Sen. Johnson letter demands DHS Sec. Mayorkas reveal how many migrants released into the US

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Johnson penned a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding that he reveal by the end of the week how many migrants who were apprehended were released into the United States. 

"At yesterday’s Senate hearing you failed to answer my questions about basic information on apprehensions at the U.S. border," the Wisconsin Republican wrote to Mayorkas Wednesday. "Of the approximately 1.3 million apprehensions, how many people have been returned, how many people have been detained, and how many people have been dispersed into the U.S.?"

Johnson's figure is a reference to the approximate number of apprehensions to date this year.

"When asked for the same information at a House hearing today, you still could not provide the data," Johnson noted. "As the crisis at the border worsens each week, it is unacceptable that you chose to appear before the American people at multiple hearings unprepared to provide such crucial information."

In concluding his letter, Johnson said that if Mayorkas cannot give an answer by the end of the week he must "provide a written response explaining why" he cannot answer the question. 

"It’s hard, if not impossible to believe, that the administration cannot provide this basic information," Johnson told Fox News. "DHS has 240,000 employees and Secretary Mayorkas hasn’t tasked anyone with keeping track of this Biden made border crisis? It is a travesty that should outrage all Americans."

MAYORKAS GRILLED ON CLAIMS DHS WAS WARNED OF DEL RIO CRISIS IN JUNE

More than 14,000 Haitian migrants were living outdoors after surging across the border last week, camping under the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas. DHS has since sent resources and agents to cope with the crisis.

Mayorkas has repeatedly been grilled by Republican members of Congress. On Wednesday, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, quizzed Mayorkas on reports that the Biden administration had been warned about an incoming migrant crisis at Del Rio as early as June – months before thousands of Haitian migrants arrived.

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"We haven't seen before such a rapid irregular migration of individuals as we have observed and experienced with respect to the Haitians who've crossed the border in Del Rio, Texas," Mayorkas said Wednesday, attempting to put the crisis in perspective. "That has been an unprecedented speed."

Fox News reached out to Mayorkas' office but did not receive an immediate response.

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this article.