Category: fox-news/us/immigration/illegal-immigrants

Rep. Rosendale vows to restore Trump-era policies with immigration package: ‘Biden is destroying our country’

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FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., on Friday introduced a broad immigration package that includes measures to "shut down the border" and reverse key Biden-era policies that Republicans blame for the historic crisis at the southern border.

The package introduces or reintroduces five bills that would limit entries into the U.S., restore Trump policies that Republicans have credited for slowing illegal immigration and limit the effects of immigration on the U.S.

The "Remain in Mexico Act" would restore the Trump-era policy of the same name that kept migrants in Mexico as they waited for their asylum hearings rather than being released into the U.S. 

Supporters of the program said it stopped a key pull factor drawing migrants to the border but was shut down by the Biden administration, which called it ineffective and inhumane.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARING ON BIDEN ADMIN ‘EFFORTS TO UNDERMINE’ IMMIGRATION LAW 

Another bill in the package would make it a federal crime to flee from law enforcement at checkpoints, changing current law that only makes it illegal to do so in a vehicle at high speed.

Meanwhile, the American Worker Protection Act is focused on legal immigration and would codify a Trump-era rule regarding H-1B visas, a controversial guest worker program used predominantly by Big Tech. 

REPUBLICANS, DEMS SPAR AT MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING AS STATE AGS DESCRIBE IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS 

The rule, an effort to prevent American workers from being replaced by cheaper foreign competitors, would have changed the methodology for the wage level that must be met by those seeking to bring in foreign workers instead of the current lottery system. That rule was scrapped by the Biden administration. 

Rosendale’s Mass Immigration Reduction Act would also create a moratorium on most immigration for five years, and it would only be lifted once the number of illegal crossings is under 10,000 a year. In fiscal 2023, there were more than 2.4 million such crossings. A version of that bill was first introduced in the early 2000s.

Finally, the Count Only Citizens Act would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship and legal presence question in the census so that illegal immigrants are not counted for the purposes of congressional representation. President Trump had pushed for a similar move, but it was unsuccessful.

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES 

"Biden is destroying our country with his open border policies," Rosendale said in a statement. "My immigration bills will set the proper mechanisms in place to shut down the border, give DHS the tools to pursue criminals evading border checkpoints, encourage American companies to hire American employees, protect taxpayer dollars by only counting citizens in the census and require those waiting on an immigration hearing to wait in Mexico.

"This package puts into statute the many successful policies that President Trump implemented and will not only tackle the crisis head on, but it will also reverse the reckless, crime-encouraging, open-border policies of the Biden administration."

The package is the latest effort by Republicans to tackle the ongoing crisis at the southern border. Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for rolling back Trump-era policies and expanding releases into the U.S. interior.

The administration says it is dealing with a Hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform — including greater legal immigration and an amnesty for illegal immigrants — from Congress.

But Republicans instead have eyed more restrictions on asylum and releases as part of any supplemental funding deal and, as Rosendale’s bill package shows, there is an appetite among some members for placing some restrictions on legal immigration as well.

House Oversight Committee to hold hearing on Biden admin ‘efforts to undermine’ immigration law

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FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing next week looking at what Republicans in the majority say are the regulatory and policymaking moves by the Biden administration that "undermine" U.S. immigration law.

The hearing, "The Biden Administration’s Regulatory and Policymaking Efforts to Undermine U.S. Immigration Law" will take place on Wednesday and will "examine how the Biden administration has engaged in a regulatory and policymaking onslaught against the rule of U.S. immigration law."

Witnesses include Joseph Edlow, who served as acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director and chief counsel during the Trump administration, and former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Thomas Homan. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill will also be a witness at the hearing.

REPUBLICANS, DEMS SPAR AT MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING AS STATE AGS DESCRIBE IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS 

The hearing comes as Republicans have been focused on the Biden administration’s immigration policies amid the historic and still ongoing crisis at the southern border, where numbers exceeded 300,000 encounters for the first time in December.

"The crisis at our southern border is a crisis of the Biden Administration’s own making. President Biden and his administration’s unilateral actions to unravel the rule of law have created the worst border crisis in U.S. history," Chairman James Comer said in a statement announcing the hearing. 

"Cartel drug smuggling and human trafficking are surging, terrorists are exploiting the crisis, and communities are overwhelmed by illegal aliens being released by the Biden Administration," he said. "The Biden Administration refuses to reverse course and has the gall to ask for more money to throw at the problem. No amount of money can fix bad policy. It’s past time to put deterrent-focused policies in place and this hearing is a great opportunity to hear from experts what that looks like."

