Mayorkas Says He Won’t Resign amid GOP Outcry over Border Crisis
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Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday said he has no intention of resigning over his alleged mismanagement of the border crisis and amid mounting pressure from GOP lawmakers.
When asked during an appearance on ABC News whether he has plans to step down in response to outcry from Republicans, Mayorkas said: “I do not. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to do it.”
In November, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who just narrowly clinched the speakership, threatened Mayorkas with impeachment under a House Republican majority. McCarthy vowed the secretary would be subjected to congressional scrutiny over his handling of border enforcement.
“If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy said during a November visit to El Paso, a Texas border town that bears a significant amount of the burden of the migrant influx.
Mayorkas defended his record Sunday, claiming that the border mayhem is “not unique to the United States.” When asked whether he was ready for the House GOP to probe his conduct in office, he answered: “I am, I will be, and I’ll continue to do my work throughout them.”
PHOTOS: Border Crisis at El Paso
The secretary’s comments come ahead of President Biden’s first visit to the southern border since he assumed office on Sunday. Even while Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that allowed the government to expel migrants on a public-health basis, remains temporarily in place by Supreme Court ruling, current daily apprehensions run at about 7,000 a day. That number doesn’t include the additional 2,000-odd “got-aways” who evade capture as they enter, as NR’s Andrew McCarthy noted. If the rule is lifted, the rate of illegal immigration could explode to between two and three times as high as current levels.
Biden has received intense criticism for not visiting the border sooner, with an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants now crossing into the interior, overwhelming local towns, border agents, and supply centers.
