[House Report 117-487]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
117th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 117-487
======================================================================
RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO
PROVIDE CERTAIN DOCUMENTS IN HIS POSSESSION TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AND BORDER SECURITY
_______
September 22, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Nadler, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
ADVERSE REPORT
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H. Res. 1241]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
resolution (H. Res. 1241) of inquiry directing the Secretary of
Homeland Security to provide certain documents in his
possession to the House of Representatives relating to
immigration enforcement and border security, having considered
the same, report unfavorably thereon with an amendment and
recommend that the resolution not be agreed to.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 3
Hearings......................................................... 4
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Committee Votes.................................................. 4
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 6
Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects.......................... 6
New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost
Estimate....................................................... 6
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 6
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 6
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 6
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 6
Minority Views................................................... 7
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
That the Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States is
directed to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than
fourteen days after the date of adoption of this resolution, copies of
any document, record, audio recording, memorandum, call log,
correspondence (electronic or otherwise), or other communication in his
possession, or any portion of any document, record, audio recording,
memorandum, call log, correspondence (electronic or otherwise), or
other communication, that refers or relates to the following:
(1) The number of illegal aliens on the no-fly list or the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Database
who have been encountered by United States Government personnel
at the southwest border, between ports of entry since January
20, 2021.
(2) The number of illegal aliens on the no-fly list or the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Database
who have been encountered by United States Government personnel
at the southwest border, between ports of entry since January
20, 2021, and were subsequently released into the interior of
the United States.
(3) The nationality of, and a description of the conduct for
which, each alien on the no-fly list or the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Terrorist Screening Database who has been
encountered by United States Government personnel at the
southwest border, between ports of entry, and subsequently
released in the United States, was placed on the no-fly list or
the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening
Database.
(4) Of the aliens described in paragraph (1) who were placed
into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, the
length of detention and location of detention for each alien.
(5) Of the aliens described in paragraph (1), the number
expelled pursuant to section 362 of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 265), ordered removed, granted voluntary
departure, removed pursuant to expedited removal, removed
pursuant to a reinstated removal order, and the country to
which each was removed.
(6) Of the aliens described in paragraph (1), the number
referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution under
section 275(a) or 276(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1325(a); 8 U.S.C. 1326(a)).
(7) The current status of each case for aliens described in
paragraph (1) who are still in the United States.
Purpose and Summary
H. Res. 1241 is a resolution of inquiry directing the
Secretary of Homeland Security to provide certain documents in
his possession to the House of Representatives relating to
immigration enforcement and border security.
Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA) introduced the
resolution on July 20, 2022, and it currently has no
cosponsors.
H. Res. 1241 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security of
the United States to transmit to the House of Representatives,
not later than fourteen days after the date of adoption of the
resolution, copies of any document, record, audio recording,
memorandum, call log, correspondence (electronic or otherwise),
or other communication in his possession, or any portion of any
document, record, audio recording, memorandum, call log,
correspondence (electronic or otherwise), or other
communication, that refers or relates to the following:
(1) The number of ``illegal aliens'' on the no-fly list or
the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening
Database who have been encountered by United States Government
personnel at the southwest border, between ports of entry since
January 20, 2021.
(2) The number of ``illegal aliens'' on the no-fly list or
the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Terrorist Screening
Database who have been encountered by United States Government
personnel at the southwest border, between ports of entry since
January 20, 2021, and were subsequently released into the
interior of the United States.
(3) The nationality of, and a description of the conduct
for which, each noncitizen on the no-fly list or the FBI's
Terrorist Screening Database who has been encountered by United
States Government personnel at the southwest border, between
ports of entry, and subsequently released in the United States,
was placed on the no-fly list or the FBI's Terrorist Screening
Database.
(4) Of the individuals described in paragraph (1) who were
placed into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention,
the length of detention and location of detention for each
alien.
(5) Of the individuals described in paragraph (1), the
number expelled pursuant to section 362 of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265), ordered removed, granted voluntary
departure, removed pursuant to expedited removal, removed
pursuant to a reinstated removal order, and the country to
which each was removed.
(6) Of the individuals described in paragraph (1), the
number referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution
under section 275(a) or 276(a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a);8 U.S.C. 1326(a)).
(7) The current status of each case for individuals
described in paragraph (1) who are still in the United States.
Background and Need for the Legislation
I. BACKGROUND ON RESOLUTIONS OF INQUIRY
Under the rules and precedents of the House, a resolution
of inquiry is used to obtain information from the executive
branch. A resolution of inquiry is directed at the President of
the United States or the head of a cabinet-level agency,
requesting facts within the control of the executive branch.\1\
As a ``simple resolution,'' designated by ``H. Res.,'' a
resolution of inquiry does not carry the force of law.
``Compliance by the executive branch with the House's request
is voluntary, resting largely on a sense of comity between co-
equal branches of government and a recognition of the necessity
for Congress to be well-informed as it legislates.''\2\
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\1\Christopher M. Davis, Resolutions of Inquiry: An Analysis of
Their Use in the House, 1947-2011, Cong. Res. Serv. R40879 (May 15,
2012).
\2\Id. at 2.
