Former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted on Tuesday that the Biden administration should have moved sooner to strengthen immigration enforcement at the US-Mexico border.

Speaking at the Politico Security Summit, Mayorkas said the US immigration framework itself played a central role in shaping outcomes at the border, describing it as a “broken immigration system” with a “low bar” for admission based on claims of “credible fear of persecution.”

Asked whether earlier action on border policy, including raising standards for credible fear claims, could have resulted in President Donald Trump not returning to office with his 2024 election victory, Mayorkas responded: “I am not in a position to speculate, but I will tell you that I would be far more better rested and less punched.”

“I was very pleased that in June of 2024, we took executive action that, I thought, made reforms that were sensible and that proved successful,” he said. “Our tougher border stance in June of ‘24 was coupled with an increased focus on providing lawful pathways for people to arrive at the United States outside the hands of smugglers — more secure and more humanitarian. Those two combined — our numbers dropped 70, 75 percent.”

He added that internal policy shifts were aimed at balancing enforcement with legal migration pathways during increased flows of migrants arriving at US entry points following the Covid pandemic.

Mayorkas was impeached by the US House of Representatives in 2024 over allegations that he failed to enforce immigration laws, though he rejected those claims during his tenure at the Department of Homeland Security. In his remarks on Tuesday, he also defended the agency’s structure and coordination across departments. “There’s a symbiosis from one agency to another in between and amongst them,” he said. “I think there’s a greater synergy when tackling some of the problems that the department encounters.”

He added that DHS remains effective in its mission. “it’s productive and healthy to always revisit periodically to take a fresh look,” he said, adding that DHS “now is more fit for purpose than it ever has been.”