Alejandro Mayorkas’ tenure as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary has been a disaster, and recently released emails have demonstrated the depths of his betrayal of Border Patrol agents.
Last year, a tsunami of phony outrage was unleashed after photos surfaced online purportedly showing Border Patrol agents “whipping” Haitian migrants illegally crossing the U.S-Mexico border. Mayorkas gleefully joined the outrage mob. Now it turns out the secretary knew the story was a hoax, but threw his agents under the bus anyway for political points.
The emails show that a DHS official sent Mayorkas an email highlighting quotes from the photographer who took the photos in question clarifying that no whipping was involved. Just hours later, Mayorkas poured gasoline on the fire in a press conference demonizing the agents.
“Our nation saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are. We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing battle against systemic racism,” Mayorkas said.
The libel circulated throughout the administration, all the way up to Joe Biden, who vowed to make the agents “pay” for their alleged wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Biden followed through on the politically-motivated threat. Despite doing absolutely nothing wrong, the agents were removed from the field, put on desk duty, and subjected to an intense, year-long investigation. Mayorkas also used the incident to ban agents from using horses at the border.
Despite being a hoax, the mass hysteria engineered around the incident handed the anti-borders movement a PR victory. It also provided a roadmap for achieving their future goals: Appeal to conservatives’ principles of decency and whip up outrage to further open the border. Of course, those radical groups have some help from above — a fellow traveler dictating immigration policy from the Oval Office.
Alejandro Mayorkas is a hardcore, anti-borders ideologue. He sacrificed these patriotic Border Patrol agents because he personally despises their work. As his statement hinted shortly after the incident, he believes border security is inherently racist. Thus, by fighting to open up America’s borders, he is fighting “systemic racism.”
Mayorkas knew exactly what he was doing by smearing these agents — and not out of humanitarian concerns. He seized on Americans’ compassion to weaken America’s borders. Mayorkas understood that Americans would be outraged at Border Patrol’s supposed mistreatment of these migrants, allowing him to denigrate his critics as selfish and cruel. Mayorkas’ strategy is especially cynical considering the record number of migrant deaths on his watch. By weakening the Border Patrol and promising amnesty and government benefits to all who come, the secretary is allowing for violent victimization of migrants flooding into the U.S.
While Mayorkas will never publicly admit it, it’s clear he shares the same worldview as borderless America advocates who have called to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and compared Border Patrol agents to Nazis. A person with such a deranged worldview belongs nowhere near a position of power.
While Mayorkas claims to respect Border Patrol, these latest emails are yet another example of how he deliberately and consistently undermines them. Border Patrol agents know this better than anyone, which is why they confronted him about it during a heated closed-door meeting earlier this year.
“You can turn your back on me, but I’ll never turn my back on you,” Mayorkas told the agents during that meeting.
Mayorkas’ contention was laughable at the time, and has been exposed as a complete farce since. If the secretary truly had the agents’ backs, he would not have joined in on a brazen, politically-motivated smear campaign against them.
This incident will likely further deflate morale amongst border patrol agents, creating a major risk to our country’s national security. If Mayorkas actually respected the agents he claims to revere, he would immediately resign. Since he won’t, all options for accountability must be on the table, including a potential impeachment. Some lawmakers in Congress have hinted at as a possibility, and it should be a priority should the GOP retake Congress.
This incident exemplifies how Alejandro Mayorkas is the DHS’ a one-man wrecking ball. A man who believes that border security is inherently racist is now in charge of securing a border that is under siege. Mayorkas must be held accountable, or American sovereignty will become a thing of the past.
William J. Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.
