A top House Republican is threatening to enforce a subpoena for criminal immigrant information "to the fullest extent" of the law, after claiming the Obama administration "stonewalled" his request.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith for months has been seeking a comprehensive list of names and other information for the thousands of immigrants who are flagged, but not taken into custody or deported through a program known as Secure Communities.
Earlier this month, a subcommittee on his panel subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for the information, claiming it was "not acting in good faith." It was the first subpoena issued by the committee since it came under GOP control.
The department ended up turning over documents by a Nov. 10 deadline -- but Smith claimed all he received was a list of numbers.
"Instead of providing this information, all DHS gave was a list numbered 1 through 220,995. Proving the administration can count is not what we asked for," Smith said in a statement.
He wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday urging her to "immediately comply" with the subpoena.
"If you do not, the committee will be forced to seek enforcement of the subpoena to the fullest extent allowed by the law," Smith wrote.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Republican Threatens Legal Action Against DHS Over Immigrant-Data Subpoena
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