‘Great Answer, But…’: Top Republican Almost Impressed With Mayorkas’s Plan For Large-Scale Deportations

Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) grilled Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday and was almost impressed with his answer on how the Biden administration plans to deal with mass deportations.

“What’s your plan to remove the more than 1.3 million migrants who no longer have a legal basis to remain in this country? How long will it take you to effectuate every single removal order?” Joyce asked Mayorkas.

“Mr. Chairman, this administration in the last 11 months has removed or returned more than 630,000 people, more than in any fiscal year since 2013. We take our enforcement responsibilities very seriously, and we have only increased the enforcement efforts over past efforts.” Mayorkas replied, adding:

I will respectfully submit to you, Mr. Chairman, as I articulated in my opening statement that the bipartisan bill that group of senators worked on, I had the privilege of being seated with them, would have delivered a consequence regime like no other. It would have been the first time since 1996 that our broken system would have delivered the much needed fixes that we need to fully enforce the law and to deliver a consequence regime that will indeed deter illegal migration.

“That’s a great answer,” Joyce replied, adding, “But what are you going to do about the people who are still here? Do you have a plan in place to get remove those people on an orderly basis?”

“We certainly do, and we continue to execute on that plan. It is through that effort that we were able to remove or return 630,000 people over the past 11 months. We will continue to accelerate those efforts with the resources we have. Our proposed budget seeks additional resources, not as many as the bipartisan legislation would have provided to us,” Mayorkas added.

“But you don’t have that legislation, sir,” noted Joyce, referring to the bipartisan legislation that was killed by former President Donald Trump pressuring his allies in Congress not to give President Joe Biden a “win” ahead of the 2024 election. The House recently impeached Mayorkas and is expected to soon advance the impeachment to the U.S. Senate, where it is likely dead on arrival.

Watch the clip above via C-SPN.