Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on May 17 introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Mayorkas, who oversees the U.S. southern border, has faced allegations of negligence and refusal to enforce the laws from those concerned with the porousness of the border, including Republicans.
Greene’s articles against Mayorkas are the third such articles released during this session of Congress. Two other such resolutions were introduced earlier by Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Pat Fallon (R-Texas) during the 118th Congress.
“Since assuming office, Secretary Mayorkas has aided and abetted the complete invasion of our country by deliberately flooding our nation with drugs, terrorists, and illegal aliens,” Greene wrote in a statement on the articles.
“He stated under oath that we have operational control of our borders, while also under oath, he stated that no one has ever achieved operational control of the border,” Greene said.
After Mayorkas told Congress that DHS had control of the border, a Border Patrol chief contested to Congress that this was not the case.
“He lied to the American people, he lied under oath, and he has blatantly violated his oath of office,” Greene said.
Greene said that she was introducing the articles due to Mayorkas’ job performance in protecting the border.
In the time that Mayorkas has served in his current role, there have been around 6 million encounters with illegal aliens and about 40,000 pounds of fentanyl has been seized at the border.
According to other reports, around 193 people on the terrorist watchlist have been caught trying to cross into the country; however, there could be many more that were not caught, as DHS records 1.4 million known “gotaways” who successfully evaded Border Patrol and made it into the interior of the nation.
In the same period, the number of unaccompanied children being held in U.S. processing facilities has more than tripled.
Tara Rodas, a whistleblower associated with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told The Epoch Times in an interview that these facilities have become crucial “middlemen” in cartel child sex trafficking operations.
Greene listed other grievances as well: “Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly pulled over 50 percent of border agents from guarding the border wall and moved them to processing, caring for, and transferring illegals, leaving huge gaps for cartels and smugglers to exploit.”
In another instance, while the United States was dealing with a substantial shortage of baby formula, Mayorkas allowed “copious” amounts of these scarce resources to be allocated to illegal alien children.
In another case, American mothers were forced to delay the induction of labor due to Mayorkas “flood[ing] a hospital’s maternity ward with illegal aliens.”
Greene continued: “Not only has Secretary Mayorkas enabled child exploitation, sex and drug trafficking, and fentanyl overdoses, but he has also done everything in his power to put Americans last. His policies, directives, and statements have created a national security crisis and have endangered the lives of American citizens.
“As a result of intentionally failing to secure our homeland and putting the lives of every American in danger from his very first day in office, Alejandro Mayorkas is unfit to hold the office of Secretary of Homeland Security and must be impeached.”
In an emailed response to The Epoch Times in response to the resolution, the DHS defended Mayorkas.
“Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people,” a spokesperson said.
“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 decades.”
Prospects
Lawmakers suggested in comments to The Epoch Times that the push to impeach Mayorkas was gaining ground among the House GOP.
Rep. Andy Biggs, who has long pushed for Mayorkas’ removal from office, agreed in comments to The Epoch Times prior to Greene’s announcement of the articles that Mayorkas should be impeached.
Biggs was the first member of Congress to call for Mayorkas’ impeachment, and he said he was “more optimistic” about the prospects for the push now than he had ever been.
“I think the impact of Title 42 going away has really lit a fire under people,” Biggs said, referencing the recent end of an important immigration authority that allowed Border Patrol to immediately expel illegal aliens on public health grounds.
The end of the policy, which was largely used to expel single, unaccompanied men, has substantially increased the numbers of illegal aliens entering the country, prompting bipartisan backlash from members of both parties.
Biggs and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said that the move was gaining traction among GOP leaders.
Biggs reported that the push had the support of key leaders, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.). Biggs also said he believes that Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who in the past said “we won’t be political” with impeachment, is coming around on the push.
Luna reported that the GOP leaders were trying to work out “the exact language” of what a final impeachment resolution will look like.
‘Impeachment Week’
The articles of impeachment are the latest in what Greene has dubbed “Impeachment Week.”
Thus far, Greene has introduced similar articles against FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Even though the articles might pass through the House relatively easily, if McCarthy gives his blessing, the efforts would face a steeper challenge in the Senate.
There, Mayorkas would stand for trial on the charges. Sixty senators would need to vote to convict Mayorkas before he could be removed from office—a challenging prospect.
From The Epoch Times