By Joe Chatham
FAIR
As Department of Homeland Security (DHS) readies to release new data regarding monthly border encounters for fiscal year 2023, Secretary Mayorkas remains defiant and refuses to acknowledge his self-created border crisis. From the very start of his term as DHS Secretary, Mayorkas has steadfastly refused to enforce our immigration laws and the situation at our southern border has deteriorated. Nevertheless, Mayorkas has stood by, and even expanded, the Biden Administration’s open-borders agenda.
Illegal Immigration
In August 2023, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) saw the highest number of nationwide encounters in a single month ever at 304,162. This number includes a dramatic spike of encounters at the southern border: 232,972, an increase of nearly 50,000. Family unit encounters also reached the highest number in years at 116,721. In addition, CBP has now seized more than 25,000 pounds of fentanyl in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, an increase of 800 percent since FY19. Government sources and media reports indicate that encounters in September will be even higher.
National Security
The number of suspects on the FBI’s Terrorist Watchlist attempting to cross our borders has also spiked on Mayorkas’ watch. In the last year of the Trump Administration, just three suspects were encountered trying to illegally cross the border between ports of entry. So far in FY23, at least 151 have tried to do so. According to Fox News just last week, thousands of “special interest aliens,” aliens who could pose a national security threat to the United States, have entered the country since 2021.
Despite the illegal aliens, dangerous narcotics and terror suspects pouring across the border, Mayorkas stated in October that, “From day one, this Administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer. That remains our position and our position has never wavered.” That statement is just the latest of its kind in a long line from Secretary Mayorkas.
Today, FAIR has published a resource page to detail the steps Secretary Mayorkas has willfully taken to create a disaster at our southern border. From ending border wall construction and the Remain in Mexico program, to supporting sanctuary cities and embracing illegal mass parole, Mayorkas has been at the forefront of this Administration’s assault on the rule of law.
Congress is taking steps to hold Alejandro Mayorkas accountable and secure the border through policy changes to reverse the Biden Administration’s agenda. In addition to oversight hearings and reports detailing Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty, the House has also passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, ensuring that illegal aliens are detained and removed, not released into the public. FAIR aims to support efforts to hold Mayorkas accountable, and published this new site to provide a historical analysis of his failed leadership and describe how the border crisis has unfolded.
To view FAIR’s resource page on Mayorkas, click here.
