The House Homeland Security Committee has approved two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, setting up a full House vote as early as next week to impeach the Biden administration official.
The committee voted down party lines to approve the impeachment articles, which accuse Mayorkas of having “repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security” and of having “made false statements to Congress” that the border is secure and closed and that DHS is in operational control of the border.
The articles will now go to the House where they will be voted on on the House floor. The vote came after a lengthy, and at times, fiery hearing in which Republicans outlined their case for why Mayorkas should be removed from office for allegedly mishandling the crisis at the southern border and Democrats accused Republicans of debasing the impeachment process for political purposes.
Republicans spent the hearing emphasizing their case against Mayorkas, pointing to record high border crossings, with the record for monthly crossings having been broken in December, and mass releases of migrants into the interior along with narrowed interior enforcement. They accuse Mayorkas of not following immigration law, which they say demands the detention of illegal immigrants, and of failing to secure the border.
“My colleagues across the aisle, seem to say that it’s acceptable that we’ve had 10 million illegal crossings in three years and we’ve had pushing 300,000 Americans dead from opioid overdose. We’re losing our country down there. And the man responsible for executing that policy is Alejandro Mayorkas,” Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., said.
Democrats pushed back, first attempting to adjourn the markup and then ripping into Republicans for the proceedings, accusing them of running a “sham” impeachment and of trying to impeach Mayorkas based purely on political motivations and policy disputes, and of interfering with Mayorkas’ efforts to solve the ongoing crisis.
“The extreme MAGA Republicans who are running the House of Representatives are deeply unserious people. They don’t want progress. They don’t want solutions,” Ranking Member Bennie Thompson said. “They want a political issue. And most of all, they want to please their disgraced former president.”
The impeachment articles come after a bitter months-long argument over the process. Green’s committee began investigating Mayorkas last year and House impeachment articles were referred to the committee in November.
Why do they want to impeach Mayorkas?
The House Homeland Security Committee has approved two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of having “repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security” and of having “made false statements to Congress” that the border is secure and closed and that DHS is in operational control of the border.
Republicans argue that Mayorkas has mishandled the crisis at the southern border and failed to secure the border, pointing to record high border crossings, mass releases of migrants into the interior, and narrowed interior enforcement. They accuse Mayorkas of not following immigration law, which they say demands the detention of illegal immigrants.
Democrats, on the other hand, argue that the impeachment proceedings are politically motivated and an attempt to interfere with Mayorkas’ efforts to address the crisis. They accuse Republicans of running a “sham” impeachment and of trying to impeach Mayorkas based purely on political motivations and policy disputes, and of interfering with Mayorkas’ efforts to solve the ongoing crisis.
Mayorkas has denied the allegations and defended his record in office, stating that the immigration system is broken and in need of reform. He has also pointed to the Biden administration’s efforts to address the crisis, including increased Border Patrol hiring, an anti-smuggling campaign, and an intensified anti-fentanyl effort that has seen more seizures of the deadly drug.
However, Republicans argue that the Biden administration’s policies have contributed to the crisis, and that Mayorkas has failed to secure the border and enforce immigration laws. The impeachment articles will now go to the House where they will be voted on on the House floor, and if approved, the case will go to the Senate for a trial.
