How to Make Congress Yell at You

Just tell the truth

Yesterday, I testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement for a hearing titled “Restoring Integrity and Security to the Visa Process.” It was the first hearing in several years where the subcommittee decided to consider an aspect of the legal immigration system. “Now that the border is under control,” I thought before the hearing, “we’ll be able to discuss reforming the legal system.” No such luck. Watch the video below to get the emotional back and forth.

As the Democratic witness, I intended to discuss how the government overhauled visa security after 9/11 with excellent results. Only 19 people were murdered by nonimmigrants who entered on visas since 9/11 – which is probably fewer than the number killed by sharks over the same time. The data are a bit unclear when the n is so small. In fact, the chance of being murdered in an attack committed by nonimmigrant terrorists after 9/11 is so small that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would label it as “unreliable” rather than put a number on it. You can read my written testimony here and watch my opening statement below.