Lankford Gets Mayorkas on the Record that Policy Changes Are Needed from Congress to Address Broken Asylum System

CLICK HERE to watch Lankford’s Q&A on YouTube.

CLICK HERE to watch Lankford’s Q&A on Rumble.

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today participated in the annual “Threats to the Homeland” hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Witnesses at today’s hearing were Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCC) Director Christine Abizaid.

Lankford’s questions focused on the broken asylum process, the Administration’s plan—or lack thereof—to dissuade people from coming to our border rather than processing them into the country more quickly, and the Administration’s request for additional funding for detention beds in their supplemental request to Congress.

Lankford reiterated to Mayorkas that at a hearing in April when he asked Mayorkas if our immigration system is broken and being abused, Mayorkas responded, “Senator, yes, the asylum system is broken, and our entire immigration system is broken. There is unanimity about that, and it is our continuing hope that Congress will reform a broken system…”

As Senate Democrats continue to say that Homeland Security just needs “more money” to solve the wide open border, Lankford continued to affirm today more money will not solve our broken border security and immigration system and that instead we need real policy changes. Mayorkas proceeded to outline to Lankford his specific policy recommendations for Congress.

Excerpt

Lankford: What are the key changes that need to happen in the law—and I’m going to go through quite a few issues here—hit the high points. What are the things that need to be able to change?

Mayorkas: Senator, we need a functioning system that marries labor supply with labor demand. We need a functioning system in the asylum arena so that our core value of providing humanitarian relief to those in need who qualify is actually executed with efficiency and with speed and the ability to remove individuals who do not qualify is similarly executed with efficiency and speed…

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