House Republicans vow to investigate Homeland Security chief Mayorkas over Biden border response

Emboldened Republican lawmakers vowed to investigate Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for what they said was a dereliction of duty over the federal government's response to record number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border.

After last month's congressional midterm elections, the GOP won a narrow majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving them control over the lower chamber when the new session begins in January.

Republicans also will have control over the various House committees, giving them oversight and subpoena powers over the federal government.

On Tuesday, 20 Republican lawmakers and former border officials issued a warning to Mayorkas, promising to open an investigation through the House Judiciary Committee into the current administration's border policies that could end with his impeachment from office.

"The investigation will further prove what we have been saying all along about Secretary Mayorkas: Every day that Secretary Mayorkas remains in office America becomes less safe," said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who chairs the GOP's Congressional Border Security Caucus.

Republicans, who made border security a center point of their messaging this past campaign cycle, accused Mayorkas of not enforcing the country's immigration laws. One by one, lawmakers repeated accusations that the southern border was in chaos, referring to the record number of encounters as an "invasion" or claiming drugs were pouring into the country, even though most drugs such as fentanyl are smuggled through legal ports of entry by U.S. citizens.

Lawmakers, including Biggs, especially called out Mayorkas for admitting tens of thousands of unauthorized migrants into the country under humanitarian parole, saying he had abused the limited exception by applying it in a "categorial and generic manner" rather than on a case by case basis.

Republicans also took shots at Mayorkas' boss, President Joe Biden, accusing both of them of downplaying or downright ignoring the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., called out Biden for saying he had more important things to do than to visit the U.S.-Mexico border on a visit to her district in Arizona on Dec. 6.

"In under two years Secretary Mayorkas has proven that he is nothing short of an abject failure, his lie to Congress and the American people, with his claim that the border is secure," Lesko said. "He has not only allowed the invasion at the southern border to go unchecked, but he has actively made it worse."

During the news conference, lawmakers repeatedly echoed inaccurate claims that anywhere between 4 to 5 million unauthorized immigrants had entered the country since Mayorkas took over as Homeland Security secretary. But those numbers include encounters where agents turned away migrants under Title 42.

This border policy, in effect since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in March 2020, is tentatively scheduled to be lifted on Dec. 21. It has allowed U.S. border officials to immediately expel migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela. Once the policy goes away, the U.S. will have to take in and process those migrants under existing immigrant rules.

The lifting of Title 42 restrictions also drew concerns from Republican lawmakers, saying that it added to the chaos at the border that cartels are eager to exploit. The Department of Homeland Security has appealed part of a judge's order to lift Title 42 but did not challenge the Dec. 21 end date. In addition, state governments, including Arizona, have filed a motion to intervene to keep Title 42 in place.

Mayorkas in El Paso:Homeland Security chief: 'We're moving as quickly as we can' on border crisis

On Tuesday, Mayorkas visited the border in El Paso, where he received a briefing from local border officials. But the attention quickly shifted to Title 42 and what would happen in border communities once the policy ends, according to the El Paso Times.

"We're mindful of the fact that Title 42 is going to end early next week," Mayorkas said during his visit. "We're also mindful of the fact that we have to coordinate with our partners, not just the nonprofit organizations with which we work very closely, not just cities along the border like El Paso, but also our international partners. So we're moving as quickly as we can."

Have any news tips or story ideas about immigration in the Southwest? Reach the reporter at rafael.carranza@arizonarepublic.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RafaelCarranza.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: House GOP vow to impeach DHS chief Mayorkas over border response