WASHINGTON (TND) — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was in Eagle Pass, Texas this week, where he praised the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer and Border Patrol agents on the front lines of what he says has been a global challenge.
“it is a challenge that countries throughout the western hemisphere are experiencing. It’s a challenge that is also quite frankly, gripping the entire world,” Mayorkas said Monday.
And while the numbers of those coming have broken records, Mayorkas disagrees with those who say the border is open.
We are delivering consequences for individuals who do not use those lawful pathways.
But that statement seems to contradict what he reportedly told CBP agents in private, “that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is “above 85%,” according to Fox News.
Now there is a renewed focus on how those migrants should be cared for as they wait.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Mayor Mike Johnston (D), Denver continues to beg for migrants in his city to get work authorization, which critics argue would incentivize more and more people to come.
“If you send someone to Denver who has to wait six years for a court hearing and they can’t work in the meantime, we’re going to need almost endless amounts of federal support,” he said.
That federal support would be needed for everything from food to shelter, to health care to education.
“If you take 1/4 of the encounters that we saw in December alone – 75,000 kids kindergarten thru 12 that somebody has to pay to educate. Guess who that somebody is the American public,” said Rep. Randy Weber (R) Texas during a January 3 trip to the Texas border.
The American public in many border towns and big cities appears to be growing more weary, as shelters reach capacity and local resources run out and the debate plays out over solutions.
In an interview Thursday with Sinclair, Sen. Ron Johnson, R, Wisconsin, said “The solution is to stop the flow. The solution is to seal the border.”
And Former Acting Commissioner of CBP, Mark Morgan,told The National DeskTuesday, “The chaos and lawlessness at our borders right now, is not going to be solved by throwing more money at it. We have to change the open border policies of this Administration.”
Meanwhile Democrats point to the root causes of mass migration, including increased violence and corruption in some countries and calling for a more streamlined immigration system.
In an interview with CBS New York, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) New York was asked by host Marcia Kramer, “Would you shorten the path to citizenship?”
She answered, “I think we need to clarify it. I think we need to make it easier.”
Things are not likely to get easier for Mayorkas, as Republicans are set to hold their first impeachment hearing against him on Wednesday.
