(DailyAnswer.org) – United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said that the country needs more migrants during his impeachment trial. In an interview with the New York Times, he argued that the immigration debate was really about having more in the way of orderly immigration, claiming that allowing for easier legal passage would help cut out smuggling.
Mayorkas has called for a Canadian-style immigration system to be implemented in the US and argued that more migrants are needed to fill job roles. Mayorkas previously vowed in 2023 to allow thousands of migrants to enter the country legally after the Title 42 health measure introduced in response to the pandemic came to an end. Since 2021, Mayorkas has allowed more than 6.2 million migrants into the US access to its schools, workplaces, housing, and hospitals.
During the trial, Republican Senator for Missouri Josh Hawley suggested that Mayorkas was not addressing antisemitism in his department concerning a DHS employee, who had been suspended rather than fired for posting war-related imagery accompanied by “Free Palestine” slogans. Mayorkas called the senator despicable and stressed that he is the son of a Holocaust survivor. He has been accused of basing his immigration policy too much on personal experience and inviting migrants to enter the country illegally with no consequences. These claims prompted Republicans to launch the impeachment trial.
Ultimately, the Republican attempt to impeach Mayorkas was unsuccessful, failing on a knife-edge vote of 216 against the impeachment to 214 in favor. Among those voting against the impeachment were three Republican defectors – Tom McClintock of California, Ken Buck of Colorado, and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who initiated the impeachment, vowed to try again after the verdict.
In November 2023, the House Committee on Homeland Security majority, chaired by Republican Mark E. Green, revealed the staggering costs of the Border Crisis under President Joe Biden and Mayorkas, which it referred to as the worst in US history. The report detailed the huge strain the crisis is placing on the infrastructure of cities housing record levels of migrants crossing the southern border. The New York Times interviewer suggested that those criticizing the immigration policy were “anti-immigration,” prompting Mayorkas to brand them hateful. Mayorkas does not only face criticism from the Republican Right, however, as Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman has stressed that, while being in favor of immigration, there needs to be effective border control.
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