The initiative to begin a political trial against the Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkashead of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was rejected this week by the House of Representatives.
The Republican Party bench, which tried to initiate the process against the official, did not achieve the necessary majority for it to be approved, since it required practically all the votes of its members to approve the charges.
The surprise came when four of the Republicans joined the Democratic caucus, with a shocking final result of 214 votes in favor and 216 against.
The Republicans who joined the 212 Democrats in the Lower House were: Ken Buck, of Colorado; Tom McClintock, of California; Blake Moore of Utah; and Mike Gallagher, from Wisconsin.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who needed to maintain a united Republican majority, said he had personally spoken to dissident members in an attempt to secure their support.
“It is an extreme measure, but extreme times require extreme measures,” he declared.
Mayorkas would face two charges, which are found in a 20-page resolution in which he is accused of his alleged “systematic and deliberate refusal to comply with the law” and a “violation of the public trust,” both related to his participation. in the immigration crisis on the southern border of the United States.
In December, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded record numbers related to the crossing of migrants across the US southern border with Mexico. In that month alone, more than 302,000 foreigners were counted.
This situation has been occurring for months, and just from the beginning of the current fiscal year, in October 2023, to December, the detention of 785,000 irregular migrants on the southern border was recorded.
The numbers continue to increase while the Democratic government continues to activate new legal avenues to facilitate migration, such as the parole humanitarian program that has allowed the entry of more than 69,000 Cubans in its first year of implementation.
For the moment, the measure will be shelved awaiting a vote, but the impeachment may never proceed in the Upper House, due to the Democratic majority and the need for two-thirds of the votes to be added for the conviction against Mayorkas.
Senators could choose to form a special committee to study the case before bringing it to the floor. If Mayorkas were removed, he would be the first top U.S. official to face such punishment in nearly 150 years.
The last time a Cabinet official was ousted from office was in 1876, when William Belknap, President Ulysses Grant’s secretary of war, was removed for corruption involving government contracts.
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