On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first immigration hearing amid a record number of illegal crossings of the southern border during President Joe Biden’s administration.
This hearing, entitled “Biden’s Border Crisis — Part One,” is the first in what is likely to be a series of hearings as the committee continues to scrutinize the DHS and pushes for immigration reform legislation.
At a meeting this coming Wednesday, those whose lives have been affected by the border conflict will speak about their experiences. One of these guys is a county sheriff from southeast Arizona, while another is the stepfather of a 15-year-old who died from a fentanyl overdose.
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, who serves as the House Judiciary Committee chairman, recently told Breitbart News, “You provide the people story, the personal experience of what is going today.”
Since President Joe Biden took office, over 4 million people have crossed the border illegally; the “human story” is the first phase in what is intended to be a three-pronged campaign for resolving immigration issues.
According to Jordan, lawmakers have considered the effects on non-border communities’ access to healthcare and educational opportunities.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) made a comment that much pleased the chairman last year in the yearly conference that the top Judiciary members in the House and Senate conduct with cabinet officials to discuss refugee admission quotas.
Jordan: “Immediately after he asks the first question, Durbin says, “Last weekend I was at a shelter in Chicago where I saw 150 migrants from Texas because that governor sent people up here,” and my immediate reaction is, “Holy cow, now the rest of the country is seeing what Texas and Arizona have been dealing with.”
The committee’s approach has three parts: a look at how the problem is hurting the average American (not just those in border areas, but in states like Durbin’s in the Midwest); a study of the core causes of the problem; and an assessment of possible remedies.
As is traditional, immigration reform bills of all sorts must first pass muster in the House Judiciary Committee before being considered by the entire chamber.
To that end, “we do expect passing legislation out of this committee,” Jordan adds, referring to immigration law enforcement. If we are serious about fixing this issue, we have to approve this law. Now, whether the Senate can approve it and Joe Biden will ever sign it, that’s a different story,” he remarked when asked if the bill had a chance of becoming law after being signed by the president. This comment brought to light the overwhelming challenge facing Republicans in enacting legislation while Democrats control the Senate and the White House.
While being interviewed by Breitbart News, Republican Alabama Representative Barry Moore responded, “I do yes” when asked if he thought the Judiciary Committee would pass immigration legislation.
Moore, who joined the committee this year although Jordan has been on it for 16 years, is hoping that the first hearing will shed light on the “humanitarian situation” at the border.
A closed border is a caring border; this has always been obvious to me “In addition, Moore made a statement. About a thousand individuals have died trying to cross the border in the previous several months. Alone in abandoned vehicles are human beings. After many deaths by drowning, we feel compelled to raise awareness of this critical humanitarian crisis.
Some members of the committee, including Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona, are prepared to do the unthinkable and impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Biden’s senior border officer.
Biggs has been working on impeachment against Mayorkas for some time and said last week that he will move forward with it on Wednesday following the committee hearing.
In early January, Representative Pat Fallon (R-Texas) introduced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. This followed a request for Mayorkas’ resignation and hints of impending impeachment by then-Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-California). Biggs’s impeachment articles against Mayorkas bring the total number of legislators who have done so to three.
Despite the mounting pressure from Republicans, Mayorkas has shown no sign of caving.
Mayorkas responded to McCarthy’s calls for his resignation in early January by saying on ABC’s This Week that he had no plans to quit.