Arizona Gov. Ducey calls for Homeland Security secretary to resign
Aug 13, 2021, 11:33 AM | Updated: 3:01 pm
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, left, called for U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign on Aug. 13, 2021. (AP File Photos)
(AP File Photos)
PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Friday called for U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign as southern border apprehensions soar.
Ducey, a constant critic of the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, issued the call after Fox News reported that Mayorkas told Border Patrol agents the situation was “unsustainable” in audio leaked to the network.
“The buck must stop somewhere,” Ducey said in a press release. “A defeatist is not what we need when it comes to fighting for border security.
“It is time for Secretary Mayorkas to resign, and for him to be replaced with someone who will tell the American people the truth publicly.”
We can't have a defeatist fighting for our nation's border security. It's time for Sec. Mayorkas to resign, and he needs to be replaced with someone who will tell the truth publicly & stand up to the radical activists inside the Biden-Harris administration. #BidenBorderCrisis 1/ https://t.co/FpdO9x09xQ
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) August 13, 2021
Fox News said it obtained the Mayorkas audio through a Border Patrol source.
“A couple of days ago I was down in Mexico, and I said look, you know, if, if our borders are the first line of defense, we’re going to lose and this is unsustainable,” Mayorkas told agents, according to the Fox News report. “We can’t continue like this, our people in the field can’t continue and our system isn’t built for it.”
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Federal figures released Thursday showed that U.S. authorities stopped migrants attempting to cross the southern border 212,672 times in July, the highest number for any month since 2000.
“We’re facing a serious challenge at our southern border, and the challenge is of course made more acute, more difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mayorkas said during a border visit Thursday in Brownsville, Texas.
“It has also been made more difficult because of the fact that the prior administration dismantled our asylum system.”
Ducey, however, continues to point the finger at the current administration.
“Law enforcement and humanitarian groups at a breaking point,” Ducey said. “Young children enticed to make the dangerous journey to cross the southern border. Drugs flowing into our communities. Cartels essentially in control of vast swaths of territory south of the border.
“And now, Secretary Mayorkas has confirmed our worst fears.”
