Staff Reports
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' congressional testimony on Tuesday will be closely watched. While the discussion will focus on terrorism and border security, Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall will question Mayorkas' use of a private email for government interactions. Senator Marshall is growing upset with Mayorkas's email practices and has repeatedly asked for answers.
Senator Marshall's inquiries, provided exclusively with The Washington Times, raise serious concerns regarding Mayorkas' private email and cell phone usage. He doubts Mayorkas' official DHS accounts got all official texts sent or received on these devices. The senator also doubts Mayorkas' claim that his personal email was sent "errantly." These concerns arose after Mayorkas wrote in The Washington Post that Congress caused border troubles and urged for more financing.
Mayorkas will testify before Congress on Tuesday for the first time since the fiscal year 2023 border numbers, which were the worst ever in terms of undocumented migration, fentanyl smuggling, and terrorism suspects. Customs and Border Protection encountered 3.2 million inadmissible migrants, five times more than last year. Border Patrol authorities found 169 terrorism watch list individuals, up from 11 during the Trump administration.
Senator Marshall will also investigate the processing of the 169 terrorism suspects caught and whether more crossed the border unnoticed. The senator is questioning Mayorkas' open-records compliance with the emails. Government personnel should use their assigned accounts for official business and forward private messages for openness. However, Mayorkas and other department officials were accused of using personal email accounts for government business.
Senator Marshall will question Mayorkas about the administration's immigration policies and national security in a highly political hearing. He will challenge if the administration has an accurate tally of how many dangerous terrorism-linked immigrants have entered the country due to open-border policy. This hearing between the senator and Homeland Security Secretary should be controversial.
