The attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas

[Bob78164]

This year, Congress has funded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds for only about 34,000 people — approximately the number of people who showed up at the border every three days in December 2023.

In the absence of resources needed to detain them, it would be unconstitutional for DHS to attempt to do so. When detention facilities fill up, conditions quickly deteriorate. In 2019, for instance, Border Patrol was detaining 41 detainees in a cell with a maximum capacity of eight. People were standing on toilets. They had no places to sleep. They were denied toothbrushes, soap or showers, leaving even infants in soiled clothes. People were getting ill from the inadequate diet and lack of medical care.

. . . .

In February 2019, for instance, a U.S. district court in Arizona ruled that DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielson had to cease holding immigrants longer than two days unless she “can provide conditions of confinement that meet detainees’ basic human needs for sleeping in a bed with a blanket, a shower, food that meets acceptable dietary standards, potable water, and medical assessment performed by a medical professional.”

. . . .

The bottom line is that Congress has passed a law that is impossible to enforce or at least impossible to do so constitutionally. That’s not unusual. Congress has a habit of passing such laws. But what is unusual is that [the Republican House majority] is now [attempting to] impeach[ ] a Cabinet secretary over his failure to do the impossible.

Mr. Bier is Associate Director for Immigration Studies at that well known hotbed of liberal thought, the Koch-funded Cato Institute. He is a member of the Federalist Society and was senior policy advisor to Raul Labrador, then a Member of Congress, and now Idaho Attorney General. --Bob

[flockofseagulls104]

This year, Congress has funded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds for only about 34,000 people — approximately the number of people who showed up at the border every three days in December 2023.

In the absence of resources needed to detain them, it would be unconstitutional for DHS to attempt to do so. When detention facilities fill up, conditions quickly deteriorate. In 2019, for instance, Border Patrol was detaining 41 detainees in a cell with a maximum capacity of eight. People were standing on toilets. They had no places to sleep. They were denied toothbrushes, soap or showers, leaving even infants in soiled clothes. People were getting ill from the inadequate diet and lack of medical care.

. . . .

In February 2019, for instance, a U.S. district court in Arizona ruled that DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielson had to cease holding immigrants longer than two days unless she “can provide conditions of confinement that meet detainees’ basic human needs for sleeping in a bed with a blanket, a shower, food that meets acceptable dietary standards, potable water, and medical assessment performed by a medical professional.”

. . . .

The bottom line is that Congress has passed a law that is impossible to enforce or at least impossible to do so constitutionally. That’s not unusual. Congress has a habit of passing such laws. But what is unusual is that [the Republican House majority] is now [attempting to] impeach[ ] a Cabinet secretary over his failure to do the impossible.

Mr. Bier is Associate Director for Immigration Studies at that well known hotbed of liberal thought, the Koch-funded Cato Institute. He is a member of the Federalist Society and was senior policy advisor to Raul Labrador, then a Member of Congress, and now Idaho Attorney General. --Bob

um, how about closing the border, building a wall, closing down the NGOs that attract illegals and defending our border so there aren't 34,000 people that need to be detained every 3 day?

[Beebs52]

Well, step one

[Bob78164]

Well, step one

Of course, if Donny does get elected, this opens the door to impeaching him if he truly does ignore our treaty obligations to our NATO allies. Or refuses to abide by the law in so many other ways. This is truly Pandora's Box that the Republicans have opened.

And to no purpose. The odds are the Senate will vote to dismiss the charges without a trial, on the ground that the House has failed to identify any high crimes or misdemeanors. I'd even venture to guess a few Republicans will join the Democrats in voting to dismiss on that basis. --Bob

[Beebs52]

Well, step one

Of course, if Donny does get elected, this opens the door to impeaching him if he truly does ignore our treaty obligations to our NATO allies. Or refuses to abide by the law in so many other ways. This is truly Pandora's Box that the Republicans have opened.

And to no purpose. The odds are the Senate will vote to dismiss the charges without a trial, on the ground that the House has failed to identify any high crimes or misdemeanors. I'd even venture to guess a few Republicans will join the Democrats in voting to dismiss on that basis. --Bob

Been there and done that in variations. Just sayin

[flockofseagulls104]

Well, step one

Of course, if Donny does get elected, this opens the door to impeaching him if he truly does ignore our treaty obligations to our NATO allies. Or refuses to abide by the law in so many other ways. This is truly Pandora's Box that the Republicans have opened.

