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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 169 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 169

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Secretary of Homeland Security 
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas does not have the confidence of the Senate 
  or of the American people to faithfully carry out the duties of his 
                                office.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 20, 2023

Mr. Marshall (for himself, Mr. Braun, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Hawley, 
Mr. Risch, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Schmitt, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Lummis, 
Mr. Lee, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Vance, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Budd) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Secretary of Homeland Security 
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas does not have the confidence of the Senate 
  or of the American people to faithfully carry out the duties of his 
                                office.

Whereas, while serving as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Nicholas 
        Mayorkas, in violation of his constitutional oath, has engaged in a 
        pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his constitutional and 
        statutory duties as Secretary of Homeland Security, including by--

    (1) failing to ``take all actions the Secretary determines necessary 
and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control over the entire 
international land and maritime borders of the United States'', as required 
under section 2(a) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1701 note), 
which includes ``the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United 
States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments 
of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband'', as evidenced by--

    G    (A) more than 5,500,000 illegal aliens crossing the United States 
southern border during Secretary Mayorkas' term in office, including aliens 
encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and known got-aways, and 
20 consecutive months with more than 150,000 illegal border crossings;

    G    (B) the apprehension of 98 individuals that match records within 
the Terrorist Screening Database at the southern border during fiscal year 
2022, which is more such apprehensions than occurred during the previous 5 
years combined, and the apprehension of 80 such individuals during fiscal 
year 2023 to date, which may lead to a higher rate of apprehensions of such 
individuals during fiscal year 2023 than took place during fiscal year 
2022; and

    G    (C) the failure of the Department of Homeland Security, under the 
leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, to comply with provisions of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), which require the 
detention of inadmissible aliens arriving in the United States or aliens 
who are physically present in the United States without inspection until 
processed, and the implementation by Secretary Mayorkas of unlawful and 
misguided catch-and-release directives, such as the Notice to Report 
process and the parole plus Alternatives to Detention process, which have 
resulted in the reckless release of more than 1,000,000 illegal aliens into 
the interior of the United States; and

    (2) gravely endangering the national security of the United States, 
undermining the operational control of our southern border, and encouraging 
illegal immigration by--

    G    (A) terminating contracts for additional border wall construction 
for which Congress appropriated funding; and

    G    (B) issuing memoranda rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols 
(commonly known as ``Remain in Mexico''), which was an indispensable tool 
to address the border crisis and restore integrity to the immigration 
system;

Whereas Secretary Mayorkas, in the memorandum announcing the termination of the 
        Migrant Protection Protocols program (MPP) on June 1, 2021, 
        acknowledged, ``some removal proceedings conducted pursuant to MPP were 
        completed more expeditiously than is typical for non-detained cases'';
Whereas Federal authorities seized more than 14,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl 
        along the southwest border during fiscal year 2022 and 13,800 pounds of 
        illicit fentanyl during fiscal year 2023 to date, which is evidence of 
        increased efforts by transnational criminal organizations to traffic 
        dangerous substances into the United States;
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 
        107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, which exceeds the 
        number of such deaths in any previous year, and \2/3\ of such deaths 
        were caused by synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl);
Whereas, under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland 
        Security formally opposed efforts to keep in place the order of 
        suspension issued by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention under section 362 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
        265) as a result of the public health emergency relating to the COVID-19 
        pandemic (commonly known as the ``title 42 order'') in order to prevent 
        a crisis on the southern border;
Whereas with the termination of the title 42 order, the Department of Homeland 
        Security is planning to reroute asylum and parole applicants through the 
        CBP One mobile application and formal parole programs in order to 
        obscure border encounter numbers;
Whereas on multiple occasions while serving as Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, in violation of his constitutional oath, 
        has willfully provided perjurious, or false and misleading testimony to 
        Congress, including--

    (1) on April 28, 2022, during a hearing of the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives, by responding to Congressman 
Chip Roy's question, ``Will you testify under oath that we have operational 
control of the border?'', with ``Yes we do'', despite the fact that, the 
term ``operational control'' has been defined in law as ``the prevention of 
all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by 
terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and 
other contraband''; and

    (2) on November 15, 2022, during a hearing of the Committee on Homeland 
Security of the House of Representatives, by responding to Congressman Dan 
Bishop's question, ``Do you continue to maintain that the border is 
secure?'', with ``Yes, and we are working day in and day out to enhance 
security, Congressman.'';

Whereas section 1621 of title 18, United States Code, clearly states that anyone 
        under oath who ``willfully and contrary to such oath states or 
        subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true'' is 
        guilty of perjury and shall be fined or imprisoned not more than 5 
        years, or both;
Whereas the record-breaking number of illegal alien encounters, including more 
        1,000,000 known ``got-aways'', and the record seizures of deadly 
        fentanyl and other contraband, confirm that Secretary Mayorkas has not 
        taken all actions necessary to ensure operational control of the 
        southern border, as required by law;
Whereas U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, in a field hearing before the 
        Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, stated 
        that U.S. Border Patrol does not have operational control of the border, 
        which directly contradicts Secretary Mayorkas' April 2022 testimony to 
        the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;
Whereas, in September 2021, while Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas was serving as 
        Secretary of Homeland Security--

