US House Republicans plan impeachment hearing for Biden’s border chief

WASHINGTON – A Republican-led US House of Representatives committee next week will advance an effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over allegations he has been derelict in his duty of managing the United States-Mexico border, the committee announced on Jan 3.

The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on Jan 10 related to the impeachment allegations, with witnesses to be announced in the coming days, it said in a press release.

Republicans have slammed Democratic President Joe Biden over border control as record numbers of migrants have been caught crossing the US-Mexico border illegally, with criticism focused on Mr Mayorkas, Mr Biden’s top border official.

Republicans blame Mr Biden for rolling back some restrictive border policies of Republican former president Donald Trump, his party’s leading candidate to challenge Mr Biden in the November presidential election.

If the Republican-controlled House impeaches Mr Mayorkas, he is highly unlikely to be convicted in a trial in the Senate, which Democrats control by a slim margin.

Meanwhile, a small, bipartisan group of senators on Jan 3 held a two-hour negotiating session on ways to bolster security along the south-western border with Mexico. Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema left that meeting, telling reporters: “We’re closing in” on a deal.

Speaking at a press conference on Jan 3 near the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, US Speaker Mike Johnson said the US had reached “a breaking point” with illegal immigration. Video footage showed several migrants, including young children, crossing the Rio Grande into the US as the event took place.

Representative Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and one of more than 60 Republicans on the border trip, said Mr Mayorkas intentionally encouraged illegal immigration through permissive policies.

“The greatest domestic threat to the national security and the safety of the American people is Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,” Mr Green added.

Biden officials point to record levels of migration and forced displacement in the Western Hemisphere and have called on Congress to provide more funding for border security.

White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing that Mr Biden supports Mr Mayorkas and called the allegations “a political stunt”.

The advancing allegations against Mr Mayorkas come after the House voted in December to authorise an impeachment inquiry into whether Mr Biden improperly benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, even though they had yet to find evidence of wrongdoing by the President.

The number of migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border illegally spiked in December, straining resources of the US border authorities and receiving communities. The arrivals have receded in the past week, paving the way for the US to reopen legal border crossings on Jan 4.

US and Mexican officials have agreed to strengthen efforts to curb the record migration, with Mr Biden’s Cabinet scheduled to meet Mexican leaders in Washington later in January. REUTERS