The House Oversight Committee has officially launched its investigation into the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the committee, issued a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), requesting documents and internal DHS communications “to understand DHS’s policies, the costs of the emergency measures needed to respond to the worsening crisis, and the national security risks created by these policies.”
All data and documents regarding migrant release by the DHS, the ending of the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and how non-governmental organizations have played a factor in illegal crossings are also being requested to be looked over by the committee.
In the same letter, Comer also criticized Biden for waiting until Republicans had gained control of the House in order to visit the southern border. In addition, he accused the Biden administration of continually “lying to the American people.”
House Republicans have highlighted the record number of border crossings recently and will probe the Department of Homeland Security’s policies and operation on the border.
Comer released a statement saying that they plan on holding the Biden Administration accountable for their actions and the effect that they are having on towns nearby.
“President Biden’s radical open borders agenda has ignited the worst border crisis in American history. The Biden Administration’s deliberate actions are fueling human smuggling, stimulating drug cartel operations, enabling deadly drugs such as fentanyl to flow into American communities, and encouraging illegal immigrants to flout U.S. immigration laws,” Comer said in the statement.
“Republicans will hold the Biden Administration accountable for this ongoing humanitarian, national security, and public health crisis that has turned every town into a border town.”
Comer sent letters Thursday morning inviting Border Patrol Sector Chiefs Jason Owens, Gregory Bovino, Gloria Chavez, and Patricia McGurk-Daniel to come and testify in a hearing on the week of February 6.
Record numbers of migrants have been crossing the border since Joe Biden became president, with the number only increasing in the recent months as Title 42 was coming to an end.
