Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, vehemently rejected the notion that the House GOP majority wants him removed from office.
Mayorkas had a conversation with Chris Wallace of CNN, who mentioned the “slings and arrows of your critics” and inquired as to whether or not they would “push you out.”
“They won’t compel me to leave,” Mayorkas yelled.
During Mayorka’s tenure, an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants have entered the country, causing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to declare, “I am calling on the secretary to leave. He must leave that position immediately. Republicans in the House will look into every order, every action, and every fail to see whether we can launch an impeachment investigation if Secretary Mayorkas does not quit.
The border is currently being looked into by three House committees. Mayorkas would be the first Cabinet secretary to be removed from office since 1876 if he were to be impeached.
“The border is closed,” Mayorkas has in the past insisted. “The border is safe.” He insisted that he had done nothing wrong, asserting that the border was secure. He continued, “I believe it is a disagreement over policy, and I believe it is being used for political purposes to continue a negative dialogue around a migration challenge that isn’t specific to the United States, to continue that dialogue, to elevate it for political reasons.”
“Critics note that while Joe Biden was president in 2022, there were 2.3 million interactions with migrants at the border, compared to 458,000 in 2020, Donald Trump’s final year in office. How is the border secure?” Wallace asked.
Mayorkas dodged the question by saying, “Right now, the United States has millions of jobs opening owing to the economic performance of this government. We have made far more progress against the pandemic than the nations south of Mexico. And because of that, those who are fleeing persecution or are simply in desperate need of a better life find the United States to be a desirable destination.”
“To you, what does secure mean?” William pushed. “We have all witnessed images of crowds of people crossing shallow riverbanks in the Rio Grande. All of us have seen images of encampments in the El Paso and Arizona downtowns. Everyone has seen the images of the massive migration to New York. By such criteria, the border is not secure. Migrants think the border is open.”
Mayorkas reportedly accused Republicans for the rise in illegal immigration after saying, “I don’t think the more than 1.5 million people who have been removed or ejected from the border would consider the border open. However, political figures convey that the border is open. The smugglers themselves spread the word and this is music to their ears.”
“Wait, wait, wait—you’re going to blame Republican critics for everything?” Wallace exclaimed with disbelief.
Mayorkas responded, “That rhetoric was utilized.”
