Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon sent a letter to Secretary Jeh Johnson questioning the Department on the recent news that 41,000 illegal family units failed to appear for their court date. In his letter Salmon blamed the President for his June 2012 Rose Garden speech, in which he indicated that the government would not enforce some of our immigration laws.
Salmon, who served on the Speaker’s House Task Force on Securing our Southern Border and Humanitarian Crisis, visited the holding facilities in Nogales, Arizona and McAllen, Texas. He wrote Johnson, “It is a well-known fact that our borders remain porous and our interior enforcement is lacking. With this in mind, it was with great dismay that I learned of your Department’s new policy that would allow for the release of illegal aliens, so long as they promised to return for a court date fifteen days later.”
Salmon said in a statement released last week, that as soon as he and his colleagues learned of the feds’ plan, they “warned that this was bad policy. It goes without saying that individuals willing to break our laws and enter a country illegally are certainly willing to break the legal commitment of appearing for a court date.”
Salmon noted that he was “unfortunately” proven correct, “by the recent figures that indicate a lack of compliance by these illegal aliens across the board. The figures for this fiscal year indicate that family units entering illegally number more than 66,000. Additionally, recent media reports indicate that an estimated 70 percent did not appear for their court date.”
He wrote, “To combat this bad policy and provide meaningful solutions to our nation’s border crisis, I coauthored bipartisan legislation, which passed the House in July, to end the policy of catch-and-release. Due to the lack of action by the Senate on this important bill, this policy of catch and release continues.”
Salmon put forth questions to the Secretary:
1.What is the DHS going to do to locate and remove the 41,000 illegal family units who failed to appear for their court date?
2.Under what specific authority did the DHS release illegal immigrant family units rather than immediately put them through deportation proceedings?
3.What policy changes is the DHS going to implement to ensure this will not happen in the future?
4.Why does the DHS refuse to enforce immigration laws as passed by the American people’s representatives?
Salmon concluded that “As our nation faces this perpetual wave of illegal border crossings, it is critical that we have answers to these questions in order for Congress to respond appropriately.”