McCaul Confronts Sec. Mayorkas on Failure to Enforce the Law

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) - a House impeachment manager in the trial of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - questioned Secretary Mayorkas about his failures to enforce our nation's immigration laws.

Click to watch Rep. McCaul's full exchange with Sec. Mayorkas

Remarks as delivered:

Mr. Secretary, you took an oath to protect the country from enemies both foreign and domestic. I believe in many respects you have violated that oath.

Let me start with the Immigration and Nationality Act. It states that quote, "the government shall take into custody any alien that has committed an aggravated felony." Those are dangerous violent criminals. End of quote. And as you know - you're an attorney, as am I - "shall" is mandatory language.

It doesn't say "maybe." It doesn't say, "whatever you think at the time." It says "shall." Those are words by the Congress. Mandatory language means you "shall" detain.

Yet, in your September 2021, [in] your memo to your border patrol agents titled "Guidance for Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law," you instructed your border patrol officers NOT to take prior criminal conduct into account when taking enforcement action.

You say, "Whether a noncitizen poses a current threat to public safety is not to be determined according to bright lines or categories… Our personnel should not rely on the fact of conviction or the result of a database search alone."

In other words, you directed your own agents on the ground on the border to defy the laws of Congress - to release violent criminals into our [communities].

And you know what aggravated felon means under the statute, but for those who don't, it includes include murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and drug traffickers. And God knows how many have been released into this country due to this policy that you issued in September 2021.

My state of Texas took this up [to] the Supreme Court, where Justice Kavanaugh asked whether impeachment would be warranted for an official who defied the laws passed by Congress.

President Biden's own solicitor general replied that such steps would be warranted, quote, "in the face of a dramatic abdication of statutory responsibility by the executive.

In my view, you have defied the law, you've defied Congressional intent and the best interest of the American people, and you've made this country, sir, a far more dangerous place. …

I want to close with 1833, Supreme Court Justice Story said, quote "where a Lord Admiral has neglected to safeguard the seas, that shall be deemed an impeachable offense." I believe that's exactly the case here. You have neglected not just the seas, but the air, land, and the seas.

And you have destroyed the fabric of this nation.

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