Secretary of the DHS Alejandro Mayorkas frames a new plan for an immigration process at the border.
On Monday afternoon, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas addressed the press in the Brady Press Briefing Room to detail his department’s immigration process rebuilding plan. He emphasized the urgency of reuniting families separated at the border as well as denounced the damage the Trump administration has done to the system.
Mayorkas stressed DHS’s dedication to replace the “cruelty of the previous administration’s immigration process.” He mentioned that there is a “prioritization matrix” in place, with the first steps focusing on the reunification of families separated at the border.
“It is hard and will take time. Entire systems are not rebuilt in a day, or within weeks,” said Mayorkas.
With today being the 18th anniversary of the DHS’s inception, Mayorkas stressed the foundation the department was built upon: a responsibility to ensure public safety, “including those who arrive at the border.”
DHS is working closely with the Mexican government to enforce a virtual platform that enables individuals to process their cases and then be transported to a port of entry. In terms of unaccompanied children who attempt to cross the border, Mayorkas discussed the “moral imperative” of addressing the needs of the children and beginning the process, through Human and Health Services and a brief stay with a sponsor family, to reunify them with their families.
Since the systems at the border are essentially being rebuilt “from scratch,” Mayorkas advised those looking to cross to hold off until they can be provided a safe and orderly process.
“We will rebuild our nation’s asylum process,” concluded Mayorkas.