Senator Josh Hawley revealed Tuesday in a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower claimed that hundreds of special agents are being removed from child and drug trafficking investigations to perform basic tasks on the southern border, such as making sandwiches for illegal immigrants.
Hawley questioned Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the truth of these allegations. According to the informant, "There are 600, at least, special agents pulled off of other cases sent down to the border to babysit illegal immigrants," said the senator, seeking a response from Mayorkas.
Secretary Mayorkas did not give a clear answer and stated that the special agents sent to the border are combating fentanyl and addressing the priorities of the Department of Homeland Security, to which Senator Hawley replied: "Is making sandwiches a priority?"
After a brief exchange, the Republican stated: "This is your administration in action. It is a total failure, Mr. Secretary."
Hawley also asked Mayorkas about the "100,000 children lost by your department and by the Biden administration ," referring to the unaccompanied children who have been released at the southern border and whom the current administration has lost track of. The senator asked Mayorkas how many of these children have been rescued, and recalled that many may be victims of sex trafficking and child abuse. Secretary Mayorkas did not provide any figures in this regard, but assured that combating child trafficking is one of his department's priorities.
Also participating in the hearing on threats to national security were Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, and Christine Abizaid, director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
