Ohio Senate candidate says GOP impeaching 'traitor' Mayorkas a 'no brainer': 'Grotesquely unqualified'

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Ohio GOP Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno: ‘Traitor’ Mayorkas ‘absolutely’ should be impeached

Moreno told Fox News Digital that Mayorkas is "grotesquely unqualified" for the job and has "not followed the laws of the land."

Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno told Fox News Digital this week that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should "absolutely" be impeached as House Republicans continue to move toward a floor vote on that very issue.

"Absolutely, the reality is he should have never been appointed. He is grotesquely unqualified for the job and the reality is he's been a traitor," Moreno told Fox News Digital as Republicans were marking up articles of impeachment against Mayorkas who they say has "repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security."

"He's not followed the laws of the land," Moreno continued. "He's allowed people to come in here, he's put this country in jeopardy. We have no idea how many, hardened criminals and terrorists have come into our country. We have a number of what they've identified as being on a terror watch list, but as you know, there's hundreds of thousands, if not millions who have been classified as ‘gotaways,’ people who we have no idea who they are."

"So absolutely, Mayorkas should be impeached. I called for that over a year ago. It’s a no brainer. This guy's grotesquely unqualified for his job."

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L - Bernie Moreno, R - Alejandro Mayorkas (Getty Images)

The push to impeach Mayorkas for his role in failing to stem the flow of record illegal immigration into the United States during Biden’s tenure is expected to come to a full House vote in a matter of days. If the vote goes through, the case will head to the Senate for a trial.

Mayorkas has strongly denied the legitimacy of an impeachment effort calling it "baseless" and "false."

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Ohio GOP Sen. Candidate Bernie Moreno (Fox News)

"I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted," Mayorkas said in a lengthy letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green.

Moreno, who is running in the GOP primary to compete with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November, also told Fox News Digital that he does not support the framework of the current immigration bill being talked about in the Senate as a compromise between Republicans and Democrats and that no deal is "absolutely" better than a bad deal.

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas holds a press conference at a U.S. Border Patrol station on January 08, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)

"5000 people a day is over 1 million illegals, 8500, which is what they're saying what it would take to cut it off, is almost 3 million illegals a year," Moreno explained. 

"That's an insane amount of people that are crossing into our country illegally, if they all wore the same shirt, we'd call that what it is, which is an invasion. We have to have it crystal clear to the rest of the world, there's one way to come to America, the legal way, and we have to have a zero-tolerance policy for any illegal immigration and we actually have to reform our asylum laws to make certain that you can only cross into this country legally and if you cross illegally through a non designated port of entry, then you're immediately returned and you forfeit your right for asylum."

Moreno added, "I think one of the important elements that's not been shared with the American public is Joe Biden has the ability to secure the border today with existing laws. Certainly, we have to reform asylum the way I just laid out but he has the ability to put an end to this illegal invasion of our country. He's choosing not to do so, and Republicans should not be giving him the air cover during a presidential election year in which he can pretend that he's actually doing something about a problem that he's actually caused."

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report