House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN-07) issued a subpoena on Tuesday to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for its failure to provide “satisfactory documents and other materials relevant to the Committee’s May 2023 request for more information on the vetting and screening of Afghan evacuees entering the United States since 2021.”
Following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the committee sent two letters to the DHS requesting information on the event; however, both letters were met with “insufficient responses” from the Biden administration, according to the committee.
In May of this year, Green and other Republican leaders sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding information on coordination between the DHS, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense during the withdrawal, as well as documents and communications relating to U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) screening, vetting, or inspection of Afghan evacuees at U.S. ports of entry.
When the DHS failed to fulfill the request, the committee sent another letter in June renewing its request and demanding a staff-level briefing on the matter.
“Despite the Committee working with the Department to accommodate the proper production of these documents, DHS continued to provide unsatisfactory responses and productions,” the Committee said.
In a cover letter sent to Mayorkas this week, Green explains, “While the produced documents provide some basic information regarding Afghan evacuees, they fall well short of what was requested by the Committee…The repeated failures of the Department to provide a satisfactory response and protracted delays necessitate the issuance of the enclosed subpoena. The Committee requires the data, documents, and other information compelled by the attached subpoena to fully evaluate potential legislation to reform the Department’s authority and operations. The Department’s functions relating to border and port security are directly within the purview of the Committee’s oversight authorities.”
Mayorkas was ordered to produce all sought-after documents to the committee by November 7.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
