Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas testifies before House panel

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has wrapped up its hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Lawmakers questioned the secretary about his handling of the US-southern border. Mayorkas asserted that the “border is not open.”

House Democrats also called out Republicans for pursuing potential impeachment of Mayorkas during the hearing. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday said his department is “coordinating with the Department of Labor and other partners to assist their efforts to further crackdown on illegal child labor” as he cast blame on exploitative companies while defending HHS and its Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

“Unlawful child labor is not limited to migrant children, but unaccompanied children released from ORR custody may be particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous employers,” he said at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. But he defended HHS, saying, “At HHS, we follow the law. Employers and companies should do the same,” he said. 

Becerra said HHS is “committed to expanding access to post-release services with adequate funding appropriated by you, by Congress.”

“HHS’ custodial responsibility for unaccompanied children legally ends once we place them in the custody of a vetted sponsor. Nevertheless, ORR has enacted policies to help identify challenges and opportunities to support and protect children following their release from HHS’ custody,” he said.

Becerra’s comments on immigrant child labor come amid DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler took the opportunity to ask Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas bluntly, “Is the border open, Mr. Secretary?” during Wednesday’s Judiciary committee hearing.

“No, it is not,” Mayorkas answered. 

“The border is not open, and to say so is not only false, it is really an insult to the brave women and men of the border patrol who keep us safe,” Nadler asserted. 

GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona also repeatedly asked Mayorkas if he or President Joe Biden were responsible for the situation at the border, but Mayorkas maintained neutrality.

CNN’s Annie Grayer and Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.

Republican Rep. Ken Buck.

Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado told Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that his constituents consider the secretary a “traitor” — but he has consistently told CNN he does not support efforts by his Republican colleagues to launch impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas until he sees more evidence.

It’s an example of the uphill battle within the Republican conference to build consensus on impeaching Mayorkas. While some disagree with his handling of the border, they don’t see it as grounds for impeachment. 

“Secretary Mayorkas, last time you were here, I told you that my constituents consider you a traitor. Today, I’d like to explain why they believe this and ask you a few questions,” Buck said, later asking about fentanyl trafficking. 

“Congressman, we grieve the loss of any life as a result of the toxicity of the devastation of fentanyl. The challenge of fentanyl is not new. It has been escalating for more than five years,” Mayorkas said.  

“This is a scourge that all of us have to work together to combat and we in the Department of Homeland Security with our federal partners are taking it to the traffickers to an unprecedented degree through innovative operations targeting criminals,” he added. 

Buck, a former federal prosecutor and member of the hardline Freedom Caucus has said he does not believe the criticisms of Mayorkas have raised to the bar of high crimes or misdemeanors.  

Buck’s comments highlight that despite public pressure to launch impeachment proceedings into Mayorkas, key holdouts remain, even from those who serve on the Judiciary panel who would be responsible for overseeing the effort.

Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Within less than an hour, House Democrats have twice called out Republicans for pursuing potential impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a House panel hearing. 

“First of all, I want to make clear that this is an oversight hearing, not an impeachment hearing. This is a hearing to address the questions of the work that has been done, and so to that end, just as a factual basis, there has been a lot of hollering about the entry on the border, operational control,” Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said.

Mayorkas has maintained that border crossings have decreased and that the administration continues to enforce the US southern border. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

In his opening statement before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas touted the successes of his department.

The Department of Homeland Security’s oversight spans travel to drug enforcement to infrastructure, he said, and it is able to “secure our border despite the broken and outdated immigration system in which we operate.”

While border crossings remain high, there have been fewer border arrests in recent weeks. In June, for example, US Border Patrol arrested nearly 100,000 migrants along the US southern border, marking a decrease from May and marking the lowest monthly border encounters since February 2021, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

He also thanked his workers for “meeting challenges that have grown more complex” since the department’s inception in 2002 after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

He said “the most prominent terrorism-related threat we now confront is from lone offenders and small groups already present here and radicalized to violence based on ideologies of hate, anti-government sentiments, false narratives and personal grievances.”

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Annie Grayer contributed reporting to this post.

Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, in his opening statement slammed the Biden administration’s immigration and border policies.

“Not only are communities on the southwest border overwhelmed, but so are cities 2,000+ miles away,” he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will try to “paint a rosy picture” of the situation, Jordan claimed, but the reality is much different.

Mayorkas has “completely failed” to keep Americans safe, he said.

On the Democratic side, New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the ranking member of the committee, said today’s hearing “will not be about legitimate congressional oversight and finding out the facts.”

The hearing will be used by Jordan and other Republicans “as a predicate for a completely baseless attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas,” Nadler said, calling it “political theater.”

The House Judiciary Committee hearing featuring Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has begun.

He will face House Republicans who have been making the case to potentially impeach him over his handling of the US-Mexico border.

Rep. Veronica Escobar speaks as House Democrats gather for an event on gun violence at the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on March 29, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar said the House GOP’s calls to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are “all a distraction tactic.”

Republicans have accused Mayorkas of undermining the operational control of the southern border, encouraging illegal immigration and lying to Congress that the border was secure – all charges that the administration has dismissed. On Wednesday, GOP members will likely grill Mayorkas on all those issues, even though there have been fewer border arrests in recent weeks.

Escobar also addressed the floating buoys installed by Texas in the Rio Grande, calling them “horrific and not a deterrent.”

Escobar said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott does not have the jurisdiction and that the matter “is a federal responsibility.”

In a statement on Monday, Abbott claimed that the string of buoys were legal because the Constitution “grants Texas sovereign authority to protect its borders.” The Department of Justice is suing Texas over the string of buoys deployed by the state, saying it violates federal environmental law and threatens public safety.

The Texas congresswoman told CNN that while she is “uncomfortable” with the current border asylum policy, she believes it is “the best that the Biden administration has come up with.” Escobar said the administration “is doing everything possible as the executive in the absence of congressional action.”

Escobar, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, had previously been critical of the administration’s policies and expressed disappointment with its use of migration deterrence.

Asylum-seeking migrants walk in the Rio Grande river between a floating fence and the river bank as they look for an opening in a concertina wire fence to land on US soil in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 24, 2023.

The US Department of Justice is suing the state of Texas over its use of floating barriers in the Rio Grande, which Gov. Greg Abbott has argued is intended to deter migrants from crossing into the state from Mexico.

The Justice Department is seeking an injunction to bar Texas from building additional barriers in the river and asking a court to order the state to take the existing barriers down at its own expense.

In the lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in the Western District of Texas, the department alleges that Texas and Abbott, a Republican, violated the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act by building a structure in US water without permission from United States Army Corps of Engineers.

The lawsuit further alleges that the floating barriers “constitute an unauthorized obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States.”

Abbott defies DOJ request: The lawsuit comes after Abbott said earlier Monday that he would not order the floating barriers be removed from the Rio Grande, in defiance of a Justice Department request.

The Justice Department’s legal action over the floating barriers is based on a clause in federal law that “prohibits the creation of any obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States, and further prohibits building any structure in such waters without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.”

Abbott claimed in a Fox News appearance Monday evening that the clause does not apply but did not say why.

“The fact of the matter is they are using some obscure statute to try and stop us from continuing to deploy those buoys,” the governor said. “It’s not grounded in law whatsoever.”

The showdown between Abbott and the federal government comes as Texas’ treatment of migrants who attempt to cross into the US illegally faces increased scrutiny.

Administration says Abbot’s measures have hindered border patrol: Biden administration officials have grown increasingly concerned in recent months about Abbott’s measures, which have disrupted US Border Patrol operations in the region and put migrants at risk.

A Homeland Security official told CNN last week that Abbott’s moves are “making our job harder” while disturbing images of migrants with injuries and troubling reports of Texas troops pushing migrants back to Mexico have drawn criticism from the White House and scores of Democratic lawmakers.

The Justice Department told Texas on Thursday that it intended to file legal action against the placement of the floating barriers in the Rio Grande as part of the state’s operation along the Texas-Mexico border, according to sources familiar and a letter obtained by CNN.

Read more about DOJ’s lawsuit here.