House Republicans building case to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas
WASHINGTON (TND) — Among the top priorities for Republicans, who hold just a four-seat majority in the House, is pursuing the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Some lawmakers are already building their case against him.
At the center of his two-year tenure leading the agency has been a mission to carry out a more humanitarian immigration policy while still insisting the laws of the land will be enforced.
Earlier this month, at a press conference, Mayorkas said once again, “the border is not open," but Republicans insist his policies have sent the opposite message and have been the catalyst for record numbers of migrants coming to the border, undermining operation control of the border.
They are also accusing Mayorkas of lying under oath during an April 28 House Judiciary Committee hearing.
"Will you testify under oath right now, do we have operational control, yes or no?" Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, asked.
"Yes, we do," Mayorkas said.
Last week, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas filed articles of impeachment in which he laid out his charges.
"Alejandro Mayorkas needs to be removed from office forthwith," Fallon said in an interview with Sinclair, adding that he believes Mayorkas "ceded control of that to the Mexican drug cartels."
Others are making the case the situation at the border is threatening us national security. Last year, U.S. Border Patrol arrested 12,028 non-citizens with criminal convictions and 67 whose names appear on the terror watch list.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said an investigation into Mayorkas' role could result in an impeachment inquiry.
“If the person is derelict in their duties and they're harming Americans and Americans are actually dying by the lack of their work, that could rise to that occasion," McCarthy said.
But some Republicans oppose the effort.
“Impeachment is 'in case of emergency break glass' and it seems as if we have taken that to be a common thing. It shouldn’t be a common thing," Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told CNN.
Others on the front lines say they think Mayorkas has their best interest in mind.
"I have sat down with him and I have talked to him and I believe he is sincere in trying to get us that support that we’ve said that we needed. As a former prosecutor he’s very big on making sure there was a consequence for people that flaunt our laws," said Jason Owens, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector in an interview with Sinclair last week.
For his part, Mayorkas says he has no plans to resign and the Department of Homeland Security is working to make the case that Congress should instead point the finger at themselves for not making immigration legislation a top priority.
