Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is intentionally promoting illegal immigration through his department’s 2024 budget proposal, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green argued Wednesday, calling it “an insult to every American.”

During Mayorkas’ hearing before the committee, Green said the DHS budget proposal would reduce Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) budgets by hundreds of millions of dollars while giving Citizenship and Immigration Services additional funding. Green contended the plan’s objective was “to force CBP personnel to process illegal aliens” into the country’s interior.

“President Biden himself likes to quote, and I quote him, ‘Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you value,’” Green told Mayorkas. “Well, this budget clearly shows us what this administration values, and it’s not the safety of the American people. Like your past budgets, like your policy decisions, and your actions, this proposed DHS budget has the singular purpose of continuing to encourage people to come into this country illegally.”

Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney had said in a Tuesday hearing with Mayorkas that the status of southern border security deserved an “F” grade, with Mayorkas declining to offer a grade himself. CBP had more than 250,000 southern border encounters in December alone, an all-time record.

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