutors whose cases are stymied because ICE deports their defendants, witnesses, and victims [1:31:37] before their trials can even begin, and it includes the family members of people who have died at the [1:31:41] hands of their abusers because they were too afraid to report them to the police for fear they would be [1:31:47] deported. Failing to arrest and deport the worst of the worst makes all of us less safe, but so too does [1:31:54] allowing federal agents to trample the rights and freedoms of the American people. I want to thank you all [1:32:00] again for appearing before us today and hope that we will continue to listen to the voices of everyone [1:32:06] whose lives have been so immeasurably altered by the failure of our government to act and enact [1:32:12] meaningful policy changes to keep all of our streets and all of our people safe. I look forward [1:32:17] to hearing your testimony today, and I yield back to Mr. Chairman. I thank the ranking member. Without [1:32:22] objection, all other opening statements will be included in the record. We now will introduce today's [1:32:28] witnesses Ms. Patricia Fox. Ms. Fox lives in Denver metro area and is the full-time caregiver to her [1:32:36] daughter Carissa. Carissa was hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver who entered the United States [1:32:43] illegally. She sustained a traumatic brain injury and now requires full-time care. Jen Haling. Ms. Haling is [1:32:53] the mother of Brady Haling, a young man who along with his girlfriend were hit by an illegal alien. Brady died from [1:32:59] his injuries five days later while his girlfriend was killed instantly. The alien was a Honduran national [1:33:07] and was intoxicated and driving the wrong way on the highway. Mr. Antonio Romanucci. Mr. Romanucci [1:33:16] is the founding partner of Romanucci and Blandon, a Chicago-based law firm. He represents the family [1:33:23] of Renee Good and Ms. Laura Wilkerson. Ms. Wilkerson is the mother of Joshua Wilkerson, a young man who was [1:33:34] beaten to death, set on fire by an illegal alien who was his high school classmate. Joshua was giving [1:33:43] this individual a ride home from school when he attacked him. We are going to begin by swearing you [1:33:52] all in. Would you please rise? Raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that [1:34:03] the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, [1:34:09] and belief? So help you God. Thank you. You may sit down. Let the record reflect. The witnesses have [1:34:17] answered in the affirmative. Please know that your written testimony will be entered into the record [1:34:22] in its entirety. We ask that you summarize your testimony to no longer than five minutes. Ms. Fox, [1:34:29] you may begin. Thank you for reminding us where we were. I thought for a second that I wandered into an [1:34:38] Epstein file hearing. Now that I've been holding my arms open to what life has to offer me, I couldn't [1:34:48] be happier. That was the last text from my daughter roughly two hours before an unlicensed, uninsured, [1:34:56] illegal alien would run a stop sign, cross three lanes of traffic without looking, and collide with [1:35:02] Carissa, slamming her head first into a concrete barrier. The driver then fled the scene with her [1:35:08] boyfriend and aunt, not knowing if my daughter was alive or dead. My daughter was ambitious. [1:35:15] She was enrolled in esthetician school. She quickly rose to the top of her class, landed jobs with [1:35:22] high-end salons. She'd smile with confidence as she talked about her dreams of opening a skincare line [1:35:29] based on beauty secrets around the world. She was very specific that her goal was to make quality [1:35:35] skincare affordable for everyone because everyone deserved to feel beautiful. I was so proud of the [1:35:43] young woman that Carissa was blossoming into before my eyes. She would have done it too because when my [1:35:49] daughter put her mind to something, she achieved it. Now she's minimally conscious, non-verbal, is [1:35:56] wheelchair-bound, and eats through a feeding tube. She has very little cognitive control over her body. [1:36:05] She communicates discomfort through grunts and moans, and at night she often calls out to me. [1:36:10] I think she's afraid of the dark, or of being alone, or both. I don't know for sure, because she can't [1:36:17] tell me. I know the pole socks that monitors her vitals while she's sleeping, says her heart rate is high [1:36:25] when I walk in. Then I touch her arm and sing to her in those wee hours, and her heart rate goes back down, [1:36:32] and she goes to sleep. And to think, we're the lucky ones. My little girl survived. I still get to kiss [1:36:42] her. I still get to hold her hand. Many angel families don't get that. That blessing is not lost on me. For us, [1:36:53] there is hope, regardless of what the doctors say, because my God is big, and he happens to be in the [1:37:00] business of miracles. But hope for the future does not erase today's reality. That reality is my [1:37:09] daughter's care is now my full-time responsibility. Her medical needs are extensive. Her medical bills [1:37:15] well into seven figures and growing. The person responsible for this has contributed nothing. [1:37:24] I'm not here out of anger, but out of responsibility. Responsibility to my daughter, [1:37:31] and responsibility to ensure that what happened to Carissa is not simply dismissed as an unfortunate [1:37:37] exception, but recognized as an all-too-common pattern. This is not just about my family. [1:37:46] Destructive sanctuary policies carry real-world consequences. Angel families live with these [1:37:52] consequences every day. Each angel family that comes before all of you is risking more pain and trauma. [1:38:02] We receive death threats. We've lost friends. We have to relive our trauma over and over again, [1:38:09] every time we tell our stories. But who's going to tell our stories if we don't? You'll never hear [1:38:16] Carissa's story from Colorado Democrats, like John Hickenlooper, Jason Crowe, Brittany Peterson, or Joe [1:38:24] Neguse. So here we are, telling our stories, until not one more American daughter, American son, [1:38:32] or American family loses a loved one to these fully preventable tragedies. We are often told that [1:38:42] illegal aliens commit crimes at lower rates than American citizens. They say studies show, [1:38:48] but when you start digging into those studies, they don't hold up under scrutiny. So let's talk about [1:38:56] some statistics that we do know. Unlicensed drivers are estimated to have five times higher risk of being [1:39:02] involved in a fatal crash. They are often involved in reckless behaviors, such as speeding and impaired [1:39:08] driving, leading to higher rates of serious injury and fatalities. Colorado has one of the highest rates [1:39:15] of uninsured drivers in the United States, with estimates between 17 and 20 percent. Of all [1:39:23] uninsured Colorado drivers, about 25 percent are estimated to be unlicensed illegal aliens. Do you [1:39:31] think that a driver is magically protected from these statistics simply because they're undocumented? [1:39:38] Here's another factual statistic. Entering the United States illegally is considered a criminal offense [1:39:47] under federal law. One hundred percent of illegal aliens are criminals. We often hear that enforcement [1:39:58] should only focus on the worst of the worst. My daughter was not harmed by someone that was labeled [1:40:04] as the worst of the worst. She was harmed by someone who shouldn't have been in a position [1:40:09] to hurt her in the first place. I reject the idea that families must wait for tragedy before action is [1:40:17] taken. There should not have to be a Carissa or a