Republican elected officials in the US Congress announced on Wednesday that they were launching impeachment proceedings against the Minister of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, whom they accuse of being responsible for the migration crisis at the border between the United States and Mexico.
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This announcement comes at a time when nearly 10,000 migrants are crossing the American border from Mexico every day, and the subject is politically hot a few months before the November presidential election.
Republicans are calling the situation a humanitarian disaster and accusing the Minister of Homeland Security of causing the situation.
“Our investigation has clearly shown that this crisis stems from the minister’s decision-making and his refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress,” Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement. House of Representatives.
“His failure to uphold his oath demands accountability,” he added.
In response, the Department of Homeland Security accused Republicans of “wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars” on a “political maneuver.”
For Alejandro Mayorkas to be removed from office, a majority of parliamentarians in the House of Representatives must vote against him, which would trigger a trial in the Senate which could result, if two thirds of senators vote in favor, in his dismissal.
A practically impossible scenario given that the Republicans only hold a very slim majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate has a Democratic majority.
The launch of this impeachment procedure nonetheless remains a thorn in Joe Biden’s side, while 302,000 migrants crossed the border in December according to the authorities.
The White House and parliamentarians from both camps are negotiating immigration reform, with Republicans conditioning their support for a new aid package for Ukraine on a tightening of migration measures.
The mayors of New York, Denver and Chicago – cities which receive buses of migrants, sent by the Republican governor of Texas – also pressured the Democratic president to act quickly.
