Former Texas Congressman and CIA officer Will Hurd criticized the Biden administration as "ignorant" and "incompetent" over its border policy on Wednesday and said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be fired.
Hurd joined "CNN This Morning" on Wednesday and reacted to the administration's decision to send 1,500 active U.S. troops to the border.
"It’s a sign of how bad this situation has become. This administration is ignorant. They are incompetent and foolish when it comes to dealing with this border crisis. It’s actually a humanitarian crisis from their own making. And the reality is, the thing that they need to do is actually stop treating everybody that’s coming into our country as an asylum seeker," Hurd said.
He added that that Biden's policies were "aiding and abetting" human smugglers and traffickers.
WITH TITLE 42'S END A MONTH AWAY, BIDEN ADMIN MAKING MOVES TO DEAL WITH SURGE
Former Republican Texas congressman Will Hurd criticized the Biden administration's border policy on Wednesday. (Screenshot/CNN/CNNThisMorning)
"And if President Biden actually listened to his border patrol officers, he would figure out what they need to do in order to solve this problem. It’s gotten so bad, it’s unbelievable. And ultimately I think Secretary Mayorkas needs to be fired and somebody else needs to be brought in order to try to address this problem," he continued.
The Biden administration approved sending 1,500 active duty U.S. troops to the southern border on Tuesday as Title 42 is set to expire on May 11.
CNN host Kaitlan Collins asked Hurd about when Trump sent active troops to the border in 2018 and what he believed is the alternative.
"Well, look, I had a problem with it when the last administration did it, too. Guess what? The last administration started treating everyone as an asylum seeker. We need to deport more people," he said. "Unfortunately, our last two presidents have taken terrible decisions that have ultimately allowed us to have open borders which is something that we won’t be able to sustain long term."
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 18: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a hearing with the Senate Homeland Security Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. ( (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
Collins also asked why Republicans "cannot agree on what an immigration package could look like."
Hurd argued that Democrats were just as bad and said they could have streamlined legal immigration as well, but ultimately agreed that Republicans need to push for legislation to deal with this problem.
"When it comes to these hearings about understanding how DHS is working, making sure DHS understands the problem, the fact that Mayorkas came at one of his hearings and said that the border was secure, that’s not true. The fact that President Biden’s press secretary said that immigration was down 90%, either she was lying or somebody was lying to her. How do we not have the right information about what’s going on? And Secretary Mayorkas didn’t know how many kids had been lost in the system. The fact they don’t understand the basic numbers, is a sign they can’t get it done," Hurd continued.
Mayorkas claimed in a hearing in April that the border was "secure."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
"It is my testimony that the border is secure, and we are working every day and night to increase its security. The challenges that we are experiencing at the border cannot be overstated," he said.
Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Monday that illegal immigration has come down by 90% after the implantation of Biden's policies.
She was asked about her claim during Tuesday's press briefing and said she was speaking to Biden's "parolee program" specifically.
"And we have seen – the data has shown us that it has gone down by more than 90%. That was what I was speaking to," Jean-Pierre said.