Republican coalition of senators question DHS over how it enforces border security

Citing concerns over record attempts to cross the United States-Mexico border illegally, 13 Republican senators wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the department’s changes to border security policies, processing, and enforcement.

Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) noted a record-setting 1.7 million encounters with people attempting to cross the border illegally. Such figures show no sign of slowing this year, with 165,000 additional encounters recorded this February alone.

The senators claim that deterrence of this should be a top priority for DHS, but that policies from the Biden administration have achieved the opposite.

“The Biden administration’s decision to terminate the Title 42 public health order that provided border agents the authority to perform expedited removals is the latest example of troubling policy moves,” the senators wrote. “Last year, Title 42 was used more than 1 million times to quickly expel individuals who crossed the border illegally. Such a move will undoubtedly leave CBP and law enforcement along the border vulnerable to being overwhelmed in the face of sustained record levels of illegal crossings.”

Title 42 expulsions began during the Trump administration, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as justification for generally bar land entry for many immigrants. The legal authority allows the federal government to do so for people from a country where communicable disease is present. The Biden administration announced an end to these restrictions this week, though numerous states have sued it for that action.

For Republicans, the problems extended beyond Title 42’s removal, though. They prodded Mayorkas for guidance last year that limited the scope of individuals Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could prioritize for enforcement, lowering arrests and removals. Lawmakers questioned its application to those guilty of crimes, noting that arrests and removals of convicted criminals were down 48 percent and 63 percent, respectively.

They also questioned the DHS decision to strip immigration judges of authority to grant asylum and instead offer that authority to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers, which they believe have been too lenient historically.

“It’s clear that the humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border will not slow in the coming months and is on pace to be even worse,” the Republicans wrote. “We understand DHS is actively preparing to respond to the increased illegal and irregular migration, but more details of the plans are needed.”

Therefore, they sought details on the daily encounters DHS expects to make after Title 42, needs for additional personnel, the effect this will have on DHS elsewhere, the extent of the DHS contingency plan’s reliance on alternatives to detention, its reliance on Notices of Report and Notices to Appear, and whether DHS has sought support or resources from other federal agencies due to the impending end of the Title 42 order.