House Republicans are poised to launch an investigation into alleged “dereliction of duty” by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a Wednesday hearing.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., will hold a press conference Wednesday laying out allegations against the Cabinet member. Green’s committee will also hold a hearing in which several border security experts will testify regarding the secretary’s handling of the border.
“I gave 24 years of my life as service as an army officer, and I know what dereliction of duty looks like. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been willfully derelict in his duties as secretary of Homeland Security. has disregarded his oath to the Constitution by ignoring the basic tenets of that Constitution,” Green said during a Wednesday press conference.
“The massive millions upon millions of people have crossed our southern border because the Secretary of Homeland Security removed 89 policies from two previous administrations. The cause is simple: migrants tested the system, they called home, and millions came because of the secretary’s catch and release policies,” he added.
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Those testifying in Wednesday’s hearing include former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, who served in the Trump administration, and former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott. Joe Edlow, former acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, will also testify.
The investigation into Mayorkas comes amid calls from some Republicans to impeach the secretary. Green has cautioned, however, that that is not the goal of his committee’s probe.
“What we know right now is that Secretary Mayorkas has either violated or subverted at least ten laws passed by the Congress of the United States. He has ignored multiple court orders to cease and desist his activities. The blatant disregard for the Constitution of the United States, which states that the United States Congress passes the laws and the executive branch executes those laws, is just scratching the surface to the harm Secretary Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty has done to our country,” Green said.
Illegal Immigration has skyrocketed at the U.S.-Mexico border under the leadership of Mayorkas and President Biden. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports say they had 100,000 monthly encounters during Biden’s first full month in office. Today, however, CBP reports well over 200,000 per month, with the number exceeding 230,000 throughout late 2022 and early 2023.
As a result, firebrand Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against both Biden and Mayorkas, though the moves were largely symbolic.
Biden’s handling of the border crisis has long been among his least popular issues, with a May poll showing that just 33% of voters approve of his work on the issue.