Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
House Targets Family Separations in First Trump Subpoena
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
February 26, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — A House committee voted Tuesday to subpoena Trump administration officials over family separations at the southern border, the first issued in the new Congress as Democrats have promised to hold the administration aggressively to count.
The decision by the Oversight Committee will compel the heads of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to deliver documents to lawmakers.

“I believe this is a true national emergency. When our own government rips children from the arms of their mothers and fathers with no plans to reunite them – that is government-sponsored child abuse.” Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings
The committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, has pledged to press the administration for documents and testimony on a wide swath of issues, but family separation was among his first priorities.
“I believe this is a true national emergency,” Cummings said. “When our own government rips children from the arms of their mothers and fathers with no plans to reunite them – that is government-sponsored child abuse.”
Cummings said committee members have been seeking the documents for seven months.
The Oversight Committee is seeking details on the children separated, location and facilities where they were held, details on their parents, information on efforts to restore children to their parents and whether parents were deported.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee’s ranking Republican, sent Cummings a letter arguing that the subpoenas would not be necessary, and that the administration had produced hundreds of pages of documents in response to earlier requests for information.
“We should not rush to compel documents from the departments, especially when they have sought to comply with your request voluntarily,” Jordan wrote.
Other Republicans said the committee should go through the paperwork they have on hand before deciding whether the agencies haven’t complied with the request, and ask for data related to separations under the Obama administration. But two voted to issue the subpoenas.

More Than 2,700 Children Were Separated From Their Parents

Cummings said the documents already submitted to the committee were vastly incomplete.
“The information we got was not one name, not one number,” Cummings said. “Zilch.”
A spokeswoman for Health and Human Services said the department appreciates the role of oversight and communicates regularly with the committee.

More than 2,700 children were separated from their parents at the border last year under a zero-tolerance immigration policy by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing the border illegally.
“Additionally, we have transparently provided 792 pages of documents related to the committee’s request,” and offered a review of an information portal, spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said.
If any officials don’t comply with new subpoenas, the committee and eventually the full House could vote to hold the department in contempt, setting up a potentially lengthy court battle
More than 2,700 children were separated from their parents at the border last year under a zero-tolerance immigration policy by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing the border illegally.
Because children can’t be placed with their parents in jail, they were separated. Watchdog reports have found the administration was not prepared to manage the aftermath of the separations, and had no way to track the families and did not have a way to reunite them until a federal judge stepped in.
An internal watchdog report recently found that thousands more children than previously thought may have been separated before the zero-tolerance policy officially began. Immigration officials are allowed to separate children if there is a concern for the child’s well-being, if a parent has a criminal charge or if there are serious health risks.
The House Judiciary Committee authorized a subpoena to compel then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to testify if necessary, but it was never served.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

DON'T MISS

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

DON'T MISS

Cambodian American Chefs Are Finding Success and Raising Their Culture’s Profile. On Their Terms

DON'T MISS

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

DON'T MISS

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

DON'T MISS

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

DON'T MISS

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

DON'T MISS

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

DON'T MISS

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton Vows to Repeal Transgender Athlete Law

DON'T MISS

Trans Athlete Competes in California Championships in Clovis Despite National Controversy

UP NEXT

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

UP NEXT

Speaker Johnson Raises Campaign Money in Fresno

UP NEXT

Business Insider Cuts 21% of Workforce, Memo Shows

UP NEXT

Harvard Agrees to Relinquish Early Photos of Slaves, Ending a Long Legal Battle

UP NEXT

Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety

UP NEXT

Trump Pardons Tax Cheat After Mother Attends $1 Million Dinner

UP NEXT

NPR Sues Trump Administration Over Executive Order to Cut Funding

UP NEXT

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

Low-Income Compton Students Get $225M State-of-the-Art High School Campus

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

23 hours ago

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

2 days ago

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

2 days ago

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

2 days ago

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

2 days ago

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton Vows to Repeal Transgender Athlete Law

2 days ago

Trans Athlete Competes in California Championships in Clovis Despite National Controversy

2 days ago

Tim Walz Urges Democrats to Fight Back Harder Against ‘Bully’ Trump

2 days ago

US Defense Secretary Warns Indo-Pacific Allies of ‘Imminent’ Threat From China

2 days ago

Hamas Responds to the US Ceasefire Proposal for Gaza While Seeking Amendments

2 days ago

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

For your next trip, have you considered townsizing? What about choosing a detour destination? And instead of forest-bathing, maybe it’...

22 hours ago

22 hours ago

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

22 hours ago

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

23 hours ago

Cambodian American Chefs Are Finding Success and Raising Their Culture’s Profile. On Their Terms

23 hours ago

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

2 days ago

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

2 days ago

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

2 days ago

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

2 days ago

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend