Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited the southern border in the Tucson sector on Wednesday after recent Biden administration policy changes.
The Tucson sector is one of the country’s busiest with 406,441 encounters this fiscal year so far. President Joe Biden ordered a cap on migrants coming in earlier this month based on weekly averages. Since the action roughly three years after the crisis began to take off, Mayorkas and the federal government are saying the new stricter policies are working.
“The President’s actions are working because of their tough response to illegal crossings and because they build on our sustained efforts to exercise our full authorities to enforce the law and impose consequences for illegal entry,” Mayorkas said in his remarks. “We are attacking the smuggling organizations that prey on the vulnerable even as the smugglers try to undermine our actions. We are also working with partner nations in the region and building lawful pathways for people to seek humanitarian relief in a safe and orderly way.”
