Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a resolution Thursday to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
Greene introduced the resolution after two constituents of her Northwest Georgia district were killed Wednesday near the border by a human smuggler who crashed head-on with their vehicle while evading police.
The resolution is privileged, which means the House must address it within two legislative days, setting up a showdown in the House next week.
Greene said Thursday from the House floor:
Rather than adhering to an oath he took to defend and secure our country and uphold the Constitution when he was sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas has engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the laws of the United States.
Green laid out a myriad of violations she qualifies as “high crimes and misdemeanors” that meet the bar necessary to impeach Mayorkas, who has become one of Republicans’ top foils in the Biden Administration. The border crisis he has overseen has created a political headache for President Joe Biden as Democrat political leaders in liberal cities and states across the nation have called for a solution to the escalating catastrophe.
“In his willful admittance of border crossers, terrorist human traffickers, drugs, and other contraband, Alejandro Nicolas Mayorkas has failed to maintain operational control of the border thereby violating the Secure Fence Act of 2006,” she said while pointing out Biden’s decision to cancel construction of border wall begun during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Greene next referred to the guarantee clause in Article 4 of the Constitution, claiming Mayorkas “has violated his oath to uphold this constitutional duty by allowing the invasion of approximately ten million illegals across our borders. The ongoing invasion at our southern border is a direct national security threat against the states and against the citizens therein.”
She also accused Mayorkas of failing to observe the Immigration and Nationality Act, which “requires Homeland Security to detain inadmissible aliens arriving in the United States or illegal aliens presently in the United States. Instead,” she continued, “the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Mayorkas has practiced catch and release policies whereby illegals are detained, but then released without any mechanism to ensure they show up to court for processing.”
The two Georgians killed have been identified as Jose Lerma and Isabel Lerma. Greene noted couple had five children.
Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.