国土安全部部长亚历杭德罗·马约尔卡斯周日拒绝了共和党领导人要求他下台的呼吁-或者冒着被弹劾的风险-并强调管理“困扰”西半球的移民挑战的重要性。
在接受美国广播公司“本周”节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯的采访时，马约卡斯说他没有辞职的计划。
斯特凡诺普洛斯引用了众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡11月份的警告:“如果部长马约卡斯不辞职，众议院共和党人将进行调查。每一个命令、每一次行动、每一次失败都将决定我们是否可以开始弹劾质询。”
“我有很多工作要做，”马约尔卡斯告诉斯特凡诺普洛斯。“我很自豪能与国土安全部的25万名非常敬业和有才华的人一起工作，我将继续做我的工作。”
马约尔卡斯补充说，虽然他无意下台，但他已经准备好接受众议院共和党承诺的调查，共和党议员尖锐的批评拜登政府。
俄亥俄州共和党众议员吉姆·乔丹去年指责马约尔卡斯未能“通过一切必要手段执行移民法和确保边境安全。”
然而，在“本周”节目中，马约尔卡斯表示，还有更大的力量在起作用，例如“国会未能修复的破碎的移民系统”和“二战以来最大的人口流离失所”
随着国务卿准备加入拜登作为总统对南部边境的首次访问，那里的当局继续采取全面行动，以应对每月数万名移民的到来。
“这不是美国独有的现象，”马约尔卡斯告诉斯特凡诺普洛斯。"它正困扰着西半球，一个区域性的挑战需要一个区域性的解决方案."
上周，拜登政府宣布，将与墨西哥政府合作，预计每月向墨西哥输送多达3万名未经授权的古巴、海地、尼加拉瓜和委内瑞拉移民。
斯特凡诺普洛斯就一些民主党人的批评向马约尔卡斯施压，称此举类似于前总统唐纳德·特朗普对该问题的态度。新泽西州参议员鲍勃·梅嫩德斯称之为“特朗普政府种族主义移民议程的灾难性和不人道的遗迹”
马约尔卡斯指出，国会在移民和其他因素上的不作为促使人们离开自己的国家前往美国。
“我们希望根据我们的法律有资格获得救济的个人以安全有序的方式来到美国，”马约尔卡斯说。“这就是为什么我们正在建设合法的通道，这样人们就不必将他们的生命和一生的积蓄交到残忍的走私者手中。”
马约尔卡斯走遍了中美洲和南美洲，试图让其他国家政府参与解决令各级政府紧张的大规模洲际移民问题。他说，目前有超过240万委内瑞拉人在哥伦比亚，包括哥斯达黎加和厄瓜多尔在内的其他拉美国家继续面临“前所未有的移民挑战”。
在回答政府是否可以结束有争议的第42条驱逐政策时，马约卡斯说，联邦政府仍然受到路易斯安那州联邦法院命令的阻碍。另外，在另一名联邦法官裁定第42条必须终止后，最高法院将在2月份听取19个州上诉保留第42条的辩论。
“在最高法院做出裁决之前，我们将继续适用第42条，”马约尔卡斯说。
他接着批评德克萨斯州州长格雷格·艾伯特用公共汽车运送该国其他地方的移民阿博特说，这是对联邦政府“鲁莽”对待移民的抗议。
“我们不能让那些看到美国人道主义救援被用于政治目的的个人的权利和需求被利用，”马约尔卡斯说。“我们不能让州长采取不与联邦政府协调的单方面行动来解决一个具有国家重要性的问题。”
关于拜登周日前往南部边境的行程，马约卡斯说，他希望强调他的部门正在做的工作。
面对该市在过去一个月中所面临的严峻挑战，白宫将努力向世人展示埃尔帕索在移民管理方面可以做些什么。
一名白宫官员在一份声明中说，自去年12月激增以来，非法越境进入埃尔帕索的移民人数下降了70%以上。自去年10月以来，委内瑞拉移民非法越境进入埃尔帕索的人数已降至政府推出最新边境打击行动第一版之前的四分之一。
“我希望他(总统)看到美国边境巡逻队、海关和边境保护局的男女外勤人员的非凡工作——我们如何调集资源来应对并非美国南部边境独有的挑战，”马约尔卡斯说。“这是一个真正困扰着我们整个半球的挑战。”
Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas dismisses Republican calls to resign over the border
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday rebuffed calls from leading Republicans to step aside -- or risk impeachment -- and underscored the critical nature of managing migration challenges "gripping" the Western Hemisphere.
