House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for records of illegal immigrants charged with “serious” crimes that have been released into the U.S.
Since May, the committee has requested that DHS provide information on more than a dozen illegal aliens charged with crimes that include theft, assault, murder and terrorism, Jordan said. Illegal immigration continues to soar nationwide in the U.S., with Border Patrol recording more than 2 million encounters in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, separately, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). (RELATED: ICE Nabs Fugitive Wanted For Assaulting Child Who Was Previously Released By Border Patrol)
Border Patrol recorded 16,255 arrests of illegal aliens with criminal histories and outstanding warrants in fiscal year 2023, according to federal data. Additionally, agents recorded 172 encounters of illegal aliens whose names appeared on the terror watchlist in fiscal year 2023, which is up from 98 in fiscal year 2022.
🚨 #BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan Subpoenas Secretary Mayorkas for Information on Violent Criminal Aliens Allowed Entry by DHS pic.twitter.com/WQChe01Xhe
— House Judiciary GOP 🎄 (@JudiciaryGOP) December 8, 2023
”We have asked for alien files (A-files) and related immigration case information for several aliens allowed entry by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who went on to commit heinous criminal acts while in the United States and for aliens who otherwise entered the U.S. illegally. Your response without compulsory process has, to date, been woefully inadequate,” Jordan wrote to Mayorkas.
“In response to the Committee’s myriad requests, DHS has merely produced partial summaries for just two A-files, and has acknowledged these limited productions as not responsive to the Committee’s requests,” Jordan wrote, adding that the committee asked on Nov. 13 that DHS provide the 14 outstanding information by Nov. 27.
Mayorkas and his agency, however, have only provided partial responses to two of the 14 requested files on the illegal aliens, Jordan wrote.
“The failure to provide these materials hinders the Committee’s ability to fulfill its constitutional oversight obligations,” Jordan wrote.
The agency has provided summary information as a response as the requests are “incredibly time consuming” and require thousands of pages of documents with sensitive information, a DHS official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“DHS has worked hard to accommodate the Committee’s request, including providing briefings and responsive materials. The Department also communicated to the Committee that we will provide additional files as they become available. Instead of working with us, they have escalated to a subpoena, yet again,” the spokesperson said.
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