“Well, to be clear, if someone is watching it from another country, they are thinking of coming. Is your message?” Bass asked. “Do not come,” replied the secretary. Mayorkas said that if 18,000 breaking records were met daily at the US-Mexico border – a possible scenario presented by DHS – it would put “pressure on the system”. DHS prepares for many scenarios when the Trump-era pandemic restriction, known as Title 42, is lifted at the US-Mexico border. The authority, invoked at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, allows border officials to evacuate migrants at the US-Mexico border due to the public health crisis. The secretary claimed that the Biden government was actively preparing for the removal of this power. “What we are doing is preparing and planning, and we have been doing it for months,” he said on Sunday. “It is our responsibility to be prepared for different scenarios and that is what we are doing.” Asked about Democratic lawmakers who say the ministry is not prepared for a wave of immigrants at the border, Mallorca said: “I respectfully disagree.” He noted that preparations were under way and cited a 20-page memo that was released last week detailing the plans.
“We know where they are”
Mayorkas also confirmed on Sunday that 42 people in the terrorist control database had met at the US-Mexico border, telling Fox that the government had “manipulated”. Ohio State Representative Jim Jordan, a leading Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, spoke to Mayorkas last week about people meeting at the southern border who were on the terrorist watch list, accusing the secretary of not knowing. Mallorca gave more information during his interview with Fox, saying that he did not want to “speak” in response to Jordan’s question. “We know where these 42 people are in the TSDB, the terrorist control database,” he said. “Let me share with you what is happening: They can be removed, they can be detained for criminal prosecution, they can cooperate in a law enforcement investigation and I do not intend to provide this data publicly, if it is law enforcement – “But we know where these 42 are and I did not want to talk about the mood of each of them.” Asked if Americans should be concerned, Mayorkas said: “We have the grip,” referring to the entire US intelligence and intelligence operation, including the FBI. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly transcribed an excerpt from Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mallorca. CNN’s Donald Judd and Devan Cole contributed to this report.
