Goodlatte Presses DHS for Answers About Two Criminal Aliens Charged with Sexually Assaulting Children
October 21, 2016
Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today pressed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson for answers about two criminal aliens charged with sexually assaulting children. Chairman Goodlatte has called on Secretary Johnson repeatedly to explain the Administration’s lax enforcement of the immigration laws that allow criminal aliens to victimize Americans, but the Department has been unresponsive to the Committee’s requests.
Last month, Tomas Martinez-Maldonado, an unlawful, criminal alien from Mexico, was arrested and charged with raping a 12-year-old girl on a bus in Kansas. Federal officials have stated that Martinez-Maldonado has been removed from the United States ten times since 2010 and has a felony conviction for illegal reentry after removal. Edis Moya Alas, an unlawful immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested earlier this month and charged with kidnapping a 6-year-old girl from her home in Fort Worth, Texas and raping her. Alas was reportedly arrested in Fort Worth on drug charges approximately two years ago yet was not placed in removal proceedings.
In his letter to Secretary Johnson, Chairman Goodlatte calls on him to provide information about Martinez-Maldonado and Alas’ immigration and criminal histories so that the Committee is able to determine whether DHS took all reasonable and appropriate actions within its immigration enforcement authority to ensure the safety and protection of Americans.
Below is the text of the letter. The signed copy can be found here.
October 21, 2016 The Honorable Jeh Johnson Secretary Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 Dear Secretary Johnson: Yet again, I must write to you to request information about criminal aliens whose unlawful presence in the United States has enabled them to allegedly perpetrate heinous crimes—this time involving two reported child rapists. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that Tomas Martinez-Maldonado is an unlawfully present citizen of Mexico, who has been removed from the United States ten times since 2010. He was arrested and charged with raping a 12-year-old girl on a bus in Kansas on or about September 27. Media reports indicate that Edis Moya Alas is a citizen of El Salvador and, according to ICE, he is unlawfully present in the United States. He was arrested on October 8 and charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault and Aggravated Kidnapping after reportedly abducting a 6-year-old girl from her home in Fort Worth, Texas and raping her. She was found by police after a local resident reported hearing her screams from a nearby wooded area. Both of these alleged child predators were previously encountered by law enforcement agencies in the United States. ICE has confirmed that Martinez-Maldonado has been removed to Mexico ten times during the last six years and has a 2013 felony conviction for illegal reentry after removal. Alas was reportedly arrested in Fort Worth on drug charges approximately two years ago. After their respective arrests on the criminal charges, it would appear that both men should have been encountered and detained by ICE and placed in removal proceedings. It is important for this Committee to understand why these criminal aliens remained at large at the time of these alleged offenses and to determine whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took all reasonable and appropriate actions within its immigration enforcement authority to ensure the safety and protection of these vulnerable victims. Therefore, please provide the following information no later than November 4, 2016:As you know, the Privacy Act authorizes disclosure of information to committees of Congress. If you cannot fully respond to each and every request for documents or information set forth above, please identify the specific item requested to which you cannot fully respond and explain why you cannot respond. If you have any questions about this request, please contact Tracy Short, Counsel, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, at (202) 225-3926. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, Bob Goodlatte Chairman
- The alien registration numbers for Martinez-Maldonado and Alas, their complete alien files (A-file), including any temporary files, working files, or Service Center files, and all documents and items contained in them, all reports or notifications generated by DHS or in its possession about them, whether currently in written or electronic form, including, but not limited to, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Executive Summaries, criminal histories or immigration summaries, detainers or requests for notification, I-213(s), and Notice(s) to Appear or other charging documents created to seek their removal from the United States.
- Please identify each and every date on which Martinez-Maldonado and Alas were encountered by a law enforcement agency in the United States, to include criminal and civil arrests, the nature of the charges, the jurisdictions where the arrests occurred, the disposition of each charge, the date(s) on which they were released from the custody of that law enforcement agency, and the reason(s) for the release. Please provide the arrest and disposition documentation for each encounter.
- How and when did Martinez-Maldonado and Alas enter the United States? Were they ever served with a Notice to Appear? Was it filed with an immigration court? Please explain.
- Did Martinez-Maldonado or Alas ever apply for any immigration benefits, including deferred action? If so, was any application approved? Please provide copies of any applications that either may have submitted, whether or not adjudicated.
- Has Martinez-Maldonado or Alas been removed previously? If so, when? Please explain.
- Has ICE issued a detainer or request for notification to any entity regarding Martinez-Maldonado or Alas? Please explain for each.
- Has Martinez-Maldonado or Alas ever been a member of, or associated with any criminal gang? Please explain for each.
- If Martinez-Maldonado and Alas had been encountered by DHS enforcement officials prior to their latest arrests for child rape, would they have met the requirements to be considered a priority for removal under the Administration’s Priority Enforcement Program? If so, please provide the exact reason for such consideration for each alien. If not, why not?