Capitol Hill turned tense Wednesday as House Republicans pressed Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas over his agency's handling of the southern border.

The GOP-led House Commitee on Homeland Security's hearing was supposed to be about the agency's budget, but Republicans teed off on the administration's border policies. 

What You Need To Know

  • House Republicans used a hearing overseeing the Department of Homeland Security to tee off on the Biden administration's border policies

  • At the hearing, which was scheduled to focus on the agency's budget, Republicans instead brought grieving families to face off with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

  • One woman's child and mother were killed when their car was struck by an alleged human trafficker on the run from law enforcement; another's child died of a fentanyl overdose

  • Democrats challenged the notion that former President Donald Trump's border policies worked, citing overwhelmed law enforcement and overcrowded detention centers

"It's obvious that we have a problem at our border. We have families that are suffering. This was one example of hundreds of thousands. So I look forward to us introducing a real border security bill and putting it in front of the president to get it passed," Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Spectrum News.  

Mayorkas was brought face to face with two grieving mothers whose children died, Republicans say, because of the Biden administration's policies.

"Mr. Secretary, they're standing there, and I think they deserve an apology from you," Pfluger said. 

In response, Mayorkas stood up from his seat and apologized to Elisa Tambunga during the heated House hearing. Tambunga's 7-year-old daughter Emilia and mother Maria were killed when an alleged human trafficker crashed into them during a high-speed chase with law enforcement in the west Texas town of Ozona. 

"I want change. I want action. I want laws enforced and policies enforced," said Tambunga.

She described how her daughter participated in many activities, from chess to taekwondo to 4-H. 

"(Emilia) was one of a kind, and my mom was so tender and my mom was literally her right hand and, we're just comforted by the fact that they're together still," said Tambunga. 

"I can't sleep, I still can't eat that well. I have to find a new purpose, and she was my entire purpose," she went on to say.  

The questioning at the hearing was split between party lines. Texas Republicans dismissed Mayorkas's claims that his agency has control over the border. Democrats challenged the notion that former President Donald Trump's border policies worked. 

"Hundreds of children were detained for more than 72 hours in violation of the law. And that was when our border patrol agents and others were overwhelmed," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, holding up an image of immigrants held at a border facility. "Secretary, would you please remind me who was president in 2019 when this photo was taken?" 

After the hearing, Mayorkas met privately with Tambunga and another mother from Texas, Kim Gillihan of Cypress, whose 14-year-old son, Joshua, died from fentanyl poisoning. Gillihan remembered her only child as a "really sweet kid, a very smart kid." 

She said she appreciated Mayorkas taking the time to meet with them. 

"(What) I really would love to see change, is the White House actually having a COVID-like response to this," Gillihan told Spectrum News. "Yes, we need to stop these drugs from coming in, but unfortunately, they are here."

Following the hearing, Tambunga said she hopes her family was about to get their message across.

"There's a face to the border crisis. And I know that doesn't get across as much you hear about it, but you don't see it. So that's what we came here to do," said Tambunga.

The secretary maintained that his agency is working within the limitations of a broken system.

"I use a lens of reasonableness in defining operational control, are we maximizing the resources that we have to deliver the most effective results, and under that definition, we are doing so very much to gain operational control," Mayorkas said.