    (1) approximately 15,000 Haitian migrants crossed the border from 
Mexico into the United States and were concentrated in an encampment 
underneath the international bridge between Mexico and the Del Rio, Texas, 
Port of Entry and in surrounding areas;

    (2) mounted Border Patrol agents and troopers with the Texas Department 
of Public Safety dispersed a large group of migrants gathered near a boat 
ramp located in the United States along the Rio Grande River, approximately 
500 yards east of the Del Rio Port of Entry and then attempted to stop the 
flow of all migrants illegally crossing the Rio Grande River into the 
United States at that location;

    (3) within hours of the incident described in paragraph (2)--

    G    (A) images and video surfaced on social media that showed multiple 
Border Patrol agents on horseback using their horses to keep several 
illegal immigrants from entering the United States after crossing the Rio 
Grande in Del Rio, Texas;

    G    (B) extremist liberal activists rushed to judgement and falsely 
accused the agents of whipping the illegal immigrants with their horse 
reins, in spite of a statement by the photographer that the pictures were 
misconstrued as showing abusive behavior; and

    G    (C) some activists made the disgusting false equivalency to 
slavery; and

    (4) Secretary Mayorkas, after Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security 
for Public Affairs Marsha Espinosa emailed to him a news article explaining 
that the photographer who took the images did not see the agents whipping 
anyone--

    G    (A) misled the general public by publicly supporting the Biden 
administration's false narrative that Border Patrol agents whipped Haitian 
migrants; and

    G    (B) participated in a White House press conference during which he 
publicly and falsely slandered the Border Patrol agents referred to in 
paragraph (2), calling the images ``horrifying'' and an example of 
``systemic racism'';

Whereas a 511-page report by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of 
        Personal Responsibility found ``no evidence that [Border Patrol agents] 
        involved in this incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any 
        migrant with their reins'';
Whereas the National Border Patrol Council, which is the labor union 
        representing Border Patrol agents and support staff, is considering 
        supporting the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas;
Whereas the actions of Secretary Mayorkas' department have encouraged foreign 
        nationals to attempt to illegally enter the United States at historic 
        levels, as evidenced by 251,012 enforcement encounters along the 
        southern border in December 2022, which is the highest number of 
        encounters ever recorded in a single month;
Whereas a major component of these failed immigration enforcement policies is 
        the Department of Homeland Security's disregard for its responsibility 
        to enforce Federal immigration laws, including Secretary Mayorkas' abuse 
        of discretion in granting humanitarian parole, which, according to 
        section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1182(d)(5)(A), is only to be used on a ``case-by-case basis for urgent 
        humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit'', and has been used 
        by Secretary Mayorkas' department to grant parole en masse on multiple 
        occasions, including new ``Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, 
        and Venezuelans'', which was announced in October 2022 and expanded in 
        January 2023;
Whereas the policies of the Department of Homeland Security, under the 
        leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, have encouraged increased numbers of 
        unaccompanied migrant children to enter the United States during the 2-
        year period immediately preceding the date on which this resolution was 
        introduced, with large numbers of such children revealed by the New York 
        Times to have been forced into dangerous jobs in violations of child 
        labor laws;
Whereas, on March 28, 2023, Ranking Member Senator Lindsey Graham, during a 
        hearing of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, pointed out 
        that under Secretary Mayorkas' watch--

    (1) the southern border of the United States ``has gone from the lowest 
illegal crossings in December 2020 to all-time highs with over 2,000,000 
last fiscal year'';

    (2) ``fentanyl is coming in at a pace we have never seen''; and

    (3) ``more terrorists on the watch list are coming than any time since 
we've been measuring these things'';

Whereas, during the same hearing, Senator Josh Hawley--

    (1) compared the CBP One mobile application used to schedule 
appointments and request humanitarian parole and asylum to ``a concierge 
service for illegal immigrants'';

    (2) commented to Secretary Mayorkas, ``rather than building a wall, Mr. 
Secretary, you have built Ticketmaster for illegal immigrants''; and

Whereas during the same hearing--

    (1) Secretary Mayorkas told Senator Ted Cruz that he did not recognize 
wristbands abandoned along the border, which cartels commonly use for human 
smuggling and trafficking and which act as a sort of registration system, 
with different colors and patterns denoting the cartel responsible, how 
many times a person has attempted to cross, and how much they owe to the 
cartel; and

    (2) Senator Cruz replied in frustration to Senator Mayorkas by calling 
him incompetent and telling him, ``If you had integrity, you would 
resign.'':

Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,
     That it is the sense of the Senate that Secretary Alejandro 
Nicholas Mayorkas no longer holds the confidence of the Senate or of 
the American people to faithfully carry out his duties as Secretary of 
Homeland Security.
                                 <all>
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