Chief of Excuses: DHS secretary blames climate change for border crisis, Roe decision for violence

As illegal migrant numbers are hitting record highs at the Southern Border and violence is rising across the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday blamed the problems on climate change and the Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe v. Wade.

Even though Customs and Border Protection agents encountered nearly a quarter of a million migrants at the Southern Border in May, the highest number of monthly encounters ever, Mayorkas told ABC's "This Week": "I think that we are doing a good job. We need to do better."

He said the Biden administration is focused on working with Latin American countries to handle illegal immigration. 

"This is a -- this is a phenomena that not only the United States is experiencing. Colombia now has more than 2 million Venezuelans within its borders. Costa Rica has indicated that 2 percent of its population is Nicaraguan, and that might rise to 5 percent," he said. 

The increase in illegal immigration is due to COVID-19 and climate change, among other things, the White House official said. 

"The migration that is occurring throughout the hemisphere is reflective of the economic downturn, increase in violence throughout the region, the -- the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of climate change. We're really in a -- in a regional challenge, and we are addressing it with our regional partners," he claimed.

Mayorkas, whose agency oversees counterterrorism efforts, also blamed the increased violence across the nation on the Supreme Court ruling that abortion is not a constitutional right.

The secretary told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday that his agency is "very pleased with the Supreme Court's decision" to end the Trump-era remain in Mexico policy. 

However, Mayorkas also said DHS has "seen a heightened threat environment over the last several months over a number of different volatile issues that galvanize people on different sides of each issue." 

His department is "very mindful that the Supreme Court's decision in reversing and overturning Roe v. Wade has really heightened the threat environment," Mayorkas stressed.

"And we have deployed resources to ensure the safety and security of the Supreme Court and the justices," Mayorkas told CBS's Margaret Brennan. 

The DHS resources may not be enough. As protesters target the Supreme Court justices, the court's chief law enforcement official appealed to the Republican governors of Maryland and Virginia to end protests at the justices' homes.

His request comes after a California man was arrested outside of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in an alleged assassination attempt.