Mark Morgan, a former acting commissioner in Customs and Border Patrol in the Trump administration, told Newsmax on Tuesday the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is not just an issue with a lack of resources, but the lack of an immigration enforcement policy from the Biden administration.
Morgan told "American Agenda" the crisis was created when Biden rescinded strict enforcement policies created during the Trump administration, such as the remain-in-Mexico policy, where migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. had to wait in Mexico until their immigration court date, and the safe third-party agreements, where asylum seekers would be sent to another country to seek asylum.
After dropping such enforcement tactics, Biden has not proposed anything to take their place.
"Make no mistake, this is a policy issue right now," said Morgan, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former FBI agent. "[The Biden administration] could reinstate the remain-in-Mexico program. They could reinstate the safe third-country agreements we have with all three Northern Triangle countries [Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador].
"They can remove the restrictions from ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] that prohibits them from doing their job to enforce the law and lawfully deport illegal aliens that remain in this country."
Morgan said he understands why morale among Border Patrol agents "is the lowest it has ever been."
"They're not allowed to do their job," Morgan said. "They know this administration has taken away the tools, authorities, and resources they have. They know every single day, drugs are getting past them, criminals are getting past them, and potential national security threats are getting past them because they're in facilities processing illegal aliens."
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