During Thursday’s Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) questioned DHS Secretary. Kristi Noem about the importance of foreign temporary workers.
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00:00Thank you so much, Madam Secretary. I'd like to first recognize Chair Collins for her round of
00:04questioning. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Secretary, I want to bring to your attention
00:13an important issue that may not yet be one that you've been breathed on. In August of 2023,
00:22DHS issued a memo in which the department stated that it had identified more than 270
00:33Chinese-backed illegal marijuana operations in the state of Maine alone, producing up to an estimated
00:44$4.3 billion in illicit revenue. These grow houses are primarily run by Chinese organized crime
00:58syndicates with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Our sheriffs and local law enforcement
01:06have worked night and day to shut down these grow houses that tend to be located in very rural
01:14areas of the state. I hope that the president's more detailed budget request includes funding that can
01:23be used to help supplement the county, state, and local law enforcement efforts. DEA has also been
01:34involved. IRS has been involved. The FBI is starting to get involved, but DHS obviously has an important
01:44role to play. So I hope you will commit today to joining this all-of-government effort to shut down
01:55these dangerous, illegal grow houses. Undoubtedly, there's human trafficking going on as well. The
02:05marijuana is destroying these houses with black mold because it's grown inside to try to hide
02:14what is going on. And it's being smuggled to other states. This isn't just a problem in Maine. Some 22 states have
02:25similarly found these illegal grow operations with ties to transnational criminal organizations in China.
02:36Well, thank you, Senator Collins. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention and this important
02:40discussion. Obviously, we're very concerned with securing our border and knowing who's coming
02:45into our country illegally, but also who's already here. And so you pointing out the fact that we have
02:51investments in this country, businesses, and marijuana grow houses that have a presence of ties to the
02:58PRC is incredibly alarming. So I agree that we should work together to see what we can do. As you know, the
03:04Department of Homeland Security, our mission is to secure the homeland. I tell people quite often that my
03:10responsibility lies with everyone who's in this country, comes into this country, or leaves, every product
03:15that's here that leaves or comes in, and then everything on the internet as well that's communicated or
03:21processed. This is alarming that we have China. Not only are they stealing our IP, manipulating their currency,
03:29but they're building a presence in this country as well. And so everything that we can do to make sure that we're
03:35addressing that and not allowing them to get a foothold within the center of our country and in our important states
03:41like Maine is incredibly important. So thank you for bringing it to the attention of everyone today and I commit to
03:48working with you. Thank you. Madam Secretary, as you undoubtedly know, Maine is a great destination for tourists.
03:58Last year we had 14.8 million tourism visits. We're a state of only 1.3 million people. I imagine it's similar to
04:12some of what you've experienced when you were governor. So Maine is heavily dependent, particularly our
04:19hospitality industry and our agricultural employers on seasonal temporary workers from other countries who come here under the
04:32H2A program for agricultural workers and the H2B programs for hospitality workers. There's no way that our state of 1.3 million has the
04:45has the workforce to deal with the influx of tourists and to get our crops out of the out of the ground.
04:55Our small businesses, our inns, our restaurants and our hotels are perfect examples of where foreign nationals who come to our country temporarily
05:09to benefit from but also contribute to the American economy in a lawful way are absolutely critical.
05:19I know that some of the visas have been released by the department and I would ask for your help in expediting the release of the H2B visas
05:34in particular given the upcoming tourism season. Thank you for that question, Senator.
05:41And, you know, as you know, the number of visas allowed is set in statute by Congress, but there is some latitude given to the Secretary.
05:50So I certainly take your request and know that many others have asked us to go and give as much latitude as possible.
05:57And we are certainly considering and willing to consider that going forward.
06:01Thank you. My time has expired. So I'm just going to put one quick item on your radar screen.
06:09And that is we're seeing some college students from Canada who go to school in northern Maine at the University of Maine at Presque Isle,
06:21having difficulty in crossing the border, which they used to be able to do very easily.
06:28They're totally legal. They have student visas, but they're being subjected to extensive searches and questioning.
06:38I don't want us to discourage Canadian students from studying at the northern Maine institutions
06:48that we have for education. So again, I just want to put that on your radar screen.
06:55There are so many others who do deserve scrutiny, but these are duly enrolled Canadian students.
07:05And they've been crossing the border for years without trouble.
07:10And lately they're being subjected to extensive searches and questioning despite having their visas and other documents in order.
07:22Okay. I will certainly look into that. Thank you.