Brady or a Hallie or a Joshua. Public policy should not [1:40:31] require a threshold of victims on either side. Our children are not your collateral damage. Thank you. [1:40:44] Thank you, Ms. Vox. No words. No words. Ms. Hyling, you're next. Thank you. My name is Jennifer Hyling. [1:40:57] I am an angel mom and I am from a small town in Minnesota. My son Brady Hyling and his girlfriend [1:41:03] Hallie Helgeson were tragically killed while celebrating their three-year anniversary at a [1:41:08] concert in Wisconsin. We got a text that they had made it to their car and were headed home. [1:41:14] This would be the last thing that we had ever heard from them. On July 20th of 2025, our lives came to a [1:41:20] screeching halt. Brady and Hallie were innocently driving home while an illegal immigrant that was driving [1:41:27] the wrong way while intoxicated crashed into them. She was a multiple offender two times over her legal [1:41:35] limit and had failed to install her interlock device that would have prevented this whole incident from [1:41:40] happening. And above all else, she's never had a driver's license to be on the road in the first [1:41:45] place. This woman was not a hardened criminal. She was just a mom. A mom that was allowed to live in [1:41:52] this country completely exempt from consequences for breaking our laws. Time after time, she was allowed to [1:41:59] keep living here above the law without any attempt to change her behavior and bad decisions. The ability [1:42:07] to seek protection and be shielded by living in a sanctuary city will continue to allow illegal [1:42:13] immigrants to continue to take the innocent lives of Americans. If you want to seek refuge in our country [1:42:21] and make a better life for yourself, I am in total support. But expect you to follow our laws. Our safety [1:42:29] depends on it. Why are we allowing people to live amongst us that want to cause us harm? Why are we [1:42:36] expected to allow them to keep offending and not be deported? Do you think this is really helping [1:42:42] anyone seek a better life? It is not. This is called being an enabler. If you are unable to live by the [1:42:50] laws of this country, you should be removed at the very first offense. Why are we waiting for our children [1:42:57] to be murdered? If the woman responsible for murdering our children was deported after the first [1:43:04] time she was drinking and driving, we wouldn't be forced to be living this nightmare. To allow someone [1:43:10] to continue to be on the road with multiple traffic violations and a history of drinking and driving, [1:43:16] not to mention never legally obtaining a driver's license or citizenship, is absolutely recklessness. [1:43:22] This entire tragedy was completely preventable. And not just for us, but for her too. If you think [1:43:29] allowing anyone to live their lives here without consequence is helping them in any way become a [1:43:34] better person, you are mistaken. This woman will have to live the rest of her life knowing she not [1:43:41] only murdered two innocent teenagers full of hopes, dreams, just ready to start their lives together, [1:43:47] but she also destroyed her life, our life, and our community and our community's lives. Generations [1:43:55] of kids and classmates left to figure out why was this allowed to happen. It should have never happened. [1:44:02] Try to explain to Brady's 11 year old sister that he will never attend another one of her events to [1:44:09] cheer her on. He'll never get to see her grow up. Explain to his 16 year old sister he won't get to be [1:44:15] here to protect her from the guys with bad intentions or meeting her newest farm animal edition. Tell Hallie's [1:44:22] brother that he's now an only child. All because an illegal immigrant that was allowed to live in a [1:44:27] sanctuary city while breaking our laws repeatedly until she finally murdered someone with her reckless [1:44:34] selfish ways. And please, I beg you to explain to me that I will not get to watch my son grow into the [1:44:42] man I was so diligently raising him to be. I will not get to see him succeed at all of his goals he [1:44:49] has worked so hard to make come true. Then you explain to Hallie's mom why she'll never get to see her [1:44:57] little girl become a mother herself. And you explain to her dad why he will never get to walk his little [1:45:04] girl down the aisle and give her away. Please, I ask that you tell my husband that the company he spent [1:45:11] his whole life building was for nothing. Brady will never get to work alongside of him. Just so that a [1:45:18] group of people that feel it is more important to protect those illegal immigrants let them keep [1:45:25] offending until they completely destroy the lives of innocent children and families is more important [1:45:33] than our rights and safety of American citizens. It's really easy to say that we need to protect [1:45:41] these groups when you are unaffected. It's really easy for people I don't even know to sit there and [1:45:47] say my kids deserve better than to be part of a political agenda. If you believe this to be true, [1:45:54] you are sadly mistaken. I don't want to be here. We don't want to be here. But we weren't given a choice. [1:46:02] Our children were murdered. So here we are trying to prevent this nightmare from happening to anyone [1:46:07] else. If it is to protect the loved ones of the very people attacking us. Some of my own family [1:46:15] find it necessary to tell me this is an issue of drinking and driving, not immigration. If this [1:46:21] particular woman would have been responsibly dealt with and deported after the first time drinking and [1:46:28] driving, then we would not be in this position right now. My entire future has been literally [1:46:34] stolen from me in a way that will never make sense and it still doesn't seem real. I should be listening [1:46:41] to Brady and Hallie tell me about college and about how they can't wait to come home for the summer. [1:46:46] But because we continue to protect people like this and give them free reign in our communities, [1:46:52] the innocent lives will continue to be taken. Angel families will continue to multiply. Whose kid [1:46:59] has to die before these people will see where we are coming from? Whose family has to be destroyed [1:47:06] before they're willing to admit, hey, we have a problem? What tragedy has to rip their lives apart [1:47:13] before they realize that when they tell me I need to look at my situation differently, [1:47:18] it's selfish, heartless, and cruel. If my reasoning is wrong, then I pray that you will never know [1:47:25] how it feels to live a day in my life. Thank you, Ms. Highland. Mr. Romanucci. Chairman Van Drew, [1:47:45] Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Crockett, and Ranking Member Raskin. My name is Antonio Romanucci. [1:47:52] I'm a national civil rights attorney and I have the deep honor of representing the family of Renee Good. [1:48:00] It was her tragic death in Minnesota by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis that I took [1:48:05] on that representation. I also represent U.S. citizens whose constitutional rights were violated [1:48:12] by federal agents in Chicago. And first, please let me express my deepest respect to my co-panelists [1:48:21] and mothers who have suffered unthinkable loss, tragedy, and trauma. Your family's tragedies are [1:48:29] inexcusable and we respect your courage. I know as someone who represents victims of violent crime [1:48:37] that too often the second tragedy is that victims struggle to get the justice that they deserve. [1:48:45] We share your concern that America needs common sense immigration reform. I have heard all of you say [1:48:53] the same thing. But marching thousands of