WASHINGTON, D.C.— Under fire from U.S. senators who battered him with questions about the situation along the southern border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday defended his handling of the migrant surge at the southern border but pointed the finger at the country’s “broken” immigration system.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. senators hammered the Homeland Security secretary on Tuesday, criticizing the White House’s handling of the migrant surge at the southern border

  • Both Texas Republican senators are on the committee and had sharp criticism of Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas

  • Migrant encounters have declined in recent months, but still remain higher than any monthly total reported between October 2019 and January 2021

Sen. Lindey Graham, R-South Carolina, hammered the Homeland Security secretary during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with questions about how the White House and his department, which oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have managed the biggest migrant surge in years. At one point, Graham asked Mayorkas how he would grade himself.

"I'm a tough grader on myself," Mayorkas said. "And I give myself an 'A' for effort, investment in mission, and support of our workforce."

Immigration and border control have become a political hot button, and some Republicans have said they believe the secretary should step down, while some immigration advocates criticize the continued use of a public health rule that allows the government to quickly expel migrants who arrive at the border during the pandemic. 

Migrant encounters have decreased every month since August. Still, in October, there were more than 164,000 migrant encounters on the southern border, more than any monthly total reported by the C.B.P. between October 2019 and January of 2021.

Republicans have criticized the high incidents at the border on President Joe Biden’s administration, saying it has been weak on illegal immigration and accuses the White House of adopting an “open borders” policy. 

Since Biden took office in January, the U.S. has seen a backlog of 1.4 million immigration cases, which Mayorkas tried to argue was because of a lack of reforms needed to restore a functioning immigration system in the U.S. to clear the backup.   

Mayorkas said it underscores the need for Congress’s role to step in and create legislation to reform a broken system.

“Our immigration system is broken and in dire need of a legislative fix,”  he said.

In the backdrop of Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing was a pending investigation into what occurred in September, when images of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on horseback chasing after Haitan migrants near the Texas border were made public. 

The images surfaced in late September. An investigation has been opened to determine if the mounted patrol units used whips against migrants.

The Dept. of Homeland Security oversees the  U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Did you defend them when they were being attacked for whipping people which they were not?” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah asked Mayorkas. 

“The independent investigation will determine the facts, and those facts will drive the outcome,” the Homeland Security secretary said.

The two Republican senators from Texas on the Judiciary Committee Tuesday sharply questioned Mayorkas over the administration’s border policies. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted the facilities being used to hold some migrants — the same criticism Democrats made when the Trump administration was in charge.

“Has any Democratic senator on this committee been down to see the Biden cages?” Cruz asked. 

Mayorkas said he disagreed with Cruz’s use of the term “cages” when referring to the massive detention centers that have been used in recent months to temporarily house thousands of migrants, many of the children, as they are processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

“These facilities…has any Democratic member of this committee given a damn enough to see the children locked up by Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris because of your failed immigration policies?” Cruz pressed.

Republicans have criticized the administration for seeking to end the Trump-era policy of making asylum-seekers remain in Mexico until their cases are heard. 

“That if you don’t commit any other crimes other than illegally entering the United States then you are basically going to successfully navigate our immigration system and end up being able to stay permanently in the United States?” asked Sen. John Cornyn, the senior Republican senator from Texas

“Absolutely not, that's 100 percent false,” Mayorkas said in response to Cornyn.

Republican senators also seized on a report in the Wall Street Journal saying that the Biden administration is considering paying settlements to migrant families separated under former President Donald Trump. 

Mayorkas deferred to the Department of Justice, which is handling the legal case. Mayorkas said as he’s focused on reunification. 

One Democrat said the payments would not entice others to cross the border.

“How many people will head to the United States border to take advantage of that bargain, to give up your child, or just be separated from them forcibly?” asked Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. “I think that's a ridiculous conclusion.”