loved it, they don't tip. i hate the pressure, should i tip or not tip. >> all figured out. >> i like the freedom. i like people to know i had to think about it. who knows what could happen. see you tonight at 8:00 p.m. >> four hours from title 42 expiring. >> a few hours from kayleigh. i'll see you on "america reports," we'll be watching. >> sandra: thank you, ladies. awaiting an update on the biden administration response to the end of title 42 as "outnumbered" mentioned, hours from now, time is ticking down to the midnight deadline. hello, well come everyone, sandra smith on this thursday afternoon in new york. hi, john. >> john: big news day, sandra, no doubt about it. john roberts in washington and this is "america reports". less than 11 hours from now, tens of thousands of migrants

will get the green light to cross into america with border officials ham strung in their ability to deport them. fox flight team capturing stunning images of migrants swimming through dangerous currents in the rio grande to make it across. >> sandra: lindsey graham and how congress can step in. >> john: alexis mcadams how new york city is buckling under the influx of migrants. >> sandra: and bill melugin starts us off live from the southern border where the amazing images, incredible images, bill, continue to come in, including that brand-new video you sent out of someone swimming across to the united states side. >> sandra, good afternoon to you. images from the fox news drone down here today are remarkable, and we are really starting to notice the state of texas taking a much more proactive approach in trying to stop some of these illegal crossings. we'll get right into it. take a look at the drone footage a short time ago, groups of

migrants trying to cross the river illegally, this is one gentleman struggling in the current a bit, bigger groups that eventually made it to the u.s. side and you see the texas national guard and texas dps physically blocking and repelling the migrants, using razor wire and physical presence, and they are stunned, you can see the guy with his arms outstretched, why aren't you letting us in. a different approach from the state of texas, do it yesterday the first time during the border crisis and governor abbott wants a different approach. they have not been able to go further. and take a look at this, the drone team in a nearby location finding a mountain of trash, rubbish and clothing left behind

by the migrants after they cross illegally here in brownsville. everything you are looking at compiled in a few days or so and one of the major hot spot crossing areas and mixed in with all the clothing and trash, i.d. from all around the world, documents from all around the world as well as discarded mexican humanitarian visas. crossing spots like this, trashed like this all over the southern border. another piece of video to show you, take a look at this. went down to the riverbank here in brownsville and on the opposite side, you can see the masses of migrants gathering waiting to cross. some waiting for title 42 to drop tonight, others not waiting, trying to cross and being repelled by the texas national guard, some bringing rafts as you can see. and lastly, take you out to arizona, it's not just texas overwhelmed. take a look from the fox affiliate in yuma. a massive line of migrants arriving in yuma sector, turning themselves in for processing. several hundred right there, and

cbp sources tell me the yuma sector is overwhelmed. they have gotten 2900 migrants in custody in their capacity, 162% of what it should be. and back out here live, the border patrol union already issuing a warning saying they are getting field reports from across the southern border from the agents saying they are dealing with a "tidal wave of illegal immigration" showing up, and mass releases are underway and will continue to be in the next several days. we'll send it back to you. >> sandra: bill, we'll see you again in a bit. thank you. >> john: the meantime, new york city mayor adams has issued an executive order allowing city officials to bypass some of the right to shelter rules as the big apple braces for the arrival of even more migrants from the border. safety concerns also raised by nypd officers at a police training facility where a large number of migrants are living.

alexis mcadams is live outside the police facility in new york city. the city is rapidly running out of space to put these folks. >> that's exactly right and why the migrants are inside of an nypd training facility, it has an active shooting range. the mayor of new york city is calling it a crisis, they are expecting 1,000 migrants every single day since this expiration later on tonight, and now trying t figure out a plan so the mayor of new york is working to loosen the restrictions. let's get into the new information, mayor adams has filed an order to suspend some right to shelter rules for anyone when needs it. no longer require families in private rooms with bathrooms and kitchens, they have been doing, and suspends the deadly for family arriving to shelters.

