Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., urges Mayorkas to resign or face impeachment
Border state Republican lawmaker slams DHS secretary on 'Your World' with the GOP poised for an investigation.
An Arizona Republican congresswoman whose caucus is poised to control the U.S. House by a narrow margin in January warned Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas he must resign or face House investigations when the GOP takes the gavel.
Rep. Debbie Lesko said she wants to echo a call from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy for Mayorkas to step down.
"I'm glad that he has given Mayorkas an ultimatum: Either resign or we're going to start investigations and see if it leads to impeachment," Lesko told "Your World" Friday.
"I personally have signed on to legislation to impeach Mayorkas. Prior to that, I signed on to legislation that he resign, and I signed on to letters asking him to resign."
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pauses during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)
Lesko, a member of the House Border Security Caucus, added Mayorkas was invited to appear before them and she was shocked he did so.
"We had written him a letter saying he should resign. And he keeps on lying: He keeps on telling us that the border is secure," she said. "He said that again the other day in a House hearing. And it's not secure. Anybody knows that. Even the illegal immigrants know that."
Lesko later added President Biden acts like he wants an open border, pointing to the White House's aversion to Title 42 health protection measures that had triggered deportations and the fact that one of the president's first actions in office was to halt construction of the border wall.
"If there was only one thing that Biden could do – if he reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy, that would solve a lot of the problem that's going on right now," she said.
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Immigration is at the top of the ticket this November as a record number of illegal immigrants continue to cross the border. (John Moore/Getty Images)
"Because, as you know, we have a humanitarian crisis, a drug crisis and a national security crisis at our southern border."
The Republican said that unlike Biden, she has visited the southern border to see the crisis firsthand, further criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for visiting El Paso, Texas, without going the handful of miles to the border herself.
Border Patrol agents she has talked to are frustrated and demoralized, Lesko continued.
During a Senate hearing last week, Mayorkas appeared to change his tune somewhat when it comes to the southern border after saying earlier in the week that it is secure.
Debbie Lesko (Fox)
Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, asked Mayorkas the same series of questions the head of Border Patrol was asked by Florida officials earlier in the year, the first of which being whether the southern border is in a state of crisis.
"The entire hemisphere is suffering a migration crisis," Mayorkas said. "We are seeing an unprecedented movement of people from country to country. It is not restricted to the southern border."
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.