House Republicans are demanding answers after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allegedly took steps to conceal the true number of illegal alien crossings from a large group of investigating Congressmen.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN), and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Monday amidst his agency’s stonewalling of Congressional efforts to perform constitutional oversight of the colossal border crisis.
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The letter, obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, is a follow-up to an initial letter Johnson sent after leading 64 House Republicans to Eagle Pass, Texas, in early January. In that initial letter, Johnson cited reporting from Breitbart News that the DHS took steps to hide the severity of the crisis from the Congressional delegation visit — commonly referred to as a CODEL in Washington. Johnson also raised questions about the DHS granting access to CBS cameras for a favorable piece on Mayorkas’s department while denying the Congressional delegation from taking photographs.
Mayorkas responded to that letter without providing the requested documents and information regarding the DHS’s preparation for the visit and whether the agency altered border enforcement for the Congressmen. According to Johnson’s follow-up letter:
Additionally, the DHS Response did not provide documents related to the transportation and release of illegal aliens in and around the Del Rio sector of the southwest border, or the Eagle Pass CBP facility, within the timeframe of our CODEL. The DHS Response also did not cite or produce documents related to any specific statute or regulation prohibiting Members from taking photos at a CBP facility, and merely made a passing reference to CBP “policy.” Lastly, the DHS Response made no attempt to explain the discrepancy between the media’s ability— specifically Face the Nation’s ability—to photograph a CBP facility, while elected Members were prohibited from doing the same.
Johnson and the two chairmen told Mayorkas they wanted answers within two weeks or they would utilize their subpoena powers.
Concerns about the collapse of the southern border have increased in Washington and throughout the nation, with the Congressmen’s letter stating the problem “is currently the number one issue that concerns the American people, whether they live in a border state or not.” They mention the killings of Kayla Hamilton and Laken Riley, both allegedly by foreign nationals illegally in the country who were released due to Biden-endorsed border and immigration policies.
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President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, during which he was goaded into mentioning Riley by Republican shouts but incorrectly called her “Lincoln Riley,” did little to support his assurances that he is concerned about the border. Biden has blamed Congress, and even his predecessor Donald Trump, for the crisis that has erupted on his watch and has vacillated between claiming he does not have the authority to unilaterally address the problem and threatening executive action if Congress does not pass pro-migration open borders legislation.
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Mayorkas has a long history of refusing to cooperate with Congress. In February, the House impeached Mayorkas, making him the first Cabinet member to be impeached in nearly 150 years.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.