Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refused to say how many illegal migrants have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry and been released into the country under the Biden Administration.
On Thursday, Mayorkas dodged several questions on how many of the 300,000 illegal aliens encountered at the border were released. However, he claimed to “know the data,” stating that the number is “well more than a million [migrants] per year.”
During an interview with Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, the host pointed out that currently, more than 70 percent of the illegal migrants crossing the border every day are released into the United States. Baier asked Mayorkas if that figure shocked him.
“It would not. It would not surprise me at all,” Mayorkas responded. “I know the data. And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings,” claiming that a “record number” of illegal migrants were “returned or removed” last year.
Baier pressed Mayorkas on the number, asking if it was more than 500,000.
“It’s more than — it’s well more than a million per year, and it is precisely why we have said, since day one of this administration, that the immigration system that is so fundamentally broken needs to be fixed,” Mayorkas admitted, before trying to dodge having to answer how many of those migrants were released from detentions into the country.
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“We are limited in our detention capacity by the funding that Congress provides to us. We have returned and removed a historic number of individuals,” Mayorkas continued. “The numbers that we experienced in December [are] precisely why I traveled down to Mexico to speak with the president of Mexico, to encourage them that they enforce their southern border, that they enforce their laws along the migratory path so that we reduce the number of individuals whom we encounter on our southern border. This is a regional challenge that requires regional solutions. It’s precisely why I traveled down to Mexico last week.”
Mayorkas is facing the threat of impeachment from Republicans due to his blatant ignorance of the border crisis. This week, the House GOP leaders announced plans to hold a monthly hearing to evaluate Mayorkas’ “failed leadership and his refusal to enforce” immigration law.
The Biden official promised not to resign if impeached, saying, “I lead 260 incredibly dedicated and talented men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. I will continue to lead them in advancing the mission of protecting the American people.”
Mayorkas has refused to take responsibility for the crisis at the border and instead blames the record amount of illegal crossings on “climate change” and “authoritarian regimes.”
“This is something that is not specific to the United States’ southern border,” he said earlier this week. “This is something that we are seeing throughout the hemisphere and throughout the world. We have an increase in authoritarian regimes. We have more extreme weather events that are driving people from their homes. We have poverty, and America is proving to be prosperous.”
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