Republican congressmen announced yesterday that they had initiated impeachment proceedings against the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, whom they accuse of being responsible for the migration crisis on the border between the United States and Mexico.
This announcement comes at a time when almost 10,000 migrants cross the border from Mexico to the USA every day, making this a politically hot topic, just a few months before the November presidential elections.
Republicans classify the situation as a humanitarian disaster and accuse the Secretary of Homeland Security of causing the situation, according to a statement from Mark Green, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives (lower house of Congress).
The Department of Homeland Security, in turn, accused Republicans of “wasting valuable time and taxpayer money” with a “political maneuver.”
For Alejandro Mayorkas to be removed from office, a majority of legislators in the House of Representatives must vote for dismissal, which would trigger a trial in the Senate (upper house) that could result, if two-thirds of senators voted in favor, in his removal. .
This scenario is practically impossible, given that Republicans only hold a very small majority in the House of Representatives, with the Senate having a Democratic majority.
The launch of this impeachment process is, however, a ‘stone in the side’ of President Joe Biden, as 302,000 migrants crossed the border in December, according to authorities.
The mayors of New York, Denver and Chicago, cities that receive buses of migrants sent by the Republican governor of Texas, are also putting pressure on the Democratic head of state to act quickly.
The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, took a trip yesterday, along with 60 other Republican congressmen, to a border city in Texas.
Republicans are demanding hard-line immigration policies in exchange for ensuring support for President Joe Biden’s emergency funding request for aid to Ukraine, which has faced Russian invasion since February 2022.
The Johnson-led delegation visited Eagle Pass, Texas, which has been at the center of Operation Lone Starr launched by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a $10 billion initiative that tested the federal government’s authority over immigration and increased the political struggle on this issue.
In the Senate, in Washington, talks are ongoing for a bipartisan agreement, which would unlock Biden’s $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other US security priorities.
Biden has already expressed his desire to reach political commitments, given the historic number of migrants crossing the border, with the presidential elections, where he is running again, in sight.
“We have to do something,” Biden stressed in statements to journalists on Tuesday night, recalling that Congress must approve his national security proposal, because it also includes money to manage the flow of migrants.