Staff Reports
In a fiery back-and-forth during a Congressional hearing, Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) gave Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas a piece of his mind over his mishandling of the U.S. border crisis and his alleged fibs to Congress. Roy didn’t hold back, citing Mayorkas’ previous statements from April 2022 where he swore under oath that the border had “operational control” as defined by the Secure Fence Act. This control meant stopping all unlawful entries, from illegal aliens to terrorists to contraband.
But Roy wasn’t buying it. He accused Mayorkas of fooling the American people into thinking the border was actually secure when it clearly wasn’t. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz’s testimony and Mayorkas’ own later statements about no administration ever achieving operational control under the Secure Fence Act just added fuel to the fiery exchange. Roy took it a step further, accusing Mayorkas of having a habit of lying—citing the debunked incident of Border Patrol agents allegedly whipping Haitian migrants in September 2021. Mayorkas tried to sell the narrative of systemic racism, but an internal DHS email exposed the lie, revealing that the photographer who captured the images didn’t see any whipping.
Must Watch! @chiproytx nailed Mayorkas for lying on the record.
This should be all they need to finally get rid of this guy. pic.twitter.com/wjrSPc6sX5
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 26, 2023
Roy’s got more cards up his sleeve. He raised the alarm on the surge in fentanyl-related deaths, which he believes is directly linked to the border crisis. He dropped the bombshell that since Mayorkas testified, around 200 people a day have been dying from fentanyl deaths, which adds up to a staggering 90,000 people. A devastating consequence of the lax border control Mayorkas supposedly had under control.
Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) joined the chorus, hitting Mayorkas with a salvo of concerns. Gaetz accused the Secretary of enabling an unofficial open border policy where illegal entrants who don’t commit serious crimes can stay indefinitely. Gaetz went even further, likening the U.S. government’s new smartphone app for monitoring asylum seekers to a “Disney FastPass into the country” and criticized its failure to check users’ criminal history in their home countries.
How did Mayorkas respond? Well, he disagreed with the representatives but conveniently left out any specific numbers when pressed. Classic dodging. This hearing just highlights the massive political divide when it comes to U.S. immigration and border security. We need some serious bipartisan solutions, pronto.
Mayorkas, who was confirmed by the Senate in February 2021, has been the Biden administration’s go-to guy for implementing their immigration and border security policies. Unfortunately for him, both sides of the political spectrum have been breathing down his neck due to the spike in attempted border crossings and the challenges of handling asylum seekers and unaccompanied children at the southern border. His handling of the situation and his statements about operational control of the border have caused quite a stir.
It’s clear that the Biden administration’s approach to immigration is softer than their predecessor’s, but it’s one thing to talk about it and another thing to actually execute the plans. The logistical, humanitarian, and political hurdles just keep piling up. And with Roy and Gaetz questioning Mayorkas’ every move, it’s a sure bet that this won’t be the last we hear about the U.S. border crisis. Stay tuned, folks!
