Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas held a press briefing on Wednesday after visiting the southern border.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning and thank you very much for being here today.
00:15Three weeks ago, in the face of congressional inaction, President Biden used his executive
00:21authority and suspended the entry of non-citizens across the southern border.
00:28We are imposing stricter consequences for those who cross the border without authorization.
00:34These actions are changing the calculus for those considering crossing our border.
00:41Still, as I will continue to make clear, they are no substitute for congressional action.
00:48The bipartisan border agreement would have added 1,500 Border Patrol agents and CBP officers,
00:55added 1,200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, and more.
01:02We are continuing to call on Congress to provide the resources we need to support our men and
01:08women on the front lines of our border.
01:12I just received an operational briefing on the success of the President's actions so
01:16far here in the Tucson sector and along our southern border, and the incredible work of
01:22our personnel.
01:24Our team did an exceptional job quickly implementing this new policy, and we are already seeing
01:30the results.
01:31Here in Tucson, we have seen a more than 45 percent drop in U.S. Border Patrol encounters
01:38since the President took action, and repatriations of encountered individuals in Tucson have
01:44increased by nearly 150 percent.
01:49As a result, in Tucson, we have seen a more than 80 percent decrease in individuals placed
01:56into immigration proceedings and our backlogged court system.
02:03Across the entire southern border, Border Patrol encounters have dropped by over 40
02:08percent.
02:09We are removing more noncitizens without a legal basis to stay here, nearly doubling
02:14the rate at which we are removing noncitizens directly from Border Patrol custody here in
02:20Tucson and across the southern border.
02:24In three weeks, we have operated over 100 international repatriation flights to more
02:30than 20 countries and removed or returned more than 24,000 individuals.
02:37The President's actions are working because of their tough response to illegal crossings
02:42and because they built on our sustained effort to exercise our full authorities to enforce
02:48the law and impose consequences for illegal entry.
02:53We are attacking the smuggling organizations that prey on the vulnerable, even as the smugglers
02:58try to undermine our actions.
03:02We are also working with partner nations in the region and building lawful pathways for
03:06people to seek humanitarian relief in a safe and orderly way.
03:12This is all being executed by our incredible personnel.
03:16CBP Border Patrol agents, field operations officers, air and marine agents, ICE ERO officers
03:23and HSI agents, USCIS asylum officers, and others in DHS and across the federal government
03:31have done incredible work implementing the President's executive actions and meeting
03:36the challenges at the border.
03:37I want to recognize the leadership here and the people whom they lead, some of whom are
03:43behind you for the incredible work they do every single day.
03:47So very many of them at personal risk.
03:53I want to reiterate, this is no substitute.
03:57The executive actions are no substitute for congressional action.
04:02Only Congress can deliver a full and lasting solution.
04:07Only Congress, through legislation, can fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration
04:13system that was last updated almost 30 years ago.
04:18Only Congress can give us the resources we need.
04:22We have been under-resourced for decades.
04:25We need timely funds to hire more agents, officers, and support personnel, to buy, install
04:32and maintain more technology, hire more judges to move cases faster, and equip us to remove
04:38more quickly people who do not qualify for relief, and more.
04:45Only Congress can provide these funds.
04:49The needed fixes to our broken immigration system and the resources that our frontline
04:54agents and officers have repeatedly asked for and deserve were exactly what the Senate's
05:02bipartisan border security bill would have delivered.
05:07It was bipartisan legislation that was negotiated for months and would have delivered the toughest
05:13border measures in decades.
05:16But politics got in the way.
05:19The President took action.
05:21The border security steps we have taken over the past 18 months are bringing order.
05:28With that, we'll open it up to your questions.
05:52Hi, thanks so much for doing this.
05:55Elisa Resnick with KJZZ.
05:57Sorry, a little hard to hear.
05:59Sorry, Elisa Resnick with KJZZ.
06:02Migrants deported in Nogales report not being given their belongings back and not receiving
06:07any paperwork about their deportation.
06:09What is their legal status in terms of when they are deported?
06:13What sort of paperwork should they be receiving and why are their belongings not given back?
06:18We do take individuals' belongings for the safety and security of the personnel in our
06:24custody and the safety and security of the agents.
06:27We return the individuals' belongings when they are removed or when they are moved to
06:34a different facility.
06:35That is our standard operating procedures.
06:38And when individuals are removed, they are subject to a five-year bar to admission to
06:43the United States.
06:46Good morning, Secretary.
06:50Are there plans to increase appointments with CBP-1?
06:53No, the number of appointments that are permitted through CBP-1, approximately 1,400 to 1,500
07:02a day, are based on the capacity of our ports of entry.
07:06They are antiquated ports of entry that are also in need of funding to modernize them.
07:12Hi, I'm Sarah Lapidus with Zona Republic.
07:16Is it okay for someone detained while this order is in place to get an entry ban of some
07:21kind to the U.S.?
07:22And is that a violation of asylum law?
07:24I'm sorry, I didn't quite get the first part of your question, but I can assure you of
07:30one thing, and that is that we comply with the law.
07:33We comply with the law.
07:35I'm sorry, I didn't quite get the first part of your question, but I can assure you of
07:37one thing, and that is that we comply with the law.
07:40We comply with asylum laws, and we comply with enforcement laws as well.
07:52Hi, Secretary.
07:53Thank you for being out here today.
