The Political Insider

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lashed out at GOP Rep. Kat Cammack after she told a story involving a classmate who had been kidnapped by an illegal immigrant.

The rather tense exchange began when Cammack posed a question centering on the story of a high school student from her class having been kidnapped by an illegal alien.

The abductor, according to the Rep.’s story, had been deported several times.

“I just want to bring it home a little bit,” she said during a hearing on Homeland Security which centered around the ongoing border crisis.

“See, I’m from a small town out West, and the month before I was supposed to graduate high school – which was 2006 – one of my classmates was kidnapped by an illegal who had been deported multiple times,” Cammack (R-FL) continued.

“How many have to be kidnapped across America before you will take action?” she asked Mayorkas.

RELATED: Report: Four Arrested At Border For Matching Terror Watchlist

Mayorkas Lashes Out Over Disrespectful Question on Illegal Immigrant Who Kidnapped Cammack’s Classmate

The DHS Secretary didn’t respond kindly to Cammack’s personal tale of how lax border policies can have a personal impact on Americans, calling the Republican Representative’s question “extraordinarily disrespectful.”

“I find that question to be extraordinarily disrespectful,” he shot back.

“Disrespectful, not only to me but disrespectful to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, and to all the front-line personnel throughout this country who dedicate themselves to the safety and security of the American people.”

Mayorkas didn’t describe what he found disrespectful about the question.

Cammack responded, opining that Americans may find the administration’s inability to get the border crisis under control ‘disrespectful.’

“I’m sorry that you feel that way,” she replied. “I’m sure the American people feel very disrespected about the border situation they’re facing right now.”

RELATED: Biden DHS Secretary Admits US On Track To Encounter More Migrants Than Any Time Over The Past 20 Years

No Border Crisis Here

Aside from taking offense to a personal question about a friend who had been kidnapped by an illegal immigrant, Mayorkas continued to refuse to define the situation at the border as a ‘crisis.’

Rep. John Katko (R-NY) challenged the DHS Secretary to call the situation exactly that.

“The situation at the border is undoubtedly difficult … Given the tremendous rise in surge of individuals coming to the border, wouldn’t it be fair to call it a crisis?” Katko questioned. “Because that’s what your agents are calling it.”

“I’m not spending any time on the language that we use,” Mayorkas countered.

If Secretary of Defense Mayorkas isn’t willing to use the language, I certainly will. There is a major crisis at the border.

A crisis Mayorkas has admitted leaves the United States on pace to see the most migrants breaching the border “in the last 20 years.”

A crisis leading to thousands of migrant teenagers being housed at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

A crisis leading to a “boom time for (drug) cartels.”

A crisis that has resulted in individuals with names matching those on the FBI’s terror watchlist being apprehended at the southern border.

“We need to wake up, we need to understand,” Katko has previously said, urging Biden to admit he’s made a mistake with his immigration policies.