(BrightPress.org) – Republicans have had enough with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. As the person most directly responsible for maintaining stability and authority at the southern border, Mayorkas has not only failed to stop crossings, his consistent denial of the realities on the ground has encouraged more of them.
In response, Republicans are offering a flurry of condemnations in the form of legislation. The most recent addition is the humorously titled “Mayorkas Must Fly Coach Until We Secure The Border Act,” which does exactly what it says it does. The secretary would be restricted from flying on official executive aircraft or private charter flights and must fly coach until the border is secured.
To give you an idea of the scope of the problem, in 2022 officials recorded ~2.3 million migrant encounters, a spike of over half a million from the previous year. Just this past December, there were over 250,000 encounters, and an additional 150,000 in January 2023. That’s over 5 million encounters over a few years, and that’s just the encounters. There’s no telling how many folks were successfully smuggled in recent years.
The consequences of this effectively open-border policy have led to increases in child trafficking, as well as labor trafficking or what we typically call slavery. It’s also allowing a flood of fentanyl to cross the border, which has caused the deaths of millions of Americans in the last few years.
Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) is the lead sponsor of the bill, as this issue is particularly impacting her constituents. She said Mayorkas is failing to “fulfill the most basic functions” of his job and suggested the price of his failure should be at minimum losing his private flight privileges at taxpayer expense.
Two other bills are far more serious, both calling for his termination from the position. One cites a failure of his oath of office to maintain operational control of the border, the other suggests he has violated the law by releasing illegal immigrants into the country. Unfortunately, these bills have not yet come up for a vote in the House, nor are they on the schedule. Contact your representatives if you want to see that change.
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