Impeachment Worthy?

Introductory Statement

of

Rodney S. Scott

Retired Chief, US Border Patrol

for the 

 Committee on the Judiciary

United States House of Representatives

January 22, 2024

Reference

Transcribed Interview for Impeachment Investigation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

My name is Rodney Scott, I served more than 29 years as a U.S. Border Patrol agent.  I had the honor of serving as the Chief, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from February 2, 2020 to August 14, 2021.  My tenure as Chief, spanned both the Presidential Administration of Donald Trump as well as Joe Biden.   I honorably retired on August 14, 2021. 

As Chief, I was the highest ranking official within USBP, responsible for executing the missions of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CBP, and USBP.  The USBP is the primary federal law enforcement organization responsible for preventing the entry of terrorists and their weapons and for preventing the illicit trafficking of people and contraband between ports of entry.  As Chief, I was responsible for all administration and operations of USBP, including the development and implementation of all nationwide policies.  

Previous Congressional testimony of several witnesses, to include myself, has clearly established that the Biden administration, to include the official transition teams, and Secretary Mayorkas were advised by career border security experts that removing physical and policy obstacles intended to deter illegal immigration would result in a loss of control of our international borders.  Secretary Mayorkas chose to ignore these stark warnings and implemented a series of decisions that directly resulted in the massive illegal immigration and the associated crime, deaths, and general chaos that we are experiencing today.    

This is not a policy debate as Secretary Mayorkas and his defenders would lead you to believe. Policy is how the law is enforced.   The decisions made by Secretary Mayorkas have been informed and intentional decisions with the stated objective of finding ways to allow more aliens to enter the U.S.   I assert that Secretary Mayorkas and his subordinate political appointees have, and continue to, intentionally conspire to undermine the security of the American people, as well as the letter, and the intent of Congressionally enacted U.S. law.

I assert that critical decisions made by Secretary Mayorkas were effected with full knowledge and intentional disregard for the law including, the legal requirement of 8 USC 1103 (a) (5) which states in part that, “the Secretary shall have the power and duty to control and guard the boundaries and borders of the United States against the illegal entry of aliens...”   as well as a total disregard for Public Law 109-367 commonly known as the Secure Fence Act of 2006 which mandates that the Secretary take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States.

Controlling who and what enters our national home is a critical aspect of national security.  Secretary Mayorkas accepted this responsibility when he accepted his position and swore an oath to uphold the duties of the Office of the Secretary. In direct contradiction to these legal requirements, I assert that Secretary Mayorkas made critical decisions with the full knowledge that his decisions would result in a significant influx of illegal aliens entering the U.S. in violation of 8 USC 1325.  Furthermore, that this influx would result in a significant degradation of border security which would directly increase national risk to illegal entry of a significant numbers of aliens, to transnational criminal schemes, to include child trafficking and narcotics smuggling, as well as infiltration by terrorists and adversary nation state actors.

During professional conversations and interactions with Security Mayorkas, while I was Chief, he made it very clear that he fully understood that decreasing deterrence and consequences for illegal entry and increasing the release of aliens that had entered the U.S. illegally would unquestionably result in an increase in illegal immigration into the U.S., that in his words was “unsustainable”.    

Beyond a general understanding, I recall several specific incidents that support my assertion.  The first was during the conference call that Secretary Mayorkas hosted with DHS leadership following his confirmation.  The second was a face-to-face conversation in El Paso, Texas just before the two of us met with a group of local law enforcement leaders.  The third was during a virtual meeting about border wall construction projects and the presidentially mandated 60-day construction pause and assessment.  In addition to a general conversation about the operational benefits associated with the technologically enhanced physical border barrier, the Impoundment Act of 1974 was specifically acknowledged.  Subordinate politically appointed staff of Secretary Mayorkas stated that they would “find a way to work around that”.   Additionally, Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly stated on national television that, “we have a plan, we are acting on our plan, and our plan will be successful”, adding evidence that his decisions are informed and intentional.

I assert that Secretary Mayorkas has knowingly and intentionally misled Congress and the American people by providing blatantly false information and by providing select data points while intentionally omitting critical interrelated data points.   For example, in March of 2021, after receiving countless daily reports that documented an increasing number of illegal aliens and a rapidly increased number of know got-a-ways, Secretary Mayorkas appeared on several Sunday news programs and unequivocally stated that the border was closed and that the border was secure.  On the next day I asked ------ (name redacted for privacy), the CBP Chief of Staff, who at the time was my primary conduit to communicate with Secretary Mayorkas, what that extremely inaccurate statement was based on.   She responded that they thought I would like hearing him say that.  I informed her that the statement was not accurate and that it needed to be corrected.   Despite this fact, and overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Secretary Mayorkas continues to mislead America and state the border is secure.  

In testimony to Congress, Secretary Mayorkas stated that he was not aware of a cartel smuggling tactic whereby they use illegal immigrants to overwhelm and distract law enforcement so they can smuggle other aliens or narcotics more easily.  Even though this tactic is commonly known, I provided the Secretary with a written explanation of how the cartels use this tactic to shape the border and facilitate the smuggling of higher threat people and goods.  The explanation was provided via email while I was still serving as the Chief.

In 2021 Secretary Mayorkas stated publicly that “undocumented non-citizens” were being tested for covid and vaccinated prior to release, when in fact that was not occurring.  Furthermore, the federal government had no authority or mechanism for ensuring that it did occur.    Many aliens were being transported to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that could offer these services after they were released.  However, these NGOs lacked any authority to mandate a covid test or vaccine, nor could they force the alien to even enter their facility.  By law once the alien is processed and released from DHS custody, they are basically free to go anywhere they wish.  Secretary Mayorkas omitted this critical information.

In 2021 I was granted “listen only” access to a conference call hosted by Assistant Secretary (AS) ------ (name redacted for privacy).  AS ------ (name redacted for privacy) reported directly to Secretary Mayorkas.  During this call AS ------ (name redacted for privacy) informed Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas that all aliens being released in the area that the Congressman represented were being covid tested and were only released under the alternatives to detention program which included electronic ankle bracelet tracking.  This was not true.  I instructed the Chief Patrol Agent in the Sector being discussed to make sure that the Congressman was properly informed.

I assert that Secretary Mayorkas knowingly put Americans at risk when he violated the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Directive that instructed CBP to expel appropriate aliens under Title 42 authority when he ordered CBP to exempt unaccompanied minors without any medical justification.  Based on my experience, knowledge and previous briefings from CDC, I believe that this decision was arbitrary and lacked any factual or evidentiary basis.   Furthermore, based on previous briefings provided by CDC, as well as exposure modeling conducted by CBP, I believe this arbitrary decision, compounded by public statements made by DHS Secretary Mayorkas, significantly increased the risk of introducing COVID-19 into the U.S. population.  This arbitrary decision unquestionably placed CBP and Health and Human Services personnel, as well as the unaccompanied alien children themselves, at an increased risk of spreading and/or contracting COVID-19. 

Under Secretary Mayorkas’ direction, I watched the border security gains that were made over three decades vanish and the safety of border communities and our nation spiral backwards.   With each border security and immigration related decision that Secretary Mayorkas implemented, the volume of illegal entries increased, overwhelmed Border Patrol, and effectively transferred control of our southwest border to the Mexican drug cartels. 

I look forward to answering your questions.

Rodney Scott

Retired – Chief U.S. Border Patrol