House Committee To Investigate Why Biden Administration Unchecked Thousands of Illegal Immigrants

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has issued a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), highlighting concerns over the alleged misuse of parole authority and its impact on the escalating border crisis. The letter from Friday, argues that the Biden administration’s policies and mismanagement have led to a historic border crisis and a surge in inadmissible aliens entering the U.S.

The DHS reportedly added capabilities to its smartphone app, CBP One, to allow inadmissible aliens abroad to schedule appointments at ports of entry and facilitate their parole into the U.S. The committee is seeking documents and communications about the alleged abuse of parole authorities to bring tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens into the country.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allowed for the temporary parole of some inadmissible aliens into the U.S. under certain conditions. However, the committee contended that the DHS has been misusing this statute by granting parole to large groups of inadmissible aliens, with up to 30,000 inadmissible Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Cuban, and Haitian nationals paroled each month earlier this year.

Comer (R-KY) and Grotham (R-WI) who lead the charge, believe that the Biden administration has paroled over a million inadmissible aliens into the U.S. over the past two years. Most of these paroles were reportedly given to illegal border crossers apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol and inadmissible aliens who made appointments through the CBP One mobile application. Reports suggest that 99% of inadmissible aliens who applied for an appointment through the CBP One app were ultimately approved for parole.

The committee further stated that the DHS announced it would implement a lottery-type system due to the high interest in the parole program. This implied that half of those applying for parole at ports of entry will be selected at random.

The letter concluded by requesting a series of documents and information from the DHS. These documents included numerical accounting of aliens paroled into the U.S., policy or guidance to DHS personnel on how to exercise their discretion to issue parole, and documents referencing any categories or characteristics of aliens to be considered for parole, among others.

The letter is signed by several members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, including Chairman Glenn Grothman, Chairman James Comer, and other congress members. The committee has requested that the documents and information be provided by July 7, 2023.