'No American is safe,' House GOP builds case to impeach Mayorkas in second hearing

Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has made it "easier" for illegal immigrants who commit crimes to stay in United States, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said Thursday during the panel's second impeachment inquiry hearing on Mayorkas.

"Despite his supposed pledge to remove threats to public safety, [Immigrations Customs Enforcement] is arresting fewer criminal aliens than previous administrations," Green said at the hearing. 

During the COVID pandemic, 90% of ICE's "administrative arrests were of criminal aliens." Last fiscal year, Green said it was only 43%.

"As a result, no American is safe," he said. 

Green also said Mayorkas’ "refusal to enforce the law, which requires him to detain and remove illegal aliens, has tragically increased crime and endangered public safety across the country."

He cited statistics since fiscal year 2021 that show Border Patrol "arrested more than 41,000 aliens with criminal convictions, including more than 15,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. That’s up from just a little over 4,200 in FY 2019. Total convictions for assault, battery, and domestic violence among illegal aliens apprehended in FY 2023 exceeded 1,200, compared to 299 in FY 2019."

A witness at the hearing, Tammy Nobles, told the committee about their family members who were killed by illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Green said there were multiple vetting errors at the border that occurred with regard to her daughter's killer. He said Mayorkas refuses to secure the border and properly vet every migrant who is seeking asylum before they get released into the U.S. from the border.

Another witness, Josephine Dunn, testified about their daughter who died from fentanyl. She said Mayorkas' border polices are partly responsible for her daughter's death.

"We need to close the border," she said. 

The GOP-led House passed a resolution on Wednesday to formally denounce Biden's "open border policies" 225-187. There were 14 Democrats who voted with Republicans in favor of the resolution, which condemned the "national security and public safety crisis along the southwest border" and urged Biden to "end his administration’s open-borders policies."