01/07/2024
House Republicans might FINALLY impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas! The House Homeland Security Committee plans to hold a hearing this week on the matter [ House Republicans plot swift impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas as moderates signal support, CNN, January 7, 2024]. It’s been a long time coming. The GOP campaigned in 2022 on the implied promise they would punish Mayorkas for the southwest border invasion. Yet once Republicans got the House majority, they failed to act. It appeared that they might not keep that promise. But now, signs are that the New Year has brought a new focus for the party. A Mayorkas impeachment would keep the headlines centered on what matters: the Great Replacement Biden Rush of illegal aliens. And it’s easier than impeaching Joe Biden for corruption.
Leading the charge against Mayorkas: Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He began threatening to impeach Mayorkas right before Christmas, when DHS finally dumped its November figures for the southwest border. They were staggering: More than 240,000 illegals were encountered, one of the highest monthly totals in history — and those are just the ones Border Patrol caught.
“By strategically holding the release of these numbers until the Friday before Christmas, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is unabashedly showing the full measure of his duplicity,” Green said in December. “These numbers are so bad, he wants as few Americans to see them as possible. And December’s numbers, which will be released in January, are anticipated to be even more grim. Fortunately, next month the secretary won’t have a major holiday as a convenient shield to hide behind” [Chairman Green: November Border Crossing Numbers “Devastating and Utter Disaster” for the Country, December 22, 2023].
Our investigation made clear that the border crisis finds its foundation in Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress. His failure to fulfill his oath of office demands accountability. More from @kelly_laco at @DailyMail: https://t.co/Y8sT69e9gJ
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) January 4, 2024
Green was right. The December numbers are even worse, reportedly topping 300,000. (These are unconfirmed numbers, but don’t blame us for that — as we’ve frequently noted, CBP tends to report the official numbers on the fourth Friday of a five-Friday month.)
The burden for this atrocity lies squarely on the shoulders of Mayorkas.
Rep. Green says it’s necessary to impeach to send a message. He dismisses arguments that it’s better to stick with Mayorkas because he’s “the devil you know.” “You have to do the right thing and I have a duty to the people,” he told Ali Bradley of NewsNation. “This guy has abused his power to force his woke immigration agenda on the American people.” (The NewsNation article erroneously referred to Green as a senator) [GOP senator ‘confident’ he’ll get support for Mayorkas impeachment, January 4, 2024].
Mayorkas has obviously abused his power. Thus his department announced it would not deport the vast majority of illegals unless they committed a “serious” crime [U.S. will no longer deport people solely because they are undocumented, Homeland Security secretary says, by Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, September 30, 2021]. Homeland Security has released millions of illegals into the country with only a notice to appear in court, completely eroding the rule of law. And Mayorkas proudly stands by his abysmal record as the invasion worsens. He isn’t just refusing to control our borders. He is openly aiding and abetting an invasion and breaking myriad immigration laws [Shocking 3.8 million migrants have entered US since Biden took office — 1.5 million sneaked in and are still here, by Alex Oliveira, New York Post, September 21, 2023].
Rep, Green’s decision is a notable change from how Republicans viewed impeachment throughout 2023. In late November, Marjorie Taylor Greene withdrew her motion to impeach Mayorkas due to pressure from Republican leadership. She was told that the party would move to remove Mayorkas, but it would try a different way. A number of conservative Republicans voted to table her proposal in the fall, indicating the strong reluctance to impeach Mayorkas [Greene withdraws second push to impeach Mayorkas, by Jordain Carney and Nicholas Wu, Politico, November 30, 2023].
Why were they so reluctant? Mayorkas is clearly at fault for the border invasion. What he has done is tantamount to treason. There was very little reason not to impeach him. And most of the GOP caucus seemed dead set on it when they took over the House. They initiated hearings to gather evidence against the DHS chief.
But the momentum sputtered last summer. A number of Republicans felt that “dereliction of duty” — a ridiculous way to describe Mayorkas’ purposely swamping the U.S. with illegals — wasn’t an impeachable offense. Others found the whole focus “frivolous.” Republicans shifted their attention toward impeaching Biden.
