This Issue: DHS Secretary Mayorkas tells Senate panel that the border is under control
Fri,
Mar. 31th
In his first appearance before the new, 118th Congress, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Senate Judiciary Committee that his agency is "maximizing the resources" it has to secure the border and prevent illegal entries despite the record number of illegal entries over the last two years.
GOP Senators directly blamed Mayorkas for the ongoing border crisis that has led to more than 125,000 border apprehensions per month for the last 24 straight months. In doing so, they also blamed Mayorkas for the record levels of fentanyl streaming into the U.S. and the children who have fallen victim to human trafficking and child labor.
Instead of considering a change of policy to discourage migrants from heading for the border and to turn away those who do make it, Mayorkas and the Democrat Senators on the committee pushed for "comprehensive immigration reform" and additional funding from Congress to process illegal border crossers into the United States more efficiently.
After Mayorkas' appearance, a DHS spokesperson issued the following statement: "Instead of pointing fingers, Congress should work with the Department and pass legislation to fix our broken immigration system, which has not been updated in over 40 years."
The hearing touched on a number of topics relevant to the ongoing border crisis.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) asked Mayorkas about the 85,000 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who have been lost by the Department of Health and Human Services, many of whom have fallen victim to human trafficking and child labor abuse. Mayorkas admitted that the treatment of the lost children is an issue.
"One of the reasons why we are devoting our worksite enforcement resources and energies on unscrupulous employers, is precisely the reason you've identified. We must hold accountable employers who engage in child labor."
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked Mayorkas why the U.S. doesn't implement a "safe third country" policy to help limit asylum fraud. But Mayorkas called the suggestion not "sound policy."
"I also do not think that is sound policy that we should shut down our entire asylum system," Mayorkas said.
Aside from the border crisis, Mayorkas pressed the lawmakers to grant amnesty to the 70,000 Afghan nationals who have been given parole, but don't qualify for one of two Special Immigrant Visa programs set up by Congress. A DHS Inspector General report detailed a number of issues with DHS' vetting of those Afghan parolees.
"This act really institutionalizes that process and also provides stability for those Afghan nationals who are here in the United States and provides them with a critical path forward," Mayorkas said.
Both the Senate and the House are on recess for the first two weeks of April. It's been reported that the House will begin marking up a package of up to 8 bills to address the border crisis when they return the week of April 17.
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