the mayor says the right thing to do. >> last week we got 4200 people. we get an average of 500 people a day. and title 42 is not lifted. we could potentially get thousands of people a day in our city. this is just -- it's wrong for those who are coming here, like commissioner castro, and it's wrong for new yorkers who are here. >> and now migrants are sleeping in gyms, john, just here behind me at the nypd training facility, that is where they have the shooting range and the officers already strechted thin here in the city are doing everything to make sure the migrants don't go into these areas. get into the pictures, look at the screen, you can see the cots here, this is at least 200 migrants now staying there and nypd officers running the security but the city is calling the influx of emergency here, calling it an emergency, rather, and says they are just running out of options at this point, trying to figure out what they can do here. and back out here live, it's not

just here in new york city, john, but other states, too, we have talked about. florida's attorney general a short time ago has filed an emergency motion for temporary restraining order to stop the mass release of migrants into the u.s. ahead of title 42. as for where the people will go here, john, they could be in tents on the city streets or sleeping in central park. >> john: going through the florida case, alexis, everybody is affected by all of this. alexis mcadams, thank you. sandra. >> sandra: south carolina senator lindsey graham, senator, thank you for joining us ahead of the white house press briefing, see what happens there, obviously. we know mayorkas will be present. i just want to put up this map so our viewers can see, you heard new york, chicago, the nonborder cities that are dealing with this migrant crisis. this is el paso, yuma, tucson, san diego, del rio, they are dealing with the influx of migrants that they can no longer handle. we are hours away now from the

lifting of title 42. what is your prediction will happen? >> that you'll have a press conference that will talk about changes that really won't matter. they're incapable, in my view, the biden administration of changing policy to stop the flow because they are held captive by the left. this is not chaos, this is catastrophic. we are literally under siege when it comes to illegal immigration. the amount of drugs flowing in the country is all-time high, how hard would it be for somebody to get into this crowd of people, a terrorist to kill a bunch of us. this is catastrophic. the people in charge of securing our border should be fired and if you want to change policy, you got to get a new president. joe biden will never change policy to bring the border back under control because he can't do it. >> john: even if you have a new president, it would be a couple years before the person was sworn in so a lot of damage can be done by the influx of illegal

migration. the two-minute warning for the briefing. meantime, senator, joe biden using the word chaos yesterday to describe the situation at the border. listen here. >> we have chaos at the border for a number of years. we have to fully fund the border to secure the efforts. we have to fully fund -- look, the purpose of what we are doing now is making legal immigration more streamlined, illegal immigration shorter term and going in the direction that people know that there's a legal way to get here and not a legal way. >> john: promoting the legal way to get here, not the illegal way, though they continue to let people in en mass as we have seen. he did not say it was a crisis, idea acknowledging it's chaos is a step in the right direction. >> i try to be respectful of the president, i've known president biden for a long time, he's a

decent man but what he said is b.s. it has been chaos on his watch. december of 2020 we had the lowest illegal crossings in the last 40 years. president biden, can you not figure out what happened? you repelled all of the trump policies that worked and replaced them with open border policies and you are surprised we have chaos? i don't think he's capable of making these changes politically, i think he's out of touch with what it takes to secure our border, i don't think he has the political will to secure our border and it's just a matter of time 'til america suffers mightily, the human tragedy is hard to put your head around. fentanyl is an all-time high, i'm telling you right now, between the withdrawal in afghanistan and this chaos and catastrophic invasion on the border it's just a matter of time before somebody gets in this country and kill a bunch of us unless biden changes policy. >> sandra: senator, i want to

speak to the live images our viewers are seeing on the screen, the drone footage, brownsville, texas, a moment ago you saw the piles of clothing and garbage and materials that are left behind by these migrants making this journey. the president acknowledged chaos but is it chaos? is anybody shocked by this or a well-executed strategy, senator? >> it is a choice. this is not an accident. they chose, the biden administration, to repel remain in mexico which stopped illegal immigration asylum seekers, they chose to do away with the agreement trump had with the northern triangle countries, apply for asylum in the country, not our border, they have done nothing to secure the border after they made these choices and what i think, there are elements in the biden administration that want more illegal immigration, not less, they have granted parole to

60,000 people in the entire trump administration ten people got parole regarding illegal immigration. they are making a conscious effort to allow as many people in this country as they can get in, i think. >> john: after title 42 comes off, senator, back to title 8, been around since 1968 to take care of illegal immigration, here is just a quick analysis of what the difference is, expulsions under title 42 versus 8. under title 42, 1 agent can process and send as many as 40 migrants back to mexico in some five minutes. without title 42, back with title 8, 30 minutes to process one migrant and determine who she or he will go next. 10,000 across the border every day, and expect to increase when title 42 comes off, what's going to happen to the system? >> you see it on the television. when mayorkas speaks and he says our border is secure he's lying.

