DHS Secretary nominee Mayorkas will 'study' whether to keep existing border barriers in place

President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said Tuesday during his Senate confirmation hearing that he will "study" whether to keep existing border barriers in place.

"President-elect Biden has committed to stop construction of the border wall. It would be my responsibility to execute on that and I have not looked at the question of what we do with respect to the wall that has already been built," Mayorkas told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. 

"I look forward to studying that question, understanding the costs and benefits of doing so, being open and transparent with you and all members of this committee, sharing my thoughts and considerations and working cooperative with you toward a solution," he also said.

Currently, there are no physical barriers on the much of the roughly 2,000-mile southern U.S. border. According to DHS, a border barrier is present on 452 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.