House Republicans held their second and final hearing on Jan. 18 as part of the impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
It also featured testimony from individuals impacted by his actions, including two mothers who lost their daughters due to gang violence and the fentanyl crisis.
Tammy Nobles, one of the mothers, told the committee her 20-year-old daughter, Kayla Hamilton, was raped and murdered by an unnamed minor, alleged to be an illegal immigrant previously arrested in El Salvador for ties to the MS-13 gang.
“On July 27, 2022, I received the worst news that a parent doesn’t want to hear, that my newly 20-year-old daughter, Kayla Hamilton, was murdered in her own room and left on the floor like trash.” Ms. Nobles, a Maryland native, said.
Josephine Dunn, the other mother providing testimony, shared her heartbreak over the death of her daughter, Ashley Dunn, who in 2021 mistakenly ingested fentanyl, believing it to be oxycodone.
Mothers Share Heartbreak Over Daughters’ Deaths
“In my humble opinion, Mr. Mayorkas’ border policy is partially responsible for my daughter’s death. His wide-open border policy allows massive quantities of poisonous fentanyl into our country. Arizona is the fentanyl superhighway into the United States,” Ms. Dunn said.“If we had stricter border policies, my daughter would still be alive today,” Ms. Nobles concluded.
Republicans have repeatedly accused Mr. Mayorkas of being derelict in his duty of managing the U.S.-Mexico border and failing to enforce the nation’s immigration laws amid a surge in arrivals at the southern border. They plan to bring charges against him as early as the end of this month.
Mr. Mayorkas has repeatedly blamed outside factors for the ongoing immigration crisis, including climate change and a broken immigration system but has said he would cooperate with the House investigation and hearings.
However, he declined to attend Thursday’s hearing, citing a conflicting schedule and a planned meeting with Mexican officials about border and immigration issues.
DHS Slams ‘Sham Process’
During opening statements at Thursday’s hearing, House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) accused Mr. Mayorkas of having “disregarded court orders, laws passed by Congress,” and of lying to the American people.“Because of Secretary Mayorkas’ border crisis, American cities and neighborhoods are less safe. Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to enforce the law, which requires him to detain and remove illegal aliens, has tragically increased crime and endangered public safety across the country.”
The congressman noted that Border Patrol agents have arrested more than 41,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions since fiscal year (FY) 2021, including more than 15,000 in FY 2023, up from just a little over 4,200 in FY 2019.
Total convictions for assault, battery, and domestic violence among illegal immigrants apprehended in FY 2023 exceeded 1,200, in contrast to 299 in FY 2019, he said.
“The framers of our constitution were clear that executive branch officials were expected to follow their duty to enforce the laws of this country, and, if they willfully failed to do so, they should no longer hold their office,” Mr. Green said.
The Republican concluded by sharing his disappointment that Mr. Mayorkas had failed to testify on the issue, telling the committee that he has invited the Homeland Security secretary to share his testimony on the border crisis “on multiple occasions.”
“Instead, he plays games of cat and mouse, telling the media he wants to cooperate with the committee on finding a time to testify, but then refuses to work with committee staff or offer any dates or times in which to testify,” the congressman said.
“It’s abundantly clear that they are not interested in hearing from Secretary Mayorkas since it doesn’t fit into their bad-faith, predetermined, and unconstitutional rush to impeach him,” department spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said.