they must not have a television in his office, or maybe they don't subscribe to fox because if you watch fox news, the rest of the day you will see chaos and catastrophic results at our border. they are doing nothing substantially to correct it. so there comes a point you have to believe they mean for this to happen. now, when trump says the election was stolen, and i don't believe it was, every news outlet in the country fact checks him. when mayorkas and the biden administration tell you that the border is secure, not one person outside of fox news and conservative media pushes back. why do they keep saying this? because they get away with it. >> john: we just show the pictures. >> this is not rocket science. you see in real time the consequences of the policy changes. there is human tragedy with this garbage. god knows how many women have been raped, children sexually exploited, and easy to get

fentanyl in the middle of this crowd. i'll say it again and keep saying it until something changes. how easy would it be under these policy changes for a terrorist to penetrate the southern border and kill a bunch of americans to have another 9/11. they have paved the way for that by two things. withdrawing from afghanistan in a reckless manner and having an open border. we are on borrowed time. it's just a matter of time. >> sandra: and that's not even crazy out there thought, senator, because we just learned this week that there are plans under this administration now to release migrants into the united states with absolutely no tracking of them. i want to draw attention to the white house because secretary mayorkas has now stepped up. let's listen. >> 11:59 p.m. eastern time the pandemic era title 42 public health order will end. starting at midnight, people who arrive at our southern border will be subject to our immigration enforcement authorities under title 8 of the

united states code. here is what that means. if anyone arrives at our southern border after midnight tonight, they will be presumed ineligible for asylum and subject to steeper consequences for unlawful entry, including a minimum five year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution. the the transition to title 8 processing will be swift and immediate. we have surged 24,000 border patrol agents and officers. thousands of troops, contractors and over 1,000 asylum officers and judges to see this through. we are clear-eyed about the challenges we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead and we are ready to meet them. we expected to see large numbers of encounters initially. we are already seeing high numbers of encounters in certain sectors. this places an incredible strain on our personnel, our facilities, and our communities

with whom we partner closely. we prepared for this moment for almost two years and our plan will deliver results. it will take time for those results to be fully realized and it is essential that we all take this into account. our current situation is the outcome of congress leaving a broken, outdated immigration system in place for over two decades, despite unanimous agreement we desperately need legislative reform. it is also the result of congress's decision not to provide us with the resources we need and that we requested. our efforts within the constraints of our broken immigration system are focussed on ensuring the process is safe, orderly, and humane, all while protecting our dedicated workforce and our communities. i want to be very clear.

our borders are not open. people who cross our border unlawfully and without a legal basis to remain will be promptly processed and removed. an individual who is removed under title 8 is subject to at least a five-year ban on re-entry into the united states and can face criminal prosecution if they attempt to cross again. smugglers have been long, hard at work spreading false information that the border will be open. they are lying. to people who are thinking of making the journey to our southern border, know this. smugglers care only about profits, not people. do not risk your life and your life savings only to be removed from the united states if and when you arrive here. our approach to build lawful, safe and orderly pathways for people to come to the united

states, and impose tougher consequences on those who choose not to use those pathways works. president biden has led the largest expansion of lawful pathways in decades. people from cuba, haiti, venezuela, and nicaragua, have arrived through lawfully available pathways and we reduce border encounters from these groups by 90% between december of last year and march of this year. we are launching new and expanded family reunification parole processes for nationals of colombia, cuba, el salvador, guatemala, haiti, and the mobile app for individuals to schedule appointments at our ports of entry. to those who do not use our available lawful pathways, we will deliver tougher consequences, using our

immigration law authorities. the new rule, finalized yesterday, presumes that those who do not use lawful pathways to enter the united states are ineligible for asylum. it allows us the united states to remove individuals who do not establish a reasonable fear of persecution. we announced that eligible families will be placed in expedited removal proceedings and those that receive a final negative credible fear determination will generally be removed within 30 days of being placed in those proceedings. we began planning in 2021 for the end of title 42. just a few highlights. in addition to securing the first increase in border patrol agent hiring in more than a decade, we are in the process of surging personnel to the border, including over 1,400 dhs personnel, 1,000 processing

coordinators, and 1,500 department of defense personnel. we are delivering tougher consequences for unlawful entry. during the first half of this fiscal year, we returned, removed and expelled more than 665,000 people. we are conducting dozens of removal flights each week and we continue to increase them. just yesterday, we worked with the mexican government to expell nearly 1,000 venezuelans who did not take advantage of our available lawful pathways to enter the united states. we are bolstering the capacity of local governments and ngos. last week, we announced the distribution of an additional $332 million to support communities along the southern border and in the interior of our country. and we are going after the smugglers. leading an unprecedented law

enforcement disruption campaign that has led to the arrest of more than 10,000 smugglers who mislead and profit from vulnerable migrants. the united states is also working closely with regional partners to impose stiffer consequences at our border, expand lawful pathways for orderly migration and coordinate enforcement efforts. this includes mexico announcing for the first time ever that they will accept the returns under title 8 authorities of nationals of cuba, haiti, nicaragua, and venezuela, so that we can continue the parole processes that have been so successful in reducing migration from those countries. it includes working with colombia and panama to launch a historic anti-smuggling campaign to target criminal networks that prey on migrants, and it includes dramatically scaling up the number of removal flights we can operate to countries throughout the hemisphere,

