OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A growing number of House Republicans are taking aim at Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after accusing him of failing to act to stem a record flow of illegal migrants and drug smuggling into the country during his tenure.
On Monday, 20 GOP lawmakers demanded that the House move to impeach Mayorkas after Republicans take over in January. The group, led by GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, has accused the DHS boss of refusing to take the escalating situation along the border seriously.
“Secretary Mayorkas has released more than 1 million illegal aliens into the country,” said Biggs, according to Fox News. “Most of these released illegal aliens will never be heard from again.”
The impeachment call by GOP lawmakers comes on the heels of a video posted to social media by Fox News’ immigration reporter Bill Melugin with the caption: “A huge migrant caravan of over 1,000 people crossed illegally into El Paso, TX last night, making it the largest single group we have ever seen. The city of El Paso reports Border Patrol now has over 5,000 in custody & has released hundreds to city streets.”
Countless Republicans are also calling for Biden to be impeached for his failures at the border.
RT @RealJamesWoods: Democrats are allowing the destruction of our Republic by an unfettered invasion of our non-existent southern border. Shame on this president, and shame on any American who voted for this and now turns a blind eye. pic.twitter.com/TyYbpJM76p
— Joe (@goodday2smile) December 13, 2022
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) also accused the DHS secretary of being dishonest in testimony under oath to Congress in which he claimed that the U.S. southern border was operationally under control.
“He regularly lies to the American people, claiming that the southern border is closed,” Boebert said. “I’ve been there. It’s wide open.”
In addition to the GOP lawmakers, actor James Woods assailed President Joe Biden over his border policies. In a pair of now-deleted tweets, Woods responded to Melugin’s video: “Democrats are allowing the destruction of our Republic by an unfettered invasion of our non-existent southern border. Shame on this president, and shame on any American who voted for this and now turns a blind eye. The open border policy of the Biden administration is rotting our Republic from within. With the unceasing invasion, ignored daily, comes the drug plague and its unadulterated horrors. Shame on this president and his cackling ‘border czar’ VP.’”
Matthew Kolken, an immigration lawyer, responded to Woods: “As a deportation lawyer with 25 years … experience I can attest that there is virtually no enforcement of the immigration law in the interior of the country, which has created an irresistible magnet.”
In addition, law enforcement authorities whose jurisdictions include border regions have ripped the administration’s claims that the border is “secure,” including those made by the vice president.
Speaking with “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd in October, Harris — who was assigned the task of dealing with a surge in illegal immigration and drug smuggling by President Joe Biden not long after they took office — was asked about the current status of the border.
The VP gave a somewhat pained response but did say that it was “secure.”
“I think that there is no question that we have to do what the president and I asked Congress to do. The first request we made, pass a bill to create a pathway to citizenship. The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed,” she said.
However, in an appearance on “Fox & Friends” the following day, Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd pushed back on Harris’ claims while also praising Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for bussing hundreds of volunteer migrants to Democrat-run “sanctuary” cities like Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago.
“It was a great ploy by Governor Abbott to bring attention back to something that was kind of fading away from mainstream media,” Boyd said. “He’s put it back in their lap, and I applaud him for what he’s done.”
He then went on to mock Harris’ claim of a “secure” border.
“The border is wide open,” Boyd said. “In Texas, the Border Patrol is encountering over 100,000 illegal aliens. So every month, Border Patrol agents tell me that on a good day, they encounter between eight and 15 percent of the number of people that actually come across.”