And to no purpose. The odds are the Senate will vote to dismiss the charges without a trial, on the ground that the House has failed to identify any high crimes or misdemeanors. I'd even venture to guess a few Republicans will join the Democrats in voting to dismiss on that basis. --Bob

Geez bobby, The dems will try to impeach him for something every other day. Why do they need any reason? Never stopped them before.

And we all know most of the repubs in the senate are uniparty anyway.

[silverscreenselect]

And we all know most of the repubs in the senate are uniparty anyway.

There are only two political parties in the US now: the Democratic Party and the Donald Trump party.

Plus a handful of principled conservatives like Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney trying to find a home.

[flockofseagulls104]

Here's an anecdotal incident. But it hits home. My county is one of three in my state that has declared itself a 'sanctuary' county.

In the "conservative's wet dream" immigration bill, they declared they would close the border once 5000 illegals came through. Great! They figured us conservatives would wet our pants over that! But they admit they can do it. How about closing it when 0 cross over and only let LEGAL immigrants enter our country? Or is that too simple-minded? After all, I don't understand anything.

[tlynn78]

Here's an anecdotal incident. But it hits home. My county is one of three in my state that has declared itself a 'sanctuary' county.

In the "conservative's wet dream" immigration bill, they declared they would close the border once 5000 illegals came through. Great! They figured us conservatives would wet our pants over that! But they admit they can do it. How about closing it when 0 cross over and only let LEGAL immigrants enter our country? Or is that too simple-minded? After all, I don't understand anything.

C'mon man. These countries are only sending their "best and brightest" - what could go wrong...

[earendel]

Here's an anecdotal incident. But it hits home. My county is one of three in my state that has declared itself a 'sanctuary' county.

In the "conservative's wet dream" immigration bill, they declared they would close the border once 5000 illegals came through. Great! They figured us conservatives would wet our pants over that! But they admit they can do it. How about closing it when 0 cross over and only let LEGAL immigrants enter our country? Or is that too simple-minded? After all, I don't understand anything.

C'mon man. These countries are only sending their "best and brightest" - what could go wrong...

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc. Second, studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than citizens. It's only the fearmongers seizing on one or two incidents and blowing them out of proportion.

[flockofseagulls104]

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc.

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

[Weyoun]

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc.

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

I noticed that he mentioned also that such immigrants crime crimes at a rate lower than the general population, and I believe it’s true from the numbers I have seen.

You didn’t address that. When someone throws actual facts at you, you just try to do the Uno reverse card.

Anyway, not surprised at all that such a simpleton as yourself sees something scary on TV, and draws a bunch of conclusions from it. If Newsmax told you to drink gasoline to help the oil companies, you would splurge on 93 octane.

[flockofseagulls104]

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc.

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

I noticed that he mentioned also that such immigrants crime crimes at a rate lower than the general population, and I believe it’s true from the numbers I have seen.

You didn’t address that. When someone throws actual facts at you, you just try to do the Uno reverse card.

Anyway, not surprised at all that such a simpleton as yourself sees something scary on TV, and draws a bunch of conclusions from it. If Newsmax told you to drink gasoline to help the oil companies, you would splurge on 93 octane.

But they do, in fact, commit crimes. Many crimes. Cartel crimes, Human trafficking crimes. Drug crimes. Murders. Not to mention the fact that they have committed a crime by entering the country illegally. Not all of them come for personal reasons. Since the border is wide open, other people with other agendas are mixed in. But perhaps that possibility has escaped your notice.

NONE of them should be here if we followed our own laws. And none of the crimes they have committed would have happened if we enforced our own laws. But you can ignore all that because you have decided I know nothing.
Keep your strawman characterizations to yourself. You know nothing about me, and your bigoted projections reveal more about yourself than they do me, because they are BS.

[silverscreenselect]

You know nothing about me, and your bigoted projections reveal more about yourself than they do me, because they are BS.

Flock, you're one of the easiest people on this Bored to read. You're foolish, bigoted, and extremely gullible. You blindly parrot the party line without knowing what you're talking about most of the time. And when someone points out your mistakes, you just deny it and dig in even more, making yourself look more ridiculous with each additional statement.

The migrants coming across the border, asking for asylum (which is their right), are not terrorists. They don't have massive amounts of illegal guns, fentanyl, or trafficked women in their backpacks. In fact, the Mexican government is now complaining because weapons legally manufactured and sold in the United States are winding up in the hands of Mexican drug cartes. Most of what does come into the country is brought in by legal U.S. residents, many of them citizens, through ports of entry like ports and border crossings. What we need is a better and more efficient way of processing these arriving migrants, not money wasted on a border wall that the real bad guys can easily get around, over, and under. All that putting barbed wire in the Rio Grande accomplishes is drowning women and children.

