By: Bethany Blankley | The Center Square
The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday night voted to refer a resolution to impeach U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the House Homeland Security Committee, which has been building its case to impeach him for months.
HR 863 passed by a vote of 209-201 with 23 not voting.
The resolution, “Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors,” was filed by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia. It states that Mayorkas “is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors … rather than adhering to an oath he took to defend and secure our country and uphold the Constitution … [he] has engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the laws of the United States.”
Charges against him include failure to maintain operational control of the U.S. border, in accordance with the Secure Fence At of 2006, “in his willful admittance of border crossers, terrorist, human traffickers, drugs, and other contraband.”
It also states that he violated the Guarantee Clause of Article IV in the U.S. Constitution, which the judges and commissioners of roughly 50 Texas counties have argued when they declared an invasion. The clause “clearly dictates that the federal government has a constitutional duty and obligation to protect each state from invasion,” the resolution states. Texas Congressmen cited the same clause this summer when expressing support for Gov. Greg Abbott’s actions to defend Texas sovereignty.
The resolution also charges Mayorkas with violating his oath to uphold the Constitution “by allowing the invasion of approximately 10,000,000 illegals across our borders. The ongoing invasion at our southern border is a direct national security threat against the states and against the citizens therein. Secretary Mayorkas has willfully abandoned his duty to secure the border and protect States against invasion, thereby violating article IV, section 4 of the Constitution.”
The Center Square first reported there were over 10 million illegal border crossers since January 2021, including nearly 4 million illegal border crossers in fiscal 2023 alone. The Center Square also first reported there have been roughly 1.7 million gotaways reported since January 2021, although this number is estimated to be closer to 2 million.
The resolution also cites incomplete terrorist information as a threat to national security. There were 736 known, suspected terrorists apprehended while trying to enter the U.S. illegally in fiscal 2023, the highest in recorded history. The majority, 66%, were apprehended at the northern border, The Center Square first reported.
The charges also include examples of how Mayorkas allegedly has violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) related to parole polices and halting construction of the border wall and other barriers, and the record amount of fentanyl pouring through the border.
It concludes that Mayorkas’ actions warrant “impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold” any future political office.
It’s the third time articles of impeachment have been filed against Mayorkas. U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, filed articles in 2021. U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, filed three in January.
Multiple members of Congress have called for Mayorkas to be removed from office and impeached. A coalition of attorneys general led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody have called on Congress to impeach Mayorkas and remove him from office.
The House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee, is expected to support impeaching Mayorkas after the committee issued four reports building its case to impeach him for “dereliction of duty.”
On the same day the House voted on the resolution, the committee published its fourth report estimating the cost of the border crisis to U.S. taxpayers of over $451 billion.
In July, it published its first report detailing the laws and court orders the committee says Mayorkas “ignored, abused or failed to follow.” It cites alleged violations of the INA, including an abuse of its parole program, detention and removal requirements, instituting mass parole programs, ignoring federal court orders, among other actions.
In September, it released its second report detailing how Mexican cartels “have seized unprecedented control at the Southwest border to smuggle illegal aliens, criminals, suspected terrorists, and deadly fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.”
The third report was issued last month, detailing how transnational gangs are working with cartel operatives to oversee a massive human smuggling operation, expand their weapons arsenals and criminal network.
In a recent radio interview, Green said, “We’ve actually had the Democrat members of the Committee on Homeland Security, which I chair, admit that it’s a humanitarian crisis, that it’s out of control. And we even had one admit that the cartels had control of the border, which was, you know, a huge move the needle.”
Earlier this year, after Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Mayorkas he should be fired. Mayorkas said, “I have unflinching confidence in the integrity of my conduct.”
After Fallon filed his articles, a DHS spokesperson told The Center Square, “Members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they have not updated in over 40 years,” adding that Mayorkas “has no plans to resign.”
His position hasn’t changed.
“None of the alleged grounds is factually accurate, and even if they were, none meet the Constitutional standard of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” the spokesperson said.
Related Story: U.S. House Committee Report Claims Mayorkas’ Border Policies are ‘Dereliction of Duty’
