The Senate is expected to begin an impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week.
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Santiago Billy/AP
The Senate is expected to begin an impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week.
Santiago Billy/AP
The Senate is set to begin an impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week, the first of its kind in nearly 150 years.
House members are scheduled to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday, nearly two months after the House narrowly voted to impeach Mayorkas. Senate Democrats have called the process a politically motivated “sham” and it is highly unlikely that Mayorkas will be convicted of crimes or removed from his cabinet position.
At the center of the procedural struggle is the U.S.-Mexico border and the record number of people who have crossed it. Republicans accuse Mayorkas of refusing to enforce immigration laws, Democrats say Republicans have a policy disagreement with the White House and that impeachment is not the way to resolve that problem.
What crimes do Republicans believe Mayorkas committed?
GOP members approved two articles of impeachment: one that accuses Mayorkas of violating laws related to immigration and border security and a second that accuses him of making false statements while under oath before Congress.
Specifically, lawmakers say Mayorkas opened up the possibility of parole, which led to an increase in the number of migrants crossing the border during his tenure as secretary.
The Department of Homeland Security, under U.S. immigration law, has the ability to grant “parole” to noncitizens seeking residence in the United States. But that doesn’t mean they have immigration status or formal admission, according to the American Immigration Council. .
“This administration, however, has set a new record for the number of parole orders and the number of people released on parole in the country,” said Doris Meissner, former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. who served under President Clinton. “But that doesn’t mean they broke the law. It establishes parole and gives authority.”
Meissner noted that previous administrations have used parole in an expansive manner. Past examples, she said, include the parole of tens of thousands of Afghan migrants after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban and a separate program under former President Obama that provided protection to some migrants in from Central American countries.
How are the Democrats reacting?
Mia Ehrenberg, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in February after the House vote that impeachment was based on no evidence or legitimate constitutional basis. In a memo, DHS says parole has been used in the same way for decades and that Mayorka’s testimony is accurate.
“It comes down to a political disagreement. This administration felt that in an effort to create more orderly flows, the use of parole was a critical tool to allow certain nationality groups… as well as some ability to “Encourage the use of ports of entry for people seeking asylum to come to the United States,” Meissner said, noting that it is a solution option for overwhelmed detention facilities and infrastructure and underfunded. “The use of parole is a tool that they used. It’s indisputable.”
What happens next?
The House members charged with prosecuting the trial, known as impeachment managers, are expected to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday. Senators will be sworn in as jurors Thursday with Senate Sen. Pro Tempore Patty Murry, D-Wash., presiding over the trial.
House Republicans have called for a full trial, but Senate Democrats have avoided any engagement on the implications of a trial.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican House impeachment managers specifically requested a full evidentiary hearing in a letter sent last month announcing their intention to transmit the articles to the Senate .
“We call on you to fulfill your constitutional obligation to hold this trial,” they wrote. “The American people demand a secure border, an end to this crisis, and accountability. Filing articles of impeachment without ever hearing a single argument or reviewing a piece of evidence would be a violation of our constitutional order and an affront to the American people we all serve.”
But even some Senate Republicans called impeachment “dead on arrival” and a “waste of time.”
Even if a trial were to take place, the Senate is currently controlled by Democrats and it would take a two-thirds vote to convict and remove Mayorkas, which is highly unlikely.
Yet immigration and border crossing management methods also emerge as an issue as both political parties head into campaigning. A new survey released by the Pew Research Center finds that Americans across political ideologies believe the government is doing a “poor job” of handling the increase in border crossings. However, there are divisions between parties on most policy solutions, such as how to treat asylum seekers.
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