The Republicans decided this Wednesday to continue the impeachment process against the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkasby migration crisis on the border with Mexicoa key issue in the presidential campaign in USA.
In December, US authorities intercepted about 10,000 migrants a day who crossed the border illegally from Mexicoin what Republicans consider a humanitarian disaster.
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So much so that the conservatives have made approval conditional on an aid package for Ukraine to a tightening of the policy to stop the migration.
For the moment, the White House has not reached an agreement with congressmen of both parties on these negotiations, focused on strengthening the rules for asylum seekers and expanding expedited deportations, but both sides hope to have a proposal ready by next week.
For impeachment, or “impeachment” in English, an investigation needs to be carried out. Immediately afterwards, the House of Representatives debate on it in one or several sessions and decide whether to vote, by simple majority, on the articles of accusation with the details of the facts they criticize.
In this case, the investigation concluded in December and Mayorkas is accused of creating a national security emergency.
“Our investigation made it clear that the basis of this crisis is Secretary Mayorkas’s decision-making and his refusal to enforce laws passed by Congress.”, estimated the president of the National Security Committee of the House of Representatives, Mark Greenit’s a statement.
Mayorkas would be the first cabinet member to be impeached since the secretary of war. William Belknap in 1876.
It requires a majority of the House of Representatives, in which the Republicans have a very slim majority, to vote that he has committed “serious crimes and misdemeanors”.
Even in the case of a firm accusation, the Senate must rule and it is highly probable that Mayorkas would be acquitted because the Democratic Party of the president Joe Biden has a majority in Upper House of Congress.
The president of the House of Representatives, Michael Johnsonhas tried to warm things up by taking some 60 congressmen this Wednesday to the border city with Mexico of Eagle Passin Texasto visit a border patrol facility and talk to locals.
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“Since President Biden took office, the administration has done almost nothing to secure the border. But we have all seen with our own eyes that they have opened the border wide to the entire worldJohnson told reporters.
“It is estimated that there are people from almost 170 countries who enter and cross this border (…). And these are not people fleeing and seeking asylum and fearing for their lives in their home countries.”he added.
Biden’s weak point
Still, the process will continue to be a headache in an election year for President Biden, whose popularity rating has fallen in recent months.
Only 38% of people surveyed by Harvard CAPS-Harris in December approve of their immigration management, compared to 46% the previous month.
On Tuesday, the border Patrol reported having intercepted migrants a record 302,000 times at the border in December.
He Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accuses Republicans of “waste valuable time and taxpayer money” in a “political exercise”.
“There is no valid basis for impeaching Secretary Mayorkas (…) and this extreme push for impeachment is a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities.“, the DHS spokesperson told AFP, Mia Ehrenbergit’s a statement.
But the migration crisis It could take its electoral toll and Biden knows it, which explains an unusual visit from his head of diplomacy, Anthony Blinkento Mexico the week of Christmas with the aim of stopping migration.
On the domestic front, problems are also piling up.
The governor of Texas, Greg Abbotta hardline Republican, continues to challenge Biden by sending thousands of migrants to northern cities governed by Democrats.
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The mayors of NY, Denver and Chicago They have pressured the president to increase their allocation of federal resources because they claim to have reached a critical point.
Additionally, in December, Abbott signed a law that allows migrants who enter Texas irregularly to be detained.
The Biden government counterattacked this Wednesday by filing a lawsuit considering it “unconstitutional”.
