Mayorkas said the Stay in Mexico program “has endemic flaws and causes unjustifiable human tragedy.”
In the meantime, migrants will continue to face immigration enforcement proceedings, Mayorkas told CBS’s Margaret Brennan.
“Their proceedings will continue in immigration court, where they will pursue their asylum claims. And if these requests fail, they will be promptly removed from the United States,” he said.
In both television programs, Mayorkas reiterated the administration’s call for migrants not to make the dangerous journey to the United States and highlighted the 53 migrants who died from the sweltering heat in a truck who transported them to San Antonio. Critics argued that the Biden administration was too welcoming of migrants.
Asked by Raddatz if it was true that the vehicle was flagged down at a checkpoint because traffic was blocked, Mayorkas said “the facts are still under investigation” and that four people were arrested. charged.
Mayorkas went on to say that smuggling operations have become “extraordinarily sophisticated,” beyond the human trafficking cases he pursued in 1990s Los Angeles.
He also said the administration was working with Mexico and other Latin American countries to try to stem the influx of people risking their safety to get to the border. In fiscal year 2022, the department stopped more than 400 vehicles and rescued more than 10,000 migrants from criminal smuggling operations, Mayorkas said.
Raddatz also asked if Mayorkas thinks the Biden administration’s border strategy is working.
“I think we are doing a good job, we have to do better,” Mayorkas said.
He also pointed to the fact that Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget calls for 300 additional Border Patrol agents and that the department is hiring case processors.
“We are approaching this problem vigorously and aggressively to deal with the number of – the number of encounters that we are experiencing on the southern border,” Mayorkas said.
