Republicans Request Documents From Mayorkas on DHS Warnings to Biden Transition Team

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) listens during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing in Washington on Sept. 23, 2020. Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images

Two House Republicans on March 30 requested documents from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in regards to warnings given to the Biden transition team about reversing Trump-era immigration policies.

“As the Biden border crisis continues to worsen by the day, President Biden and his Administration refuse to accept responsibility for the growing humanitarian and security crisis,” Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) wrote in a letter to Mayorkas.

“This refusal to accept responsibility is startling in light of a news report that suggests the Biden Administration was warned that reversing President Trump’s successful immigration policies would lead to a surge at the border. We write to request documentation relating to these warnings.”

The Republicans were referring to an NPR report claiming that career DHS officials had warned the transition team of then-candidate Joe Biden last fall that revoking then-President Donald Trump’s immigration policies would lead to a surge at the border. The Epoch Times had first reported about the career officials’ warnings on March 17.

Jordan and McClintock asked Mayorkas to hand over documents related to the communications between the DHS and the Biden transition team.

“DHS officials reportedly had ’multiple briefings’ with Biden transition officials, warning them that undoing President Trump’s policies would lead to an increase in illegal immigration,” the letter states. “Instead of heeding these warnings, President Biden signed several executive orders dismantling the Trump Administration’s immigration programs and policies. The reversal of President Trump’s successful immigration policies have created a tremendous incentive for illegal aliens to surge to the southern border.”

Border Patrol has apprehended more than 150,000 illegal border crossers during the month of March—50,000 more than February—according to former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan.

A further 30,000 evaded capture, according to Morgan, who has received the provisional CBP numbers from internal sources.

The March total edges out the highest month in 2019, during the most recent border crisis. In May 2019, Border Patrol apprehended 144,000 people between ports of entry.

“The border is wide open … it’s not secure. Drugs are pouring in and criminal aliens are pouring in right now,” Morgan said during a press conference on the bank of the Rio Grande on March 30.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.