DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas REFUSES to reveal how many migrant 'gotaways' have flooded the U.S, but admits immigration system is 'fundamentally broken' as he is grilled on his request for $108 BILLION

Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas testified Wednesday that the U.S. immigration system is 'fundamentally broken' and later refused to provide lawmakers with the number of known illegal immigrant 'gotaways.'

The admission came as the embattled secretary was testifying before the House Appropriations Committee making the case for why the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should receive more money than last year. 

DHS's 2025 budget totals $108 billion, a four percent increase from the year before. 

'Our immigration system ... is fundamentally broken, including our asylum system that so significantly impacts the security of our borders and the processes we administer at it,' Mayorkas said in his opening remarks. 

'Only Congress can fix our broken and out dated system and only Congress can address our need for more border patrol agents, asylum officers and immigration judges,' he continued.

Shortly after when pressed by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, how many 'gotaways' have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, Mayorkas could not come up with a number. 

'I don't have the number,' Mayorkas replied, saying he would provide that data to lawmakers later.

Hinson shot back '1.7 million gotaways.'  

Mayorkas' budget request comes after the House voted to impeach him in February for high crimes and misdemeanors related to his handling of the southern border and for lying to lawmakers. 

Speaker Mike Johnson's office originally planned to send the articles over to the Senate Wednesday hoping to immediately begin a trial. 

But Tuesday afternoon GOP Senators asked that Johnson hold off on sending the articles to give the upper chamber more time.  

A spokesperson for Speaker Johnson said that 'to ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week.'

'There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial,' Taylor Haulsee told DailyMail.com. 

Whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer actually decides to hold a trial, however, is up in the air. 

Some Republicans had concerns that Schumer would use the late Wednesday delivery to try and send senators home over the weekend without holding a trial at all. 

'Many House and Senate members think Johnson’s timing is dumb, because a Wednesday night delivery [and] Thursday afternoon floor fight aren’t enough time to win the news cycle and to hammer the fight in Washington,' a senior Senate aide told DailyMail.com earlier Tuesday. 

The two articles of impeachment accuse Mayorkas of failing to enforce immigration law and lying to Congress about the state of the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Mayorkas, 64, is now only the second cabinet secretary to be impeached and the first in nearly 150 years. 

The DHS chief has overseen consecutive record breaking years for migrant apprehensions. 

Apprehension records were set in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Last year alone, over 2.4 million migrants were apprehended while crossing into the U.S., according to Customs and Border Protection data, yet another record. 

'Our immigration system ... is fundamentally broken, including our asylum system that so significantly impacts the security of our borders and the processes we administer at it,' Mayorkas said in his opening remarks. 

'Only Congress can fix our broken and out dated system and only Congress can address our need for more border patrol agents, asylum officers and immigration judges,' he continued.

The White House, meanwhile, has called Republican-led impeachment effort a 'petty political' move, saying 'history will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship.'

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer told DailyMail.com that if Senate Democrats dismiss Mayorkas impeachment articles before even holding a trial, 'they will be defying their Constitutional duty to their constituents and betraying Americans who have suffered under the worst border crisis in our history.'

'Voters won’t forget this dereliction of duty, and we will remind them of the Schumer Senate’s negligence every day until Election Day.'

With impeachment on their mind, though, it is yet to be seen how lawmakers will receive Mayorkas' budget request.