Comer, Grothman Probe ICE’s Identification Cards Pilot Program for Illegal Immigrants
Request a briefing and documents to better understand another reckless policy that will further exacerbate the ongoing border crisis
WASHINGTON — Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), Subcommittee on National Security Ranking Member Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), and Oversight Committee Republicans are probing the Biden Administration’s plan to provide illegal immigrants identification cards. In a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Acting Director Tae Johnson, the Republican lawmakers request a briefing and all documents related to the ICE Secure Docket Card program, a new pilot initiative which would provide illegal immigrants identification cards when released into the interior of the U.S. The lawmakers are concerned the new program will further incentivize illegal immigration and allow illegal aliens to improperly access housing, healthcare, and transportation benefits.
“We continue to investigate the Biden Administration’s erosion of the rule of law and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s failure to engage in immigration enforcement,” wrote the lawmakers. “According to a recent report, the Administration is planning to issue identification cards to individuals who illegally cross the southwest border and are released into the interior of the U.S. This pilot program, known as the ICE Secure Docket Card program, is intended in part to help illegal immigrants circumvent checking in physically at ICE offices and more easily access benefits within the United States. We are concerned that this pilot program is yet another Biden Administration move encouraging illegal immigration by rewarding illegal immigrants for breaking our laws.”
In June 2022, U.S. Border Patrol made nearly 192,000 arrests of illegal immigrants at the southwest border, making the month the worst June on record. Department of Homeland Security personnel have encountered over 3.1 million illegal immigrants at our southwest border and this Administration has released over 1,048,000 illegal immigrants into the interior of the United States since President Biden took office.
“Due to the Biden Administration’s pro-illegal immigration policies, the United States is facing the worst border crisis in our nation’s history. The Administration is now reportedly planning yet another reckless policy that will further exacerbate this ongoing crisis. We are concerned that identification cards will include QR codes that link to court documents and personally identifiable information related to removal cases. This raises security concerns as well as questions regarding the likelihood that significant taxpayer resources will be diverted from immigration enforcement to uploading documents into and maintaining a secure system. Finally, the issuance of ID cards raises the possibility that illegal aliens will use these identification cards to improperly access benefits such as housing, healthcare, and transportation,” concluded the lawmakers.
Read the letter to Acting Ice Director Johnson here.