The House Committee on Homeland Security has released draft articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The 20-page resolution, led by Republicans, accuses Mayorkas of high crimes and misdemeanors, specifically "willfully" disregarding immigration law.

The draft articles highlight two main accusations against Secretary Mayorkas. Firstly, they accuse him of "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" in his management of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. Secondly, the articles cite a "breach of public trust."

Chairman Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee, stated that the committee had exhaustively explored all other options to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable for his actions. Chairman Green emphasized the importance of Congress exercising its constitutional duty to impeach Mayorkas.

However, Democrats on the committee and within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) labeled the articles as a "sham." Ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, accused Republicans of abusing their impeachment power to score political points. Thompson argued that Republicans were not genuinely interested in finding bipartisan solutions to address the border issue, but rather were hindering Secretary Mayorkas' efforts to secure the border and denying funding requests made by the DHS.

In response, DHS released a memo characterizing the Republicans' effort as a distraction from crucial national security priorities and the real work that Congress should be doing to fix broken immigration laws. The memo contended that Republicans were more interested in campaigning on the issue than actually resolving the problem. It accused them of undermining the quest for bipartisan solutions and disregarding factual information, legal scholars, experts, and the Constitution itself to baselessly impeach Secretary Mayorkas.

The House Committee plans to convene on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to discuss the draft articles and subsequently hold a vote. If the articles pass through the committee, they will then proceed to the full House for an impeachment vote. The final decision on whether to convict Secretary Mayorkas would ultimately rest with the Democratic-led Senate.

Congressional Republicans have placed blame on Mayorkas for the record number of migrants that arrived at the southern border last year, totaling approximately 2.5 million, as reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Biden administration, on the other hand, attributes the surge in immigration to escalating violent crises around the world, which have forced many individuals to seek refuge.

Conservative state leaders have echoed the concerns of congressional Republicans. Some have even transported groups of migrants via buses and planes to cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Leaders of these cities have criticized these efforts as politically motivated stunts. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass previously described the endeavor as "despicable" and purely intended to gain political advantage.

Secretary Mayorkas, supported by others in the DHS, asserts that it is the responsibility of Congress to overhaul federal immigration laws and address the fundamental flaws within the immigration system. Currently, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is working on a new immigration deal. However, the opposition from former President Donald Trump, who is also running for the Republican presidential nomination, has put the success of the agreement at risk.