This Wednesday, April 10, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, appeared at the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee hearing to discuss his department's budget for fiscal year 2025.
While Mayorkas argued the need for an increase in the budget to address immigration problems, several Republican congressmen pointed out that the record numbers reported at the border have nothing to do with a lack of budget but with the current administration’s policies. Republicans also questioned the secretary about the data he presented to the Committee.
Republicans blame Biden's immigration policies
Dave Joyce, Republican representative from Ohio and Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, opened the hearing with a speech in which he claimed that the secretary's budget request does not address the real causes of the immigration crisis, which he claimed is driven by the Biden administration's policies. "This request is not serious if the goal is to actually fix the problem and secure the border," said Joyce.
"Again, this administration’s approach to the border is just to manage the chaos – a position all fair-minded Americans reject," Joyce said of the Department's request for $4.7 billion that exceeds the limits set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar began the questioning by asking about illegal immigrants who have been captured and released on several occasions. He asked Mayorkas to explain what his department needs to increase expedited removal procedures.
Mayorkas claimed that the bipartisan bill that was rejected would have given him "legal authority." He also said that his department needs more agents and more personnel to support them so that they can do their job. He also mentioned the need for larger detention spaces and transportation resources.
However, Congressman John Rutherford addressed Mayorkas stating that: "Your immigration policy is in chaos. You don't need Congress to do anything, the president's got the ability to do it, you just need to talk to him to get it done."
Some worrying figures
Rutherford also confronted Mayorkas about the data presented at the hearing. The Republican stated that the data Mayorkas presented, which claims that 630,000 people were deported, is false. Specifically, he said that only 142,580 deportations were carried out by ICE, and that the rest are people who were rejected at the border.
The Florida representative also said that since the last time Mayorkas testified before that Committee, approximately a year ago, 2.4 million people have crossed the southern border. He pointed out that more people crossed in one year than during former President Donald Trump’s four years in office.
The Republican also pointed out that in fiscal year 2023, there were 294 illegal immigrants arrested at ports of entry who were on the terrorist watch list. He said that there are 6.1 million illegal immigrants people in the country and 1.2 million of them have orders to be removed issued by federal judges. Rutherford asked Mayorkas why those people are still in the country.
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, also revisited the numbers, asking Secretary Mayorkas how many "gotaways" there have been since President Biden came to office. Mayorkas responded that he would send her that data directly, but Hinson immediately responded that there have been 1.7 million "gotaways.” After this, the representative went on to mention all the Trump administration policies that Biden did away with, which she believes, have led to the current immigration crisis that the country is experiencing.
