PRESS RELEASE Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: July 26, 2023
Washington, D.C. – Today, Jim Jordan held a hearing in which Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was subject to baseless accusations and verbal abuse from MAGA Republicans. In response, Congressional Integrity Project executive director, Kyle Herrig, issued the following statement:
“Jim Jordan and MAGA Republicans would rather live in la la land than confront the truth: Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden have kept the country safe. Border encounters are at a two year low and border crossings have actually gone down after Title 42 expired. At today’s hearings, MAGA Republicans barely allowed Secretary Mayorkas to get a word in edgewise because they know that reality conflicts with their concocted narrative of wrongdoing by the President and DHS. They will stop at nothing to hurt President Biden politically in order to distract from Trump’s myriad legal problems and their own inability to do anything but waste time.”
Background:
Border Encounters Fell To Their Lowest Level In Two Years In June. The number of migrant encounters on the border plummeted in June 2023, falling to the lowest level in more than two years. The 144,571 encounters in June were a 30% drop from May, and the lowest since February 2021. June was the first full month of CBP data since the lifting of Title 42, a public health policy enacted during the pandemic that let border officials turn away migrants on public health grounds.
Border Encounters Declined By More Than 60 Percent In The Weeks After The End Of Title 42. Despite warnings of an overwhelming surge of border crossings, border agents encountered 70 percent fewer crossings in the three weeks following the end of Title 42, compared to the week before the policy expired. There were also 25 percent fewer encounters with migrants between ports of entry, which pose more of an enforcement challenge than encounters at checkpoints.
The Department Of Homeland Security Has Stopped The Entry Of Thousands Of Pounds Of Fentanyl In Just The Last Two Months. In June 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans for an expanded effort to curb fentanyl trafficking at the border. In just the first two months of the campaign, law enforcement made 284 arrests and stopped the entry of nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl. DHS has launched Operation Artemis to use intelligence from previous operations to target trafficking and Operation Rolling Wave to boost inspections at border crossings, where 90% of fentanyl is trafficked primarily in cars and trucks. At the same time, the Justice Department announced sweeping indictments of members of the Sinaloa drug cartel and distributors in the United States. The State Department has also sanctioned entities in Mexico and China connected to fentanyl production and trafficking.