House Republicans accused Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday of intentionally facilitating the crisis at the southern border during the first official impeachment hearing for the Biden administration official.
During the proceeding, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee pointed to the record numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border under President Joe Biden and the lax policies being maintained by the administration. Under Mayorkas, Customs and Border Protection have had 8.1 million encounters with illegal immigrants, including 6.7 million at the southern border.
“Secretary Mayorkas is the architect of the devastation we have witnessed for nearly three years,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in his opening statement. “The Secretary’s actions have brought us here today, not ours. Since early 2021, we have watched in disbelief as historic numbers of inadmissible aliens have poured across our borders, both at official ports of entry and illegally across the thousands of miles of our borders.”
In addition to the record number of encounters, including an all-time monthly high of 302,000 in December, there have been at least 1.8 million people who have entered the United States without being apprehended.
Many of those who are apprehended have been released and given court dates years in the future. Mayorkas said on Monday that about 85% of those encountered at the border have been released into the United States. Green criticized Mayorkas over the mass releases, saying that he had allowed at least 1.5 million inadmissible aliens to enter the country.
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Green said that the crisis has been intentional, saying that there were no novel problems in Latin America causing the surge.
“No, this crisis has been intentional. Secretary Mayorkas was made aware of testimony given by President Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland where the AG admitted the current policies are being exploited by the cartels. Yet Secretary Mayorkas turns around and implements additional policies to expand the catch and release measures empowering the cartels and killing Americans. After nearly three years of watching this unfold, what other conclusion is there but that this is an intentional crisis,” Green said.
Republicans also say that Mayorkas has repeatedly lied about his handling of the border and neglected his duty to secure it. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) said that he believed the House would impeach Mayorkas. “We’re going to impeach him. He’s going to be impeached, and he should be.”
Democrats have defended Mayorkas, saying that he hasn’t committed any impeachable offenses.