A group of House Republicans led by Andy Biggs (AZ) laid out a case to impeach Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday.
As a massive immigrant "caravan" marched to the southern border, Biggs accused Mayorkas of deliberately flouting the nation's laws during a press conference near the Capitol.
The warning shot comes weeks after House Republican Kevin McCarthy (Ca.) demanded that Mayorkas step down at a press conference near the border.
Taking a more cautious tone, McCarthy promised to investigate Mayorkas first and decide on impeachment later. But Biggs, who is challenging McCarthy's bid to be Speaker of the House, says he has seen enough.
Speaking at an event outside the Capitol, Biggs said Mayorkas has committed "high crimes and misdemeanors." The crisis at the border is a "deliberate" consequence of Mayorkas' refusal to enforce the law, he said.
"His conduct is not incompetent, it is not negligent, it is willful and intentional," Biggs said.
Biggs accused Mayorkas of violating the Secure Fences Act of 2006 by failing to preserve operational control of the border. He also said that Mayorkas is unlawfully releasing illegal aliens into the country who, according to the law, "shall be detained."
Mayorkas has also lied to Congress about the border being "secure" and has abused parole powers to admit illegal immigrants into the country in a "categorical" fashion, when the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes parole only on a "case-by-case" basis, Biggs added.
His warning shot comes as Fox News released stunning footage of a large caravan of more than 1,000 illegal immigrants streaming across the border into El Paso, Texas.
BREAKING: A huge migrant caravan of over 1,000 people crossed illegally into El Paso, TX last night, making it the largest single group we have ever seen. The city of El Paso reports Border Patrol now has over 5,000 in custody & has released hundreds to city streets. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/ewUQX757Lt
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 12, 2022
Despite Mayorkas' preposterous assertion that the border is secure, illegal immigration has repeatedly set records since he began aggressively rolling back enforcement nearly two years ago. More than 2 million illegals stormed the border in fiscal year 2022 alone.
Biden officials are now bracing for an unprecedented tsunami once the Trump-era Title 42 policy, essentially the last border policy that the Biden administration had kept from the previous administration, is lifted next week.
Officials estimate that 14,000 immigrants a day could rush the border, which is nearly half a million immigrants per month.
But the Biden White House has already dismissed threats of impeachment as political theater, and the DHS has said Mayorkas is going nowhere.
