WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted 214-213 on Tuesday evening to impeach U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas one week after a failed effort to do the same embarrassed the GOP in the eyes of angry conservatives.
The articles of impeachment accuse Mayorkas of “willful and systematic refusal to comply with” duly-enacted laws pertaining to immigration control and border security, and as a result “millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States.” They further maintain that the secretary is guilty of “breach of public trust” by “knowingly ma(king) false statements” regarding border security, migrant vetting, deportation, and more; and of “knowingly obstruct(ing) lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security” (DHS).
The impeachment effort failed last week on a 214-216 vote, with GOP Reps. Ken Buck, Tom McClintock, Mike Gallagher, and Blake Moore joining Democrats in voting against it. The outcome greatly angered many in the party’s conservative base, who have long distrusted party leadership especially on immigration. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson quickly pledged to hold another vote, noting that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise would have supported it but missed the vote for health reasons.
Buck, Gallagher, and McClintock again voted against the resolution. But between Scalise’s support, Moore flipping his vote to “yea,” and two Democrats not voting, the measure succeeded the second time.
As a practical matter, there is no chance of the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate convicting and removing Mayorkas. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office announced that the articles will be presented to the chamber on February 26, but there’s no guarantee an impeachment trial will even be held. Regardless, the House’s gesture presents an ignominious honor for Mayorkas and the Biden administration that he serves and will be a major talking point used by Republicans in the fall elections.
President Joe Biden has presided over a surge of illegals entering the United States and being released inside the country after the reversal of several Trump-era border policies, such as the previous administration’s third-country agreements with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to have them hold refugees while their applications for political asylum in America were reviewed. The situation has created a humanitarian crisis, prompting even the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration to declare America’s southern border with Mexico the “deadliest land crossing in the world” in 2022.