On video: Trump: Illegal immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country/Reuters
The United States House of Representatives voted tonight (Wednesday) in favor of impeaching Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorx - at the head of Cole - due to the immigration crisis on the border with Mexico.
He is the first member of the cabinet to face this impeachment procedure in nearly 150 years, but it is mainly a political move because it has no chance of passing in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where a two-thirds majority is required anyway and not a simple majority like in the House of Representatives.
214 Republicans, who control a slim majority in the House of Representatives, voted to impeach Mayorx, while 213 opposed.
210 of them were Democrats, in addition to three "renegade" Republican delegates who also voted against the move in the first attempt last week.
Many in the Republican Party blame the minister for the unprecedented waves of immigration at the border, and claim that he did not live up to his oath to "fulfill his duties well and faithfully" by not taking stronger measures to curb illegal immigrants.
However, it is highly doubtful whether this review constitutes a constitutional basis for impeachment, which is officially reserved for cases where actual crimes are suspected.
That was the explanation of the three rebel Republicans, who warned that the move could weaken the constitutional penalty and would do very little to resolve the situation at the border.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorx at a press conference in Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl, February 7, 2024/Reuters
President Joe Biden, whose immigration issue could cost him a second term when he likely faces his predecessor in office Donald Trump in November, strongly condemned the impeachment process.
He described it as "a blatant act of unconstitutional politics" and a "political stunt".
Under pressure from Trump, Senate Republicans this month dropped a comprehensive border reform that involved providing military aid to Ukraine and Israel even though it met many of their demands.
The former president does not want to give his opponent a victory before the election and thereby lose one of the strengths of his campaign.
More than 6.3 million immigrants have entered the United States illegally since 2021, the year Biden entered the White House.
The democratic president, whose situation in the polls is not alarming, defended his homeland security minister and described him as a "respectable public servant".
"He faithfully maintained the rule of law and demonstrated a deep commitment to the values that make our nation great," the president said.
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