WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The House Committee on Homeland Security is scheduled to host a full committee hearing Wednesday, kicking off an investigation into Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Some House Republicans continue to call for Mayorkas to be impeached for his “dereliction of duty.”
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the committee chairman, is hosting the hearing, accusing Mayorkas of making reckless policy decisions that have led to what he calls the worst border policy in U.S. history.
Wednesday’s hearing in Washington, D.C., comes almost exactly a month after the expiration of Title 42; the pandemic-era border policy that allowed the U.S. to expel migrants at the border, citing a public health emergency.
Over the past year and a half, states along the southern border have turned to busing large groups of migrants to Democratic sanctuary cities like New York City, Chicago and Washington in order to keep up with the increased flow of border crossings.
In fact, New York City has seen tens of thousands of asylum seekers arrive, and to deal with the surge the city has opened a number of emergency shelters.
However, since the end of Title 42, border crossings have been lower than the initially anticipated surge.
Updated numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed that the average daily apprehensions at the southwest border have actually plummeted since Title 42’s expiration.
Regardless of the data, Republicans continue to blame Mayorkas for the strain being put on cities and border agents.
During the party’s weekly press conference, Republican members said they want to hold the DHS secretary responsible.
“Secretary Mayorkas has had articles of impeachment filed against him. But also, all of us up here have talked about the crisis at the border, and the fact that he hasn’t been doing his job. There’s a five-point oversight investigation being looked into regarding Mayorkas’ job performance,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the top Democrat on the committee holding this hearing, has accused Republicans of simply wanting to make headlines and photo-ops.
The hearing begins at 10 a.m. ET and three witnesses are expected to testify before the committee, including a former Border Patrol chief.
Devan Markham has contributed to this report.