Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks as President Biden listens at the Brownsville Station on Feb. 29, 2024 in Olmito, Texas. (Cheney Orr/Getty Images)
Zinke explained that there are "significant" increases in numbers at the northern border, adding, "It's not the volume. It's also what's what's showing up at the northern border, because there are a number of individuals, hundreds on the terrorist watch list and many more that aren't found that are coming through the northern border."
"In many ways, the northern border is not as arduous or not as dangerous as the southern border," he said. "But people are walking across the border in the northern border, and there's really no one out there ... and there's a lot of areas you just don't have a fence and a lot of areas don't have a promise of fence."
In their letter, lawmakers told Mayorkas, "[A]s temperatures reach sub-zero levels along some of the coldest regions in the United States on Northern Border and Border Patrol agents continue to conduct life-saving search and rescue missions, you continue to insist that you are managing the border in a safe, orderly and humane manner by providing ‘legal pathways’ to otherwise inadmissible aliens."
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., arrives to a meeting with House Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 19, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"While the Southwest Border has been overrun with drug smugglers, we cannot allow another avenue for deadly, illegal drugs into our country and our communities," the lawmakers wrote. "In FY 2024 alone, Border Patrol agents are on track to apprehend a record number of illegal immigrants at the Northern border. These statistics are yet another example of how the Biden administration is downplaying the serious nature of this orchestrated border crisis. Every state has now become a border state under your leadership – or lack thereof."
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The letter demands Mayorkas answer how DHS plans to address the strains experienced by local communities and Border Patrol agents along the northern border due to the surge in illegal immigration and drug smuggling, what specific policies DHS is implementing to secure the northern border and prevent further increases in illegal activities, what strategies are being employed to enhance detection and interception of drugs given the "alarming spike" in drug smuggling by transnational criminal organizations, and what resources are being allocated to support Border Patrol agents "facing morale challenge due to the scale of the border crisis."
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-plead-mayorkas-address-unprecedented-surge-northern-us-canada-border