Excuses, excuses, excuses - Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas had an interesting excuse for his failure to report migrant deportations when asked by Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.).
Mayorkas was present on a virtual hearing with the Homeland Security Committee that focused on "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland: 20 Years After 9/11", when questions started being asked, U.S. Congressman Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) asked Secretary Mayorkas about his failures to provide information to Congress about how many migrants have been detained at the border, as well as how many were returned to their home countries.
Gimenez would start off by asking Mayorkas how many immigrants have been apprehended at the border this year - the secretary would respond with 1.5 million.
Gimenez would follow up and ask:
“Let me ask you, [of the] 1.5 million that we’ve apprehended, how many people have been returned?”... “How many people are being detained and how many people have been dispersed?”
Mayorkas stated he would provide the Congressman "specific data" later on.
Not satisfied with that answer, Gimenez would follow up and would criticize for not having the answer to his question. Mayorkas was even asked that same specific question, a day before at a Senate hearing.
“I think you’d be a little bit better prepared now that you’ve been asked that question,” Gimenez said.
Mayorkas had an interesting response to this and blamed his long hours on his inability to provide specific data on migrant's detained at the border.
“I worked 18 hours," Mayorkas would say. He would continue and state that when he returned from the Senate hearing he was focused on the situation, rather than compliling specific data.
This comes on the heels of Mayorkas visiting Del Rio trying to make it clear that the southern border is "not open".
“If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned. Your journey will not succeed and you will be endangering your life and your family’s lives. This administration is committed to developing safe, orderly and humane pathways for migration. This is not the way to do it,
Mayorkas stated.