Sen. Hawley accuses the Department of Homeland Security of ‘prioritizing woke climate program’ despite historic crisis at the U.S. southern border
- DHS Sec. Mayorkas announced the program by pointing to the impacts climate changes has ‘on our national security and our collective global security’
- Plan is to develop ‘climate literacy’ and ‘next generation of experts’
- Missouri Republican said the ‘woke’ policy came at the expense of the border
- Biden’s major climate initiatives remain stalled in his Build Back Better plan
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) blasted Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ announcement of a new climate change program – saying he was pushing ‘woke’ policies rather than tending to the border crisis.
Hawley, who sits on the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, ripped the idea in a letter to Mayorkas about a week after he announced the program.
‘Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the crisis at the southern border, you are prioritizing the creation of woke partisan government programs,’ he wrote.
He pointed to a press release where Mayorkas announced the program to ‘develop the next generation of climate experts, improve climate literacy throughout the Department, and help us execute our Climate Action Plan to remain mission-resilient while reducing our own impacts on the environment.’
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., accused the Homeland Security Department of pursuing ‘woke’ climate change policies at the expense of the border
Members of the Climate Change Action Group could get full-time DHS positions.
According to Hawley, that was a far cry from the agency’s main mission of protecting the border amid a surge of border crossings – and he asked Mayorkas to specify the legal authority he had to create the program.
‘Meanwhile, the southern border is experiencing a surge in drug trafficking and illegal border crossings. For example, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced this month that southern Texas had experienced a 1,066% increase in fentanyl seizures in the past year,’ he wrote.
He also pointed to the spike in border crossings, with 1.7 million encounters with migrants for the 2021 fiscal year, according to Customs and Border Protection.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported the letter.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced the policies this month
A U.S. Border Patrol agent speaks with mothers-to-be from Haiti and their spouses after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 10, 2021, in Yuma, Arizona
Mayorkas says climate change impacts are driving immigration. People embrace as tornado damage is seen after extreme weather hit the region December 12, 2021, in Mayfield, Kentucky
Mayorkas (c) announced the program by pointing to the impacts climate changes has ‘on our national security and our collective global security.’
Hawley penned a blistering letter to Mayorkas
The letter comes after President Biden held a press conference for an hour and fifty minutes without fielding a question on immigration.
Hawley asked such questions as: ‘What is the Department’s statutory authority for the Climate Change Professionals Program?’ and ‘How does creating the Climate Change Professionals Program fit into the mission and timeliness of the current priorities of the Department of Homeland Security?’
Mayorkas announced the program by pointing to the impacts climate changes has ‘on our national security and our collective global security.’
‘At the Department, we must and will do more to address the climate crisis.’
He said the negative effects of climate change on ‘vulnerable populations’ creates ‘additional migrant and refugee populations.’
The effort comes as many of Biden’s multi-billion programs to address climate change are stalled with the president unable to find 50 votes for his $1.8 trillion Build Back Better plan.