Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Bill: 118-hres-470
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3]
Introduced: 2023-06-06
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Latest action: action_date: 2023-06-06
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-06-06
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <html><body><p>This resolution impeaches Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors for ceasing construction of a border wall and for other activities relating to immigration and the southern border.</p></body></html>

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 470 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 6, 2023 Mr. Higgins of Louisiana submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

That Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate: Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. Article I Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, in his conduct as Secretary of Homeland Security, has engaged in a pattern of conduct that directly violates his constitutional oath as an executive officer of the United States in the following manner: Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas was confirmed and sworn in as the Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States of America on February 2, 2021. Secretary Mayorkas took a solemn oath, as stated in section 3331 of title 5, United States Code, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. As the Secretary of Homeland Security, a cabinet-level official established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( Public Law 107–296 ), Secretary Mayorkas is vested with the duty to advise the President on decision making critical to the safety and security of the United States. Secretary Mayorkas, with his 30-year career as a law enforcement official, is entrusted by the President to uphold the mission of the Department of Homeland Security as dictated by statute and ensure the constitutionality, legality, and efficacy of executive policy in service of such mission. Section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution mandates that the Federal Government shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. Further, section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 ( Public Law 109–367 ) legally obligates the Secretary of Homeland Security to maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States. Specifically, operational control is defined 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. This operational control standard codified the well-established, good-faith efforts of securing land and maritime borders to preserve the sovereignty of the United States. Secretary Mayorkas is legally bound, by constitutional duty and sworn oath, to protect the individual States of this Republic and the citizens therein from threats to our Nation’s homeland. He has failed, beyond a reasonable doubt, to uphold this oath and to protect the American people as required by law. Specifically, Secretary Mayorkas has intentionally used his position as Secretary of Homeland Security to dismantle previously successful border security resources, enforcement, and policies forcing border and interior enforcement agents to deprioritize their primary law enforcement mission. As a result, the integrity of our international land border with Mexico has been compromised, creating a clear and present danger to the American people. This includes, but is not limited to, the following examples: (1) Secretary Mayorkas has used his Federal position and resources to cease all additional construction of border wall system, fencing, and other associated infrastructure and technology, which were not only authorized, but also funded, by the United States Congress. The result of the cessation of additional construction resulted in several negative consequences. First, it prevented the completion of border wall fencing along portions of the United States-Mexico border that were deemed to be most in need of fencing, thereby increasing the security vulnerabilities of the United States. Second, the unused, taxpayer-purchased materials that were intended for border wall construction and associated infrastructure and technology were left unattended along portions of the United States-Mexico border, which not only left it vulnerable to theft or vandalism, but also increased the danger to Federal and non-Federal law enforcement along portions of that border by increasing the risks of dangerous encounters with the violent cartels overseeing the importation of illegal aliens. Third, it caused economic damage via the termination of contracts with contractors and subcontractors who had been hired to construct the wall and associated infrastructure and technology. (2) Secretary Mayorkas has used his Federal position and resources to both terminate meaningful border security and immigration enforcement efforts and redirect the official time and resources of Department of Homeland Security personnel who are responsible for border security and immigration enforcement to off-mission tasks. This includes directing the personnel of the United States Border Patrol, which is a component of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to deprioritize patrolling the United States-Mexico border, while expanding United States Border Patrol resources to process illegal aliens on United States soil. This also includes directing the personnel of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to cease engaging in statutorily mandated alien arrest and removal efforts, even under circumstances involving aliens who