FAIR: Mayorkas Failing to Live Up to His Oath of Office: "I Pledge to Defend and Secure Our Country"

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alejandro Mayorkas took an oath to defend and secure our country when he was sworn in as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on February 2. In the past three and half months, he has failed to live up to that commitment and has instead presided over a reckless abandonment of border security and immigration enforcement, charged the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The path forward is clear – it is time for him to go.                                                                        

"Secretary Mayorkas serves at the pleasure of the president who appointed him and was clearly chosen to lead DHS because he shares the same objective of countless individuals within the White House and Democratic Party – a borderless nation and virtually no enforcement of immigration laws," stated Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "But ultimately, he works for the American people. He swore to do all that is reasonably within his power to safeguard the homeland and that duty must come first.

"Despite his use of lofty rhetoric to justify his actions, in fact, the policies that Mayorkas has either rescinded or implemented are strengthening criminal cartels that smuggle and traffic human beings, endanger the lives of women and children, and further destabilize governments in our region. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei have both publicly rebuked the Biden administration for policies that enrich and embolden criminal cartels. In essence, Secretary Mayorkas sanctioned the abuse of our immigration system, becoming a cartel co-conspirator responsible for the largest alien and child smuggling operation in U.S. history. In every respect, Mayorkas has failed in his obligation to secure the nation while undermining the values of our country," Stein continued. "It is time for him to go."

"It is clear that Mayorkas will not secure the border or enforce the overwhelming majority of our nation's immigration laws. Thus, every day that he remains secretary of DHS, he is consciously violating his oath of office," Stein continued. "President Biden must ignore the open-borders puppeteers he has been surrounded with and terminate Secretary Mayorkas immediately. Time is running out."

A brief, and certainly far from comprehensive list of actions Mayorkas has taken as DHS secretary highlight the dereliction of his duty to defend and secure the homeland:

Border Security:

• Suspension of the Migrant Protection Protocols program (MPP)
• More than 42,000 illegal aliens have been released into the interior of the country as a result of this policy change.
• Illegal immigration has skyrocketed, with 178,000 apprehensions recorded in April, numbers not seen in more than 20 years and a more than 944% increase from last April's figures.
• The number of unaccompanied minor children in federal custody is at the highest level on record.

• Termination of Asylum Cooperation Agreements (ACAs) with Northern Triangle
• Asylum abuse is returning and the integrity of the nation's asylum system is now being compromised.

• Not fully enforcing Title 42
• Title 42 is a section of the U.S. Code that allows the United States broad powers in turning away migrants without court hearings from the southern border for health-related reasons. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has relied on this tool to keep migrants from entering the United States and potentially spreading the virus. Mayorkas decided to lift Title 42 restrictions for unaccompanied minors, fueling the current surge of minors at our border.

• Cooperating in halting border wall construction
• Mayorkas has refused to execute existing contracts for further construction of the southern border wall that have already been paid for, leaving vast stretches of the border unsecured. DHS resumed construction of certain sections of the wall, but insisted that it did so to prevent flooding, rather than to prevent aliens from reaching the United States.

Interior Immigration Enforcement:

• Monthly figures for deportations fell to lowest on record – just 2,962 in April. These figures defy the spirit, if not the letter, of a court order that barred an early Biden administration effort to cease all deportations.

• New limits set on immigration enforcement actions in courthouses. Under new DHS guidance, ICE and CBP officers cannot enforce immigration law at courthouses – tying the hands of our federal immigration enforcement officials and preventing them from exercising their Congressionally-mandated roles.

• Mayorkas began abusing his parole power to reunite families for televised events to highlight the immigration efforts of the Biden administration. This authority delegated to the Secretary allows him to unilaterally admit otherwise inadmissible aliens into the United States, ostensibly for humanitarian or other reasons. Instead, Mayorkas is using this power for propagandizing purposes meant to shine a positive light on the Biden administration.

• Mayorkas spearheaded the creation of a so-called "Family Reunification Task Force"
• Under this guidance, illegal alien families can reunite and relocate to the U.S., receiving a range of benefits from tuition assistance to legal advice. This rewarded many of the family members who chose to abandon their children in the United States, confident that the Biden administration may one day let them reunite in the U.S. rather than in their home countries.

Betraying American Workers:

• Mayorkas blocked the implementation of a crucial rule that would have prioritized H-1B admissions by salary, thereby increasing the cost of hiring a guestworker. Mayorkas' action protects the ability of American firms to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor at a time when unemployment remains high and as our economy is still struggling to recover from the crushing recession wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Mayorkas increased H-2B visas by 22,000 even as unemployment remains high.

Backing the Wrong People at the Worst Time to Lead Crucial Immigration-Related Agencies:

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Nominee: Ur Jaddou who, worked at USCIS under Mayorkas in the Obama administration and then open-borders advocacy group America's Voice.

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nominee: Chris Magnus who, as Chief of Police of Tucson, Arizona, claimed immigration enforcement makes the United States less safe.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Nominee: Ed Gonzalez, who as Sheriff of Harris County, Texas, opposed cooperation between local law enforcement and the very agency he has been nominated to lead.

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [email protected]

ABOUT FAIR        

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)