House Republicans have made it quite clear that they intend to impeach and hopefully remove Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas from office, but at least one member has gone further and suggested that Mayorkas ought to be arrested and imprisoned over his failure to secure the border that has resulted in the deaths of American citizens.
During a committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) said that he would "arrest" Sec. Mayorkas for certain state and federal criminal violations if granted the opportunity to do so, the Daily Wire reported.
That remark from Higgins, a former law enforcement officer, came during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday to examine how "every state is a border state" now thanks to the "border crisis" caused by the policies of Mayorkas and President Joe Biden.
"Our border is wide open and out of control, and Americans are dying because of it," Rep. Higgins said. "And I know Secretary Mayorkas is watching this, or having his team of attorneys watch this. Good, because over the course of the next year, this committee is going to lay out our case against you, sir."
"If I could arrest you for violations of Louisiana revised statutes, I would," the Louisiana Republican said.
The Washington Examiner reported that Higgins, who is still a reserve law enforcement officer in his home state, then proceeded to list off a handful of state and federal statutes that he believed Mayorkas was guilty of having violated.
That included state statutes for "negligent homicide" and being a "principal to any criminal action," both in relation to "thousands of murders" of American citizens, whether by fentanyl overdoses or criminal illegal aliens.
Higgins would also charge Mayorkas with violating 18 U.S.C. 1001 for having "knowingly and willfully lied to this body -- again and again and again -- about our border," as well as 18 U.S.C. 242, for having "deprived Americans of their very life."
A moment later, Rep. Higgins highlighted a young woman named Sami who had died of a fentanyl overdose, and urged the secretary to "remember her name." He then seemed to suggest that Mayorkas would have ample time to do so while presumably spending the rest of his life in prison.
"I'm going to see to it that you have plenty of time in the course of your remaining life to remember the names to 200,000 Americans who are dead because of fentanyl coming across a border that you have blown wide open," the congressman said.
Our southern border is controlled by cartels, and Mayorkas is responsible… pic.twitter.com/zRNVIzetyC
— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) February 28, 2023
Rep. Higgins' obvious passion for the issue of border security shouldn't be at all surprising, given his law enforcement background and the fact that he serves as the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Border Security, according to a Jan. 30 press release.
"America faces a serious threat," Higgins said in a statement at that time. "This administration has lost operational control of our southern border, the cartels quickly outmaneuvered Mayorkas, millions of illegals have crossed into our country, fentanyl is flooding across our border, violent crime has spread into every community, we lose billions every year because of a weak cybersecurity infrastructure, and for two years the Biden DHS policies have escaped accountability due to a lack of oversight from the previous Democrat-led House."
"Under the Republican majority, we will work tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of the United States," he added. "Drug traffickers and criminals who enslave vulnerable human beings celebrated when Biden was inaugurated, but the party’s over for the cartels. Biden and Mayorkas will be held accountable for their treasonous open border policies."
