Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday that as many as 12,000 Haitian migrants who made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border have been released into the United States.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Mayorkas said that approximately 10,000 to 12,000 migrants detained in Del Rio, Texas, in recent weeks have been released into the United States.
Another 3,000 remain in detention, while 5,000 are being processed by the Department of Homeland Security, and in a separate interview with CNN’s State of the Union, he said 4,000 have been expelled under a public health authority known as Title 42.
Related Story: Alejandro Mayorkas’ 7 border lies
Mayorkas told Fox News Sunday that the number of migrants released into the United States and returned to Haiti could both “be even higher” as their cases are processed.
“We will make determinations whether they will be returned to Haiti based on our public health and public interest authorities,” he said.
Speaking of the approximately 12,000 migrants released into the country, Mayorkas said that individuals placed in immigration court proceedings go before a judge where they can make a claim of asylum or other claims to remain in the United States and are permitted to remain or removed based on the judge’s ruling.
He added that the United States has “enforcement guidelines” in place to ensure that people who have recently crossed the border and do not show up for their hearings are removed.
“It is our intention to remove them, that is what our policies are, and we deploy our enforcement resources according to certain priorities to ensure the safety and security of the American people,” he said.
GOPUSA Editor’s Note: Please keep in mind that this is a mainstream media story. The source of the story is in the dateline. We publish it for the purpose of informing our readers and providing an opportunity to discuss it. What is GOPUSA? Read our About Us page to find out.
Responding to criticism from Democrats in Congress about the Title 42 provision, which was put into effect by the Trump administration, Mayorkas noted that it is a “public health authority” and “not an immigration policy.”
“It is exercised as the … Centers for Disease Control, has ordered, in light of the arc of the pandemic,” he said. “The public has to remember that we are in the midst of a pandemic. The Delta variant caused a setback. More than 600,000 Americans have died. More than 40 U.S. Customs and Border Protection front-line personnel have lost their lives.”
Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace presses DHS Secretary Mayorkas on the Biden administration's failure to test migrants entering the country illegally for COVID.
"A lot of people don't get tested … [it] has put communities in this country at risk." pic.twitter.com/oMm121PdJb
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 26, 2021
Last Sunday, Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano confirmed that two flights transported the first group of migrants back to Haiti as the country grips with the assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moise, in July and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake last month that killed over 2,000 Haitians.
Mayorkas said Friday: “As of this morning, there are no longer any migrants in the camp underneath the Del Rio International Bridge.” At one time, there were 15,000 migrants, who were primarily Haitians, under the bridge connecting Del Rio with Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.
Video from Friday:
Democrats have urged the Biden administration to focus on providing humanitarian aid to Haiti rather than conducting removals, and Daniel Foote, the U.S. special envoy for Haiti, resigned from his post Wednesday over what he called the Biden administration’s “inhumane” deportation of Haitian refugees from the southern border in Texas.
Mayorkas responded to Foote’s departure Sunday, saying “I respectfully disagree with the envoy’s position.”
“With respect to the conditions in Haiti, we studied those conditions very carefully,” he said. “And we made a determination several months ago that individuals resident in the United States who were from Haiti who were unlawfully present could not safely return there. And, therefore, we granted them temporary protected status.”
In addition, U.S. Border Patrol on Thursday temporarily suspended the use of horses while dealing with migrants at the border after photographs and videos captured agents on horseback appearing to charge at and herd Haitian migrants.
“We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing battle against systemic racism,” Mayorkas said.
WATCH: CNN's Jake Tapper calls out the Biden administration for "patently false" descriptions of mounted Border Patrol agents in Texas.
"The nice words you said about [Border Patrol], you should probably share with President Biden—not just with me today." pic.twitter.com/yUI3c0irJ9
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 26, 2021
He added, however, that he did not want to “prejudge the facts” or in any way “impair the integrity” of an investigation into the actions of the agents involved.
“I think it’s quite clear that what the images suggest horrified the American public,” he said. “That is quite different than learning what actually happened, determining the facts. And the fact determinations will be made in an independent investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility.”
Copyright 2021 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
More and mroe, i just want to summon up a dozen massive red dragons, to keep swooping up and down the length of that entire border, breathing fire on ALL THOSE WHO TRY TO illegally come in.. Burn them all to ash, for all i care.
the whole federal establishment should be arrested and tried for treason.
There certainly needs to be a mass purging….
Rumor has it that Joe and Mayorkas have been seen biting the heads off Haitian chickens and reading their entrails to determine the outcome of the 2012 Elections. Trump Voo Doo pin cushions are selling like hot cakes in D.C. Reality these days is more bizarre than fiction when it comes to the Biden gang running our government. Our equestrian border guards need to be sent to the Whitehouse to whip Joe back into human shape where his memory of his race, religion, gender, and patriotism come back to his brain and again begin to function. He and his cabinet have been acting like they had a silent secret Russian Microwave brain attack session when they last met with them to make Joe’s deals with Hunter for unearned fame and fortune. His entire cabinet suffers from non Compus mentis.,
Hey Mayorkas traitor, the illegal aliens will be sent back to Haiti when hell freezes over and you know it, because you are part of the devil, who is destroying our Country.
Pity we the people, can’t be doing the deporting of these illegals OURSELVES>
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if in the course of about three days you go from an estimated 15,000 people under a bridge to photos of NO ONE under the same bridge that they didn’t all get sent back to Haiti or whatever Central American country they came from. They were essentially given a green light to get into the US and get out of the area so that the optics looked good.
This is not only putting the American people at risk with unidentified people entering the US and no screening for all sorts of illnesses, not just COVID, but it is putting those who crossed the border at risk for exploitation and not being able to settle properly.
As for the Border Patrol on horseback. I saw nothing ‘horrifying’ about their actions. Anyone who has watched a cowboy work knows they were excellent horsemen and being very careful. What was horrifying was seeing these people coming across the border unfettered.
AND exactly HOW did they clean out that 15k+ folks, in just one day?? WHERE Did they get all the busses and trucks from?
I feel bad for my friends still working in DHS that have to report to this clown! He pulled shady stunts the last time he worked in government, had no business being invited back. Alas, this is what we get with Biden.
It’s ALL part of the plan to repeat the 2020 election by deliberately spreading the virus around the Country. Keep the population scared to death they will be infected if they physically go to the voting booth. Mass Corrupt mail in ballots sent out to any and all living and dead to assure them of another fraudulent election!!!!
AND you can bet your last dime, That the dems are HARD AT WORK getting all those illegals, REGISTERED TO VOTE, so when the inevitable “mass mail out of ballots” occurs for the 2022 elections, ALL OF THEM WILL be sent a ballot…
every one should be aware this horrible take down of our once great country has been in the works for a very long time.school indoctrinating our kids,awlessness, judges who allo criminals to leave and promise to come back?? really!? they get released with monies,vouchers and more. some have even been rearrested for another crime that same day knowing there will be no problem.so then they will have more vouchers and a laugh at our system