Sometime next year, it is likely that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will be impeached for his role in opening up the U.S. border and destroying American sovereignty.  It would be a just outcome for a Cabinet official who has so flagrantly violated the public trust that was placed in him.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who will likely become House speaker next month, announced during a recent trip to the border that Mayorkas faces a possible impeachment inquiry if he refuses to step down from his position.  Mayorkas has said he will not resign.

"He cannot and must not remain in that position," McCarthy said.  "If the secretary does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure.  We'll determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry."

The impeachment of a Cabinet official, especially one as high-profile as the DHS secretary, would be historic.  Congress has not impeached a Cabinet official since 1876, when then–secretary of war William Belknap was impeached, and ultimately acquitted.  It goes without saying that impeaching a public official should be done rarely and carefully, but the case against Mayorkas is clear-cut.

Under Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, the federal government is required to protect the states against invasion, such as the one currently happening at our southern border.  Mayorkas oversees the agency that is now charged with protecting the country from invasion.  Since the day Mayorkas took office, he has worked to systematically decimate security measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.  As a result, America has lost operational control of its border, and the results have been devastating for the American people.

Under Mayorkas's failed leadership, roughly 5.5 million illegal aliens have crossed the U.S. border, according to an analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).  In addition to the economic and social upheaval this has caused in the U.S., a record number of migrants have died making the dangerous trek to the U.S. border, eroding the justification that anti-border policies would result in more compassionate outcomes for migrants.

Additionally, a record number of suspected terrorists have also crossed the border, clearly demonstrating the national security risk posed by Mayorkas's dereliction of duty.  Mayorkas also led a vicious smear campaign against Border Patrol agents who were trying to quell the flow of Haitian migrants last year.  Mayorkas's betrayal of Border Patrol is unacceptable for a man in his position, and reports have suggested that many agents have become demoralized and disillusioned working under him.

Detractors of a potential Mayorkas impeachment will say that these are simply policy disputes, and that Congress has no right to impeach a Cabinet member over policy disagreements.  But this is not a conventional policy dispute over the tax code or labor policy; it is about whether the border should be secure or open.  The Constitution makes clear that it must be secure, and that it is the federal government's responsibility to secure it.  When Mayorkas took an oath to the Constitution after being confirmed by the Senate in February 2021, he swore to secure the border and protect Americans from invasion.  He has flagrantly violated this oath and thus must be impeached.

Other detractors say the House should not bother impeaching Mayorkas since securing a conviction in the Senate would be extremely unlikely.  It is certainly true that getting the two-thirds majority in the Senate required to impeach Mayorkas would be a nearly impossible task, but that doesn't mean it is not worth doing.  If done correctly, a Mayorkas impeachment would be an opportunity for Congress to educate the American people on the importance of border security and the efforts of the Biden administration to dismantle it.  It could also force Mayorkas to make some changes to his approach, if he wants to avoid the infamy of being just the second Cabinet official in U.S. history to be impeached.

Ultimately, Mayorkas should be impeached, not for political reasons, but because he richly deserves it.  Mayorkas has deliberately and systematically decimated our security and our sovereignty.  He has betrayed his oath to the Constitution, and he must face consequences for doing so.

William J. Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Image: World Travel & Tourism Council via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.