The Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Jan. 19 is investigating the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis amid record numbers of illegal aliens entering the United States from Mexico and continued fentanyl smuggling into the country.
He also called on chief border patrol officials to testify at an upcoming hearing to be held on the week of Feb. 6. Chief Border Patrol agents Jason Owens, Gregory Bovino, Gloria Chavez, and acting chief Patricia McGurk-Daniel, who oversee border sectors in Texas, Arizona, and California, were called to testify at the hearing about “how U.S. Border Patrol agents are managing the crisis and the impact of the crisis on their mission to secure the border.”
“Republicans will hold the Biden Administration accountable for this ongoing humanitarian, national security, and public health crisis that has turned every town into a border town.”
Mayorkas was asked to produce documents “about DHS’s role in undermining efforts to secure the southern border,” Comer’s office announced.
Such documents include communications about the numbers of illegal aliens released from DHS custody into the United States, as well as communications on any plans to secure the border and increase the seizure rate of dangerous drugs like fentanyl.
Comer also requested communications related to the decision to end former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” (Migrant Protection Protocols) policy; communications on how the soaring illegal crossings have affected retention, recruitment, and morale among border agents; and much more.
‘Failed Policies’
In the letter to Mayorkas, Comer accused the Biden administration of having failed to ensure that the U.S. immigration system is safe, orderly, and humane. The Oversight chairman also accused President Joe Biden of having “waited until there was a Republican majority in the House of Representatives to finally visit the border” in early January.“The visit, however, comes long after DHS’s rollback of deterrent-focused policies that were working to reduce the number of illegal border crossings,” Comer told Mayorkas, adding that the rollback has given power to human smuggling groups and cartel criminals over the past two years.
“As the border crisis worsens, DHS and the Biden Administration continue to implement failed policies,” Comer wrote, adding, “Instead of working to resolve the situation, the Biden Administration is lying to the American people that the border is secure—despite thousands of illegal aliens and massive quantities of deadly fentanyl evading apprehension every day—and persisting in its ultimate goal to enact a massive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.”
Since Biden took office in 2021 and scaled back or terminated key Trump-era policies, illegal immigration has soared to record levels.
Tom Homan, former acting ICE director and Heritage visiting fellow, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement on Friday: “Joe Biden is the first president in my lifetime to intentionally un-secure the border. By way of more than 90 executive orders, he undid the successful Trump-era policies that brought illegal immigration to a 40-year low and gave us the most secure border of our lifetimes.”
He added: “More Americans than ever dying from fentanyl flooding across the southwest border. More women and children abused and sexually assaulted on the dangerous journey through Central America and Mexico. More migrants found dead on U.S. soil than ever. Record profits for the cartels as they traffic and smuggle historic numbers of drugs and people across the border. It’s inhumane.
“It’s a slap in the face to the men and women of the Border Patrol, who are absolutely overwhelmed, as well as to ICE agents who’ve been told they can’t detain or deport most of those who break our laws. Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have embraced open borders for political benefit, and innocent people are the ones paying the consequences.”
