Alejandro Mayorkas

Look, it is our job to be vigilant in the federal government with our state and local partners on behalf of the American public, and we can assure their safety by reason of that vigilance. We've deployed personnel, technology, and if there is any reason for concern, if we identify any foreign involvement or criminal activity, we will communicate with the American public accordingly.

Right now, we are not aware of any. If we become aware of any, we will communicate accordingly and take appropriate action.

We are aware of the drone sightings, as I've said. I think there are more than 8,000 drones flown every day in the United States. With respect to the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities. We have certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security that can do that and outside our department. But we need those authorities expanded as well.

We have a heightened threat environment, as Director Wray and the Attorney General both articulated. And we've been saying this for quite a number of months. We have not only the persistent threat of foreign terrorism that, of course, created the Department of Homeland Security, but we have adverse nation states.

And for the past 10 years, we've seen a significant increase in what we term homegrown violent extremism. It is a very difficult threat landscape, and it is why that we as a community, not just the federal government, but state and local officials and residents need to be alert to it and take the precautions necessary to avoid violence from occurring.

There's no question that people are seeing drones. And I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings. Some of those drone sightings are in fact drones. Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones.

And we do see duplicative reporting. But there's no question that drones are being sighted.

We have not seen any foreign, we know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast. And we are vigilant in investigating this matter, the Department of Homeland Security with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the lead.

We are aware of the drone sightings, as I've said. I think there are more than 8,000 drones flown every day in the United States. With respect to the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities. We have certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security that can do that and outside our department. But we need those authorities expanded as well.

I don't think we prevailed in communicating to the American people successfully the challenges of migration.

I don't think we prevailed in communicating to the American people successfully the challenges of migration at an historic level since World War II.

I believe the number is well over 250,000, a very significant number.

Yes, it is. And we have built that capacity and we've built those processes.

They would be accompanying deported relatives, sometimes the very relatives upon whom they rely, to live.

They would not. Presumably, the removal, the deportation of the individuals would be pursuant to law. That's a very difficult choice, and some would posit in some ways an inhumane choice to compel.

China has, in fact, hacked into our telecommunications providers, some of them. And the extent of it is quite serious. And I should say that in response to that, we have taken action. We in the federal government have stood up a unified coordination group, a multi-agency response to this hack.