‘Failed to comply’: Jim Jordan accuses Mayorkas of withholding files of alleged illegal immigrant criminals

FIRST OF FOX: The House Judiciary Committee is pushing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for documents related to a slew of illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes within the United States – accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of an “unacceptable” failure to comply with requests. 

Chairman Jim Jordan has written to Secretary Mayorkas renewing requests for the production of documents, including the “A-Files” or alien files and other immigration documents. Some of the requests date back as far back as October but have not yet been fulfilled.

“The Committee previously wrote to [DHS] for various documents and information, including the production of alien files (A-files) and related immigration case information for several alleged criminal illegal aliens,” the lawmakers, who also include subcommittee chairs Tom McClintock and Ben Cline, said. “However, to date, DHS has failed to comply with the Committee’s requests.” 

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, listens as Attorney General Merrick Garland appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Among those requested include Diego Ibarra, a Venezuelan national and brother of the man accused of murdering 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Ibarra had Tren de Aragua-affiliated tattoos, but he was released and placed briefly into Alternatives to Detention monitoring. He also has been connected to other crimes, including driving under the influence and shoplifting.

Other documents include those for Daniel Hernandez Martinez, who is accused of attacking strangers and two police officers in New York City within months of arriving in the U.S.

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The lawmakers also want documents of Pierre Lucard Emile, a Haitian illegal immigrant who was charged with raping a developmentally disabled person and was released back onto the streets in Boston despite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer lodged against him. He had been released into the U.S. with a notice to appear after being encountered at the border in December 2022.

Others on the list include a Venezuelan arrested in Virginia for the assault of a 14-year-old girl and who had been released in September, an illegal immigrant charged with stabbing his neighbor and his brother, a Colombian found to be a positive match on the terror watchlist and a Haitian national arrested in connection with an assault on a 15-year-old girl. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 10. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

They have also requested the files of a group of Venezuelans accused of assaulting two New York police officers near Times Square. Jordan says the production deadline for the request lapsed two months ago.

“DHS’s failure to provide the Committee with the requested documents is unacceptable and prevents the Committee from fulfilling its constitutional oversight obligations,” Jordan said, warning that the committee may result to “compulsory process” if the requests are not met. 

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It is one of a number of document requests from the committee. In February, Jordan subpoenaed documents related to a surge of migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas, in September and the removal of concertina wire.

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DHS has rejected claims that it has failed to comply with congressional requests. A DHS official says it has provided over 75 witnesses in more than 50 hearings, 20 personnel participating in transcribed interviews and more than 28,000 pages of documents in response to lawmakers’ letters. It has also responded to over 1,400 congressional letters.

“These requests are incredibly time consuming,” a DHS official told Fox on Monday. “A Files can be thousands of pages long and must typically be redacted for a wide range of information including Law Enforcement Sensitive information that could jeopardize ongoing investigations, private information about junior DHS employees, and attorney client information.”