Several Border Patrol agents disagree with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ assertion that the southern border is secure, and this disagreement comes as agents on the front lines of the historic migrant crisis struggle to manage the overwhelming numbers of migrants they are currently dealing with.
In June alone, there were more than 207,000 interactions with migrants, breaking the 200,000 threshold for the fourth consecutive month. However, Mayorkas refuted allegations that the border is not secure on Tuesday when addressing at the Aspen Security Forum.
According to him, politicians have stated they won’t support comprehensive immigration reform unless the issue is resolved.
“I have said to a number of legislators who expressed to me that we need to address the challenge at the border before they pass legislation and I take issue with the math of holding the solution hostage until the problem is resolved. There is work to be done,” he remarked before adding that safe and secure are two distinct terms.
“There are smugglers that operate on the Mexican side of the border and placing one’s life in their hands is not safe,” he continued.
The National Border Patrol Council’s (NBPC) President, Brandon Judd, challenged the idea that the border is safe by citing both the drug flows into the US and the number of migrants who elude border patrols.
440,000 known gotaways have been reported since the fiscal year started in October, according to a senior CBP source, with over 50,000 occurring in May. That indicates that more than 800,000 illegal aliens have evaded agents since October 2020, when added to the 400,000 known gotaways since the start of FY 2021.
The Biden administration has concentrated on addressing the crisis’ underlying causes, such as Central America’s corruption and poverty, as well as establishing what it refers to as safe and legal avenues for immigration and asylum claims.
Republicans and some border authorities, however, have said that the administration has made it easier for many migrants to be let into the US, reduced immigration enforcement within the country, and halted building of the border wall, all of which have exacerbated the situation.
