Exclusive: Judiciary Committee Demands Information From DHS On 85 Percent Of Illegal Immigrants Being Released Into US
The House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to ask for information on why up to 85 percent of illegal immigrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border are released into the country.
In the letter obtained by me, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) note since President Joe Biden entered the White House, there have been 35 consecutive months where U.S. Customs and Border Protection have encountered over 100,000 illegal immigrants, with the recent high in December 2023 of over 300,000. That number does not include the record-high number of “gotaways.”
As a result, the Department of Homeland Security has released over 3 million illegal immigrants into the U.S. under the assumption they will continue their claim of asylum.
“It is hard to think of a bigger incentive for illegal aliens to show up along our southwest border than the promise of being rewarded with a government-sanctioned stay in the United States,” the letter states, going on to point to a story from Fox News that revealed Mayorkas admitted the 85 percent statistic during a recent trip to Eagle Pass, Texas.
As a result, the Judiciary Committee is asking for:
All data relating to the 85 percent of those released into the U.S.
All documents and communication within DHS relating to the 85 percent release rate.
Numerical breakdowns of all illegal immigrant releases starting on January 20, 2021, and the basis for the releases.
The Judiciary Committee gave Mayorkas February 5 as the deadline to respond to their demand.
Read the Judiciary Committee’s letter:
It can be safe to assume Mayorkas will not be forthcoming in response to the Judiciary Committee’s letter.
The House Homeland Security Committee revealed to the Daily Caller earlier this month it “has 173 request items to DHS for documents and information—all still unfulfilled by Secretary Mayorkas. He is obstructing congressional investigations and oversight. This is unacceptable.”
The Biden administration has defended its error-ridden policies by blaming the “broken immigration system,” while avoiding answering why the southern border is in the worst state it has been in modern history since it took over from the Trump administration.
Information relating to how DHS has operated under Mayorkas is critical to House Republicans to bolster their case for impeaching the DHS secretary.
“After our nearly year-long investigation and subsequent impeachment proceedings, and having exhausted all other options to hold him accountable, it is unmistakably clear to all of us—and to the American people—that Congress must exercise its constitutional duty and impeach Secretary Mayorkas,” Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in a press release.
“The Secretary has consistently, willfully, and systemically refused to follow the laws passed by Congress, abused his authority, and breached the trust of Congress and the American people on numerous occasions. The result of his failure to fulfill his oath of office has been a border crisis that is unprecedented in American history—a crisis that has cost the lives of thousands of Secretary Mayorkas’ fellow Americans.”