Durbin Responds to Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans' Letter Calling for Hearing on Title 42

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today responded to a recent letter from Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans requesting a Committee hearing with U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials regarding the Biden Administration’s decision to rescind the Title 42 Public Health Order on May 23, 2022.  In a letter to Committee Republicans, Durbin welcomed their renewed interest in Committee oversight of DHS and noted that it was absent during the 116th Congress when Republicans were in the majority.  Durbin also indicated that he has asked the Administration for a classified briefing on Title 42 rescission for Committee members to facilitate discussion of nonpublic aspects of the Administration’s plans, including those that pertain to the activities of cartels and smugglers.

Durbin wrote, “Committee Republicans did not hold a single DHS oversight hearing during the entirety of the 116th Congress, and the Immigration Subcommittee held only two hearings, despite unprecedented chaos and crisis at DHS during the Trump administration. In fact, Committee Republicans did not hold a single agency oversight hearing during the final year of the Trump administration.”

Durbin went on to state that since becoming Chair, he has prioritized restoring the Judiciary Committee’s oversight role, including by holding a November 16, 2021, hearing with DHS Secretary Mayorkas—the Committee’s first agency-wide DHS oversight hearing since January 2018.

“Oversight will remain a top priority of the Committee as long as I am Chair, and this will include holding an annual oversight hearing of DHS this year,” Durbin continued.  “In addition, I have requested that the administration brief members of the Committee as soon as possible about the rescission of Title 42 and the resumption of immigration processing under Title 8.”

Durbin concluded, “The status of the CDC’s Title 42 public health order—which is not an immigration enforcement authority—does not absolve the Senate of our responsibility to act on long-overdue immigration reform legislation on a bipartisan basis. As I have stated on several occasions, I welcome any efforts to work together on good faith, bipartisan solutions to fix our badly broken immigration system.”

Full text of today’s letter is available here and below:

April 25, 2022

Dear Senators:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the forthcoming rescission of the Title 42 public health order that was announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

I welcome your renewed interest in Judiciary Committee oversight of DHS, which was absent during the 116th Congress. Committee Republicans did not hold a single DHS oversight hearing during the entirety of the 116th Congress, and the Immigration Subcommittee held only two hearings, despite unprecedented chaos and crisis at DHS during the Trump administration. In fact, Committee Republicans did not hold a single agency oversight hearing during the final year of the Trump administration.

Since becoming Chair, I have prioritized restoring the Judiciary Committee’s oversight role, including by holding a November 16, 2021 hearing with DHS Secretary Mayorkas—the Committee’s first agency-wide DHS oversight hearing since January 2018. The Committee has also held its first FBI oversight hearing since 2019 and first Department of Justice oversight hearing since 2017, as well as oversight hearings examining the Justice Department’s response to rising hate crimes, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s handling of the domestic terrorism threat, compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, the federal response to ransomware attacks, and the FBI’s dereliction of duty in the Larry Nassar investigation, among others.

Oversight will remain a top priority of the Committee as long as I am Chair, and this will include holding an annual oversight hearing of DHS this year. In addition, I have requested that the administration brief members of the Committee as soon as possible about the rescission of Title 42 and the resumption of immigration processing under Title 8. I have requested that this be a classified briefing to ensure that DHS and Committee members can discuss classified and any other nonpublic aspects of the administration’s plans, including those that pertain to the activities of cartels and smugglers.

The status of the CDC’s Title 42 public health order—which is not an immigration enforcement authority—does not absolve the Senate of our responsibility to act on long-overdue immigration reform legislation on a bipartisan basis. As I have stated on several occasions, I welcome any efforts to work together on good faith, bipartisan solutions to fix our badly broken immigration system.

Sincerely,

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