Jordan Issues Another Subpoena To Mayorkas

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again on Wednesday. This time, he seeks records pertaining to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which the Judiciary Committee has requested for since November but the DHS has refused to submit.

Jordan Fires Another Subpoena At Mayorkas Demanding ICE Records https://t.co/vCkqvDefWy pic.twitter.com/Ba52eVmevH

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In the subpoena cover letter, Jordan wrote, “As a part of its oversight efforts, we conducted transcribed interviews with several Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. During these transcribed interviews, the ICE witnesses were unable to answer certain questions about data, documents, and communications related to the Biden Administration’s immigration policies.”

“On November 2, 2023, the Committee requested that the Department provide the information that the ICE witnesses could not provide during their transcribed interviews. To date, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to fully comply with our requests,” Jordan wrote further, adding that even though the committee inquired about the status of the requested information after DHS missed the deadline, the agency’s staff still failed to fully comply with the demands.

According to him, the DHS’ staff responded to the panel’s demands with “a partial answer.” Later, they reportedly provided links to some public information and data that did not meet the committee’s requests.

Accusing the DHS of preventing the committee “from fulfilling its constitutional oversight obligations,” Jordan established the committee’s authority over matters concerning federal immigration law.

He added that the information his panel seeks may influence legislative forms that could include, “reforming Alternatives to Detention, increasing penalties on aliens who abscond from ICE, and enhancing ICE’s tracking, detention, and communications standards for aliens on the terrorist watchlist.”

A DHS official has, however, reduced the committee’s inquiries and subpoena to “political posturing.” Speaking to The Daily Wire, DHS press secretary Mia Ehrenberg said the agency has provided “extensive” data and information and responded to two-thirds of the 24 “get backs” from the committee.

“Instead of working cooperatively, as DHS has repeatedly sought to do, the House Judiciary Committee continues to waste time with unnecessary subpoenas that serve no purpose beyond political posturing,” Ehrenberg stated, promising that the DHS “will continue cooperating with Congressional oversight requests, all while faithfully working to protect our nation from terrorism and targeted violence, secure our borders, respond to natural disasters, defend against cyberattacks, and more.”

This would be the third subpoena Jordan would be issuing Mayorkas in recent months. Another one might soon follow, as the committee chairman vowed to hit him with yet another subpoena if he does not comply with the panel’s Feb. 27 request for agency documents on the immigration history of Jose Ibarra, the illegal immigrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

“Please provide this information as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 28, 2024. Please be advised that the Committee will use compulsory process if these requests remain outstanding,” Jordan wrote in a congressional letter co-signed by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-NY) and Rep. Ben Cine (R-VA).