June 11, 2020
The Honorable Jerry Nadler The Honorable Lindsey Graham Chair, House Committee on the Judiciary Chair, Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States House of Representatives United States Senate
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren The Honorable John Cornyn Chair, House Subcommittee on Immigration Chair, Senate Subcommittee on Border and Citizenship Security and Immigration United States House of Representatives United States Senate
The Honorable Bennie Thompson The Honorable Ron Johnson Chair, House Committee on Homeland Chair, Senate Committee on Homeland Security Security and Governmental Affairs United States House of Representatives United States Senate
The Honorable Xochitl Torres Small The Honorable Rob Portman Chair, House Subcommittee on Oversight, Chair, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Management, and Accountability Investigations United States House of Representatives United States Senate
The Honorable Carolyn Maloney The Honorable Jamie Raskin Chair, House Committee on Oversight and Chair, House Subcommittee on Civil Rights Reform and Civil Liberties United States House of Representatives United States House of Representatives
Dear Members of Congress:
As the chairs of the congressional committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over the federal government’s immigration and border security policy, the Hispanic National Bar Association (“HNBA”) urges you to increase aggressive oversight of our nation’s immigration detention facilities. It is clear to us that previous efforts at holding the relevant federal agencies accountable for the mistreatment of men, women, and children in immigration detention have not been fully successful. To date, few supervisors, division chiefs or other personnel have been investigated, reprimanded or relieved of their positions in connection with the following incidents:
● A cruel, manufactured f amily separation policy first enacted in 2018 ● The d eaths of seven migrant children held in federal immigration custody ● The deportation of individuals d iagnosed with COVID-19 or held in facilities with confirmed COVID-19 cases to countries particularly vulnerable to the pandemic ● Reports that U.S. Imigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) i nappropriately pressured migrant families to waive their rights under the Flores settlement ● Reports that ICE is u nnecessarily transferring detainees infected or suspected of being infected with COVID-19, leading to new outbreaks in other facilities
We are urging you to use every tool at your disposal, including the issuance of congressional subpoenas, to gain the necessary information and take appropriate action. We understand that it is not p olitically expedient to engage in this kind of thorough investigation and oversight, but we are not interested in politics. However arduous the process, we are demanding justice and accountability for the abuses inflicted on the human beings ensnared in our nation’s broken immigration system.
We hope you will seriously consider our requests. The HNBA is at your service to further discuss these matters with you and your staff.
Respectfully,
Irene Oria National President Hispanic National Bar Association
CC: Ranking Member Jim Jordan Ranking Member Ken Buck Ranking Member Mike Rogers Ranking Member Dan Crenshaw Ranking Member Jim Jordan Ranking Member Chip Roy Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein Ranking Member Dick Durbin Ranking Member Gary Peters Ranking Member Tom Carper