Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas erupted at congressional Republicans on Tuesday ahead of a first impeachment vote, saying he would not countenance “politically motivated accusations and personal attacks you have made against me.”
In a seven-page letter, he detailed his lengthy resume in public service and his role in managing the border over the last three years, and he said he’ll keep at it, even as Republicans press on.
“I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted,” he said.
The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on two articles of impeachment. One accuses him of willfully subverting immigration laws by enabling catch-and-release of illegal immigrants, while the other accuses him of breach of public trust for obstructing and lying to Congress.
Mr. Mayorkas, in his letter, said he’s done the best he can with the tools available to him. He said any solutions beyond his efforts will require new laws from Congress — something he’s working on with a bipartisan group of senators.
The secretary ticked off his accomplishments, saying that under his watch Homeland Security has reached the highest number of ousters of border migrants in a decade.
SEE ALSO: GOP’s fury at ‘smug’ Homeland Security secretary fuels Mayorkas impeachment
Republicans point out that he’s also shattered records for catch-and-release, with millions of new illegal immigrants settling in the U.S. over the last three years.
It’s all a result of unprecedented flows of illegal immigrants from around the world, including families and unaccompanied children, whom Mr. Mayorkas says the system is not set up to handle.
If the Homeland Security Committee approves the articles of impeachment House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he’ll move them to the floor for a full House vote. It only takes a majority vote in the House to impeach, though conviction and removal from office requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate. Given Democrats’ control of the upper chamber, that’s very unlikely.
A major part of the disagreement between the White House and Congress is over whether President Biden needs new powers.
Republicans say then-President Trump had a secure border with the same laws that are available to Mr. Biden, and that he used to solve a 2019 surge without help from Congress.
In December 2020, the last full month under Mr. Trump, Customs and Border Protection recorded roughly 92,000 nationwide encounters with unauthorized migrants. Four years later, in December 2023, Mr. Biden saw four times that number.
SEE ALSO: DHS reports worst border numbers in history as House moves to impeach Mayorkas
Mr. Mayorkas, in his letter, suggested it took draconian policies for the Trump team.
“I think it is unconscionable to separate children from their parents as a tool of deterrence,” he said, referring to a part of the Trump administration’s zero tolerance border policy in 2018. “I believe that law enforcement at the border can be tough and humane. It is our responsibility to the American people to work through our differences and try to reach solutions together.”
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green invited Mr. Mayorkas to testify in the impeachment proceedings and gave a date, but the secretary rejected that date, saying he had other business, including negotiating with Mexico on stiffer border controls.
Mr. Green then invited Mr. Mayorkas to submit written testimony instead.
The secretary says he never rejected the invitation to testify in person and was merely trying to find a time that worked.
Mr. Mayorkas said his letter is his response to the proceedings.
Mr. Green called the letter “inadequate and unbecoming of a Cabinet secretary” and said Mr. Mayorkas had plenty of chances to make a defense of his border policies over the last six months, but he declined.
“A letter at 4:48am on the morning of our markup, repeating the same false claims and doubling down on his commitment to his continued lawless conduct, indicates the contempt with which he views Congress, the American people, and the Constitution he swore an oath to defend,” the Tennessee Republican said.