masked agents into communities, rounding up black and brown [1:49:02] people, including children, terrorizing them while creating collateral damage of death and catastrophic [1:49:08] harm to American citizens? That's not the answer. All Americans should feel safe in their own cities [1:49:15] where citizens are free from unlawful harm from anyone, including agents of their own government. [1:49:23] Harm of Americans by Americans in American cities is devastating to our republic. Those who have [1:49:30] committed these violations of rights must be held accountable, just as all people who commit violent [1:49:37] acts must be held accountable. Allow me to give insight into an American mother of three, Renee Good, [1:49:45] who was killed while she was squarely being protected by the First Amendment. Here are words that her brother [1:49:52] spoke to fellow members of Congress not long ago, quote, the deep distress our family feels because of [1:50:00] Renee's loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief and desperation for [1:50:08] change. Our family took some consolation thinking that perhaps Renee's death would bring change in our [1:50:16] country. It has not. These encounters with federal agents are changing many lives, including ours, [1:50:24] forever. The most important thing we can do is help our country understand what a beautiful American we have [1:50:32] lost. A sister, a daughter, a mother, a partner and friend, end quote. The distress is also felt by Alex [1:50:42] Preddy's family. It is felt by Maramere Martinez in Chicago, shot five times by a federal agent while [1:50:49] bringing a donation to church. It is felt by elected official Juan Munoz, violently detained and used as [1:50:56] a prop for a DHS video. It is felt by children separated from their parents and shipped to detention centers in [1:51:03] another state, family after family and city after city. The harms by our own federal government in American [1:51:11] cities are staggering. Needless injury and death by masked agents undermining trust in all law enforcement. [1:51:19] Violations of freedom of speech and Fourth Amendment freedom from unlawful search and seizure. False [1:51:26] statements of absolute immunity for agents and false narratives about victims. Failure to properly [1:51:33] investigate claims of police misconduct. What is not understood is that Renee Good's family cannot [1:51:39] pursue justice against a federal officer the same way as if a state or local officer had fired those [1:51:46] gunshots. This anomaly must end. Federal officers should not receive a special pass on accountability [1:51:54] and there should be a bridge to justice for all victims. Current law requires that you ask for [1:52:01] permission from this federal government to file a lawsuit against it and only allows for a trial by [1:52:07] judge and not a jury in defiance of the Seventh Amendment. Reasonable updates to Section 1983 of the [1:52:16] Civil Rights Act or the Federal Tort Claims Act are needed to ensure access to justice and accountability for [1:52:24] wrongdoers. I urge Congress to ensure all people have the right to a jury trial including those hurt or [1:52:32] killed by federal officers. In conclusion, I deeply respect the mothers who spoke their truths today. [1:52:40] Their pain and anger and anger are something no parent should ever experience and it's palpable in [1:52:46] this room. The family of Renee Good and so many other families impacted by the acts of federal agents [1:52:53] have likewise suffered immeasurable pain and anger and all victims are worthy of the right to seek [1:52:59] accountability. We all want safety and peace. Criminal acts of all kinds must be addressed. Please create [1:53:07] common sense immigration policies. Pursue accountability for the harm done by ICE with the same level of [1:53:16] commitment that you pursue accountability for all people who commit crimes in this country and demand [1:53:22] full compliance to our United States Constitution. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Romanucci. Ms. Wilkerson, [1:53:33] you may begin. Thank you for having me here today to tell you the story of my son Joshua. My husband and I [1:53:41] raised three children and Josh was the baby of our family. He was 18 years old and a senior in high [1:53:45] school. A classmate of his asked him for a ride home and unbeknownst to him that classmate wanted to murder [1:53:53] Josh so that he could scrap his truck for some money. Instead of getting Josh home that day, we got [1:54:01] an autopsy report that explained just exactly how Josh died. There are three manners of death. Abdomen [1:54:07] trauma, head trauma and strangulation. I guess I feel lucky that he was dead before he was set on fire. [1:54:21] This creates a hole in a family like you can never imagine. It will never be repaired here. Our lives will [1:54:31] be different. It's like a bomb was dropped in our family. And even if we could pick up the pieces, you [1:54:37] can't put them back together, right? I'm okay with where Josh was at today. What I'm not okay with are [1:54:47] the lies that I'm hearing as I sit here sometimes. Josh deserved to live. His brother was defending this [1:54:54] country in the Air Force. He got to come home for two weeks to bury his little brother and then go back [1:55:01] to defending this country and put his grief on a shelf. So now that he's out, he deals with things later [1:55:08] and it affects our family in every single way. The lies I want to talk about today are what I'm [1:55:17] hearing from Ms. Crockett and Mr. Raskin about. I think you said there's potential terrorists roaming [1:55:24] the streets. Those are due to sanctuary city policies. You invited the criminal element. Hey, [1:55:30] come to our city and we're going to give you sanctuary. What are you giving them sanctuary from? [1:55:34] The law? Who else gets sanctuary from the law? Do I get it? You feel sympathy for me? I'm never going to be [1:55:42] the same. Can I go do what I want to do and get sanctuary from the law? I'm just, I can't even [1:55:48] understand how you can say you're inviting the criminal element to come to your city. [1:55:52] And what you're doing is putting them over the citizens that are the ones that are supposed to [1:55:55] be voting for you. Although we know illegals vote in the elections. Felt policies are under Obama [1:56:05] inviting opening the U.S. border to any and everybody, allowing them with no, without vetting them, [1:56:12] and shipping them off to other parts of the country so that they can vote in that area, [1:56:18] giving them driver's license, giving them social security cards, allowing them to be citizens [1:56:25] without being citizens and vote for a certain party. So the lies about that, what you're saying [1:56:35] are just that they're lies, you know, they can protest. And as far as Ms. Good's family, [1:56:41] walk down the street all day long with a protest sign, walk down it all day long. But you can fix [1:56:46] it by telling them you can't get in the middle of a law enforcement investigation. I don't care how [1:56:50] bad you think the policy is wrong. Don't get in the middle of an investigation of law enforcement. [1:56:55] That'd be the first way not to die. You know, if you want a simple protest. Antifa is not peaceful [1:57:03] protesting. Those are the lies. It's lie after lie after lie after lie. None of you care about these [1:57:10] people. You don't care about my kid. You don't care about theirs. You don't care about Ms. Good. [1:57:15] It just suits you. It's frustrating to hear the lies after lies after lies. And it's over and over [1:57:21] and over. I had hoped that my testimony 10 years ago, I wouldn't have to meet new families like this. [1:57:28] Boy, I was so