The following is an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday, July 3rd. It is a record of. , 2022, about "Face the Nation".
Margaret Brennan: Good morning. Welcome to Face the Nation. Thank you for participating in this holiday weekend. We start today with immigrants and the victory of the Biden administration in the Supreme Court last week. That of President Trump's demise remains in Mexican policy. To discuss further, we would like to welcome Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcus to this broadcast. Good morning, secretary, congratulations on Independence Day.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas: Good morning. Good morning, Margaret. Thank you very much.
Margaret Brennan: So, "staying in Mexico" is disappearing. Would you like to exit this policy immediately? And what happens to those individuals in the camp waiting across the border?
SEC. MAYORKAS: Margaret is very pleased with the Supreme Court's ruling in support of the end of the "Stay in Mexico" program implemented by the previous administration. From the beginning, I said it had its own flaws and unreasonable human costs. Therefore, in the light of the Supreme Court's favorable ruling, we have now waited for the ruling to reach the district court, which has issued an injunction that prevents us from ending "staying in Mexico." Must be. Therefore, it will take several weeks for the district court to lift the injunction. Until then, the district court has obliged us to continue to implement the programs that remain in Mexico, and we will do so in accordance with the law.
Margaret Brennan: So those people still have to wait at the camp on the Mexican side of the border, but what happens to them next?
SEC. MAYORKAS: So what happens to them-now they have to stay in Mexico, and then we actually continue their immigration law enforcement proceedings. Keep in mind that when people encounter at the border, they are not just released to the United States. They are put into immigration procedures, which is what happens to these people. Their procedure continues in the immigration court, where they pursue asylum claims. And if those claims fail, they will be quickly removed from the United States.
Margaret Brennan: So Reuters reports that there are now thousands of people leaving on Friday and moving towards the US border. What do you need now Do you need more personnel for customs and border control? Do you need more equipment to tackle these smugglers who are exploiting these people?
SEC. Mallorcus: Margaret, we are working very closely with our South partners, and Mexico frequently disbands individual caravans trying to make dangerous journeys to reach our borders, Just meet the enforcement of our law. We have reiterated that we continue to warn people not to make dangerous journeys. In San Antonio, Texas, I saw one of the tragic consequences of that dangerous journey, the tragic consequences. Many people cannot even get into the hands of exploitative smugglers. And, as with our legal liability, we continue to enforce immigration law. Therefore, these migrants receive incorrect information from smugglers. They put their lives, saving lives in the hands of these exploitative organizations, criminal organizations that don't care about their lives and just try to make a profit.
Margaret Brennan: But what you're saying right now is that what you're saying doesn't come, but I haven't heard those words. People are moving now. Therefore, efforts to prevent the root cause do not prevent them. This horrific trafficking is the worst smuggling tragedy in US history this week and hasn't stopped people because it was found dead on its trailer truck. Do you expect this to be even more important from here, as it will exceed the record surge of immigrants?
SEC. MAYORKAS: No, I am-I don't expect it at all. And, in fact, following the tragedy of San Antonio and an investigation by the Department of Land Security, we investigated what happened in the indictments of four individuals who had been charged with the heinous crime so far, and the U.S. law firm. It is a major federal agency that works with. .. We are working with our Southern partners as this is a regional issue that needs to be addressed. I spoke last week –
Margaret Brennan: But they passed the United States-US border authorities –
SEC. MAYORKAS: – Oh, so we take a multi-layered approach. Margaret. Of course, we use sophisticated non-intrusive technology to inspect at the port of entry. After that, there is a checkpoint 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Laredo checkpoint in question. Every day, 10 to 14,000 vehicles pass the checkpoint. Only this year –
Margaret Brennan: So how did this smuggler cross these people? 53 people have died.
SEC. MAYORKAS: These are very sophisticated cross-border criminal organizations. They have evolved over the last 30 years. In the 90's I prosecuted them, and they were much more rudimentary. Today, they are highly sophisticated and highly organized cross-border criminal enterprises using technology. It's also much more sophisticated with the use of technology and personnel 24 hours a day. As you know, this year alone, we saved more than 10,000 individuals and conducted more than 400 vehicle inspections. So trucks can go through sophisticated means. Sometimes yes. But I must say, we have banned more drugs at the point of entry than ever before. We have rescued more immigrants. We are actually witnessing and addressing regional and hemispherical challenges accordingly.
Margaret Brennan: Secretary, I would like to ask you at home about what we have seen in the last 24 hours. This is coming and going between state and federal law enforcement agencies regarding the security of Supreme Court judges and protests outside their homes. Is the threat beyond picketing? Is it concrete and reliable?
SEC. MAYORKAS: So over the past few months, we've seen a growing environment of threats for various volatile issues that inspire people in different aspects of each issue. We at the Department of Homeland Security are involved when there is a connection between opposition to a particular view, an ideology of hatred, false stories and violence. The connectivity to violence when we are involved, and the Supreme Court's decision on the reversal and overthrow of the Roe v. Wade case really heightened the threat environment, the Supreme Court and justice. We at the Department of Homeland Security have staffed for that purpose. If we do not tolerate violence, do not respect the freedom of people to protest peacefully, and instead violate the laws of our country and the states within it, law enforcement agencies will respond to the act of violence. ..
Margaret Brennan: Before we move on, I would like to ask you about a group of white supremacists called Patriot Fronts who marched through the city this weekend in Boston. They recently planned an event. It's a riot in Idaho. This far-right group, Proud Boys, is also confusing the event in California. How worried are you now about these militias?
SEC. MAYORKAS: Margaret, I said, and this was repeated by the FBI Director, domestic violent extremism is one of the greatest terrorism-related threats we face in our homeland today. Individuals have spurred hatred ideologies, false stories, personal dissatisfaction, and acts of violence. It is that violence that we are responding to and, of course, trying to prevent. We are in an environment of increasing threat –
Margaret Brennan: Financing and Recruitment-Funding and Recruitment and Membership should be considered prosecutable. That is, you just put it in the context of terrorism. They are not designated as a terrorist group. How should Americans think of them?
SEC. MAYORKAS: No, it's actually a violent act, a threat that harms individuals involving law enforcement agencies. Of course, we actively protect the individual's right to express ourselves peacefully, the First Amendment's right. This is what we protect, but we do not tolerate violence or the threat of violence.
Margaret Brennan: Thank you, Secretary, for today.
SEC. MAYORKAS: Thank you, Margaret.
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