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July 14, 2023

Oversight and Homeland Security Democrats Release New Information Undermining Congressional Republicans’ False Claims About the Border and Baseless Impeachment Investigation

Border Patrol Chiefs Debunk Republican Claims, Call on Congress to Provide Additional Resources to Support Border Enforcement Efforts

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, released a joint Committee memo debunking Congressional Republicans’ false claims about the conditions at the southwest border in support of their baseless efforts to impeach Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  The Democratic memorandum provides key excerpts from transcripts of interviews with U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agents charged with overseeing sectors of the southwest border.

“Since Extreme MAGA Republicans predetermined months ago they would impeach Secretary Mayorkas, they have been busy trying to manufacture so-called ‘evidence’ to do so.  However, there simply is no valid basis for impeachment.  In our interviews with Border Patrol Sector Chiefs, it is clear that the Administration is enforcing border and immigration laws in an orderly, humane way, consistent with prior administrations of both parties.  Much to the consternation of the extreme MAGA Republicans who have been desperately hoping for chaos at the border, initial evidence shows that the Administration’s border and immigration policies are working as efforts to undo the damage wrought by the Trump administration continue.  Unfortunately, facts are irrelevant to Republicans and their spurious politically motivated exercise,” said Ranking Member Thompson.

“Republican Chairs of the Oversight and Homeland Security Committees have been happy to treat our Border Patrol agents like pawns in their partisan games and extras in the big impeachment movie they hope to produce in the fall starring Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  But they are obviously not very interested in what our Border Patrol agents actually have to say about the border.  As we show in our report, these agents have repeatedly related experiences and opinions completely at odds with the political claims and proposals of MAGA Republicans.  Chairs Comer and Green have concocted a flimsy argument about the conditions at the border that is unsupported by the facts carefully spelled out by the Chief Patrol Agents who have voluntarily testified before us.  Talking from both sides of their mouths on law-and-order, Republicans are quick to call for the defunding of resources that these Border Agents have repeatedly said are critical to fulfilling their mission at the border,” said Ranking Member Raskin.  “This is just bad political theater.”

The transcribed interviews demanded by Republicans have caused Chief Patrol Agents to shift their focus away from their operational duties at the southwest border for numerous hours.  Republicans have ignored the first-hand accounts from Chief Patrol Agents about the situation at the border because they do not support their false narratives.

The Committees’ memo summarized the following key facts:

  • The Chief Patrol Agents refuted Congressional Republicans’ false claims that Secretary Mayorkas has fostered a culture of lawlessness.  Rather, the Chief Patrol Agents explained, U.S. Border Patrol have never ceased its vital security operations and continues to vet all individuals it apprehends for criminal backgrounds or suspected ties to terrorist organizations.
  • The Chief Patrol Agents debunked Republican claims that there is a crisis currently at the southwest border and, in their own words, described their operations at the border as successful.
  • The Chief Patrol Agents consistently agreed that the resources provided by the Biden-Harris Administration have assisted their operations in securing the border, created a safer environment for U.S. Border Patrol agents, and improved morale among agents.
  • The Chief Patrol Agents emphasized that U.S. Border Patrol has robust and successful enforcement operations to combat cartel activity and seize the illicit narcotics cartels attempt to smuggle into the United States between points of entry, contradicting Congressional Republicans’ claims that deadly narcotics, including fentanyl, are flowing freely into the United States through the southwest border. 
  • Since the expiration of Title 42 on May 11, 2023, all Chief Patrol Agents interviewed have experienced reduced migrant encounters within their sectors.  The Chief Patrol Agents interviewed by the Committees also explained that policies implemented by the Biden-Harris Administration have been successful in reducing the number of people who attempt to cross the southwest border unlawfully.

Click here to read today’s joint staff memo.

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Press Contact

Adam Comis (Homeland Security): 202-225-9978
Nelly Decker (Oversight and Accountability): 202-226-5181