Washington, D.C. — The following statement was issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in response to the announcement by the House Homeland Security Committee that they are launching an investigation into DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for dereliction of duty:

“On February 2, 2021, Alejandro Mayorkas took an oath to ‘faithfully discharge the duties of the office’ he was about to enter. Two and a half years later, it is patently evident that not only is Mr. Mayorkas not faithfully discharging his duties as Secretary of Homeland Security, but that he never had any intention of doing so.

“As Secretary, Mayorkas has refused to carry out his duties to enforce our nation’s immigration laws or secure our borders, resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian and national security crisis. Moreover, he has openly defied numerous court rulings ordering him and his department to enforce those laws.

“His actions have empowered and enriched international criminal cartels that engage in the abhorrent trade of smuggling and trafficking human beings, often with tragic consequences. Additionally, those cartels smuggle lethal narcotics, responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans each year, across the borders he refuses to protect. At the same time, his defiance of our laws and his oath of office are imposing unsustainable burdens on communities all across the United States, costing American taxpayers additional billions of dollars.

“All the while, Secretary Mayorkas has lied to the American people, and under oath to Congress, by repeatedly declaring that our borders are under control, even as the people who work for him concede they are not.

“It is time for Alejandro Mayorkas to be held accountable for his dangerous dereliction of his duties and his oath of office as Secretary of DHS. We commend the House Homeland Security Committee, which has direct oversight of his department, for initiating this investigation into his actions. If the Committee concludes that he is in dereliction, the next step must be to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

“The job of the DHS Secretary is to uphold our laws. Under Secretary Mayorkas, DHS has consistently subverted them.”

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