The Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee has passed a motion to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas.
Fifteen Democrats on the committee voted against this proposal and said it was an attempt to divert attention.
Republicans accuse Majorkas of violating federal immigration law and betraying the public's trust. They believe that he has not done enough to solve the security problems at the US-Mexico border and the large number of immigrants coming to America.
The process of voting for the impeachment of Majorcas takes place at a time when the Senate is negotiating a law that would include the issue of border security. President Joe Biden said the bill would be the "toughest and fairest package of border security reforms" yet.
Since the impeachment proposal has passed the Homeland Security Committee, the House of Representatives could vote on it in the plenum as early as next week. It is not known whether the proposal will be adopted, since the Republicans have a narrow majority and the Democrats are against it.
No cabinet member has been impeached in the House of Representatives since 1876, when Secretary of War William Belknap went through the process. That impeachment did not pass the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required.
Republicans claim that Mallorca "willfully and systematically refused to comply with the laws passed by Congress, that he betrayed the trust of Congress and the American people", stated the Chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs in the House of Representatives, Mike Green.
Majorkas, who did not testify before the committee, denies all the allegations.
"I assure you that your false accusations will not prevent me from carrying out the mission to which I have dedicated my entire career and to which I remain committed," Majorkas said in a letter to the Home Affairs Committee.
In the letter, he also urged committee members to continue working with the Biden administration to fix "bad and outdated immigration laws."
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