Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee are ramping up pressure on DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in light of bombshell testimony from Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.
On Wednesday, Ortiz was the primary witness at the committee’s field hearing in McAllen, Texas, testifying that he has stood up against the Biden administration on various issues. In addition to his opposition to Biden’s decision to halt construction of the border wall, he identified policies impeding agents from fulfilling their duties, and defended agents who were wrongly accused of whipping Haitian migrants.
Ortiz’s testimony made it very clear that the United States, under the Biden administration, lacks operational control of the border. This contradicts past testimony from Mayorkas—who faces potential impeachment by the Republican-controlled House.
Since Republicans took control of the House, Mayorkas has faced a significant amount of scrutiny, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has promised Mayorkas will face impeachment.
“Our country may never recover from Secretary Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty. This is why today I am calling on the secretary to resign,” McCarthy said back in November. “If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure. And we will determine whether we can begin an impeachment inquiry.”
Ortiz’s testimony will likely bolster Republican efforts to hold Mayorkas accountable for dereliction of duty at the border. According to Ortiz, multiple sectors have been overwhelmed by the historic influx of migrants trying to cross the border.
“In five of those nine southwest border sectors, we have seen an increase in flow and that has caused a considerable strain on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to move some agents and even migrants to some of the other areas,” Ortiz told the committee.
Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) characterized Ortiz’s testimony as “earth-shattering.”
“I knew that he was the kind of guy who would shoot straight and be honest. And we prepared, so we did our homework and we were prepared. I think you put the two together, and you got what we got, which is some pretty earth-shattering stuff,” he told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Green expects the committee to bring Mayorkas in to provide testimony regarding the border.
“I think we want to talk to all the sector chiefs, but certainly the five that are struggling with the overflow right now and get their perspectives,” he said. “And then at some point, Secretary Mayorkas is going to have to come and answer the question, did he lie to Congress or is he just ignorant about the definition in the code on what defines operational security?”
In addition to the border crisis, Mayorkas will have to answer for punishing Border Patrol agents over whippings he knew never actually happened.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member