WATCH: Secretary Mayorkas’ Refusal to Enforce Our Nation’s Laws Has Destroyed Border Patrol Morale

Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA) highlighted how the Biden administration’s refusal to enforce our laws has destroyed the morale of our Border Patrol agents on the frontlines of this crisis:

“History will witness your era of service as a transitional time in our country…We can give you money to hire a thousand new border agents—nobody wants to work for you. We can’t keep up with the whistle blowers that are coming to testify against your command.”

Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC) highlighted the tragic consequences of the Biden administration’s failure to enforce the laws of our nation:

“You’re asking for a 342 percent increase in the funding for combating child exploitation. Do you want to know why that is? Let me tell you, because you won’t tell me candidly. The reason is your policies have led to 345,000 unaccompanied children entering this country, which now the New York Times has revealed in multiple articles what that has led to in the quality of their lives…Everybody of any reasonable sensibility looks at what you have been saying…and recognizes it blinks at reality—and you know it.”

Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) demanded an apology from Sec. Mayorkas on behalf of the Tambunga family, who lost two family members in a deadly crash with a speeding human trafficker evading apprehension in the Biden border crisis:

“They came here because they want closure. They deserve answers. Will you turn around and offer your condolences and an apology for your administration that led to the death of their loved ones…It is a failure of the policies that have allowed hundreds of thousands of families to go through this grief.”

Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) highlighted the challenges facing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), our nation’s risk advisor, under this administration:

“The Fiscal Year 2024 CISA budget requests relatively few additional full-time employees, despite a persistent workforce shortage. In addition, seven years after Congress gave DHS authority, it finally launched the Cyber talent management system in November 2021, but public reporting indicates that hiring has been slow…both factors are very concerning…Is CISA’s current staffing levels consistent to meet all of its obligations?” 

Secretary Mayorkas admitted to the agency’s issue:

“We do have vacancies.”

Rep. Garbarino then asked about the delayed Congressionally-requested 360 review of the cyber component:

“DHS has still not submitted CISA’s four structure assessment, which is over a year late. That assessment is crucial to understand CISA’s workforce and resource needs. What is the delay?”

Secretary Mayorkas answered, in part:

“Congressman, we will look into that.”

Rep. Garbarino concluded, highlighting the importance of Congressional oversight in properly assessing DHS’s budget proposal:

“What concerns me is the delay in that report plus the delay…[in] over eight reports that Congress is due from DHS and CISA… We are here talking about the budget and budget requests. These reports are how we do our oversight….we want to make sure the money is being spent properly, but we can’t do that if these reports come to us late.”

Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) laid out how much taxpayer money is being wasted by the Biden administration’s refusal to finish building the Southwest border wall and asked Secretary Mayorkas whether he agreed with his Border Patrol Chief, who said he disagreed with the decision:

“President Biden said in his first hundred days, ‘not another foot.’…Because of this, the Department of Defense then had to spend $2 billion to terminate the contracts for something that Congress needed to happen…that’s not a good expenditure of taxpayer money…Now we continue to spend $130,000 every day to store and maintain those sections of wall rusting and wasting on the ground…You’re proposing to spend $4.7 billion for a Southwest border contingency fund that’s set up to deal with the surge…instead of building physical barriers…Do you agree with [Chief Ortiz], who said before this Committee that he disagreed with Biden’s decision to shut down construction of that 250-mile border wall that Congress appropriated funds for?”

Secretary Mayorkas answered:

“I stand by the decision of this administration to stop construction of the wall.”

Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) detailed how the Biden administration’s open-border policies are incentivizing the human trafficking of migrant children, who are exploited by dangerous human smugglers:

“To stop the exploitation and trafficking of children, we need the federal government to partner with us and eliminate policies that are making children more vulnerable…A report shows that the number of unaccompanied minors (UACs) at the Southern border increased from 27,000 to 127,000 between Fiscal Years 2015 and 2022…Roughly 40 percent of those initially categorized as UACs were aged 17 or above, and included reference to the case of a 24 year old murderer who made his way through the UAC system in order to ultimately murder his Florida sponsor. The killer’s mother reported that he had entered the U.S. fraudulently because, ‘right there at the shelter they helped me.’ This was a reference to financial aid and other assistance given by charitable organizations on both sides of the border.”

Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) highlighted how American taxpayers are funding Secretary Mayorkas’ legal defense in hearings:

“If we are going to spend $3 million on a private law firm to help you prep for hearings…as a fiscally conservative man, if we want to fund a department, let’s fund it. Let’s not go spending things that we don’t need to spend taxpayer dollars on.”