Republicans have clashed with Democrats and the administration over the handling of the crisis, with Republicans blaming the surge in migration on administration policies including the release of migrants into the interior and the rolling back of Trump-era enforcement like border wall construction and the Remain-in-Mexico policy.

The administration has said it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide challenge and working within a "broken" system that needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform. It has also pointed to what it says are large numbers of removals, more than a million in FY 22 and FY 22, and more fentanyl seized in two years than the prior five years combined. 

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES 

Currently, negotiations are ongoing in the Senate about potential compromises in order to pass the White House’s budget supplemental request, including $14 billion for the border. Republicans have demanded stricter limits on asylum and the use of parole to release migrants into the interior.

Meanwhile, in the House, Republicans have launched impeachment hearings against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, arguing that he has refused to enforce the laws passed by Congress. DHS has pushed back, saying the process is "harmful to the Department and its workforce and undercuts vital work across countless national security priorities." 

"Unlike like those pursuing photo ops and politics, Secretary Mayorkas is working relentlessly to fix the problem by working with Republican and Democratic Senators to find common ground and real solutions," a memo the department released Thursday said.

Mayorkas also drew support from Democrats on the Committee with Ranking Member Bennie Thompson saying that Mayorkas is "doing his job across all the department’s many critical homeland security missions, including border security and immigration enforcement."

"Despite what Republicans would have Americans believe, Secretary Mayorkas is enforcing immigration law," he said.
 

Republicans, Dems spar at Mayorkas impeachment hearing as state AGs describe impact of migrant crisis

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Republicans and Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee clashed at the first hearing to examine whether DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be impeached over his handling of the crisis at the southern border – and as state attorneys general explained how the crisis had harmed their states.

The committee held the first impeachment hearing at a time when the migrant crisis is setting records at the border, with over 302,000 migrant encounters in December, and a current release rate of over 85%. 

Republicans and Democrats have been deeply split over what has caused the crisis and those divisions were on display as Republicans pointed at the Biden administration, and Democrats accused Republicans of not working with them to fix the crisis. 

HOUSE HOMELAND DEMOCRATS BACK MAYORKAS, SLAM GOP ‘SHAM’ AHEAD OF IMPEACHMENT HEARING 

"Secretary Mayorkas has brazenly refused to enforce the laws passed by Congress and has enacted policies that knowingly make our country less safe," Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said. "What we’re seeing here is a willful violation of the oath of office taken by Secretary Mayorkas."

Republicans have blamed an expanded catch-and-release, a rollback of Trump-era policies, an "abuse" of humanitarian parole to release migrants into the interior, and the ending of border wall construction as factors in what has encouraged a massive and historic migrant crisis. Green also said his committee’s investigation has uncovered 100 instances where Mayorkas has misled the public.

DHS and Democrats have rejected that narrative, pointing to what it says are a large number of recent removals and returns and saying that authorities need more funding and a comprehensive immigration reform package – including a $14 billion supplemental funding request currently being negotiated in Congress. 

Ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., accused Republicans of throwing "political red meat" to their base in an effort to keep campaign money coming in during an election year.

"It’s now campaign season, and Republicans recently rolled out their impeachment proceedings against the secretary like the pre-planned, pre-determined political stunt it is. This is not a legitimate impeachment," he said.

Thompson also defended Mayorkas' conduct in office.

"The facts show Secretary Mayorkas is doing his job across all the department’s many critical homeland security missions, including border security and immigration enforcement. Despite what Republicans would have Americans believe, Secretary Mayorkas is enforcing immigration law," he said.

Republicans invited three Republican attorneys general from the heartland to describe the impact the crisis had on their states. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen described an explosion of fentanyl pouring into the state, with authorities on track to have seized half a million dosage units in 2023, from over 6,000 in 2020. 

The drug is produced primarily in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then shipped across the southern land border. It can be fatal in tiny doses and is often hidden in other drugs so users don’t know they are ingesting fentanyl. Republicans have linked the fentanyl crisis to the border crisis. 

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES 

Knudsen said he believed the border had been largely secured under the Trump administration, but that work had been undone under the leadership of Mayorkas.

"Secretary Mayorkas is the architect of that destruction. The American people are watching. They know that our border was secured just a few years ago. They see the devastation metastasizing in our communities from drugs and human trafficking. The conclusion is clear, Secretary Mayorkas has violated his oath, and I urge this body to impeach," he said.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond described the crime his state had seen, citing stats that the Oklahama Department of Corrections is housing more than 500 illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes. 

