Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said the Department of Homeland Security removed parole requests for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from its data.
In a letter to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Biggs charged the department with a lack of compliance with congressional demands for accurate border information.
Biggs, a staunch advocate for border control, said the DHS has not fulfilled the requirements for information on illegal immigrants who were granted parole into the U.S.
Mayorkas testified before Congress that parole is granted on an individual basis, but Biggs argues these numbers are too large. In the letter he shared with Secrets, he wrote that the Border Patrol has not recently released accurate reporting.
"The report was required to include the number of parole requests received and granted," wrote Biggs. "The report did include some data for parole requests received and granted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but it did not include any data for parole requests received and granted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection despite the fact that based on court filings and data on CBP's website I know that between March 2022 and September 2022 CBP granted parole to more than 300,000 aliens.
"The lack of CBP data is either a mistake or a blatant attempt by your department to hide the extent of your use of parole."
Biggs told Secrets that DHS "is failing to provide Congress with accurate and timely information regarding its abuse of parole. The department's failure to provide a report that satisfies the statutory requirement is proof that the department is either willfully abusing its parole authority or is incompetent and does not have these records."
Biggs added: "Secretary Mayorkas testified under oath that parole is 'judged on an individualized, case-by-case basis,' but I have seen no evidence to support this claim.
"In its initial report to Congress, the department conveniently omitted U.S. Customs and Border Protection's grant of parole to hundreds of thousands of aliens. To me, that signifies that the department is abusing parole to allow mass releases of illegal aliens into the country."
Mayorkas is taking heat from House and Senate Republican for what they say is an open-border policy, which he denies. House conservatives say they could impeaching Mayorkas when the new Congress convenes in January.