No one is saying we should ignore violent crimes committed by migrants. But misallocating scarce resources to deal with the least serious part of the problem appeals to the yahoos like you in Trump's base but doesn't do anything to solve the real problem. It's like a major city cutting its robbery and homicide detectives in half and sending those officers to stake out street corners to catch jaywalkers.

[flockofseagulls104]

Flock, you're one of the easiest people on this Bored to read.

Right. As my growing signature indicates. The signature is a compilation of your (in the plural) reasoned answers to my points over recent years that you have no answer for. You must know me very well.

[earendel]

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc.

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

No, I don't think there is a deliberate attempt on the part of foreign countries to "dump their trash" on our border. If you actually listen to the stories that the immigrants tell, it's clear they are coming because they fear for their safety or realize there are no prospects in their home countries. If you have evidence to the contrary, please provide it.

[tlynn78]

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc.

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

No, I don't think there is a deliberate attempt on the part of foreign countries to "dump their trash" on our border. If you actually listen to the stories that the immigrants tell, it's clear they are coming because they fear for their safety or realize there are no prospects in their home countries. If you have evidence to the contrary, please provide it.

The little fantasy y'all have of migrant families skipping over the border into the arms of supporting, established family members is cute, but mostly utter rot. Most have paid coyotes their life savings (or had someone else who paid) to maybe get into the US - that's if one of the cartels doesn't grab them first, and rape, ransom or kill them. The cartels control the vast majority of migrants, and yes, send whoever they want or whoever they're paid the most to send. Do you suppose who they want to send is in our country's best interest? Naive doesn't begin to cover it.

[silverscreenselect]

The little fantasy y'all have of migrant families skipping over the border into the arms of supporting, established family members is cute, but mostly utter rot. Most have paid coyotes their life savings (or had someone else who paid) to maybe get into the US - that's if one of the cartels doesn't grab them first, and rape, ransom or kill them. The cartels control the vast majority of migrants, and yes, send whoever they want or whoever they're paid the most to send. Do you suppose who they want to send is in our country's best interest? Naive doesn't begin to cover it.

I assume you have some documentation of this. Donald Trump campaign speeches and Flock's fantasy ramblings don't count as documentation.

[Bob78164]

I noticed that he mentioned also that such immigrants crime crimes at a rate lower than the general population, and I believe it’s true from the numbers I have seen.

But wait, there's more! It turns out that the roaring success of our economy owes its vigor to immigrant workers. (Not just workers with documents, by the way.) There simply aren't enough native-born workers to fill all the positions necessary to make our economy thrive. And that's been true for years, but recent numbers highlight the trend. --Bob

[Weyoun]

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

No, I don't think there is a deliberate attempt on the part of foreign countries to "dump their trash" on our border. If you actually listen to the stories that the immigrants tell, it's clear they are coming because they fear for their safety or realize there are no prospects in their home countries. If you have evidence to the contrary, please provide it.

The little fantasy y'all have of migrant families skipping over the border into the arms of supporting, established family members is cute, but mostly utter rot. Most have paid coyotes their life savings (or had someone else who paid) to maybe get into the US - that's if one of the cartels doesn't grab them first, and rape, ransom or kill them. The cartels control the vast majority of migrants, and yes, send whoever they want or whoever they're paid the most to send. Do you suppose who they want to send is in our country's best interest? Naive doesn't begin to cover it.

Let’s grant everything you said is true. They actually probably want folks who work and pay their bills back. It would be unusually cumbersome to go to the trouble to bring someone over here, expect them to pay you back some amount of money, and it turns out they just go around murdering white girls.

But of course, what you say is bullshit. I see migrant workers as part of my job on regular basis. Most of them seem to be just trying to get by. Haven’t seen one of those coyotes. Aw-woooooooo!

[flockofseagulls104]

First, other nations aren't "sending" immigrants; they are coming due to personal reasons - fear, poverty, etc.

Oh really, ear? I cannot believe you are that naive. Well, maybe I can. I think I misjudged you.

No, I don't think there is a deliberate attempt on the part of foreign countries to "dump their trash" on our border. If you actually listen to the stories that the immigrants tell, it's clear they are coming because they fear for their safety or realize there are no prospects in their home countries. If you have evidence to the contrary, please provide it.

Yeah, I guess there is a dearth of in-depth interviews with the cartel guys, the terrorists and the scummy people that get into this country. Just doesn't make good TV. Here's a nice story from an 'immigrant'. They are illegal aliens, no matter what the MSM decides we should call them. I guess he's here seeking asylum.
You are welcome to completely ignore this evidence. It is clearly fake. Never possibly could happen in your echo chamber world. Until it does. Then you'll figure out some convoluted way to blame Trump.

[tlynn78]

I noticed that he mentioned also that such immigrants crime crimes at a rate lower than the general population, and I believe it’s true from the numbers I have seen.

But wait, there's more! It turns out that the roaring success of our economy owes its vigor to immigrant workers. (Not just workers with documents, by the way.) There simply aren't enough native-born workers to fill all the positions necessary to make our economy thrive. And that's been true for years, but recent numbers highlight the trend. --Bob

Yup - slaves also kept the southern economy roaring, so it's all good. gotta keep those cheap avocados coming.

[Bob78164]

I noticed that he mentioned also that such immigrants crime crimes at a rate lower than the general population, and I believe it’s true from the numbers I have seen.

But wait, there's more! It turns out that the roaring success of our economy owes its vigor to immigrant workers. (Not just workers with documents, by the way.) There simply aren't enough native-born workers to fill all the positions necessary to make our economy thrive. And that's been true for years, but recent numbers highlight the trend. --Bob

Yup - slaves also kept the southern economy roaring, so it's all good. gotta keep those cheap avocados coming.

Your concern for these workers is touching. I'm sure that each and every one of them would love to thank you personally for protecting them from jobs they want by sending them back to the countries they fled to get those jobs.

If your issue is the fear some workers have of starting enforcement actions to defend their rights under applicable labor laws, there's an obvious solution, and that solution isn't sending them home so that our work doesn't get done and they can't earn a living wage. It's making sure they can enforce their rights without fear of deportation.

But most of the immigrants are making perfectly legal wages under perfectly legal conditions. They're just taking jobs that native-born Americans largely don't want because they (the native-born) can find other jobs they prefer. I don't have a problem with that. --Bob

[tlynn78]

But wait, there's more! It turns out that the roaring success of our economy owes its vigor to immigrant workers. (Not just workers with documents, by the way.) There simply aren't enough native-born workers to fill all the positions necessary to make our economy thrive. And that's been true for years, but recent numbers highlight the trend. --Bob

Yup - slaves also kept the southern economy roaring, so it's all good. gotta keep those cheap avocados coming.

Your concern for these workers is touching. I'm sure that each and every one of them would love to thank you personally for protecting them from jobs they want by sending them back to the countries they fled to get those jobs.

If your issue is the fear some workers have of starting enforcement actions to defend their rights under applicable labor laws, there's an obvious solution, and that solution isn't sending them home so that our work doesn't get done and they can't earn a living wage. It's making sure they can enforce their rights without fear of deportation.

But most of the immigrants are making perfectly legal wages under perfectly legal conditions. They're just taking jobs that native-born Americans largely don't want because they (the native-born) can find other jobs they prefer. I don't have a problem with that. --Bob

Of course not, Bob - that would require you to have the ability to see outside your little bubble.

[flockofseagulls104]

But wait, there's more! It turns out that the roaring success of our economy owes its vigor to immigrant workers. (Not just workers with documents, by the way.) There simply aren't enough native-born workers to fill all the positions necessary to make our economy thrive. And that's been true for years, but recent numbers highlight the trend. --Bob

Yup - slaves also kept the southern economy roaring, so it's all good. gotta keep those cheap avocados coming.

Your concern for these workers is touching. I'm sure that each and every one of them would love to thank you personally for protecting them from jobs they want by sending them back to the countries they fled to get those jobs.

If your issue is the fear some workers have of starting enforcement actions to defend their rights under applicable labor laws, there's an obvious solution, and that solution isn't sending them home so that our work doesn't get done and they can't earn a living wage. It's making sure they can enforce their rights without fear of deportation.

But most of the immigrants are making perfectly legal wages under perfectly legal conditions. They're just taking jobs that native-born Americans largely don't want because they (the native-born) can find other jobs they prefer. I don't have a problem with that. --Bob

I wonder, then, what the blue 'sanctuary' cities and states are complaining about. Their labor problems should be solved! There is no other issue about illegal immigration that should even enter our thoughts. At least my thoughts, because I cannot possibly understand more than one thing at a time, being a simpleton. They should just take all of them and shut up. Who needs documentation? We can just close down the schools and recreation facilities in minority predominant areas so we can house them. Because we need them to do the jobs that citizens don't want to do. So we can keep our economy just sailing along, even though we can't afford anything anymore. Right, booby?