Jordan To Garland On 'Zero Tolerance' Settlement
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Fox NewsJordan To Garland On 'Zero Tolerance' Settlement
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Fox NewsNovember 6, 2023
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Garland:
The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the Biden Administration’s
enforcement of federal immigration authorities. As the Committee has uncovered, of the 5
million illegal alien border encounters from the beginning of the Biden Administration through
the end of March 2023, nearly 2.5 million illegal aliens had no confirmed departure from the
United States.1 Meanwhile, between October 2021 and July 2023, the Administration has
released into the country more than 1.1 million family unit individuals, with upward of 200,000
transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for potential release into the
United States.2
Despite these unprecedented numbers, the Administration continues policies that will
only worsen the border crisis. For example, on October 16, 2023, the Department of Justice
announced that the United States had reached a settlement in Ms. L. v. U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, a class action lawsuit involving family units who illegally crossed the
southwest border during the Trump Administration.3 Under the proposed settlement, certain
illegal aliens can receive a grab-bag of U.S. taxpayer-funded services, including behavioral
health services, medical assistance, temporary housing support, legal services, and expedited
processing—all because in 2018 the U.S. government prosecuted, under the existing criminal
1
See H. Comm. on Judiciary, Report on The Biden Border Crisis: How the Biden Administration Opened the
Southwest Border and Abandoned Interior Immigr. Enf’t (Oct. 9, 2023), https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-
subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-10-09-New-Data-and-Testimony.pdf.
2
Id. at 4.
3
U.S. Government Reaches Settlement in Class Action Family Separation Case Seeking Injunctive Relief, U.S.
DEP’T OF JUSTICE (Oct. 16, 2023), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-government-reaches-settlement-class-action-
family-separation-case-seeking-injunctive.
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
November 6, 2023
Page 2
code enacted by Congress, illegal aliens for illegally entering the United States with their
children.4
As if the Department’s stipulation is not egregious enough, the settlement also allows an
illegal alien to escape criminal prosecution for illegally crossing the border solely because the
alien is traveling with a child.5 Because that legally dubious prohibition in the settlement lasts for
eight years, it prevents future administrations from taking definitive steps to control the border.6
Such a provision also ensures that cartels can exploit yet another dangerous loophole to continue
their criminal smuggling and trafficking enterprises. In fact, knowing the Biden Administration
refuses to detain family units, cartels already separate minors from their parents and have cartel
members pose as the minors’ relatives to ensure quick entry into the United States.7 The
settlement will no doubt have a similar effect, with both children and the American people left to
suffer because of the perverse incentives of President Biden’s failed border policies.
Accordingly, to assist the Committee with its continued oversight of federal immigration
policy and procedures, we ask that you provide the following documents and information:
1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the decision(s) to provide
social services to illegal aliens and limit prosecution of certain illegal aliens between or
among employees of the Department.
2. All documents and communications referring or relating to the decision(s) to provide
social services to illegal aliens and limit prosecution of certain illegal aliens between or
among the Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union and any other
immigration advocacy groups.
3. All documents and communications referring or relating to the decision(s) to provide
social services to illegal aliens and limit prosecution of certain illegal aliens between or
among employees of the Department of Justice and employees of the Executive Office of
the President.
4
See Fact Sheet: Overview of Proposed Ms. L Settlement Agreement, U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE (Oct. 16, 2023),
https://www.justice.gov/media/1319521/dl?inline; see Ms. L. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enf’t, No. 3:18-cv-
00428-DMS-AHG (S.D. Cal.), Doc. 711-1, https://www.justice.gov/media/1319516/dl?inline [hereinafter
Settlement Agreement].
5
See Settlement Agreement at 27 (“[Customs and Border Protection] will not refer an adult for prosecution solely
under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a) if the adult is traveling with a minor, is the minor’s parent or Legal Guardian, and is the
only parent or Legal Guardian traveling with the child[.]”).
6
See Settlement Agreement at 3; see also Rebecca Santana & Elliot Spagat, Settlement over Trump family
separations at the border limits future separations for 8 years, ASSOCIATED PRESS (Oct. 16, 2023, 1:43 PM),
https://apnews.com/article/separated-children-trump-biden-border-immigration-
f9a73685d0ddbcda86e5b69997f5f7dd.
7
See Gabrielle Fonrouge, Mexican drug cartels using kids as decoys in to smuggle its members into US: sheriff,
N.Y. POST (Mar. 22, 2021, 12:01 PM), https://nypost.com/2021/03/22/mexican-drug-cartels-use-kids-as-decoys-to-
smuggle-members-into-us/.
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
November 6, 2023
Page 3
4. All documents and communications referring or relating to the decision(s) to provide
social services to illegal aliens and limit prosecution of certain illegal aliens between or
among employees of Executive Branch agencies, including, but not limited to, employees
of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
5. All documents and communications referring or relating to estimates of the total cost of
the settlement, including a final cost estimate and a breakdown of the funds and programs
used to provide social services to the settlement class and qualifying additional family
members.
6. Whether the Department is considering, or has considered, payments to class members as
part of this settlement or any related settlements.
7. An explanation of the legal basis for limiting future administrations from pursuing
criminal charges against illegal aliens, including all documents and communications with
the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel referring or relating to that basis.
Please provide this information as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m. on
November 20, 2023. Pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on
the Judiciary is authorized to conduct oversight of federal immigration policy and procedures.8 If
you have any questions, please contact Committee staff at (202) 225-6906. Thank you for your
prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Jim Jordan Tom McClintock
Chairman Chairman
Subcommittee on Immigration
Integrity, Security, and Enforcement
cc: The Honorable Jerrold L. Nadler, Ranking Member
The Honorable Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Immigration
Integrity, Security, and Enforcement
8
Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, R. X (2023).
