Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday downplayed the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border, saying it is not "unique" to the United States.
"The challenge of migration is not unique to the United States, nor to the border communities that confront it every day," Mayorkas told the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "Around the world, there are more displaced people than at any time since World War II. Mass migration has gripped our own hemisphere."
The comments come as the new House Republican majority gears up for hearings on the border crisis and potential impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas.
"If anybody is a prime candidate for impeachment in this town, it's Mayorkas," Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.) told CNN this week.
Border authorities tallied a record-high 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022. There were 233,740 encounters at the southern border in November alone, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Mayorkas in December issued a gag order barring border officials from sharing information with reporters about the magnitude of illegal immigration at the southern border.
The secretary on Thursday said U.S. immigration is "a broken system in desperate need of legislative reform."