The House Homeland Security Committee on Sunday released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“His lawless behavior was exactly what the Framers gave us the impeachment power to remedy,” Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said of Mayorkas.
The two impeachment articles “lay out a clear, compelling and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment,” said Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
The first article asserts that Mayorkas has failed to enforce America’s border and immigration laws and has instead executed policies that incentivize illegal immigration.
The second article contends that Mayorkas is in breach of public trust and has knowingly made false statements to Congress and the American people.
“He has willfully and systemically refused to comply with immigration laws enacted by Congress,” Green said. “He has breached the public trust by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people, and obstructing congressional oversight of his department. These facts are beyond dispute, and the results of his lawless behavior have been disastrous for our country.”
In April 2022, appearing before Congress, Mayorkas was asked by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas: “Will you testify under oath right now: Do we have operational control [of the border], yes or no?”
“Yes, we do,” Mayorkas responded.
The Secure Fence Act of 2006 defines operational control as “prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.”
During another hearing last July, Roy said Mayorkas was dishonest with the American people when he claimed to have operational control of the border even as thousands of illegal aliens were crossing the border daily.
Under Mayorkas’ leadership within the Biden administration, Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than 8.5 million illegal aliens at America’s borders. The exact number of those illegal aliens who have been released into the U.S. is not publicly reported, but during a closed-door meeting with Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 8, Mayorkas reportedly said that more than 85% of the illegal migrants encountered at the border are released into the country.
Since Mayorkas was sworn in to his post on Feb. 2, 2021, CBP has confiscated more than 53,000 lbs. of fentanyl. CBP has also apprehended more than 300 individuals on America’s terrorist watchlist between ports of entry in that same time.
“Empowered and enriched cartels, mass fentanyl poisonings, surges of terror watchlist suspects, more criminal illegal aliens causing harm in our communities, and traumatized and exploited migrants will be Secretary Mayorkas’ open-borders legacy,” Green said.
The Tennessee lawmaker claims that “Secretary Mayorkas has also completely disregarded the separation of powers, a bedrock of our constitutional republic.”
“Congress has a duty to see that the executive branch implements and enforces the laws we have passed. Yet Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly refused to do so,” the committee chairman said.
Green called Mayorkas’ actions an “affront to a coequal branch of government, to the Constitution, and to the American people, seriously. The House of Representatives must impeach Secretary Mayorkas.”
The committee is scheduled to convene Tuesday for a markup of the two impeachment articles.
Asked about the impeachment proceedings against him during a CNN interview in early January, Mayorkas praised the “tireless dedication” of his colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security, adding that he is “incredibly proud of coming to work every day and leaving the office, as late as it may be, having done the work with such extraordinary people.”
The committee’s decision to move forward with the impeachment of Mayorkas follows a five-phase investigation into Mayorkas, in which 10 public hearings examined these topics:
- “DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Dereliction of Duty.”
- “DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Has Emboldened Cartels, Criminals and America’s Enemies.”
- “The Devastating Human Costs of the DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Open-Borders Policies.”
- “The Historic Dollar Costs of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Open-Borders Policies.”
- “The Massive Waste and Abuse Enabled by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.”
Even if the House votes to impeach Mayorkas, it’s unlikely that two-thirds of the Senate would vote to remove him from office, given that Democrats control the upper chamber.
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