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House Rules afford resolutions of inquiry a privileged
parliamentary status. A member files a resolution of inquiry
like any other legislation. The resolution is then referred to
the proper committee of jurisdiction and the committee may: (1)
report the resolution either favorably or unfavorably; or (2)
choose not to report the resolution. If the committee does not
report the resolution to the House within 14 legislative days
of its introduction, however, a motion to discharge the
resolution from committee can be made on the House floor.\3\
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\3\House rule XIII, clause 7.
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II. NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION
This resolution is unnecessary. The Minority has had no
problem obtaining briefings or information on this issue. Just
last year, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy asked for, and
received, a classified briefing related to allegedly concerning
individuals apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border.\4\
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\4\Brooke Singman, McCarthy Briefed on Classified Memo About Terror
Suspects Caught at Mexico Border: `National Security Crisis,' Fox News
(May 18, 2021), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mccarthy-brief-
classified-memo-suspected-terrorists-mexico-border-national-security.
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Further, in July, the Biden Administration began posting
some of the requested data publicly on the Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) website. Currently on CBP's website, the
public can see the number of individuals encountered by Border
Patrol who are on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database for
the last five and half fiscal years.\5\ This fiscal year,
sixty-six people on the Screening Database have been
encountered by Border Patrol on the Northern and Southern
border.\6\
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\5\CBP Enforcement Statistics Fiscal Year 2022, Customs and Border
Protection (accessed Sep. 15, 2022), https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/
stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics.
\6\Id.
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Hearings
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6)(A) of House rule XIII,
the Committee held no hearings on H. Res. 1241.
Committee Consideration
On September 14, 2022, the Committee met in open session
and ordered the resolution, H. Res. 1241, unfavorably reported
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, by a rollcall
vote of 19 to 16, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of House rule XIII, the
following rollcall votes occurred during the Committee's
consideration of H. Res. 1241:
1. A motion to unfavorably report H. Res. 1241, as amended,
was agreed to by a rollcall vote of 19 to 16. The vote was as
follows:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of House rule XIII, the
Committee advises that the findings and recommendations of the
Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1)
of House rule X, are incorporated in the descriptive portions
of this report.
Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of House rule XIII, the
Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to
clause (3)(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this
resolution.
Duplication of Federal Programs
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of House rule XIII, no provision
of H. Res. 1241 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the
federal government known to be duplicative of another federal
program.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
House rule XIII, H. Res 1241 requests certain documents from
the Secretary of Homeland Security related to immigration
enforcement and border security.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of House rule XXI, H. Res. 1241
does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d),
9(e), or 9(f) of House rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the resolution as
reported by the Committee.
H. Res. 1241 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security of
the United States to transmit to the House of Representatives,
not later than fourteen days after the date of adoption of the
resolution, copies of any document, record, audio recording,
memorandum, call log, correspondence (electronic or otherwise),
or other communication in his possession, or any portion of any
document, record, audio recording, memorandum, call log,
correspondence (electronic or otherwise), or other
communication, that refers or relates to the following:
(1) The number of ``illegal aliens'' on the no-fly list or
the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database who have been
encountered by United States Government personnel at the
southwest border, between ports of entry since January 20,
2021.
(2) The number of ``illegal aliens'' on the no-fly list or
the FBI's who have been encountered by United States Government
personnel at the southwest border, between ports of entry since
January 20, 2021, and were subsequently released into the
interior of the United States.
(3) The nationality of, and a description of the conduct
for which, each alien on the no-fly list or the FBI's Terrorist
Screening Database who has been encountered by United States
Government personnel at the southwest border, between ports of
entry, and subsequently released in the United States, was
placed on the no-fly list or the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Terrorist Screening Database.
(4) Of the aliens described in paragraph (1) who were
placed into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention,
the length of detention and location of detention for each
alien.
(5) Of the aliens described in paragraph (1), the number
expelled pursuant to section 362 of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 265), ordered removed, granted voluntary
departure, removed pursuant to expedited removal, removed
pursuant to a reinstated removal order, and the country to
which each was removed.
(6) Of the aliens described in paragraph (1), the number
referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution under
section 275(a) or 276(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1325(a); 8 U.S.C. 1326(a)).
(7) The current status of each case for aliens described in
paragraph (1) who are still in the United States.
Minority Views
H. Res. 1241 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to
provide Congress with documents, communications, and other
information in his possession regarding illegal aliens
encountered by U.S. Government personnel between ports of entry
along the southwest border since January 20, 2021, who are
listed on the no-fly list or in the Terrorist Screening
Database.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee continue to
ignore the unprecedented crisis on our southwest border. Since
President Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) officials have encountered nearly 3.5 million illegal
aliens along the southwest border.\1\ Nearly one million of
those aliens have been released into the U.S. by the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) pursuant to DHS policy.\2\ At the
same time, nearly a million illegal alien ``gotaways'' have
successfully crossed the border undetected during the Biden-
Harris Administration.\3\
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\1\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border
Encounters, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-
encounters.
\2\Texas v. Biden, Case No: 2:21-cv-00067-Z (N.D. Texas) (Brief For
America First Legal Foundation As Amicus Curiae In Support of
Respondents, Defendants' Monthly Report For March 2022, Defendants'
Monthly Report For April 2022).
