Mayorkas Won’t Say Border’s a Crisis, Says Weather Driving Migration

During an interview with Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday broadcast on Tuesday’s edition of CNN International’s “Amanpour,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refused to say the border is a crisis, argued that there are many issues facing the agency, such as the “extreme weather events” that he said are “triggering migration,” and stated that other nations have migration issues. Mayorkas cited Chile deploying its military to the border as an example of this.

Mayorkas said that the threats facing the agency, which have grown in “diversity and complexity and footprint as well. You know, I speak often about the fact that homeland security is now converged with national security. We’re in an interconnected world. In the cyber realm, in cyberspace, borders are irrelevant. Foreign nation-states attack us through disinformation, by way of ransomware, and other means irrespective of borders. The challenge of extreme weather events, the gravity and frequency, not just here in the United States, but internationally and their consequences of triggering migration, the greatest level of migration that we’ve had in the hemisphere in decades and decades.”

In another part of the interview, host Christiane Amanpour asked, “Obviously, the other big issue is your border. Many of your opponents call it a border crisis. Do you consider it a crisis in the Biden administration?”

Mayorkas responded, “Christiane, the issues that we have are extraordinarily diverse. I spoke about extreme weather events. I spoke about cybersecurity. You and I have now exchanged about the threat of adverse nation-states that seek to infringe on our and other countries’ sovereignty. 20 years ago, when our department was created, it was the foreign terrorists. We now have the challenge of domestic violent extremists. When we speak about the border, we have to put it in context that this is not a challenge — and it is indeed a challenge — not a challenge exclusive to the United States. Chile just deployed its military to its border. Colombia has 2.5 million Venezuelans within its borders. Costa Rica’s population is increasingly Nicaraguan. We are seeing a movement of people throughout the hemisphere and, quite frankly, throughout the world, that is historic. It is, for us, no question about it, a very serious challenge and a challenge that we are addressing with policies that stay true to our value as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett