Two articles of impeachment were filed against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday. House Republicans vow to move quickly to remove the Cabinet member for his inability to control the ongoing border crisis.
Republicans accuse Mayorkas of “high crimes and misdemeanors” including a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” on immigration, as well as a “breach of public trust.” They argue that impeachment is “Congress’s only viable option.”
“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,” the impeachment resolution says.
According to the first article of impeachment, Mayorkas elected not to execute the law, which states that asylum seekers who unlawfully cross the border “shall be detained” until a determination on their status is made, with release into the US interior only authorized on a case-by-case basis.
Articles of Impeachment by New York Post
Mayorkas said last month that 85% of migrants who illegally enter the United States are being freed to await judgments. This amount is in addition to a second program established last year that permits 30,000 asylum applicants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the US via authorized ports of entry while awaiting case resolution.
The second article of impeachment charges Mayorkas of lying to Congress about the border being “secure” and failing to cooperate with document demands.
Mayorkas, who held high-ranking DHS roles under former President Barack Obama’s eight years in government, may face a Senate trial if impeached by the House, bringing the border dispute into the limelight during an election year.
The House Homeland Security Committee is set to vote on the articles of impeachment on Tuesday, with the goal of sending them to the entire House for consideration. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has said that the House would vote as soon as feasible after that.
Passage needs simply a House majority. The Senate would convene a trial, and conviction would need a two-thirds majority, which is very improbable in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
However, the impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas could prove to be a very uncomfortable issue for Democratic Senate candidates who find themselves in tightly contested races, particularly in border states.
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