Under then-President Joe Biden, the U.S. suffered an illegal immigration crisis which now-President Donald Trump has subsequently classified as an “invasion.” Since returning to power in January, the Trump administration has already secured the southern border and initiated a deportation program, but the Biden administration officials responsible for allowing the illegal immigration invasion may also be held accountable now.

During a Tuesday press conference at the opening of Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” illegal immigration detention center, Trump was asked if his administration may prosecute Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached while in office for repeatedly failing to enforce federal immigration law and permitting millions of illegal immigrants to enter the U.S.

“Pardons were given out to many people, and they shouldn’t have been given out,” Trump said, referring to a series of pre-emptive pardons issued by Biden shortly before leaving the White House, shielding political allies and administration officials from potential future prosecution. Mayorkas, however, was not given such a pardon. Trump promised that his administration would “take a look at” potentially prosecuting Mayorkas. “Because what he did is — it’s beyond incompetence. Something has to be done,” the president said. “Now, with that being said, he took orders from other people and he was really doing the orders, and you could say he was very loyal to them,” Trump continued.

He went on to point out that, ultimately, Biden was responsible for the illegal immigration crisis, but emphasized that Mayorkas played a key role. “I think he was so bad. They were all so bad. Look, it was the worst president in the history of our country. We’ve had some bad ones, but he was the worst president. But somebody told Mayorkas to do that, and he followed orders,” Trump said. He added, “But that doesn’t necessarily hold him harmless.”

Trump tasked administration aides with him at the press conference with looking into whether Mayorkas could be prosecuted and examining the former DHS chief’s impeachment. “If he wasn’t given a pardon, I could see looking at that. Why don’t you take a look at it?” he asked an aide. “Take a look at it,” he ordered.

Impeachment articles were filed against Mayorkas in late 2023, accusing the then-DHS Secretary of a dereliction of duty and asserting that he had “failed to maintain operational control of the [Southern] border.” Eight House Republicans sided with Democrats in stalling the impeachment effort, referring the matter of impeachment to the House Homeland Security Committee instead. When the Committee approved the articles of impeachment and advanced them again to the House floor, congressmen narrowly voted against impeaching Mayorkas.

Articles of impeachment were once again filed against Mayorkas in January of 2024, accusing him of a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and a breach of public trust. This time, the House voted to impeach the DHS Secretary 214 to 213, with three Republicans joining Democrats to vote against impeachment. However, the then-Democrat-controlled Senate declared the charges against Mayorkas unconstitutional and quickly adjourned the trial without conviction, claiming that the charges against Mayorkas did not amount to “a high crime or misdemeanor.”

Over the course of his tenure at the helm of DHS, Mayorkas permitted at least 10 million illegal immigrants to enter the country, although immigration experts estimate that the real number who entered during Biden’s presidency is much higher, by millions. Under Biden and Mayorkas, the foreign-born population in the U.S. reached a record high of nearly 52 million. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that nearly 60% of the immigrants who entered the U.S. between January of 2021 and May of 2024 entered illegally.