The Heritage Foundation used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain emails that confirm DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas knew in September 2021 that mounted Border Patrol agents, in fact, did not whip Haitian border crossers with their reins, as many mainstream media outlets reported.
Yet mere hours after he received word that the photographer who took the viral photos never saw any whipping, Mayorkas peddled the lie at a White House press conference. Not surprisingly, the media followed suit – one MSNBC anchor even ignorantly suggesting the Border Patrol agent was trying to "lasso" a Haitian immigrant.
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), contends Mayorkas is doing exactly what he intended to do as a member of Joe Biden's Cabinet.
"Mayorkas came to office with the intention of undermining our immigration enforcement system – and he has done precisely that every single day since he became Secretary of Homeland Security," Mehlman tells AFN.
"He saw this as an opportunity to further undermine the integrity of the Border Patrol, and he was willing to make three Border Patrol agents who were simply doing their job into collateral damage in order to pursue this policy."
Granted, Mayorkas wasn't the only one in the administration to pick up the story and run with it: his boss, President Joe Biden – speaking of the Border agents – said "those people will pay …. There will be consequences." His VP, Kamala Harris, also stated she was outraged by the images and that there needed to be consequences and accountability.
Still, FAIR argues that Mayorkas has "willfully spearheaded the purposeful abandonment of the laws of the United States and the successful policies of the previous administration to secure our borders and protect our people."
On that basis alone, says the group, Mayorkas must be brought up on impeachment charges in the next Congress.
Mayorkas: The only way (for Venezuelans) is 'the lawful way'
Mehlman is also questioning a recent DHS announcement that "effective immediately, Venezuelans who enter the United States between ports of entry, without authorization, will be returned to Mexico." The announcement noted: "Almost four times as many Venezuelans as last year attempted to cross our southern border …."
Mayorkas – in a related press release – explains that these actions "make it clear that there is a lawful and orderly way" for Venezuelans to enter the U.S. … "and lawful entry is the only way."
The DHS secretary adds: "Those who attempt to cross the southern border of the United States illegally will be returned to Mexico and will be ineligible for this process in the future. Those who follow the lawful process will have the opportunity to travel safely to the United States and become eligible to work here."
The FAIR media director wonders why the Biden administration cannot apply the same restriction to other nationality groups attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
"Unless there is some compelling reason why one nation ought to be treated differently from another based on circumstances in those countries, we have an obligation to treat people regardless of where they come from in the same manner," Mehlman argues.
Art Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, offers his theory behind the DHS decision.
"Note that Venezuelans who are in the United States and have the ability to vote are generally more conservative than other Hispanic voters," he tells AFN. "And in addition, most of those people have fled socialism; much like Cubans, they do generally tend to vote more conservatively."
But Arthur agrees with Mehlman that if a policy is being applied to Venezuelans, why not other nationalities that are crossing the southern border in large numbers?
Editor's note: Section on Venezuelans' entry was added after story was originally posted.