naive. We're still talking about giving sanctuary to people that broke the law. What [1:57:33] about the people that stood in line and did it the hard way, wrote letters home to their home country and [1:57:38] said, look, we made it to America. You know, they didn't know how to speak the language. They didn't [1:57:43] have a car. They didn't have a lot of money, but they did it the right way. And they were granted [1:57:47] the American dream. So many of them accomplished that. What about those people you're letting in [1:57:52] in front of those people? How does that make sense in your eyes? How do you sleep at night saying [1:57:57] you're going to give sanctuary to people who broke into this country? I don't know how you sleep at night. [1:58:02] But what I do know is you don't care about our kids. They're collateral damage [1:58:05] in the poly or the things that you want to happen. That's all they are. They're collateral damage. [1:58:12] You can tell me about the sympathy and I believe your sympathy. You don't want anybody to die. [1:58:15] I understand that. But think about if it's your kid, you got any grandkids, you got kids. Think [1:58:20] about your baby, the baby, your family, and think about in an hour, you may have to go home and watch, [1:58:25] listen to your wife, tell you that your son didn't come home from school today because he was beaten [1:58:31] and tortured and set on fire by somebody that didn't need to be in this country. His parents [1:58:38] had overstayed a visa. His father was given a social security card and a driver's license [1:58:43] so that he could work. And he overstayed that visa. And then he brought his whole family here [1:58:50] without a visa to come in illegally. That is what I'm mad about. If you really cared about this, [1:58:57] you would stand up and quit calling for sanctuary city. It makes no sense. And all you're doing is [1:59:03] trying to put people that have come into the country illegally before American citizens, [1:59:10] especially even about the Rene Good. You know, I feel for their family. They have lost a family [1:59:14] member through no fault of their own, but she chose to go there that day. She chose to aim her car at [1:59:20] a policeman. She chose those actions that got her killed. Policemen did or I shouldn't just [1:59:27] deciding who to pick up. They're going after criminals in this country. And if you're in the middle of that [1:59:32] and you get in the middle of it and you want to go out there and tell them they shouldn't be doing it, [1:59:35] and you're an illegal, pick you up too. Sorry. That's just the way it has to be. President Trump [1:59:43] and Tom Holman and the Border Patrol have stopped the leak of illegal immigration in this country. [1:59:51] It is ICE's job to clean up the dang mess. It is going to be hard. There are going to be casualties. [1:59:59] There are going to be unhappy people and families that are hurting. I say, if you are not putting your [2:00:04] kid six feet in under the dirt and turning around and walking away from the cemetery, [2:00:09] you'll be all right. Stop the nonsense. Stop it. It's time to clean up the mess of what happened [2:00:20] under the last few administrations. And you know, I really don't care if they're unhappy. I'm so [2:00:25] grateful they could go home and see their kid or they can FaceTime their kid in another country, [2:00:30] or the kid here can FaceTime. Their parents put them in that situation. Their parents brought him over [2:00:35] or brought them over there when they were young. I understand it's no fault of the kids, but their [2:00:38] parents have been in that situation. You have parents in other countries that come here illegally [2:00:44] and then they they call for some yahoo to transport their kid across the border to join them. They [2:00:49] don't care if they get raped all along the way because that's what happens. We know it. I know it. You [2:00:53] know it. Ms. Wilkerson, I could listen to you all day and I mean it. I could. Your time has expired. I've [2:01:00] been very lenient. You're about a minute and a half over. Sorry. No, don't be sorry. I'm sorry. I have to say this, but [2:01:07] if you could wrap it up your entire testimony, anything else you have to say will be put in the [2:01:12] permanent record. Thank you. Thank you for listening to me. I just want you to know that the leak has [2:01:16] been stopped. Continue to fight to clean up the mess. Stop the nonsense at Sanctuary Cities. Thank you, [2:01:23] Ms. Wilkerson. We're going to now proceed under the five minute rule with questions for those on the panel. [2:01:29] And we are going to start with Mr. Schmidt from the state of Kansas. My name is Chairman and want to thank [2:01:42] all of our witnesses for being here and for not just taking your time, but for giving your hearts. [2:01:48] We're grateful for your sharing your stories because it makes it real for people who are watching [2:01:54] and who will read this record and who understand that this is more than a policy debate. So thank you [2:02:00] for your time. Let me start with this direction. Ms. Wilkerson, let me start with you. I'm sorry, [2:02:08] I didn't catch. Where is your home state? It was Houston, Texas. In Texas? Just outside of Houston. Yes. [2:02:15] What happened to the person who killed your child? I got justice in a court of law, [2:02:20] probably because it was in Texas. He could have gotten between five and 99 years. He got 99 years. [2:02:27] And so in that means he has to serve 30 years before he comes up for parole. So we have about [2:02:33] another 15 years before I have to start fighting, letting him out, you know, him getting out of jail. [2:02:38] But I am grateful that he got some justice. I know so many parents don't get that. [2:02:43] Ms. Eileen, may I ask you the same question? What happened to the person who killed your child? [2:02:49] Um, Brady and Hallie had their crash happen this past July. Um, we have been pushed off and pushed [2:02:57] off. You know, things take time. We're told this is just how it works. Be patient. Try to raise your [2:03:05] family. Try to go about your life, but be patient. So we are still living this justice you speak of. [2:03:14] How old was Brady? He was 19 and Hallie was 18. [2:03:19] Brady looked like quite an athlete from the photos. Brady and Hallie were both amazing athletes. [2:03:26] Brady turned down scholarships to stay home and support Hallie and her athletics. [2:03:34] And, um, they were going to start college together in about two weeks. [2:03:39] All of their college belongings are still in their rooms, in our basements. [2:03:45] Just like they're going to come back and we're going to send them off someday. You're right. He, [2:03:50] he looked like an amazing athlete because he was, he's a very special boy to a lot of, [2:03:54] a lot of people that know him and that don't know him. He's made a huge impact. [2:04:00] I saw what looked like football photos. Was he a multi-sport athlete? [2:04:05] Um, Brady played football mainly. He was a state track athlete. He ran relays and through the shot put. [2:04:15] Um, he went two years in a row to the state competition and, um, he weight trained in between [2:04:23] times as you can see by the size of his biceps. He never missed a workout session. He was very [2:04:31] self-disciplined. He was very much a rule follower to die in the way he did, innocently trying to get [2:04:40] home. The rule follower in him was screaming at the top of his lungs. This woman is drunk. [2:04:47] She's driving the wrong way. I don't have time to react. Why wasn't she home with her own family, [2:04:56] taking care of them, sparing my child? Where were they going to go to college? [2:05:02] They were going to go over to South Dakota to Lake Area Tech. He