Milwaukee City Wire

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and 19 of their Senate GOP colleagues in sending an oversight letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The letter questions the administration’s dismissal of over 350,000 removal cases and highlights the impact of these policies on the U.S. legal immigration system.

Under the Biden administration, the United States has experienced what is described as its worst border crisis in history. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), there have been more than 7.8 million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southwest border over the past three years, and more than 9.5 million encounters nationwide.

At the beginning of President Biden's term, he signed a series of executive orders reversing former President Donald Trump's border security measures, which led to an increase in illegal border crossings.

Recent reports revealed that thousands of illegal immigrants were granted "mass amnesty" by terminating more than 350,000 asylum cases within a little over two years. This practice was initiated by a 2022 memo from ICE Principal Legal Adviser Kerry Doyle, directing agency prosecutors to advise immigration judges on nonpriority cases suitable for dismissal. Consequently, 102,550 cases were dismissed in 2022, followed by 149,000 in 2023, and 113,843 cases in the first four months of 2024 compared to just over 26,000 during Trump's entire tenure.

Since 2021, according to a study published by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, approximately 77% of asylum seekers have been allowed to remain in the United States.

The letter seeks transparency and accountability while requesting detailed responses regarding the administration’s handling of immigration and border security. The senators raised several questions about the administration's actions including the accuracy of reported figures, justification for what they describe as a “precedent-breaking” surge in dismissals, and measures in place to prevent this policy from incentivizing illegal immigration and compromising national security.

The letter criticizes President Biden’s recent executive order aimed at closing the border as “too little too late.” It also suggests that this action is an admission that President Biden always had authority to secure the border despite his previous claims otherwise.

“This administration’s approach has consistently downplayed severity," wrote senators Johnson and Cramer along with their colleagues. "Initially denying its existence then reluctantly acknowledging it now attempting through inadequate measures."

They added: "The repeated failures under your leadership have led unprecedented backlog posing substantial burden increasing risk criminal activities.”

“The American people deserve transparency accountability regarding handling immigration," concluded senators urging comprehensive response outlining clear plan restore integrity."

Sens. Johnson and Cramer were joined on this letter by Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Marco Rubio(R-Fla.), Bill Hagerty(R-Tenn.), Tim Scott(R-S.C.) Roger Wicker(R-Miss).

Full text can be found here.

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