As the Department of Homeland Security faces a record number of illegal migrants crashing into the United States border in December, DHS Secretary Alejandro now finds himself blaming climate change as its primary factor.
In an interview with Willie Geist and panelists from MSNBC, Mayorkas was asked, “As you know, Mr. Secretary, border patrol in December processed more migrants entering the United States illegally than any month in the history of that agency. Why is that happening? How do you explain it?”
To which he responded that this issue was also happening across the globe and associated the surge of migrants with various issues, one example is climate change.
“So, we are seeing the greatest number of displaced people, not only at our southern border, not only in the western hemisphere but across the globe.”
“And migration, the challenge of displaced people, is a subject that comes up in every single conversation. We have the effects of climate change, poverty, and increasing levels of authoritarianism. The very many challenges that are at the root cause of the displacement of people around the world,” Mayorkas added.
Mayorkas went on attacking Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the migrant crisis, whom he accused of “refusing to cooperate” all while Texas manages hundreds of thousands illegally crossing US borders.
He said during the interview, “Let me identify one fundamental problem here, and that is the fact that we have one governor in the state of Texas who is refusing to cooperate with other governors and other local officials.”
Last December, the Texas government enacted a bill that criminalizes entering US borders illegally, this empowers local authorities to arrest and deport any migrants who cross into Texas without following proper procedures.
This new law is set to be implemented in March.
While the DHS secretary points to Gov. Abbott, he failed to address the appeals made by various Democrat-led city mayors as Biden continues to evade responsibility for the crisis.
On January 2, New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned that he would be forced to let illegal immigrants sleep on the streets as the city grapples to find housing for them.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also appealed for federal support as they lack enough resources to sustain the migrant crisis.
It should also be noted that the Biden administration tasked Vice President Kamala Harris to tackle migrant woes in March 2021 but hasn’t held any conference regarding the crisis since February.
Mayorkas’ remarks come as House GOP moved to impeach him as Homeland Security Secretary for failing to perform his duties of managing the US-Mexico border.
Impeachment proceedings will start on January 10.
Based on federal data, Border agents were able to record 2 million encounters of migrants crossing the southern border illegally in fiscal year 2023 and more than 2.2 million in 2022. In December 2023, alone, the CBP was able to record more than 300,000 undocumented migrants crashing the border, making it the highest monthly total on record.
Nearly ten million undocumented migrants entered the US since President Biden held power in 2021.
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