U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., told Newsmax on Monday the immigration crisis is affecting more than just the cities at the U.S. southern border.
There have been reports of homeless veterans being kicked out of hotels in upstate New York to make room for illegal immigrants, and residents on Chicago's south side protesting because illegal immigrants are set to be housed in an abandoned school. Chicago, which has declared itself a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants, has taken in 8,000 since August, WLS-TV reported.
"The southern border, think of it as a funnel," McClain told "John Bachman Now." "It can only take so many people and those people then have to be dispersed out into the interior of our country.
"The funnel at the southern border is overflowing with people and it doesn't get any better. And that's where [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas isn't doing his job. The Biden administration isn't doing its job and these Democratic[-run] cities are getting exactly what they deserve.
"Because you're a sanctuary city, what did you think was going to happen?"
McClain lays a majority of the blame on Mayorkas, for whose impeachment she called on the House floor last week. Mayorkas has tried to shift blame for the crisis on Congress while painting a rosier picture than what others perceive.
"What I want to say to Secretary Mayorkas is, did you just figure out Title 42 was going away?" McClain said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic policy which expired Thursday that allowed for the rapid deportation of illegal immigrants over health concerns. "I mean, your lack of preparedness and your lack of ownership as the leader is embarrassing. I've never met a leader as ill-equipped as Mayorkas is to lead.
"This guy can't pass the blame off fast enough."
Last week, the House passed the Secure the Border Act of 2023, which, among other things, calls on the Biden administration to restart construction of the border wall, increases the number of Border Patrol agents and the Biden administration's ends catch-and-release policy.
"What I shared Thursday [on the House floor] is Mayorkas got on MSNBC and said, 'Hey, it's Congress' job. They need to do something about it,'" McClain said. "Well, you know what? We passed something about it, number one. Number two, I called for his impeachment because as a leader, you need to lead, and Mayorkas is doing anything but leading. He's a pile of excuses.
"I wonder now, if he's going to go to the Senate and the White House and say, 'All right, [the House] did their job, what are you going to do?"
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