OPINION:
The American border debate has hit full boil as House Republicans have filed two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The first accuses him of willfully subverting immigration laws by enabling catch-and-release of illegal immigrants, while the other accuses him of breach of public trust for obstructing and lying to Congress.
For his part, Mr. Mayorkas says the charges are “politically motivated accusations and personal attacks you have made against me.”
Mr. Mayorkas was unable to find time (or unwilling, depending on who is telling the story) to speak with the committee, but he did unleash a defiant seven-page letter to the committee at 4:48 a.m. Tuesday, a few hours before the committee was to get down to the business of the articles of impeachment.
“I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted,” he said.
President Biden’s border policies have been markedly different than the previous administration and so have the results.
Former President Trump’s famous border wall, only partially built when Mr. Biden took office, was literally stopped in its tracks on Jan. 20, 2021. In a move more familiar in banana republics, gaps in the wall were intentionally left unfinished. Materials intended to complete the project were left to waste away in nature’s elements. Some were sold off to the private market for as little at 5 cents on the dollar.
“Walls don’t work” was the Biden administration’s mantra, despite the White House itself being surrounded by a variety of barriers. (No gaps are visible in the White House wall, fences or barriers.)
Mr. Trump’s policy was to require people seeking asylum to stay on the Mexican side of the border until their scheduled asylum hearing date. Hearings are intended to determine whether a person is eligible to enter the United States legally. Mr. Biden scrapped that policy, primarily because it was Mr. Trump’s, and instead instituted the “catch and release policy” that allows people coming to the U.S. to meet with American officials and then be released into the country with a promise to come back for their hearing date.
Statistics show that 95% don’t show up for that hearing, and one report late last year showed Biden officials scheduling hearing dates are far out as 2031.
Mr. Mayorkas, in his letter, said he’s done the best he can with the tools available to him. He did not address the stark contrast in results between his and the prior administration, who had to operate with the same tools.
The impact of the change in policies has been overwhelming. In December 2020, the last full month under Mr. Trump, Customs and Border Protection recorded roughly 92,000 nationwide encounters with unauthorized migrants. Just three years later, in December 2023, Mr. Biden saw four times that number. It is now estimated that as many as 3 million people will enter and stay in America illegally this year — 3 million.
The Biden administration willfully chose not to finish the wall. The Biden administration willfully chose not to keep people in Mexico, but instead let them enter the U.S.
But Mr. Mayorkas has repeatedly said DHS doesn’t have the manpower to enforce the law as written. This doesn’t explain why the Trump administration was able to be four times more effective with the same manpower.
It also doesn’t explain why Mr. Biden’s DHS is spending time, money and manpower actually fighting against the border efforts of the state of Texas.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has decided that if the federal government won’t do the job of enforcing America’s border, he and his team will at least protect their own state. Texas has spread razor ribbon and other deterrents along the border to aid in the effort.
Mr. Mayorkas’ response? To send the Border Patrol, the same folks that he says are too short-handed to enforce the law, and have those agents spend their time, money and effort taking down the razor ribbon erected by Texas. He literally gave an order to make it easier for those subverting the law to do so.
I spoke recently with independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was blunt in his assessment of the job currently being done. “Due to the laxity of the Biden administration’s response, the Mexican drug cartels are actually running U.S. immigration policy.” he said.
Mr. Kennedy knows of what he speaks. He went to the U.S.-Mexico border at Yuma, Arizona and watched and spoke with about 500 people illegally crossing the border between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. In two hours at one location on one night — 500 people.
RFK Jr. told me he personally spoke with about 110 of the individuals. Each had paid the Mexican drug cartels $10,000 to board a bus and be delivered to the border. The vast majority were not from Central or South America, but were instead from West Africa or Asia.
Most telling of all, with the exception of two, all of them said they were coming to America in hopes of a job.
No one can criticize an individual for hoping to make his or her life better. We can, however, criticize those in our government who fail to enforce existing law.
U.S. law says people fleeing terror or oppression can seek asylum in America. A hearing date is scheduled, the person seeking asylum may plead his case and then a decision is made. Nearly all of those with whom RFK Jr. spoke did not fit this description.
For reasons unknown, Mr. Biden and his DHS secretary think it acceptable to ignore the law and let in virtually anyone who wants to enter, perhaps to the tune of 3 million people this year.
You may agree with them. If so, I would encourage you to write your Congressman and suggest a change in the law.
In the meantime, as a nation of laws, the House Committee on Homeland Security is not wrong to expect the president’s Cabinet members to enforce the law of the land.
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