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WASHINGTON — Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said Wednesday that he is filing indictments against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been urged by senior Republicans to resign over his handling of the southern border.
Biggs announced the move at a press conference alongside several Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Responding to impeachment threats, Mayorkas appeared to dismiss the GOP’s efforts in an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday.
“Within a broken system, we are doing everything we can to make it more efficient, provide humanitarian assistance when the law allows it, and also achieve enforcement when the law requires it,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing. And as for me, I will continue to do so with great pride in the people I work with.”
The House Judiciary Committee, headed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, held the first of a series of hearings on the US-Mexico border on Wednesday morning. The hearing was titled “Biden’s Border Crisis – Part One,” which Republicans said would “examine border security, national security, and the impact of fentanyl on American lives.”
As leader of the Conservative House Freedom Caucus, Biggs instituted impeachment procedures against Mayorkas in August 2021, saying in a statement at the time that the cabinet secretary was “a threat to our nation’s sovereignty and security.” The Republican congressman falsely stated that Mayorkas “encourages foreigners to enter our country illegally” and DHS is “systematically releasing COVID-19 positive foreigners into our communities.” His efforts made no headway in the Democrat-controlled House.
In early January, shortly after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, R-Texas Rep. Pat Fallon also filed his own impeachment petition against Mayorkas. The articles charged Mayorkas with “serious felonies and misdemeanors” in his role as Secretary of Homeland Security. The articles were referred to the Judiciary Committee.
Republicans in Congress have made immigration and the increase in border crossings a top issue since President Joe Biden took office. The administration has been criticized by the GOP for using Trump-era measures like “Stay in Mexico” aimed at restricting immigration at the southern border and Title 42, a policy introduced just before the start of the Covid pandemic was ended and the US authorities were able to turn away asylum seekers at the border.
When House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was minority leader in November, he called for Mayorkas to resign, saying he had failed to secure the southern border. During a trip to El Paso, Texas, with fellow GOP lawmakers, McCarthy warned that if Mayorkas refused to step down, House Republicans would open an investigation and consider impeachment.
Mayorkas was sworn in as Homeland Security secretary after the Senate confirmed him by a vote of 56 to 43 in February 2021. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to confirm it.
