Washington, DC — As the House Homeland Security Committee holds their latest hearing in their effort to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, many observers are rightfully pointing out how the sham impeachment effort is driven by politics and fails as a matter of constitutional law.
Additionally, as America’s Voice has highlighted, many of the most prominent voices calling for the Mayorkas impeachment are helping to elevate “replacement” and “invasion” conspiracy rhetoric, despite the connections to deadly real-world violence. This is helping to stoke a larger and more dangerous political climate that threatens violence (see the Washington Post article today, “Violent political threats surge as 2024 begins, haunting American democracy”). Of note:
- From the hearing today: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed “there were over three million ‘illegals’ who invaded our country” and said Secretary Mayorkas “violated the ‘guarantee’ clause set forth in article 4 section 4 of the Constitution which requires the federal government to protect states against invasion.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has used “invasion” and “replacement” language multiple times, just this week referring to, for example: “Secretary Mayorkas’s invitation to invade America through our Southern border” and describing it as an “‘invasion’ that he is purposefully facilitating at our Southern Border.”
- Note that Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN): wrote in a Fox News op-ed today, “Three years in, there is simply no other conclusion to draw—this is intentional.” In other words, a dog-whistle for the white nationalist replacement theory that has been the driving lie behind this impeachment push.
- As the Washington Post’s Philip Bump recently highlighted, regarding House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) similar claim that Secretary Mayorkas “is intentionally encouraging more immigration,” this “intentional” language “is an argument made by adherents of the ‘great replacement’ theory, the conspiratorial idea that immigrants are being lured to the United States with the intent to reshape politics and culture.”
- In total, at least 33 Republican members of Congress from the 118th Congress have used language associated with the great replacement theory to call for Secretary Mayorkas’ impeachment (and at least 60 times on public platforms, per detailed America’s Voice tracking and research available HERE).
- Keep in mind, during Capitol Hill testimony, Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly warned about domestic terrorism that could be inspired by great replacement and “invasion” language, with real world instances of deadly violence already seen in places like El Paso, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.
The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Responsible elected officials should recognize the tinderbox moment that our country and our democracy face and work to lower the temperature and encourage solutions to the challenges our country faces. Yet, through the Mayorkas impeachment ruse and larger relentless and politically-driven focus on immigration and border politics, Republicans are doing the opposite and are stoking a climate of fear, division, and danger, including by relying on false white nationalist conspiracies that are already linked to violence, tragedy and threats to our democracy.”
