Mayorkas: US has operational control of border using alternative definition

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is standing by his congressional testimony that he believes the United States has operational control of the southern border. Congress has received conflicting information on the subject from career officials and political appointees in the Biden administration. 

Under the bipartisan Secure Fence Act of 2006, ‘‘operational control’’ means the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics and other contraband.

“By that definition, no administration has ever had operational control,” Secretary Mayorkas explained. “So the way I define it is maximizing the resources that we have to deliver the most effective results and we are indeed doing that. We have for the first time since 2011 increased the number of border patrol agents.”

The Border Patrol encountered 2.3 million immigrants at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, 98 of which were on the terrorist watch list.

During a hearing at the border in mid-March, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told the House Homeland Security Committee that the United States does not have operational control of the entire border. He said five of the nine Border Patrol sectors are straining the system.

“Five of those southwest border sectors are experiencing a higher level of flow than we have seen previously and that creates some unique challenges for us,” Ortiz said. “So I have to move resources into those five southwest border sectors and that forces me to make some adjustments across the entire 2,000 miles of the southwest border.”

There is bipartisan concern about drug trafficking at the border. Republicans are focused on cartels and want to officially designate them as foreign terrorist organizations.

“Anybody believes that we’re in control of the border is in denial. We’ve lost control of our border. The number of people coming across our border on the terrorist watch list is going up like a rocket,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.

Democrats are focused on fentanyl being smuggled in cars and trucks coming across official ports of entry.

“That is where more than 90% of the fentanyl is transported — through passenger vehicles, through trucks by pedestrians that are lawfully coming into the United States through the ports of entry. We are surging resources to the ports of entry to battle that,” Mayorkas said. 

DHS is requesting hundreds of millions of dollars from Congress for more inspection technology to catch smugglers at ports of entry, they also want to implement artificial intelligence and bring in more personnel.