Senator Marshall Grills Secretary Mayorkas For His Fumbles and Failures at the Border

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. blasted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on his repeated failures at the southern border and for lying under oath to Congress. 

Secretary Mayorkas failed to confirm that the technology used at the border that tracks ‘gotaways’ is operational, he also confirmed that the DHS is not returning Venezuelan migrants right now, this admission is in direct contradiction to previous testimony. Mayorkas also flip-flopped on how many migrants each day are being admitted. These are all of enormous concern and further the point of why the Senate Democrats should have never blocked Secretary Mayorkas’ impeachment trial. 

You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s questioning.

Highlights from Senator Marshall include:

Senator Marshall: Yesterday we saw Senate Democrats set fire to the Constitution when they refused to allow your impeachment trial. You sir, as the bidder of Joe Biden’s policies have set fire to the sovereignty of this nation, to the safety and security of this nation, in a total disregard to the law of the land. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 requires you to maintain operational control of the border – and they define operational control as preventing the entry of terrorists, unlawful aliens and narcotics. 

You know what doesn’t surprise me now, when I go back and talk to law enforcement officers in my home state, and they tell me that the crime crisis is so bad. The amount of human trafficking, fentanyl trafficking and the crime related to those is so bad. They tell me that we cannot arrest ourselves out of this. I could triple their officers and it wouldn’t be enough to cover the cases. Mr. Secretary, how many people died from fentanyl in this country? In the last three years, the last year? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, I would be pleased to provide you with that –

Senator Marshall: What would be your guess?

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, I don’t want to guess.

Senator Marshall: So you don’t know? 250,000 Americans have died from fentanyl poisoning and that’s on your shoulders. How many people have you paroled in the last three years? Any idea? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, I would be pleased as you can – [Non-answer]

Senator Marshall: You’re in charge of this. You have no idea? Is that one million? Is that two million? Is it two or three? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, I would be pleased to provide- [Non-answer]

Senator Marshall: How many of those have committed a crime, how many people that have you paroled have committed a crime? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, if you would be, if you’re pleased to -[Non-answer]

Senator Marshall: Mr. Secretary, do you recall a visit in January to Eagle Pass?

Secretary Mayorkas: I don’t recall the precise month, but I made over 20 visits to the border. So forgive me for not remembering that. 

Senator Marshall: Do you recall being in a room in Eagle Pass, Texas with a large number of border patrol officers? Did you admit the release rate was 85% at that time? 

Secretary Mayorkas: As I testified before, I don’t remember the particular exchange to which you refer. 

Senator Marshall: What percent would you say? Or what range would you say are released? 

Secretary Mayorkas: I don’t want to guess but as I’ve said before, Senator, I would be pleased to provide you with whatever data – 

Senator Marshall: How can you come to this hearing and not know these things? These are things that I know and this is 1/100 of my job. So listen, you said at that meeting, I got multiple witnesses, we were releasing 85% of the folks at the border, there’s no way possible that you could vet that number of people at a time – 85% of the people coming in illegally, breaking our laws, no vetting process, essentially giving them a phone, free health care, and a plane ticket or bus ride to somewhere. You say you’re protecting the nation’s sovereignty, but you really facilitated an invasion, sir. This is an invasion. 11 million illegal encounters under your watch.

Senator Marshall: Next question, why are you mass importing tens of thousands of Venezuelans into our country via parole, knowing they can’t be deported because Venezuela isn’t accepting removal flights?

Secretary Mayorkas: We are not doing that, Senator.

Senator Marshall: You’re not paroling tens of thousands of Venezuelans into this country?

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, your question was broader than that. The way you framed your question. We are not doing that. What you asked.

Senator Marshall: Are you importing tens of thousands of Venezuelans into this country?

Secretary Mayorkas: The term importation is incorrect. We have a Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan parole program for those Venezuelans who are paroled and do do not have a basis to remain –

Senator Marshall: So why are you paroling them knowing that Venezuela won’t take return flights?

Secretary Mayorkas: So that is false. We have in fact, negotiated in the past, removal flights to Venezuela, those are suspended right now. We also remove Venezuelans to Mexico, for example. So an individual who does-

Senator Marshall: So why do you say it’s not correct when it’s been suspended? That’s why Americans don’t trust you. That’s why Americans don’t trust the government anymore, is because you’re setting up you’re twisting the truth, giving incomplete answers. This is really a de facto amnesty orchestrated by your administration, there’s a reason why Venezuela won’t take them back.

Senator Marshall: It’s my understanding that we have technology deployed that helps track the number of ‘gotaways’ that have unlawfully crossed our borders and evaded capture by our border patrols. Is that correct? 

Secretary Mayorkas: We do have technology that is a force multiplier for our personnel. 

Senator Marshall: Okay, again, under oath today I’m asking you, has this technology been operational since you took the post?

Secretary Mayorkas: I would like to get back to you if there’s any deficit in its operational capability. Senator, I’d be pleased to get back to you on that.

Senator Marshall:  Has the system ever gone down under your tenure?

Secretary Mayorkas: I’d be very pleased to provide you with that subsequent to this hearing.

Senator Marshall: How can you not know that? How could you not know what type of, you know, has it been down once or twice has been down for weeks at a time, months at a time any just range or thought that you could give us? Do you keep track of it in any way, shape or form? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, we deploy so many different technologies across our department which consists of 268,000 people, if a technology goes down for a short period of time, I may not have visibility of that. I’m the Secretary of the Department.

Senator Marshall: Do you think it has been down for a significant amount of time or an insignificant amount of times? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator as I previously said, I would be pleased to provide you with the information you request subsequent to this hearing. I will look into it. 

Senator Marshall: How can you keep track of the ‘gotaways’ if you have no program in place that tells us when this is working or not working? How can you tell how many ‘gotaways’ you’re reporting if you don’t know when this technology is working or not working? In other words, how do we know that the two million known ‘gotaways’ is a good number? 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, the individuals on the ground and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have this ability of the operational capability of the equipment they use. They oversee counting the number of individuals who evade detection to the – 

Senator Marshall: But you rely on technology to observe those as well. And you don’t know if your technology is working or not working. 

Secretary Mayorkas: Senator, I believe I’ve answered the question. 

Senator Marshall: No, no, you have not. You’ve said you don’t know. The answer you’ve given us is you do not know. You don’t know much of any of the answers to the questions we’re asking you. This is why we need an impeachment trial. This is why Americans are demanding an impeachment trial.