Bogus border bluster from impeached DHS Secretary Mayorkas
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers Tuesday the US-Mexico border is
“as secure as it can be” — hours before House Republicans walked two impeachment articles against him to the Senate ahead of a possible trial.
“With the authorities and the funding that we have, it is as secure as it can be,” Mayorkas, 64, told Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) in the DHS chief ’s first appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee since the lower chamber narrowly approved his impeachment in February.
Since President Biden took office in January 2021, more than 9 million migrants have been apprehended illegally crossing into the US, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics, with more than 7.5 million of those encounters occurring on the southern border.
That excludes another 1.8 million known “gotaways” who were not caught when coming into the country.
National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd has confirmed to The Post he was present when Mayorkas said during a January sit-down with agents that “higher than 85%” of those migrants are later released into the US.
Three Border Patrol sources present for the meeting also confirmed that “above 85%” were being released, according to Fox News, which first reported the exchange.
However, on Tuesday, Mayorkas told Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) when asked about that figure: “I do not recall that exchange in an internal meeting with the workforce, and let me assure you that the security of the southern border is our highest priority.”
The influx has led to a recordbreaking backlog of more than 3 million court hearings for asylum seekers — with some scheduling appearances as far in advance as 2035 and many not showing up to subsequent hearings after obtaining work permits.
‘Dereliction of duty’
Judd told The Post in a phone interview Tuesday that Mayorkas’ failure to deport those who don’t appear for their follow-up immigration hearings constitutes “dereliction of duty.”
“Once they’ve been ordered [to be] deported, they must be removed — and he’s not doing that,” Judd said.
Additional CBP data show at least 159 migrants encountered at ports of entry nationwide, and another 76 caught between those ports since Oct. 1, have suspected ties to terrorism.
Asked by Pfluger whether people on the US terror watchlist were still “at large” or had been apprehended, Mayorkas refused to answer directly.
“Let me assure you, Congressman, that the safety and security of the American people is our highest priority,” he said.
When Pfluger pressed that FBI Director Christopher Wray “had the courage to answer the question” and confirmed during a November 2023 hearing that not all had been captured, Mayorkas replied the suspects were a “priority for detention.”
Mayorkas also came under fire during the Tuesday budget hearing for cutting down on beds in detention spaces for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and not fielding enough Border Patrol agents to apprehend migrants.
“Your actions and directives remain unchanged. You’ve doubled down,” said Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who led the drive to impeach Mayorkas.
Hours later, Green and 10 other Republicans delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate, charging Mayorkas with providing misleading testimony last year about US border security and failing to enforce immigration law.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has committed to swearing in the 100 senators as jurors on Wednesday at 1 p.m., but has said nothing about whether he will use a procedural vote to table the impeachment and end the trial before it can start — though Republicans expect him to do so.
“We want to address this issue as expeditiously as possible,” Schumer said Tuesday. “Impeachment should never be used to settle a policy disagreement.”