Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pushes impeachment vote against DHS chief Mayorkas
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pushed Thursday for a House vote on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying the cabinet official had failed “to secure the border and protect States against invasion” by millions of illegal immigrants.
Greene (R-Ga.) introduced her impeachment resolution from the House floor, citing the “high crimes and misdemeanors” Mayorkas has allegedly committed while serving as the public face of President Biden’s immigration policies.
“The ongoing invasion at our southern border is a direct national security threat against the States and against the citizens therein,” she read from the resolution, referencing the “approximately 10 million illegals” who have come into the country since Biden took office in January 2021.
The migrant crossings include 8 million stops by US immigration authorities and 1.8 million known “gotaways,” according to Customs and Border Protection figures cited previously by congressional Republicans.
Of the 8 million encounters, at least 280 were later caught and identified as names on federal terrorist watchlists.
Roughly 73,000 “special interest aliens” also came from nations like Iran and Afghanistan, which promote terrorist activity, harbor terrorists or pose a security threat to the US.
Another 85,000 of the roughly 400,000 unaccompanied minors who have entered the US have subsequently gone missing. At least 1,424 migrants have also died while crossing the southern border.
Other CBP figures cited in the resolution show around 11,200 pounds of fentanyl were seized from migrants in fiscal year 2021 and 14,700 pounds in fiscal year 2022.
About 27,000 pounds of fentanyl — which kills 300 Americans a day — were also seized in fiscal year 2023.
Greene’s resolution argues Mayorkas is violating US citizens’ rights to protection from invasion, as affirmed in the Constitution’s Article IV Guarantee Clause, and ignoring the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
It also cites Mayorkas’ violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act by “practic[ing] catch and release policies,” the termination of contracts for border wall construction and the scuttling of the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico and Title 42 policies for migrant expulsion.
Since it is a privileged motion, Greene’s article of impeachment has to be voted on within two legislative days.
As of Thursday afternoon, no further votes were scheduled in the House this week.
“While the House Majority has wasted months trying to score points with baseless attacks, Secretary Mayorkas has been doing his job and working to keep Americans safe,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
“Under his leadership, the Department of Homeland Security is stopping unprecedented amounts of fentanyl from entering the country, countering threats from the Chinese government, helping communities recover from natural disasters, and working to protect our nation from cyberattacks, terrorism, and targeted violence.
“Instead of continuing their reckless impeachment charades and attacks on law enforcement, Congress should work with us to keep our country safe, build on the progress DHS is making, and deliver desperately needed reforms for our broken immigration system that only legislation can fix.”
In a subsequent post on X, Greene said two of her constituents had been killed Wednesday in Texas when their Chevrolet Equinox got into a “high-speed head-on collision” with suspected migrant smugglers.
“They had 5 kids who will never get to say goodbye,” she wrote. “The utter disregard for American life displayed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas can no longer be ignored. The time for more hearings and phases is over.”
“Americans are getting murdered just traveling to see their families,” she added. “Lives have been lost forever. Everyone should care. This is not a political issue.”
