[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 6 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H61]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SECRETARY MAYORKAS HAS FAILED TO UPHOLD HIS OFFICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. LaLota) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Speaker, Americans have had enough.
  I rise today to call upon the House of Representatives to impeach 
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and for the Senate to 
convict and remove him from the office he has failed to uphold.
  Since being sworn in 3 years ago, Secretary Mayorkas has neglected 
his duty to secure the border; he has abused his power to exercise 
proper discretion over America's immigration process by refusing to 
enforce Federal laws, and he has breached the public trust and put the 
safety of the American people at risk.
  Secretary Mayorkas is the worst Cabinet-level official in our 
Nation's proud history, and he has subverted our Nation's laws so many 
times. With respect to his impeachment and removal, I want to focus on 
two main points: the reassigning of Border Patrol agents away from the 
border, and the lack of vetting of migrants paroled into our interior.
  First, Secretary Mayorkas continues to require Border Patrol agents 
be taken off of the border and, instead, sit behind a desk at migrant 
processing centers to process more and more dubious asylum claims and 
facilitate migrants' parole into our Nation's interior.
  This is an abuse of power by the Secretary to exercise proper 
discretion over our Nation's immigration process. The diversion of 
border agents away from the border leaves the already mostly unsecured 
border even more vulnerable to cartels looking to illegally traffic 
people and narcotics, including fentanyl.
  Fentanyl has been coming through legal and illegal border crossings, 
overwhelming our law enforcement. The open and agentless border can be 
tied to the death of the 73,000 Americans who were poisoned by fentanyl 
in 2022 alone. In redirecting personnel away from the border, leaving 
it wide open for tens of miles in many places, Secretary Mayorkas has 
neglected his duty to secure America's southern border and to keep our 
communities safe.
  Second, Mr. Speaker, Secretary Mayorkas' scheme of paroling hundreds 
of thousands of migrants into the United States who have not and cannot 
be properly vetted undermines our national security efforts to keep 
America safe in a post-9/11 world.
  In just 2 years in office, Secretary Mayorkas paroled and allowed 
541,000 migrants to enter the United States through immigration parole 
authority, which gives Federal officials the power to authorize the 
entry of foreigners who lack visas. Moreover, while this number on its 
own is objectionable, the impeachmentworthy part is Secretary Mayorkas 
has allowed these individuals into our communities without a proper 
understanding of their criminal backgrounds or national security 
intentions.
  According to the not-so-conservative New York Times, more than 24,000 
Chinese citizens illegally crossed into the United States in a 1-year 
time period under Secretary Mayorkas. Mayorkas then paroled a large 
fraction of them into the United States without any proper vetting 
whatsoever.
  This has brought us to this week, where the Homeland Security 
Committee opened impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas. 
This was not an easy decision, but it is necessary for the well-being 
of our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, House Republicans' calls for the Secretary's impeachment 
and removal from office comes after exhausting all other efforts.
  In May of last year, the House took action and passed H.R. 2, the 
Secure the Border Act, which, among other things, would counter 
Secretary Mayorkas' alternative immigration scheme by reinstating the 
remain in Mexico policy and requiring the construction of more physical 
barriers at the border. Yet, this bill languishes on Senator Schumer's 
desk.
  Despite the inaction from our Senate counterparts, we House 
Republicans have hosted multiple public hearings to show the American 
people the failures of Secretary Mayorkas' alternative immigration 
process with the hope that he would change course. These hearings have 
been complemented by numerous trips to the southern border to allow 
Members of this Chamber to hear directly from border communities, local 
officials, law enforcement, and families harmed by his crisis. House 
Republicans understand Americans want a more secure border, as is 
demonstrated by the staggering 68 percent disapproval rating on the 
President's handling of immigration.
  Mr. Speaker, to summarize, Secretary Mayorkas has, one, neglected his 
duty to secure the border; two, abused his power to exercise proper 
discretion over America's immigration process; and, three, breached the 
public trust.
  Secretary Mayorkas is intentionally circumventing the immigration and 
border security laws passed by multiple Congresses and signed by 
previous Presidents of both parties, and I believe he holds partial 
responsibility for thousands of our children dying from fentanyl 
poisoning. The majority of Americans want accountability.

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