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Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee gave notices to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to preserve all records related to administration’s handling of conditions along the southern border.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the committee, and Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican, raised concerns about the high rate of illegal crossings that have taken place this year, blaming the Biden administration for unprecedented number of migrants coming into the country without legal permission.
Mr. Jordan is in line to be chairman of the powerful panel should the Republicans, as many expect, regain the majority in the House in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
“We are investigating the Biden administration’s callous disregard for the safety and security of our southern border, and your willful failure to enforce U.S. immigration law. … The southern border has been in chaos since the first hours that President Biden took office, and an unprecedented surge of aliens has poured across the border,” the two wrote to Mr. Mayorkas.
In the letter to Mr. Garland, the members reiterated their concerns, as well as their intention to continue their oversight into the next Congress.
Illegal border crossings have reached a record high this year with 2.76 million people entering in fiscal 2022, breaking the previous annual record by over a million crossings, according to data compiled by Customs and Border Protection.
Judiciary Republicans note that September marked the third-highest month for CBP encounters, with more than 227,500 people being contacted at the southern border.
Mr. Jordan has sent several preservation notices to Mr. Garland and others in the Biden administration, as he seeks to pursue multiple investigations into agency practices, including perceived bias within the FBI.
House Republicans have also sought to pursue impeachment efforts against Mr. Mayorkas, accusing him of deliberately upholding an “open borders” policy and failing to do his job to secure the southern border.
Republicans need a net gain of just five seats to flip the House come January, as Election Day draws near.
