Jayapal Statement on Mayorkas Impeachment Vote
WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, issued the following statement following the GOP’s vote to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas:
“Today, the ‘do-nothing’ Republican Party continues to waste time and resources that could be spent working for the American people on baseless, partisan attacks of Biden Administration officials as they take up this sham impeachment vote of Secretary Mayorkas for the second time in two weeks, after an embarrassing failure last week.
“There is no question that the immigration system is broken – and what the American people want and deserve is an orderly and humane system that properly processes people and modernizes an outdated immigration system that has not been updated in over 30 years to reflect for the needs of our American economy, communities, and families. The situation that we’re seeing at the southern border is a direct result of this failure to address the underlying system, compounded by the extreme policies of the Trump Administration. Trump and MAGA Republicans slashed funding for orderly processing, took away the legal pathways that did exist, and handicapped the ability for agencies to move immigrants in an orderly manner through the legal system, adding to the significant backlogs and delays that people face simply to getting hearings on their asylum cases, to be with their families or accept employment they have been offered. major backlogs and delays. While the Biden Administration has taken steps to reverse some of these policies, House Republicans continue time and time again to block humane immigration reform so they can continue to use immigrants as a political football. We all need to recognize the reality that the problems at the border are inversely related to our ability to provide more legal pathways and orderly processing for the system overall. Cruel MAGA Republican enforcement-only policies simply do not work.
“Republicans are pledging fealty to this sham Marjorie Taylor Greene impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas, who is a dedicated public servant working tirelessly to do the job he was appointed to do given the constraints of Congressional inaction. Impeaching a Cabinet Secretary simply because you disagree with his policies and refuse to accept that President Biden is the legitimately elected President is a dangerous new low. As we hurdle toward another shutdown deadline without a budget passed, Republicans should be focusing on funding our government and helping working families – not attacking administration officials to score political points.”
Today’s impeachment vote passed the House of Representatives 214-213 after a vote on the same resolution failed by 214-216 last week.
Issues: Government Reform & Ethics, Immigration