of the immigration court docket and prolong their time in the United States unlawfully. On May 13, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas admitted during testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was releasing inadmissible aliens, whom the Department of Homeland Security is required to detain, into the interior of the United States. This was an admission that under his direction, the Department of Homeland Security is violating the law. Secretary Mayorkas terminated the Migrant Protection Protocols, which provided a lawful avenue to consider claims and served as a deterrent to illegal immigration and aliens making fraudulent asylum claims. Secretary Mayorkas has even refused to tell aliens not to attempt to enter the United States illegally. During a White House press briefing on March 1, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas stated, We are not saying, Don’t come . . As a result of Secretary Mayorkas’s actions and policies, the border and the country are less secure today than when he began serving as Secretary. U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehensions have increased each month since he became Secretary. Since February 2021, over 4.28 million aliens have been apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel at the southwest land border. This number does not include the increasing number of got aways , illegal aliens who have evaded Border Patrol, of which there have been estimated to be between 1,000–2,400 per day. Under Secretary Mayorkas, over 300,000 unaccompanied alien children have been trafficked to the border, and at least 1,300 illegal aliens have died in attempted crossings. Secretary Mayorkas’s open border has left our Nation at greater risk of terrorism. In fiscal year 2022, 98 known-suspected-terrorists were apprehended at the border, in addition to 9 apprehensions in the first month of fiscal year 2023. These record numbers, combined with a blatant disregard for national security vetting procedures, are a failure to protect