Secretary Mayorkas has violated his oath of office

The word “crisis” is used too much, particularly in politics, but there’s no other way to describe the situation at our southern border. In December, Border Patrol reported over 302,000 encounters with illegal migrants at the Southwest border alone — that’s a new record at more than 10,000 encounters every single day. This is both unsustainable and unnecessary, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has more than proven himself unfit for the office he holds.

It’s not too much to ask that our Homeland Security Secretary uphold the rule of law to make Americans and their communities safer. Instead, Secretary Mayorkas has undermined public trust through multiple false statements to Congress, obstructed lawful oversight of his department, and violated his oath of office.

Let me be clear: I’m a proud supporter of legal immigration. My dad legally immigrated to the United States from Mexico when he was nine years old, and, as a first-generation American citizen, I know better than most the benefits of this system. Legal immigration increases the productive capacity of the economy, raises gross domestic product, and diversifies the workforce.

But this administration has effectively implemented a noborder policy that encourages illegal immigration. You don’t have to take my word for it — look at the results.

The list of policy failings on Secretary Mayorkas’ watch is extraordinarily long and their consequences for American states, cities, and families are tragic. These failures include an increase in average encounters at the border from 590,000 in the years 2017-2020 — to 1.4 million in 2021, 2.3 million in 2022, and 2.4 million in 2023.

Secretary Mayorkas’ resume includes the entry of migrants on the terrorism watch list —

Border Patrol encountered 17 individuals on the terror watch list in November alone — as well as those who are adding to the crime in our cities and communities. Look at the news just this week, as a group of illegal immigrants attacked NYPD officers on camera and then walked free hours later with no bail.

These numbers and no-bail laws are nearly incomprehensible, but the impact of this crisis on our communities is very real. In 2020, border officials seized 4,600 pounds of fentanyl along the southern border. Last year, that number increased by 480% to a staggering 26,700 pounds. And almost all of these illegal and deadly drugs — approximately 90% — are seized at the border crossings into Arizona and our home state, California.

Still, despite these unprecedented and undeniable statistics, only last month did the White House acknowledge this crisis after being presented with overwhelmingly unfavorable polling. But to the rest of us, this isn’t a matter of politics.

Fentanyl is poisoning and killing 300 Americans every single day. That’s not a talking point — it’s a record-breaking, heartbreaking reality that’s devastating families across California.

My dear friend and constituent of California’s 27th District, Jaime Puerta, tragically lost his 16-year-old son to a fentanyl poisoning — not an overdose, but a poisoning, as he unknowingly took fentanyl that was purchased over social media. Jaime is now the president of Victims of Illicit Drug Use, a California nonprofit doing God’s work for our communities.

It was my honor to work with Jaime last year on a critical piece of legislation, the Combatting Fentanyl Poisonings Act. I introduced this bill to establish two separate grant programs to assist law enforcement and educate youth. These programs would help state and local law enforcement agencies to better target illegal fentanyl dealers; train school personnel, clinicians, and the general public on how to prevent poisonings; and educate children about the dangers of fentanyl.

This is just one example of a common-sense, bipartisan solution to help make our communities safer. But the House already passed the strongest and most effective border security legislation in history: H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act. The bill would deploy new technology at the border; end catch and release; strengthen current law to protect unaccompanied children from trafficking; hire thousands of additional CBP agents; and more. This is the comprehensive legislation that our communities so desperately need.

We can all agree that we must do more to enhance our homeland security — now let’s apply the solution that will make our nation and local communities safer and more secure for our kids.