House Republicans released two articles of impeachment on Sunday against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for his alleged mishandling of the U.S.-Mexico border immigration problem. Republicans contend that Mayorkas has failed to uphold the law, leading to a significant public safety concern.
“Alejandro N. Mayorkas willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in the Constitution, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” Republicans state in their impeachment resolution.
Republicans are preparing to mark up articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at 10:00 am ET.
Democrats dismiss the move by House Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as politically motivated, viewing it as an attack on President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. They argue that legal scholars generally agree that Mayorkas has not committed any high crimes warranting impeachment proceedings.
“This unserious impeachment is a testament to partisan politics over rules and reason,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) sent a letter to Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.)
“Given the grave importance of impeachment — which you once described as ‘probably the most extreme remedy that our constitution affords for taking someone out of office’ — this Committee should do better. At the very least, it should follow the rules and practices established over more than two centuries of congressional history,” he added.
What’s in the articles of impeachment?
The first impeachment article details Republicans’ discontent with the Biden administration’s border policies, squarely placing blame on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the surge in migrant arrivals at the border and the influx of illicit narcotics, including lethal fentanyl, into the United States. It asserts that Mayorkas violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by opting to release illegal immigrants into the country’s interior rather than detaining them.
“Since February 2021, more than 800,000 aliens have been encountered by US Customs and Border Protection personnel at the southwest land border,” the first article stated. “This number does not include the increasing number of “got aways”, aliens who have evaded Border Patrol apprehension, of which there have been estimated to be approximately 1,000 per day.”
The second article of impeachment stipulates public health safety concerns, highlighting that Mayorkas violated the Public Health Service Act, which suspends the right for a person to enter the U.S. from a country where a quarantinable communicable disease exists. Republicans’ concern was the possible spread of COVID-19 when immigrants are released into the country instead of being detained at the border.
Congressman Mark Green speaks on the 1st day of CPAC Washington, DC conference at Gaylord National Harbor Resort Convention on March 2, 2023 [ Representative Mark Green]
“These articles lay out a clear, compelling and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s impeachment,” Representative Mark Green, Republican of Tennessee and the chairman of the House Homeland Security panel, said in a statement. “Congress has a duty to see that the executive branch implements and enforces the laws we have passed.”
These articles of impeachment follow the involvement of Mayorkas in onerous negotiations with senators seeking to reach a bipartisan deal on border policy, which is becoming increasingly difficult with Republicans all or nothing attitude.
Mayorkas will need to stand trial where both the House and Senate need to vote in a two-thirds majority in order to oust him, but even if these impeachment charges become approved by the two-thirds of the House, it seems as if it will die in the Democratic-led Senate.
