House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday for the case files of unaccompanied migrant children who have been charged with committing violent crimes while in the United States.
Jordan has been seeking the files since June for illegal immigrants charged with serious and violent crimes, including theft, assault, and murder, but said the response from the department has been "woefully inadequate."
In a Tuesday letter to Becerra, Jordan said HHS initially cited the privacy interests of those charged and "asserted that the Committee lacked a legitimate oversight purpose to obtain the case files."
The tug-of-war over the files continued until November, when the department offered to allow panel members to review documents on camera if they agreed not to record or photograph the materials and give three days of notice before releasing any of the information obtained.
The committee objected to the conditions, arguing that the files are neither classified nor restricted.
"HHS's attempt to unilaterally limit or in any way dictate how a Congressional committee lawfully uses materials to inform potential legislative reforms constitutes unacceptable interference with the workings of a coordinate branch of government and cannot be considered a good faith accommodation," Jordan wrote in his letter.
Regardless, the committee agreed to review the case files on camera and would allow HHS to propose redactions both during and after the review.
However, when committee officials began to review the documents, "it became clear that HHS had applied pervasive redactions to the documents — without notice to the Committee."
"Across multiple case files, HHS redacted information about whether specific UACs [Unaccompanied Alien Children] had 'identifying scars, marks, or tattoos'— information that can be indicative of gang affiliation," Jordan said. "Worse, HHS went so far as to redact information explicitly requested by the Committee, including information shared with HHS by other agencies and immigration case history information."
"By unilaterally redacting the case files, HHS rendered the requested materials provided for in camera review all but useless, frustrating and impeding the Committee's investigation into HHS' release of criminal aliens into the U.S.," he added.
Consequently, Jordan issued a subpoena for the documents, saying the Supreme Court has recognized that the committee has "broad and indispensable power" to conduct oversight and the information can be used in drafting legislation to reform the immigration system.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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