House Republicans Launch Impeachment of Homeland Secretary Mayorkas Over Southern Border Crisis
The House Committee on Homeland Security has released draft articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Led by Republicans, the committee's 20-page resolution accuses Mayorkas of high crimes and misdemeanors, particularly his alleged "willful" disregard for immigration laws.
The two articles of impeachment assert that Mayorkas has demonstrated a "systemic refusal to comply with the law" by failing to effectively manage the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and by breaching the public trust.
Chairman Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee, emphasized that the committee had exhausted all other avenues to hold Mayorkas accountable and stressed the importance of Congress exercising its constitutional duty by pursuing impeachment.
On December 7th 2023 Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN that he believed that securing the border “does violence to our fundamental values.”
In response, Democrats on the committee and officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dismissed these articles as a mere "sham."
Ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, accused Republicans of exploiting their impeachment power solely for political gain, claiming that their actions hinder bipartisan efforts to address border security issues. Thompson defended Mayorkas, citing his long-standing commitment to upholding the law and serving the nation for over three decades.
The DHS released a memo on Sunday denouncing Republicans' impeachment efforts as a distraction from other pressing national security priorities and the actual work Congress should be doing to address the broken immigration system. The memo further accused Republicans of prioritizing campaigning over finding bipartisan solutions, undermining Mayorkas' efforts to secure the border, and baselessly pursuing his impeachment.
The committee plans to convene on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to discuss and potentially vote on the articles. If the articles pass the committee, they will proceed to a full House impeachment vote. Ultimately, the Democratic-led Senate will have the final say on whether to convict Mayorkas.
Congressional Republicans have attributed the significant increase in migrant arrivals at the southern border last year, totaling around 2.5 million according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, to Mayorkas' leadership. The Biden administration, however, has attributed the surge to the rise in violent crises worldwide, which have forced many individuals to seek refuge in the United States.
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While some conservative state leaders have echoed the concerns of congressional Republicans, arranging transportation for groups of migrants to cities such as Denver, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., city leaders receiving these migrants view these efforts as politically motivated.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, for instance, described the actions as a political stunt.
Mayorkas and other officials at the DHS argue that it is the responsibility of Congress to overhaul federal immigration laws and address the country's broken immigration system. Currently, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is working on a new immigration deal.
If the effort is successful, Mayorkas would become the second Cabinet official in U.S. history to face impeachment. The first was William Belknap, the secretary of war under President Ulysses Grant, who faced impeachment in 1876 for bribery allegations after he had already resigned from office.