Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, warning him that they have grounds for impeachment if he fails to address the current immigration crisis rocking the southern border.
Letter from Republican Senators by VozMedia on Scribd
The senators compiled data produced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showing that the crisis at the southern border has worsened since Mayorkas took office 19 months ago.
"This is a serious dereliction of duty and, if not promptly corrected, could provide grounds for impeachment," the senators said, adding:
Your failure to faithfully enforce this nation's immigration laws and your willful blindness to the very real humanitarian crisis on our southern border amounts to a gross dereliction of duty and a violation of your oath of office.
Cruz and Graham lamented that despite the efforts of the "men and women of the Border Patrol, operating with very little support from Washington, D.C.," they have not achieved "operational control of the southern border."
In addition to inaction against illegal immigration, the senators accused Mayorkas of allowing drug smuggling by Mexican cartels.
An opportunity for terrorists to enter
Cruz and Graham also warned that the "chaos" at the southern border "presents an excellent opportunity for the terrorists from other continents enter the U.S. undetected," especially after the "disastrous withdrawal" of U.S. troops from Afghanistan last year. The pair also noted that Border Patrol agents have detained at least 78 people who appear in the Terrorist Screening Database.
It is almost a certainty that terrorists have already entered the United States undetected, taking advantage of the lenient border policies they have put in place (...) It is only a matter of time until we see an attack on U.S. soil by such terrorists.
Illegal immigration is rampant
During the 2022 fiscal year, more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants were apprehended at the border, and nearly 5 million migrants have entered the country illegally since Biden became president.
In addition, from January 2021 to the present, border authorities have intercepted 267,000 unaccompanied minors, according to CBP data. In FY 2022, 140,186 minors have been apprehended at border crossings so far.
