Mayorkas: No, the Border Is Not In Crisis. To Admit The Truth, That the Border Is In Crisis, Would Be a "Withdrawal From Our Mission"

What? Admitting that you're failing is withdrawing from your mission?

No, continuing to fail while claiming you're not failing is withdrawing from your mission.

Of course, his mission is actually to implement an open borders policy against the laws of Congress and against the will of the American people, so he's not failing at all.

Mayorkas once again denied there was a crisis at the border, this time on propaganda program 60 Minutes.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas again refused to call the ongoing situation at the southern border a "crisis" in an interview, claiming that admitting the situation was a crisis would indicate a "withdrawal from our mission."

Mayorkas was asked during an interview with "60 Minutes" whether he viewed the ongoing situation at the border -- which saw a record 1.7 million migrant encounters in FY 2021 and more than 2.3 million in FY 2022 -- as a crisis.

"I view it as a significant challenge," Mayorkas said, echoing the answer he has given to that question on multiple occasions.

When asked why he would not use the word "crisis," Mayorkas said it was because "I have tremendous faith in the people of the Department of Homeland Security."

"And a crisis speaks to me of a withdrawal from our mission. And we are only putting more force and more energy into it," he said.

Mayorkas was hammered about the situation at the border during multiple hearings in the Senate and the House this week, which saw a number of Republicans saying he should quit or be fired.

Those hearings saw additional scrutiny on Mayorkas in the wake of a hearing last month featuring Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz -- who said that agents did not have "operational control" of the border.

"In five of those nine southwest border sectors, we have seen an increase in flow and that has caused a considerable strain on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to move so agents and even migrants to some of the other areas," Ortiz said in response to a question about whether the border is secure.

Ortiz also said that he disagreed with the move to end wall construction and used the word "crisis" to describe the situation.

Mayorkas may have confidence in the employees of Border Patrol, but Border Patrol has no confidence in him, says National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd.

So: Why hasn't Congress impeached this guy already, like Republicans promised to do in the 2020 campaign?

Jim Varney has some answers, at Real Clear Investigations:

It's almost an understatement to say that Republican candidates campaigned hawkishly on border control in the runup to the 2022 midterms: As they decried the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs from Mexico, many vowed to impeach the man they largely blamed for the mess, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

...

But as winter has turned to spring, the GOP has taken little action to remove Mayorkas. Republicans Andy Biggs of Arizona and Pat Fallon of Texas have each filed bills, but the House Judiciary Committee, from which any impeachment move must come, has not taken up either resolution.

Conservative groups focused on the southern border told RealClearInvestigations that impeachment did not come up during recent meetings in Washington.

"I just came from the Hill and a bunch of meetings with staffers and they're reporting the same thing; one said the conference is split, with a lot of GOP 'George W. Bush types' who love the cheap labor for American industry and agriculture," said Todd Bensman of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies and author of "Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History."

Bensman calls it an "old story," but cheap labor is only part of it. Republicans aren't united on this issue because some fear that following through on impeachment talk will alienate the moderate swing voters that the GOP needs to remain in control of the House. 

Watch what happens to your majority when you deliver on zero of the promises you campaigned on.

You do know that most of us are strongly considering never voting GOP again, right?

...

Perry and others said they would like to see the Judiciary Committee make the case for impeachment, a process Jordan appears to be favoring.

...

The Secure the Fence Act of 2006 that requires the DHS secretary to "maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States."  

Oh. I apologize for not knowing that. For months Republicans have demanded that Mayorkas answer the question of whether the US has "operational control" of the border. I thought the question was simply rhetorical. As you can see, it's not just rhetorical -- if he does not have "operational control" over the border, then he is in violation of an Act of Congress.

The Immigration and Nationality Act that requires the DHS secretary to "detain inadmissible aliens arriving in the United States or aliens who are present in the United States without inspection until processed." Instead, it claims, Mayorkas' "catch and release" approach has allowed more than "1,000,000 illegal aliens" into the country.

While referencing those two laws, the Biggs resolution, H. Res. 582, also accuses Mayorkas of violating the Public Health Services Act by failing to protect U.S. citizens from "risk and exposure to and contracting Covid-19 by refusing to take necessary steps to prevent contagious illegal aliens from entering the United States."

In sum, the Biggs resolution concludes Mayorkas should be impeached because "his actions have subverted the will of Congress and the core tenets of the Constitution."
RCI reached out repeatedly to a dozen Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee seeking comment on a possible impeachment of Mayorkas and their reaction. None of them responded.

Mayorkas has stated repeatedly he has no intention of resigning, a suggestion Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas made again Tuesday when Mayorkas appeared at a Senate committee hearing. "If you had any integrity you would resign," Cruz said.

Asking a criminal to stop committing crimes doesn't work, Senator Cruz. You have to make them.

I thought Republicans understood that. I guess not.

Cruz did give Mayorkas some verbal heat, but verbal heat means nothing to a criminal. Criminals don't mind being lectured-- they just don't want you to put them in jail.

A lecture to them is an easy win.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lashed out at Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on border security, blaming him for the rapes and deaths of children swept up in the crisis at the border.

"Mr. Secretary, I want to say to you right now, your behavior is disgraceful. And the deaths, the children assaulted, the children raped, they are at your feet. And if you had integrity, you would resign," Cruz told Mayorkas of his handling of the border crisis. "The men and women of the Border Patrol, they've never had a political leader undermine them. They despise you, Mr. Secretary, because you're willing to let children be raped to follow political orders. This is a crisis. It's a disgrace. And you won't even admit this human tragedy as it is crisis."

The exchange comes as Republicans have reportedly sought to turn up the heat on Mayorkas in the aftermath of dramatic testimony by Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz earlier this month in which Ortiz revealed several points of disagreement with the Biden administration on border security, including halting construction of the border wall and polices he argued made it difficult to do their job.

Ortiz also stated that the U.S. does not have operational control of the border, an assertion that contradicts testimony by Mayorkas last year.

"In five of those nine southwest border sectors, we have seen an increase in flow and that has caused a considerable strain on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to move agents and even migrants to some of the other areas," Ortiz said.

Fake Republican Cornyn also pretended to be outraged:

"Mr. Secretary, would you like to take the opportunity here today to apologize to these parents who lost their children because of fentanyl poisoning, because of the policies of your Department and the Biden administration? Would you like to apologize to them?"

MAYORKAS: "Senator, my heart is with the family of every victim of a drug overdose death."

CORNYN: "Is that an apology?"

MAYORKAS: "My heart is with the family and the loved ones and the friends."

CORNYN: "So why don't you do something about it?"

"Attorney General Garland said this is part of a comprehensive strategy by the cartels to flood these drugs into the United States by overwhelming Border Patrol. You're clearly losing that battle, and you won't even apologize to these parents, like so many other parents who have lost their teenage children to counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl."

"You won't answer our questions, and you won't acknowledge responsibility. My constituents are saying, 'Who's accountable? Who's paying a price? Who got fired?' Well, you haven't been fired. You should be fired, but you haven't been fired because you were carrying out the policies of the Biden administration, and we've seen nothing but death and destruction as a result."

"You and the Biden administration's policies are contributing to what is happening on the border, and according to Mrs. McConville, she credited the Biden broken border policies with contributing to the death of her son, and you won't even have the common decency to apologize."

Biden claims that it's the Republicans who are to blame for his open borders mayhem:

posted by Ace at 04:36 PM

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