including colombia, peru, and ecuador. we are -- we are a nation of immigrants, and a nation of laws. we are doing everything possible to enforce those laws in a safe, orderly, and humane way. we are working with countries throughout the region addressing a regional challenge with regional solutions. we again, yet again call on congress to pass desperately needed immigration reform and deliver the resources, clear authorities, and modernized processes that we need. >> good afternoon. >> two questions. one is how do you decide which nationalities are going to be able to use the legal pathways, the venezuelans and -- how did

you decide who is allowed to avail themselves legal pathways and who isn't on that particular path? >> parole programs, yes, so, what we did, we met the need with the parole programs that was the demographic that was causing us the greatest challenge at our southern border, and we tailored our parole processes accordingly. >> is it possible that those nationalities could shift as you see shifting nationalities at the border? >> so, we have shifted our programs according to the needs that we need to meet. so you'll recall perhaps that in november we developed the parole process for venezuelans, that was then the most significant challenge. we pivoted in january to not only expand the program for venezuelans but also for cubans, haitians and nicaraguans.

>> if the border patrol facilities are overcrowded and some migrants have b to released, does that send the very message you are trying to avoid, people released into the interior? >> two things in response. number one, we cannot overstate the extraordinary talent and heroism of the united states border patrol and the department of homeland security managing through an extraordinary challenge and doing so successfully, number one. number two, it is very important to understand the great majority of people will be removed if they do not qualify for relief under the laws of the united states. >> thank you very much, secretary mayorkas. you talked about all the personnel you are surging to the border. you didn't mention fema personnel, and the mayors and county judges in border towns that we have spoken to say what they really need is not just fema dollars, but people personnel themselves to house

and feed these migrants as your department releases them. why not send fema personnel to the border the way you would in any other emergency? >> well, the deployment of fema personnel is specific to a particular type of emergency. an emergent event. this is an ongoing challenge that quite frankly has vexxed this country for decades, because this country has been unable, congress has been unable to pass immigration reform that everyone agrees and understands is desperately needed. we are working with an immigration system that was last reformed in the 1990s. migration has changed dramatically since then. and we need our laws updated. >> are you saying basically your hands are tied and cannot send fema personnel even if you wanted to? >> i'm not saying that at all. our fema personnel are coordinating with local communities and cities across

the country to provide them with the information they need. and fema is going to be playing a pivotal role in our shelter and services program that is poised to distribute $363 million to cities and communities in need of funding. >> i'm wondering about your communications with foreign countries. have you had conversations in the last couple days with foreign government officials ahead of this lifting? >> so, i should take a step back and say when i speak of the fact that it is a regional challenge for which regional solutions are needed, let me put a finer point on that. there are approximately 20 million displaced people throughout our hemisphere. the challenge that we are encountering at our southern border is by no means unique to the southern border of the united states. and i have learned that powerfully, not only through the information and analysis we

undertake in the united states government, but in our conversations with our foreign partners. just this week i spoke with a foreign secretary of panama. last week i spoke with the president of guatemala. three weeks ago i was in panama to speak with the panama foreign minister and the colombian foreign minister. we are engaged and secretary blinken is leading the diplomatic engagements. diplomacy is a key pillar of our effort. >> question is, i want to focus in on black migrants from africa and the caribbean nations, one has met with president biden on this issue and other civil rights leaders said the lifting of title 42 suppresses black asylum seekers who are required to ask for asylum in countries they traveled through, many countries are too dangerous for

black migrants to request asylum, and example of african americans who traveled to mexico, some were killed, thought to be haitian migrants. what do you say to that and is there an effort and what will you do to safety net or safeguard some of these black migrants trying to come for asylum who are in countries or transmitting through countries where they cannot ask for asylum through, under the laws that the biden administration has put into place. >> so let me share with you, one way in which migration has changed dramatically over the years. it is no longer the case that individuals can, on their own, reach the southern border of the united states. they have to place their lives and their life savings in the hands of ruthless smugglers that exploit them. and ruthlessly do so. and we have not only a security

obligation, but a humanitarian obligation to cut those smugglers out and that is indeed what we are doing. and this president, president biden, has rebuilt our refugee processing capabilities and has committed to a large number of refugee admissions to the united states. our president, president biden, has expanded lawful pathways for migrants like no other president past. and what we are doing is we are extending an outstretched arm of humanitarian relief to reach people where they are so they do not have to place their lives in the hands of those smuggling organizations. >> but the southern border is not just mexicans. it is haitians, it's africans, as we have seen, particularly with that issue with the haitians being whipped with the reins or the horses. but what is there -- >> let me correct you right there. because -- actually, the

investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur. >> i'm sorry, i saw it differently. they were whipped with something from the horse, reins from a horse. i -- maybe the video or picture was fixed but what i saw was totally different. >> i'm going to leave you as -- corrected. >> but what happens again, the mexican border is not just mexicans. it's africans and haitians. what is there in place as you hear from people who are advocates for immigrants to help those who are trying to seek asylum from places like haiti that has gangs, they can't even have an election because things -- the atrocities are so great. >> so a few responses. number one, we have set up the cbp1 app to enable people to make appointments and arrive at ports of entry safely if they

qualify for exceptions under the public health authority of title 42, which of course is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. we have admitted approximately 740 people through that cbp1 app per day. the majority of the individuals admitted have been haitian. we are expanding that cbp1 app to reach as many as 1,000 people a day. and we are setting up regional processing centers throughout the region working very closely with countries to the south, working with colombia and others, and we expect to set up as many as 100 or more of those processing centers that will be open to people of all nationalities to obtain humanitarian relief. >> mr. secretary, thanks for being here. the president said this week the

situation on the southern border is going to be chaotic for a while. given the fact that you've had nearly two years to prepare for this moment, how can chaos be the expectation? >> well, i have said for months and months that the challenge at the border is and is going to be very difficult. and we have spoken repeatedly about the fact the difficulty may increase at this time of transition. it is going to take a period of time for our approach to actually gain traction and show results. and i've been very clear about that. the fundamental reason, the fundamental reason why we have a challenge at our border and we have had this challenge many a time before is because we are working within the constraints of a broken, fundamentally broken immigration system and we also are operating on resources that are far less than those that we need and that we have

requested. >> some of the measures that you have been talking about to put in place to mitigate this surge, some of those aren't even in place yet. wasn't until two weeks ago you announced the plans to open the regional processing centers, not open yet. of the 1500 troops the president deployed, only 550 are actually on the ground. so, given how long you have known title 42 is ending on may 11, why aren't these measures in place? >> we have implemented measures before, the parole processes are an example. deployed 1500 adtional department of defense personnel, we have had 2500 department of defense personnel well in place already. we have surged resources of all types over months and months, not just personnel, but transportation facilities, technology, additional bed space, so we have been, in fact -- >> you've done all you can at this point. >> we have done all we can with

the resources that we have and within the system that we are operating under. >> a couple questions, mr. secretary. thanks for being here. first on the cbp1 app, migrants speaking to journalists including our reporters on the ground have indicated a series of frustrations, they say they are having trouble logging on, trouble getting appointments, trouble with language barriers, perhaps indigenous languages or others and seeing technical glitches right now. so, what specifically is being done to fix that right now and does that app provide false hope to these migrants coming to only lead to future frustration as surges like we saw from venezuelans a matter of months ago. >> we have seen a tremendous acceptance of the cbp1 app. we are utilizing it very effectively. as i referenced earlier in response to the reporter's prior question, 740 people per day are reaching our port of entry. those, by the way, are not individuals who only made appointments, but actually a

fraction of the people who have made appointments using the cbp1 app. it has proven successful. we have identified glitches and we have done so not unilaterally, exclusively, but also by speaking with individuals who have used the app, by speaking with migrants here in the united states who have reached the united states as well as actually going into mexico and meeting with migrants to understand the challenges. if i may. so we have addressed the challenges of which we are aware. greatest challenge with respect to the cbp1 app is not technological challenge, but rather the fact that we have many more migrants than we have the capacity to make appointments for. the greatest level of frustration is actually being able to make the appointment, not the utility of the cbp1 app itself. that is again another example of a broken immigration system.

>> foreign policy question broadly, quickly. u.s. has sanctions on a series of foreign nations, on cuba, on venezuela, on nicaragua, so the biden administration foreign policy make this situation worse? >> so, i'm going to leave that to our foreign policy specialists but i will say this. the predicate of those principles are separate and apart from the immigration challenge we are facing. >> given the time you say it's going to take and based on what you are seeing now at the southern border and beyond in mexico, offer some details, paint a picture. what should americans in those border communities and beyond expect in the coming days and weeks? what's this going to look like? >> we could see very crowded, as we are now, we could see very crowded border patrol facilities. i cannot overstate the strain on our personnel and our facilities. but we know how to manage

