Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas rated his performance in the Biden administration as an ‘A’ to the Senate Judiciary Committee today despite him overseeing and orchestrating the most significant border crisis in U.S. history.
When asked by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) how he would grade his performance as DHS secretary, Mayorkas responded, “I’m a tough grader on myself, and I give myself an ‘A’ for effort, investment, mission, and support of our workforce.”
Mayorkas’ performance so far couldn’t be further from an ‘A’.
In just under 10 months, Mayorkas has categorically violated the Department’s mission of “secur[ing]the nation from the many threats we face.”
The federal agency he leads has halted the vast majority of southern border wall construction. In many areas, there remains no barrier separating the U.S. from Mexico.
The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program has been terminated — meaning the Obama-era “catch and release” policy is back full-throttle. Rather than be detained or returned to Mexico to wait for their immigration court date, unlawful migrants are now bused or flown to their destination of choice in the U.S.
The Asylum Cooperation Agreements (ACAs) with the Northern Triangle countries have been rescinded — meaning thousands of meritless asylum seekers are being released into the interior of the country with a court date years down the road. Many of these asylum seekers will never show up for their hearing and disappear without a trace.
Combined, these items have created a situation in which hundreds of thousands of individuals are pouring across the southern border unvetted and unaccounted for. Many may present public safety risks, while others may present public health risks amid the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Once illegal aliens are in the country, Mayorkas has made it virtually impossible to remove them. He has orchestrated efforts to eliminate interior immigration enforcement. Mayorkas has issued memos that end worksite enforcement operations, restricted when and where officers can initiate enforcement actions, and protect most illegal aliens from deportation. Prior to these memos, illegal alien deportations had already fallen to historic lows. Simply put, those who have no legal right to remain in the country (and in many cases those who additionally pose public safety and public health risks) are allowed to remain in the country under Mayorkas’ leadership.
And while anti-borders advocates and the legacy media are insinuating that the Biden Border Crisis is coming to an end after three-month decline in border apprehensions (albeit, October apprehensions are the largest for the month on record and are a 128 percent increase from the same time last year), there is little reason to believe that Mayorkas can truly regain control of the border—especially after hearing his comments today.
In addition to his ‘A’ grade remark, Mayorkas went on to say that the more than one million illegal aliens with final orders of removal should not all be deported. Additionally, he admitted that the U.S. is not conducting in-person, full refugee interviews for all Afghan evacuees (despite it being a 9/11 commission recommendation and standard refugee processing protocol), and that he does not know how many COVID-positive illegal aliens have been released into the country under his watch.
Mayorkas has demonstrated he will not secure the nation from threats. His track record in just under 10 months proves this, and his remarks from this hearing suggest that there is little reason for optimism moving forward.
Mayorkas falls well short of an ‘A’ grade.