was planning on opening, um, [2:05:10] a diesel mechanic shop at our house. We just finished building. Him and his dad had spent the whole summer. [2:05:17] They own semis and excavating equipment. Um, they do a lot of dirt work and truck hauling, [2:05:24] and he was going to open that shop to be able to service all of those trucks. Like I said, [2:05:30] he was very independently driven, had lots of goals. He had a plan for him and Hallie. [2:05:39] It was a little different than what he was anticipating. Thank you, ma'am. Welcome. [2:05:46] Ms. Fox, what happened to the person who hit your daughter? Um, I contacted the [2:05:53] voice line victims of, uh, immigration crime engagement back in January after our seventh [2:06:03] arraignment. She took the plea, um, pleading guilty to classify felony conspiracy to flee the scene of an [2:06:12] accident with a severe bodily injury. Um, so I filed a report, uh, with voice and we received news that [2:06:23] she has since been deported, um, February 28th, it was confirmed that she is back in Venezuela. [2:06:32] So each of the three of you had interaction with the criminal justice system after the crimes that [2:06:37] injured or killed your children. Since this all happened to each of the three mothers, just quickly, [2:06:42] has anybody who engaged in the policies that let those people stay in this country illegally [2:06:48] beforehand, has anybody contacted you and expressed sympathy or apologized to you? [2:06:52] We, no, we've heard from one politician from our local area expressing his sincere condolences, [2:07:03] but we've heard nothing, nothing about anything that was done wrong in justice as much as [2:07:10] Ms. Renee Goode has received. I had, um, several Republicans express their sympathy, [2:07:17] um, but most of the others just wanted to look away and, and not, you know, they're not emotionally [2:07:24] strong enough to look at it, let alone live through it, but they're not going to change a policy. [2:07:28] That's why I fully believe that kids are just collateral damage. Thank you. My time's expired, [2:07:35] Mr. Chairman. I just want to say, uh, we are very sorry that our country let this happen to you. [2:07:44] Thank you, Mr. Schmidt. I recognize the gentleman from Georgia, uh, Mr. Hank Johnson. [2:07:51] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm so sorry for what has happened to your children. [2:07:55] I cannot imagine what you've gone through and no parents should have to go through what you have [2:08:00] gone through. All victims of violent crime deserve justice, but this hearing is not about justice. [2:08:07] It's entitled, The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies, Stories from Victims and Families. [2:08:17] We could very well have, uh, done a hearing on the human toll of the Trump-MAGA tax cuts [2:08:26] on 17 million Americans who got their health care access and food security ripped out from under them [2:08:34] so that the wealthiest billionaires in this country could get another tax cut. Or we could have [2:08:40] entitled this hearing or had a hearing on the human toll of Trump's stupid war with Iran and how it's [2:08:48] making life increasingly unaffordable, uh, for people here in America except for the wealthiest Americans. [2:08:57] They can pay whatever the price is. We could have had a hearing on the human toll of Trump's desperate [2:09:04] cover-up of the Epstein files, the toll that that has played on the, uh, victims of that international [2:09:14] child sex abuse ring. Um, but no, we are here today and not to cast any aspersions on any of you for [2:09:23] testifying, but this is a Steve Miller approved hearing whose sole aim is to stir up passion and [2:09:31] bias and prejudice against immigrants who are people of color. Now, I mean, we have had mass murder after [2:09:42] mass murder in this country perpetrated by all kinds of people, but I just want to talk about those that [2:09:51] have been perpetrated by white males. Uh, Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley in Lewistown, Maine, [2:10:00] killing 18 people, wounding 13. Peyton Gendron, white supremacist, killed 10 people in a racist attack [2:10:10] at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Randy Stare, a 32-year-old suspected of killing a family of four [2:10:18] in Romeoville, Illinois. Richard Dale Crum, a 52-year-old man in Arca Butler, Mississippi, [2:10:28] who shot and killed six people, including his ex-wife and stepfather. Uh, 38-year-old Courtney Gordon, [2:10:35] who stabbed four relatives, including two children to death in New York City. And I could go on and on [2:10:41] in terms of tragedies and victims of tragedy who could be brought here to talk about this MAGA [2:10:49] Republican failure to do anything about gun control. Um, you know, I mean, we, so this is, [2:11:00] even the fact that, Mr. Romanucci, you are seated number three instead of number four. I mean, normally [2:11:08] the three Republican witnesses would be seated together, not sandwiching the Democratic witness [2:11:15] in between you. But, uh, you know, you got sandwiched today for the dramatic effect of it. It's all [2:11:22] politics. And it's unfortunate what my friends here on the other side of the aisle are perpetrating. [2:11:29] Um, Mr. Romanucci, uh, the killing of Miss Good was not in a, uh, was, was by rogue ICE officers, [2:11:41] federal agents who can't even be sued for, uh, you know, the damage that they have done to [2:11:50] your client's loved ones. That's wrong. That's why I've introduced the Bivens Act, which would allow [2:11:55] people to bring federal officials in the court and sue them against these egregious actions. [2:12:01] There are many, certainly they equate. I'm not minimizing the tragedy that is before us today [2:12:08] with you three women, but the other tragedies at the hands of non-immigrants, just as important. [2:12:18] Uh, my Bivens Act would ensure that all victims and their loved ones can get justice, even if the [2:12:24] perpetrator is a government official. And that's why I've also introduced the Constitutional Accountability [2:12:30] Act, which would establish that federal, state, and local governments have the same respondent superior [2:12:36] liability that private employers have for their employees. So there's much we can do to bring [2:12:44] justice to those who have been aggrieved by tragedy. Congress, this MAGA Republican Congress is incapable [2:12:54] and unwilling to do anything in that regard, and that's unfortunate. I'm going to be the one who yields [2:13:01] back after going only 11 minutes over. Thank you, and I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Yes, [2:13:10] that was 11 seconds over. Not 11 minutes, I would have been tapping the gavel. Um, with that, [2:13:16] Mr. Schmidt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have some unanimous consent requests. Without objection. I would ask [2:13:20] unanimous consent to include in the record an article titled, I asked Governor Pritzker in Chicago [2:13:25] sanctuary politicians to not release criminal illegal alien accused of killing 18-year-old loyal to college [2:13:30] student. Without objection. Also an article titled, Mayor Fry's sanctuary policies release criminal [2:13:35] illegal aliens from jails back into Minneapolis streets to terrorize more innocent Americans. [2:13:40] Without objection. And so too unanimous consent to include in the record an article titled, Illinois [2:13:44] father says Pritzker shows, quote, indifference, unquote, to his daughter being killed by a legal [2:13:49] immigrant. Without objection. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. And Mr. Chair, I have a UC. Without [2:13:53] objection. This is from the Texas Tribune. It is from March 29th, actually my birthday, 2010, [2:13:59] Houston, no sanctuary, um, and niece Parker, who was the mayor at the time. [2:14:03] Oh, can I respond to that? Thank you. Um, I, you know what, Mr. Gill is going to speak next and he [2:14:14] is going to yield some of his time to you. Thank you. Is that okay? Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. [2:14:18] Okay. Uh, with that, I recognize Mr. Gill. Yeah, thank, thank you, Mr. Chairman, um, for holding this [2:14:26] hearing and, and thank you to the witnesses for coming here and telling us your stories and your family's [2:14:32] stories. Um, before we get into that, I think it's worth saying, um, that was one of the most [2:14:38] disgusting testimonies I have ever heard to have Hank come in here and lecture angel families [2:14:45] about how they shouldn't be here, how we shouldn't be holding this hearing. [2:14:49] What the hell is wrong with you guys? The reason they're here is because of open borders that you [2:14:56] guys perpetrated for four years and to come in here and to turn this into a MAGA Republican idiotic [2:15:04] low IQ lecture is sickening to whine about which seats they're in. It's disgusting. That said, I'd [2:15:23] like to give you guys a chance to respond to some of the things that you've heard and I'll start with [2:15:28] you, Ms. Wilkerson. Thank you. I just wanted to say that, uh, it was a spoken policy of Houston to [2:15:36] be a sanctuary. It wasn't written at that point. And so the suburbs around Houston followed that same [2:15:42] policy. And these Parker's kind of laughable to me. This hearing could also be about why [2:15:52] we're not, uh, or people aren't voting. You know, there's a slush fund for people up here [2:15:57] and in these places that have committed crimes or people have said, Oh, you've raped and stuff. But [2:16:02] you know, this hearing could have been about that too, but it's not. Um, it's about our kids that we [2:16:07] lost and about the very fact that sanctuary city policies is creating a haven for people that came [2:16:14] to this country illegally. Thank you. You can put me in whatever order in whatever seat. [2:16:20] My tragedy is never going to be okay. I will be last. I will be first. I will be 42nd seat. [2:16:28] That's what you want. But we're so used to hearing everyone tell us, but we're sorry. Please hear our [2:16:36] condolences, but this hearing should be about this. This hearing should be about me, but it's not. [2:16:44] Today's our day. Hear us leave your butts in your seat. I don't want to hear your butts. Our tragedies [2:16:54] are disgusting. I still wait for my children to come home. It's not real to me. My 11 year old, [2:17:02] my 16 year old, they're waiting for their car to come home with Brady and Hallie in it, because guess [2:17:08] what? It's evidence. We can't have that back yet. My garage stall is empty. So the girls say, mom, [2:17:16] we still think they're going to come home and tell us all about the concert and celebrating their [2:17:20] anniversary because the car's not here. They'll come home. Won't they? We can't pick a headstone [2:17:28] because that makes it too real, but you can sit here and tell us about what kind of hearing this should be. [2:17:34] Renee Good is not the same as Angel family. She made a choice. She left her home that day, made the choice. [2:17:42] The choice. Carissa didn't get a choice. Joshua didn't get a choice. They are living American laws, [2:17:53] the American dream. They're trying to make this place better and they were stolen by somebody who [2:17:59] doesn't care. But give me all your butts. I'm used to it. I don't know if anybody has noticed, but I am not [2:18:08] white. I wake up brown every day. I'm not sure what race has to do with any of this. Four. There's four [2:18:22] kids that we talked about today and y'all can't seem to stay on topic for what? An hour of your time? [2:18:30] You got to bring up what about, what about, what about? No. We're talking about these four kids. [2:18:37] We're talking about Angel families. Stay on topic. I don't want to talk about Epstein right now. That's [2:18:44] another hearing. I don't want to talk about ICE detainees. That's another hearing. Right now, [2:18:49] today, we're talking about sanctuary policies and how they have wrecked our families. Y'all come and [2:18:59] y'all feed Carissa. You get her up from her bed using a crane and then you tell me and lecture me [2:19:08] what this hearing should be about. Ms. Wilkerson, we have a little bit more time. Would you like to [2:19:21] have the floor to respond to anything else you've heard today? I just have to agree with them both. [2:19:26] You know, this hearing could be about anything and I appreciate that they want to get some things on [2:19:31] record, but it's not what it's about today. It's about American citizens who parents try to do the [2:19:37] right thing. You know, I stayed at home mom because I wanted to give Josh my values, my kids my values and [2:19:43] teach them right from wrong and take them to church. And you get almost through to that point and then [2:19:48] somebody that shouldn't even have been here just steals their life right out from under you. [2:19:52] You'll never understand the pain. I pray that you don't understand the pain. [2:19:58] And it's about giving a group of people sanctuary from the law. Nobody gets sanctuary from the law. [2:20:06] It's absolutely ridiculous. I can't, it's hard to be a believer sitting here begging you to [2:20:11] obey the laws that y'all made. I mean, there are laws in the books. If we just start with that, [2:20:17] we'd be better off if we just start enforcing those. But nobody gets sanctuary from the law. [2:20:22] You know, you know how to stay, you know how to not get killed by the police. Don't get involved [2:20:26] in something they're doing. Makes every, you know, it's pretty much common sense. But I just, [2:20:31] I want it to remain about the kids, American citizens that have been lost. You know, I think [2:20:36] this gentleman over here, Mr. Johnson said that you could fill this room. You could fill us stadiums. [2:20:41] They don't keep statistics. They don't want statistics. They don't want you to know how many [2:20:44] people think. Ms. Wilkerson, I'm sorry. I get to be the bad guy today. I don't mean to be. [2:20:50] Um, I really could listen to all of you all day. I'm trying as chairman to get it under control. [2:20:56] And we've let everybody on both sides. Thank you. No problem. I could talk for a while. [2:20:59] I know. I know. And I thank you for that. Does the gentleman yield back? Yep. Yield back. [2:21:06] Thank you. I thank the gentleman. Um, with that, I recognize the ranking member, Jasmine Crockett. [2:21:12] Thank you so much. And, uh, I hear your rage and I don't have children and literally have [2:21:18] never lost a child nor have one injured to actually, um, you know, really be in your shoes. [2:21:25] But one thing that I can tell you about the redirection is because so often what we see [2:21:31] happen is politicians play games. The reality is that if you are talking about a sanctuary city, [2:21:37] then we're talking about city government. We're talking about local control, something that the [2:21:41] Republicans used to espouse that they believed in. They used to believe in whoever lives in that city. [2:21:48] You elect who is going to run that city and that city, whether it's the police department, [2:21:54] which is the police department and law enforcement that make the decisions about what they do. [2:22:00] We don't pick the police chief for any given city, not on the federal level that comes from the city [2:22:05] level that comes from whoever the people of that city actually elect to represent them. [2:22:11] I believe in local control. Same