Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday hit back at House Speaker Mike Johnson for calling him a liar and criticizing President Joe Biden's asylum restrictions.“
Action speaks louder than words, and the words are mistaken,” Mayorkas told CNN’s Kate Bolduan in an interview.
Mayorkas referred to Congress’ failed attempt to pass a bipartisan immigration bill focused on border security earlier this year. Johnson called the bill “dead on arrival” if it reaches the House.
Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that restricts asylum claims at the United States-Mexico border, in a bid to limit illegal immigration. The order, which advocates are moving to sue, would block migrants from seeking asylum once daily averages hit 2,500 border encounters between ports of entry.
But Johnson Republicans have argued the order is not nearly enough.
“[Biden] could close the border entirely,” Johnson said in a Fox News interview on Wednesday, played to Mayorkas. “But this half-measure executive order he just did actually exacerbates the problem. He's allowing thousands of people over the border every day before they just begin to enforce existing federal immigration laws.”
“Well, I think it’s mistaken,” Mayorkas responded. “I wish the Speaker would actually promote and pass the Senate's bipartisan legislation that would be the toughest enforcement measures in more than 30 years. Our immigration system hasn't been fixed since 1996.”
