Miles J. Herszenhorn
WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Wednesday morning launched an investigation into Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over allegations he has not properly managed the southwest border.
Mayorkas has faced sharp criticism from Republicans over his leadership of Department of Homeland Security as migrants attempt to cross into the country from the southern border. He was also condemned for not better preparing for the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that shut down most avenues to asylum for migrants.
Homeland Security Committee Chair Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) announced the start of the investigation ahead of a hearing on border security and immigration policy. Green said at a press conference that Mayorkas has been “willfully derelict in his duties” and cast blame on the secretary of Homeland Security for an increase in migrant crossings and the deaths of Americans due to drug overdoses.
But data from the Department of Homeland Security has shown a decline in migrant crossings into the United States. Unlawful entries along the southwest border have decreased by more than 70 percent since the end of Title 42 in May, according to a June 6 Department of Homeland Security press release.
Green said at the press conference that his committee will now begin “a five phase deep dive into the causes and Secretary Mayorkas’ orchestration” of what Republicans view as a crisis at the southern border. The investigation could eventually lead to the impeachment of the first cabinet secretary since 1876.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) indicated during the press conference that he sought to use the investigation in order to remove Mayorkas from office.
“We believe that America will come to concur with our assessment that Secretary Mayorkas has completely failed his nation and should be removed from office through the congressional process, or preferably by his own will,” Higgins said.
“We have to stop the arterial bleed at our southern border,” Higgins added. “We’re losing our country down there.”
Green also called on the President Joe Biden to pay attention to the Homeland Security Committee’s investigation of Mayorkas, speculating that the president might not be aware of everything that the investigation will uncover.
“He can’t possibly know of all of these failures of Mayorkas and have not fired him already,” Green said.
‘Deadly risks’:Migrants use TikTok to share journey to southern border. But smugglers use it too