were identified as public safety risks. This also includes directing personnel of the Department of Homeland Security to cease and desist from collecting DNA samples from aliens who are apprehended at the United States-Mexico border, despite the fact that it is a key tool for identifying terrorists, criminal actors, and false family units. This also includes directing personnel of the Department of Homeland Security to deactivate completed sensor and light infrastructure and technology that was embedded into previously constructed border wall along the United States-Mexico border, which has simultaneously reduced operational awareness of the border environment for both Federal and non-Federal law enforcement, enhanced the risk of injury or death for Federal and non-Federal law enforcement, and facilitated further illegal immigration by making it easier for cartels and other criminal organizations to operate unnoticed in close proximity to the United States-Mexico border. (3) Secretary Mayorkas has used his Federal position and resources to suspend an array of regulatory and guidance-based policies that had been promulgated and used during previous administrations to both discourage the flow of illegal aliens into the United States and empower Federal immigration enforcement officials to prevent aliens from unlawfully entering into the United States, especially along the United States-Mexico border. Effective policies that Secretary Mayorkas ordered suspended include— (A) the catch-and-release prohibition, which ended the practice of releasing unlawfully present aliens into the United States during the pendency of their immigration cases; (B) the implementation of the Remain in Mexico Policy (otherwise referred to as the Migrant Protection Protocols), which required that non-Mexican nationals seeking asylum in the United States were required to wait in Mexico pending the adjudication of their asylum claims; (C) the use of statutory expedited removal, which allowed Federal officials to remove forthwith any alien who is apprehended anywhere in the United States within two years of his or her unlawful entry; (D) full implementation of public health emergency exclusion authority as authorized pursuant to section 362 of the Public Health Service 26 Act ( 42 U.S.C. 265 ), which allowed Federal officials to deny the entry of any aliens seeking entry at or between United States ports of entry during the COVID–19 pandemic; and (E) numerous other regulatory and guidance changes to ensure the more rapid enforcement of Federal immigration law. Secretary Mayorkas’ actions and inactions, in his capacity as an executive officer of the United States, have caused a loss of any sane or objective assessment of operational control of the United States-Mexico border, resulting in the most significant border invasion in our Nation’s history concerning persons and illicit drugs. According to 2020 reports, under the final year of the Trump administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 400,651 aliens seeking to enter the southwest border of the United States. Of these apprehensions, only 3 were individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database and 30,557 were unaccompanied alien children. The detected criminal runner got aways totaled approximately 136,000. Over 1,000,000 pounds of illegal drugs were stopped at the border during that timeframe. Since the start of the Biden administration and appointment of Secretary Mayorkas, encounters at the southwest border have swelled far beyond the enforcement and processing capacity of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This has been accompanied by increases in attempted entries of terrorists and unlawful aliens, and a decrease in the interdiction of illegal drugs. According to the 2021 reports, during the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 1,734,686 aliens, seeking to enter the United States, representing a 332 percent increase from the prior year. Over 80 percent of this increase occurred under the Biden administration. Of these apprehensions, 15 were individuals on the terrorist screening database and 144,837 were unaccompanied alien children, an increase of 373 percent from just the year prior. The detected criminal runner got aways nearly tripled to approximately 389,000. The amount illegal drugs stopped at the border dropped by 145,923 pounds to 913,326 pounds. According to the 2022 reports, during the first full year of Secretary Mayorkas’ command at the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 2,378,944 aliens, representing a 37 percent increase from the prior year and over 493 percent increase compared to 2020. Of these apprehensions, 98 individuals were on the terrorist screening database, and 149,093 were unaccompanied alien children. In this time period, the number of known criminal runner gotaways increased to 600,000, an increase of 54 percent from the previous year and a 341 percent increase from just two years prior. Meanwhile, illegal drugs stopped at the border dropped to 655,780 pounds, only 62 percent of the amount stopped in 2020. To date, under the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered over 5,200,000 aliens at the southwest border. Additionally, there have been over 1,500,000 known criminal runner gotaways , aliens who have intentionally evaded law enforcement and entered the United States illegally. These numbers reflect the continual disintegration of any reasonable measure of operational control under the direction of Secretary Mayorkas. Secretary Mayorkas has undermined the law enforcement capacity of the Department of Homeland Security. Frontline