President Joe Biden’s nominee for United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland, told lawmakers on Monday he is unaware that Mexican drug cartels game the nation’s asylum system.
During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garland was asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) if he had ever visited the U.S.-Mexico border to which the federal appeals court judge said he has not.
“No sir, I haven’t,” Garland said when Graham asked.
Specifically, Garland said he is unaware that cartels game the asylum system to tie up Department of Homeland Security (DHS) resources.
The exchange went as follows:
GRAHAM: I’d like you to go because I just got back and I learned that drug cartels are using our asylum laws against us. They will collect people to sort of rush the border and once they are apprehended and most of these claims, 90 percent are rejected. And that will take resources away from securing the border and detecting drugs and protecting the nation against terrorism. This is a behavior by the cartels. Will you look into that practice of using asylum claims by drug cartels to weaken border security? [Emphasis added]
GARLAND: I had not known about this and I will certainly look into this problem. I think the drug cartels are a major menace to our society. The poison that they put into our streets is damaging communities of every kind. [Emphasis added]
Despite Garland’s unawareness, Biden’s DHS Joint Task Force West Director Manuel Padilla, Jr. detailed in a November 2019 interview with Breitbart News how the cartels control the U.S.-Mexico border with violence, extortion, and deception.
The gaming of the U.S. asylum system by the cartels is well documented by experts, federal officials, and agents on the ground. In June 2019, Breitbart News exclusively reported leaders of the Gulf Cartel help traffic migrants into the state of Texas.
The cartel operation has also been acknowledged by establishment media. In March 2019, the Washington Post reported how cartels traffic migrants into the U.S. by utilizing the asylum system. In November 2016, federal immigration officials exclusively told Breitbart News the cartels often coach migrants on how to fraudulently claim asylum in the U.S.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.