Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas hasn't answered Republicans' questions about plans to stop the use of Title 42 at the border except to say there is a plan for other control measures that involves having hired more Border Patrol agents, Rep. Brian Babin said on Newsmax Monday.
And, the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America," he's not buying Mayorkas' claims that bringing in more agents and allowing pay raises will boost the agency's morale.
"We know that's not true, because we, just a day before, talked to the chief of the Border Patrol, Brandon Judd, and he told us people are quitting, they're resigning, they're retiring," Babin said. "Their morale is short at the border ... it's just tough to get people to recruit and get new agents because of the morale and because of what they're being asked to do because this administration has kicked them to the curb so many times."
Mayorkas last week touted additional hirings and a pay raise in a memo to Border Patrol agents, while also praising the work they do, reports Fox News Digital. He also said the pay raise and funding for an additional 300 Border Patrol agents are included in President Joe Biden's 2023 budget, as is "$63.2 million for the Border Enforcement Coordination Network and $36.7 million for the Border Patrol’s Common Operating Picture."
Meanwhile, immigrants are already pouring over the border, said Babin, noting that in one day alone, 8,000 people entered the United States illegally.
He said he's concerned that after Title 42 is lifted in May, the number of migrants entering the country illegally will grow even higher.
Babin added that it doesn't make sense to lift the restriction, which was enacted during former President Donald Trump's administration to stem immigration over concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
"Here we are continuing to be asked to mask up," he said. "We have vaccine mandates in many states and cities across the country…but then they want to dispense with Title 42, the only vehicle, the only tool we have left from the Trump toolbox."
But Democrats, he said, "can't have it both ways," by keeping some COVID-19 measures in place while lifting the border policy.
"We either continue to have a pandemic or we don't," said Babin. "If they're going to do away with Title 42 then we should not have to mask up and have vaccine mandates."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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