Press Releases

Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) sent a letter to head officials within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to chastise them for stonewalling his congressional inquiries stemming from the questionable policies and practices behind the Department’s transfers of illegal aliens within the United States. The initial inquiries from Rep. Gosar’s office were made at a staff level over 90 days ago with an understanding that the questions would be received as if they were coming from the Congressman. Gosar’s staff was then told that if the Congressman wanted a timely response to his queries, he would have to write the Department a letter himself.

"I am appalled at the Department’s lack of response to these legitimate questions. The most important and timely question relayed to the Department during these exchanges was ‘What statutory authority, Presidential executive order, or memo from the Office of the Secretary [DHS] is used as a basis for these transfers and process involved?’ The silence has been deafening. It should not take DHS attorneys and policy staff 90+ days to get Congress an answer to this fundamental question."

Gosar continued, "The only ‘response’ my office has received from DHS regarding these questions was an acknowledgment letter which, in sum, told me that the inquiry was very important to the Department and that the questions were given a ‘high priority’. These statements are, at best, disingenuous. This lack of transparency does not instill confidence in DHS attorneys, nor does it lead Congress and the general public to believe DHS is a competent government agency. The Department’s ‘non-response response’ is nothing but a stall tactic. Meanwhile, this Department (and many others in the Obama Administration) continues to keep Congress in the dark so that they may manipulate the law as they see fit, rather than follow it by prescription.

"Though I am troubled by what is happening in the executive branch, I can no longer say that I am surprised. I will continue to press the Administration to be forthright and transparent. I will continue to ask the President and his subordinates to work with Congress rather than against it."

Background:

To read the official letter from Rep. Gosar to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other responsible officials, Click HERE.

To read Rep. Gosar's initial letter Click HERE.

Since May of this year, the Administration has transferring illegal aliens apprehended in Texas by plane or bus to Arizona and elsewhere utilizing taxpayer money. Officials from DHS confirmed in a subsequent briefing with Rep. Gosar’s staff that the flights to transfer these aliens occur at a price of $53,000 each.

These actions are inhumane as many women and children are just being dumped in the streets. Initially, there was no notification to the Governor’s Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety or the Arizona Department of Homeland Security.

After screening, those apprehended are being released under supervision and then required to report to a local ICE office near their destination within 15 days. By DHS’ own admission, most will never report.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported this week that at least 37,477 illegal immigrants have been transferred within the United States from January 1, 2014 to July 31, 2014.

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