GOP Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham accuse DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of 'gross dereliction of duty,' warn that he could face impeachment if he doesn't tackle border crisis

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of "gross dereliction of duty" and warning that he could face impeachment.

"Your failure to faithfully enforce this nation's immigration laws and willful blindness to the very real humanitarian crisis at our southern border amounts to a gross dereliction of duty and a violation of your oath of office," the GOP duo declared in their October 5 letter. "Historically high levels of illegal immigration and illicit drug trafficking demonstrate that our southern border is open for every kind of public health and national security threat imaginable. Despite the heroic efforts by the men and women of Border Patrol, who operate with very little support from Washington, D.C., you have failed to achieve any semblance of operational control of the southern border. We have grave concerns about what this failure means for both national security and the health and safety of American citizens. These failures cannot go unaddressed, and your actions cannot be unaccounted for."

"This is gross dereliction of duty and, if not corrected swiftly, could provide grounds for impeachment," the letter states. "We fully expect that in a few months’ time a Republican-led Congress will hold you to account for your willful negligence regarding the security of the southern border and the safety of the American people. We ask that you provide a full accounting of what DHS will do to achieve operational control of the southern border, as it is required to do by law, and stop the flow of illegal aliens and illicit drugs into the United States."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 2 million southwest land border encounters during the 11-month span from October 2021 through August 2022.

During remarks on Newsmax, Cruz has explicitly called for the House to impeach Mayorkas and for a trial to be held in the Senate.

Sen. Ted Cruz: The House Needs To Impeach AG Merrick Garland And DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas!youtu.be

Graham and other GOP lawmakers have previously said that Mayorkas should resign.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told Mayorkas that he should resign in a letter last month — earlier this year, Hawley told Mayorkas in person that thought Mayorkas should resign.

Dozens of House GOP lawmakers joined in a February letter to Mayorkas calling on him to step down.