Illegal border crossings have skyrocketed during the Biden administration, largely due to the end of COVID-era restrictions on asylum seekers and economic hardship in Latin America. A record number of migrants have come from Venezuela this year, as crushing economic sanctions by the US have wrecked the country’s economy since 2005.
The US House of Representatives may consider a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas next week, according to the chamber’s schedule of measures.
The impeachment resolution, which is designated as “privileged,” was pushed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). It is currently listed as a measure the House “may” consider.
The privileged designation means the House must take up the issue quickly. Under House rules, it is granted whenever a motion has been authorized by the appropriate committee and the Speaker of the House designates it as such.
But if the measure is considered this week likely depends on how the funding debate progresses. The House plans to consider a funding resolution as early as Tuesday, but if it fails the debate will continue, likely pushing the impeachment motion down the calendar. The House must pass a resolution by Friday or face a partial government shutdown.
Greene has accused Mayorkas of “willful admittance of border crossers” and that he has failed to protect the US from “invasion.”
She further alleges that Mayorkas violated the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which states that the border can only be considered “operationally secure” when no people or contraband has entered the country.
Mayorkas argued to lawmakers in July that is an impossible standard to reach.
“The Secure Fence Act, specifically the statute, defines operational control as not having one individual cross the border illegally. Under that statutory definition, no administration has achieved operational control,” Mayorkas said at the time.
Impeaching Mayorkas has been floated by Republicans since the first year of the Biden administration, with the first articles of impeachment against him being brought by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) in August of 2021.
Some Republicans advocated for his impeachment again in the summer of this year, but the subject fell off the table as Congress scrambled to fund the government in September and elect a new House Speaker in October.

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