Biden’s border policies are ENCOURAGING migrants to come to the U.S. because they know they’ll be released into the U.S. even if they are arrested, Border Patrol chiefs tell Republicans investigating Mayorkas
Border Patrol leaders say there is a “new phenomenon” of migrants turning themselves in and not evading arrest because they know they will be released under the Biden administration’s policies.
Stunning confessions from leaders of several border sectors were revealed during testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee. The committee, led by ranking Republican Mark Greene, is actively investigating Secretary of State Alejandro Mayorkas’ role in perpetuating the ongoing border crisis.
DailyMail.com exclusively reviewed transcripts of executive depositions taken between May and September 2023.
Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke of the San Diego sector told investigators in May that the increase in migrants turning themselves in is a relatively new phenomenon.
He confirmed that the huge number of illegal migrants who “give up” and do not actively try to avoid arrest is a “more recent phenomenon”.
Immigrants arrive at a U.S. Border Patrol remote processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 7, 2023.
A wave of immigrants illegally passing through holes cut by smugglers in the border wall has stunned U.S. immigration authorities, forcing them to close several international ports of entry so officers can help process the new arrivals.
Another agent, Gloriza Chavez of the Rio Grande Valley Sector, echoed those comments, telling lawmakers in September that they are seeing “a lot” of family groups specifically turning themselves in to border agents.
Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin told investigators that the number of migrants who “surrendered” and surrendered to agents was in the hundreds.
Maudlin, who works in Arizona’s Tucson sector, said that because of the frequency of “large groups of people giving up,” “it’s not uncommon now to see a group of 200 to 300 people give up, and they do.” in some of the most remote areas.”
As a result, it is “saturating” Border Patrol agents on the ground and pulling a lot of resources into those areas, he said during July testimony.
Migrant encounters at the open southern border reached their highest single-day level last Tuesday, when an astonishing 12,000 people poured across the border into the US.
In the Tucson sector in particular, a surge in migrant encounters has affected hundreds of adult men crossing the border from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. In one week, there were 17,500 encounters in the sector, the highest weekly total ever recorded.
Chief Patrol Agent Jason Owens told the committee that in his Del Rio sector, migrants are “pretty much turning themselves in.”
And sometimes those large groups “numbered over 500 people” in his sector, where they “waited for us to arrive” and were processed, he told lawmakers in May.
“Well… I spent most of my career chasing people who crossed the border illegally. The phenomenon of people turning themselves in, it happened, but not at the level that I have seen in the last couple of years,” he continued.
“Secretary Mayorkas’ policies encourage lawbreaking to such an extent that record numbers of illegal aliens are actually turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents while awaiting release, rather than attempting to flee across the border undetected,” said Chairman Greene, a Tennessee Republican. DailyMail.com reported this in an exclusive statement.
He said the secretary’s policies actively “incentivize brazen violations” of the law, and top patrol agents have made it clear that this is a relatively new phenomenon.
Mayorkas said in October that 600,000 migrants had evaded detention this year alone because they crossed the U.S. border illegally.
And it is unknown whether the 169 members of the terrorist watch list who illegally crossed the southern border are in jail or deported.
Republicans on the committee are investigating Mayorkas’ role in the growing border security crisis. They are expected to complete phase five of their report in the coming weeks and may suggest that an impeachment investigation into a senior Biden official is warranted.
Republicans on the committee are investigating Mayorkas’ role in the growing border security crisis.
Migrants are surrendering to agents in large numbers rather than actively avoiding arrest
Migrant encounters at the open southern border reached their highest single-day level last Tuesday, when an astonishing 12,000 people poured across the border into the US.
But last month the House rejected Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bid to impeach Mayorkas after a handful of Republicans sided with Democrats against the move.
In a vote of 209 to 201, eight Republicans joined Democrats in voting to return the impeachment resolution to the Homeland Security Committee, effectively shelving it indefinitely.
But Greene plans to raise articles of impeachment again in the coming days under a “privileged” resolution, forcing his colleagues to vote on the measure within two days.
Democrats argue there is “no compelling basis for impeachment.”
Homeland Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, D-Ga., said the GOP investigation was “rigged” throughout the process.
He issued a statement saying the committee’s interviews with border officials over the summer showed the Biden administration was “enforcing border and immigration laws in an orderly, humane manner, consistent with previous administrations of both parties.”