House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has issued a new subpoena to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, requesting records from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This is the third subpoena sent to Mayorkas by the GOP-led House in recent months. The previous subpoenas were related to “violent” illegal aliens and border security in Texas. Jordan has also been seeking information on the illegal immigrant accused of killing University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
“As a part of its oversight efforts, we conducted transcribed interviews with several Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. During these transcribed interviews, the ICE witnesses were unable to answer certain questions about data, documents, and communications related to the Biden Administration’s immigration policies,” Jordan wrote in a cover letter accompanying his latest subpoena.
“On November 2, 2023, the Committee requested that the Department provide the information that the ICE witnesses could not provide during their transcribed interviews. To date, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to fully comply with our requests,” the GOP lawmaker added.
Jordan mentioned that the committee staff made several attempts to follow up on the requested information in the months after DHS missed the deadline.
On two occasions, the agency’s staff initially provided incomplete answers and later sent links to public data that did not meet the panel’s needs, as stated by the chairman.
“Although we appreciate that DHS has provided some limited data, your failure to produce all the requested documents and information prevents the Committee from fulfilling its constitutional oversight obligations,” Jordan wrote.
The chairman noted that the Oversight Committee has jurisdiction over issues that concern federal immigration law and hinted that the information being sought could have an impact on legislative actions that could include “reforming Alternatives to Detention, increasing penalties on aliens who abscond from ICE, and enhancing ICE’s tracking, detention, and communications standards for aliens on the terrorist watchlist.”
A DHS representative responded to Jordan’s claims.
“Instead of working cooperatively, as DHS has repeatedly sought to do, the House Judiciary Committee continues to waste time with unnecessary subpoenas that serve no purpose beyond political posturing,” said DHS press secretary Mia Ehrenberg. “In this administration, DHS has produced thousands of pages of documents, provided countless briefings, and sent dozens of witnesses to appear for hearings. DHS has already given the committee the vast majority of the information it requested on this request and made it clear that our efforts are ongoing.”
She added: “DHS will continue cooperating with Congressional oversight requests, all while faithfully working to protect our nation from terrorism and targeted violence, secure our borders, respond to natural disasters, defend against cyberattacks, and more.”
According to federal agents who spoke with the Washington Examiner after the House voted to impeach Mayorkas on Feb. 13, they have described their job as extremely challenging since he was confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate in February 2021.
Additionally, some of them are concerned that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) may seek to dismiss the two articles before a trial can commence.
“I want to see our government take action!!” a California-based agent wrote in a text message to the outlet when asked about the impeachment. “It took them long enough.”
Another California-based federal law enforcement agent said that Mayorkas, who has led the DHS for three years, ought to be held accountable for the chaos at the border.
“Yes, I would like to see a trial,” said the agent, who has been with the Border Patrol for 20 years. “There are no consequences for smugglers right now. We have so many [people who fail to yield to agents] and smugglers loading [vehicles with illegal immigrants] right on the border.”
2 Comments
Nobody has needed impeachment more than mayorkas… He is disgraceful.
WOW! Another subpoena, another hearing and ANOTHER NOTHING BURGER ! The American people are disgusted with these games they play in Washington, it is time to vote them all out and start over with real patriots.