Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, told Newsmax Wednesday that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "has fallen miserably down on the job" of protecting the southern border.
"Mayorkas is an executive, and he is supposed to be enforcing the law. He is the head of the Department of Homeland Security. He is the head of the of [Customs and Border Protection], of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], of all the protective enforcement agencies that are supposed to make sure that we're safe," Babin said during "The Chris Salcedo Show" Wednesday. "Yet he has fallen miserably down on the job. He has personally told me and our Border Security Caucus, and for that matter, even under oath, he has told some of our committees that he has operational control over our border. Nothing could be further from the truth."
According to the CBP, officers encountered more than 1.7 million illegal migrants coming across the border in the current fiscal year 2022, which runs from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022, about 200,000 shy of last year's record of almost 2 million encounters, according to the agency.
Babin said the failure of President Joe Biden's administration and Mayorkas in handling the crisis at the border helped lead to the deaths of 53 illegal migrants found in a smuggling truck in Texas last month.
"[Having the border under control] is such a just a blatant lie," Babin said. “When we horribly found out there were 53 dead people, several of them died in the hospital later, of illegal immigrants who were left to die a miserable, horrible, death because of the policies of Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas.”
Reuters reported June 29 that 53 of 64 illegal migrants were found dead in the rear of an abandoned tractor-trailer off a desolate road in an industrial area near San Antonio, about 160 miles north of the Mexican border.
The truck was carrying immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, as part of a smuggling operation, according to the report.
The Department of Justice charged two men, including the driver, identified as Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, of Texas, who was charged with alien smuggling resulting in death, and a second suspect, Christian Martinez, 28, who was charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, according to the report.
Babin said he "commended" Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for saying that the state plans on doing what it can to help stem the "invasion" of illegal migrants coming across the border in the absence of federal support.
"I'll tell you that the great State of Texas is going to have to stand up for itself and protect Texans, and protect our property, and protect our southern border, since the federal government under Joe Biden simply will not do the job."
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