Joe Biden’s nominee to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said he would quickly halt all construction of the border wall if inaugurated and refused to commit to keeping the wall that is already there.
On Tuesday (Jan. 19), Alejandro Mayorkas (D-Mich.) told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during his nomination confirmation hearing said, “President-elect Biden has pledged to stop the border wall, and it is my responsibility to act on that.”
He added, “I haven’t considered what we should do with the wall that’s already been built. I look forward to studying the issue and understanding the costs and benefits of doing so.”
Congress recently appropriated $1.4 billion for the border wall in the 2021 defense authorization package. In response, Mayorkas said he will look at “what opportunities there are to suspend that obligation, if the law allows, and act accordingly.”
During Trump‘s first term in office, more than 450 miles of border fencing were built along the U.S.-Mexico border, much of which has replaced old or ineffective fence barriers.
Mayorkas served as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during former President Barack Obama’s first term and as deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during his second term.
He said Border Patrol agents told him there was a need to implement “a diverse set of border security measures. That means a border wall may help in some areas, but in others, more personnel or equipment would be more effective.
Mayorkas said, “I look forward to looking at the challenges of the border issue and developing a complex measure to address those challenges.”
The National Border Patrol Council, which supported Trump’s presidential bid, said on the issue that a border wall is critical to slowing illegal border crossings and keeping agents safe.
Brandon Judd, chairman of the council, said agents working at the border are grateful for the new wall, equipped with roads, lighting and other technology, and that building the wall is the only way to end the humanitarian crisis at the border.
Mayorkas’ nomination hearing comes as some 9,000 Honduran migrants are crossing the Guatemalan border and continuing their push toward the U.S. border.
When asked what he thought about this migrant caravan, Mayorkas replied, “We are a nation of immigrants and we are also a nation of laws. …… When people show up at our border, we apply the laws of our country to determine whether they are eligible for relief under our humanitarian statutes or whether they are not.”
More than 67,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in November 2020, compared to 33,500 apprehensions in November 2019.
If inaugurated, Biden’s immigration agenda would include a mass amnesty for at least 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., along with an expansion of the asylum system and the repeal of many of the procedures Trump has put in place to curb illegal border crossings, an agenda that Mayorkas would be largely responsible for implementing.
It is believed that under Biden’s leadership, Mayorkas will end the Migrant Protection Protocol (or, MPP) program. Launched in January 2019, the program was designed to help stop the influx of thousands of frivolous asylum application cases. the MPP program forced those seeking asylum to wait for asylum cases to be adjudicated within Mexico. Prior to Trump’s implementation of the bill, thousands of illegal immigrants were released inside the United States to await adjudication, but most did not appear in court.
On his first day in office, Biden is expected to present an immigration reform package. Majokas said, “I think what we can agree on is that the immigration system is in tatters.”
Biden’s platform on immigration, announced during the election, includes raising the cap on U.S. refugee admissions from 18,000 to 125,000 per year and significantly increasing all immigration-related government resources; lifting Trump’s travel ban against countries with high rates of terrorism; ending enforcement actions against illegal workers in the workplace and promoting union organizing, among other things.
Although Mayorkas has said he opposes the complete defunding of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he is still expected to work to reduce the detention of illegal immigrants and the internal enforcement efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
If the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee votes in favor of advancing Mayorkas’ nomination, the nomination will be voted on by the full Senate.
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