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mean, the administration asked months ago, we got a crisis, but we
heard from the other side, it’s a manufactured crisis, it’s not a cri-
sis. Now it’s a crisis, they’re all saying that. Some of them went
down to the border and saw it was a crisis.
And I’m sure there’s some examples of—because of the over-
whelming conditions—there’s problems and challenges, and I know
I’ve seen the reports of the border agents, and Mr. Homan talked
about it, where agents are bringing stuff in from their own families
out of their personal, you know, items, personal budgets to help,
doing what they want because they’re human beings, too, and
sometimes, I think, we forget that. And they’re really struggling
right now to get this done.
And I want to talk a little bit more about the Flores Amendment
Settlement. You know, Mr. Homan, what has that done to really
impede what you can act on?
Mr. H
OMAN
. I should have been more clear in my statement.
When I’m talking about the Flores Settlement Agreement, when
I’m talking about when the Ninth Circuit decides that they are
going to limit it to 20 days, and they know that it takes about 40
to 45 days in a detained setting to see a judge, they knew it was
going to happen. And I said what was going to happen, but I was
called a fear monger. I said, if that 20 days gets put in, you’re
going to see a surge of families than you never seen before, and it
happened. I was right.
And if you’re really escaping death and persecution from your
home government, the only way we can guarantee you’re going to
see a judge, because we know the absentia rates is out of control,
these families—a lot of these families are not showing up in court
even if they file with the court. The only way we can guarantee due
process if we detain them in the family detention center, which the
Inspector General inspected many times. We’re not talking about
Border Patrol facilities now, we’re talking about a center with child
psychologists, pediatricians, doctors, nurses, educational programs.
Mr. G
IBBS
. But you’re overwhelmed.
Mr. H
OMAN
. We don’t have enough family detention——
Mr. G
IBBS
. You’re overwhelmed——
Mr. H
OMAN
. Because these numbers have just gone through the
roof. But if we had a true sense that we can guarantee people to
see a judge, and those who have failed their claim to asylum, if
they don’t fall within the rules of asylum, and send them home——
Mr. G
IBBS
. I’m almost out of time.
Mr. H
OMAN
. It worked in 2014 and 2015 when we sent planes
of people that failed their interview and failed the judge, and the
judge ordered removal. We said that the numbers went down.
Mr. G
IBBS
. It must be a real challenge for the Border Patrol, mi-
nors coming in with, obviously, a lot of them with their parents,
but obviously, maybe not so. And I’ve seen the reports of recycling
kids and bringing them back.
Mr. H
OMAN
. That’s another thing I haven’t heard today. When
you talk about the separation that occurred at the border when the
judge first ordered the reunification of the first 112 or 102 children,
no one wants to talk about 6 percent of those, based on DNA test-
ing, weren’t even the parents. So if you extrapolate that between
the 2,600, 2,700 people, how many children were reunited with