Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Trump administration on Tuesday to answer dozens of questions about its immigration policies and practices, an indication the soon-to-be ranking party is already getting started in its oversight duties.
House Judiciary Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler, a New Yorker, sent the department heads of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services letters Tuesday asking them to provide context for 15 incidents that have taken place since Trump became president 22 months ago.
“In the next Congress, the Committee will examine the Administration’s immigration and detention policies and the longstanding damage these policies may have had on families and children in your custody,” the letter said. “To this end, I ask that you provide a complete response to each of the letters on these subjects sent to you by some or all of the Members of the House Judiciary Committee.”
Among the items the lawmakers want to know more about are the DNA testing HHS did to ensure children were related to the adults they arrived at the border during the zero-tolerance policy implementation early this summer, the number of children who were separated from their parents later in the summer after being apprehended following unlawful entry, and how the administration is reuniting families.
Nadler gave the secretaries a year-end deadline.
The zero-tolerance policy went into affect in for two months starting in April. It instructed Border Patrol to refer for prosecution all adult illegal entrants, not just those who were not traveling with children. Previously, parents were not referred to the Justice Department for prosecution because the monthslong legal process would force them to be held in detention away from their children.
Trump rescinded the policy his own administration implemented following an outcry from Democrats and even Republicans.