"Illegal immigration cost Oklahoma taxpayers more than $750 million each year with a minimal offset return," he said.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said the number of illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. since 2021 is larger than the population of his state.

"These numbers are not an accident. There is only one reason eight million people illegally cross a sovereign nation's border – because they know that they can get away with it," he said. "There has been an orchestrated lack of enforcement of our nation's immigration laws. [Mayorkas] has failed to do that which is most fundamental to his mission. Protect our border."

Frank Bowman, a law professor at the University of Missouri, called as a witness by Democrats, was skeptical of the impeachment claims being made – warning that impeachment cannot be used for policy disagreements.

"Official conduct must meet a very high threshold of seriousness. It must also be of a type that corrupts and subverts political and governmental process, and it ought to be plainly wrong, regardless of legal," he said. "The most commonly encountered categories of impeachable conduct are official corruption, abuse of power, betrayal of the nation's foreign policy interests, subversion of the Constitution. There is no serious allegation of which I'm aware that the secretary has done any of those things."

Meanwhile, DHS issued a memo ripping into the impeachment effort, pointing to prior comments from Republicans who say the threshold for impeachment has not been met. It also argued that it has stopped more fentanyl in the last two years than in the previous five years combined.

"Members of Congress serious about addressing these challenges should oppose this baseless impeachment that is going nowhere and instead work with the Department to keep America safe by properly funding DHS’s vital missions and reforming our broken immigration laws," the agency said.

D’Esposito makes case for Mayorkas impeachment ahead of hearing, cites concern of ‘another terrorist attack’

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Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., made his case for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' impeachment, speaking to Fox News Digital ahead of a House committee hearing Wednesday, when attorneys general for Montana, Oklahoma and Missouri are expected to testify on how record numbers of migrants pouring into the U.S. pose a national security threat. 

D'Esposito, who sits on the House Homeland Security committee, told Fox News Digital that the hearing comes after a year of investigations, rejecting the argument of some Democrats, including that of Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and others who claim the Republican-led Mayorkas impeachment probe is merely a "policy dispute" and is politically motivated. 

"This isn't something that was rushed into. It's not something that is politically motivated. This is something that, especially for me as someone who spent a career in the NYPD, most of it as an investigator, I am proud of the work that the Homeland Security Committee has done over the last 12 months," D'Esposito said. 

"This has become not a Democrat issue, not a Republican issue. This has become an issue for people who care about the safety of the United States of America," he continued. "This has become an issue for people who care about their quality of life. This is an issue about people who have watched the cities and places that they've grown up and loved and loved to visit become destroyed at the hands of Secretary Mayorkas."

MARSHALL BRINGS 'NO CONFIDENCE' RESOLUTION OF MAYORKAS TO SENATE FLOOR: 'DERELICT IN HIS DUTIES'

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on D'Esposito's remarks, but they did not immediately respond.

During a presidential election year and amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, D'Esposito argued that the Mayorkas impeachment hearings are crucial to national security. 

"We've heard the numbers. You know, over 3 million people have come into this country since Joe Biden has taken office. We're estimating that there are hundreds of thousands of known gotaways. These are people that we know that have come across the southern border, we just don't know where they are, what they're doing, or who they're associating with," D'Esposito said. "Think about the number of individuals who have crossed that we don't know about." 

"There is no question that there are people that have come across this border that are on the known terror watch list that, again, we don't know where they are, we don't know where they're residing. We don't know who they're working with. We don't know the criminal enterprises that they are associating with," he said. "When you talk to local law enforcement agencies, whether it's in my district or across the country, from the smaller departments to the bigger ones, one of their biggest concerns is the national security threat that this migrant issue is plaguing on their jurisdiction. And it's not about, you know, if there's going to be another terrorist attack, unfortunately, it's about when there's going to be another terrorist attack." 

Wednesday's hearing, titled, "Havoc In The Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted The States," comes days after sources told Fox News that Mayorkas admitted during a private meeting with Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is "above 85%." 

"Secretary Mayorkas' job is to keep our homeland safe and protect our homeland. And when you tell us that [more than] 80% of the people are just being released into the United States of America with really no plan of that process of asylum, that's a concern," D'Esposito said. "That is in addition to the other issues that are plaguing our country, whether it's China, whether it's Russia, whether it is the conflicts in the Middle East and the terrorist attacks that have been committed by Hamas against Israel and the Israeli people and our Jewish friends. I mean, this has become a time [when] it seems that it's combustible here. As the committee who was put into place after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I mean, this committee was put into place for the purpose of protecting the United States of America and the people who live here against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And that's what we are doing." 

MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING: STATE AGS TO TESTIFY ON IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS, BIDEN-ERA POLICIES

Sources also told Fox News that between Dec. 1 and Dec, 31, 2023, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border – representing the highest total for a single month ever recorded and also the first time that monthly migrant encounters have exceeded 300,000.

D'Esposito argued that the United States is "not as safe as it should be and is certainly less safe" because of Mayorkas "following the direction of the failed policies of Joe Biden." 

"Sometimes people are putting their lives in the hands of the cartels, the cartels who have actually the control of the southern border, not the American government, not Homeland Security, and certainly not Secretary Mayorkas," D'Esposito said, arguing that the last time Mayorkas appeared before the Homeland Security Committee, he tried to negotiate the definition of what it means to have operational control of the southern border but then turned around and admitted he has heard from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials that there is no control.

"He's lying on behalf of the president," D’Esposito claimed. "We can look back at the last 50 years. Are there issues with immigration? Yeah, but we are breaking records in the administration of Joe Biden. We are breaking records under the reign of Secretary Mayorkas. And none of those records are ones that we want to set. They are ones of the most people coming across our southern border, the most known gotaways, the most people on the terror watch list." 

On Tuesday, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., went to the Senate floor calling for a vote of no confidence against Mayorkas for "negligence and gross mismanagement" of the southern border. Over the past three years, Marshall charged that 300,000 Americans have died "due to the drugs trafficked into our homeland" and the border crisis has cost American taxpayers $500 billion per year and "becomes more dangerous by the day, as terrorists, Chinese nationalists and over 1.7 million got-a-ways exploit our border at a rate higher than we’ve ever seen before."

As chair of the House Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, D'Esposito said he has heard testimonies over the past 12 months about how detrimental the migrant influx has been to public safety, including fire service, law enforcement, prosecutors and emergency management. He noted how Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association, told lawmakers that the manning of firehouses in New York City is now being decreased due to migrant crisis-driven budget cuts. The NYPD, D'Esposito said, is also considering reducing new academy classes because the department "can't afford it." Additionally, along the southern border, sheriffs have testified to the committee how their jails are over capacity.

House Homeland Democrats back Mayorkas, slam GOP ‘sham’ ahead of impeachment hearing

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Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are offering their support for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ahead of the committee's first impeachment hearing on Wednesday -- with the lawmakers accusing their Republican colleagues of running a "sham" process.

"What is going on tomorrow is an embarrassment to the impeachment clause of the Constitution," Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY, told reporters.

The hearing,"Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States," marks the first impeachment hearing after a year of investigations and reports by the House Homeland Security Committee which looked at Mayorkas’ handling of the nearly three-year migrant crisis.

The hearing will see testimony from attorneys general from Montana, Oklahoma and Missouri. The AGs will testify about the impact of the crisis on their states and their belief that Mayorkas is not enforcing the law.

But Democrats on the committee say that Republicans have turned what is a policy dispute into a politically motivated impeachment push.

MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING: STATE AGS TO TESTIFY ON IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS, BIDEN-ERA POLICIES

"This is simply a policy dispute, a disagreement about how a different party is attacking a policy problem. And the Republicans are trying to abuse their power and the Constitution to convert what is simply a disagreement into somehow, some way, a high crime and misdemeanor," Goldman said. "There is no crime, much less a high crime or misdemeanor here."

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., described the process as a "political sham with no constitutional basis, no factual basis."

Republicans have claimed that the crisis, which has seen multiple records smashed for migrant encounters, is "unprecedented and intentional."

HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE SETS FIRST MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING

"The chaos and devastation at the border and in our communities are the result of Alejandro Mayorkas’ failure to fulfill his oath as secretary of Homeland Security," Chairman Mark Green said this week. "His primary responsibility is to secure the homeland—and he has failed."

Republicans have accused the administration of fueling the crisis with "open border" policies, including expanded catch-and-release and the rolling back of Trump-era policies such as the Remain-in-Mexico policy and border wall construction. They’ve pointed to the record number of migrant encounters as the border that have skyrocketed during the Biden administration, as well as the significant number of releases into the interior.

Democrats and the administration have said that authorities are dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and are in need of more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. 

Both Democrats and Republicans have proposed border and immigration bills that are vastly different from one another, while talks are currently ongoing about $14 billion in supplemental border funding requested by the administration, with Republicans demanding restrictions on releases. 

