Jonathan S. Tobin: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Must Be Impeached by the New House Majority

The new House Republican majority will be sworn into office this week. They have no other choice than to use the only tool at their disposal to highlight the crisis at the border. This is Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary. His acts of nonfeasance include acting on the president’s orders and presiding over a situation in which the border is, for all intents and purposes, being erased.

GOP moderates — many of whom are members in good standing of the Washington uniparty — think they are obligated to pursue “governance.” This sets up a conflict in which anything the new majority does that is aimed more at exposing the administration’s catastrophic policies will be skewered as mere obstructionism and proof that Republicans are incapable of governing.

But they can — and must — ignore those criticisms given the almost complete breakdown of efforts to prevent illegal immigration in the last two years.

GOP moderates may be inclined to ignore the security dilemma and simply move to grant a path to citizenship to people who were brought into the country illegally as children — the so-called “Dreamers.” The vast majority of conservatives, as well as many border state Democrats, know that encouraging further illegal immigration is unacceptable, regardless of how well-intentioned, as would be the case with action on Dreamers. The Democrats’ effort to secure a new, broader amnesty is at the heart of the current crisis.

Mayorkas will not be thrown out of office since the Democratic Senate will never convict him even if the GOP’s narrow House majority impeaches him, and it will be labeled as grandstanding and a colossal waste of time. These stunts and the hearings that will bring all the elements of this catastrophe to the public in a way never before possible are not acceptable. It is the only option available to those who understand that the consequences of what is happening at the border are so serious that business as usual or playing by the conventional rules of Washington politics simply isn’t good enough.

The extent of illegal immigration in November 2022 is illustrated by the most recent figures. This month, there was a record 63,000 illegal immigration cases. 233,740 illegals They were arrested at the border. This represented a 1 percent increase on the October total, which was itself a record month. A record 73,000 migrants were also estimated to have escaped capture at the border, which is another record. The fiscal year ended September with data for Customs and Border Protection. 2.76 millionThis year, the record was broken by over a million.

Since Biden’s election, more than 4,000,000 illegals have crossed our border. These numbers are expected to surpass all estimates for the next year.

This record number comes at a moment when there is a general perception that the Biden administration has not just ended enforcement efforts of immigration laws, but created a situation in the border being more or less open for people who want to enter illegally or the vast majority of economic migrants who are increasingly making bogus claims of asylum on the basis of persecution at home.

Drug cartels are responsible for managing the influx of migrants. They charge fees to anyone who wants to enter the country. This is used to bring in large amounts of illegal drugs such as fentanyl which helps to worsen America’s addiction crisis. This has led to one of the most extensive human trafficking networks in recent history. It has destabilized both northern Mexico as well as the United States.

The toll taken on Southwest border cities and states is likely to get much worse if, unless the federal courts continue to prevent it, the Center for Disease Control’s so-called “Title 42” An order was issued during the coronavirus pandemic, which gave federal authorities authority to exclude migrants from the United States or turn them back to Mexico. It was ended by the Biden administration.

In the United States, 11 million has been the most common number of illegal immigrants for the last ten years. However, as of September 2018, a Yale University study The real number was probably at least twice as high, if not higher. It is probable that there are now more than 30 million illegals in the country after two years of increasing illegal immigration.

It can be argued that impeaching an official fOr following the president’s orders and policy choices is unfair even if it does amount to an act of nonfeasance and doesn’t constitute a “high crime” or “misdemeanor” That is what the Constitution calls for. The Democrats proved in the two Congresses that they were attempting to force Trump out of office by impeaching him. However, this is a political move and not a court. Mayorkas’s actions that have essentially resulted in an open border in all but name may not technically be a violation of the law, but it is an act of criminal negligence that is doing great harm to the nation with enormous potential consequences.

This gambit, or any other, will be successful in grabbing the public’s attention at a moment when liberal legacy media remains uninterested by the surge in illegal immigrants or the plight border communities. Republicans and Democrats must take action if they are to avoid further indifference. Washington must act now to end this crisis. Anything less than an outright effort to impeach Mayorkas by the House Republicans must not be taken as a betrayal or omission of their voters and responsibility to the nation.

Jonathan S. Tobin, a senior contributor to The Federalist and editor in chief at JNS.org, is a columnist for The New York Post. Follow him on Twitter @jonathans_tobin

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