Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. Hatch, Hearing on Immigration

Hearing

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was very pleased yesterday that the President issued an executive order to stop the separation of children from their parents at the border. As you know, I led a letter the day before to the Attorney General asking for a moratorium on family separation while Congress works out a legislative solution. My staff also personally reached out to the White House. I was pleased to be joined by 12 of my Republican colleagues on that letter. I believe sending the letter was the right thing to do, and I'm glad the President listened to me and to others who had asked him to stop the separation of families.

This is an issue that demands a legislative solution. We cannot continue to separate young children from their parents, but we also cannot continue with misguided, ineffective catch-and-release policies. I concluded my letter by saying that I believe a reasonable path forward can be found that accommodates the need to enforce our laws while holding true to other, equally essential values.

Senators Cruz and Tillis have both introduced legislation that I have co-sponsored and that I believe constitute reasonable paths forward. Their bills require immigrant families to be kept together during the pendency of immigration proceedings, with certain appropriate, narrowly drawn exceptions, such as when there is a threat of harm or abuse to a child. Their bills also authorize an increase in the number of immigration judges to enable speedier processing of parents and children who are apprehended at the border.

Importantly, these bills would not return us to a world of catch-and-release. Catch-and-release is not an effective way to enforce our immigration laws. A person who enters our country illegally, is apprehended, and is then released pending further proceedings has accomplished exactly what he or she wanted--entry into our country. What rational person in such a situation would return to face deportation? No one.

We need to be humane, but we also need to enforce our laws. Separating children from their parents is inhumane. Keeping them in residential facilities while their parents' claims are adjudicated is not. Family separation and catch-and-release are not the only available options.

Keeping individuals who enter our country illegally in custody while their claims are adjudicated is entirely reasonable. Obviously we need to make sure they don't stay in custody too long. We need to adjudicate their claims in an efficient, expeditious manner. But we can do that. It's within our power to ensure that immigration officials have the resources they need to adjudicate claims quickly and that residential facilities are comfortable and humane.

If we can resist the temptation to run to extremes on this issue, I believe we can find a solution, and we can find one quickly. We also need to ensure that children who have been separated from their parents are reunited.

I'd also like to take a minute, Mr. Chairman, to thank you for listing the Music Modernization Act on the agenda today. I've been working for years to update our music laws to make them fairer for songwriters and other content creators. As a songwriter myself, this issue is personal to me.

The Music Modernization Act is the product of extensive negotiations across all sectors of the music industry, from songwriters to publishers to record labels to digital media companies. The level of music industry support behind the bill is virtually unprecedented. I've tried to be as inclusive as possible in negotiating the bill so that all sides have an opportunity to be heard, and I hope you will continue that approach, Mr. Chairman, as we head into markup next week. I want to be a team player on this, and that means working together with all of us.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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