Senators Want Details of Sweeping Changes Denied to Congress, but Delivered to National Media.
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has joined an effort to obtain a Biden administration blueprint for expanding and overhauling the legal immigration system—a plan delivered to the New York Times, but denied to Congress and the American people.
Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, is among a dozen Senators who signed a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that demands the immediate release of the blueprint.
“The fact this is being withheld from Congress and the American people is particularly troubling given the ongoing crisis at the southern border,” the Senators wrote. “We are deeply concerned that these policies will act as a pull factor to continue drawing illegal immigrants to the country – much like the policies already being implemented by the Biden Administration.”
“In addition, the policies allegedly proposed in this document would open up new ways for immigrants to enter the country legally that extend well beyond the plain text and meaning of the law. While there are many rational suggestions for reform in this document, these are decisions that must be made by Congress, and Congress alone, and not by the stroke of the President’s pen,” the Senators continued. “A decision with such serious public safety consequences should be open and accessible, but instead, DHS has kept this information from everyone except a media ally.”
In a May 31 article, the New York Times reported, “The blueprint, dated May 3 and titled ‘D.H.S. Plan to Restore Trust in Our Legal Immigration System,’ lists scores of initiatives intended to reopen the country to more immigrants…’”
The publication of that article came after a May 26 appropriations subcommittee hearing on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget request, at which Hyde-Smith expressed concerns that border crisis costs will affect other DHS agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard.
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) led the letter, which was also signed by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
Read the letter to Mayorkas here.
Press Release
6/17/2021
