Cummings and Meadows Team Up to Obtain Info from DOJ, DHS, and HHS on Immigrant Children Separated at Border

Jul 5, 2018
Press Release

 Washington, D.C. (July 5, 2018)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Mark Meadows, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, sent a letter to the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, seeking detailed information to facilitate reuniting children who have been separated from their families during border crossings as expeditiously as possible. 

 

Cummings and all Committee Democrats made their own requests on June 17, 2018, and  June 22, 2018, but the requested information has not yet been provided.  During hearings on June 19, 2018, and June 27, 2018, Cummings asked his Republican colleagues to join him in these requests. Chairman Meadows agreed to review the June 22 document request and subsequently agreed to join today’s letter.

 

Click here and see below to read today’s letter.

 

July 5, 2018

 

The Honorable Kirstjen M. Nielsen                            The Honorable Alex M. Azar II

Secretary                                                                     Secretary

Department of Homeland Security                             Department of Health and Human Services

245 Murray Lane S.W.                                               200 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20528                                            Washington, D.C. 20201

 

The Honorable Jeff Sessions

Attorney General

Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530

 

Dear Secretary Nielsen, Secretary Azar, and Mr. Attorney General:

 

We are writing to request information from your agencies relating to the Administration’s policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on April 6, 2018, and Executive Order 13841, “Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation.”  Like many Americans, we want to ensure that we can reunite children who have been separated from their families as expeditiously as possible. 

 

In order to promote our shared goal, we request that you produce the following information organized by each individual separated child:

           

(1)        the age, gender, country of origin, and alien identification number, if any, of each child separated from his or her parents under this policy;

 

(2)        all locations and facilities in which the separated child has been, and is currently being, detained, and the dates on which the child was in each facility;

 

(3)        if the separated child is awaiting transfer to a different facility, the name and location of the facility and the date of the planned transfer;

 

(4)        the age, gender, and country of origin, and alien identification number, if any, of the parent or parents of the separated child;

 

(5)        the date and location of the detainment and arrest of the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child;

 

(6)        all locations and facilities in which the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child, have been, and are currently being, detained, and the dates on which the parent or parents were in each facility;

 

(7)        the date and location of the separation of the child from his or her parents, or any other individual who accompanied the child;

 

(8)        the date and location of family reunification, if it has occurred;

 

(9)        whether the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child, presented themselves to U.S. officials for asylum, and if so, the status of the asylum case;

 

(10)      if the parent or parents of the separated child, or any other individual who accompanied the child, were deported, the date, location, and destination of the deportation; and

 

(11)      if the separated child has a sibling in the United States, the detention facility, shelter, foster home, or other facility in which the sibling has been, or is currently being, detained.

 

Please provide the requested documents and information as soon as possible and schedule a briefing no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 19, 2018.  An attachment to this letter provides additional instructions for responding to our request.

 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

_________________________                         _________________________

Mark Meadows                                                Elijah E. Cummings

Chairman                                                         Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Government Operations    Committee on Oversight

                                                                        and Government Reform

 

115th Congress