Global Courant 2023-05-08 01:31:32
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas distanced himself from the border crisis on Sunday, saying the country’s immigration system has been broken “since the 90s” and that it is ultimately up to Congress to fix it.
During an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Mayorkas rejected a bipartisan bill introduced last week by Senator Thom Tillis, RN.C., and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., that would allow the U.S. to allow migrants for two years after title 42 ends this week.
“There’s a very important message, not just to Senator Sinema, but to all senators and all members of the House of Representatives: We need immigration reform,” he said. “Everything the Department of Homeland Security does, everything our partners do within the federal government, falls within a broken immigration system. The president presented a proposal to Congress on his first day in office to fix our broken immigration system.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies at a Senate hearing on April 18, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
CBS anchor Margaret Brennan pushed back, saying it doesn’t appear the Democrats have made the border a priority.
TILLIS, SINEMA INSTALL BILL TO CONTINUE DEPLOYMENT OF MIGRANTS AFTER END OF TITLE 42
“But that’s like a to-do list,” she said. “That’s different from shrugging it off, picking up the phone and saying, ‘Excuse me, Democrats control the Senate, let’s be front and center on immigration.'”
“Margaret,” replied Mayorkas, “we’ve been pushing for immigration legislation since day one. And by the way, it didn’t start on day one — this has been a problem for decades. The immigration system hasn’t been fixed since the 1990s.”
“Absolutely, and it just seems to have gotten worse with the conditions we’re in right now,” Brennan replied.
Mayorkas argued that Sens. Sinema and Tillis do not solve the problem.
“What I would like to say to the senators, Senators Tillis and Sinema, is that our system needs to be fixed, not this band-aid solution,” he said.
President Joe Biden walks along a stretch of the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, January 8, 2023. The Biden administration has called for 1,500 troops amid an expected wave of migrants following the end of pandemic-era restrictions . (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
A Border Patrol agent leads migrants to a temporary processing tent in Brownsville, Texas on May 4, 2023. (Michael Gonzalez)
Title 42, a public health order introduced in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, expires Thursday, raising concerns that the US is unprepared for another wave of illegal immigration.
“The border is not open,” Mayorkas said Friday in Brownsville, Texas, along with Border Guard Chief Raul Ortiz. “It has not been open and it will not be open after May 11. And the smugglers who exploit vulnerable migrants are spreading misinformation. They are spreading false information, lies to lure vulnerable people to the southern border and those individuals are only being sent back. “
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Jessica Chasmar is a digital writer on the Fox News and Fox Business political team. Story tips can be sent to Jessica.Chasmar@fox.com.
