Jordan slaps Mayorkas with subpoena over documents on ‘catch-and-release’ immigrants

House Republicans have subpoenaed Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for the case files of criminal illegal immigrants that lawmakers alleged his office has failed for months to provide to Congress.

Led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Republicans demanded in documents sent to Mayorkas on Friday that the DHS turn over the files for 14 illegal immigrants who were apprehended at the southern border, released into the United States, and later arrested and charged for committing serious crimes, such as assault, murder, terrorism-related offenses, and theft.

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“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the Biden Administration’s lax enforcement of federal immigration law, which has resulted in the mass catch-and-release of illegal aliens encountered along the southwest border,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Mayorkas on Friday. “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 said.

Republicans said they had only received some information for two of the 14 immigrants since they first submitted the request in May. The panel had followed up with Mayorkas in November but did not receive a response.

“The Committee has followed up on its requests — the vast majority of which have remained outstanding for months on end – regularly and on numerous occasions,” Jordan said.

The request was one of many that the committee alleged Mayorkas and his department had failed to fulfill. The department’s inability to answer questions from members of Congress hinders the committee’s ability to conduct oversight of how the Biden administration is carrying out existing immigration laws, Jordan wrote.

The subpoena requires Mayorkas to respond with the requested information by Jan. 8, 2024.

The subpoena marks the latest escalation of efforts by House Republicans to investigate the crisis at the southern border, where records have been set for migrant traffic. Republicans have hammered the administration, specifically Mayorkas, over the crisis, which they say the administration’s policies have caused.

A DHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the committee’s requests “are incredibly time-consuming” and that it has “consistently provided summary information of these records” throughout the process.

A-Files can be thousands of pages long and may require redactions, according to a DHS official.

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The DHS spokesperson shared that the agency had made 50 witnesses available to testify before committees and provided more than 24,000 pages of documents in response to letters received over the past 11 months. Over the past three years of the Biden administration, members of Congress have sent the DHS more than 1,400 letters.

“DHS has worked hard to accommodate the Committee’s request, including providing briefings and responsive materials,” the spokesperson said. “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.”