Mr secretary thank you so much for Taking my question can you just talk a Little bit about some of the things that You've seen on the ground some of the Concerns that you're hearing and given That we're in a region that's already Seeing thousands of encounters a day how Confident are you that the measures that You've put in place are going to work I think that there is no question that This is going to be extremely Challenging I do not want to understate The severity of the challenge that we Expect to encounter the the border is a Very as I said at the very outset it is A difficult situation it requires not Only a community of action on this side Of the Border but it requires a Community of action south of our border Not only with our Mexican Partners but With other countries throughout the Region and indeed we have an International approach to an International challenge what I've seen On the ground in my visit to McAllen and To Brownsville is no different than what I've seen in my more than 15 prior trips To the Border as the Secretary of Homeland Security I have seen an Extraordinary Workforce in green uniform In the United States border patrol in Blue youth uniform in the office of Field operations of U.S customs and Order protection across the expanse of
The Department of Homeland Security and Quite frankly across the expanse of this Entire Administration this Administration addresses challenges as One team in an all of government Approach Before these things Thank you my question Republican lawmakers that the U.S does Not have an operational control of the Southern border do you still stand by That statement and if so what is do you Need to gain control of the Border yeah So the question that was posed during my Hearing was the Congressional legislative definition of Operational control where nobody crosses The Border I've been doing this job for 3’ years we've never had operational Control have we had various levels of Control yeah most certainly even while I Was the acting chief for deputy chief Here for five and a half years this side Of Rio Grande Valley was very secure but Out on my West Side we had surges quite Often in Rio Grande City Star County and Hidalgo County and that plays out across The entire stretch of the 2000 miles Border that we share with Mexico and so I have some sectors that I have greater Levels of confidence in just because the Flow isn't what it is but this morning Chief Chavez's team apprehended 2300 People in the sector and so that
Requires an awful lot of capacity and Certainly poses some significant Significant challenges for us so I stick By my comments that I made during the Hearing but we've never had that And the plans that are in place Obviously for majority Venezuelan Migrants I was expanded to Haitian Cuban And Nicaraguan migrants why isn't that Policy being enforced right now many of The migrants I'm meeting along the Streets of Brownsville are swimming in Between the ports of Entry as you have Mentioned if that happens they're Supposed to be returned they're not Being returned and they're single adults Without family here why is that Happening so um I think you are actually Mistaken because the parole process for Cuban's Haitians nicaraguans and Venezuelans that we first announced and Implemented on January 5th is uh Underway and continues to be underway And we continue if I May if I May it Does and if I May we continue uh to Parole individuals of those four Nationalities when they qualify under The program that we established and Announced and that requires a sponsor Here in the United States to ensure that Those individuals have Financial Stability and they are able to arrive in A safe and orderly way that is indeed Underway and we continue and we continue
To expel Cuban's Haitians nicaraguans And Venezuelans the number of Venezuelans that we've been able to Expel has actually diminished over the Past two weeks the cause of that is a Very complicated one we've sat down with The Mexican Government and those Expulsions and of course in a post title 4’ environment those removals will Continue and that is why the message is So important that people vulnerable People are receiving false information They are being lied to that if they come And arrive at our border that they can Stay in the United States that is not What the law provides that is not the Consequence that we will deliver