Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green (R-TN-07) presented two articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday.
Article I charges Mayorkas with Willful and Systemic Refusal to Comply with the Law while Article II charges him with Breach of Public Trust.
Today, I urged the House to pass articles of impeachment against Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. https://t.co/jwBxsAGoTB pic.twitter.com/IvCj4wafEE
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) February 6, 2024
“While I do not wish to be standing here presenting these articles today, we have exhausted all other options. Our oath to the Constitution now requires us to exercise this solemn duty,” Green said during remarks on the House floor. “Secretary Mayorkas has explicitly refused to comply with the law. His refusal to obey the law has led to the death of his fellow citizens, and he no longer deserves to keep his job.”
Green, citing the number of apprehensions, known gotaways, and encounters at the nation’s borders, added, “Since Secretary Mayorkas took office, we’ve all watched the unprecedented crisis at our borders unfold.”
“Under Secretary Mayorkas’ watch, Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 8.5 million encounters at our borders, including more than 7 million apprehensions at the Southwest border. Even more terrifying is the approximate 1.8 million known gotaways, that Border Patrol agents detect, but are unable to apprehend. Millions of those inadmissible aliens who are encountered are eventually released into our communities,” Green said. “This has never happened before in the history of the country. And it doesn’t happen by accident.”
Green detailed the House Homeland Security Committee’s year-long, five-phase investigation – which included 10 full and subcommittee hearings, transcribed interviews of chief and deputy chief patrol agents, and five interim reports totaling nearly 400 pages – that led to impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas.
“Throughout this investigation and subsequent impeachment proceedings, we found that Secretary Mayorkas’ willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and his breach of public trust are responsible for this historic crisis,” Green said.
“However, for almost a year, Democrats have turned a blind eye to the victims of the border crisis, while berating us for spending what they believed was too much time investigating Secretary Mayorkas’ lawless handling of our sovereign borders. Keep that in mind when you hear them claim now this impeachment is somehow “rushed.” The truth is that this process has been painstakingly thorough. Unlike House Democrats, we take the use of impeachment extremely seriously,” Green added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
The House vote failed. Wasted time, wasted money…..