But, unlike with Mayorkas, the demand to remove the president wasn’t based on immigration. It revolved around his shady business dealings with degenerate son Hunter. In one of his last acts as House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy announced an impeachment probe into Biden that focused entirely on his corruption — which, while bad enough, is not an existential matter that could destroy the country [Speaker McCarthy directs the House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, by Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press, September 12, 2023].
McCarthy’s move was meant to satisfy GOP hawks. But a few weeks later, McCarthy was dethroned anyway. New Speaker Mike Johnson got the House to vote on an impeachment inquiry in December, but it keeps the focus on Hunter Biden and corruption. The illegal immivasion is not part of it [House approves impeachment inquiry into President Biden as Republicans rally behind investigation, by Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press, December 14, 2023].
Republicans have offered the same reason for not impeaching Biden for the border invasion as they did for not impeaching Mayorkas. Too many dimwitted Republicans believe “dereliction of duty” isn’t a strong impeachable offense. They think it’s better to focus on possibly illicit business dealings because that angle offers a counter to Trump’s legal problems.
And Democrats are going to campaign heavily on Trump’s legal issues in 2024. Some Republicans think it would be smart to portray Biden as the Real Criminal to negate the charges against their likely nominee.
This angle also appears to excite Conservatism, Inc. media more, given the more enthusiastic coverage Hunter Biden gets, as opposed to the border invasion. Republicans think they can score more points against Biden with the corruption narrative than with the invasion of illegals.
That doesn’t make any sense. For one thing, again, Biden’s offenses are not “dereliction of duty.” It’s not as if he didn’t show up for an important Cabinet meeting. He is breaking the law! Wimpish National Review’s (!) wimpish legal columnist Andrew McCarthy (!!) made this case nearly a year ago [Impeaching Biden over border crisis is Republicans only tool, Andrew McCarthy says, by Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, Fox News, February 18, 2023].
For another, far more Americans care about the border than Hunter Biden. Despite the serious allegations of Biden’s tawdry business deals, the Leftist Mainstream Media has portrayed it as a frivolous pursuit. Many Americans share this view.
But the border is a different matter. Even reliable Democratic voters in blue cities see the invasion as a major issue. It’s punishing Americans everywhere. Voters rate immigration as one of the most important issues facing the country. This includes a majority of Republicans and a sizable number of Democrats [More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds, by Will Weissert and Linley Sanders, Associated Press, January 1, 2024]. Highlighting Biden’s failure on immigration helps the GOP with voters.
Impeachment will send a message. Of course there’s little chance the Senate will remove Biden from office. But impeaching illustrates the severity of the wrongdoing committed by the guilty partner, whether it’s Biden or Mayorkas. It forces Democrats to defend this terrible record and makes immigration central to American politics.
All of these things are good for Republicans, and makes it more likely to solve the invasion.
If Republicans want to do only one impeachment, my view is that it makes more sense to choose Mayorkas. The Senate wouldn’t need to remove him. The House vote alone would be such a blow that Mayorkas might decide to leave on his own.
Another reason to impeach Mayorkas: GOP squishes will be more comfortable with it. Many squishes fear a political backlash in their districts that went for Biden if they impeach the president. That fear might be misplaced, but it’s apparent. But there wouldn’t be any fear of political backlash over Mayorkas. Who would be upset at impeaching the Cuban-Jewish immigrant largely responsible for the border invasion? Certainly not any voter the GOP would hope to win [House GOP chips away at centrist resistance on Biden impeachment inquiry, by Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, and Anthony Adragna, Politico, December 11, 2023].
But the obvious and most important reason to impeach Mayorkas: to center immigration as the issue in 2024. Republicans’ impeaching a senior government official over the border invasion loudly declares that the party takes the matter seriously and it’s worthy of dramatic punishment. It will force the Regime Media to air out all the sordid details of our Open Border, how many illegals cross every month, and how Mayorkas’ DHS releases them to roam free throughout America. It would inform the country of the tremendous costs of Biden’s Open Borders, and that the madness must end.
This is an easy win for the GOP. It just needs to hold the hearings and vote to impeach. There is no defense to the charge of opening the borders or of openly refusing to enforce immigration law.
The time is ripe to make it clear: Failing to enforce immigration law demands impeachment.
Washington Watcher II is an anonymous DC insider.
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