07:55Obviously, the media, the nation has had their eyes on the brutal crimes committed recently
08:00by illegal immigrants.
08:02One of them was actually wearing an ice ankle monitor.
08:04Yet this morning, you said in an interview that the safety of the American people is
08:08the priority and that these individuals are vetted.
08:11But we know in our conversations with the ICE director, we've heard the FBI director
08:14say that there are significant gaps in intel.
08:18So what would you say to reassure the American people that they are, in fact, safe?
08:22And what would you say to the families who are mourning their loved ones because of these
08:25migrant crimes being committed?
08:27Well, let me start where you ended.
08:31A message to the families is, of course, our hearts are with them, given their suffering.
08:40The safety and security of the American public is indeed our highest priority.
08:45We screen and vet individuals when we encounter them.
08:49If we learn of derogatory information subsequently, later in the process, then we take enforcement
08:57action accordingly.
08:59The individual who is responsible for a heinous criminal act is the criminal, and we need
09:04to bring the full force of the law to bear on that criminal, just as I did for 12 years
09:10as a federal prosecutor.
09:12We encountered dangerous people then, and we prosecuted them accordingly, and that will
09:16indeed continue.
09:21For doing this.
09:22So you said you comply, but there's reports of migrants being returned to Mexico.
09:29Who?
09:30Being returned to?
09:31To Mexico.
09:32Migrants being put in an expedited removal to Mexico that said they manifested fear,
09:37but that fear wasn't heard, and it's not one, it's many cases.
09:43What do you have to say about that?
09:46Our agents and officers, not only in the United States Border Patrol, but in U.S. Citizenship
09:53and Immigration Services across the enforcement agencies and the humanitarian relief agencies
09:59that are part of the Department of Homeland Security, are well-trained in identifying
10:05individuals who manifest fear, whether they vocalize that manifestation or whether there
10:11are signs physically of fear.
10:13They are well-trained and experts.
10:15They follow the guidelines that we have provided to them.
10:19Individual who does not establish a basis to remain in the United States will, in fact,
10:25be removed.
10:26We are enforcing the law.
10:31Hello, sir.
10:32How's it going?
10:33Your department recently arrested eight men from Tajikistan due to terrorism-related concerns.
10:39Is your department taking any new steps to better screen, identify, and detain migrants
10:44who may pose a threat to national security?
10:46And are there other migrants out there released by your department that you're concerned about
10:50from a national security perspective?
10:52Camilo, let me reiterate the foundational point that the safety and security of the
10:59American people are our highest priority.
11:01If an individual is of concern from a national security or a public safety perspective, they
11:07are a priority for detention.
11:10The eight individuals whom you referenced are, in fact, in custody.
11:14We did not have derogatory information when they were first encountered.
11:18Concerns were raised subsequently.
11:21We used our law enforcement authorities to apprehend and detain them, and they are in
11:26removal proceedings as we speak.
11:30Hi, I'm Paul Ingram with the Tucson Sentinel.
11:32You said that you're complying with asylum law and migrants and abductors.
11:35Sorry, it's a little hard to hear in this venue.
11:38How's that?
11:39Better.
11:40You said that you're complying with asylum laws and migrants and advocates are still
11:43saying that people are getting deported.
11:45And you mentioned that there's guidelines.
11:47Do you think the guidelines are good enough then that people are saying they're still
11:49being deported even though they have credible fear?
11:51Well, you said people are being deported.
11:55People are being removed.
11:57We're going to continue to remove individuals who have not established the basis to remain
12:02in the United States.
12:03Individuals who do not manifest fear are subject to expedited removal.
12:08We are executing that removal process, and we will continue to do so.
12:13Our agents and officers are well trained in identifying individuals who manifest fear,
12:18and they're complying with their obligations to respect that manifestation.
12:22And we place people in credible fear interviews when they manifest fear.
12:28And if we find a negative determination that they have not established credible fear,
12:33then we accordingly remove them.
12:39Secretary, can you hear me now?
12:44Yeah.
12:45DHS confirms that at least 400 migrants with potential ISIS ties recently crossed into
12:50the United States.
12:51That is incorrect.
12:52Tell us why.
12:54That reporting is incorrect.
12:57We do not have identified 400 people with potential ISIS ties.
13:03And let me again assure you that individuals who are identified to have those ties would
13:10pose a concern to us from a public safety and a security perspective, and they would
13:15be priorities for detention and removal.
13:19Calling that initial NBC report inaccurate over the 400 potential ISIS ties?
13:24I think it is inaccurate.
13:34Let me be clear.
13:35Let me be clear about something.
13:38Precision when one is addressing the facts is very, very important.
13:44I just answered your question.
13:46Precision – let me just be clear.
13:48Precision when one is dealing with the facts is very, very important.
13:59I've answered that question many, many a time.
14:03Hi, Secretary.
14:04Thank you.
14:05Yeah, I wanted to ask, when people sign paperwork to get voluntary return, are they then banned
14:14from making the CBP appointment?
14:16And same question, but if they refuse to sign the voluntary return paperwork?
14:23If an individual does not agree to voluntary return and they fail to establish a basis
14:31to remain in the United States, then they are subject to removal.
14:36And when they are removed, they are then subject to a bar to admission to the United States.
14:43If an individual has agreed to and been returned voluntarily, are they eligible for a CBP-1 appointment?
14:56They are.
14:58All right, that's all we have time for.
14:59Thank you.