The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, under the leadership of Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), has announced the release of a preliminary report that puts forward a case for an oversight investigation into the conduct of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
According to the Committee, the investigation is essential to ascertain the facts of an ongoing crisis at the U.S. borders, which the Committee asserts is due to Secretary Mayorkas’ “dereliction of duty.”
“In just over two years of Secretary Mayorkas’ leadership, the number of encounters at our Southwest border has doubled compared to the previous administration. More than 1.5 million known gotaways have entered our country. The drug cartels control our Southwest border and are flooding our communities with fentanyl,” said Chairman Green.
He added, “This is not a coincidence—this is a dereliction of duty.”
The Committee has laid out multiple preliminary conclusions in the initial phase of its investigation into the border security policies of the Biden administration.
It alleges that under President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, the administration rolled back numerous border-security policies leading to a surge in illegal immigration.
The Committee maintains that the leadership effectively amounts to an open border policy, resulting in a catastrophic loss of human life, dignity, and escalating fiscal costs.
“Secretary Mayorkas, as the head of DHS, bears particular responsibility for the devastating crisis that has unfolded and expanded on his watch and due to his policies,” the Committee stated in the report.
The report further notes that “Under the Biden administration, apprehensions at the Southwest border have exceeded 5.2 million, with total nationwide apprehensions totaling more than 6.1 million.”
In addition to these figures, the report has highlighted an alarming increase in arrests of individuals with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants.
“Border Patrol arrests of criminal illegal aliens have exploded,” the report says.
The findings also include evidence of significant drug seizures along the Southwest border, with more than 17,000 pounds of fentanyl intercepted through April in FY23.
Human trafficking is highlighted as another critical issue, with the chaos at the Southwest border reported having fuelled an unprecedented revenue stream for the cartels, estimated to be around $13 billion in 2021 alone.
Furthermore, the Committee has expressed concerns over the rise in the number of individuals on the Terrorist Screening Data Set apprehended at the Southwest and Northern borders since the beginning of FY21.
The report also mentions a dramatic increase in Chinese nationals crossing the border illegally and a significant decrease in the number of criminal illegal aliens targeted for deportation.
Chairman Green emphasized the seriousness of these findings and the urgent need for this investigation: “This preliminary report is just the first step to get to the bottom of this crisis, demonstrate why this Committee’s investigation is necessary, and shine a light on the intentionally reckless policy decisions that have created the worst border crisis in American history.”
Read the full report below:
