A group of 133 Republicans in Congress are questioning Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ ‘suitability for office’ as they double down on claims that he is ‘dismantling the security’ of the southern border.
‘Your actions have willingly endangered American citizens, undermined the rule of law and our nation’s sovereignty,’ reads the letter, led by Border Security Caucus co-chair Brian Babin of Texas and Republican Study Committee Chair Jim Bank of Indiana.
The latest figures from last month is the highest recorded number of encounters since President Joe Biden took office – and also in decades. It is the highest since July of last year, when 213,593 were apprehended.
Title 42 has been used since March 2020 to instantly expel migrants seeking asylum at the southern border in the midst of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Worries ensued from both Republicans and Democrats over an impending surge in migration and multiple pieces of legislation were either introduced or further pushed to try and stop the lifting of Title 42 until the public health emergency is also put to an end in the U.S.
While DHS has said it is planning for potentially up to 18,000 migrants each day when the policy ends, Mayorkas insists the agency is prepared for the increase.
But CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are warning that they could run out of funds as early as early July if migration skyrockets like projections show will happen once Title 42 is lifted.
Joining McCarthy with a tour of Eagle Pass, Texas in the Del Rio Sector and meetings with officials and community members there is Stefanik, Texas Representatives Tony Gonazalez, Randy Weber and Chip Roy as well as Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee and Blake Moore of Utah.
The group will hold a media availability in the afternoon and discuss why ending Title 42 is a bad idea.
Mayorkas told CBS News in an interview on Friday: ‘We have been planning for months to address increases in migration; those that we already have experienced and those that we might experience upon an end to Title 42. And proof of that is the fact that we’ve deployed additional resources to the border in anticipation of an end to Title 42. The surging of personnel, transportation, medical resources, the development of additional facilities to support border operations.’
‘These plans have been in the works for months. And so, we do indeed have plans and I can assure the American people and their representatives that we do indeed,’ he added.
Republicans who sent the letter on Monday are linking Biden and Mayorkas’ policies to the chaos at the border, claiming ending border wall construction and ending the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) has further exacerbated the continued surge.
MPP, better known as the Remain in Mexico Policy, allowed border agencies to send migrants seeking asylum back to Mexico to await trial or other immigration proceedings.
The lawmakers say in their letter that the secretary’s actions on MPP ‘demonstrates your willingness to embrace an open-borders agenda that undermines America’s safety.’
‘You have been specifically instructed by the court to implement the protocol in good faith or take new agency action that complied with the law,’ it continues. ‘ You have done neither.’