DHS put out a memo ahead of the hearing arguing that Mayorkas was currently working with a bipartisan group of senators to find real solutions to the challenges at the border and called the accusations "baseless."

"Members of Congress serious about addressing these challenges should oppose this baseless impeachment that is going nowhere and instead work with the Department to keep America safe by properly funding DHS’s vital missions and reforming our broken immigration laws," the memo said, also pointing to statements by a number of Republicans who have said that the alleged offenses have not met the standard for impeachment.

Talking to reporters, Democrats also blamed Republicans for not working with them to solve the issue. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., accused Republicans of being "complicit" in the struggles at the border.

"Democrats fully recognize, and the administration I know recognizes that we have real challenges at the border. There are people who are fleeing their home countries due to political instability, due to violence, due to poverty and trying to come to the United States and it has created a chaotic situation," he said. "But House Republicans, rather than work with the administration and work with the secretary to solve the problem instead care more about having a political issue to run on than they do actually solving the challenges that we have at the border."

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES 

Additionally, they praised Mayorkas’ handling of both the crisis and the efforts to find agreement on supplemental spending with lawmakers, and argued that Republiacns haven’t given him the tools with which to do his job.

"I think he's doing a very good job under very tough circumstances," Ivey said. "We haven't really given him the tools to fix it and now they try to beat him up for not being able to perform without the tools."

"Secretary Mayorkas has one of, if not the hardest job in the United States of America. And House Republicans have tried to undercut him and prevent him from being able to do his job every step of the way," Magaziner said. "Deny him the funding. Deny him the tools because they view this as a political game, when really we ought to be working together to solve the challenges at the border."

Mayorkas blames Mexico, Congress for historic border surge; calls for more funding and ‘reform’

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited Eagle Pass, Texas on Monday to discuss the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

During a press conference, Mayorkas acknowledged there were unprecedented levels of illegal crossings that put "tremendous stress on our broken immigration system [and] our under-resourced facilities." 

"Our immigration system is outdated and broken and has been in need of reform for literally decades," Mayorkas said. 

He called on Congress to provide additional funding for more officers and judges who can resolve asylum claims quickly. Mayorkas also blamed historic surges in December on a lack of funding for the Immigration Enforcement Agency in Mexico. 

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES

The comments came days ahead of an impeachment hearing into the DHS Secretary over his handling of the southern border. Under his watch, hundreds of thousands of migrants crossed into the U.S., with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) sources telling Fox News Digital last month that there were more than 276,000 migrant encounters near the end of December, setting a new record for crossings in a month. 

The previous record was set in September when officials saw 269,735 encounters. The number includes illegal immigrants encountered between ports of entry and migrants entering at ports of entry via the CBP One app.

If impeached, Mayorkas would be the first Cabinet secretary to receive the black mark since 1876. 

In Eagle Pass, Mayorkas pushed back on the notion that DHS was not enforcing the border. 

SENATE NOT EXPECTED TO RELEASE TEXT ON BORDER SECURITY PACKAGE THIS WEEK 

"Some have accused DHS of not enforcing our nation’s laws. This could not be further from the truth," Mayorkas said. "There is nothing I take more seriously than our responsibility to uphold the law and the men and women of DHS are working around the clock to do so." 

He noted that, through the end of the fiscal year, "DHS removed or returned more noncitizens without a basis to remain in the United States than in any other five-month period in the last ten years." 

"In fact, the majority of all migrants encountered at the Southwest border throughout this administration have been removed, returned, or expelled," he said. 

The comments appeared to be at odds with remarks he made earlier during a private meeting with agents in Eagle Pass, admitting to Border Patrol agents that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is "above 85%." 

As officials continue to be overwhelmed at the U.S. border, many court dates for asylum claims are being set years into the future including, in one case, as late as 2031.

Senate negotiators met Monday morning as they raced to finish work on the legislative text for a bipartisan border security proposal aimed at reducing the number of migrants who travel to the southern border to apply for asylum protections in the U.S.

The small group of senators has been working for months on the legislation after Republicans insisted on pairing border policy changes with supplemental funding for Ukraine, but disagreements remained.

The Biden administration has also been directly involved in the talks as the president tries to both secure support for a top foreign policy priority — funding Ukraine's defense against Russia — and demonstrate action on a potential political weakness — his handling of the historic number of migrants seeking asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Biden has faced staunch resistance from conservatives to his $110 billion request for a package of wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel as well as other national security priorities. In the Senate, Republicans have demanded that the funding be paired with border security changes.

