Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was grilled during this week’s Senate hearing over the confession of the Border Patrol Chief regarding the DHS operational control amid the border crisis under the Biden administration.
On Tuesday, the Senate conducted a hearing where Mayorkas was confronted about the testimony made by Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz to the House Homeland Security Committee, admitting that the DHS does not have operational control of the southern border.
Last April 2022, Mayorkas reportedly testified to Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) that the DHS did have operational control.
However, during a Senate hearing in May, Mayorkas claimed that he “did not use the definition that is in the Secure Fence Act of 2006 because no Homeland Security secretary has ever had operational control,” Town Hall reported.
Moreover, during Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Mayorkas once again claimed that he does not use the definition in the aforementioned legislation.
“Number one, we are intensely focused on securing the border. Number two, we are equally focus on enforcing our laws to achieve that result…With respect to the definition of operational control, I do not use the definition that appears in the Secure Fence Act and the Secure Fence Act provides statuetorally that operational control is defined as preventing all unlawful entries into the United States. By that definition, no administration has ever had operational control,” Mayorkas said in the statement.
Sec. Mayorkas is asked about Border Patrol Chief Ortiz testifying DHS does not have operational control of the southern border.
Mayorkas previously stated DHS does have control but now says he does not use the legislative definition bc no admin has ever had operational control. pic.twitter.com/y6Xki33ULs— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) March 28, 2023
Furthermore, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly questioned Mayorkas whether the DHS’ plan is currently working at reducing the historically high number of illegal crossings.
In response, Mayorkas claimed that “the issue of fentanyl pills and fentanyl-laced drugs being smuggled into the United States and illegal immigrants are separate issues, but DHS is working within the boundaries of a “broken” immigration system,” Town Hall added.
Recently, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green’s (R-TN) conducted a field hearing in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.
During the hearing, he blamed Mayorkas for the crisis and blasted the latter’s decision to carry out policies that have resulted in the surge in illegal immigration.
“They aren’t detaining because Mayorkas knows that detention is deterrence. And so they’re just processing people in, paroling them right away and sending them into our country. And the phone calls go back to those countries of origin, telling their friends and families, ‘come on, the door is wide open,'” Green lamented.
