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January 04, 2019

Chairman Thompson Calls on Secretary Nielsen to Come Before the Homeland Security Committee to Answer for the Administration’s Border Security Policies

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen requesting her to testify before the Committee for its first hearing of the new Congress on the Administration’s failed border security agenda. Secretary Nielsen has only appeared before the Committee once. 

In the letter, Chairman Thompson wrote:

Your border security presentation submitted to Congress today is yet another example of the misinformation and outright lies the Trump Administration has used to make the case for the President’s boondoggle border wall, defend the government shutdown, and distract the American people from a border policy so flawed that children have died in Department of Homeland Security custody.  Squandering American taxpayer money on a wall may satisfy a segment of the President’s political supporters, but it will not solve the real border security challenges facing our Nation. 

Full letter text

In the letter, Chairman Thompson also requests DHS provide relevant documentation and records on construction of a border wall, metering individuals at land ports of entry, interdiction of families between ports of entry, and care and treatment of children in CBP custody.

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Media contact: Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978