Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday denied that the southern border is in crisis and slammed critics who insist the border is open under President Biden.
Administration officials blamed problems at the border on an immigration system that has been dysfunctional for some time and defended the work the department is doing on immigration.
Mayorkas made this claim in an interview. new york times After the number of illegal border crossers in the South recently reached an all-time high for the month.
Mr. Mayorkas began his interview with Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro, asking the official what she thought about the fact that Congressional Republicans were trying to impeach him for failing to secure the border. .
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In an interview with the New York Times, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refused to acknowledge that there was a “crisis” at the southern border and said the possibility of impeachment for failing to secure the border was “unprecedented.” There is no basis for this.” (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Mayorkas has dismissed the anticipated impeachment charges, saying he is too “focused on the work” he does at DHS to think about it. And he praised himself and his team, saying, “I have tremendous confidence in my integrity. I take great pride in the people I work with, and that’s why my answers ” he said.
When Garcia-Navarro pressed on the fact that “obviously no one is happy” with border security at the moment, Mayorkas said that as other countries around the world deal with surges of migrants, insisted that it was not a failure of US policy.
“It’s really important to understand that the position that our country is in is actually not unique to our country. I spoke to one of our counterparts across the Atlantic and they said they were “We have expressed grave concerns about what we are experiencing,” he said. He added: “The world is experiencing the greatest level of human displacement ever, and certainly since World War II.”
The reporter went on to ask if Mayorkas agreed that the president had finally called the border situation a crisis.
The official evasively responded, saying, “Lulu, I have to share with you all that I don’t pay attention to the labels that people put on me. We’re focused on what we can do.”
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The border has seen record numbers of illegal border crossings in recent months. ((Photo by John Moore/Getty Images))
She asked, “So why aren’t you labeling it? I mean, the president is labeling it. Why are you reluctant?”
He balked again, saying, “The choice of words speaks for the politics of the issue. And I am focusing on the essence of the issue and addressing it essentially.”
Later, discussing Biden’s critics who say the border is “open,” Mayorkas attacked that idea as “inaccurate and harmful.” When asked for an explanation, he replied: “Because those words are picked up by smugglers who exploit the vulnerable. They know how to reach desperate people and use those words as truth to influence human behavior.” It is.”
Mayorkas also denied claims that millions of people remain in the country using the current asylum system, claiming that his team has “expelled or repatriated millions of people.” did.
Later in the interview, Mayorkas was asked whether the current border surge lends some legitimacy to the argument that immigration should be drastically reduced and people in the country illegally deported. The official responded by claiming that those making these points are motivated by “hatred” and that he disagrees with them.
“I’ve never understood that individuals with anti-immigrant sentiments need ammunition. Hatred itself is ammunition. And unfortunately, it’s widely used around the world and in this country. “We’ve seen it materialize in a number of ways,” he said.
Towards the end of the interview, Mayorkas asserted his belief that America will remain a nation of immigrants, regardless of how people view the current crisis. Asked how immigration could affect Biden’s re-election chances, he said he was committed to finding a solution to the problem.
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