Representative Kevin Hern (OK-01) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this morning calling on him to resign from his position in President Biden’s Cabinet following a year of crisis and failure at our Southern border, putting millions of Americans in danger.

Under Mayorkas’ leadership, the Remain in Mexico Policy is being largely ignored, despite court orders to restore the program. Border apprehensions have more than tripled over FY 2020, while deportations have dropped by 70%. Additionally, FY 2021 saw over 100,000 fentanyl overdose deaths, the first time that many have been recorded in a single year. Border agents apprehended over 11,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border in FY 2021.

45 additional Members of the House of Representatives joined Rep. Hern on the letter, including: Brian Babin (TX-36), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Tom Rice (SC-07), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Clay Higgins (LA-03), Yvette Herrell (NM-02), Bob Good (VA-05), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Scott Perry (PA-10), Ronny L. Jackson (TX-13), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Randy Weber (TX-14), Mary Miller (IL-15), Andy Barr (KY-06), Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Chris Jacobs (NY-27), Dan Bishop (NC-09), Jerry L. Carl (AL-01), Tim Burchett (TN-02), Ben Cline (VA-06), Matthew Rosendale, Sr. (MT-AL), Barry Moore (AL-02), Victoria Spartz (IN-05), Diana Harshbarger (TN-01), Cliff Bentz (OR-02), Jack Bergman (MI-01), Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), Roger Williams (TX-25), Bob Gibbs (OH-07), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Lisa McClain (MI-10), Bill Posey (FL-08), Madison Cawthorn (NC-11), Greg Murphy (NC-03), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Chip Roy (TX-21), John Rose (TN-06), August Pfluger (TX-11), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Carlos Giménez (FL-26), and Russ Fulcher (ID-01).

The text of the letter can be found here and below.

February 11, 2022

The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mayorkas,

In light of recent reports displaying your failure to execute the primary mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to secure our nation from its many threats through your inability and refusal to enforce the immigration laws, we call on you to resign as Secretary of Homeland Security.

Our nation is facing increases in criminal gang activity, human trafficking, and drug smuggling at the hands of your decisions to circumvent the law and handcuff U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

A leaked recording from a recent meeting in Yuma, Arizona, confirmed the dwindling confidence Border Patrol agents have in the Department and its Secretary. In the recording, you acknowledged those agents are doing tasks outside of their job description and that their job is continually demonized. Additionally, they asserted that they feel no support from their Secretary. You have admitted to making Border Patrol agents’ jobs more difficult, yet do nothing to ameliorate that problem. Instead, you make it exponentially harder for agents to do their job by implementing Biden administration directives that go against their Congressionally-mandated responsibilities.

Throughout your year in office, common-sense policies have been rescinded, directly resulting in chaos and disaster at the southern border. In the previously mentioned Yuma meeting, agents questioned the status of the Remain in Mexico program and you agreed that “the numbers are not where they need to be” when it comes to illegal migrants awaiting adjudication trial in Mexico under section 235(b)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to awaiting removal proceedings.

The suspension and cancellation of border barrier construction has further exacerbated the crisis and is yet another strategy you have reversed course on, but we have seen no production. There is no national security if our border is wide open.

As you know, DHS recorded more than two million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border last fiscal year, exceeding previous records and bringing with it soaring numbers of drug seizures and criminal activity. In the wake of these record-high numbers, there have been reports of secret flights transporting illegal immigrants around the country. The American people have discovered that not only has DHS been using taxpayer dollars to fund these flights, but they are purposefully hiding the flight destinations and allowing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to accept arrest warrants as a form of identification to board. In abandoning any semblance of transparency and prioritizing illegal immigrants over American citizens, you and DHS have failed our nation and our people.

These many incidents are alarming on their own; together, they depict a complete failure to lead the Department. Following one year of disastrous policies, nonexistent support for your agents’ ability to enforce immigration laws, and the total loss of faith from the American people, we call for your resignation as Secretary of Homeland Security.

Sincerely,

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