Former impeachment champion Joe Biden calls GOP efforts to hold Mayorkas accountable 'unconstitutional'



House Republicans successfully impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday night, leaving it to the U.S. Senate to decide his ultimate fate.

While historically a champion of impeachment when a Republican is in the crosshairs, President Joe Biden lashed out at those seeking to hold Mayorkas responsible for overseeing the illegal entry of several million foreign nationals into the nation. Like the DHS, Biden called the vote to impeach his DHS secretary "unconstitutional."

The vote and the articles of impeachment

Without the help of Republican Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), Mike Gallagher (Wis.), and Tom McClintock (Calif.), the House GOP managed to pass a resolution to impeach Mayorkas in a 214-213 vote Tuesday evening.

The first article of impeachment accuses the Biden Cabinet secretary of a willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law.

Mayorkas allegedly violated "his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office," according to the article.

The second article accuses the DHS secretary of knowingly making false statements and obstructing lawful oversight of the DHS.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures indicate that in Mayorkas' first nine months as DHS secretary, 1,516,650 illegal aliens stole across the southern border and into the United States — nearly quadruple the number of migrants who entered throughout the entirety of the previous fiscal year. Roughly 6 million more have entered the country in the years since.

The Democratic-controlled Senate will almost certainly refuse to charge Mayorkas, rendering the House vote largely symbolic.

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, stressed that his committee's "investigation and subsequent impeachment proceedings demonstrated beyond any doubt that Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and systematically refused to comply with the laws of the United States and breached the public trust."

"With this vote, Congress has made clear that we will not tolerate such lawlessness," added Green.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said, "Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and consistently refused to comply with federal immigration laws, fueling the worst border catastrophe in American history."

"Alejandro Mayorkas deserves to be impeached, and Congress has a constitutional obligation to do so," continued Johnson.

Biden lashes out

Biden was less than pleased over Republicans' successful vote to impeach Mayorkas.

"History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games," Biden is credited as saying in a lengthy statement.

Although quick to invoke history in the abstract and to paint the impeachment initiative as petty, Biden previously championed impeachment when it meant the possible removal of a Republican from office.

Biden and other Democrats sought to impeach Trump over a phone call he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concerning possible corruption on the part of the Biden family.

— (@)

Biden even incorporated such demands for Trump's impeachment into his presidential campaign.

Time reported that while campaigning in 2019, then-candidate Biden told a small audience in Rochester, N.H., "Donald Trump has violated his oath of office, betrayed this nation, and committed impeachable acts. You know, to preserve our Constitution, our democracy, our basic integrity, he should be impeached."

In his Tuesday statement, Biden further claimed Mayorkas "has upheld the rule of law faithfully and has demonstrated a deep commitment to the values that make our nation great."

"Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to deliver more border resources and stronger border security," continued Biden. "Sadly, the same Republicans pushing this baseless impeachment are rejecting bipartisan plans Secretary Mayorkas and others in my administration have worked hard on to strengthen border security at this very moment."

Contrary to the president's suggestion, in recent weeks and months, Mayorkas and other elements of the Biden administration have fought not against illegal immigration but against Texas' efforts to secure the southern border. Just last month, the DHS threatened Texas after the Lone Star State seized control of a high-traffic area along the border in Eagle Pass.

A Jan. 14 letter from DHS General Counsel Jonathan Meyer instructed Texas to "remove all barriers to access to the U.S.-Mexico border."

Extra to casting Mayorkas as a man traduced, Biden accused Republicans of "playing politics with the border."

DHS echoes Biden

The DHS regurgitated the Democratic president's talking points in its response to the impeachment vote, noting, "House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at the border."

"Without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country," said DHS spokesman Mia Ehrenberg.

Ehrenberg further alleged that Mayrokas "will continue working every day to keep Americans safe."

Congressional investigators behind the impeachment push suggested in recent reports that Mayorkas' "open-border policies" and the illegal immigration they have ostensibly guaranteed not only impose an annual net burden of hundreds of billions of dollars every year on the U.S. economy but also exacerbate the fentanyl crisis, adversely impact public safety, contribute to a rise in human trafficking and exploitation of minors, and jeopardize public health.

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US asylum system a 'jewel': DHS Sec. Mayorkas claims 50% reduction in border crossings since Title 42's end



Department of Homeland Security's Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed border crossings are down 50% since Title 42 ended.

"Over the past two days, the United States Border Patrol has experienced a 50% drop in the number of encounters versus what we were experiencing earlier in the week before Title 42 ended at midnight on Thursday," Mayorkas said Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union."

Mayorkas said it is too early to determine if the anticipated surge has peaked. He said the figures from the United States Border Patrol were 6,300 on Friday and about 4,200 Saturday. He added that the figure was around 10,000 earlier in the week.

The Biden appointee made remarks on ABC's "This Week" with anchor Jonathan Karl Sunday morning, as well.

Mayorkas told Karl he "respectfully disagrees" with a judge's ruling earlier this week taking aim at a DHS policy that allowed some migrants to be released without a court date due to overcrowding.

Mayorkas attributed the surprising figures he gave to both outlets to "months and months" of advanced planning in preparation for the ending Title 42. He also said that communications efforts emphasizing "consequences" like possible deportation and a five-year ban on returning had helped stem the tide.

Over the past several days, from its Twitter account, DHS has posted short videos warning incoming migrants that the border is closed. Several of the tweets were posted in Haitian Creole and Spanish.

\u201cKontr\u00e8man ak Tit 42, lwa Tit 8 la yo enpoze konsekans imigrasyon ak krimin\u00e8l pou moun ki trav\u00e8se fwonty\u00e8 a ilegalman: sa gen ladan \u00f2donans final pou ekspilsyon, dep\u00f2tasyon, e yon ent\u00e8diksyon pou pa ka reyantre pandan senk lane. \u2b07\ufe0f \nhttps://t.co/ilo733Gfqd\u201d
— Homeland Security (@Homeland Security) 1683981905

Title 42 is a Trump-era policy that allowed incoming migrants to be denied entry based on the COVID pandemic. Title 42 ended Thursday. In the days leading up to its end, social media was awash in videos showing Texas officials behind concertina wire. Migrants, some with young children in tow, are seen scrambling up the riverbank on the opposite side of the makeshift barriers.

"The asylum system has been and continues to be a jewel of the United States," Mayorkas said on CNN when asked about the debate within the Democratic Party on how restrictive the United States should be when it comes to asylum claims.

"The cartels, the smuggling organizations, control the land. And so we have not only a security imperative, but a humanitarian responsibility to cut those smugglers out. And that's precisely what we, as an administration, [have] done," he also said, adding that more than 10,000 smugglers have already been arrested.

Throughout the week, Todd Bensman, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, shared multiple videos on Twitter of migrants making their way across the water between Matamoros, Mexico and the Brownsville, Texas area on the opposite side.

Bensman described what he witnessed as a "human flood" and "terrible for the American public Wednesday, the day before Title 42 ended.

\u201cTexas DPS blocking migrants from entering - rare footage\u201d
— Todd Bensman (@Todd Bensman) 1683727707

Watch a segment below of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas's interview with CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" Sunday morning.

\u201c"The numbers that we have experienced over the past two days are markedly down"\n\nHomeland Security Secy Alejandro Mayorkas tells CNN's Dana Bash that the Biden administration has recorded a decrease in border crossings since Title 42 ended. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU\u201d
— CNN (@CNN) 1684070887

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