through such strain as difficult as it will be. i have tremendous confidence and pride in our personnel. let me share with you an example how we manage through a difficult situation. in el paso, texas, we saw individuals on the street. we engaged in a very sensitive and humane law enforcement operation to address that challenge and we successfully have done so, to the praise of the city of el paso. pt>> our teams in el paso say there are hundreds of migrants in the open, very limited access to food and water and bathrooms for days. why aren't they being processed? is that what we can expect? >> so, we are working very closely with non-profit organizations, with community groups to really deliver a community response to the

challenge. i cannot understate, i'm sorry, i cannot overstate how much of a challenge it is going to be, and how we all have to deal with it as one administration and one country. fundamentally, fundamentally we need congress to act. >> mr. secretary, thank you for doing this. is this exclusively a challenge at the land border or are you also seeing an increase in a regular migration by see to florida and california, for that matter, and the regional processing center, i know your staff has said you'll have more announcements on exactly where those will be in the coming days, but just to echo my colleague's point, you know, did you want those to be ready ahead of the expiration of title 42 and can you give any details on exactly where those processes are?

>> so, with respect to maritime migration, a number of months ago we were experiencing pressure in the maritime environment and we responded to that pressure with increased resources. it is incredibly perilous for individuals to take to the seas. the search-and-rescue operations that the united states coast guard has to undertake all too often to rescue people, those seas are rough, and the vessels that they use are extraordinarily flimsy, and we see death on the high seas. and so we -- we have the resources, coast guard resources and activated more robustly the reunification programs for a lawful pathway for individuals to reach a country of safety. >> there was a second part to the question, sorry. >> i'm sorry, michael.

>> regional processing centers. that's not something that the united states can set up unilaterally in a matter of weeks. this is a -- this is a subject that requires a diplomacy. we rely on our foreign partners and it takes a great deal of partnering. not only with the partners themselves, but also with the international organizations that are part of the fabric of intern international humanitarian relief, international organization for migration and others. >> a bus of migrants arrived in front of the vice president's house this morning. what's your response to that to more busses of migrants sent from texas to washington, d.c.? >> it is a both sad and tragic

day when a government official uses migrants as a pawn for political purposes. >> thank you for being here. on the memo that the u.s. border patrol chief sent to section chiefs last night allowing for parole releases if overcrowding becomes an issue, that's not title 8 like you said would happen. these migrants don't get an alien registration number or court date, they are asked to self-report to ice within 60 days. you said at the beginning you prepared for this moment for almost two years. why is part of that plan an honor system? >> oh, it is not an honor system. what we do is we use the resources that we have to meet the challenges that we confront. this is a tool that has been used in the past. the vast majority of individuals will indeed be placed in

expedited removal and if they do not qualify will be removed in a matter of days, if not weeks from the united states. when we -- when we encounter a volume of individuals for which we need to address in a different way, we do so. if those individuals do not honor their commitment to surrender to an immigration and customs enforcement officer to be able to be placed in enforcement proceedings, they are subject of our apprehension efforts. >> you said this would be a fraction of migrants this happens with. how many is a fraction when you've had almost 6 million illegal crossings under this administration? >> we, last year, removed, returned and expelled approximately 1.4 million individuals. that is the most in any one year. >> will you be on shaky legal

ground with mass releases? or case by case basis? >> the question has a factual predicate with which i would disagree about mass releases, number one. but releases of individuals, subject to an immigration enforcement proceedings is not something particular to this administration. >> case by case basis and this would not be a case by case basis. >> we implement our operations in conjunction with the department of justice and we have confidence in the lawfulness of our actions. >> mr. secretary, are you concerned the new asylum regulations will encourage more children to leave their families, as unaccompanied kids are exempt? >> no, we are not. it is an obligation for us to address the needs of unaccompanied children. so we are -- we do not have that concern and what we are driving to, what we are fundamentally

driving to is to build lawful pathways so people do not have to make those difficult decisions and they don't have to take the dangerous journey in the first place. and we are expanding lawful pathways to an unprecedented degree under the president's leadership. >> mr. secretary, one more. what is your assessment of mexico's enforcement of the border? >> we are working very closely with the government of mexico. the president has spoken with the president of mexico as recently as earlier this week. they have corresponded last week and mexico is taking very important enforcement measures that we greatly appreciate, and that were taken in coordination with us. >> secretary, how is the administration redirecting the judges to prioritize new arrivals and will that affect the backlog previously -- >> your question if i may to hit

this point once r question speaks of an immigration court backlog that exceeds 2 million cases. what a powerful example of a broken immigration system. not only are we surging asylum officers, about 1,000 asylum officers to conduct credible fierce screenings in the context of expedited removal, but surging immigration judges alongside us. >> if i could ask you about -- the title 8 enforcement you are talking about, trying to send a message. critics of the administration would argue this is a message you could and probably should have sent earlier on in the administration. walk us through the deliberation, presumption of eligibility and why was the policy not announced earlier? >> in response to your precise question, we sought to end title

