WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) released the following statement after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the suspension of rail operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas amid an influx of inadmissible aliens:

“Because of Secretary Mayorkas’ failure to secure the border, CBP is halting legitimate trade and the flow of goods across the border right before Christmas. With more and more CBP officers assigned to help process illegal aliens into the interior, there is no way for CBP to keep up with commercial activity. 

 “This is especially concerning as CBP has already closed numerous internal checkpoints and taken Border Patrol agents out of the field in many vulnerable areas of the border to do just that. This crisis is crushing the morale of these dedicated law enforcement professionals and their homeland security mission.

“Even worse, Secretary Mayorkas has clearly encouraged this surge at our borders by refusing to enforce the laws passed by Congress and by removing consequences for illegal activity in favor of catch-and-release policies and other perverse incentives. While this DHS secretary remains willfully ignorant to cartel operations, we know cartels encourage large groups of inadmissible aliens to overwhelm Border Patrol or CBP officers in one area of our border in order to leave entire swathes of it open for these transnational criminal organizations to smuggle criminals and dangerous drugs into the country as they please. It’s long past time for border security, not border management. Homeland Republicans will hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable for this dereliction of duty.”

###