House Republicans vote to move forward with impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - The Republican-majority House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee voted along party lines early Wednesday to move forward with impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a vote of 18-15.

The committee spent the entire day Tuesday arguing the merits of filing two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, with the vote taking place shortly after 1 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday.

The articles charge that Mayorkas refused to comply with federal immigration laws amid the record surge of migrants coming across the US-Mexico border and that he breached the public trust by claiming to Congress that the border was secure. Impeachment charges against a Cabinet official have not been seen in nearly 150 years.

"The actions and decisions of Secretary Mayorkas have left us with no other option but to proceed with articles of impeachment," said Republican Committee Chairman Mark Green. "We cannot allow this man to remain in office any longer."

House Republicans argued that Mayorkas "willfully and systemically refused to comply" with immigration laws by releasing migrants and asylum-seekers into the US instead of detaining them. They also asserted that the Homeland Security secretary released large numbers of migrants from detention through the parole system.

Mayorkas did not attend the proceedings but wrote a letter in defense of his duties which was presented to the committee.

"We have provided Congress and your Committee hours of testimony, thousands of documents, hundreds of briefings, and much more information that demonstrates quite clearly how we are enforcing the law," Mayorkas wrote.

His letter also pleaded with the committee to work with the Biden administration to update America's "broken and outdated" immigration laws.

"We need a legislative solution and only Congress can provide it," said Mayorkas.​​​​​​​

Democrats have criticized the impeachment proceedings as a political ploy to fuel Republican support concerning illegal immigration ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November.

They argued that Republicans have failed to show that Mayorkas committed any high crimes and misdemeanors and have pointed out that former President Donald Trump was also forced to release migrants into the US during his time in office.

"This is a terrible day for the committee, the United States, the Constitution and our great country," said US Rep. Bennie Thompson, the highest-ranking Democrat. "(The) MAGA-led impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas is a baseless sham," he said, referring to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

The committee's decision to impeach Mayorkas now goes to the full House for a vote, which could take place next week. If approved by the House, the charges would then go to the full Senate for a trial.