Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, responding to a question on Thursday's CNBC show “Squawk Box” about whether the Biden administration should have done anything differently regarding the border, said, “We are now… “We're actually building buildings and it's proving to be very successful.” And with Title 42 in effect until May 2023, “What the administration has done since then, rightly, is provide more funding to the Department of Homeland Security and fix the broken system, which is the only lasting solution. It was the enactment of a law to correct it.”
co-host Joe Kernen asked.[D]Over the past four years, do you think something should have been done differently at the border? Do you think the election outcome could have been different? Is there anything you, as an individual, would have done differently? ? ”
Mayorkas said he doesn't want to speculate about the election, but that “the model we have in place right now… [has] Last year, before the pandemic hit our nation and the world, the number of encounters at the southern border was below 2019 levels. We are facing unprecedented levels of displacement of people around the world. We're actually building the architecture now, and it's been very successful. ”
Mr. Kernen then said: “Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, I think some of the damage was already done. Could there have been something done differently before that, say from the beginning of this administration? … It was just a matter of It became a major flashpoint in people's thinking in the lead-up to the election.
Mayorkas replied: “Absolutely, yeah, Joe, and remember where we were, and remember where we were until May 2023. Everyone on the other side of the aisle is an immigrant. I wholeheartedly supported the continuation of Title 42, which is a public health order, not a measure, but a public health order, because we are the first country in the hemisphere to do so. Because even though we are coming out of the pandemic, we are still in a pandemic. Remember what the push was for May 2023 and what the government has done since then. Pushing for more funding for the Department of Homeland Security and legislation to fix our broken system is the only lasting solution.”
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