Staff Reports
In a desperate attempt to address the border crisis that has plagued his tenure, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is implementing yet another immigration policy reset. This time, he is deploying more troops to the border and expediting the deportation of families, while also granting amnesty to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants and offering more generous work permits to other illegal immigrants already in the country.
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These actions come as Border Patrol agents are reportedly arresting nearly 7,000 migrants a day in September, with images of thousands of migrants camping out under a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, dominating the news. The chaos in Eagle Pass prompted Homeland Security to shut down lanes at the official border crossing and redirect personnel to address the overwhelming number of squatting migrants.
While Mayorkas is attempting to deter new arrivals with stricter deportation policies, he is simultaneously offering incentives to those already in the United States. He expanded the grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to nearly 500,000 more Venezuelan migrants, most of whom arrived during President Biden’s watch. Additionally, Mayorkas announced expanded work permits for unauthorized migrants already in the country, aiming to expedite their entry into the labor force. These work permits, lasting up to five years, provide migrants with extended status that will extend beyond the 2024 presidential election.
This marks Mayorkas’s third major update to immigration policy this year, each one promising to curtail the surge of migrants and failing to deliver. Rob Law, director of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at the America First Policy Institute, argues that the administration’s strategy lacks deterrence and accountability for unlawful entry, declaring it an “abject failure.”
Fox News reported that the Border Patrol caught 10,000 migrants in a single day, while CBS News revealed that the daily average for September was approximately 6,900. These numbers are close to the record daily average of 7,200 in December, just prior to Mayorkas’s previous policy changes. Despite the positive impact of Mayorkas’s policies initially, the numbers have consistently surged upward after a brief decline.
In his latest strategy, Mayorkas plans to increase CBP’s capacity to hold migrants at the border and expand the Family Expedited Removal Management program to deport families who cross the border within 30 days. He has also requested 800 active-duty troops from the Defense Department to support and handle logistics, allowing CBP agents and officers to return to the field.
On the other hand, Mayorkas has rewarded Venezuelans with TPS status, granting them an 18-month stay and work permits. This move has been met with disagreement from immigrant rights advocates, who criticize the stricter elements of Mayorkas’s plan but celebrate the expanded work permits and deportation amnesty for Venezuelans. Marisa Limon Garza, executive director of Las Immigrant Advocacy Center, urges the Biden administration to reconsider the harmful measures and emphasizes the stability that work permits and expanded TPS can bring to newly arrived migrants.
However, Rob Law argues that the TPS grant is “laundering” the illegal immigrants that the Biden administration previously welcomed using “parole” powers. He also questions the validity of expanding work permits for five years, claiming that it undermines the enforcement apparatus and creates a foundation for preventing deportations after the Biden administration leaves office in 2025.
Secretary Mayorkas’s desperate attempts to secure the border are a clear admission of the failure of the Biden administration’s approach. Despite dismantling effective border policies implemented by the Trump administration, the Biden team has struggled to develop its own successful plans to address the crisis. As the border crisis continues to escalate, it becomes increasingly evident that Mayorkas’s latest reset will fall short, just like his previous attempts.
