[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9621-9622]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       NO PERSON IS ABOVE THE LAW

  (Mr. YOUNG of Iowa asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YOUNG of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in search of an answer 
to a very simple question.
  Assistant Secretary Sarah Saldana, the Director of U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement, ICE, appeared before the House Appropriations 
Homeland Security Subcommittee on April 15. I serve on the 
subcommittee, and I questioned the Assistant Secretary about President 
Obama's comments he made in February of this year.
  The President said: ``If somebody is working for ICE and there is a 
policy and they don't follow the policy, there are going to be 
consequences to it.'' He was commenting on ICE agents' following his 
directives and guidelines.
  I used this opportunity to tell the Assistant Secretary that, if I 
had office policies that were contrary to the law, I would understand 
if my employees did not want to follow them. ``I would expect them to 
follow the law first,'' I said.
  Director Saldana interrupted me to say: ``That is where you and I 
probably have a fundamental disagreement.''
  America was founded on the principle that no person is above the law. 
I take that very seriously. The culture problems at ICE run very deep, 
but I think they start at the top.
  My colleagues and I decided this was unacceptable and that we needed 
to investigate her statement and philosophy further, so we followed up 
with a letter to Assistant Secretary Saldana on May 15, asking for 
clarification.
  I should note we asked for a response by June 5; yet, 31 days since 
the request and 10 days since the deadline, we have not seen a response 
from the Assistant Secretary. This should be deeply troubling to all in 
this House.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit a copy of this letter for the Record.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                     Washington, DC, May 15, 2015.

     Sarah R. Saldana,
     Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs 
         Enforcement, Washington, DC.
       Dear Assistant Secretary Saldana:  We write to request 
     additional information and clarification regarding your 
     recent testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee 
     on Homeland Security. We are greatly troubled by this 
     administration's directives attempting to supersede 
     immigration enforcement protocols laid out in federal law. 
     Just as troubling is President Obama's assertion that 
     Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who do not 
     follow his directives will be held ``answerable to the head 
     of the Department of Homeland Security,'' and ``there will be 
     consequences to it.''
       When questioned during the hearing about your actions to 
     implement the President's policies, you stated that you have 
     a ``fundamental disagreement'' that ICE agents should follow 
     federal law if a superior has instructed them not to. We want 
     to be clear: your agency is not above the law, and you and 
     your employees are expected to uphold the laws of this 
     country, as you have sworn to.
       We have heard reports of agents who face retribution or 
     threats for following the law. ICE agents are diligently 
     working to enforce the laws of this nation. They should not 
     be worried about facing disciplinary action for faithfully 
     executing their duty.
       We write today seeking specific answers to these questions 
     on ICE's actions to implement these policies.

[[Page 9622]]

       (1) We would like to know the legal rationale your agency 
     has used to justify holding executive memos as superior to 
     the plain language of federal statute and how that allows you 
     to punish agents who are following the law.
       (2) We also request that you provide us with the protocols 
     agents have been instructed to follow dealing with the 
     President's directives and current guidelines on the 
     disciplinary actions that agents face for not following them.
       (3) To date, has ICE taken any adverse action against any 
     career employee for not following the President's policy and 
     what are the details of that action?
       (4) Lastly, if these executive actions are ultimately found 
     to be illegal through the current litigation challenging them 
     and struck down by a federal court, how will punished agents 
     receive restitution in full from ICE?
       You are responsible for making sure these agents are 
     equipped with the resources they need to do this, not 
     threaten them with punishment for it. We ask that you respond 
     to these questions by June 5th.
           Sincerely,
     David Young,
       Member of Congress.
     John Culberson,
       Member of Congress.
     Chuck Fleischmann,
       Member of Congress.
     John Carter,
       Member of Congress.
     Dr. Andy Harris,
       Member of Congress.

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