thing. I live in Texas too. And baby, I wish [2:22:15] I didn't have to deal with governor Greg Abbott, but local control dictates that he is the governor [2:22:21] of our state. And therefore we have state reps, we have state senators and we have a governor and we have [2:22:27] county elected officials and city elected officials. We are sitting in Washington DC right now. [2:22:32] We are on the federal level. So what I believe in is something that the Republicans used to scream, [2:22:38] which is local control. So when we're having a conversation and a hearing about the human toll, [2:22:46] the title specifically is the human toll of sanctuary policies, stories from victims and families. [2:22:53] My deal is we aren't the ones that decide what cities do. So what they've decided to do is they've [2:23:00] decided to play on your pain. And that is why I am frustrated. Because hear me when I say this, [2:23:07] I have seen people, whether it was an American citizen or not, they killed your child or harmed [2:23:14] your child. I believe it's wrong. To me, it wouldn't have made it any less painful. And I could be wrong [2:23:21] again, because I don't have any kids. But if for some reason it had been a US citizen that ended up [2:23:27] harming or killing your child, the pain would still be there. It would still hurt. So the reality is that [2:23:33] what we need to do is make sure we are protecting everybody in this country. I don't wake up and [2:23:39] somehow people look and see that there's a D somewhere around my head or something. And so therefore, [2:23:46] I am going to somehow be precluded from harm becoming me. When I go out to do policy work, [2:23:57] and I've worked on the state level too, the policies that I was writing when I was on the state level [2:24:02] are different from the federal level because we have different levels of control. The one thing [2:24:08] that we do have control of, you may have recognized that the DHS secretary, as we're talking about [2:24:14] immigration, she had to come before this committee. I want to say maybe a day or two after she came [2:24:20] before our committee because we have jurisdiction over her. We don't have jurisdiction over your mayors. [2:24:25] We have jurisdiction over her. She lost her job. The DHS secretary is gone. Now, to be clear about this, [2:24:34] the Republican president is the one that put her out of her job because she was failing. So the reason [2:24:41] that my colleagues have brought these things up, and this isn't to say that the harm and the hurt [2:24:47] that you are feeling, that you should not be feeling that. It is wrong. Again, even as a criminal defense [2:24:56] attorney, I can't tell you how many times I was begging clients to enter pleas. In fact, it literally [2:25:03] made me remember a case that I had with a guy who was a veteran. He had served this country. He ended [2:25:15] up being put on some new medication, and he also ended up drinking with that medication. Now, the [2:25:20] medication had a warning on the bottle. But he went out, he drove, and he killed someone's mother. [2:25:31] That client told me he had no criminal history. He told me over and over and over, [2:25:37] he said, just give me whatever they're going to give me. They offered him the max, which was 20 years, [2:25:44] and I could not in good conscience, knowing that a jury would not give him the max. The only reason [2:25:51] we went to trial is because the prosecutor wanted to be so greedy. That jury did not give him 20. He [2:25:58] was willing to take 15 years. I am here to tell you that it is never right to break any of our laws. [2:26:06] So the reason that we have gone down the line and the reason that we brought Mr. Romanucci [2:26:11] is because we actually have control over CBP and DHS. It's just an ice. It's just that these guys don't [2:26:21] want to exacerbate, use that control. They sit there and they allow U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens to [2:26:29] have the rights violated, and that is something within our purview. If I lived in one of your cities, in fact, [2:26:36] I am in Dallas. Dallas has a Republican mayor. To be a sanctuary city doesn't necessarily [2:26:43] mean that you provide sanctuary. It means that you're not going to do the federal government's job. [2:26:47] That's what it means. They are local law enforcement, and what it means is that they are not going to sit [2:26:53] there and do the job of federal agents. That is what a sanctuary city means. But to be clear again, [2:26:59] and I have more articles, the city of Houston was not, when you talk about some someone being a sanctuary [2:27:05] city, it is an official policy that they are following. It can't be that it's one person. [2:27:11] It's the official policy of the city. Otherwise, it doesn't work if it's just one person. [2:27:16] I will yield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your indulgence. [2:27:20] Sure. Yes, gentleman is recognized. Thank God she won't be back next Congress, [2:27:29] but I'd like to ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record. A few different things. First of all, [2:27:34] ICE agent struck by Renee Good's vehicle suffered internal bleeding to torso, DHS said. Without [2:27:40] objection. Next, DHS reaches more than 4,000 arrests of illegal aliens, including murderers, [2:27:47] sex offenders, gang members, and terrorists in Minnesota since Operation Metro Surge began. [2:27:51] Without objection. Another update, DHS deploys special operations after multiple violent attacks on [2:27:57] federal law enforcement by domestic terrorists in Chicago. Without objection. I recognize myself for five [2:28:05] minutes. I want to thank you all for being here. Even you, Mr. Romanucci. Thank you. Thank you. [2:28:14] Some I know it's hard to believe. I don't have the words. I don't have the words. It's hard to believe [2:28:21] that there are people in politics who give a damn. I swear to God there are. And I'm not commenting. [2:28:28] I'm not going to comment on the other side. I'm not going to talk about Republicans and Democrats. [2:28:31] I'm not going to talk about Epstein. I'm not going to talk about all the politics that's swirling around [2:28:37] because so much of it, a lot of times, is BS. And you know that because you've lived it. So you've [2:28:44] had to sit in hearings and talk to reporters and talk to politicians and hear all this crap. [2:28:51] And I wish you could. I can speak for me. And I know there's other members sitting up here. [2:28:56] If you could feel our hearts. I swear to God. I know I said in the beginning, it's not enough. [2:29:00] I only can say I'm sorry. I just, you guys did a good job. You did a good job. And this is no, [2:29:09] this isn't alligator tears or any BS. I admire you for what you've done. It's a big deal. And it's [2:29:18] as hard on you because you have somebody that's so incapacitated and you're there every day. And [2:29:25] thank you for what you do because your love is so great. And I think the three of you have so much [2:29:30] faith. That's the one thing I got out of this. And thank you for that as well. You know, we talked [2:29:37] today about, and I respect the ranking member, but local government. Yeah, it's local governments [2:29:43] that are doing this. It's states and it's cities, but they're breaking the law. They're breaking federal [2:29:50] law. Mrs. Wilkins, you all said it. And frankly, we've had legislation that's come before us that we [2:29:58] have voted for, but it's not going to make it all through. Not enough people voted for it. That those [2:30:02] cities, those towns, those counties, those states don't get their funding. And you want to see [2:30:09] politicians run, man, you take away the money that they get, they're