42, the public health authority, earlier. we sought to roll out our immigration enforcement authorities under title 8 of the united states code earlier. we were enjoined from doing so by a court. >> specifically, the presumption of inadmissibility, why not come out sooner? you are trying to send the message now. >> it's not a message. we don't promulgate a regulation. we don't promulgate a law to send a message. we promulgate a law to achieve a policy and operational outcome. and the outcome that we seek to achieve through this regulation is to incentivize people to take the lawful pathways and disincentivize them to place out of smugglers. >> impact on human behavior.

>> thank you, secretary. first have you rolled out family detention as an option and then two, you said that you have many more migrants than you have appointments for. so is there any effort to try to expand the appointments and numbers for how many appointments are confirmed per day? >> we are indeed expanding the use of cbp1 app from approximately 740 arrivals at our ports of entry along the southern border to 1,000 a day. and we are exploring what other capabilities we can add to that. and the first part of your question was family detention. this administration ended family detention in march of 2021. >> you are not going to bring it back. >> we have made it clear that families who are in immigration enforcement proceedings, including in expedited removal

proceedings, a more accelerated process will be alternatives to detention. condition of alternative to detention may be increased as the situation warrants. so for example, we could place heads of household under curfews, so that we are better able to monitor their activities and i should say their compliance with our restrictions and obligations to appear in court. >> secretary -- orient me, sorry. >> mr. secretary, can you describe how you will be treating any differently migrants at the border that come from countries where we don't have close working relationship, for example, we have seen reporting of migrants coming as far from china, russia, syria, and then my second question, i'm going to try to ask peter's question a different way with some democrats urging that

president biden end sanctions on cuba and venezuela. do you support that? >> so the -- you speak of different demographics arriving at our southern border. this speaks to the fact that the challenge of migration is not exclusive so the southern border and is, in fact, not exclusive to the western hemisphere. >> sandra: we are going to dip out for just a moment as the news conference continues at the white house. we'll also expect to hear from karine jean-pierre taking questions a moment from now as well. john, off the top saying we are a nation of immigration, immigrants and nation of laws, telling and speaking to the migrants do not risk your life and life savings only to be removed from the united states if you arrive here. pressed a moment ago on the statement. where are you just now sending that message and he said as we look at these live pictures, john, i want to be very clear, our borders are not open. >> john: he also said in

response to jacqui's question about the new parole system overcrowding, let people on the streets with no way to track them, she said does this amount to honor, and no, and then he used the words honor their commitment. senator lindsey graham has been watching with us. your thoughts. >> i'm disgusted. this is a page out of baghdad bob, were the iraq war where baghdad bob was selling you saddam is winning and an american soldier was walking behind him during the briefing. that was a joke, this is a joke. title 8 deportation is a fraction of title 42. he is lying about how the system works. jacqui asked him a good question. how do you explain in 2020 we had 458,000 illegal crossings and 2022 we had 2.4 million, and 2023, we are going to have more than that. on his watch. illegal immigration has increased five times. when trump was president, the congress never acted but he was

able to reduce illegal crossing to the lowest in 40 years. no one there asked him how do you account for the difference between trump and biden. how did it go up five times. the policy choices you make, mr. secretary, have led to an invasion of this country, you are lying to the american people about how the system works. when you parole somebody, they never show up. they go to the country, somewhere in the country, never to be heard from again. we don't have the capability to follow all these people and here is the test of this news conference. a week from today, based on what he said, will people turn around, will one person coming to america after being informed of this news conference change their mind? hell no. they are going to keep coming because there's nothing he said is going to change the system. the people involved in illegal immigration know that what he says makes no sense. to the average american it may sound good but he is

misrepresenting the solutions that are being offered. they won't work. we are on track to have more illegal crossings this year than last year, after title 42 repel, you are going to double daily the number of illegal immigrants coming across this country, this is really a baghdad bob moment coming out of the department of homeland security. i've never been more disappointed and disgusted than i am right now. i like this man, but what he is saying won't work, he's misleading the american people and he should go. he should be fired. >> sandra: he also said, senator, we prepared for this moment for two years. noting the pictures on your screen, this is what their preparation for this moment looks like. forecast their plan will deliver results. one might ask why they waited to enforce the laws until title 42 was lifted, that was obviously absolutely not necessary, but he's also blaming congress.

