Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Members of Congress and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were at odds Wednesday on how lawmakers should improve border security, as they wrestle with how to handle a White House request for emergency spending. Mayorkas, speaking to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pointed to a sweeping proposal …
Read More »Homeland Security Chief Calls Ted Cruz’s Comments “revolting” In Heated Border Hearing
Julia Forrest, The Texas Tribune Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas exchanged heated barbs during Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing over border issues, with each official referring to one another as “revolting.” At the hearing, Mayorkas was grilled by Republicans — as he …
Read More »Visiting Texas Border, Kevin McCarthy Calls On DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas To Resign
Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday to resign over the administration’s border policy, promising to launch investigations next year that could culminate in impeachment. “We will use the power of the purse and the power of …
Read More »Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Whether Biden Can Toss Trump’s “Remain In Mexico” Policy
By Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune April 26, 2022 The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday morning on whether the Biden administration can scrap a Trump-era policy that forces asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases make their way through U.S. immigration courts. During two hours of arguments, …
Read More »U.S. To Open Mexico And Canada Borders For Vaccinated Travelers
The United States will lift Covid-19 restrictions at its land and ferry borders next month to fully vaccinated, discretionary travelers from Canada and Mexico. On Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced that, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health experts, the …
Read More »Biden Administration Ends Workplace Immigration Raids
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities to end the practice of workplace deportation raids. In a memo to immigration agency officials, Mayorkas outlined new enforcement priorities that aim to target employers that exploit unauthorized immigrants. “The deployment of mass worksite operations, sometimes resulting …
Read More »Biden Administration Takes Steps To Preserve DACA
The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it is proposing a rule that would “preserve and fortify” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. DACA, which was created in 2012 through executive action by then-President Barack Obama, has allowed about 600,000 immigrants, most of whom were brought to …
Read More »US Clears Encampment Of Haitian Migrants In Del Rio, Texas
There are no more migrants crowded under the Del Rio bridge in South Texas, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday, days after viral images of Border Patrol agents using reins against Haitian migrants drew widespread condemnation. “As of this morning, there are no longer any migrants in the camp …
Read More »Homeland Security Issues New Terrorism Threat Alert Ahead Of 9/11 Anniversary
The Department of Homeland Security on Friday issued a new National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin warning of the threat of extremist violence as the coronavirus spreads widely again and the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks approaches. “The Homeland continues to face a diverse and challenging threat …
Read More »VP Kamala Harris Travels To El Paso, Texas To Work On Border Crisis
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to El Paso, Texas, her first trip to the border since taking office. Harris toured the migrant processing center, a US Customs and Border Protection facility, and spoke with five parentless girls from Central America. “They are without their parents. They are also …
Read More »Kamala Harris To Make First Trip To Border As Vice President Friday
Kamala Harris will make her first trip as Vice President to the US-Mexico border on Friday. Vice President Harris is responsible for building strong diplomatic relations to alleviate the border crisis. “Earlier this year, the President asked the Vice President to oversee our diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of …
Read More »Biden Administration Launches Anti-Trafficking Task Force
President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday announced a new anti-trafficking and human smuggling task force operation in the Northern Triangle countries and Mexico. Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the initiative during a joint press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei while in Guatemala on her first official foreign trip. “Transnational human smuggling …
Read More »Garland, Mayorkas: ‘White Supremacist Groups Pose The Greatest Domestic Threat’
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Senate Appropriations Committee that white supremacist groups pose the most serious domestic national security threat in the United States. “Domestic violent extremists pose an elevated threat in 2021 and in the FBI’s view, the top domestic violent extremist …
Read More »Senate Confirms Deanne Criswell As First Woman To Lead FEMA
The Senate confirmed Deanne Criswell to be the next administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency by unanimous consent Thursday. Criswell is the first woman to lead FEMA since its creation in 1979. “I congratulate Deanne Criswell on her historic confirmation to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency …
Read More »Cabinet Profiles: Alejandro Mayorkas: Secretary of Homeland Security
The first hearings for President-elect Joe Biden‘s Cabinet nominations begin today. We will hear testimony from his picks to lead all of his cabinet positions over the next several weeks. We will profile the nominees in advance of their hearings so our readers will have some background information as the …
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