Bench Memos

Immigration

An Open, Bleeding Wound . . .

DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before a Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., April 10, 2024. (Michael A. McCoy/Reuters)

. . . is how Senator John Kennedy (R., La.) described the porous southern border during yesterday’s hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Kennedy asked DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas whether it’s true that illegal immigrants are counted for purposes of congressional district reapportionment and in allocating electoral votes. Initially, Mayorkas responded that he didn’t understand the question but then huffed that the question was “preposterous” and “disrespectful.” He declined to answer Kennedy’s question.

Anywhere from 8 to 10 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. during the Biden administration. More than 1.2 million illegal aliens have removal orders yet have not been deported. Although Mayorkas claims the Biden administration has deported 630,000 illegal aliens, Representative John Rutherford (R., Fla.) states that the actual number is a mere 142,580.

The deltas in the foregoing figures alone tell you almost everything you need to know about the state of border enforcement today.

Peter Kirsanow — Peter N. Kirsanow is an attorney and a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
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