Mayorkas Had a Terrible Week, but so did the American People
FAIR Take | October 2022
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been among the biggest bootlickers in the Biden administration, shilling for open-borders activists and dismantling immigration enforcement. He has presided over the influx of around 5 million illegal aliens, including a million who evaded capture altogether, and sits back as fentanyl pours in to poison our children – all while claiming the border is secure. Yet even by his low standard, this week made his colossal failures worse.
On Wednesday, new emails came to light showing Mayorkas knew last year’s Haitian-migrant-whipping narrative was bogus – before he smeared Border Patrol at a White House press briefing where he called the images “horrifying” and vowed an investigation. Two-and-a-half hours prior, he received an email indicating the photographer who took the “whipping” photos debunked the narrative. “I’ve never seen them whip anyone,” photographer Paul Ratje said. “It can be misconstrued when you’re looking at the picture.”
In response to the revelations, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who introduced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas before the whipping controversy even arose, said, “Mayorkas defamed his own employees in order to score political points. He has violated his oath of office and lied to the American people with a straight face. His career should be over.”
That’s not even the worst news. Also Wednesday, his Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new “migration enforcement process” for Venezuelans at the southern border. On the face of it, this may seem a miracle: heretofore-unseen removal operations by a stubbornly open-borders administration! But consider the timing: with under a month to the election and Democrats down in polling, this is nothing more than a last-gasp PR stunt. Democrats hope voters will simply forget about nearly two years of dangerous open-borders policies.
“Expulsions” under this program entail transferring aliens to Mexican authorities on a bridge over the Rio Grande. They’re not flown to Venezuela, so it would be easy to re-enter at any wide-open spot along the porous border. Also, Mexico will only “temporarily” cooperate with U.S. authorities. The agreement’s duration remains to be seen, but it would not be surprising if Mexican participation ceases shortly after the election.
DHS also instituted a dubious parole pathway for 24,000 Venezuelans to enter the U.S. if they meet basic requirements. At current migration levels, that’s enough to parole almost every Venezuelan encountered from now to the election. The program, contingent on continued Mexican cooperation, is another abuse of parole authority meant to be on a small scale for “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” The same authority has been used to parole up to 100,000 Ukrainians and 80,000 Afghans who supposedly helped the U.S. war effort (almost half actually didn’t, and a bunch are known security risks). This begs the question – who’s next?
When it comes down to it, this is nothing more than faux border security for optics. They’ll make token removals to make it appear they’re suddenly tough on enforcement but simultaneously grant parole to most Venezuelans encountered. When the election’s over, they can drop even the minimal safeguards of the parole program, let Mexico abandon its commitment (remember, they just need them for election optics), and resume “processing” Venezuelans through wonton catch-and-release.
To add insult to injury, Mayorkas’ DHS also announced Wednesday a near-doubling of the H-2B program for low-wage temporary nonagricultural workers. This is ostensibly to address “labor shortages,” and employers must attest there are no American workers willing and available for the job. Again, what may sound good in theory masks an ugly reality. Our labor force participation rate is around 60 percent, meaning tens of millions of people are not even bothering to look for the low-wage jobs that Democrats and unscrupulous employers want to fill with cheap foreign labor. Many are better off with ever-expanding welfare benefits and don’t want to work lest they become ineligible. This is where Democrats want them, as they make reliable voters. The H-2B expansion keeps Americans on the government dole while importing cheap foreigners to do hard work for a low wage. And because the aliens are beholden to the employer for their status, it’s like indentured servitude. But as Mayorkas and company have shown, the means justify the ends to please open-borders activists.