On March 7, Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA) along with four other Republican Members of the Georgia delegation, Reps. Lynn Westmoreland, Phil Gingrey, Tom Graves, and Paul Broun, sent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano a letter demanding answers about the Department’s decision to release detained illegal aliens supposedly for budgetary reasons. The letter included eight specific questions the Congressmen wanted answered and requested a reply by the end of March.
On May 7, DHS finally got around to replying—over one month late. Remarkably, the response failed to answer any of the questions the Georgia Republicans sought answers about.
For example, the Georgia Republicans asked “How many illegal aliens were released in Georgia and how many have criminal convictions? What are the specific crimes committed by the illegal aliens released in Georgia?” Nothing in the DHS response mentioned anything about Georgia. Rather, the response addressed the amount of illegal aliens released throughout the country (2,226) and the number with “identified” criminal convictions (622).
However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on March 20 that “Federal immigration authorities confirmed Wednesday they have put 28 illegal immigrants back behind bars in Georgia and other states after releasing them and 2,200 others because of federal spending cuts.”
Although DHS continues to deceive the American public about the politically motivated decision to release illegal aliens, Congressman Collins has vowed to continue fighting to hold the Department accountable.