On Friday’s broadcast of NBC’s “Today,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the federal court ruling blocking the federal government from releasing migrants into the United States without orders to show up in court is a damaging decision and argued that releasing people into the country without a court date or any mechanism to track them isn’t open borders for those who are released because “the vast majority are being removed.” And people who have been removed from the country wouldn’t say the border is open.
Mayorkas stated, “So, we consider that ruling to be very harmful. The procedure that we were executing is something that other administrations have done. These individuals are screened and vetted, and then they are released and then placed into immigration enforcement proceedings. The Department of Justice is, of course, considering its options with respect to the court’s ruling. But we’re ready for different eventualities, Savannah.”
Co-host Savannah Guthrie then said, “People at home will hear that and [say,] wait, even if it’s just a subset, relatively a small number, you say the border is not open, but there is a subset of people who are being released into this country with no court date and no way to track them. I mean, that sounds like the border is open for some.”
Mayorkas responded, “Oh, Savannah, the vast majority are being removed. I think if one asked any one of the 1.4 million people who were expelled, removed, or returned last year, I don’t think they would tell you that the border is open.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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