House Republicans Push To 'Deport' Alejandro Mayorkas

The House Homeland Security Committee's report on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says it is about "deporting" him from his position.

"This Committee, through these articles of impeachment, begins the process of deporting Secretary Mayorkas from his position on account of his failure to comply with his official duties, and thereby allow his position to be filled by someone willing to enforce the Nation's immigration laws once again," the report says.

It comes after Republicans on the committee voted on Wednesday to send two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas to the full House for consideration, as border security remains a top issue ahead of the 2024 election.

Republicans contend Mayorkas is guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that amount to a "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" on immigration and a "breach of the public trust."

Mayorkas "willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in the Constitution, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States," the impeachment resolution says.

A vote by the House could come as early as this week. It's not clear if Republicans will have enough support to impeach Mayorkas, but if they do, it would be the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached in almost 150 years.

Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the White House for comment via email. The Homeland Security Committee has been contacted for comment through its website.

White House spokesperson Ian Sams shared the part of the report that mentioned "deporting" Mayorkas on social media.

"House Republicans' final impeachment report literally says their impeachment is about 'deporting' Secretary Mayorkas," Sams wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "I'm sorry, what?"

The House Judiciary Democrats account replied: "These are not serious people."

Others criticized the word choice.

"He's an American citizen," one person wrote. "The word choice here is repugnant."

Another wrote: "Mayorkas is an immigrant so this language is just a low bar from house republicans. The bar was however already on the ground."

Mayorkas on Friday told The Associated Press that the charges against him are "politically motivated and completely baseless."

In an interview, he also said he doesn't take the effort to impeach him personally.

"Many of these individuals haven't sat down and spoken with me about my approach to the work, my policy positions, what we're trying to do, how we are scrupulously and quite aggressively enforcing the law," he said.

"I do not lose a minute's sleep over the impeachment. I lose minutes of sleep, over the challenges that we have substantively, the challenges that we confront."

Update 2/5/24, 3:55 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.