\3\Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin, Migrant Encounters at Southern Border
Hit New Record in May, as Numbers Keep Rising, Fox News (Jun. 16, 2022)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/migrant-encounters-southern-border-
record-may.
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As of the end of July, during FY 22, U.S. Border Patrol had
encountered 66 illegal aliens between ports of entry on the
southwest border who were listed on the Terrorist Screening
Database.\4\ This is 51 more than all of last fiscal year, and
is exponentially more than in any other recent fiscal year.\5\
There is no doubt that even more potential terrorists have
crossed illegally into the U.S. as known gotaways or without
being detected by Border Patrol. The Biden Administration's lax
immigration policies have put Americans in harm's way.
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\4\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP enforcement Statistics,
Terrorist Screening Dataset Encounters, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/
stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics.
\5\Id.
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In April 2021, news reports emerged that two men from Yemen
had been arrested at the southwest border who were identified
on the terrorism watch list.\6\ In August 2021, ``the head of
the Border Patrol, Rodney Scott, told his 19,000 agents before
retiring on August 14 that their national security mission is
paramount right now despite the Biden administration's focus on
migrant families and children . . . .''\7\ Scott went onto tell
the agents, ``it is a national security crisis. Immigration is
just a subcomponent of it, and right now, it's just a cover for
the massive amounts of smuggling going on across the southwest
border--to include [aliens on the Terrorist Screening Database]
at a level we have never seen before. That's a real
threat.''\8\ In January 2022, Scott told the Texas Public
Policy Foundation during a panel discussion that ``U.S. Border
Patrol agents stopped 14 noncitizens who were named on the
terror watchlist and tried to sneak into the United States
between October 2020 and August 2021 . . . .''\9\
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\6\Yemeni Nationals On Terror Watch List Arrested At California-
Mexico Border, CBS Los Angeles (Apr. 5, 2021), https://www.cbsnews.com/
losangeles/news/border-patrol-arrest-yemeni-
terror-watch-list/.
\7\Anna Giaritelli, Suspected terrorists crossing border `at a
level we have never seen before,' outgoing Border Patrol chief says,
Yahoo! News (Aug. 16, 2021), https://news.yahoo.com/suspected-
terrorists-crossing-border-level-174700735.html.
\8\Id.
\9\Anna Giaritelli, 14 illegal immigrants on terror watchlist
stopped at border in 2021, former Border Patrol chief says, Washington
Examiner (Jan 24, 2022), https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/14-
illegal-immigrants-on-terror-watchlist-stopped-at-
border-in-2021-former-border-patrol-chief.
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On January 27, 2022, an investigative journalist for
Deadline Detroit told Fox News that ``a Lebanese-born national
listed on the FBI's terror watchlist was released into the
United States after crossing the border illegally.''\10\
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\10\Yael Halon, Venezuelan National on FBI's Terror Watchlist
Released Into Michigan After Crossing Border: LeDuff (Jan. 27, 2022),
https://www.foxnews.com/media/venezuelan-border-fbis-terror-watchlist-
michigan.
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On April 18, 2022, Fox News reported that pursuant to a
FOIA request, it was able to confirm that 23 people who came
across the border between January 20, 2021, and December 31,
2021, appeared on the Terrorist Screening Database.\11\
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\11\Bill Melugin & Adam Shaw, Border Patrol stopped 23 people on
terrorist database at southern border in 2021: CBP data (Apr. 18,
2022), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/border-patrol-people-terrorist-
database-southern-border-2021-cbp-data.
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In March 2022, the Committee received an update from CBP
substantiating a marked increase in the number of individuals
encountered during Fiscal Year 2021 who were listed the
Terrorist Screening Database.\12\
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\12\On file with Committee.
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On April 28, 2022, at the Committee hearing, Ranking Member
Jordan questioned Secretary Mayorkas about the current status
of each of the aliens on the no-fly list or on the Terrorist
Screening Database who had been encountered at the border.
Specifically, Ranking Member Jordan asked, ``have any of the 42
illegal migrants on the terrorist watchlist or No-Fly List
encountered at our southwest border been released into the
United States?'' Secretary Mayorkas did not have an answer to
that question and instead deflected by promising to provide
that data following the hearing.
On May 2, 2022, Ranking Member Jordan sent a letter to
Secretary Mayorkas following up on his unanswered question from
the hearing and requesting more information. To date, DHS has
not complied with these requests or provided the data first
requested on April 28.
On September 14, 2022, in light of Secretary Mayorkas's
refusal to answer basic questions, the Committee considered H.
Res. 1241 at a business meeting. Democrats refused to
acknowledge that terrorists are crossing our southwest border
at an alarming rate due to the Biden Administration's failure
to secure the border. They showed no interest in getting DHS
communications regarding aliens on the Terrorist Screening
Database and the No-Fly list who have crossed the border.
Democrats voted to report H. Res. 1241 unfavorably to the
House. Republicans believe in border security and we strongly
disagree with the Committee's action.
Jim Jordan,
Ranking Member.
[all]