Disappointed with the response thus far, Mr. Jordan announced that he would now move forward with the records requests through a subpoena.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoenaed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday, compelling the department to turn over data and information about how it deals with “unaccompanied alien children” (UACs) encountered at the U.S.–Mexico border who are found to have gang and criminal ties.
HHS is responsible for detaining and accounting for the care of illegal immigrant children who arrive at the southern border without an adult guardian. Many of these UACs are allowed to enter the United States if they can be placed with a sponsor while they await their immigration proceedings. This sponsor placement process is handled by HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
Mr. Jordan said he has been seeking information from the HHS since June, regarding how the department and ORR vet their UAC sponsors and what the department’s protocols are for UACs with ties to criminal activity. To date, Mr. Jordan said the responses he has received have been “woefully inadequate.”
Disappointed with the response thus far, Mr. Jordan announced in a Tuesday letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, that he would now move forward with the records requests through a subpoena.
“For more than six months, the Committee has asked for your cooperation with a series of requests arising from the Committee’s transcribed interview of ORR Director Robin Dunn Marcos. During the interview, Ms. Dunn Marcos was unable to answer many of the Committee’s questions, such as whether ORR has a policy to refer known gang members to the Department of Justice,” Mr. Jordan wrote on Tuesday.
Mr. Jordan further stated Ms. Dunn Marcos did not have requested data regarding how many UAC sponsor applicants her office had rejected, and how many UACs her office had placed with sponsors who are known sex offenders.
“Instead, the HHS attorneys at the interview represented that the Department would provide the Committee with the requested information at a later date,” Mr. Jordan wrote.
Mr. Jordan said HHS eventually replied on Sept. 29, but rather than provide the requested data, the Ohio Republican said HHS had instead offered “a series of generalized statements that partially touched on a small fraction of the Committee’s requests.”
By Ryan Morgan