Fox News’ Houston Keene and Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

Mayorkas tells Border Patrol agents that ‘above 85%’ of illegal immigrants released into US: sources

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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday admitted to Border Patrol agents that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is "above 85%," sources told Fox News.

Mayorkas made the remarks when meeting privately with agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, according to three Border Patrol sources who were in the room and heard the remarks themselves.

The conversation happened during the muster for agents in the busy border area. Fox is told Mayorkas was asked directly about comments he made on "Special Report" last week when he was asked by anchor Bret Baier about reporting that over 70% of migrants are released into the U.S. each day.

MAYORKAS ACKNOWLEDGES THAT MAJORITY OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: ‘I KNOW THE DATA' 

"It would not surprise me at all. I know the data," Mayorkas said. "And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings. They are on alternatives to detention. And we have returned or removed a record number of individuals. We are enforcing the laws that Congress has passed. "

Fox is told that on Monday agents pushed him on those remarks, saying that the number is even higher than 70%, and then Mayorkas acknowledged a release rate of "above 85%."

Mayorkas had also said last week on "Special Report" that "well more than a million" migrants are released into the U.S. annually, and argued repeatedly that it is up to Congress to provide more funding and immigration reform to fix what he has called a "broken" system. He said that the agency is limited in detention capacity by funding provided by Congress.

"When somebody enters the country, we place them in immigration enforcement proceedings pursuant to immigration law, and if their claim for relief, their claim to remain in the United States succeeds, then by law they are able to stay here," he said.

The remarks come just two days before the House Homeland Security Committee holds its first impeachment hearing, featuring multiple state attorneys general who will testify about the impact the crisis has had on their states.

The hearing on Wednesday marks the first impeachment hearing after a year of investigations and reports by the House Homeland Security Committee which looked at the handling of the nearly three-year migrant crisis.

Republicans have blamed the historic migrant crisis, which saw 302,000 migrant encounters last month alone on Biden-era policies, including the releases of migrants into the interior -- dubbed "catch-and-release." They have pointed to the broad use of parole, as well as narrowed ICE enforcement and the stopping of wall construction.

EX-DHS OFFICIALS BACK JOHNSON'S AGGRESSIVE BORDER STANCE IN FUNDING FIGHT, SAY GOP MUST HAVE ‘CLEAR RESOLVE’ 

The administration says it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. It has claimed it is expanding "lawful migration pathways" and increasing consequences for illegal entry, but can only do so much with a "broken" system. Mayorkas and other DHS officials have said that it has removed or returned more than 470,000 people since May, which is more than in the entirety of FY 2019.

The White House has also requested $14 billion in border funding from Congress as part of its emergency supplemental spending proposal, but that is being held up as Republicans demand significantly more restrictions on the release of migrants into the interior.

Mayorkas said last week that it was that broken system, not administration policy, which was the magnet drawing migrants to the border.

"What is a magnet is the fact that the time in between an encounter of an individual at the border and their final ruling in their immigration case can sometimes take six or more years. That is a magnet, which is why precisely why I am working with Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate to deliver a solution for the American people, to deliver a fix to an immigration system that everyone agrees is broken, and that is long overdue," he said.

Separately, the administration last week announced a lawsuit against the state of Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. The lawsuit claims that the law is unconstitutional and interferes with the federal government's authority on immigration matters.

Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
 

Mayorkas impeachment hearing: State AGs to testify on impact of migrant crisis, Biden-era policies

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FIRST ON FOX: State attorneys general from the heartland will testify at the first impeachment hearing of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, Fox News Digital has learned -- and will describe the effect the ongoing migrant crisis has had on their states, despite their distance from the besieged border.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey will testify about the impacts of the crisis on their states, as well as the legal challenges they have launched against the Biden administration’s policies. They are also expected to describe how they believe Mayorkas is not enforcing the law.

The hearing on Wednesday, "Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States," marks the first impeachment hearing after a year of investigations and reports by the House Homeland Security Committee which looked at the handling of the nearly three-year migrant crisis.

HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE SETS FIRST MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING

The House voted to refer impeachment articles to the committee in November, and on Wednesday the committee will now take up that process. It comes as border numbers have hit a new record, with over 302,000 migrant encounters in December.

"Secretary Mayorkas’ unprecedented and intentional border crisis has impacted every city and state in our country," Chairman Mark Green said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The chaos and devastation at the border and in our communities are the result of Alejandro Mayorkas’ failure to fulfill his oath as secretary of Homeland Security. His primary responsibility is to secure the homeland—and he has failed."

