Immigration

Biggs asks Biden admin to ‘publicly declare that the situation at the southern border is a crisis’

Published

9 months ago

March 10, 2021

Staff Writer

Congressman Andy Biggs, R-AZ, sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Wednesday, requesting that he publicly declare that the situation at the southern border is a crisis.

“Given your recent plea for volunteers from throughout the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to support Customs and Border Protection’s work at the border, I request that you publicly declare that the situation at the southern border is a crisis,” Biggs wrote to Mayorkas.

Biggs said the situation at the border is a “deteriorating humanitarian crisis” that needs to be labeled as a “crisis,” not a “challenge.”

Mayorkas on March 1 claimed there was no crisis at the southern border, but rather a “challenge” that the DHS was working to manage.

Biggs went on to request that Mayorkas immediately reinstate enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP).

Biggs explained that reinstating MPP, which kept migrants in Mexico for the duration of their hearings, will send a message to illegal immigrants seeking to enter the U.S. that DHS is serious about border security and enforcing immigration laws. The MPP program was set up under the Trump administration, however, the Biden administration has begun the process of removing the program.

“The Department’s current actions allowing aliens previously placed in MPP into the United States sends a strong message to aliens that our border is open and encourages aliens to attempt to enter illegally,” Biggs wrote.

Biggs then urged that Mayorkas rescind recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidance that narrowed the categories of migrants subject to arrest and deportation, saying it will “send a strong message that DHS will enforce the law.”

Biggs concluded the letter requesting that if Mayorkas chooses not to move forward with his recommendations, a detailed explanation is provided as to why.

There has been a surge of migrants at the border as the Biden administration has loosed immigration policies set in place by the Trump administration. Many are blaming the Biden administration’s new border policies for the surge.

The U.S. Border Patrol says encounters with unaccompanied migrant children are up 64% compared to last year. More than 100,000 children are expected to cross the border this year.

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, also sent a letter last week requesting a meeting with President Biden to discuss the issue, saying he had “great concern” with the administration’s approach to border.

Follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy

Immigration

DHS Secretary Mayorkas Says We Cannot Remove ‘11 Million Undocumented Individuals’ Unlawfully in U.S.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 19, 2021

Staff Writer

DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Troubling details were unearthed during the questioning of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by the Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley asked Mayorkas about a DHS memo from September 30 which reads: “The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen will not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”

“Does that reasoning apply to the [1.2] million illegal immigrants who have received due process and been given a final order of removal by an immigration judge?” Grassley asked Mayorkas.

“We cannot remove 1.2 million individuals, nor can we remove more than 11 million undocumented individuals, individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States, who might not have final orders of removal” Mayorkas answered.

Mayorkas also stated that he had issued the due process policy after drawing on “tremendous experience not only as a member of the Department of Homeland Security but as a federal prosecutor.”

Grassley pressed Mayorkas, asking, “should any of them be removed?”

“Of course,” Mayorkas said. “I do believe that individuals who pose a public safety threat, who pose a national security threat, who pose a border security threat, should be removed, and we should be smart and effective in our use of resources, and we should focus on the well-being of our communities and prioritize individuals for removal.”

In his opening statements, Grassley addressed Mayorkas and stated, “When you allow the ACLU and open-borders immigration activists rather than career law enforcement professionals to dictate the terms of your immigration and border policies, then you shouldn’t be surprised when record-shattering numbers of people start showing up at the border to take advantage of that.”

Grassley continued, “When you run DHS like it’s an ‘Abolish ICE’ fan club, you shouldn’t be surprised when you have an illegal immigration crisis on your hands.”