U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales (R-TX) voiced his support for the latest attempt by Congress to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Gonzales cited the deaths of innocent American bystanders caused by the border crisis as one reason he supports the measure. Gonzales addressed the issue with Breitbart Texas saying, “From restricting ICE’s deportation authorities to exploiting the parole program, he will stop at nothing to get around our immigration laws.”
Gonzales added, “The Biden administration has tried every trick in the book to create a back door avenue for illegal immigrants.” As reported by Breitbart Texas, the latest border deaths involving innocent commuters on a rural Texas roadway in Gonzales’ district occurred on Wednesday when eight people died in a vehicle crash near Batesville, Texas.
The crash involved the death of a suspected migrant smuggler and five suspected migrants traveling in a vehicle pursued by the Zavala County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement authorities on U.S. Highway 57. Also killed in the crash were Jose Lerma, 67, and Isabel Lerma, 65, of Dalton, Georgia, who were traveling to Mexico from their home when the suspected migrant smuggler veered into oncoming traffic, striking their vehicle head-on at a high rate of speed.
Wednesday’s accident is one of many that have occurred on rural Texas highways in Gonzales’ district, which covers more than 800 miles of the border. In March, Maria Alvarez Tambunga and her seven-year-old granddaughter were killed while returning home from a play date in Ozona, Texas. The Tambungas were killed when a migrant smuggler attempting to evade authorities ran a red light and struck their vehicle. Two of the eleven migrants being transported by the smuggler also died in the accident.
The latest attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is a privileged resolution that requires quick action by Congress within two legislative days. Congress will not reconvene until Monday. The impeachment resolution filed by Representative Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) attributes at least 1424 migrant deaths at the southern border to Mayorkas’ performance as DHS Secretary.
The resolution accuses Mayorkas of ignoring his obligation to maintain operational control of the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States under the Secure Fence Act of 2006. In addition to a myriad of statistics regarding encounters of migrants on the FBI’s Terror Watch List, Special Interest Migrants, and Unaccompanied Migrant Children, the impeachment resolution highlights the more than 70,000 Americans who died in 2022 from Fentanyl poisoning.
The impeachment resolution will force newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La) to exercise one of several options to address the measure. The options include bringing it to the floor for a vote, referring the measure to a committee, or the presentation of a motion to table.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.