The time has come to hold Mayorkas accountable

December 8, 2023

By William Davis

As Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas continues to treat Congress and the American people with contempt, it’s far past time for the secretary to finally face some consequences for his actions.

Mayorkas narrowly escaped becoming the second cabinet official in U.S. history to be impeached when eight Republicans voted with all House Democrats last month to refer Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s impeachment resolution to the House Homeland Security Committee. Some members who voted against the impeachment resolution indicated that they would ultimately support impeaching Mayorkas, but would like to see a more thorough investigation completed before moving forward.

Mayorkas, like any cabinet official facing impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, of course, deserves due process. Yet, more than 10 months into the 118th Congress, and over a year since former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy vowed an impeachment inquiry was imminent, there has been no inquiry, and no timetable put forward for impeachment.

The case against Mayorkas is extensive and damning. Since he has been in charge of DHS, the department responsible for securing the U.S. border, millions of illegal aliens have crossed the border, shattering all the wrong records. Just Tuesday, 12,000 foreign nationals crossed into the U.S. illegally, hitting an all-time record for a single day. Mayorkas and other leading Biden administration officials have worked to systematically destroy America’s operational control over its border, while violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, and flagrantly disregarding their Constitutional responsibility to protect the U.S. from invasion. Mayorkas has demonized and demoralized Border Patrol agents, siding with anti-borders conspiracy theorists over his own agents.

He has put the national security of the U.S. at grave risk, allowing a record number of suspected terrorists to cross the border. Every step of the way, Mayorkas has prioritized his destructive anti-borders ideology over his responsibilities under the law. The case for his impeachment and removal is clear, but one person who doesn’t seem to be concerned is Mayorkas himself.

Anyone who pays attention to the comings and goings on Capitol Hill has seen Mayorkas strut around the Capitol with a smirk, while refusing to answer basic questions from members of Congress. The secretary has refused to provide members of Congress with data on the number of illegal aliens who have entered the country on his watch, including the number of those with ties to terrorist organizations. He has used Congressional testimony to engage in sparring matches with members of Congress attempting to perform oversight of his department.

All in all, Mayorkas acts like someone who believes he’s untouchable, someone who believes he will never be held accountable for his attacks on America’s sovereignty and its rule of law. It will be up to Congress to prove him wrong.

At the end of the day, Congress is the only institution that has the authority to hold Mayorkas and other Biden administration officials accountable for the crisis at the Southern border. There are two mechanisms through which Congress can enact accountability. One of them is impeachment and the other is through the power of the purse. So far in the 118th Congress, neither option has been used.  This needs to change soon.

Two-thirds of the American people disapprove of the Biden administration’s handling of the border, according to a recent Fox News poll. Congress must act as the voice of the American people and begin holding Mayorkas and his cronies accountable for all the damage they have wrought. This starts – but does not end – with relegating Mayorkas to historical infamy by making him just the second cabinet official in U.S. history to be impeached.

Mayorkas and his allies will cry foul, and accuse Congress of using impeachment as a tool to express policy disagreements, but they will be wrong. Securing the border is not a matter of policy, but is the most essential responsibility the federal government holds. It is a requirement under both the Constitution and federal law. Congress cannot allow a precedent to be set that allows bad actors like Mayorkas to open up the border and then brush it aside as a typical policy disagreement. Impeachment is a messy process, but the alternative is doing nothing as the U.S. continues down the path of lawlessness and chaos.

After years of debate, tough talk, and hearings, it’s time for Congress to hold America’s worst cabinet secretary accountable. It’s time to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas.

William J. Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Also published at American Thinker, December 8, 2023.