- The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 31, 2023

A whistleblower has told Congress that special agents at Homeland Security Investigations have been pulled off cases involving child traffickers and sexual exploitation and been deployed to the border to make sandwiches for illegal immigrants.

Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, revealed the allegations during a hearing Tuesday, challenging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over whether that was a good use of highly trained agents’ time.

“We are being told to shut down investigations to go hand out sandwiches and escort migrants to the shower and sit with them while they’re in the hospital and those types of tasks,” said the whistleblower, whom Mr. Hawley described as a special agent.

She estimated that some 600 other agents had been redeployed, the senator from Missouri said.

Mr. Mayorkas did not explicitly rebut the agent’s claims but said his department has to balance competing needs.

“We have a number of law enforcement priorities,” he said.

“Is making sandwiches one of them?” Mr. Hawley asked.

“Of course not, senator,” Mr. Mayorkas responded. “We accomplish a tremendous amount.”

Mr. Hawley’s claims are similar to what department employees have told The Washington Times. Officers from anti-terrorism and immigration fraud task forces say they have been taken off their regular duties and sent to the border to help process the massive flow of illegal immigrants.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona independent, told Mr. Mayorkas on Tuesday that officers who usually man border crossings have been reassigned to process illegal immigrants. That means longer waiting times and even suspension of crossings.

“Our border ports are already under strain from the border crisis because they’re processing hundreds of migrants each day,” Ms. Sinema said. “They cannot afford to lose more officers.”

Mr. Mayorkas said President Biden has asked for more money from Congress to increase hiring. He said his border agency has been “chronically underfunded.”

The secretary said Congress needs to update the immigration system to allow more people to come to the U.S. legally, which he said would take pressure off the border and illegal crossings.

“This funding package would allow us to more effectively combat the scourge of fentanyl, stem the impacts of historic migration and accelerate work authorization for eligible noncitizens,” he said.

Republicans said the solution isn’t money as much as it is a change in Mr. Mayorkas’ policies.

“What led to that unprecedented level of immigration illegally into the country happens to coincide with your becoming secretary of the department that’s responsible for border security and President Biden becoming president,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican. “The key factor that’s changed here is your administration.”

Mr. Hawley said the redeployment of Homeland Security Investigations special agents was particularly troubling because they are supposed to be helping track down some of the tens of thousands of illegal immigrant children smuggled into the country and away from government monitoring.

The New York Times reported this year that many of those children are used for labor.

“How many of those kids have you gotten back?” Mr. Hawley asked Mr. Mayorkas.

The secretary said his department has “prioritized the rescue of children” who are trafficked. The department said Mr. Mayorkas elevated human trafficking to a new “mission area” in his latest quadrennial homeland security review.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

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