House Republicans blasted for efforts to impeach Dept. of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas

Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives are facing criticism for their attempt to impeach the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of U.S. immigration policies at the southern border.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas told theGrio that the GOP’s effort is “really sad because it’s a losing game for the American people overall,” she said. “Republicans are just looking for an issue to run on” for the 2024 elections.”

Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross told theGrio, “Republicans are trying to shift the news narrative, and they are out for blood against the Biden administration.”

She added, “Mayorkas is a policy guy. He has followed that framework since he took the role, and he is someone who has not committed crimes,” she added.

In November 2023, House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, alleging he “willfully and systematically refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and that he “breached the public trust” by stating that the U.S.-Mexico border is secure.

Crockett told theGrio that House GOP members lack justification to impeach Mayorkas and just “don’t like how he oversees the border. 

“Nothing that has been alleged rises to the level of impeachment, which includes high crimes and misdemeanors,” she said.

“It’s a game because we know that they don’t want to solve the border. If they wanted to solve the border then they would want to talk about policy because it’s up to Congress to create policy,” she added.

Cross told theGrio that the GOP is trying “to find someone to blame for our migrant crisis.”

“There is currently an immigration reform package on the table, but they’re listening to Donald Trump and don’t want to accept it, even though it is arguably the most exhaustive migrant plan that this nation has ever seen,” she added.

Vicki Gaubeca, associate director of U.S. Immigration and Border Policy with Human Rights Watch, told theGrio, that despite whether a Republican or Democrat is in office, the immigration system in the U.S. is broken and Black and brown migrants are disproportionately impacted.

“The majority of the people who are detained at the border are Black and brown, and we know that Black and brown migrants get deported at a higher rate than any other race,” she said.

Guabeca stated that a lack of transparency from the Department of Homeland Security has exacerbated the issues on the border for more than a decade, which is prior to Mayorkas taking on his leadership role. Therefore he should not take the fall, she said.

Crockett told theGrio that by trying to impeach Mayorkas, the GOP is setting a terrible precedent to “water down what it means to be impeached.”

“They want to act as if it’s an everyday thing so that it’s not a big deal that the twice-impeached former president who has 91 counts of indictments pending against him can be excused,” she said.

Earlier this week, the House Homeland Security Committee advanced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. The House GOP is slated to bring the articles of impeachment to the House floor for a vote sometime next week.

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