Breaking
Republican Wire
Tag

Mayorkas

Browsing
News

Mayorkas Deliberately Dodged Questions…

By

(RepublicanWire.org) – Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas dodged questions about “gotaways” from MSNBC host Jose Diaz-Balart Tuesday during an interview about the border.

“Some of the criticism includes, for example, the 600,000-plus get-aways, folks who came into this country and didn’t go through the process of requesting asylum. So, do you know where they are and who they are, the people that don’t request asylum when they arrive here?” Diaz-Balart asked Mayorkas.

“For the first time since 2011, the president of the United States presented a budget successfully that increased the number of Border Patrol agents,” Mayorkas said. “For the first time, this year we have 300 more Border Patrol agent eligibility positions than we did in the past. We are making tremendous strides. We are devoting tremendous resources to enhance border security and we’ll keep at it.”

Diaz-Balart again questioned Mayorkas about the “gotaways,” people who evaded CBP at the border.

“Do you know where they are and who they are?” the MSNBC host asked.

“So, gotaways have been a challenge from year to year, regardless of the administration, whether it’s more than a million in the early part of this department’s administration or it’s hundreds of thousands over the ensuing years,” Mayorkas said. “But what we are doing is dedicating people, physical assets, and an increasing reliance in use of innovative technology to enhance our visibility and our interdiction capabilities.”

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encountered over 2.3 million migrants in Fiscal Year 2022, while another 600,000 migrants evaded CBP that fiscal year, Fox News reported. CBP reported encountering 230,000 people in October, the first month of fiscal year 2023, another 233,470 people in November, the second month of fiscal year 2023 and over 250,000 in December.

Republican Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas introduced a resolution to impeach Mayorkas Jan. 3, while the House Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing on the border for Feb. 6.

Keep Reading
By
News

Mayorkas Contradicts Himself…

By

(RepublicanWire.org) – During a Senate hearing on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared to change his tune when it comes to the southern border after saying earlier in the week that it is secure.

The secretary’s responses on Thursday were a change from what he told a House committee on Tuesday. When asked by Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., if the southern border is secure, Mayorkas said, “Yes, and we are working day in and day out to enhance security, congressman.”

Mayorkas the same series of questions the head of Border Patrol was asked by Florida officials earlier in the year, the first of which being whether the southern border is in a state of crisis.

“The entire hemisphere is suffering a migration crisis,” Mayorkas said. “We are seeing an unprecedented movement of people from country to country. It is not restricted to the southern border.”

The secretary cited “unprecedented” movement of people out of Venezuela, with many currently situated in Colombia.

Portman, not interested in Colombia or Venezuela for the purposes of the meeting, repeated his question about whether there is a crisis at the border.

“We are seeing a significant challenge at the southern border, as we are seeing it throughout the hemisphere,” Mayorkas said.

Portman’s next question was about whether there is an unprecedented number of migrants crossing the border, and Mayorkas confirmed that this past year it has been “the highest on record.”

Later in the hearing, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., challenged Mayorkas to provide some information about what the Biden administration plans to do about an expected increase of migrants crossing the border when the Title 42 public health order is no longer in place to allow swift deportation of illegal immigrants from countries affected by COVID-19.

“Secretary Mayorkas, you and I have talked about Title 42 for about 18 months, and I’ve asked you the question, what happens when Title 42 goes away, and for 18 months you’ve said we’re working on it,” Lankford said. The Republican then pointed to the recent court order calling for Title 42 to be lifted, after the Biden administration had previously failed to lift it on its own.

“But we’re still waiting to try to figure out what happens now and how many are about to cross the border,” Lankford continued. “What’s the plan for dealing with this massive migration, illegal immigration coming now post Title 42?”

Mayorkas responded by saying the administration’s plan remains the same as it was in April, and that they “have indeed been executing on the plan.” The secretary then briefly outlined a six-pronged approach that includes a surge of resources — personnel, technology, transportation and more — to the border; increasing the processing efficiency of Customs and Border Protection; increasing the consequences for entering the country illegally; strengthening nonprofit organizations and police at the local and state levels; targeting smuggling operations; and working with other countries to the south “to deter irregular migration.”

Retired ICE director, Tom Homan, joined Brian Kilmeade on “Fox &Friends” earlier in the week, and revealed what is really happening at the border.

Keep Reading
By
News

Disinformation Czar Lashes Out On Biden Administration…

By

(RepublicanWire.org) – The former head of a new “disinformation” panel that fell under the Department of Homeland Security is blaming the Biden administration after the project was shelved.

