Mayorkas responds to Gov. Abbott's criticism of Biden's border actions

Here with me now is Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it. Good morning. You were with the president at the border. You went to Brownsville, where the numbers actually have been a bit lower. You know better than I do than other sections of the border. I want you to listen to what the head of the border Patrol union said, I should say. He was with Donald Trump when he made these statements. I want you to know your agents. My agents, they

're mad as hell, absolutely mad that President Biden went to Brownsville, Texas, rather than going to Arizona rather than going to San Diego, California, rather than coming to Eagle Pass, Texas, which has been the epicenter. Did President Biden get a full picture of the crisis at the border during this trip? Oh, he most certainly did. You know, Brownsville in April and May of last year accounted for 30% of all encounters across the entire southern border. It it displays how dynamic the challenge

of migration is, because we convinced Mexico to increase its enforcement along its border before people arrive at the southern border. The numbers in Brownsville have dropped. The numbers in the Eagle Pass have dropped. The numbers in Tucson have risen because enforcement in Mexico is so difficult given the landscape of Sonora, Mexico. The challenge of migration is a very dynamic and ever changing one. The important message that we communicated from Brownsville, Texas, is the fact that Congress

needs to act. This system has been broken for decades. And we have a bipartisan solution that will deliver much needed resources and much needed changes to the broken system. It is a bipartisan solution, and the president was very strong on that point. That bipartisan solutions solution is tabled. And I think that's probably a generous way to put it right now because of deep Republican opposition. Given that CNN is reporting last week that the administration is considering executive action that

would block migrants claiming asylum if they illegally cross into the United States, can you tell us exactly what's on the table then? And we consider options at all times. That's the responsibility of good government. But an administrative action is no substitute for an enduring solution. When we take administrative actions, as we have done a number of times, we are challenged in court. Legislation is the enduring solution. And by the way, we could not, through administrative action plus up th

e United States Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection by 1500 personnel like this legislation proposes. We cannot, through administrative action, add 4300 asylum officers so that we can work through the backlog and turn the system into an efficient and well working one, which it hasn't been for more than three decades. I want you to listen to what the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, told me on the show about the idea of whether or not legislation is needed. Take a listen. The fact of the mat

ter is there are laws on the books passed by Congress of the United States right now that authorize the executive branch to deny illegal entry. The president does not need new laws. The President needs a backbone to make sure that he he enforces the immigration laws that are already on the books. Couldn't be more wrong. Couldn't be more wrong. And as a matter of fact, former President Trump tried to close the border and it was enjoined in the courts and never saw the light of day. This coming fr

om an individual who is purposefully refusing to coordinate, communicate, collaborate with other officials, and trying to wreak havoc in other cities and states across the country. That is not a model of governance. And he couldn't be more wrong. Back to the executive action. You said it's not an enduring solution, and I don't think anybody would disagree with that. But in a time of crisis, you tend to deal with how to put even a Band-Aid on a situation in the short term. Is there executive acti

on that you are considering now to try to do that? Let me let me give a powerful example of something that we did accomplish. We encountered a historic number of individuals at the southern border in December of 2023. Mexico had ceased its enforcement operations, and its enforcement agency had been unfunded. President Biden reached out to President Lopez Obrador of Mexico and spoke of the need for enforcement to resume. Then he dispatched Secretary Blinken and me to meet with our Mexican counter

parts and echo that important message. Mexico did. And the numbers in January of this year dropped more than 50%. So there are things that we can do. Asylum is changing the asylum laws at all by executive action. One of those. Things? Well, we have we have done that in a limited circumstance under one of the regulations that we passed that is being challenged in the courts. What we have is a three part solution that this legislation performs. It not only raises the asylum bar, but speeds up the

process from 5 to 7 years to under six months. That is an extraordinary change and will impact intending migrants. But it's not going anywhere. That's the reality. Well, the reality is that Congress needs to act. And President Biden said that Congress needs to get a spine. I want to ask about speaking of Congress. What's happening with you in Congress? You became the first cabinet secretary to be impeached in more than 150 years. That happened last month. The Senate is now deciding whether or no

t to hold a trial. Do you think that the Senate should just try to dismiss the charges or do you want the opportunity to defend yourself? Dana, I'm going to let the Senate, of course, execute its responsibilities as it thinks best in the service of our country. I am going to focus on work. Donald Trump yesterday suggested that on the campaign trail that President Biden has a deliberate strategy to let migrants across the border because he says President Biden wants to, quote, overthrow the Unite

d States and, quote, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations. What's your reaction to that? Again, I can't comment on those remarks because the hatch Act prevents me from speaking of campaign politics. I'm incredibly proud to serve this president, an extraordinary president who is focused on working for the American people. Let me ask you in a different context that you can answer. Is it the policy of the Biden admi

nistration to allow as many migrants to come across the border in order to change the political dynamics, the electoral dynamics of America? Of course not. And the facts indicate that that is absolutely false. Since May of this year of last year, we have removed or returned more individuals than in any year since 2015, and we haven't even run 12 months over the last three years. We've removed, returned or expelled more people than in all four years of the prior administration. You know, the fact

s matter and the rhetoric we should brush aside. Real, real quick, I have to ask you about what's going on in Texas. The largest wildfire in history already killed two people, destroyed up to 500 structures. How dangerous is this situation? What's the federal government doing? And do you think that excuse me, the climate crisis has anything to do with this then? It's something that we're monitoring every minute of every day. We have devoted funds, equipment, personnel. The front line personnel a

re so incredibly brave. Our hearts break to those, of course, who've lost their lives, their families, who've lost their homes. More than a million acres have burned. We are in winter, and this is the largest fire in Texas history. We are seeing unprecedented blizzards in the north of California. We, as a country and as a world, have to be ready for the increasing effects of extreme weather caused by climate change. It's a remarkable phenomenon, and it will manifest itself in the days to come, a

nd we have to prepare for it. Now. I'm going to make a very hard turn right now to something a lot lighter than that, which is Saturday Night Live. I'm not sure if you saw when you were coming in this morning that you and I both got the SNL treatment last night. I'll play a clip. I was with Joe Biden for the past week at NYU. He white me out. Okay. So you feel he's up to the job then? I was just with him and behind closed doors. He's a dynamo. Joe went into beast mode. He said, we're going to ti

ghten this border. Look how easy I can cross it. Then he poured Cord up to the top of the border wall. He front flipped into the Rio Grande and came back up with a fish in his mouth. Does that happen every day? We. We all need a little comic relief now and then. And I thought George Clooney did a terrific you know. Obviously this is art, but they do this because they try to make a point that there is a discussion in the zeitgeist. There is a reason that they did a whole thing about Joe Biden's a

ge. Do you want to have a real statement about it, about what you witnessed? They should spend a bit of time with Joe Biden like I have done. Let let me share something with you. I prepare a lot for meetings with him and engagements with him because he's remarkably detail oriented, probing and operationally focused. Okay. But no fishing in the Rio Grande. Not for me. Okay. Thank you so much for the secretary. Appreciate it. Thank you, then.