Nashville Standard

United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and 19 other Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The letter questions the Administration’s dismissal of asylum cases and highlights the impact of these policies on the U.S. legal immigration system.

Recent reports revealed that the Administration granted thousands of illegal immigrants “mass amnesty” by terminating more than 350,000 asylum cases over two years. This change was instituted by a 2022 memo from ICE Principal Legal Adviser Kerry Doyle, instructing agency prosecutors to advise immigration judges on nonpriority cases suitable for dismissal. As a result, 102,550 cases were dismissed in 2022, followed by 149,000 in 2023, and 113,843 cases in the first four months of 2024. This is compared to just over 26,000 dismissals during the entire Trump Administration. Since 2021, 77% of asylum seekers have been allowed to remain in the United States according to a study published by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

The letter criticizes President Biden's actions as “too little, too late,” suggesting it is an implicit admission that the Administration has the authority to address this issue.

The letter also seeks transparency and accountability and requests detailed responses regarding the Administration’s handling of immigration and border security. The senators raised questions about the accuracy of reported figures, justification for the increase in dismissals, and measures in place to prevent this policy from incentivizing illegal immigration and compromising national security.

“This administration’s approach has consistently downplayed the severity of the border crisis,” wrote the Senators. “Initially denying its existence, then reluctantly acknowledging it, and now attempting to address it through inadequate measures.”

“The repeated failures in border management under your leadership have led to an unprecedented backlog of 3.5 million asylum cases," they continued. "This poses a substantial burden on our immigration system and increases the risk of criminal activities by illegal aliens.”

“The American people deserve transparency and accountability regarding the administration’s handling of immigration and border security," concluded the Senators. "The current state at our southern border is unacceptable and demands immediate solutions."

A copy of their letter can be found here.

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