This is what the Homeland Security secretary has to say about his border record
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In the waning days of the Biden administration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended his agency's work to tamp down border-crossing numbers and argued against breaking apart the sprawling department in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press.
President-elect Donald Trump, who promised an aggressive Day 1 effort to stop illegal immigration and remove people in the country illegally, has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to take over the agency responsible for border and airport security, disaster response, protections for high-level dignitaries and more. She faces a confirmation hearing Wednesday.
As he prepares to leave office, Mayorkas said he has spoken repeatedly to Noem, including about the Jan. 1 truck attack in New Orleans and the wildfires in California, calling the conversations “meaningful, very productive, very positive.”. Here are some takeaways from AP's interview with Mayorkas:.
How border numbers have changed. The number of people crossing the border illegally initially skyrocketed under President Joe Biden before falling sharply this year. Republican critics pointed to the rising numbers to argue that the Biden administration wasn't doing enough to control the border, and many voters agreed this November.
Mayorkas argued the increase actually started toward the end of the first Trump presidency but then the COVID-19 pandemic suppressed migration. The U.S. climbed out of the pandemic faster than other countries in the hemisphere, and the numbers increased, he said.
