“The morale and motivation to go out and work has been destroyed – and will take a generation of agents before it ever begins to return.”
By Anna Giaritelli
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — Demoralized Border Patrol agents are warning the Democrat-controlled Senate against sabotaging the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Five federal law enforcement agents who spoke with the Washington Examiner after the House’s Feb. 13th vote said they have been dragged through the mud since Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate in February 2021.
However, agents are fearful that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (right, D-NY) will move to dismiss the two articles and kill the trial before it can get underway.“I want to see our government take action!!” a California agent wrote in a text message when asked about the impeachment effort. “It took them long enough.”
A second agent in California said the official who has led the Department of Homeland Security through the three-year border crisis ought to face accountability.
“Yes, I would like to see a trial,” said the second agent, who has worked 20 years in the Border Patrol.
The same employee said prosecution rates were incomparable to the number of smuggling cases, meaning few smugglers faced consequences after being arrested.
“There are no consequences for smugglers right now. We have so many [people who fail to yield to agents] and smugglers loading [vehicles with illegal immigrants] right on the border.”
“Smuggling is at the highest. They know we won’t prosecute them,” the second agent said.
“He let it get out of control, he is responsible as head of this agency.”
“Smuggling is at the highest. They know we won’t prosecute them,” the second agent said.
“He let it get out of control, he is responsible as head of this agency.”
Since Mayorkas took office as President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the department, more than 8 million non-U.S. citizens have been encountered at the border. The large majority of immigrants entered the country illegally.
Seeking asylum is not required to be released into the United States, as millions have been.
The Washington Examiner has previously asked DHS for the number of prosecution referrals to the Justice Department in 2023 but has not received a response.
A third agent described the House’s 214-213 vote to impeach Mayorkas as “amazing,” but as much as he wished to see Mayorkas convicted in a trial, he was not optimistic that lawmakers would follow through.
“I want to see him GONE!” the Texas agent wrote in a text.“Realistically speaking, nothing will happen.”
A fourth agent, stationed at the Border Patrol’s Washington headquarters, said agents are frustrated with the likelihood that Mayorkas could escape conviction, much less a trial.
“For the most part everyone I’ve spoken to is content that it’s happened,” said the senior Border Patrol official.
“It’s big, but we’re worried that the position will be filled with someone equal or worse than him.”
“It’s big, but we’re worried that the position will be filled with someone equal or worse than him.”
Senate Republicans have pressured Schumer this week to hold a trial when the House sends over the two impeachment articles later this month. Senators serve as jurors in the trial as a panel of House members present the evidence.
However, Schumer is rumored to be uninterested in holding a trial. Such a move, tabling the impeachment effort, would be unprecedented and mark the first time in 22 impeachment efforts that the upper chamber has tossed the articles.
“With the Mayorkas impeachment, you know what Schumer wants to do? He doesn’t even want to have a trial,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in a Fox News interview Sunday.
“In over 200 years of our nation’s history, the Senate has never once tabled articles of impeachment. That has never happened.”
“In over 200 years of our nation’s history, the Senate has never once tabled articles of impeachment. That has never happened.”
Democrats have characterized the House Republican-led impeachment effort as a sham and rooted in politics that the GOP waited to carry out until an election year.
Republicans have maintained that the U.S.-Mexico border saw the most-ever number of illegal immigrant crossings in December 2023 and must be addressed.
A fifth Border Patrol agent was skeptical that a trial, even a conviction, would have a significant impact on the department’s roughly 19,000 Border Patrol agents nationwide.
“It won’t change a thing. All the work the Border Patrol has done over the years has essentially been for nothing,” the same agent said.
“The morale and motivation to go out and work groups has been destroyed and will take a generation of agents before it will ever begin to return.”
“The morale and motivation to go out and work groups has been destroyed and will take a generation of agents before it will ever begin to return.”
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Anna Giaritelli joined the Washington Examiner in 2015 and focuses on homeland security, immigration, and border issues. Currently based in Austin, Texas, she has traveled to the border on more than 60 occasions since 2018, covering human smuggling, the evolution of the war on drugs, domestic terrorism, and migration trends. Follow Anna on Twitter @Anna_Giaritelli.
