Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in asking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to investigate the Biden administration policies that have produced the worst border crisis in U.S. history.
“Multiple sources have confirmed to Congress that the Biden Administration was warned by career professionals that the rapid implementation of several border and immigration policies would lead to a predictable surge at the border. Our concern is that the Biden Administration proceeded to implement these policies despite the harm they would cause to our border and immigration system. Moreover, the Biden Administration did not take adequate steps to prepare for the resulting surge and as a result, a humanitarian crisis has developed,” the senators wrote.
“Congress and the American people deserve to know if the border crisis was preventable or even worse, intentional,” they continued.
The senators asked Cuffari to provide a comprehensive review and report of the crisis and related records. The request includes “[a]ll information provided to the Biden transition team regarding the border, specifically what information was conveyed either in briefings, documents, or communications regarding the consequences of undoing the former Trump Administration’s immigration and border security measures.”
The senators also requested the total number of illegal aliens that the government has processed and released into the interior of the U.S. as well as a breakdown of all vetting procedures used before the administration releases illegal aliens into the interior of the country.
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) also signed the letter.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and more than 80 other members of the House of Representatives signed the letter as well.
Background
In March 2021, Kennedy visited the U.S.-Mexico border to witness the effects that the Biden administration’s reckless immigration policies are having on America and on vulnerable women and children at the hands of cartels and human traffickers.
That March, Kennedy also introduced the Empowering Immigration Courts Act, the Terrorist Deportation Act, the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act and the Criminal Alien Removal Clarification Act to empower immigration courts and make dangerous aliens deportable.
In November 2021, Kennedy questioned DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the Biden administration’s mishandling of the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The letter is available here.