The Department of Homeland Security recently hired impeachment attorneys to defend DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas against impeachment efforts by Republicans in the House, according to CNN.
The move was confirmed by a DHS spokesperson, who said, “The Department of Homeland Security has retained outside counsel to help ensure the Department’s vital mission is not interrupted by the unprecedented, unjustified, and partisan impeachment efforts by some Members of Congress, who have already taken steps to initiate proceedings.”
Politico reported that New York-based firm Debevoise & Plimpton was retained to give the department advice on how to respond to document requests and questions from investigators, and to defend DHS and Mayorkas if the impeachment is approved by the whole House.
Cabinet impeachments rare
It is rare to impeach a cabinet member, but Republicans hold Mayorkas responsible for the border crisis that has seen record numbers of migrants streaming illegally across the border, and the administration doing little if anything to stop them from coming into the U.S. and staying there.
Fallon said last week,
Since day one, Secretary Mayorkas’ policies have undermined law enforcement activities at our southern border. From perjuring himself before Congress about maintaining operational control of the border to the infamous ‘whip-gate’ slander against our border patrol agents, Secretary Mayorkas has proven time and time again that he is unfit to lead the Department of Homeland Security. His willful actions have eroded our immigration system, undermined border patrol morale, and jeopardized American national security. He has violated the law and it is time for him to go.
There are two articles of impeachment under consideration against Mayorkas. The first accuses him of violating the “Secure the Fence Act” of 2006, a law that requires the DHS secretary to “maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States.”
The second article accuses Mayorkas of lying in Congressional testimony, saying that he “in violation of his constitutional oath, willfully provided perjurious, false, and misleading testimony to Congress.”
Not enough Republicans to convict Mayorkas
Of course, impeachment of Mayorkas is bound to ultimately fail, because a Democrat-majority Senate won’t vote to convict him in the trial, but impeachment is a way to expose Mayorkas’s failures at the border, and by extension, Biden’s failures there.
Mayorkas knows this, and has refused calls to resign over the failed policies.
“I’m joining the president at the North Mexican Leader’s Summit in Mexico City to work with our partners in Mexico and Canada to address the security of the homeland. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m proud to do it, alongside 250,000 incredibly dedicated and talented individuals in the Department of Homeland Security and I’m going to continue to do my work,” he said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.
Biden reflexively got rid of every Trump-era policy that had curbed illegal immigration and sent out a message, wittingly or unwittingly, that migrants would be more likely to get into the country under Biden.
The flood of illegal immigrants that resulted has dwarfed all previous numbers and remains at record levels. Under Biden there have been nearly 5-and-a-half million migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border, with fiscal 2022 showing over 2.7 million encounters.
Biden’s plan a non-starter
Biden unveiled a plan last month that he claims will “handle” illegal immigration, but is really only designed to let more migrants in legally, with work visas and a hope of permanent residency if they have an American sponsor.
It’s Congress’s job to decide how many people can come into the country legally, not Biden’s, but he will do anything to get what he wants. Which is apparently open borders and a flood of people he thinks are going to become Democrat voters one day.
