Republican Congressional members have begun making the case that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, the standard for impeachment.
Secretary Mayorkas faced a confrontational House Homeland Security Committee in Washington, D.C. Committee Chairman Mark Green from Tennessee accused Mayorkas of lying to Congress under oath.
Representative Green zeroed in on Mayorkas’ claim that the Department of Homeland Security maintains operational control of the U.S.-Mexico border.
“You make it very clear, Mr. Secretary, that you’ve known all along, according to the definition that is written in the law passed by the Congress that you do not have operational control. And yet in testimony to this House, under oath, the definition was read to you. … That sounds like a lie under oath,” Green said.
Republican Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana followed up on the Chairman’s remarks, accusing Secretary Mayorkas of violating eleven laws throughout the duration of his term as head of Homeland Security. Higgins continued to accuse the Secretary of failing the United States.
“You’ve brought generational trauma upon our country. I believe history will witness your era of service as a transitional time in our country. What was America before Secretary Mayorkas and what was America like after him? It’s stunning that you can sit there and smugly grin as if you’ve not miserably failed your country!” said Higgins.
Texas Congressman August Pfluger, who represents the 11th District of Texas, made Secretary Mayorkas face a family who lost a grandmother and 7-year-old child in a car accident that involved a fleeing human smuggler.
Mayorkas sat up in his chair and turned to face the family before facing further castigation from Representative Pfluger.
“They came here today because they want answers. They came here today because of the failures of you and your leadership. They came here because they want closure,” Pfluger said.
The House hearing is not the first time Congressional Republicans have torn into Secretary Mayorkas. Mayorkas was also harshly questioned by Republican Senators in late March.
Mayorkas defended himself throughout the meeting and chose to directly address the grieving family.
Mayorkas told the family that “my heart breaks for your loss. My heart breaks for the loss of all victims of criminal activity.”
Mayorkas also agreed to meet with the family in Pfluger’s office after the hearing but told the Congressman that he believed the tragedy was being politicized.
Democrats in Congress dismissed the Republican hearing as political gamesmanship. Representative Dan Goldman of New York, who also sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, tweeted that the best solution was to focus on fixing immigration laws.
“The GOP admitted that they came to this hearing to build a case to impeach Sec Mayorkas, but impeachment is reserved for treason, bribery or high crimes — not policy disputes. Congress must fix our broken immigration system, not use important hearings for political gamesmanship.”
In a statement to The Dallas Express, Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg defended Secretary Mayorkas’ record and dismissed Republican impeachment efforts.
“Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people. The Department will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border, protect the nation from terrorism, improve our cybersecurity, all while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. Instead of pointing fingers and pursuing a baseless impeachment, Congress should work with the Department and pass legislation to fix our broken immigration system, which has not been updated in over 40 years.”
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reports that 1,544,087 enforcement actions have been taken to curb unlawful migration in the fiscal year 2023. This is already greater than the number of total enforcement actions that took place during the fiscal years of 2017 and 2018 combined.