Border
Internal emails reveal tense meeting between Border Patrol agents and Secretary Mayorkas
The emails portray an internal fallout between DHS and Border Patrol agents that has been growing since Mayorkas’ visit to Yuma in January
November 3, 2022 8:01am
Updated: November 3, 2022 1:13pm
Recently revealed emails describe a tense meeting in January between Department of Homeland Security officials and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, during which agents tell Mayorkas that border policies “aren’t working,” reported Fox News.
Obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, the emails reveal communications between DHS officials after Mayorkas visited a morning muster of Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona in January.
"Morning muster in Yuma was ROUGH," Marsha Espinosa, assistant secretary of DHS public affairs. "One agent in the front town [sic] had his back turned to [Mayorkas] the entire time only to ask a question and then turned back."
Espinosa continued the email by saying that agents were not happy with the Biden administration's border policies or with their COVID-19 policies.
"Agent sentiment (the ones that spoke up) is that policies aren’t working, don’t like masks or vaxx mandate. [Ortiz] stepped up to provide support and asked to intro [Mayorkas] next time to better set up," she wrote.
According to Fox News, the emails portray an internal fallout between DHS and Border Patrol agents that has been growing since Mayorkas’ visit.
In addition to the emails, Townhall obtained an audio file of Mayorkas’ meeting with the Border Patrol, which shows agents complaining about how they cannot patrol the border due to policies implemented by the Biden administration.
"The job has not gotten any easier over the last few months, and it was very, very difficult throughout 2021," Mayorkas responded. "I know apprehending families and kids is not what you signed up to do. And now we got a composition that is changing even more with Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and the like, it just gets more difficult,"
"I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but that's the reality, and let's see what we can do within that framework," Mayorkas added.
