By Rafael Bernal, The Hill
House Hispanic Democrats said Thursday that Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is shunning their concerns on violations by immigration enforcement agents.
Kelly met members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) on Capitol Hill Tuesday, initially softening the Democrats’ tone: CHC chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) said Kelly “tried much harder to hear us and to be more respectful that this is a meeting of a collective group about these issues.”
But members said Thursday that Kelly has been reluctant acknowledge their claims of wrongdoing by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
CHC members said Kelly was pursuing a policy of “mass deportation,” rather than his stated goal of going after dangerous criminals.
“Now that we have factual evidence we can put the secretary in an interesting position, because he’s been rebutting, ‘These are the same policies as the Obama administration,’” said Lujan Grisham.
“Well, guess what?” she added. “We now have data that’s been published out of February that shows it is so negligible the number of individuals that have been picked up, detained, and deported for dangerous felonies, that it’s exactly the opposite.”
Lujan Grisham was referring to tracking data released by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) that showed that only five immigrants were charged with firearm or other dangerous criminal acts in February, out of 4,301 immigration cases nationwide.
“Given this new data, I’m really ashamed that any Cabinet member would continue to meet with members of Congress and just demonstrate and say over and over again that these are the same policies. They are not,” said Lujan Grisham.
Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, pointed to the protests at airports after President Trump’s first travel ban was issued in January as an example of Kelly’s rapport with members.
“He in my face said there was no chaos at the airport,” said Barragan, who visited constituents at Los Angeles International Airport during the protests.
“He ended with, ‘My people told me there wasn’t, therefore it didn’t happen, trust me,'” she said.
But Kelly’s relationship has seen some improvement. He rescheduled the previously canceled meeting with the group and they said he appeared more open to their suggestions.
“I’m seeing his demeanor with members in group setting improve,” said Lujan Grisham.
Kelly appeared before a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday, where he defended his immigration enforcement policies, saying they’ve served to dissuade migrants from attempting to enter the United States.
According to DHS figures released Wednesday, border apprehensions — generally accepted as the best measure of illicit border crossing attempts — dropped 64 percent in March compared to the same period in 2016.
Kelly clashed with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) at that hearing, as she questioned him on why he had not issued written policy directives to DHS agents on treatment and targeting of migrants.
Asked by Harris whether he was willing to issue a directive stating that border agents should not separate children from their parents, Kelly replied, “I have already done that, through my leadership.”
CHC members pointed to that exchange as an example of Kelly’s unwillingness to collaborate with Congress, both by sharing agency information and by investigating accusations of malfeasance levied by members.
At issue are reports that ICE agents have used their presence to wrongfully intimidate immigrant communities and scare them away from sensitive areas such as schools, churches or community centers.
Kelly has denied the accusations, touting the training received by agents of the several DHS law enforcement agencies.
But Lujan Grisham said she is “incredibly disappointed and bordering on anger” at Kelly’s blanket defense of agents under his command, regardless of the secretary’s personal intentions.
“My problem is the department in and of itself is doing exactly the opposite, and we cannot get the secretary to tell us that he will stop that,” said Lujan Grisham.