Nina Jankowicz, who was slated to head up the Disinformation Governance Board, told CNN’s Brian Stelter that the administration did not do enough to defend her reputation. In addition, she accused the White House of essentially muzzling her so she could not speak on her own behalf.

DHS announced the formation of the board in late April. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas went on to defend the panel against attacks from Republicans who labeled it an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth.”

In her interview, she told Stelter that the board was supposed “to bring best practices to bear, and to make sure that we were up with the latest research, the latest trends, in disinformation and countering it and make sure that work was being done in a way that protected freedom of speech, protected civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.”

“So, the sympathetic view, to you, is that the Disinformation Board was the victim of disinformation. Is that how you feel?” Stelter asked in response.

Jankowicz went on to blame Republicans.

“Oh, it absolutely was the victim of disinformation,” she said. “So, all of these narratives, that the Disinformation Governance Board was going to be this ‘Ministry of Truth,’ and all of the harassment and disinformation that was directed against me, was based on that falsehood, based on that falsehood that was knowingly peddled by many people in the conservative media ecosystem and on Capitol Hill.”

At that point, Stelter asked why DHS did not more vociferously defend Jankowicz if, in fact, the criticisms were wrong.

“Yeah, I have a lot of misgivings about the way things went down and I think the first thing to point out, Brian, is that there was a disproportionate focus on me, given my level of power within the department,” she said.

“I was not allowed to speak on my own behalf, and frankly, all the communications decisions that were being made about how to talk about the board were made above my pay grade, and above my level of decision-making,” Jankowicz said. “I was the executive director, but there were a lot of people that were involved that didn’t take advice frankly that I had given them.”

For his part, Stelter gave some pushback.

“Look, I would start with the name,” he said. “Even just the name, right, Nina, it sounds Orwellian. And any PR professional would say don’t call it that, you know? There were just dumb mistakes made.”

The name “belies the fact that it was meant to be an internal governing mechanism, governing how the Department of Homeland Security did its work on disinformation, not governing the internet,” she explained before once again appearing to blame the administration.

“And that was one of the reasons that I ended up making the choice to resign, right?” Jankowicz said. “I felt like the government had just rolled over, to the critics, who had completely spun this narrative out of control based on absolutely nothing and reality and the fact that they weren’t able to defend me, the person that they had chosen, the experts that they had chosen to lead this board and safeguard this work.

“It just didn’t feel like it was worth it, especially given the fact that my family was receiving threats,” she claimed.

In fact, many criticisms of Jankowicz from Republicans noted how she had dismissed factual information in the past as “disinformation” because it appeared to implicate Democrats.

That included the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop when incriminating evidence was first published by the New York Post in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election.

Jankowicz, who is supposed to be an expert in disinformation, proclaimed, “We should view it as a Trump campaign product,” adding that it likely had “illicit provenance” — a reference to Russian propaganda.

Keep Reading
By
News

DHS Secretary Mayorkas Can’t Dodge Questions This Time…

By

(RepublicanWire.org) – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan asked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to come prepared to testify to members of Congress with answers to five demands regarding certain immigration and border enforcement data.

Jordan demanded that Mayorkas provide information on southwest border enforcement and other immigration programs, such as the number of migrants that have evaded arrest at the southern border, before his testimony to the committee on April 28, according to a letter Jordan sent Tuesday to the DHS secretary.

First, Jordan asked for all Customs and Border Protection data on southern border encounters and gotaways since Jan. 20, 2021, according to the letter. Second, he requested that Mayorkas disclose all data related to interior immigration enforcement since Jan. 20, 2021. Jordan then asked for data on what is known as the Remain in Mexico program, in which certain migrants await court proceedings in Mexico.

Jordan’s fourth demand was for the Biden administration’s plan for the end of Title 42, which is the Trump-era public health policy used to quickly expel migrants that is set to expire May 23. Finally, Jordan asked for data on other immigration programs, including Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan allies, Temporary Protected Status and immigration benefits.

“The Biden administration’s radical immigration policies have caused a humanitarian and security crisis along our southwest border. As the Secretary of Homeland Security, you are responsible for carrying out President Biden’s far-left-immigration policies. Republicans on the Judiciary committee have been seeking your testimony since April 15, 2021, and we are heartened that you have finally agreed to testify in person before the Committee on Thursday, April 28, 2022,” Jordan wrote in the letter.

Keep Reading
By