In an interview this past weekend on the CBS program “Face The Nation,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas demanded action by Congress — where it’s Republicans in office holding up key possibilities — on border policy.
Infamously, Republicans in the Senate recently voted down a bipartisan proposal that would have boosted hiring on border security teams, expanded the roster of judges handling immigration cases, and provided the federal government new powers to shut the southern border in periods of extensive strain. Mayorkas — who was recently impeached by House Republicans for supposed border failures, though the case has not gone anywhere in the Senate — said legislative action of the variety rejected by Republicans would provide the most effective solution.
“Margaret, we’ve taken executive actions,” the Cabinet member said, addressing CBS host Margaret Brennan. “Former President Trump invoked 212(f), a statutory provision, and that was enjoined by the courts. And so when administrative actions are taken, they are often litigated, and they do not endure. The American people deserve and expect enduring solutions and Congress needs to deliver on the American public’s expectations.”
“We have an obligation to consider all options, as we do day in and day out,” the official further explained. “But those options are not going to deliver what legislation would. We cannot administratively provide nearly $20 billion to the Department of Homeland Security and the Departments of State and Justice to make our immigration system work better and to stop the ever-increasing immigration case court backlog that has been building year after year after year.”
In earlier remarks, President Joe Biden characterized work on lessening that caseload in the immigration system as instrumental towards eliminating potential incentives for undocumented immigration, since there’d subsequently be much shorter of a turnaround time before potential removal from the United States. But Republicans are sticking with a combo of overtly partisan proposals and demands to just use the legal provisions already in place, no matter the areas where current legal frameworks have fallen short.
