The case for Mayorkas’s impeachment is simple

Over the last three years, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, at the direction of President Joe Biden, has led the U.S. into the worst border crisis in our nation’s history by refusing to enforce the laws passed by Congress. This in and of itself is worthy of impeachment. 

The Immigration and Nationality Act mandates that all inadmissible aliens encountered at or between ports of entry be detained, and illegal aliens must be subject to “expedited removal” unless they are found to have a credible fear claim for asylum. 

Secretary Mayorkas has thrown that requirement by the wayside. Immigration and Customs Enforcement just reported that the number of illegal aliens on its non-detained docket increased dramatically between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2023, going from 3.6 million to roughly 6.2 million.  

The vast majority of those illegal immigrants have been released into our communities, even though they violated our laws by illegally crossing the border. Simply put, Mayorkas is rewarding lawbreaking. 

Further, as detailed in the House Committee on Homeland Security’s five-phase investigation into the border crisis, ICE conducted only 72,177 removals in fiscal 2022, a significant decline from the 185,884 in fiscal 2019. 

While ICE removals increased in 2023 as more than 2.5 million aliens crossed our southern border, they still paled in comparison to the previous administration. In fact, the Biden administration removed 40,000 fewer illegal immigrants in 2023 than the Trump administration did in its lowest year of border encounters. 

On May 11, 2023, Secretary Mayorkas claimed that, following the end of Title 42 expulsions, “the vast majority of individuals will be placed in expedited removal.” This was clearly false.  

In a May 2023 interview with the committee, Aaron Heitke, then-chief patrol agent for the San Diego Sector, was asked whether the consequence of removal was being used enough to deter illegal immigration. He answered, “Not right now.” 

And in June 2023, former United States Citizenship and Immigration Services acting Director Joe Edlow testified to the committee that the purpose of Mayorkas’s restrictive ICE guidance was “to redefine immigration enforcement.” 

Contrary to the INA, Secretary Mayorkas is releasing inadmissible aliens into the interior en masse. In fact, the percentage of illegal aliens processed under expedited removal has never exceeded 20% of all apprehensions since Title 42 expired. In August, the rate was roughly 15%, and it dropped to just under 10% in September.

When asked by the committee in a transcribed interview whether they are using expedited removal as the preferred method of processing illegal aliens, former chief patrol agent for the Del Rio Sector and current Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said, “Not generally.” 

Because of the Biden administration’s policies, illegal and inadmissible aliens know they will not only be released, but that they stand a good chance of never being removed from the country. In fact, many of these individuals were released into the interior with a “Notice to Appear” for a court date often years in the future, and DHS’s own reporting shows that aliens released into the interior and not removed within a year are rarely ever removed. 

This data and testimony show Mayorkas’s complete disdain for enforcing immigration laws, and human smugglers and criminals have taken note. 

When I questioned immigration expert Todd Bensman during a recent subcommittee hearing on how Mayorkas’s lack of enforcement is empowering criminal aliens and cartels south of the border, he explained: “[O]rganizations try to compare illegal immigrant crime with crime rates committed by  American citizens. That is a completely faulty analysis. You cannot compare those two, mainly because 100% of all crimes committed by illegal immigrants are avoidable and unnecessary, because they should have been deported.” 

Mayorkas has incentivized a worsening influx by ignoring and circumventing the laws passed by Congress, and this has cost the public dearly. Now, cartels can effectively advertise this administration’s catch-and-release policies, which encourage more illegal aliens, including dangerous criminals, to cross our border.

Shockingly, Mayorkas’s DHS removed 87% fewer criminal aliens in fiscal 2023 than in fiscal 2019, when our border experienced just under 1 million encounters at the southern border. In fiscal 2019, ICE removed 5,497 known or suspected gang members, compared to 2,667 in fiscal 2022. 

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, between June 1, 2011, and July 31, 2022, there were 259,000 illegal aliens charged with more than 433,000 criminal offenses in Texas. Of those offenses, there were 800 charged with homicide, 822 charged with kidnapping, 5,470 charged with sexual assault, 6,485 charged with other sexual offenses, and 4,945 charged with weapon offenses.  

As people suffer, Mayorkas continues to mislead the public and Congress rather than address the root cause of the crisis he and Biden have caused. 

In March, I asked the then-chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz, whether the southern border was secure. He alluded that five of our nine sectors are not. But when I asked Secretary Mayorkas this same question in April, he boldly claimed, “It is my testimony that the border is secure.”  

Mayorkas may mislead the public about the border, but the numbers do not. That’s why as vice chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, I support the impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas. The public deserves a secure border and someone in charge who has respect for the rule of law. It is the job of Congress to ensure that happens.