RIGHT SPEAK: Eight of the Biggest Failures of Mayorkas’ Leadership of DHS

Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s tenure as the agency lead has been marred by a series of policy missteps and blunders that contributed to a historic migrant border crisis impacting communities across the country.

During his tenure, the Secretary’s policy missteps led to record profits for drug and human trafficking organizations, record arrests of criminal migrants and gang members, and sadly, contributed to record line of duty deaths for Border Patrol agents. Lax enforcement strategies led to a surge in migrant deaths and the record-breaking influx of unaccompanied migrant children.

Mayorkas’ policies for Immigration and Customs (ICE), the DHS agency charged with interior enforcement of immigration laws has all but neutered ICE agents’ ability to arrest migrants solely based on their illegal presence within the United States.

A recent addition to the list includes perhaps the most significant lapse in Secret Service protection protocols in the agency’s history.

The latest gaffe was revealed on Wednesday when two men posing as DHS Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) employees were arrested for participating in a scheme to perhaps infiltrate the United States Secret Service — an agency that also falls under the Mayorkas’ DHS umbrella.

According to an affidavit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the men, Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali, managed to infiltrate the tight circle of four Secret Service agents over a lengthy time period. A witness reports seeing one of the men in the area as early as 2020. Beginning in February 2021, according to the affidavit, Secret Service agents began accepting gifts and gratuities from the pair. The agents, one of whom is currently assigned to the protection detail for First Lady Jill Biden, accepted free apartments, smartphones, law enforcement surveillance technology and equipment, and other favors from the duo.

In the latest case development, Secret Service agents assigned to the president and vice president’s security detail may be involved as well according to a report in the New York Post.

Investigators have yet to reveal whether the pair acted alone or as part of a foreign government-sponsored intelligence-gathering operation. The passport of Haider Ali showed recent visits to Pakistan and Iran. As their scheme unfolded, ultimately Taherzadeh and Ali were able to compromise the security team for the most guarded officials in the United States.

Unlike Mayorkas’ swift condemnation of Border Patrol agents on horseback wrongly accused of whipping migrants during the Haitian migrant crisis, the secretary remained silent on the latest incident under his watch. He has thus far not condemned the unethical acts of the Secret Service agent, reportedly acknowledged by them in the affidavit, nor has he promised a quick investigation and consequences for those involved in perhaps endangering the first lady, the vice president, or the president.

Mayorkas’ series of blunders and missteps are quickly piling up and include noteworthy record-breaking statistics that seem to run contrary to the responsibilities bestowed upon him as the Secretary of Homeland Security. Those responsibilities include overseeing efforts to counter terrorism and enhance security, secure and manage our borders while facilitating trade and travel, enforcing and administering our immigration laws, safeguarding and securing cyberspace, building resilience to disasters, and providing essential support for national and economic security – in coordination with federal, state, local, international and private sector partners.

1: MIGRANT CROSSINGS

Deliberate policy decisions made by Mayorkas since his confirmation in February of 2021 led to the highest migrant apprehension totals along the southwest border in more than 20 years. In 2021, more than 1.9 million migrants were apprehended entering the country illegally. More than 500,000 migrants managed to elude apprehension during the same timeframe.

Among the migrants apprehended during the year was a 21-year old Saudi Arabian national suspected of being a potential terrorist, according to DHS. Shortly after an announcement of the arrest appeared on social media, all evidence of the announcement was scrubbed by the agency within days. Although most apprehensions involve migrants entering the United States for economic purposes, the agency cannot attest to the identity or intentions of the 500,000 migrants who were not intercepted by DHS during the year. Nor will the agency release details of arrests involving any migrants found to be on the terrorism watch list.

2: CARTEL PROFITS

With the unprecedented increase in migrant crossings, human traffickers, many associated with Mexican cartels who also control the drug smuggling industry likely made record profits under Mayorkas’ watch. Based on the agency’s internal documents, cartels engaged in human trafficking have netted nearly $1 billion in smuggling fees per month in 2021.

In November, according to agency records, 42,000 pounds of methamphetamine were seized by Customs and Border Protection agencies eclipsing any previous one-month total in DHS history. Other narcotics, such as fentanyl have been seized at record levels in cities across the country prompting an outcry from ten Republican governors who met in Texas in October to discuss the border crisis.