Hearing Wrap Up: Oversight of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

July 14, 2015

Washington, D.C. – Today, Secretary Jeh Johnson testified before the House Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The hearing largely focused on the Department’s poor record on immigration enforcement and failure to crack down on dangerous sanctuary city policies.

Takeaways:

Secretary Johnson stated that he believes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers – the tool used by the agency to pick up criminal aliens at local jails – should be voluntary and not mandatory. By refusing to make detainers – or their replacement under the Priority Enforcement Program – mandatory, the Obama Administration allows cities and localities to defy federal immigration enforcement efforts and release criminal aliens into American communities.
Secretary Johnson admitted to Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) that he does not have a legal judgement on whether sanctuary cities violate federal law.
In response to a question from Congressman Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), Secretary Johnson stated that he didn’t think that the Bureau of Prisons or ICE should be releasing criminal aliens to sanctuary cities.
Although DHS has the capacity to detain 34,000 unlawful and criminal aliens, it is only detaining about 31,000 at the moment. Meanwhile, there are almost 180,000 convicted criminal aliens currently in removal proceedings who are on American streets and almost 170,000 convicted criminal aliens who have been ordered removed yet are also living free.

Key Videos:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.): “You claim to prioritize immigration enforcement against criminal aliens and the number of available immigration detention beds you utilize continues to fall … Can you explain to me the continued increase in the number of convicted criminal aliens in removal proceedings who have already been ordered removed who are not being detained by DHS? The number of these convicted criminal aliens allowed on our streets has gone up by 28% in less than three years from 270,000 to almost 350,000.”

Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.): “Why won’t you make detainers mandatory, Mr. Secretary? If cities like San Francisco are not complying with federal detainers, why don’t you make them mandatory? … What I find ironic, is you are not willing to mandate federal detainers, but you are willing to mandate that state and local law enforcement cannot assist you in enforcing immigration laws … When I hear the phrase ‘sanctuary city,’ it may have been a sanctuary for that defendant but it was not a sanctuary for a young woman walking with her father.”

Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio): “We have communities all over the country that are refusing to enforce the immigration laws … and the Administration really hasn’t actively opposed cities that are flaunting our immigration laws … Has the Administration reached out to the Steinle family?” Secretary Johnson: “I don’t know the answer to that question, sir.”

Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) explains how the Obama Administration’s policies at the Department of Homeland Security encourage sanctuary city policies:

Learn more about the Obama Administration’s poor immigration enforcement record here.