() — The Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, said this Sunday that it is “too early” to know if the increase in migrants at the southern border of the United States reached its peak since the expiration of Title 42 last week.
“The numbers that we’ve experienced in the last few days are noticeably below what they were before the end of Title 42,” Mayorkas told ‘s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
Title 42, the Trump-era pandemic public health policy that allowed authorities to quickly return migrants at the US-Mexico border, expired Thursday.
On Sunday, Mayorkas said US border authorities have “experienced a 50% drop in the number of encounters” compared to earlier in the week, when encounters along the southern US border They were around 10,000 migrants per day.
The official told that authorities reported about 6,300 border encounters on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday.
Mayorkas attributed the low numbers of the last two days to the clear message from the Biden administration to migrants that avoiding legal avenues for asylum has serious consequences.
“We have communicated very clearly, a message of vital importance for people who are thinking of reaching our southern border,” he said. “There is a legal, safe and orderly way to get to the United States, and that is through the routes that President Biden expanded in unprecedented ways. And then there is a consequence if one does not use those legal paths. And that consequence is removal from the United States, deportation, and a five-year reentry ban and possible criminal prosecution.”
Later this Sunday, Biden said that apprehensions along the border “have decreased.”
“I hope they continue to drop,” he said in brief comments to reporters as he completed a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “We also need more help from Congress, in terms of funding and legislative changes.”
Asked if he planned to visit the border, the president said: “Not anytime soon, no. It would just be disruptive.”
Mayorkas, in his interview with Bash, pushed back against criticism from both sides of the aisle that the Biden administration has been unprepared for the end of Title 42.
“I respectfully disagree,” he said, defending the administration’s decision on the evolving asylum system, which is facing questions from liberals about its fairness to prospective immigrants.
previously reported that with the lifting of Title 42, the administration would largely bar migrants traveling through other countries on their way to the US-Mexico border from applying for asylum in the United States, marking a departure from decades protocol.
The rule, proposed earlier this year, means that migrants are not eligible for asylum in the US if they did not first seek refuge in a country they transited through, such as Mexico, on their way to the border. Immigrants who secure an appointment through the CBP One app would be exempt, according to officials.
Mayorkas framed the tightening of asylum rules as a way to “eliminate” smugglers who profit from human tragedy, saying it is “not just a security imperative, but a humanitarian responsibility.”
“We have an obligation to apply consequences at our border, not only to manage our border, but also to eliminate smugglers,” he said.
Mayorkas also said he has not spoken with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about what compromise Republicans and the administration might reach on immigration, after the GOP-controlled House passed by bit a strict border security bill last week.
That bill, which is unlikely to be adopted by the Democratic-led Senate, would increase funding for border agents, place new restrictions on asylum seekers and improve requirements for electronic verification, among other provisions.
After the measure passed, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused House Republicans of “playing politics” while calling on Congress to pass Biden’s proposal “to fix our security system.” flawed immigration that this administration inherited.”
In a separate appearance Sunday on “State of the Union,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green said the Republican legislation was “not intended to fix immigration” but to “secure our border.” ”.
“We need to secure our border, and then we can deal with the immigration issue. You can’t create more incentives to come here without a secure border,” the Tennessee Republican said.
As some Republicans push to remove Mayorkas from office, Green said his commission does not have the authority to impeach the secretary, but he told that he plans to “watch very closely the failures of this administration and of Secretary Mayorkas” and is building a “five-phase accountability plan.”
“I would be remiss in my job if I didn’t look at this guy’s performance and show the American people how he failed,” he said.
When asked about these criticisms this Sunday, Mayorkas maintained that he was “focused on the work that lies ahead of us.”
— ‘s Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.
