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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas began 2023 with a bet: He figured if he gave illegal immigrants a chance to schedule their arrivals, he could get them to come in an “orderly” fashion through airports and official crossings and stop sneaking into the U.S.
As the year nears its end, it is clear that his gamble has failed.
Illegal immigrants have jumped at his offer of scheduled arrivals, but that has done little to tamp down the flow of people trying to sneak into the country.
The result is unprecedented border chaos from a rush of people either scheduling their arrivals or coming unannounced.
Among the yardsticks, the Border Patrol said it detected record numbers of convicted criminals in fiscal 2023, which just concluded. Agents also shattered the record for terrorism suspects, with more than the previous six years combined. More fentanyl flowed across the border than ever. Agents were called to make more rescues than in 2021 and 2022 combined.
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Actual illegal migration numbers show that Customs and Border Patrol recorded encounters of 3.2 million inadmissible migrants in fiscal 2023. That was five times the number in 2020, the last full year under President Trump.
It’s getting worse, with a record 304,073 inadmissible migrants encountered in August. That mark was promptly broken in September with 431,392.
“Their whole theory is that by using these ‘lawful pathways,’ it’s going to reduce the number of people that come across. The fact of the matter is they’ve made the situation worse,” said Gene Hamilton, a senior official in the Homeland Security and Justice departments during the Trump administration.
CBP released the grim numbers in an unusual weekend press statement.
Mr. Mayorkas will have to deal personally with them on Tuesday when he joins FBI Director Christopher A. Wray for a Senate hearing to talk about threats to the U.S.
The border and the potential for terrorists to exploit it are likely to dominate. Several Republican senators on the Homeland Security Committee have already raised questions about the 169 people on the government’s terrorism watchlist that Border Patrol agents detected at the southern border in 2023.
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The bigger issue, they said, is how many are sneaking across the border undetected.
“Our Southern border is a matter of deep national concern and insecurity,” a group of Republicans said in a letter sent Monday to President Biden.
Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller, in announcing the September numbers, acknowledged the “high rates” of unauthorized migration.
“CBP will continue to remain vigilant, making operational adjustments as necessary and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law,” he said.
He said Congress can help by giving Mr. Biden the money he has requested to add more technology, more immigration judges and more Border Patrol agents to the mix.
Republicans say they will reject that request because the money won’t do anything to cut the number of people at the border.
Mr. Mayorkas has spent much of the past year searching for solutions to the chaos.
As the country faced a surge of Venezuelans last fall, Mr. Mayorkas announced that he would use “parole” powers to entice them to apply ahead of time.
He said they could fly directly into airports and be admitted if they could line up a financial sponsor, even if they lacked a lawful basis.
In January, he expanded that program to cover Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans.
He created a second “parole” pathway for migrants from those and other nations who want to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. He said they could gain admission at border crossings as long as they scheduled appointments.
Mr. Mayorkas has labeled those avenues “lawful pathways,” though they face legal challenges.
He said his goal was to cut down the number of people Border Patrol agents have to chase by funneling migrants to official crossings.
He did manage to get more people to enter through the official crossings. CBP reported encounters with 121,069 inadmissible migrants in September, or double the rate from a year earlier, before the first Venezuela parole program.
It initially seemed to cut the number of people challenging the Border Patrol. After a couple of months, though, the numbers quickly sprang back. Agents recorded 218,763 illegal entries in September, one of the top five worst months on record.
Mr. Hamilton is now vice president at America First Legal, which is assisting in a lawsuit against the Venezuela parole program.
He said the judge in that case heard evidence that people taking advantage of that program were probably not planning to come to the U.S. until Mr. Mayorkas invited them.
More people welcomed means more people will attempt to come.
“When you think about the long-term dynamics with illegal immigration, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is if somebody gets released into the United States,” Mr. Hamilton said. “If they’re released into the United States, they will call home, they will let their family and friends know they made it, and more people will come. That’s the only thing that matters in the equation.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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