Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas refused to say on Thursday whether he lied under oath about the security of the U.S. border.
Mayorkas dodged the questions from Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah one day after the Senate dismissed two articles of impeachment against the Biden administration official. Romney questioned Mayorkas about whether he told the truth in previous hearings when asked about the border.
“The [House of Representatives] said that you lied when you said to the House in a hearing that the border was secure,” Romney said. “Why did you say the border was secure? Was it a lie?”
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“Senator Romey, allow me to assure you that I have honored the oath of office that I have taken more than five times in my 22-plus years of federal service,” Mayorkas responded.
Mayorkas has claimed that the border is secure on multiple occasions. Border Patrol faced 2.2 million encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2022 and 2 million in fiscal year 2023, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported.
“Let me go back to the question, that’s as accurate as it is irrelevant, which is my question you said the border was secure,” Romney asked. “What did you mean when you said the border was secure? Is that not a lie?”
“You’ve asked me now if that is a lie and I have assured you that I have honored the oath of office,” Mayorkas responded.
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Romney, who voted against dismissing the impeachment charges against Mayorkas, pressed the Cabinet secretary further on his previous responses.
“In what way was it not a lie, then?” Romney asked.
“With the resources and authorities that we have, it is as secure as it can be,” Mayorkas said.
First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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