By Steve Neavling
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border during a contentious House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Thursday.
Mayorkas noted that the number of border arrests have decrease in recent weeks since the expiration of the pandemic-era limits on asylums known as Title 42. In June, nearly 100,000 migrants were arrested by Border Patrol agents along the border, a decline from May and the lowest monthly encounters since February 2021.
“Our approach to managing the border securely and humanely, even within our fundamentally broken immigration system is working,” Mayorkas said, CNN reports. “Unlawful entries between ports of entry along the southwest border have consistently decreased by more than half compared to the peak before the end of Title 42.”
Republicans have previously said they are considering impeaching Mayorkas, claiming he has overseen “open border policies.”
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., blamed Mayorkas for the fentanyl crisis, Roll Call reports.
“Mr. Secretary, it is your responsibility to secure our border against fentanyl trafficking,” Buck said. “The fentanyl killing thousands of Americans every year is a direct result of your dereliction. When people die of fentanyl poisoning, it is your fault.”
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., stopped just short of calling for impeachment.
“You should be ashamed,” Cline said. “More so, you should be held accountable. This committee will do just that, and I am committed to making that happen as well.”
Democrats, on the other hand, praised Mayorkas and said Republicans were grandstanding for votes from conservatives.
“Today’s hearing will not be about legitimate congressional oversight,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said. “Instead, the chairman and his colleagues in the majority will use today’s hearing as a predicate for a completely baseless attempt to impeach Mayorkas. It will be one more exercise in political theater for the right-wing outrage machine before the August break.”