Republicans say that Mayorkas has failed to enforce immigration law, including those related to the parole, removal and detention of illegal immigrants, as well as having created new programs that contravene Congress.

"Who better to testify about the fallout from this crisis than the top legal officers of states in our heartland?" Green said. "These officials will not only speak to the consequences of this crisis for their states, but the various legal challenges they have mounted in response to Secretary Mayorkas’ failure to do his job and enforce the law. I look forward to their testimony."

The Biden administration and House Democrats have pushed back against the GOP impeachment effort. While Republicans have blamed the historic crisis on Biden-era policies, as well as the rolling back of Trump policies like wall construction and stricter enforcement, the administration says it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress.

DHS told Fox News Digital last week that the "House majority is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote."

"There is no valid basis to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, as senior members of the House majority have attested, and this extreme impeachment push is a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities," spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said. "Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe."

Ranking Member Bennie Thompson described the "extreme MAGA Republican effort" to impeach Mayorkas as "completely baseless."

BIDEN ADMIN EYES MORE DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO VENEZUELA AS MIGRANT NUMBERS SHATTER RECORDS

"They’ve only shown the American people it is nothing more than a political stunt without any foundation in the Constitution. It was never meant to be a legitimate investigation – only a MAGA spectacle," he said.

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing in Congress about the White House’s supplemental funding bill, which includes money for the border as well as for Ukraine and Israel. 

Republicans in both chambers have demanded that any funding include limits on asylum and the release of migrants into the interior. While the administration is reportedly open to some concessions, it is unclear if it will go far enough for Republicans in the House -- who have called for the GOP border security bill passed last year to be included in full.

Mayorkas acknowledges that majority of illegal immigrants released into US: ‘I know the data’

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday acknowledged that the majority of illegal immigrants encountered at the border are released into the U.S., as he also sought to highlight the number the administration has removed.

Mayorkas spoke on "Special Report" on Thursday and was asked by anchor Bret Baier about Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources who have told Fox News that they are releasing over 70% of migrants crossing every day.

"It would not surprise me at all. I know the data," Mayorkas said. "And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings. They are on alternatives to detention. And we have returned or removed a record number of individuals. We are enforcing the laws that Congress has passed. "

MAYORKAS PUNTS ON IMPEACHMENT QUESTION, FAULTS CONGRESS AMID BORDER CRISIS 

Separately the secretary said that there are "well more than a million" migrants released into the U.S. annually, and argued repeatedly that it is up to Congress to provide more funding and immigration reform to fix what he has called a "broken" system. He said that the agency is limited in detention capacity by funding provided by Congress.

"When somebody enters the country, we place them in immigration enforcement proceedings pursuant to immigration law, and if their claim for relief, their claim to remain in the United States succeeds, then by law they are able to stay here," he said.

The interview comes as Mayorkas is facing increasing pressure over the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis at the southern border. There were over 302,000 migrant encounters in December, after an FY 2023 that saw a record 2.4 million encounters overall. A recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report said that the agency had removed 142,580 illegal immigrants in FY 23, up considerably from 72,177 in FY 22 and 59,011 in FY 21, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in FY 19.

The administration has continued to push for deeper legislative reform and funding, but Republicans have blamed the crisis on the Biden administration’s policies, including its rolling back of Trump-era policies, narrowed ICE enforcement and its expanded releases into the interior. Some have also called for Mayorkas’ impeachment and hearings on that will take place next week.

EX-DHS OFFICIALS BACK JOHNSON'S AGGRESSIVE BORDER STANCE IN FUNDING FIGHT, SAY GOP MUST HAVE ‘CLEAR RESOLVE’ 

DHS has said that it has seen more removals since Title 42 ended in May it has removed more than 470,000 people, which is more than in the entirety of FY 2019. It has also said it is working to expand the use of expedited removal and increase deportation flights to Venezuela.

But Fox has also reported that officials have told lawmakers that they are releasing over 5,000 illegal immigrants a day into the U.S. interior, and that doesn’t include the migrants being let in at ports of entry after having used the CBP One app.

The comments comes as negotiations are ongoing between lawmakers and the administration over a supplemental funding request by the administration -- which includes $14 billion for border funding. But Republicans have said that the package must increase limits on asylum and the administration’s use of parole, which they say attracts migrants to the border. Senate Democrats have balked at those demands, but the administration has expressed optimism about the talks.

