On Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee approved two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for violating 12 immigration and border security laws. The move comes as traditional defenders of the Biden administration in the legacy media are now admitting that a “humanitarian crisis” is currently occurring at America’s southern border.
The articles of impeachment accuse Mayorkas of refusing to enforce multiple elements of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which requires that all illegal immigrants seeking admission be detained until they are granted asylum or parole. The articles note that Mayorkas instead “implemented a catch and release scheme … without effective mechanisms to ensure” that the migrants appear before the immigration court to determine if they can be lawfully admitted. The DHS secretary was also accused of making false statements to Congress when he claimed that “the border is secure” and that DHS had maintained “operational control” of the border.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) stated that Mayorkas “refused to comply with the laws” and “has breached public trust,” commenting that he was “proud” to advance the articles. The Mayorkas impeachment now moves to a full House vote, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declaring last week that the articles will be voted on “as soon as possible.”
The potential impeachment comes as the outlook on a Senate funding bill that would include provisions to tighten border security remains uncertain. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden claimed that he needs Congress to pass the bill in order for him to have the “power” to regain border control. But border and immigration experts say that Biden already has the power to regain control of the border through executive order by reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, among other actions.
On Wednesday’s edition of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) contended that the Mayorkas impeachment articles were justified. “First of all, he committed a felony,” he observed. “He perjured himself in testimony before Congress multiple times. And I think he’s also failed to uphold his responsibilities, his sworn duty to faithfully enforce the laws of the nation.”
Palmer went on to detail what he saw during a recent visit to the southern border.
“I’ve been to the border multiple times, and literally my last trip, when 64 Republicans went down to the border in the first week of January, I broke away from the main group because I knew that the Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement would talk to me individually and say things that they wouldn’t say to the group while I was standing there,” he explained. “… As soon as [I] got to the riverbank, there [was] a group of men [that] came out from under the riverbank, waded across this little canal, and came up the bank right where I was standing. … They’re all young adult males from Venezuela and Honduras. For Mayorkas to say to the American people, much less to Congress under oath, with the threat of perjury, that the border secure, is…” Palmer shook his head.
He further described what happens when an individual presents themselves at the border.
“[The Biden administration has] thrown open the door. [Migrants] … turn themselves in to the Border Patrol. They’re processed, they’re given health care checkups, given cell phones. They’ll transport them wherever they want to go. Think about the 1.7 [million] gotaways. … [T]hat’s the thing that should frighten every American. We know we’ve interdicted 312 known or suspected terrorists on the terrorist watch list, but we have no idea who came across in that 1.7 million gotaways.”
Palmer concluded by urging believers to pray and vote for an expanded GOP majority in Congress and a Republican president in order to secure the border. “That’s another thing that people can put on their prayer list is we need to hold the majority. We need to expand our majority. Get the Senate. Get a Republican in the White House. And for God to give us one more chance to get the country back on the right track.”
Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.
