Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said July 3 that his department would continue to warn migrants not to show up at the U.S.-Mexico border because the current “stay in Mexico” policy won’t go away until then. “Several weeks”.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Mayorkas was asked if border control agencies have the manpower and resources to handle “thousands of people who left on Friday and are heading for the border. American”. He responded by blaming “exploitative smugglers” who use “false information” to trick migrants into crossing the border illegally.
“We have repeatedly said and continue to warn people not to undertake the dangerous journey,” Mayorkas told CBS’s Margaret Brennan, noting that her department is working with “our southern partners” to “very often dismantle ” Migrant caravans. “We continue to enforce immigration law, as is our legal responsibility.
“These migrants receive false information from smugglers. They are putting their lives, their savings, into the hands of these exploitative organizations, these criminal organizations that don’t care about their lives and just want to make a profit.
Brennan pressed Mayorkas on the effectiveness of the Biden administration’s methods, pointing out that even last week’s tragedy, in which 53 illegal immigrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, did not seem to deter people to come to the border in droves.
“These words are not being heard – people are on the move right now, so efforts to stop the root causes don’t stop them,” she said, referring to President Joe Biden. strategy to “address the root causes of migration in Central America”. “Are you predicting that it’s only going to get bigger from here, that we’re going to go beyond the record increase in migrants?”
Mayorkas replied, “No, I’m not predicting it at all. We are working with our southern partners because this is a regional challenge that requires a regional response.
He was also asked about the fate of Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPPs), which require foreign nationals who claim to be asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are being processed. On June 30, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration had the power to end the MPP, commonly referred to as the “stay in Mexico” policy.
According to Mayorkas, the MPP will continue to be enforced for now as it takes time for the lower court to lift its injunction that prevents the Biden administration from terminating the protocol.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s favorable decision, we have to wait for that decision to reach the district court which issued an injunction preventing us from ending ‘Stay in Mexico,'” he told Brennan. . “So we have several weeks before the District Court lifts its injunction, and until then, we are obligated by the District Court’s decision to continue implementing the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, and we will. in accordance with the law. “
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against Texas and Missouri, which argued the Biden administration violated federal immigration law by overriding the MPP. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberal justices in the majority.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the case was “poorly decided” and would “only make the border crisis worse.” He said he agreed with the dissenting opinion written by Judge Samuel Alito, who said the government cannot guarantee that those who have already been released in the United States for further treatment will report to their scheduled asylum hearing to decide if they are eligible for asylum.
“In fiscal year 2021, Border Patrol reported over 1.7 million alien encounters along the Mexican border,” Alito wrote. “When it appears that one of these foreigners is ineligible, can the government just release the foreigner to this country and hope that the foreigner will show up for the hearing where his or her right to stay will be decided?
“Congress has provided a clear answer to this question, and the answer is no.”
