Facing House lawmakers in two hearings on Wednesday, the head of Department of Homeland Security faced heated disapproval and answered concerns from both Democrats and Republicans about his department’s preparedness to deal with a spike in border crossings, especially once the Biden administration lifts a public health order turning many migrants away for now.

What You Need To Know

  • Facing House lawmakers in two hearings on Wednesday, the head of Department of Homeland Security faced heated disapproval and answered concerns from both Democrats and Republicans about the border

  • The Biden administration expects thousands more migrants to try and cross the southwest border when Title 42, a public health restriction, is lifted, though a federal judge has kept in place for now

  • Republicans grilled Sec. Mayorkas on Wednesday about his performance on the border and his plan for the surge, with one lawmaker telling him he's "failed" to protect the U.S. at its land borders

  • Mayorkas denied that border agents would lose control at the border once Title 42 is gone, pointing to a six-part plan his department detailed Tuesday and the need for immigration reform

The order, known as Title 42, is still in place this week after a judge on Monday ruled to prevent its end on May 23, the date U.S. officials planned to do away with it. The health authority allows border agents to immediately expel most adult migrants, including those seeking asylum protections.

If the order is lifted, homeland security officials have said they expect a surge in border crossings, as many as an estimated 18,000 migrants per day. Border encounters have already begun to tick up this year, with more than 220,000 people recorded in March and about half expelled under Title 42.

"With the Title 42 public health order set to be lifted, we expect migration levels to increase as smugglers seek to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in his opening statement Wednesday. “We will continue to enforce our immigration laws."

Mayorkas faced harsh criticism from Republican lawmakers during his testimony, though Democrats have also urged the Biden administration not to lift the Title 42 order without a better plan to deal with a surge. 

“I’ve dealt with the border since 9/11,” said Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas.”I’ve never seen the border more broken.” 

“It’s hard for me to say this, sir,” he added. “Your responsibility by law is to protect the United States, both air, land and sea. You have failed in this mission when it comes to our land border.”

Mayorkas on Wednesday pointed to his department’s six-part plan for when border restrictions are lifted. It includes increasing border agents’ use of expedited removal, implementing streamlined processing and adding resources and staff at the border. 

“Many of these lines of effort have been underway,” Mayorkas said Wednesday.

He and other top Biden officials have also often maintained that Title 42 is a health authority, not an immigration policy.

"It wasn't a decision made by the White House. It's a decision made, to lift it, by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], " said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday. 

Some Republicans also pointed to things they’ve heard directly from border staff on recent visits. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy led one such group of lawmakers to Texas this week.

Rep. John Katko of New York told Mayorkas during the hearing he has heard from border agents that they’re “overwhelmed and understaffed” and expect to “lose operational control” of the border once Title 42 is lifted.

Mayorkas denied that his agencies would lose control. The next court hearing in the case over lifting Title 42 is scheduled for May 13.

Democrats expressed concern on Wednesday, too.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Spectrum News that chaos at the border would reflect poorly on Democrats in the midterms this fall.

“The fact is that we’re the governing party, and the people out there have a right to respect that we know how to run a lemonade stand,” he said. “If we don’t get it right, that’s on us.”

 

Others were concerned about how the Title 42 order has been used as a stopgap in the place of immigration reform. 

“Title 42 is really something that has been used incorrectly to address immigration at our borders,” said Rep. Lou Correa of California.

The Biden administration has continued to call for Republicans to offer solutions to ease the overwhelming situation, including by working with the White House and Democrats on a reform bill.

“We inherited a broken and dismantled system that is already under strain,” Mayorkas said Wednesday. “It is not built to manage the current levels and types of migratory flows. Only Congress can fix this.”