Not only has the White House pushed back against GOP claims that the Biden administration is endorsing an open-borders immigration policy, but some top officials have gone so far as to proclaim that the nation’s porous southern border is secure.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in November, U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) pressed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on his previous assertion, asking: “Secretary Mayorkas, do you continue to maintain that the border is secure?”
Despite a record number of illegal border crossings and deadly drugs pouring into the United States on an unprecedented scale, Mayorkas doubled down.
“Yes,” he answered, “and we are working day in and day out to enhance security, congressman.”
A review of the facts released by his own department seems to directly contradict his assurances, though. According to reports, there have been more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants released by DHS officials without even a notice to appear at a later date in immigration court.
Nearly 600,000 of those immigrants only received a notice to report to either an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office or related facility whereas the remainder were released on a type of parole and later received court dates.
Of course, this represents just a fraction of the total number of illegal border crossings that have occurred under President Joe Biden’s watch.
As Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) explained: “Since Joe Biden canceled the Remain in Mexico policy and ordered ICE not to enforce court-ordered deportations … we’ve seen 1.7 million illegal aliens deliberately admitted into this country and another 1.2 million known got-aways have entered while the Border Patrol has been overwhelmed changing diapers and taking names.”
He noted that the total number is equivalent to “the entire population of the state of Mississippi just since this administration changed these policies and precipitated this crisis.”
Border state officials have witnessed firsthand the impact of this ongoing border crisis, including Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona, who testified during a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing on the topic.
Rejecting the claims of the current administration that the border is secure, he asserted: “When I look at public safety, national security, and humanitarian on our southern border, this is the largest crime scene in this country.”
