Political Theater Cloaked in a Sheet of White Nationalism
Read new backgrounder on the key players and extremism behind potential Mayorkas impeachment push HERE
Washington, DC – America’s Voice released a new in-depth report, “GOP Threatens Public Safety with Push for DHS Secretary Impeachment Based on White Nationalist Conspiracy Theories,” which details the push by House Republicans to impeach Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas.
The report examines Republicans’ wild accusations against Secretary Mayorkas and names the instigators of this conspiracy-laden plot, which has been going on for the past two years. Critically, the calls for impeachment have been accompanied by the white nationalist conspiracy about a so-called migrant “invasion” – the same conspiracy theory that has inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks over the last few years and claimed the lives of dozens of Americans.
According to Zachary Mueller, Political Director of America’s Voice:
“The Republican drumbeat for impeachment proceedings is just the next act in their nativist political theater, but an extremely dangerous one. They will perform their parts in the show well, attempting to seriously present very unserious arguments while legitimizing destabilizing and anti-democratic conspiracies. The deadly white nationalist ‘invasion’ and ‘replacement’ conspiracies have been central to their argument and will continue to be throughout any hearings or investigations.
The tragic irony here should expose the real danger: many of the same Republicans who led and supported the January 6th insurrection are leading the impeachment fiasco. The same radical ideas, radical actions and radical extremists are exactly the threat that the DHS Secretary has identified as the leading terrorism risk currently facing the nation. Mayorkas is responsible for monitoring and preventing the very real dangers posed by domestic terrorists, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to Republicans who focus solely on DHS’s role in managing immigration. Mayorkas has a much wider portfolio than immigration and, at its heart, the effort to oust Mayorkas is a policy dispute over what our immigration system should look like, not a matter of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ based on wild and inaccurate allegations made by nativist Republicans.
If House Republicans continue down this path, they will not be conducting serious oversight but wasting time and treasure on a stunt that courts more political violence.”
Read the whole report here and key excerpts below:
… As early as August 2021, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) filed articles of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas with 32 co-sponsors. In mid-November 2022, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee signaled their prospective hearings, sending a letter to DHS requesting documents. Then just weeks after the midterms in November 2022, Kevin McCarthy staged a press conference at the border, all but promising to pursue impeachment hearings of Secretary Mayorkas. On January 9, 2023, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX)filed new articles of impeachment as soon as the new House was sworn in, and as of this writing, has 32 co-sponsors, demonstrating the GOP-controlled House is much more interested in show trials than in legislating real solutions. The new Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mark Green (TN-05) outlined in his first statement announcing his new role wrote, “ending the border crisis Biden created is our top priority, … make no mistake, we will hold President Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas accountable for their complete dereliction of duty in failing to respond to this crisis.”
… Congressmen Chip Roy (TX-21), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), and Brian Babin (TX-36) have been the lead instigators, but many other Republicans and former top DHS officials under the Trump administration have been vocal about the push as well. Among a number of flimsy allegations, they falsely claim Secretary Mayorkas has implemented “open borders,” which they falsely assert is the cause for the spike in fentanyl-related overdose deaths. Echoing the white nationalist conspiracy theory, they argue that the migrants seeking safety and security at the southern border constitute a literal invasion of the United States – an invasion that they claim is being deliberately organized by “the Left,” Democrats and Secretary Mayorkas.
… To put it plainly, at a time when violent white nationalists motivated by false conspiracy theories pose the greatest threat of terrorism to the United States, Republicans are targeting one of the government officials most directly responsible for keeping the nation safe from domestic terrorism, motivated largely by the same white nationalist falsehoods.
… Over the last year and a half, Republicans have released a handful of different documents outlining their arguments for impeaching Secretary Mayorkas, all of which rely on the GOP’s distorted and nativist narrative about the border. While their arguments are disingenuous, flimsy, or just flat-out not true, it is worth debunking the main threads of their arguments to reveal the charade of the GOP’s current threat of hearings and investigations.
… In addition to the disingenuous nativist attacks, Republicans have embraced a false white nationalist conspiracy theory to call for Secretary Mayorkas’ impeachment. They claim that the migrants seeking asylum and safety in the United States constitute a literal military-style “invasion.” This language of “invasion” is inexorably tied to the Great Replacement Theory, which helped inspire the terrorist attacks in Charlottesville in 2017, Pittsburgh in 2018, El Paso in 2019, the Capitol attack in 2021, and Buffalo in 2022.
