Comer & Grothman Lead Probe into Biden Unilaterally Ushering in Thousands of Inadmissible Aliens

DHS’ use of categorical parole is unlawful and violates statutory language

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), and Republicans on the Subcommittee are probing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) abuse of parole to bring in tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens to the United States. In the letter DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Republican lawmakers request documents and communications regarding the Department’s continued abuse of parole authorities.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability continues to investigate the Biden Administration’s disastrous policies and mismanagement that have contributed to a historic border crisis. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently implemented further processes to provide unlawful categorical parole, in violation of clear statutory language, to large numbers of inadmissible aliens.  DHS has even added additional capabilities to its smartphone app, CBP One, to allow inadmissible aliens abroad to schedule appointments at ports of entry and facilitate their parole into the U.S. The Committee requests documents and communications regarding DHS’s continued abuse of parole authorities to bring in tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens,” wrote the lawmakers.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), parole authority is to be used for inadmissible aliens “only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”  Parolees are then eligible to apply for work authorization and are free to travel throughout the country.  Instead of only granting parole on a limited “case-by-case basis” after a finding of a legitimate humanitarian reason or significant public benefit, the Biden Administration has been abusing the statute to grant parole to tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens fitting within certain categories.

“The flagrant abuse of the parole statute is evidenced by the fact that the Biden Administration has paroled over a million inadmissible aliens into the United States in just over the last two years, granting it to illegal border crossers apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents as well as inadmissible aliens presenting themselves at ports of entry after making appointments through the CBP One mobile application,” continued the lawmakers. “Illegal aliens given unlawful categorical parole through these programs will likely live in the United States for years before they are issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) in immigration court given the massive scheduling backlogs at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices.”

Read the letter to Secretary Mayorkas here.