Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refused to call the ongoing influx at the southern border a “crisis,” saying that admitting the situation was a crisis would indicate a “withdrawal from our mission.”
“I view it as a significant challenge,” Mayorkas said when asked during an interview with “60 Minutes” about the border.
When asked why he would not use the word “crisis,” Mayorkas claimed it was because he has “tremendous faith in the people of the Department of Homeland Security.”
“And a crisis speaks to me of a withdrawal from our mission. And we are only putting more force and more energy into it,” the secretary continued.
From Fox News:
Mayorkas was hammered about the situation at the border during multiple hearings in the Senate and the House this week, which saw a number of Republicans saying he should quit or be fired. Those hearings saw additional scrutiny on Mayorkas in the wake of a hearing last month featuring Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz -- who said that agents did not have "operational control" of the border. "In five of those nine southwest border sectors, we have seen an increase in flow and that has caused a considerable strain on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to move so agents and even migrants to some of the other areas," Ortiz said in response to a question about whether the border is secure.
