Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are demanding detailed information about illegal immigrant families who have been separated at the border.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep., Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who chairs the subcommittee on government operations, wrote a joint letter to the Department of Homeland Security Thursday that asked several questions about the families, such as the age, gender, and country of origin for each child separated at the border and the locations at which they have been housed.
“Like many Americans, we want to ensure that we can reunite children who have been separated from their families as expeditiously as possible,” they wrote.
The letter is addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Sessions ordered an end to the practice of “catch and release,” of families who cross into the country illegally. The decision has led to detainment of adults and moving children outside of the border detention system.
Cummings and Meadows gave the administration until July 19 to comply with their request. Read their letter below:
July 5, 2018
The Honorable Kirstjen M. Nielsen The Honorable Alex M. Azar II
Secretary Secretary
Department of Homeland Security Department of Health and Human Services
245 Murray Lane S.W. 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20528 Washington, D.C. 20201
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Attorney General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Secretary Nielsen, Secretary Azar, and Mr. Attorney General:
We are writing to request information from your agencies relating to the Administration’s policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on April 6, 2018, and Executive Order 13841, “Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation.” Like many Americans, we want to ensure that we can reunite children who have been separated from their families as expeditiously as possible.
In order to promote our shared goal, we request that you produce the following information organized by each individual separated child:
(1) the age, gender, country of origin, and alien identification number, if any, of each child separated from his or her parents under this policy;
(2) all locations and facilities in which the separated child has been, and is currently being, detained, and the dates on which the child was in each facility;
(3) if the separated child is awaiting transfer to a different facility, the name and location of the facility and the date of the planned transfer;
(4) the age, gender, and country of origin, and alien identification number, if any, of the parent or parents of the separated child;
(5) the date and location of the detainment and arrest of the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child;
(6) all locations and facilities in which the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child, have been, and are currently being, detained, and the dates on which the parent or parents were in each facility;
(7) the date and location of the separation of the child from his or her parents, or any other individual who accompanied the child;
(8) the date and location of family reunification, if it has occurred;
(9) whether the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child, presented themselves to U.S. officials for asylum, and if so, the status of the asylum case;
(10) if the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child, were deported, the date, location, and destination of the deportation; and
(11) if the separated child has a sibling in the United States, the detention facility, shelter, foster home, or other facility in which the sibling has been, or is currently being, detained.
Please provide the requested documents and information as soon as possible and schedule a briefing no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 19, 2018. An attachment to this letter provides additional instructions for responding to our request.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Mark Meadows
Chairman
Subcommittee on Government Operations
Elijah E. Cummings
Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
