By Elizabeth Troutman |
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas “must be impeached immediately,” tweeted Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.
Ciscomani said he met with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from Arizona to Texas, and they asked for policy changes to make it easier to minimize illegal crossings.
“Their top request is a policy change—consequences with the ability to detain & remove in order to deter,” Ciscomani said on Twitter. “But he’s[Mayorkas] not interested in giving them tools to tackle the crisis. His actions only worsen the situation.”
Ciscomani joined House Speaker Mike Johnson and more than 60 other House Republicans in a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas. The group met with CBP, attended a briefing with Texas Department of Public Safety, and joined a roundtable with local ranchers, business owners, and other local stakeholders, according to a news release.
Mayorkas told Bret Baier on Fox News that the Biden administration wants more money to process more illegal immigrants.
“Bret, the funds are needed to provide the Department of Homeland Security with more Border Patrol agents,” Mayorkas said. “The funds are needed to provide the Department of Homeland Security with more technology. The funds are needed to provide our department with more detention space to provide the Department of Justice with more immigration judges, so justice can be administered more swiftly.”
Border Patrol encountered 2.5 million migrants occurring in the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2023, topping the previous year’s record, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
The final month of the fiscal year saw 269,735 Border Patrol encounters at the Southwest border. This represents an 86% increase from encounters in June 2023.
“I believe in the American Dream that I’m living. But this [border crisis] is not it,” Ciscomani said at a press conference at the border. “With this crisis that Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas created, nobody wins – except the cartels. They are the ones deciding who gets across and who doesn’t. They are the ones who are trafficking people and drugs. They are the ones terrorizing their own citizens, with no regard for human life.”
“The men and women we met with today, those fighting on the frontlines for our safety, are doing so with little to no support from this administration,” Ciscomani continued. “They are trying to enforce policies that are at best outdated or at worst, designed to fail.”
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
