Border Patrol agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reportedly got into a heated argument during his visit to El Paso, Texas, amid a massive influx of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S.
The agent, who requested anonymity, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that a colleague confronted Mayorkas for failing to handle the southern border crisis. Mayorkas visited El Paso on Tuesday, at a time when the area is under siege from a recent spike in illegal immigrants crossing the border with Mexico.
In El Paso today, I met with the extraordinary @CBP workforce that tirelessly, selflessly, & bravely is out on the frontlines to keep our country safe. They do so in the face of great challenge, working 24/7 in service of mission. The toughest personnel doing the toughest work. pic.twitter.com/vJpiL4UzYD
— Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (@SecMayorkas) December 14, 2022
During the meeting, Mayorkas publicly slandered the agents after one asked why he hadn’t fulfilled their requests for additional border security equipment.
“‘You came here six months ago,’” the agent said. “‘You offered us cameras, they were going to run about $2 million. And you said that you were going to get it for us and upon you departing we found out that the money is not going to be allocated until two more years.’”
“‘You went to Del Rio, you expressed yourself and you talked bad about the Border Patrol,’” they continued.
Another agent asked Mayorkas to provide his definition of “secure borders” after the border secretary publicly said the southern border is “secure” despite record levels of illegal immigration.
“Again, he is lying his ass off saying that ‘no, I never said that,’” the agent said. “‘We’re agents, we’ve seen you, we heard you.”
Mayorkas, in response, said he was working on programs but provided few details, according to the agent who spoke with the news outlet.
“‘So all of this is empty promises about help that is coming, and how can you win our trust when you’ve been saying the same stuff for six months and have nothing to show for it?’” the agent asked. ”I don’t disagree with you.”
The U.S. has been seeing massive migrant numbers since President Joe Biden announced in April that he would be lifting “Title 42,” a controversial border policy implemented by former President Donald Trump back in March 2020 that allowed the border agency to turn migrants away.
Since then, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported that nearly 2.4 million migrants were detained at the border for the fiscal year ending in September, breaching the already-historic 1.7 million migrant detainees last year. The numbers are likely only to increase with the impending ending of “Title 42.”