agents have been pulled from their law enforcement responsibilities and into processing roles, turning Federal law enforcement into facilitators of illegality and leaving significant gaps in our security infrastructure along the United States-Mexico border. As a result, the number of criminal runner gotaways has steadily risen, enabling criminals to enter the country undeterred. According to law enforcement sources, these aliens have criminal intent and are the most likely to be involved with the human, sex, and drug trafficking activities of transnational criminal organizations. These aliens then disappear into the interior of the United States and plug into existing criminal networks. Secretary Mayorkas, in his conduct as an executive officer of the United States and the policies enacted under his direction, has so deprioritized border enforcement that he has ceded control of large portions of the United States-Mexico border to dangerous Mexican cartels. Along some segments of the United States-Mexico border, cartels have even established a presence on the United States side of the border and, in some cases, on Federal property. This has allowed the cartels to greatly increase their ability and capacity for human and drug smuggling. Secretary Mayorkas has overseen a stunning increase in the flow of illicit drugs into the United States from Mexico and elsewhere around the globe, including the People’s Republic of China. Under Secretary Mayorkas’ tenure, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized enough illicitly manufactured fentanyl to kill over 3,300,000,000 Americans, nearly 10 times the population of the United States. Law enforcement officers have acknowledged that only a fraction of illicit controlled dangerous substance drugs are intercepted at the border, and a vast amount of the illicit fentanyl entering the United States is doing so between ports of entry. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, illicitly manufactured fentanyl caused the deaths of 110,236 Americans in 2022. It has become a leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 45. Most illicitly manufactured fentanyl found in the United States is being manufactured with raw chemical precursors from the People’s Republic of China, trafficked through Mexico, and funneled into the United States between ports of entry along the United States-Mexico border. For over two years, Secretary Mayorkas has failed to take corrective measures necessary to restore a professional standard of operational control over the southwest border of the United States. Far from achieving this mission, Secretary Mayorkas has diminished the integrity of our border, allowing dangerous cartels to operate human and drug trafficking operations, and the result has been illegality, injury, and death for untold thousands at the border and on the interior of the United States. Secretary Mayorkas’ willful dereliction of his oath and constitutional obligation to protect the United States and their citizenry from the invasion of illegal aliens and illegal drugs, including illicit fentanyl, warrants his removal from the Office of Secretary of Homeland Security. Wherefore Secretary Mayorkas, by such conduct, thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. Article II Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, in his conduct while Secretary of Homeland Security, engaged in a pattern of conduct that undermined the sovereignty of the United States as follows: Secretary Mayorkas’ ongoing violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act demonstrates his blatant disregard for upholding the laws of the sovereign United States. Section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A) ) grants the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to parole aliens on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, provided that the aliens present neither a security risk nor a risk of absconding . In direct violation of the intent and spirit of the law, Secretary Mayorkas has overseen the abuse of parole authority under such section 212(d)(5)(A). At the direction of Secretary Mayorkas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has unlawfully used this authority to triage overcrowded processing facilities, releasing aliens into the interior of the United States without proper detention and vetting. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, parole authority under such section 212(d)(5)(A) was used 268,268 times between October 2021 and November 2022, at the international land border with Mexico. This form of administrative catch-and-release has been carried out under the direct command of Secretary Mayorkas. Any law enforcement professional would know that massive abuses of parole authority are a clear threat to the safety and security of the American people. Aliens are being released without proper screening, enabling them to disappear into the United States with little hope that they will appear for immigration court proceedings. Secretary Mayorkas’ broad application of parole authority clearly violates the case-by-case standard outlined in such section 212(d)(5)(A). Secretary Mayorkas has demonstrated a blatant disregard for the statutory limits of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He has unlawfully abused his authorities and has willingly and maliciously released record numbers of illegal aliens into the United States, violating Federal law, undermining the sovereignty of the United States, and jeopardizing the security of the American citizenry. Wherefore, Secretary Mayorkas, by such conduct, thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.