FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is urging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to supply extra info, and take further motion, to fight threats towards Border Patrol brokers — which he attributed to “emboldened” cartels on the southern border.
“As you are no doubt aware, your primary mission as Secretary is to secure the United States from threats, a task that can only be accomplished through the efforts of dedicated officers and agents who put their safety at risk on a daily basis,” Cruz stated in a letter to Mayorkas. “While there are numerous threats to our national security, few compare to the danger posed by our open southern border.”
Cruz famous House testimony from the DHS chief in July wherein he stated that brokers on the border “perform bravely despite public attacks on their character and service; despite unfair and inadequate pay; and despite, as frontline agents repeatedly tell me, threats made against them and their families.”
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A bunch of migrants who’ve crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, hearken to directions given by a Border Patrol Agent on Aug. 25, 2023. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP through Getty Images)
Cruz then cited experiences of textual content messages in El Paso, Texas, that solicited private info — together with household info — of Border Patrol brokers, together with a pledge to torture them and put up it on-line.
Fox has not confirmed these experiences, however Customs and Border Protection (CBP) instructed Fox News Digital that it “takes all threats, including those directed towards agents and their families, very seriously.”
“While counter-measures are law enforcement sensitive, we deploy necessary precautions accordingly,” the assertion stated.
Cruz hyperlinks the threats to the insurance policies of the Biden administration, claiming that the cartels “are emboldened by your failure of leadership at the border, and not without good reason.” He cited elevated cartel income, a rise of fentanyl to the border and extra releases of migrants into the inside — in addition to file numbers of “gotaways.”
“And now, as this recent safety alert indicates, the violence against law enforcement and public officials that has long plagued Mexico now appears to be gaining a foothold in the United States,” he stated.
Cruz is looking for an inventory of all arrests DHS has made to threats towards brokers for FY 2022 and FY 2023, in addition to referrals associated to these threats it has made to different companies. He additionally requested about what sources can be found to brokers who’re believed to have been focused by such threats, and the way DHS intends to collaborate with different companies, in addition to the way it intends to regulate its method to frame safety in gentle of the risk from cartels.
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“You led the Department of Homeland Security for the past thirty-two months, and this crisis and all that flows from it is your responsibility,” he added. “If you cannot protect the Agents tasked with safeguarding the American people, you should resign.”
DHS has beforehand stated it has taken “significant strides to support our workforce” and had prioritized offering sources and help.
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Mayorkas, in his July remarks, stated that Border Patrol brokers have been his “top priority” since taking workplace.
“We have expanded Departmental efforts to solicit and incorporate feedback from personnel across all components and all levels, worked to ensure that every employee works in a high-quality facility, made new resources available across the Department for employee mental health and well-being, and… facilitated long-overdue pay fairness for TSA personnel,” he stated.
Mayorkas additionally renewed calls by the Biden administration for Congress to move legal guidelines to overtake a “broken immigration system” and supply further funding to disrupt cartels and safe the border. Most lately, the administration introduced it’s looking for an additional $14 billion from Congress.
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“Our Department and this Congress need to work together as partners to address the threats and challenges America faces,” he stated.
Cruz’s letter comes as Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens introduced that brokers have been encountering dozens of unlawful immigrants with “serious criminal histories” on the southern border.
