House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has given specific instructions to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to keep their records as they relate to the crisis at the border.
The Ohio Republican representative wants the records preserved before the administration leaves in January as President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, Just The News reported.
Jordan expressed concerns that the two men and their departments would eradicate the records before they left office in January.
“This letter serves as a formal request to preserve all existing and future records and materials related to the Biden-Harris Administration’s enforcement of federal immigration law,” the Ohio representative said in both letters.
“You should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently, of all documents, communications, and other information … that are or may be responsive to this congressional inquiry,” he said.
Federal law requires Cabinet members and political appointees to preserve all of their records.
The Biden administration is moving swiftly and discreetly to implement new policies aimed at easing restrictions on migrants who entered the U.S. illegally in a last-minute effort to counter President-elect Donald Trump’s planned immigration crackdowns and mass deportations, sources told the New York Post.
And New York City is set to be the focal point of these changes, the outlet added.
The outgoing administration plans to introduce an ICE Portal app in early December, specifically in New York City. The app will enable migrants to complete check-ins with ICE remotely, eliminating the need for in-person visits to local ICE offices.
Homeland Security sources told The Post that the app could make it easier for migrants to evade authorities, citing concerns over its reliability and noting that glitches have plagued the software, the outlet further noted.
“Even when it’s working correctly, the new app doesn’t check for past arrests or outstanding warrants — something the current system tied to in-person appointments does,” The Post reported, citing its sources. “Up to 100,000 migrants will be enrolled in the first wave of the program, sources said.”
This is just one of several initiatives being expedited before inauguration day, including a policy allowing migrants to challenge government orders requiring electronic monitoring while awaiting immigration hearings.
Experts warn that reversing these changes may not be as straightforward as President-elect Trump issuing an executive order. The Post noted that the new policies could face procedural obstacles and potential legal challenges, complicating efforts to roll them back.
“A lot of lawsuits get filed, maybe frivolously, but it just kind of stalls what the administration wants to do,” one DHS source told the outlet.
Former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan ripped the Biden-Harris administration’s last-minute moves as “the opposite of a peaceful transition of power.” He told The Post: “This is an obstructionist transition.”
“What they’re trying to do in the last final day, they’re going to try to put up as many roadblocks and obstacles and throw as many grenades as they can on their way out,” he said.
Morgan noted that he believes court challenges could delay Trump’s efforts to eliminate the new Biden-era immigration policies, similar to how legal battles hampered Trump’s immigration agenda during his first term, said The Post.
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In New York City, where the app is set to debut, ICE is already struggling to manage the surge of undocumented migrants. The city’s field office is overwhelmed, with an official document previously reviewed by The Post revealing that, as of early last year, appointments to process migrants released into the U.S. were fully booked through October 2032.
The Post added:
The Biden administration is rolling out the app despite “extreme issues” with it during pilot program testing in several cities, sources said.
The app hasn’t worked on Android phones and when used on a laptop for check-ins, it doesn’t collect the GPS location of a participant — meaning they could be reporting in from anywhere, according to the sources.