going to run. You can't. Yes, [2:30:16] there are states rights. And I believe in the individuality, the states rights and how our [2:30:20] constitution was set up. It doesn't allow you to break federal law. Number one. Number two, [2:30:28] we had wide open borders. I mean, we just did. I'm not here to, this isn't a political debate. [2:30:34] Nobody's going to vote for or against me on anything in this room today, but we did. And we let really [2:30:40] bad people in. And somebody, you know, some, one of our members said, well, tragedies happened and it [2:30:47] could have been an American citizen who did that. Yeah. And we couldn't help that because they're an [2:30:52] American citizen. There was no, how do we know? You didn't, you don't know when you wake up in the [2:30:56] morning what somebody's going to do to you or to your family, your children, whatever. But this was [2:31:01] preventable. That's the word here. So you broke the law. They broke the law and it was preventable. [2:31:08] It didn't have to be that way. And we've talked about it for years. I love immigrants. I love legal [2:31:16] immigrants. I love so many of us, our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents came here, [2:31:22] they busted their ass to make a living and to do the right thing and to be responsible. They were [2:31:28] good people. That's not what we're talking about here. And in, and, and you know what, an aspect of [2:31:35] all this that we have didn't even mention is how much this cost us. Now there's, who cares about the [2:31:40] money when you think of human life? But even beyond that, some of these people, we have to transport them, [2:31:46] we have to feed them, we have to house them, we have to educate them. It's nothing against immigrants. [2:31:52] And it's not trying to hurt anybody, but they broke the law. And some of them are god awful. Those [2:32:00] statistics that Mr. Gill, that everybody's read today, they're real. It's not three or four. It's [2:32:06] thousands and millions were let into our country. No country has ever prevailed in all of world history [2:32:14] when it just bleeds open like that. So this hearing, more importantly than the politics, liberal, [2:32:21] conservative, Republican, Democrat, I just wanted people to hear. And I wish every American, [2:32:28] I swear to God, they didn't have to hear us. But I wish they could just hear you. That's why your job [2:32:34] is so hard. Because you know what, when we tell truth be told, yeah, we'll do some news hits, maybe, [2:32:39] you know, Mr. Schmidt will get interviewed, or I'll get interviewed, or Jasmine will get interviewed. [2:32:45] But a lot of people aren't going to know what happened here today. They're not. But you have to keep [2:32:50] pushing. And you have to keep working. And I want you to know, and I mean this, [2:32:55] forget the BS politics. A lot of people love you for what you've done, and the courage you've shown, [2:33:01] you didn't have to do it. This is a pain coming here. And you live that pain every single time you [2:33:08] do it. And you don't know who's telling you the truth and who's BSing you. But there are people who [2:33:13] care. And I pray to God that someday this works out. And we don't keep doing this. So I thank you for [2:33:19] that. I had a bunch of questions. I don't even have the time. Mr. Chairman, may I be recognized [2:33:25] for 30 seconds? Yes, you may. Thank you so much. First of all, whether it was by unintentional or [2:33:32] by happenstance, I embrace the position where I'm sitting. I hug moms like you all the time. And I do [2:33:43] feel your pain. I'm fine with where I sit in my position. Chairman, you are a powerful. When you [2:33:51] asked us to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance, we all followed you. And the last words that we [2:33:57] said were liberty and justice for all. And I'm an advocate, and that's what I believe in. And I'm [2:34:04] asking this Congress, this committee, to find a common sense approach to immigration so that we [2:34:11] don't have to do this again. You don't have to come back here in a year or 10 years ever. Thank you. [2:34:18] 30 seconds for me, just to answer. I probably brought by the way, they're not laws. I probably [2:34:24] broke all kinds of rules today, just so you know, and I don't care. You know, when Miss Crockett said [2:34:29] she doesn't have children, so she doesn't know. I mean, you can, we're not wired to process the type [2:34:34] of tragedy that we're living. We're not. There are no words. I will tell you, it does feel different [2:34:40] when an illegal immigrant kills your children than it does an American because it was preventable. [2:34:45] It feels different. Not that I know that because I have had an American kill a child. But when [2:34:51] something's preventable and your life is ruined from something that's preventable, [2:34:56] it does hit a little different than what I would imagine it would feel like just a regular casualty. [2:35:04] Loss in itself is so difficult. There's no words. Loss is loss. It is very tragic. What we're [2:35:15] dealing with, when it's preventable, when these people have done something and they weren't asked [2:35:21] to leave. If I were to go to Honduras, where the woman who killed our children is from, and I would [2:35:27] kill two teenagers there, I'm not getting any rights from the Hondurans. They're not giving me rights. [2:35:34] They're, it's different. It's, this is preventable. So I say, I think it does hit a little different [2:35:41] when our tragedy is preventable. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Schmidt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [2:35:47] In addition to our witnesses today, we have others who wish to be sure the committee and the record [2:35:53] know their stories. They were unable to testify. So I have some unanimous consent requests to [2:35:58] enter that objection record. I'd like to enter into the record a statement from Zoe Heiling, [2:36:02] the sister of Brady Heiling. I'd like to enter into the record a statement from Corey Heiling, [2:36:06] the sister of Brady Heiling. Without objection. I'd like to enter into the record [2:36:09] a statement from John and Deborah Hosuh, who I believe are the grandparents. Without objection. [2:36:13] I'd also like to enter into the record a statement from Agnes Gaboni, an angel mom. Without objection. [2:36:18] And a statement from Joe Abraham, an angel parent. Without objection. Thank you, I yield back. [2:36:22] Thank you, Mr. Schmidt. It concludes today's... No, I'm sorry. Sorry, one more you see. This is from the [2:36:28] Houston Chronicle. Houston is not a sanctuary city by the definition. This is from June 30th of 2006. [2:36:37] And more specifically, just if you'll indulge me for two seconds, to actually read something that's [2:36:42] actually a part of the article. It says that Houston police are required to check the warrant status [2:36:47] of everyone who is ticketed, arrested, or jailed if they fail to show up. I don't think it's in order [2:36:51] for you to be reading articles here. We're going to give her a little... It's almost done. Go ahead. [2:36:55] Just go. Don't argue. Just finish. Yeah, because you know I'm ready to... Okay. And ICE officials are [2:37:00] given full access to city jails and information collection... Without objection. Without objection. [2:37:04] ...by HPD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Without objection. Okay. That concludes today's hearing. [2:37:08] We thank our witnesses for appearing before the committee today. Without objection, all members [2:37:14] do have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or additional [2:37:20] materials for the record. Without objection. This hearing is adjourned.