In an interview with ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos, Mayorkas said he has no plans of resigning.
Stephanopoulos cited this warning from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in November: "If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate. Every order, every action and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry."
"I've got a lot of work to do," Mayorkas told Stephanopoulos in response. "I'm proud to do it alongside 250,000 incredibly dedicated and talented individuals in the Department of Homeland Security, and I'm going to continue to do my work."
Mayorkas added that while he has no intention of stepping down, he is ready for the investigations promised by the House GOP, whose lawmakers have been sharply critical of the Biden administration.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, last year accused Mayorkas of failing "to enforce immigration law and secure the border through all means necessary."
On "This Week," however, Mayorkas said there were larger forces at work, such as "a broken immigration system that Congress has failed to repair" and "the greatest displacement of people since World War II."
As the secretary prepares to join Joe Biden on Biden's first trip to the southern border as president, authorities there continue to take sweeping action to respond to the tens of thousands of migrants arriving each month.
"This is something that is not unique to the United States," Mayorkas told Stephanopoulos. "It's gripping the hemisphere and a regional challenge requires a regional solution."
Last week, the Biden administration announced that in conjunction with the Mexican government, it expects to send as many as 30,000 unauthorized Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants to Mexico each month.
Stephanopoulos pressed Mayorkas on criticism from some Democrats that this move is similar to former President Donald Trump's approach to the issue. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez called it a "disastrous and inhumane relic of the Trump Administration’s racist immigration agenda."
Mayorkas pointed to congressional inaction on immigration and other factors driving people to leave their countries for the U.S.
"We want individuals who qualify for relief under our laws to come to the United States in a safe and orderly way," Mayorkas said. "And that is why we are building lawful pathways, so people do not have to place their lives and their life savings in the hands of ruthless smugglers."
Mayorkas has traveled across Central and South America attempting to engage other governments in solutions to the massive intercontinental diaspora that has strained authorities at every level. More than 2.4 million Venezuelans are currently in Colombia, and other Latin America countries including Costa Rica and Ecuador continue to face "unprecedented migration challenges," he said.
Responding to whether the administration can end the controversial Title 42 expulsion policy, which cuts access to humanitarian relief for those at the border, Mayorkas said that the federal government remains blocked by a federal court order in Louisiana. Separately, the Supreme Court in February will hear arguments on 19 states appealing to keep Title 42 in place after another federal judge ruled it had to end.
"We are continuing to apply Title 42 until the Supreme Court's ruling," Mayorkas said.
He went on to criticize Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been busing migrants elsewhere in the country in protest, Abbott has said, of the federal government's "reckless" approach to immigration.
"We cannot have the rights and the needs of individuals who are seeing humanitarian relief in the United States be exploited for political purposes," Mayorkas said. "We cannot have unilateral governor action that is not coordinated with the federal government to address an issue that is of national importance."
Of Biden's trip Sunday to the southern border, Mayorkas said he hopes to highlight the work his department is doing.
The White House will seek to show El Paso as a model for what can be done with migration management in the face of intense challenges that the city has faced in the past month.
The number of migrants illegally crossing into El Paso is down more than 70% since the recent surge in December, a White House official said in a statement. Since October, the number of illegal border crossings by Venezuelan migrants into El Paso has dropped to a quarter of what it was before the administration launched the first edition of its latest border crackdown.
"I want him [the president] to see the extraordinary work of the men and women of the United States Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection's field operations -- how we have surged resources to address a challenge that is not unique to the southern border of the United States," Mayorkas said. "It's a challenge that is really gripping our entire hemisphere."
