Alejandro Mayorkas: Border is ‘no less secure’ than before Biden took office

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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas assured Congress on Wednesday that the border was “no less secure” under President Joe Biden than under President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration has been grappling with a crisis at the southern border since taking office with promises of amnesty for most illegal immigrants already in the country and the swift reversal of many Trump administration immigration policies.

“The border is secure. We’re executing our plan,” Mayorkas said during testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee. Lawmakers were questioning Biden’s plan after 208,887 people were apprehended at the border, and a surge of Haitian migrants has hit Del Rio, Texas.

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Committee Republicans were skeptical, with border apprehensions hitting a 21-year high and exceeding 1.3 million for 2021 so far. “Mr. Secretary, the question is, is the border more secure now under your leadership?” Rep. August Pfluger, a Texas Republican, asked.

“Congressman, it is no less secure than it was previously,” Mayorkas replied. There were fewer than 74,000 southwest border land encounters in the last full month of the Trump administration compared to more than 200,000 the last two months. August’s numbers were four times greater than they were in the same month in 2020. Many of the migrants are being released into the United States, though the administration announced it was stepping up the removal of some Haitians.

When a Republican congressman said that DHS had surrendered its border security role under the Biden administration, Mayorkas replied, “I respectfully disagree. We have never abdicated the duty to protect our country.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Border Patrol agents were using “brutal and inappropriate” tactics to round up Haitian migrants while Vice President Kamala Harris, whose portfolio includes addressing the root causes of migration, called Mayorkas to relay her concerns.

But Psaki also said that Title 42, a public health provision under which migrants can be blocked during the pandemic, was still in effect and that the administration was not permitting illegal immigration.

The unregulated flow of migrants at the southern border has raised national security concerns in addition to worries about spreading COVID-19.

“And I want to know, I know it’s been asked, how many known or suspected terrorists have entered this country this year?” Pfluger asked Mayorkas. “The American public deserves to know what the threat is to our country. Why will we not release numbers?”

“Congressman, I’ve been very clear that I’d be very pleased to share that information with you in a classified context,” Mayorkas answered. He told lawmakers he works 18 hours a day.

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For several months, Biden has endured some of his lowest job approval ratings on his handling of immigration and the border. The $3.5 trillion Democratic reconciliation package was initially going to include amnesty for most illegal immigrants, with the White House’s approval, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled the chamber’s budget process cannot be used in that manner, subjecting the provision to a Republican-led filibuster.

Mayorkas offered a less optimistic assessment of the situation at the border last month. “A couple of days ago, I was down in Mexico, and I said, ‘Look, you know, if our borders are the first line of defense, we’re going to lose, and this is unsustainable,'” he said in audio obtained by Fox News. “We can’t continue like this, our people in the field cant continue, and our system isn’t built for it.”

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