Senator Markwayne Mullin Calls for Enhanced Border Security Following Migrant Encounters Surge in Texas
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin addressed reports of a significant increase in unauthorized border crossings along the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, urging the Biden administration to take immediate executive action to curtail the flow. During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Mullin specifically cited new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection showing encounters exceeding 10,000 per day in the region, describing the situation as an operational crisis. He questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the agency's enforcement capabilities, calling for a reinstatement of asylum transit bans similar to those invoked during the previous administration. The senator's remarks come just days after Texas Governor Greg Abbott extended his state-level border initiative, Operation Lone Star, which Mullin praised as necessary but insufficient without corresponding federal deterrence. The exchange underscored deepening partisan divisions over immigration policy, as a bipartisan group of senators simultaneously works to finalize a compromise border security bill. No timeline for a vote on that legislation has been announced.