FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chairmen Green on CNN: Secretary Mayorkas' Open Border Has Put Every American at Risk
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) joined CNN’s State of the Union to discuss the end of Title 42 and House Republicans’ passage of the Secure the Border Act of 2023, H.R.2.
“What Secretary [Mayorkas] failed to say is that this week has seen more crossings than any week in our history. Yes, there was some anticipation, and so people started coming across at higher numbers. In fact, record-breaking numbers at the first part of the week, but in the latter part of the week, a judge ruled that [the Biden administration] can’t do their plan of just releasing without a court date.”
“The drug cartels have responded, and the numbers have fallen off for a couple of days. But [Secretary Mayorkas] admitted, just moments ago, that they can’t predict the peak. CBP said a 40 percent increase is expected with Title 42 gone. That’s another nine million people in two years. They’ve already let 5.04 million encounters and [nearly] 1.5 million gotaways as they’ve tried to manage border security and not secure our border.”
On immigration policy, Chairman Green said:
“We need a better and improved immigration system, but the problem is the way that Mayorkas and those guys have done it with catch-and-release and with not deporting people. All the things they’ve done to encourage people to come into the country are basically making the problem of migration worse. We need to secure our border and then we can deal with the immigration piece. You can’t create more incentive to come here without a secure border—you get the [nearly] 1.5 million gotaways.”
“You can come to CBP right now and get immediate parole. Why would you avoid CBP unless you have some nefarious intent?”
On holding Secretary Mayorkas accountable, Chairman Green said:
“I’ve been very careful not to say, ‘let’s impeach Secretary Mayorkas,’ because I don’t have that authority in my Committee. But what I do have is the ability for oversight. We’ll look very closely at the failures of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas. I know for a fact he lied to Congress under oath. Should someone be a cabinet secretary if they come to Congress and lie to Congress under oath?"
“We have a five-phase accountability plan. We’re going to look into his dereliction of duty, the laws he’s intentionally violated and not followed. He took an oath to the Constitution, right? His job is to execute the laws, not write them or make them up himself. His interim final rule to speed people into the country is an excellent example of people just making up the laws.”
“We’ll show the human cost of this open border. Fentanyl mothers, Angel Moms, that little baby in Florida crawling around in a VRBO that encountered fentanyl and died. Every American is at risk with this open border. I would be negligent in my job not to look into this guy’s performance and show the American people how he has failed.”
