AUSTIN, Texas — A Republican border lawmaker is pushing the House GOP to once and for all impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas following the latest in countless losses of life due to the border crisis.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) of southwestern Texas explained to the Washington Examiner in a phone interview that this time is different and lawmakers must unite come Monday night when the House considers Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s (R-GA) bill to hold Mayorkas accountable.
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“She’s been very vocal and has been a real champion and a leader on impeaching Mayorkas, impeaching a lot of people in the administration but Mayorkas in particular,” said Gonzales. “She just felt now was — it was like, ‘Hey, enough’s enough.’ And I agree with her 1,000%. And I’ve been urging all my colleagues to get behind this, this vote that’s going to take place.”
Gonzales learned on Nov. 8 that two vehicles had collided in his district near Batesville, Texas, killing an elderly couple from Greene’s Georgia district.
The one vehicle was carrying several illegal immigrants, and the driver, a human smuggler, had attempted to flee from police by going around a truck on a one-lane road when the vehicle crashed into the Georgia couple, killing them.
Gonzales said he spoke with the Zavala County sheriff and learned that 67-year-old Jose Lerma and his wife, 65-year-old Isabel Lerma, had died in the crash. The Lermas were parents of five boys and had been driving to Mexico to visit one of their sons.
NEW: 11/8, @TxDPS is investigating a two-vehicle fatal crash on US 57 near Batesville. The driver in a Honda passenger car from Houston suspected of human smuggling was evading from Zavala COSO when the driver passed an 18-wheeler in a no-passing zone. The driver drove head-on… pic.twitter.com/KdxZ7wmvkk
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) November 8, 2023
“I find this out. I call Marjorie,” said Gonzales. “I let her know that, ‘Hey, you know these two people are your constituents.’ And we started talking about everything.”
Gonzales said he worked with one of the Lerma sons to coordinate the parents’ final wishes of being buried in Mexico. His office coordinated arrangements with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Greene’s office, and the Mexican Consulate.
“Sadly, because this thing is so regular, we’ve almost built like a standard operating procedure when somebody dies,” said Gonzales. “It’s just really tragic. … I can’t tell you how many times this story has happened. There isn’t always a fatality. But there’s a lot of injuries.”
Infuriated House Republicans moved the day after the accident, Nov. 9, to impeach Mayorkas. If impeached in the House, he would stand trial in the Senate, controlled by the Democratic Party.
Greene’s resolution accused Mayorkas of failing to maintain “operational control” of U.S. borders. It is the second time that Greene has filed articles of impeachment against him following an unsuccessful attempt in May.
“I’m sorry world, we can’t defend your borders anymore, we have a severe national security crisis at our own border,” Greene said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I’m done with hearings, reports, and phases. The only answer is impeachment, it’s time.”
Gonzales said it was time to hold Mayorkas accountable following this most recent loss of life, the latest in a string of human smuggling crashes that have hurt and killed Texas residents, including a grandmother and young girl killed in a similar crash in his district earlier this year.
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“I don’t want to lose sight of that because there’s like a human piece to all these accidents and all the things that occurred, and it’s never easy,” said Gonzales.
The DHS did not respond to a request for comment about the impeachment vote, which could come Monday evening.
