Tipsheet

DHS Scrambled After Townhall Report Exposed Mayorkas' Horrible Meeting With Border Patrol

Julio Rosas
Julio Rosas  |  November 02, 2022 2:30 PM

Emails within the Department of Homeland Security show the hurried response the agency was crafting after Townhall broke the story of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas having a disastrous meeting with Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector in January of this year.

The emails, obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and first reported by Fox News, shows an email chain with DHS officials describing how poorly the meeting in Yuma went.

"Morning muster in Yuma was ROUGH," Marsha Espinosa, assistant secretary of DHS public affairs, says in the Jan. 26 email. "One agent in the front town had his back turned to [Mayorkas] the entire time only to ask a question and then turned back.

"Agent sentiment (the ones that spoke up) is that policies aren’t working, don’t like masks or vaxx mandate. [Ortiz] stepped up to provide support and asked to intro [Mayorkas] next time to better set up," Espinosa added.

In another email, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications Sarah Peck sent a copy of Townhall's story about the "ROUGH" muster to other officials in DHS, saying, "Flagging this. Townhall is a partisan outlet. No further inquiries at this time."

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Drafts were then sent among the officials to determine what DHS' statement about the meeting would be to the news outlets who were requesting comment. DHS never responded to Townhall's inquiry for the original story.

In the tense muster, Border Patrol did not hold back in their criticism towards Mayorkas. One agent even turned his back on the agency head. It didn't end there. Mayorkas had another terrible meeting with Border Patrol agents in the Laredo Sector, with Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz also getting an earful from agents for the crisis at the U.S-Mexico border.

"I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but that's the reality and let's see what we can do within that framework," Mayorkas said in the January meeting.