‘It Turned Into An S-Show’: CNBC Hosts Grill Mayorkas On Biden’s Role In Border Policy Missteps

CNBC hosts Andrew Ross Sorkin and Joe Kernen pressed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday about President Joe Biden’s role in immigration policy mistakes.

Biden signed 89 executive orders in his first year as president that reversed or started undoing President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies. When Mayorkas, on “Squawk Box,” suggested he would have made different decisions if given a do-over and mentioned the diverse policy perspectives within the administration, both hosts questioned him on whether he had disagreements with his superiors. (RELATED: Illegal Immigrant Arrested Near LA Fire With Blowtorch Is A Convicted Felon With History Of Violence)

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“You have to understand something, and this is not specific to government, but to any large organization, including a government administration. People have different views on what the correct policies should be, what the correct operational measures should be,” Mayorkas said. “Those disagreements, those different views are voiced. Decisions are made. And then everyone marches in unity together. That is the nature of a large organization. And the government is no different.”

“But just so I’m clear … are you suggesting your own personal views about how to operate this were at odds or there was a distinction between your personal approach and how you would have wanted to do it and how maybe your bosses wanted to do it?” Sorkin asked.

Mayorkas declined to go into more detail, but doubled down on there being divergent policy perspectives due to the large number of people in the administration.

“You indicated to me that maybe you wouldn’t have halted remain in Mexico, wouldn’t have paused the border wall construction, wouldn’t have relaxed deportation priorities, wouldn’t have rescinded the public charter … Were you just following the orders from the people above you?” Kernen asked. “I’d pass the buck, if I were you, because it turned into an S-show, the whole thing. I mean, it quadrupled to almost 12 million versus 3 million illegal crossings.”

Mayorkas asserted he is the type of person who does not “pass the buck,” but Kernen suggested he should.

“That’s not a noble approach to service. Number one. Number two, let’s place the challenge of immigration that this country has faced in context. And that’s in a global context because what we experienced at our southern border was not exclusive to our southern border,” Mayorkas added. “It is a phenomenon that many countries around the world, not only in our hemisphere experienced, because we have had the largest level of displacement in the world since World War II.”

“And so, the challenge of migration started well before this administration. In 2018, our border experienced approximately 560,000 individuals encountered. In 2019. that number almost doubled. And so the trend was underway in terms of the level of displacement,” he continued. “That is mirrored in other parts of the world as well. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. And that, of course, materially impacted people’s decisions as to whether they could leave their countries of origin and migrate elsewhere.”

The number of illegal border crossings hit record highs in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, according to data tracked by Customs and Border Protection. A total of about 8.5 million migrant encounters have occurred along the U.S.-Mexico border during Biden’s presidency.

Mayorkas claimed “the border is secure” in remarks delivered in July 2022 at the Aspen Security Forum. “We are making the border more secure. That has been a historic challenge,” he added.

The House voted to impeach Mayorkas in February 2024 over his handling of the border crisis, but Democrats in the Senate promptly killed the impeachment trial.

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