On Senate Floor, Senator Schmitt Slams Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas for Dereliction Of Duty While Border Crisis Rages

Under the Biden Administration, 2023 saw the worst year in United States History for Illegal Border Crossings

WASHINGTON — Today, while pushing a vote of no confidence on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Senator Schmitt spoke on the Senate floor slamming Mayorkas for failing to do his job while the humanitarian crisis at our Southern border rages on:

WATCH HERE

BACKGROUND:

• In November, 242,418 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border — the highest total ever for the month and the third-highest month of the Biden Administration. Moreover, 17 individuals on the terror watchlist were encountered, adding to the record number already set under Biden.
• In total, 8.5+ million illegal immigrants have crossed the border under Biden, including 1.7+ million known “gotaways” who escaped past Border Patrol and into the country. As a result, millions of illegal immigrants have been released into U.S. communities.
• And the crisis is only worsening in December, with 167,000 illegal immigrants encountered at the southern border in just the first 17 days of the month as illegal daily crossings consistently top 10,000+/day.
• In FY2023, CBP, has seized 27,293 pounds of fentanyl, coming across the Southwest border—enough to kill more than 6 billion people.
• The number of people killed by Fentanyl is up 94 percent since 2019.
• The number of terror-suspects attempting to cross the border has skyrocketed as the FBI warns that the open border poses a major terror threat.
• Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from “special interest countries” – countries with environments that potentially pose a national security threat – have been released into the country with little to no vetting.