House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green released the initial findings Wednesday of his investigation into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, finding him derelict of his duty.
Green, a Republican, said during a press conference that there will be five phases of the investigation, which will conclude in roughly 12 weeks. The committee’s initial findings cite instances of Mayorkas allegedly lying to Congress under oath on multiple occasions and purportedly lying to the American people “at least” 58 times, Green said.
“In just over two years of Secretary Mayorkas’ leadership, the number of encounters at our Southwest border has doubled compared to the previous administration. More than 1.5 million known gotaways have entered our country. The drug cartels control our Southwest border and are flooding our communities with fentanyl,” Green said in a statement.
Green also expressed concerns with not only the broader illegal immigration surge, but an influx of illegal migrants from China, some of which the chairman said are tied to the Chinese government. In total, Border Patrol recorded 9,711 encounters with Chinese migrants at the southern border between October 2022 and April, a roughly 393% increase compared to all of fiscal year 2022.
“You thought the Chinese spy balloon was bad. This chart here depicts a massive surge in Chinese nationals, many of whom are military aged men, many with known ties to the PLA, ties to the CCP, who have crossed our southern border and just been released by Secretary Mayorkas” pic.twitter.com/3zy4ej134j
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) June 14, 2023
“This is not a coincidence—this is a dereliction of duty. As the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas swore an oath to the Constitution and to faithfully discharge the duties of his office. But as the Committee has learned time and time again through witness testimony and firsthand insight from the frontlines of this crisis, the American people have been forced to face the devastating costs of his failure,” Green said in the statement.
“There is no question that Secretary Mayorkas is the chief architect of the open borders policies that got us here, and it is crucial that this Committee fulfills its congressional oversight duties and leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to get the facts. This preliminary report is just the first step to get to the bottom of this crisis, demonstrate why this Committee’s investigation is necessary, and shine a light on the intentionally reckless policy decisions that have created the worst border crisis in American history,” he continued.
DHS defended Mayorkas and urged Congress to focus on immigration reform, a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of the Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people. The Department will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border, protect the United States from terrorism, and improve our cybersecurity, all while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. Instead of pointing fingers and pursuing baseless attacks, Congress should work with the Department and pass comprehensive legislation to fix our broken immigration system, which has not been updated in decades,” the DHS spokesperson said.
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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].