C.O. Reps. Bentz, Chavez-Deremer sound off on supporting impeachment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

(Update: Adding video, comments from Representatives Bentz & Chavez-Deremer)

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Reps. Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., said Wednesday they support the move underway in the House to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. On Thursday, they discussed the related issues with NewsChannel 21.

The Republican lawmakers are sounding off on their support to impeach Mayorkas: "Is he following the law that is in place, and we don't believe so. And also, has he breached the public trust?" Chavez-Deremer told us Thursday.

Mayorkas has been Secretary of Homeland Security under the Biden Administration since February 2021.

Impeachment articles were approved Wednesday by the House Homeland Security Committee.

Bentz explained: "The allegations are that he obstructed Congress, and its job of actually making sure that he was obeying the law, that he didn't tell the truth or perhaps, stated that the border was secure when in fact it was not."

Mayorkas is accused of violating immigration laws requiring detention of all migrants, as well as a "breach of public trust."

Republicans point to the crisis going on at the southern border, and the failure of the secretary to secure it.

"While we're not a border state, we're being completely impacted by the lack of leadership under Mayorkas," Chavez-Deremer told NewsChannel 21.

Last November, Bentz voted with a slim majority to refer a resolution to impeach Mayorkas to the House Homeland Security Committee, while Chavez-DeRemer (Or-05) voted with most Republicans against the move. However, both said they want him out of office, and Chavez-DeRemer called for his resignation.

The motion to impeach Mayorkas failed to pass at the time, with the house voting to defer the resolution to the House Homeland Security Committee.

"The new sets of articles are dramatically improved over the ones in which we saw in November," Bentz claimed.

This time around, people like Michael Chertoff, a Republican who led the Department of Homeland Security under President Bush, wrote in an op-ed that House Republicans have "failed to put forth evidence that meets the bar."

Bentz said, "But it only takes a couple, given how small our majority is, to prevent the articles from passing. So, it's my hope that everybody will support these articles."

The lawmakers disagree with accusations that the effort to impeach Mayorkas is revenge for Democrats impeaching and indicting former President Trump.

"That's nonsense, to me," Chavez-Deremer said.

She continued, "You can't tell me what I haven't seen. I've been to the border, I've been to Arizona, I've been to Texas, I know what I saw, I know what we're seeing every single day. Our governor (Oregon Governor Tina Kotek) just did a 90-day emergency because of the fentanyl crisis."

Bentz said, scathingly: "I think it's a huge excuse for them to be pointing at President Trump, which they do every chance they get, to excuse their many failures to address these millions of people coming across the border."

If the House votes to impeach Mayorkas, it'll then go to the Senate floor, where Mayorkas would be put on trial.

Mayorkas was born in Havana, Cuba, making him the first refugee, and first person born in Latin America, to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

According to Border Protection, nearly 250,000 people crossed the southern border in December. That's the largest number since they started recording monthly data in October 1999.