News Roundup: Mayorkas: 12,000 Migrants Released into U.S. from Del Rio Camp, Number Could Rise

Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed that about 12,000 migrants who arrived in Del Rio, Texas, over the past two weeks have been released into the U.S., in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

BY JACK CROWE September 27, 2021 Good morning and welcome to the News Editor's Roundup, a weekly newsletter that will ensure you're up to date on the developments in politics, business, and culture that will shape the week's news cycle — as well as those that might escape mainstream attention.    Mayorkas: 12,000 Migrants Released into U.S. from Del Rio Camp, Number Could Rise Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed that about 12,000 migrants who arrived in Del Rio, Texas, over the past two weeks have been released into the U.S., in an interview on Fox News Sunday.   Host Chris Wallace noted that out of 30,000 migrants who came to Del Rio, Mayorkas has already stated that about 12,400 will have their cases heard by immigration judges, while another 5,000 are still being processed by the Department of Homeland Security.   "Of the 17,400 that weren't deported back or returned on their own to Mexico . . . how many have been released into the U.S.?" Wallace asked.   "They're released on conditions, and approximately I think it's about 10,000 or so, 12,000," Mayorkas responded. Regarding the 5,000 migrants still in processing, Mayorkas said any potential deportations would be made based on "our public health and public interest authorities.   Pelosi: 'Seems Self-Evident' Reconciliation Bill Will Be Less Than $3.5 Trillion House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to acknowledge that the cost of the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion spending resolution will ultimately be lowered before passage, in an interview on ABC's This Week.   The House Budget Committee approved the resolution on Saturday, although Democratic representative Scott Peters (Calif.) joined Republicans on the committee to oppose the measure.   "I know the Budget Committee passed a resolution calling for $3.5 trillion, but it sounds like you acknowledge that the final number is going to be somewhat smaller than that," This Week host George Stephanopoulos told Pelosi.   "Yeah, I mean that seems self-evident," Pelosi said. The Speaker then dismissed disagreements among Democrats over whether to back the resolution.   Police Academies Face Recruiting Drought after Year of Relentless Cop Demonization Back in May, the leaders of the policing college in Alexandria, Minn., held a special luncheon for their students. A local business paid to cater it. Two members of the state legislature with law-enforcement backgrounds showed up to talk to the prospective officers.   The luncheon was a first for the school, which has been training Minnesota law-enforcement officers since the mid 1960s and is now one of the largest police-training centers in the state.   The purpose of the lunch was to thank the new graduates of the two-year program, and to encourage first-year students to come back and finish their degree, said Scott Berger, the coordinator of the program at Alexandria Technical & Community College, located about two hours northwest of the Twin Cities. Considering the dark cloud around policing in 2021, particularly in Minnesota, Berger felt like his students deserved encouragement.   "All they were hearing and what we were hearing from them was bad news. It's like, 'I don't even know if I really want to do this.' And we started noticing that our enrollment numbers were going down," Berger told National Review.   While police departments have faced recruiting struggles for years, Berger said attracting candidates has been increasingly difficult over the last year and a half, starting with the chaos and classroom closures at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, and exacerbated by the riots and anti-police rhetoric after George Floyd died under a Minneapolis cop's knee in May 2020.   Retired Mounted Border Patrol Supervisor Debunks Dems' 'Whipping' Narrative The Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers have bought into a lie about the Border Patrol agents doing their best to address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Del Rio, Texas.   The lie — that mounted Border Patrol agents were recorded "whipping" Haitian migrants as they tried to cross the Rio Grande into the U.S. — was spread by partisan journalists and activists on Twitter, and quickly picked up White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.    George Syer, a retired horse patrol coordinator in the Rio Grande Valley and Border Patrol supervisor told National Review that the mounted agents were acting according to standard procedure — a fact he said would be obvious to anyone with even a passing familiarity with horses.   "Spinning the rein is what we do and any horse person that trains horses and has to deal with them, you will find out that they normally spin the end of the rope, and that gets the horse moving," Syer said.   CVS Health Training Asks Employees to Make a 'Personal Commitment Plan' to 'Mitigate Bias' A recent CVS Health employee training encouraged staff to understand their privileges and to make "a personal commitment plan" to "mitigate bias," according to a new report.    "Understanding your privileges and how to leverage them so we can support others is a key component in being an active ally," CVS employees were told on an online call, Fox Business reported.   "Allyship is the act of advocating for as well as supporting communities other than your own," the instructor said. "So being an ally means that we're aware of our own identities as well as the intersectional identities of others. We're recognizing and actively mitigating bias, and we're modeling inclusive leadership behaviors."   ASU Students Harassed at Multicultural Center over Being White, Supporting Police Two white Arizona State University students were harassed at the school's multicultural center over their race and their support for police, according to reports.   Video of the incident purports to show black students attempting to force two white male students to leave the area, claiming they were making the space "uncomfortable" with their whiteness and a pro-police sticker.   "What did I do wrong?" one of the white students asked.    One of the black students said the police lives matter sticker on his laptop was offensive.    "You're making this space uncomfortable," the student continued.   A second white student said the group was making him uncomfortable, to which someone in the group replied, "But you're white! Do you understand what a multicultural space is? It means you're not being centered."   FBI Investigates Alleged Attack on Female Soldier by Male Afghan Refugees at New Mexico Base The FBI has launched an investigation into the alleged assault of a female soldier perpetrated by a group of male Afghan refugees being lodged at a New Mexico military complex.   The agency is pursuing a tip originating from the Fort Bliss Afghan refugee housing complex in New Mexico that a female service member, whose identity has not been revealed, was attacked on September 19 by a "small group of male evacuees," Fox News first reported following receipt of confirmation from the FBI.   "We received the referral from Fort Bliss, and our office is investigating the allegation," FBI public affairs officer special agent Jeanette Harper told Fox News.   Abbott Vows to Hire Border Patrol Agents Punished over 'Whipping' Incident Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday put his support behind Border Patrol agents who are under investigation by the Biden administration for swinging long reins while interacting with Haitian migrants, vowing to hire any who are at risk of being fired.   During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked the Republican governor to respond to images of officers on horseback in Del Rio, Texas swinging their reins while blocking Haitian migrants from entering the U.S.   Abbott said the incident was the fault of the Biden administration as "they wouldn't have been in that situation had the Biden administration enforced the immigration laws."   New Poll Shows Majority of Americans Lack Confidence in Biden's Immigration Policy Amid the spiraling border fiasco in Del Rio, Texas, where over ten thousand undocumented migrants have been camping under a bridge while waiting to be processed by border personnel, a new poll shows that 56 percent of Americans don't trust President Biden to make wise immigration policy decisions.   Thirty-seven percent of Americans are "not at all confident" while 20 percent are "not too confident" in Biden's handling of the immigration issue, according to a Thursday survey conducted by Pew Research. Biden's approval for immigration policy-making dropped seven percent among Republicans, twelve percent among Democrats, and ten percent among Independents from March 2021 to September 2021, the poll indicates.   Education Department Reimburses Florida School Officials Penalized for Defying Mask-Mandate Ban The U.S. Department of Education has reimbursed several Florida school-board members who were financially penalized by the state government for defying the mask-mandate ban spearheaded by Republican governor Ron DeSantis.   School officials in Alachua County received $147,719 as compensation for the fines imposed by the Florida Department of Education, in a first instance of the Biden administration fulfilling its promise to help school districts counter DeSantis's executive order with federal funds. Rather than prohibit masks, the governor's directive leaves the decision to send children to school with masks at the discretion of parents, making the practice optional. 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