During an interview aired on MSNBC, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, evaded questions about the whereabouts of the more than 600,000 illegal immigrants who entered this country through the southern border and did not go through the asylum process.
Mayorkas evaded questions
On the Jose Diaz-Balart Reports program, the host, Jose Diaz-Balart, asked Mayorkas: "Some of the criticisms include, for example, the more than 600,000 - absconders - people who came into this country and didn't go through the process of applying for asylum. So do you know where they are, and who they are, the people who don't get.... don't apply for asylum when they come here?
The secretary evaded the question and responded by stating that the Biden Administration increased the number of Border Patrol agents and strengthened other measures such as dedicating "enormous resources" to control illegal immigration:
Then, for the first time since 2011, the President of the United States successfully submitted a budget that increased the number of Border Patrol agents. For the first time this year, we have 300 more Border Patrol agent eligibility positions than in the past. We are taking giant steps. We are devoting enormous resources to improving our border security and will continue to do so.
Mayorkas continued by saying that the problem of illegal immigrants arriving through the southern border and fleeing without seeking asylum has always "been a challenge,” in all administrations and stated that "within a broken system, we are doing everything we can":
Thus, leakage has been a challenge from year to year, regardless of the administration, whether it was over a million at the beginning of this department's administration or hundreds of thousands in subsequent years. But what we are doing is dedicating people, physical assets and an increasing reliance on and use of innovative technology to improve our visibility and interdiction capabilities.
