DHS chief Mayorkas calls out Texas for 'failure of governance' amid illegal immigrant crisis and impeachment
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called out Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday, labeling his migrant busing policy "a remarkable failure of governance."
Mayorkas, who faces impeachment proceedings in the House for his handling of the illegal immigration crisis, blamed Abbott, a Republican, for failing to cooperate with officials in Democrat-led cities that have been overwhelmed by migrant arrivals.
"Let me identify one fundamental problem here, and that is the fact that we have one governor in the state of Texas who is refusing to cooperate with other governors and other local officials," Mayorkas said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Emphasizing the need for the country to "stand united" on immigration, Mayorkas said, "it's a remarkable failure of governance to refuse to cooperate with one's fellow local and state officials."
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Abbot began bussing migrants to New York City and other sanctuary jurisdictions last year in protest of the Biden administration's border policies. Abbott’s office has said it has sent around 27,000 migrants to New York City since then and has done so to relieve pressure on besieged border communities.
The illegal immigration crisis — which broke a record in December with over 300,000 encounters at the border in a single month — has put a strain on Democrat-led cities that lack the resources to house them. New York and Chicago have attempted to unload migrants in surrounding suburban neighborhoods, which in turn have complained that they cannot house them and threatened to send migrant buses back to the Texas-Mexico border.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams said last week his city is at a "breaking point" after 161.000 migrants have arrived since spring 2022, including those who have arrived on their own. The mayor issued an executive order restricting when and where buses may drop off migrants, but a "loophole" in the city's order was reportedly found after migrants were delivered to train stations in New Jersey, from which they departed for the Big Apple.
"We're dealing with a bully right now, and everything is on the table that conforms with the law," Adams said of Abbott on Tuesday.
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Mayorkas told MSNBC that federal teams have been dispatched to Chicago, Denver and New York to assist in managing migrant arrivals and ensure that migrants eligible to work receive their work authorization as quickly as possible.
"We've also successfully sought some funding from Congress to assist cities, and in our supplemental budget request we've requested additional funding for that purpose," Mayorkas said.
House Republicans have blamed Mayorkas as the border crisis has worsened under his leadership. The Homeland Security Committee will hold its first impeachment hearing into the secretary on Jan. 10 as Republicans accuse Mayorkas of refusing to enforce immigration laws.
Mayorkas said he will "certainly" cooperate with the committee's investigation and "continue to do my work as well."
Fox News Digital's Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, Anders Hagstrom, Houston Keene and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.