Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has blasted Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief for “failure to comply” with demands to hand over documents related to the border crisis.
Jordan has requested that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas hand over documents that the agency reported has on “several alleged criminal illegal aliens” who reportedly crossed the Southern Border into the United States.
However, Jordan accuses Majorkas of withholding the documents, which the congressman blasted as “unacceptable.”
The documents relate to a slew of illegal aliens accused of serious crimes within the United States.
Jordan has written to Mayorkas renewing requests for the production of immigration documents, including the “A-Files” or alien files.
Some of the requests date back as far back as October but have not yet been fulfilled.
Jordan believes the Biden administration is intentionally withholding the information.
In the letter, which is also signed by other GOP lawmakers including subcommittee chairs Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Ben Cline (R-VA), said the DHS has “failed to comply.”
“The Committee previously wrote to [DHS] for various documents and information, including the production of alien files (A-files) and related immigration case information for several alleged criminal illegal aliens,” the letter reads.
“However, to date, DHS has failed to comply with the Committee’s requests.”
Among those requested include Diego Ibarra, a Venezuelan national and brother of the man accused of murdering 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Ibarra had Tren de Aragua-affiliated tattoos, but he was released and placed briefly into Alternatives to Detention monitoring.
He also has been connected to other crimes, including driving under the influence and shoplifting.
Other documents include those for Daniel Hernandez Martinez.
Martinez is accused of attacking strangers and two police officers in New York City within months of arriving in the U.S.
The lawmakers also want documents of Pierre Lucard Emile, a Haitian illegal immigrant who was charged with raping a developmentally disabled child and was released back onto the streets in Boston despite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer lodged against him.
He had been released into the U.S. with a notice to appear after being encountered at the border in December 2022.
Others on the list include a Venezuelan arrested in Virginia for the assault of a 14-year-old girl and who had been released in September, an illegal immigrant charged with stabbing his neighbor and his brother, a Colombian found to be a positive match on the terror watchlist and a Haitian national arrested in connection with an assault on a 15-year-old girl.
They have also requested the files of a gang of Venezuelans accused of assaulting two New York police officers near Times Square.
Jordan says the production deadline for the request lapsed two months ago.
“DHS’s failure to provide the Committee with the requested documents is unacceptable and prevents the Committee from fulfilling its constitutional oversight obligations,” Jordan said, warning that the committee may result in a “compulsory process” if the requests are not met.
It is one of a number of document requests from the committee.
In February, Jordan subpoenaed documents related to a surge of migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas, in September and the removal of concertina wire.
DHS has rejected claims that it has failed to comply with congressional requests.
A DHS official says it has provided over 75 witnesses in more than 50 hearings, 20 personnel participating in transcribed interviews, and more than 28,000 pages of documents in response to lawmakers’ letters.
The department has also responded to over 1,400 congressional letters.
“These requests are incredibly time-consuming,” a DHS official reportedly told Fox News on Monday.
“A-Files can be thousands of pages long and must typically be redacted for a wide range of information including Law Enforcement Sensitive information that could jeopardize ongoing investigations, private information about junior DHS employees, and attorney-client information.”
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