WEBVTT

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AMNA NAWAZ: In its first hearing
of the year, the House Judiciary
Committee focused on immigration

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and how that Biden
administration has handled
record high numbers at
the U.S. Southern border.

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Lisa Desjardins has
been following it all,

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and has this look at how
Republicans are making
border security a key
part of their agenda.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Wielding their
new power, House Republicans

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hammered the Biden
administration over its
handling of the border.

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REP. JEFF VAN DREW (R-NJ): It is
Biden's problem because, in two
years, it's radically changed.

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LISA DESJARDINS: The House
Judiciary Committee is
packed with Freedom Caucus
and other harder-line

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conservatives focused
on the border, including
Texas Congressman Chip Roy.

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REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX):
That is 2020 to 2022,

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almost 1,000 migrant deaths
at the Southwest border
of the United States.

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REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ):
The border is dangerous.

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Drugs pour across,
international terrorists,
criminal gang members.

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LISA DESJARDINS: U.S. Customs
and Border Protection saw a
record 2.3 million encounters

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with migrants in the
Southwest last fiscal
year, driven by spike in
migrants from Venezuela,

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Nicaragua, and Cuba, with
many repeated attempts
by the same individuals.

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The hearing was parts
heated and sharp accusations
from Republicans.

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REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH):
Month after month after
month, we have set records

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for migrants coming into
the country. And, frankly,
I think it's intentional.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Part ardent
defense from Democrats,

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who say Republicans
are being political.

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REP. VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-TX):
There's no one who wants a safe,

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secure, well-managed border
than those of us who live
and work on the border.

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REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): This
hearing is titled Biden's border
crisis. That is completely

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wrong. It is not Biden's
border crisis. This has been a
crisis for over half-a-century.

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LISA DESJARDINS: And it was
part trying to grasp the problem
with U.S. policy at the border.

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Sheriff Mark Dannels of
Cochise County, Arizona.

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MARK DANNELS, Cochise County,
Arizona, Sheriff: I work with
many Border Patrol agents,

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federal agents, and, to
date, I have not heard one
say that it is working.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Indeed,
along the border,

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some in law enforcement say
their officers are overwhelmed.

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CLINT MCDONALD, Southwest
Border Sheriff's Coalition:
The influx of people, the mass

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quantities of people that are
invading our border, our Border
Patrol cannot keep up with it.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Clint McDonald
is the executive director of
the Texas and Southwest Border

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Sheriff's Coalition.
He is critical of Biden
policy and says Border
Patrol is struggling.

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CLINT MCDONALD: They
are undermanned,

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overworked and are
falling behind every
day. So, our sheriffs
are having to put on hold

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the citizens that elected
them to office to try to help
with this immigration problem.

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Our sheriffs do not want to be
immigration officers, but they
are forced into that role now.

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LISA DESJARDINS: But others
working on border issues argue
the U.S. needs to be more open,

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not less, to the flood
of asylum seekers.

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Dylan Corbett is an advocate
who works with migrants.

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DYLAN CORBETT, Executive
Director, Hope Border Institute:
We are concerned that,

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two years into the
administration's, we have
not fully restored asylum
at the border and we are

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seeing steps in the opposite
direction, that this
administration is embracing
some of the policies

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of the previous administration
to manage in a long-term way
immigration at the border.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Back
at today's hearing, the
mixed search for light...

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REP. JOE NEGUSE (D-CO): And
I'd love to be able to have a
thoughtful conversation with

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my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle
about these different
prescriptive proposals.

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LISA DESJARDINS: ... and heat...

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REP. JIM JORDAN: Last
Congress, they controlled
everything. Joe Biden is

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a Democrat in the White House.
The Senate was controlled by the

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Democrats and the House was
controlled by the Democrats.
Why didn't they fix it then?

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LISA DESJARDINS: ... revealed
little new, but opened what
could be a significant debate.

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Republicans plan more hearings
and say they hope to write
legislation in coming weeks.

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For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Lisa Desjardins.