Senate has a responsibility to conduct Mayorkas impeachment trial – and convict him
In February, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors. We found that Secretary Mayorkas had willfully and systemically refused to comply with immigration laws and breached the public trust in his handling of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders.
Prior to this vote, the House Committee on Homeland Security conducted a nearly year-long investigation into the crisis and produced a compelling body of evidence, rendering the House impeachment vote necessary.
The seriousness of the charges should compel the Senate to perform its constitutional duty, conduct a full impeachment trial, convict Secretary Mayorkas, and ultimately remove him from office.
Secretary Mayorkas has refused to comply with the law. He is bound by the Immigration and Nationality Act to detain inadmissible aliens arriving at the border. He has refused to follow that clear command, however, instead directing the release of millions of inadmissible aliens into the United States.
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The deputy chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector recently told my committee during an official interview that "between 65 to 70%" of total encounters in his sector since January 2021 had been released.
Jason Owens, now chief of the Border Patrol, told the committee in May 2023 that more people are being released to await their immigration hearings "than I have seen in my career." The secretary himself admitted earlier this year that roughly 85% of migrants were being released instead of detained.
Secretary Mayorkas has also abused his very limited statutory parole authority that allows him to grant parole only on a case-by-case and temporary basis. Instead, he has overseen more than 1.7 million paroles in just three years, in part by creating categorical mass-parole programs contrary to the clear text of the law.
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Doris Meissner, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service under President Clinton, said last year that his use of parole is "unprecedented."
Secretary Mayorkas has also misled Congress on multiple occasions, claiming to have operational control of the border as defined by federal statute and claiming the border is "no less secure than it was previously," among others.
Despite the disastrous consequences of Secretary Mayorkas’ impeachable conduct, the Senate has failed to take meaningful action. Since last May, H.R. 2, the "Secure the Border Act," has languished in the chamber. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., refuses to take up the measure.
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Instead, a handful of senators negotiated an ill-fated proposal filled with provisions that experts argue would have effectively legitimized crisis levels of illegal immigration and failed to eliminate the perverse incentives created by Secretary Mayorkas. Subsequent backlash to the proposal led to the Senate rejecting it on a bipartisan basis.
Senate Democrats have failed to meet the moment when it comes to ending this crisis and resolving the chaos at our borders. Conducting an impeachment trial represents a unique opportunity to correct course.
For the first time in American history, the House has impeached a sitting Cabinet secretary. This impeachment transcends policy differences – it is about the executive branch’s intentional refusal to respect the separation of powers and the rule of law.
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Congress must make clear to the executive branch that it will not tolerate such blatant disregard for the laws written by this body, especially when such defiance results in the consequences our investigation documented.
In every previous instance in which the Senate has had the opportunity to conduct an impeachment trial, it has done so. Dismissing a trial in one form or another would be not only an abdication of the Senate’s constitutional responsibility to take this matter seriously, but an affront to the millions of Americans suffering from the fallout of the ongoing crisis.
Every state has been affected by the rising fentanyl epidemic, fueled by the spike in drugs flowing across the southwest border. More criminal aliens and individuals on the terrorist watchlist are entering the United States than ever before. Every day, we see reports of astronomical costs to communities across the country forced to deal with surges of migrants into their jurisdictions.
Fully holding Secretary Mayorkas accountable for his unlawful actions is another vital step toward ending this ongoing crisis.
Leader Schumer has no excuse – hold the trial, render a verdict, and hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable.