Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas has failed to do his job to secure the southern border so fourteen Republican attorneys general are calling for his resignation. They wrote to Mayorkas on Tuesday demanding his immediate resignation.

It’s an exercise in futility since Mayorkas is simply carrying out Biden’s orders. The Biden border crisis is by design. Since his first day in office, Biden has worked to undo every policy and program used by the previous administration on the issue of illegal migration. Biden put a freeze on deportations and stopped the Remain in Mexico program, for example, though those actions have been the subject of legal action from border states. Florida AG Ashley Moody is leading this effort. The other state attorneys general signing on to the letter are from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

“It is the core function of [DHS] to ‘secure the nation from the many threats we face’ Yet, since taking office, you have purposely taken repeated actions impairing the safety and security of Americans,” the attorneys general say in a letter, led by Florida AG Ashley Moody, to Mayorkas. “As you publicly boast about your abject refusal to enforce the laws enacted by Congress to keep us safe, our southwest border is a disaster and our nation is on the verge of a national security crisis.”

“The main cause for the extraordinary growth of both drug overdose deaths and opioid deaths is fentanyl. In each of our communities, we are even seeing teenagers taking a single pill laced with fentanyl and dying. The profound tragedy of these deaths and the grief faced by those American parents and families has caused us to conclude that your failed leadership must end,” they say.

“You were sworn in as Secretary of DHS on February 2, 2021. On that day, you solemnly swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” You have violated that oath every day since you took office. Americans have died because of your failure to obey the law and do your solemn duty. More Americans will unnecessarily die and suffer for as long as you remain as Secretary,” they write. “You must resign immediately.”

The letter specifically points to the fentanyl epidemic fueled by drug cartels moving their product across the southern border. Record levels of fentanyl seizures made by Border Patrol have been recorded during the Biden administration. A 30% increase since Biden took office was noted in the letter. Also mentioned in the letter is the number of sex offenders arrested while trying to cross the border. There has been a 213% increase during the last fiscal year. Meanwhile, deportations have decreased by 70% since 2020.

The Biden administration has been noticeably slow in releasing numbers on border apprehensions by Border Patrol agents, no doubt because of the bad news these reports contain. The Biden administration has failed spectacularly in dealing with their self-made crisis. Last week CBP released its official numbers for January. There were 153,941 encounters reported and that number does not include the “got aways”, those who ran and were not caught by law enforcement at the border. Keep in mind that January is usually a slow month for border crossings. Instead, in January 2022, the number nearly doubled from January 2021 when 78,414 apprehensions were reported and more than quadrupled from January 2020 when the number was 36,585.

Earlier this month, Republican lawmakers also called for Mayorkas’ resignation. They cite his “complete failure” to lead the department and the tensions within the Border Patrol as they try to carry out their duties. Morale of Border Patrol agents is very low. The lawmakers cite the meeting that Mayorkas had with Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Arizona where a secret recording was leaked showing the frustrations of the agents being vented to Mayorkas.

“In light of recent reports displaying your failure to execute the primary mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to secure our nation from its many threats through your inability and refusal to enforce the immigration laws, we call on you to resign as Secretary of Homeland Security,” the letter, led by Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla, and signed by 45 other House Republicans reads.

Throughout your year in office, common-sense policies have been rescinded, directly resulting in chaos and disaster at the southern border. In the previously mentioned Yuma meeting, agents questioned the status of the Remain in Mexico program and you agreed that“the numbers are not where they need to be”when it comes to illegal migrants awaiting adjudication trial in Mexico under section 235(b)(2)(C)of the Immigration and Nationality Act to awaiting removal proceedings.

The suspension and cancellation of border barrier construction has further exacerbated the crisis and isyet another strategy you have reversed course on, but we have seen no production. There is no national security if our border is wide open.

At the end of their letter, they call for Mayorkas to resign. Rep. Kevin Hern from Oklahoma led the effort with the letter. Co-signers include Reps. Tom Tiffany, Tom Rice, Yvette Herrell, Diana Harshbarger, Lauren Boebert, Chip Roy,and Russ Fulcher.

The criticism from the lawmakers is legit but it should be directed to Biden, not Mayorkas. They are citing policy decisions and Mayorkas has little to do with that. Biden and his team are making the decisions that appease open border advocates and Mayorkas is left to deal with the chaos. Mayorkas should be doing his job, though, which includes actually traveling to the southern border regularly to monitor what is happening on the ground. He should be listening to Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies on the border who are dealing with the Biden border crisis every day. The humanitarian crisis falls on Biden, Mayorkas is the fall guy for his bad policies and lack of attention to border security. Would Biden replace him with anyone better, if he were to resign? There is no indication that he would.