Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday that he has a “plan” to deal with what’s expected to be an even worse border situation once he carries out a judge’s order to no longer use pandemic powers to oust illegal immigrants.
Both Democrats and Republicans expressed skepticism that his plans will work.
“I am extremely worried that DHS is not ready, and that border communities and migrants will suffer the costs for this lack of preparation,” said Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona Democrat. “It’s obvious the border strategy being implemented at our southwest border is not working, and that change is necessary.”
Mr. Mayorkas insisted he is on top of the situation.
“We do have a plan,” he said.
He pointed to a recent policy expelling Venezuelan migrants who jump the border without permission. His department says that expulsion power has cut the number of Venezuelans from 1,100 a day down to 300 a day.
SEE ALSO: Judge grants Homeland Security five-week reprieve to end Title 42 border asylum policy
The problem, said Sen. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, is that the department is about to lose that expulsion power.
A federal judge earlier this week ruled that the government must stop relying on Title 42, a pandemic-era power to expel illegal immigrants at the border rather than allow them the chance to make claims of status here in the U.S.
The Trump administration had managed to shut the border down using Title 42, and the Biden administration kept it in place, albeit at a more relaxed pace, expelling nearly half of the record numbers pouring across.
Under the judge’s new ruling, Homeland Security has until Dec. 20 to get ready before Title 42 disappears, removing the key tool.
Most illegal immigrants who aren’t expelled are caught and released into communities.
Without Title 42, more migrants are expected to be caught and released — and that means more will try to come and take advantage of the situation. Homeland Security earlier this year predicted as many as 18,000 people a day, or substantially higher than the already record levels right now of between 7,000 and 8,000 a day.
SEE ALSO: Texas governor declares border ‘invasion,’ claims new powers to stop illegal immigrants
Mr. Mayorkas pointed to a six-part plan he said his department began to implement earlier this year to prepare for the end of Title 42. That includes more resources to provide medical care and speedy release at the border, faster asylum decisions and more prosecutions and speedy removals in cases where the department deems it warranted.
The problem, Mr. Lankford said, is that it’s not working. He pointed to October’s border numbers, which saw the Border patrol arrest more than 204,000 illegal immigrants and Customs and Border Protection Officers encounter another 26,000.
“The plan you just articulated has led to the third-highest number for any single month in history,” Mr. Lankford said. “The numbers continue to rise on this.”
He asked Mr. Mayorkas how much the government knows about the people it’s catching and releasing. He pointed out that while the U.S. can check people against its databases, that doesn’t guarantee access to records in their home countries.
“Do we know that history?” he said. “It is my understanding that we don’t know the criminal history of the vast majority.”
“I will certainly get back to you with whatever information we can provide,” Mr. Mayorkas responded, though he insisted the vetting is “robust” and “recurrent.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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