Chairmen Jordan and McClintock Request Transcribed Interview from ICE Official

Press Release

"The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the Administration's enforcement of federal immigration law. Our oversight includes an examination of recent actions by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) during the worst illegal immigration crisis in our nation's history. As the Deputy Executive Associate Director of ICE ERO, we believe you are uniquely situated to inform our oversight and we ask for your cooperation.

In 2021, ICE's removal of illegal aliens decreased 68 percent below 2020 removal levels. The number of removals in 2022 remained low, nearly 70 percent below the three-year average of removals of illegal aliens between 2018 and 2020. The removal of convicted criminals was similarly down--by nearly 50 percent--between 2022 and 2020. In 2021, ICE stated that at least 463 sanctuary jails and prisons in the United States would not cooperate with the agency regarding deportation of criminals.

This reduction in removals coincides with a rapid rise in the numbers of individuals on the non-detained docket at ICE--going from 3.6 million individuals on the docket in 2021 to over 4.7 million individuals in 2022. More than 1.2 million individuals on the non-detained docket have received a final order of removal, but ICE removed only 72,177 illegal immigrants last year. In other words, ICE removed only six percent of all aliens with a final order of removal in 2022.

As the Deputy Executive Associate Director for ICE-ERO, you have information that is relevant and necessary to our oversight of the Executive Branch's enforcement of federal immigration law. Accordingly, we request that you make yourself available for a transcribed interview with the Committee as soon as possible. Please contact Committee staff by June 19, 2023, to schedule your transcribed interview.

The Judiciary Committee is authorized to conduct oversight of federal immigration law pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives. If you have any questions, please contact Committee staff at (202) 225-6906. If you are represented by private counsel, please ask your attorney to contact Committee staff on your behalf."

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