House Republicans move to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

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• Geoff Bennett:

  The U.S. House of Representatives is on the cusp of impeaching a Cabinet secretary for the first time in more than a century.

  Tonight, Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are moving to advance articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

  Lisa Desjardins was in the hearing room and joins us now with more.

  So, Lisa, House Republicans have signaled that this was coming. What are their specific charges against the DHS secretary?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Let's look at the articles of impeachment now that we have them. There are two.

  The first one is willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law. That basically accuses the secretary of allowing in hundreds of thousands of migrants, not detaining them, then, secondly, a breach of public trust. Now, part of that is the idea from Republicans. They say that Mayorkas lied to them when he said that the border is under operational control.

  Now, Republicans did produce five reports in this, but there really have only been a couple of hearings. Still, Chairman of the Committee Mark Green says this is serious.

• Rep. Mark Green (R-TN):

  We cannot allow this border crisis to continue. We cannot allow fentanyl to flood across our border or criminals to waltz in undeterred. And we cannot allow a Cabinet secretary with no regard for the separation of powers with the rule of law to remain in office. That is why today we present this committee with the articles of impeachment against Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But Mayorkas, Democrats, and, frankly, some Republicans also say that this is political and unprecedented, impeaching a Cabinet secretary for what they say is really a policy difference. Mayorkas sent this letter in the early hours this morning where he wrote to the committee that: "The problems with our immigration system are not new."

  He said: "We need a legislative solution that only Congress can provide. You have claimed that we have failed to enforce immigration laws, and that is false."

  Among other things, Mayorkas says he needs resources. He needs the ability, more detention capacity, among other things. The question here, Geoff, is not really how do you fix the problem at the border. It's, who do you blame? This impeachment is not going to change things at the border, but the blame and what the message is, is at stake.

• Geoff Bennett:

  So they're accusing him of refusing to uphold the law and breaching the public's trust. On what grounds? Provide the context for us?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Right.

  Let's look at one of the contention points here, as I mentioned, Republicans accusing the secretary of perjury before Congress. So I want to play one of the sound bites that's at the center of that. This is an exchange that happened in 2022.

• Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX):

  Do we have operational control, yes or no?

  Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security: Yes, we do.

  (Crosstalk)

• Rep. Chip Roy:

  We have operational control of the borders?

• Alejandro Mayorkas:

  Yes, we do. And, Congressman, we are working to…

  (Crosstalk)

• Rep. Chip Roy:

  … what operational control defined. In this section, the term operational control means the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics and other contraband.

  Do you stand behind your testimony that we have operational control, in light of this definition?

• Alejandro Mayorkas:

  I do.

  And, Congressman, I think the secretary of homeland security would have said the same thing in 2020.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  That is a definition from a 2006 law. But, as the secretary is saying, it says that no one could cross the border. And what Mayorkas and the Biden White House have said is no one has ever met that standard in United States' history.

  They instead are saying that there is a different issue here, being Donald Trump. We know and I know from my reporting and political sources and some in the Trump universe say, yes, he does want to campaign on the border. He does not necessarily want a deal or a solution right now.

  So, when you hear from Democrats today, as we heard from Democratic leaders, they point back to Trump.

• Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA):

  This was never about securing the border. This was never about migrants. This was never about protecting our country. Just like the baseless impeachments and everything else the MAGA Republicans have pretended to care about, it has always been about helping Donald Trump become president again.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Republicans reject that, of course. They say there is a real issue at the border. They really think this is a dereliction of duty.

  But at the same time as they're impeaching this secretary, that same secretary is trying to negotiate with other Republicans for a potential border deal on the Senate side. So you can't miss the irony.

• Geoff Bennett:

  And, Lisa, what do we know about the level of illegal immigration under Secretary Mayorkas?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  This is important, and it was hard to pick out just some facts, but let me present from Mayorkas' side where we are.

  There has been such a massive surge in numbers at the border. So let's look at 2019, during the Trump presidency; 1.1 million encounters that year is what DHS reported. Let's look at last year, last fiscal year, 3.2 million. So Mayorkas is saying, we have had a tripling of the amount of people we're seeing at the border.

  But they say the apprehension rate in both times has been 78 percent. So they're saying, we're catching up with the past, despite these record numbers. Republicans on their side said, though, you're not detaining as many, that catch-and-release is leaving more migrants, because there is a bigger surge, into this country.

  And then you look at detention numbers. I looked at those too. Currently, we have got about 38,600 in ICE detention. 2019, January of 2019, it was 46,500, so a higher number. The sides debate why that is. DHS says COVID is a factor, that some places still have not reopened detention beds.

  So there's a lot to unpack here, but the numbers at the border are really the issue. And Republicans are blaming Mayorkas and Biden policy and they're impeaching him for it.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Lisa Desjardins, thanks, as always, for that great reporting.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  You're welcome.

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