Mayorkas Testifies in Congress as Impeachment Trial Approaches

FAIR Take | April 2024

Last Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the House and Senate regarding President Biden’s proposed budget for FY 2025. That budget seeks to maintain the status quo by requesting more money for processing and more money to help support illegal aliens once they arrive here, instead of increasing deterrence and deportation efforts.

Mayorkas began the day testifying before the House Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee.  There, Subcommittee Chairman Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) pressed him to explain why the FY 2025 budget request proposes cutting 7,500 detention beds that were funded in FY 2024. Joyce concluded that the budget fails to include “an appropriate level of detention beds to detain aliens who pose a national security or public safety risk…decreasing detention capacity has not worked.” In fact, the Biden Administration has proposed cutting detention beds in every budget it has proposed to Congress.

Joyce continued to voice concern that the budget does not anticipate removing the 1.3 million aliens on the non-detained docket whose cases have already been adjudicated and no longer have a legal basis to remain in this country. Those 1.3 million illegal aliens represent only part of the 6.2 million who are currently free in the United States pending their proceedings in immigration court. When asked what the plan was and how long it would take for DHS to effectuate the 1.3 million removal orders, Mayorkas pointed to more than 630,000 illegal aliens being returned or removed in the last 11 months but declined to answer Joyce’s question.  After being pressed, Mayorkas claimed to have a plan to remove these individuals and said that the greatest enforcement priority for DHS is to detain aliens who pose public safety or national security threats to the American people.  The non-detained docket has exploded under Mayorkas, nearly doubling since FY2020.

Congressman John Rutherford (R-Fla.) followed up by focusing on the low number of deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Secretary Mayorkas.  ICE deportations under Secretary Mayorkas have been significantly lower than previous administrations despite the record numbers of aliens illegally crossing the border each year. Rep. Rutherford even accused Mayorkas of inflating his deportation statistics. “You said 630,000 had been returned. That is not accurate. The actual number of ICE deportations is 142,580. All those other people that you’re talking about were rejected at the border…” Rutherford then asked about state and local law enforcement working with ICE through 287(g) agreements to remove dangerous aliens. When questioned on whether he supported that program, Mayorkas said “a local or state jurisdiction should cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the swift detention and removal of that individual.” New 287(g) agreements, however, have been paused under Mayorkas and existing agreements are under threat of termination.

Finally, in a notable exchange with Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Mayorkas for the first time referred to the southern border as a “crisis.”  Until now, Mayorkas has refused to use that term, using other choice words such as “challenge,” despite the fact that border encounters are at record highs and our immigration agencies are at their breaking points.

In the afternoon, Mayorkas testified in front of the Senate, where he faced similar pushback from Ranking Member Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and other Republican senators.  Britt referenced the 1.3 million aliens with removal orders on the non-detained docket, prompting Mayorkas to share that he was not familiar with that figure – discussed that morning in the House – but agreed that those with final removal orders should be removed.  Britt also questioned him on the 200,000 removal cases that have been dismissed due to DHS’ failure to file the needed Notice to Appear (NTA) with the court.  In response, Mayorkas asserted that the 200,000 figure may not be accurate, though eventually said that DHS would reissue those NTAs and that it is their responsibility to do so.

Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) used his time to highlight the upcoming impeachment trial and argue that the border crisis was by design.  Kennedy argued that most Americans don’t trust the Secretary and noted that the enormous number of illegal aliens being allowed into the country could influence congressional and Electoral College reapportionment.  In response, Mayorkas first claimed not to understand, before pushing back strongly.  “The notion, Senator, that we intend to allow illegal immigration is nothing short of preposterous…it is disrespectful to the extraordinary hard work that we perform.” Kennedy countered by pointing out that both skyrocketing illegal immigration and its potential effect on reapportionment are facts and claiming that the only people better off under the Biden Administration are illegal aliens, arguing that is why Mayorkas was impeached.

For his part, Mayorkas remained defiant throughout the hearings, with support from Democrats in both chambers. Mayorkas called DHS’ budget perennially insufficient and argued that only Congress can fix our “broken and outdated” immigration system.  In both hearings, he also continued to advocate for a Senate border package that fails to reform our asylum system, end widespread abuse of parole, or stop the mass catch-and-release of illegal aliens. One of the border package’s chief architects, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) also pushed for the bill, claiming, “It would have provided $20 billion in extra emergency funding to buy 50,000 detention beds, to hire 4,300 new asylum officers, 100 new immigration judges, 1,500 border patrol agents, 1,000 new deportation officers. The list goes on and on.” In reality, the Senate bill would have sanctioned illegal immigration at historically high levels and contained billions in funding to support illegal aliens.

Without a meaningful change of course at the executive level, the chaos at our borders and in our cities, and threats to national security, will only grow. President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas could take action today to roll back the damaging policies of this administration and return to measures proven to work, such as the Remain in Mexico program, expedited removal, and asylum cooperative agreements.  Only real changes will end this crisis, not throwing more money at failed policies and attempting to shift the blame to Congress for the disaster that the Administration created.

To read more about actions that the Biden Administration can take to secure our borders, click here.