Mayorkas said the magnet was not the policies, but the broken system.

"What is a magnet is the fact that the time in between an encounter of an individual at the border and their final ruling in their immigration case can sometimes take six or more years. That is a magnet, which is why precisely why I am working with Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate to deliver a solution for the American people, to deliver a fix to an immigration system that everyone agrees is broken, and that is long overdue," he said.

Fox News' Charles Creitz and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
 

Ex-DHS officials back Johnson’s aggressive border stance in funding fight, say GOP must have ‘clear resolve’

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: Conservative former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials are backing Speaker Mike Johnson’s aggressive stance on border security when it comes to ongoing negotiations over a supplemental spending agreement -- calling on Republicans to have "clear resolve" about the crisis.

In a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan, former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan and former acting deputy Homeland Security Chief of Staff Lora Ries, say that "weaponized mass illegal immigration" is fueling the destruction of the economy, national security and public safety.

"While the Biden administration and Left-wing lawmakers continue to purposefully drive chaos and carnage at our southern border, House conservatives have taken critical steps to end it, notably through passage of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act—which continues to collect dust in the Senate," they say. 

JOHNSON CALLS MIGRANT CRISIS ‘TRULY UNCONSCIONABLE’ DURING VISIT TO BESIEGED SOUTHERN BORDER

Homan and Morgan are visiting fellows at the Heritage Foundation, while Ries is the director of the organization’s Border Security and Immigration Center. They are part of a coalition that has said that H.R. 2 must be part of any supplemental spending deal currently being negotiated in Congress.

Their statement comes as talks are still ongoing between lawmakers in the Senate and the administration. The administration has requested $14 billion for border funding as part of the $100 billion-plus package, which includes money for Ukraine and Israel. That funding request includes more staffing at the border, aid to communities accepting arrivals and removal flights.

But Republicans in both chambers say they want stricter limits on asylum and the use of humanitarian parole by the administration to stop releases. Senate Republicans have issued their own proposals, while many in the House have said that H.R. 2 in its entirety must be included.

Johnson, leading a congressional delegation to the southern border on Wednesday, said that H.R. 2 -- which includes limits on asylum and releases as well as the restarting of wall construction among other provisions -- is the "necessary ingredient."

"Because it has provisions that fix each of these problems and these things work together," he said.

If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it'd better begin by defending America’s national security," he said.

BIDEN ADMIN EYES MORE DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO VENEZUELA AS MIGRANT NUMBERS SHATTER RECORDS

The former officials say that uniting behind H.R. 2, as well as a separate move by the House Homeland Security Committee to begin impeachment hearings of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, are "imperatives demanded by Americans across the country." 

"H.R. 2 is the only effective and immediate solution to the madness that most of the conference has now witnessed firsthand. And Secretary Mayorkas is undoubtedly guilty of violating his oath and knowingly endangering the citizens he is supposed to serve," they say.

"We commend Speaker Johnson’s commitment to H.R. 2 and hope every lawmaker returns to Washington armed with the reality they experienced in Eagle Pass and a clear resolve in upcoming spending negotiations," they say. 

Democrats in the Senate have ruled out H.R. 2 and similar proposals as a non-starter. Even some reported concessions by the Biden administration, including the establishment of a Title 42-style removal authority, have been met with anger from some liberal Democrats.

HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE SETS FIRST MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING

The Biden administration, meanwhile, sought to pin some of the blame on Republicans for failing to agree to the funding request as it is. 

"Speaker Johnson is continuing to block President Biden’s proposed funding to hire thousands of new Border Patrol agents, hire more asylum officers and immigration judges, provide local communities hosting migrants additional grant funding, and invest in cutting-edge technology that is critical to stopping deadly fentanyl from entering our country," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Wednesday

"We have House Republicans that are literally blocking the president's effort to do something. That's what they're doing. They're playing political games. They're doing political stunts," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

The administration has also said negotiations are moving forward.

"Our negotiations with the Senate continued over the holidays, and we continue to be encouraged by the progress being made. And while we are not there yet, we believe we are moving in the right direction," a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday.

But the former officials dismissed those negotiations in their statement.

"While Biden’s appointees and allies continue to ‘negotiate’ in the Senate, lawmakers on the Left have proven they have no real intention of ending the record tide of illegal immigration," they say. "If conservatives are united behind H.R. 2, the decision between the safety of a secure border and the chaos of unlimited illegal immigration lies solely with White House and their friends in the Senate. The American people are watching."