he's blaming republicans. you've heard the white house over and over again not take ownership of what you are seeing on the screen. he says it's because of a broken outdated system that is in place. congress has not changed it, and congress is not providing the resources they need to fix this problem at the border. what is your reaction to that, senator? >> i will gladly provide him more resources only if you change policy. how was trump able to reduce illegal crossings to the lowest level in 40 years without congress acting. how is it since trump left office the new policy changes have been implymented by biden, we have a five-time increase in illegal immigration. policies of trump worked, they were repealed by biden. what you heard today was political b.s. they are not changing the policies in any way to deter anybody from coming. i promise you this. nobody headed to america is gonna turn around because what

secretary mayorkas said. nobody is going to turn around because they know what he said is all b.s. the traffickers, the cartels heard today business as usual. >> john: who is in charge of crossings across the southern border? is it the department of homeland security, senator, or the cartels in mexico? >> cartels run illegal immigration on the mexican side of the border. the american people pay for the last mile. illegal immigrant pays the cartel to get to the border. once you get to the border, you are processed and nobody ever sees you again. >> john: question goes to the idea, who is in control here? >> they are in control of the illegal immigration up to the border. our border, the biden administration is in control in theory and they are failing. what would i say today that nobody on our side of the border can in control, that if you

think our border is not open you should not be allowed to drive. how can the secretary of homeland security stand in front of the american people given the image we are seeing today and saying the system is working. it's not working, and what the corrective action, if you get nothing else out of the interview, what he's saying about changing policy won't work. it's gonna get worse, not better. >> sandra: he just talked about all the resources they have been sending to the border and the american people should see that this right now is the result of that. somebody is keying in to me, i'll finish by asking you this, senator. what is this costing the average hard working american family that this administration says they are out to help the most? as you see these tens of thousands of migrants flowing over the border, 10,000 in a day the other day, what is this costing the average american family. >> billions of dollars. highest level of fentanyl in the

last two years, costing americans their lives in terms of the invasion of fentanyl. in terms of illegal immigration, the amount of money it takes to process these people is enormous. we are sending 1500 soldiers, not to deter illegal immigration, to get them through the system so more can come. we would be better off not sending soldiers because the soldiers are making it easier to release people into the country. they are not deterring illegal immigration. so, what is it costing america? your sovereignty. we are losing our sovereignty. >> john: senator, we know you have to skeedaddle. and back to the white house. >> warranted under the facts and laws before them. i will say this. it is -- it is interesting to see some of the tools that we employ that are successful or

operationally needed to be challenged in the courts. so for example, the parole process that we announced and implemented on january 5th for cubans, haitians, nicaraguans and venezuelans, reduction of those arriving at the southern border of over 95% and yet it's been challenged in a court. our parole authority when we use it to release a fraction of the people whom we encounter and that is challenged, i question the motives of the plaintiffs. >> following up on the emergency food and shelter program you mentioned, groups in el paso helping to feed and house the influx of migrants, they say the program has a problem, it can only be used for the migrants that have only encountered dhs and processed. >> it is necessary and i should say this past friday under the

emergency food and shelter program we distributed $332 million primarily to border communities. we now have under the new structure that the omnibus that congress equipped us with, we now have the shelter and services program that we in the department of homeland security will control. that will prove i think more nimble and we have 363 -- >> same restriction that can only be used for migrants that have been processed. what about those not processed, is there no way to help with the addressing the humanitarian need there. >> to finish my thought, about $363 million to distribute through the shelter and services program and i believe that nongovernmental organizations in the cities address the needs of individuals who have not been processed. >> thank you so much, karine.

>> if you could raise your hand so i can orient visually. >> thank you, karine, mr. secretary. they were saying here the republicans have changed the administration on the border, but the same time some democrats are saying president biden broke his promise of having a more humane immigration system and that he is finishing trump's job. so, i ask you, how is it more humane to expell people and penalize them, people who are fleeing violence, poverty, you were just saying a number of deportation was the highest last year of any year. >> so, let me just -- the words have legal significance so an expulsion is what happens under the public health office of title 42. we sought to end the application of title 42 some time ago.

this administration stands markedly different than the prior administration, markedly different. we have, in fact, a family reunification task force that has now reunified 700 families that were cruelly separated. we have, by the prior administration. we have rescinded the public charge rule that punishes individuals who migrated to the united states just for accessing public resources to which they are entitled. we have granted temporary protected status to quite a number of countries. this president has led the unprecedented expansion of lawful pathways. we stand markedly different than the prior administration. we do not resemble it at all. what we do, and by the way, we have rebuilt an asylum system that was dismantled in the prior administration. we have resumed refugee processing all around the world and these regional processing