Gaetz Seeks Immigration Answers From Homeland Security Chief Ahead Of Congressional Hearing

Bethany Blankley (The Center Square).

Ahead of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ expected testimony before Congress next week, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, is asking him to answer several questions about the border crisis.

Gaetz wrote to Mayorkas asking him to describe his plans to increase deportations and to give information on the location of illegal immigrants being sent by the federal government. He also asked for details about who made the decisions regarding where these people are going, how their tracks are being kept, as well as the identity of the person responsible. Mayorkas will appear in front of the House Judiciary Committee on next week.

“Securing borders and deciding who may be permitted lawful entry is the prime directive of any sovereign nation,” Gaetz wrote. The Biden administration’s open border policies are “an attack” on U.S. sovereignty, and a “conscious decision to rewrite the rules of civilization, dissolve our borders, undermine our nation state, and displace our people.

“It is well documented that illegal immigrants are showing up at our southern border and fraudulently claiming asylum to be granted entry,” he added. Since Biden took office, Gaetz said, “544,241 aliens who were in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been released into the interior. These aliens are being bused and flown all over the country,” including Florida.

Under Mayorkas’ leadership, deportations of illegal immigrants in the U.S. “have come to a halt,” he added, at a rate of deporting 4,300 people per month.

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“It would take 14.5 years to deport just the aliens DHS has released under the Biden Administration, when we have near 1.9 million aliens eligible for deportation currently,” he added.

DHS has previously acknowledged that it’s lost track of at least 45,000 unaccompanied minors who illegally crossed the border into the U.S. during a five-month period last year; 40% of roughly 114,000 unaccompanied minors, Axios first reported.

In addition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted that more then 50,000 illegal aliens were released to the U.S. during last year’s five-month analysis.

Gaetz’ letter comes after Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and other attorneys general have called for Mayorkas’ resignation after he’s drastically altered or halted immigration policy, hamstringing federal agents from enforcing laws passed by Congress.

Congressmen like Andy Biggs from Arizona, and Chip Roy and Michael Cloud from Texas, have called for Mayorkas to be impeached, arguing he’s failed to uphold his constitutional oath, and the most basic aspect of his job: to secure the homeland.

Florida Governor. Moody Ron DeSantis has been fighting aggressively against the government over the last year regarding illegal immigration.

DeSantis said in February that Florida didn’t “want to be facilitating very harmful policies not only in terms of the rule of law, not only in terms of what drug cartels may be introducing into our country, but also the treatment of people who are basically being trafficked as what is effectively the largest human smuggling operation in American history.”

Mayorkas last year announced a plan to protect “stateless individuals,” pledging to “reduce barriers to accessing legal immigration status and associated benefits.”

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ICE also announced its plan to transfer and monitor 18- and 19 year-old illegal immigrants into U.S. communities “while promoting compliance with immigration obligations and release conditions” as they “await final determination of their immigration cases,” instead of complying with a court order to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, where these individuals would remain until their immigration process was completed.

At a January border summit in Edinburgh, Texas, Moody said, “When I took office, I never dreamed I would be having to fight against my own government to help me in my job as attorney general to protect my citizens.”

The Biden administration has been “releasing those here illegally that were committing crimes in our states in violation of federal law,” Moody said. “Or they were cancelling operations going after those here illegally that were sexual predators. We now know that they have a huge, clandestine operation to smuggle people across the nation.

“We cannot have a federal government that is not following the law but is actively working against those of us that are charged with protecting our citizens and our states.”

The Center Square permission granted this syndicated version.