(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, a Republican from northeast Texas, filed articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Fallon is the second congressman to do so in less than a year after U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, filed impeachment articles against Mayorkas last August.
“Secretary Mayorkas has violated the law and … implemented policies that undermine law enforcement activities at our southern border,” Fallon said in a statement emailed to The Center Square. “From perjuring himself before Congress about maintaining operational control of the border to the infamous ‘whipgate’ slander against our border patrol agents, Secretary Mayorkas has proven time and time again that he is unfit to lead the Department of Homeland Security. His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office.”
Fallon’s resolution, filed Tuesday, states Mayorkas is being impeached “for high crimes and misdemeanors” in three articles that allege violation of federal laws, lying to Congress, and slandering Border Patrol agents.
Article 1 of the resolution states that Mayorkas has violated his constitutional oath and “engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties as an officer of the United States.”
According to the resolution, Mayorkas violated Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which requires executive branch members to ensure laws passed by Congress and signed into law by the president are faithfully executed.
Mayorkas also is accused of violating the Secure the Fence Act of 2006 and Immigration and Nationality Act.
The 2006 law requires the DHS secretary to “maintain operational control over the entire international land borders of the United States.” Operational control refers to “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including by terrorist, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.”
The INA requires DHS to detain “inadmissible aliens arriving in the United States or aliens who are present in the United States without inspection until processed.”
Through Mayorkas’ catch-and-release policy, including instructing agents to issue Notice to Report and implement an Alternatives to Detention program, at least one million people were “recklessly released into the interior of the United States,” the resolution states.
Since Mayorkas has been in office, over 5.5 million people have “crossed our southern border,” with 20 consecutive months of over 150,000 illegal border crossings, including at least 98 identified on the terrorist watch list, the resolution states.
Border Patrol agents reported record numbers of apprehensions and gotaways totally nearly 314,000 in December and over 327,000 in November, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square. That’s after more than 3.3 million were reported in fiscal 2022, according to data obtained by The Center Square.
“Secretary Mayorkas has presided over a 180% increase in encounters at the southern border” compared to the previous administration, Fallon said.
And more fentanyl poured across the southern border in the past two months than all of fiscal 2019, he said.
CBP’s record seizure of over 14,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal 2022 excludes several hundred million lethal doses of fentanyl Texas law enforcement, DEA and other states have seized since at least March 2021. Combined, their seizures were enough to kill everyone in the United States multiple times over as fentanyl poisoning remains the primary cause of death among 18- to 45-year-old Americans.
Mayorkas has “undermined the operational control of our southern border and encouraged illegal immigration,” Fallon added. He did so by terminating additional border wall construction already appropriated by Congress, and attempting to end Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and several other attorneys general sued over these and other policy changes; federal courts continue to rule against the administration in their cases.
Article II claims Mayorkas committed perjury and gave false and misleading testimony to Congress. The resolution cites his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee stating DHS had operational control over the border and claiming the border was secure.
Mayorkas has “clearly committed perjury on multiple occasions before Congress,” Fallon said.
Article III claims Mayorkas “knowingly slandered his own hardworking Border Patrol agents and misled the general public” when he claimed they whipped Haitians who’d illegally entered Del Rio, Texas, in September 2021. They did not, a 511-page CBP report concluded.
Last week, Mayorkas said he had no plans to resign, the border was closed, and he was expanding policies over which he’s already been sued.
His actions warrant impeachment, a trial and removal from office, Fallon said, as well as disqualification to hold any federal government position in the future.
The impeachment resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
Regardless of any action the House takes, Fallon’s resolution isn’t expected to be taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
In response to the congressman’s action, a DHS spokesperson told The Center Square, “Members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they have not updated in over 40 years.”
The spokesperson also said DHS “will continue our work to enforce our laws and secure our border, while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system.”
The spokesperson added that Mayorkas “has no plans to resign” and “None of the alleged grounds is factually accurate, and even if they were, none meet the Constitutional standard of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”