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House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan Subpoenas DHS Secretary Mayorkas After 'Woefully Inadequate' Response

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  December 08, 2023 3:30 PM

On Friday, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced that he had subpoenaed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for information and documents on "violent criminal aliens" who have been allowed into the country or may have entered illegally. The Committee, Jordan explained in his cover letter, has been conducting oversight on the Biden administration's enforcement of immigration laws, specifically on how they have resulted in "the mass catch-and-release of illegal aliens encountered along the southwest border." 

"Your response without compulsory process has, to date, been woefully inadequate," Jordan indicated at the start of his cover letter.

In reality, the Biden administration has done very little enforcement when it comes to immigration laws, all while they mislead, gaslight, and blame others. This applies to Mayorkas, though not only him, as it's a tactic White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has also engaged in. 

Jordan notes that the Committee has requested 14 A-files on aliens since May 2023, though the administration has been less than responsive on the matter. DHS has produced partial summaries for just two A-Files, with Jordan pointing out that the department has even "acknowledged these limited productions as not responsive to the Committee’s requests."

The Committee wrote another letter on November 13, reiterating those 14 requests and asking for them to be provided by November 27, which has since come and gone with no materials being provided.

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Jordan also sent a letter to the secretary on Friday, with subcommittee chairmen Ben Cline (R-VA) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) signing on. That letter spoke to yet another failed response from the DHS, specifically as the Committee sought answers via a November 6 letter regarding information about "a massive influx of illegal aliens" at Eagles Pass in Texas on September 20.

As the letter warns, this is problem is a "common" one:

Such mass influx events of illegal aliens into the country are becoming more and more common. On November 27, 2023, DHS once again suspended vehicle traffic at International Bridge 1 in Eagle Pass “[i]n response to [an] influx in [illegal alien] encounters,” while the Office of Field Operations was similarly forced to reduce vehicle traffic at a border checkpoint in Lukeville, Arizona. The reoccurrence of these incidents only underscores the importance of the Committee’s oversight.

The requested date of November 20 for providing material has also since and gone, and so the chairmen are requesting a response from Mayorkas by December 22. Tellingly, the letter closed by mentioning "Please be advised that the Committee may be forced to resort to compulsory process if these requests remain outstanding."

Under the Biden administration there have been record high border crossings, with people coming over admitting that they decided to do so as a result of President Joe Biden taking office. It was also revealed by Mayorkas during a hearing on October 31 that this was also the second consecutive year of surpassing 600,000 "got-aways."

Further, as even The New York Times acknowledged last month, there's been an increasing amount of people crossing over who were on the terrorist watch list. There were 169 people from October to September, compared to 98 people that same period the year before, and only 15 people from 2021. 

Concerns about the southern border have only become more heightened since Hamas perpetrated a terrorist attack against Israel on October 7. As Spencer covered later that month, the San Diego Field Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warned to keep an eye out for "foreign fighters" crossing the border.