House Republicans unveiled articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandrop Mayorkas on Sunday.
The articles, introduced by Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., accuse Mayorkas of "Willfull and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and "breach of public trust."
"Throughout his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security. In large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States. His refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States, it also threatens our national security," Republicans allege in the first article.
"Alejandro N. Mayorkas knowingly made false statements to Congress that the border is 'secure,' that the border is ‘no less secure than it was previously,’ that the border is 'closed,' and that DHS has ‘operational control’ of the border," they allege in the second article.
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"These articles lay out a clear, compelling, and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment. He has willfully and systemically refused to comply with immigration laws enacted by Congress. He has breached the public trust by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people, and obstructing congressional oversight of his department. These facts are beyond dispute, and the results of his lawless behavior have been disastrous for our country," said Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told fellow Republican lawmakers on Friday that he intends to hold a House-wide vote on whether to impeach Mayorkas "as soon as possible."
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Johnson pointed out polling that showed illegal immigration as an increasingly urgent issue for American voters.
"The facts show that President Biden and his Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas have willfully ignored and actively undermined our nation’s immigration laws," the speaker wrote in a letter to colleagues. "Rather than accept accountability, President Biden is now trying to blame Congress for what HE himself intentionally created."
The Department of Homeland Security offered a response to the allegations on Sunday, arguing that Republicans failed to present evidence that Mayorkas has committed any "high crimes or misdemeanors."
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The DHS argues the GOP effort has been a "cynical and hypocritical process" that was "predetermined from the start."
"This markup is just more of the same political games from House Homeland Security Committee (CHS) Republicans. They don’t want to fix the problem; they want to campaign on it. That’s why they have undermined efforts to achieve bipartisan solutions and ignored the facts, legal scholars and experts, and even the Constitution itself in their quest to baselessly impeach Secretary Mayorkas," the DHS said in a memo.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-MS., ranking member of the committee, rejected Republicans' argument in a statement.
"What is glaringly missing from these articles is any real charge or even a shred of evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors – the Constitutional standard for impeachment. That should come as no surprise because Republicans’ so-called ‘investigation’ of Secretary Mayorkas has been a remarkably fact-free affair. They are abusing Congress’ impeachment power to appease their MAGA members, score political points, and deflect Americans’ attention from their do-nothing Congress," Thompson said in a statement.
The GOP push to remove Mayorkas comes after years of skyrocketing illegal immigration under President Biden's administration.
Fox News' Chad Pergram, Tyler Olson, Griff Jenkins and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report