First phase interim report in investigation of the DHS Secretary outlines how he failed to secure our sovereign borders

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Homeland Security, led by Chairman Mark E. Green, MD, released the first phase interim report in the Committee’s investigation into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty and the Biden administration’s failure at the Southwest border. The report provides evidence of Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to enforce our nation’s laws, failure to discharge the duties of his office, reckless open-border policies, and repeated misleading statements to Congress and the American people. The release of the first phase interim report follows a Full Committee hearing on cartel control of the Southwest border, a part of the second phase of the investigation.
 
In the report, the Committee states, “One obvious obligation inherent to the DHS secretary’s job is securing the nation’s border. Indeed, Section 103(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) charges the secretary with ‘the power and duty to control and guard the boundaries and borders of the United States against the illegal entry of aliens…’ The evidence documented throughout this report will demonstrate that Mayorkas has been, and continues to be, derelict in the solemn duty to secure the nation’s borders, not only by ending policies enacted to ‘control and guard’ America’s borders, but by implementing policies that have actively encouraged and facilitated mass illegal immigration.”
 
The Committee concludes, “The consequences affecting Americans every day are the direct byproduct of Mayorkas’ policies and decisions since his first day in office. If he had chosen to enforce the laws written and passed by Congress, maintain proven border security policies, and tell the truth, Americans would not be suffering from the devastation this crisis has caused, and almost three – quarters of the American people would not believe their government is failing on border security. Mayorkas has made his choices, however, and as he said in testimony before the Senate in November 2021, ‘For the policies that are promulgated, I should be held accountable.’ It is this Committee’s responsibility to do just that—we will continue to investigate Mayorkas, reveal our findings to the American people, and ensure he truly is held accountable.”
 
Read the full interim report here. 
 
Background:
 
To examine Secretary Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty and its effects on the American people, on June 15, the House Committee on Homeland Security, led by Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), held a Full Committee hearing to hear from former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on Secretary Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty at the Southwest border. From the witness testimony provided, it is clear that Secretary Mayorkas created our nation’s historic border crisis by implementing intentionally reckless policies, failing to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and ignoring the advice, recommendations, and warnings of experienced law enforcement. These decisions include the use of mass parole to release illegal aliens into the country, particularly through the CBP One app, rescinding the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, opposing new border wall construction, using taxpayer money to help facilitate illegal immigration, and endangering migrants and Americans alike by empowering the drug cartels that now control our Southwest border. 
 
On June 20, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, led by Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX), held a hearing examining the threats posed to the U.S. homeland by malign nation-state actors in Latin America. In the hearing, Members received confirmation from national security experts that malign nation-state actors, specifically China and Russia, could be empowered to take advantage of the crisis at the Southwest border, which continues to leave the U.S. vulnerable to national security threats. Witnesses testified that the historic migrant influx and unprecedented number of gotaways at the Southwest border under Secretary Mayorkas allows individuals on the terrorist watch list, as well as fentanyl and other deadly drugs, to be smuggled into the country undetected.

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