Kiggans Votes to Hold Mayorkas Accountable for Catastrophe at Southern Border

WASHINGTON, DC: Today, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02) released the following statement after voting in favor of H.Res. 863, which impeaches United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. You can read the full articles of impeachment here. The House Committee on Homeland Security approved these articles following a nearly year-long investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders. Throughout the process, Secretary Mayorkas refused to cooperate with requests to appear before the Committee to provide testimony.

“Today, I voted to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, for his willful refusal to comply with the law and his breach of public trust,” said Congresswoman Kiggans. “Securing our country’s borders is a basic responsibility of the federal government, and the American people have a right to expect that responsibility to be fulfilled. Secretary Mayorkas has allowed the self-inflicted crisis at our southern border to spiral out of control by refusing to enforce the laws we have on the books and repeatedly lying to Congress about how this refusal has led to unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, worsened the fentanyl crisis, enriched violent cartels, and caused debilitating human and financial costs.”

“I take no pleasure in this vote; however, Secretary Mayorkas’ actions required Congress to act,” continued Congresswoman Kiggans. “The status quo is unacceptable.”

BACKGROUND

Under Secretary Mayorkas and the Biden Administration, illegal immigration has exploded. December of 2023 saw Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) report a record 302,034 encounters during what is typically considered to be an “off month” for migration. During fiscal year 2023 (FY23), CBP reported 2,475,669 migrant encounters at the United States’ southern border.

During FY23, CBP also caught a record 169 people on the terrorist watchlist trying to enter the United States at our southern border; during FY20, the agency caught three.

CBP also seized more than 27,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border during FY23. That number is up 860% from FY2019 and enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of the United States more than 18 times over. Every day, roughly 300 Americans are dying from fentanyl-related overdoses. 

In February of 2023, Congresswoman Kiggans visited the Tucson Sector of the southern border to learn firsthand about the challenges they are facing due to the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis. Several months later, she supported H.R. 2, the Border Reinforcement Act of 2023.

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