WASHINGTON The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement canceled a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus hours before it was set to occur on Tuesday avoiding what would have likely been a tense summit with lawmakers who are furious over recent deportation raids.
Congressional sources said thatICE Acting Director Thomas Homan would no longer attend a meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Spokespeople for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Democratic members requested the meeting to talk about deportation actions across the country last week. ICE officers arrested more than 680 immigrants in multiple states from Monday to Friday, officials said on Monday. About 75 percent of those detained had criminal records, according to ICE, although the agency did not break down the types of crimes and how many were solely immigration-related.
ICE officials said the arrests were part of routine and targeted enforcement actions, although immigrant rights advocates say they were more expansive than normal.
President Donald Trump said Monday that he was following through on a campaign promise to drive out the bad ones among the undocumented population.
Were getting them out, and thats what I said I would do, he said. Im just doing what I said I would do when we won by a very, very large electoral college vote.
In a letter to Homan on Friday, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) and several other House Democratic members said they had serious concerns about the raids.
These raids have struck fear in the hearts of the immigrant community as many fear that President Trumps promised deportation force is now in full-swing, the Democrats wrote. It is critical that we meet with you in person immediately to discuss the impact these raids have had on our communities as well as obtain clarifying guidance on how ICE policies will differ from the last administration.
Rep.Luis Gutirrez (D-Ill.), who signed onto the letter to Homan requesting a meeting, said in an emailed statement Tuesday that the cancelation was another indication that the Trump administration does not seem to believe in transparency or sharing information with Members of Congress.
The Trump people are clearly ducking accountability and oversight, he said. This is unacceptable as rumors and fear circulate within cities and towns across America and ICE is too busy to meet with the CHC or key Democratic leaders? That just doesnt fly.
Read Democratsfull letter to ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan below.
Dear Mr. Homan,
We have serious concerns about the recent nationwide U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that resulted in the detention and possible deportation of several individuals. These raids have struck fear in the hearts of the immigrant community as many fear that President Trumps promised deportation force is now in full-swing.
It is critical that we meet with you in person immediately to discuss the impact these raids have had on our communities as well as obtain clarifying guidance on how ICE policies will differ from the last Administration. Please contact our offices to set up a time to meet at a location of your convenience on or before COB on Wednesday, February 15, 2017.
Our constituents have contacted us requesting information and clarity regarding these enforcement activities as well as ICEs interpretation of the enforcement priorities as listed in the Executive Order. As you are well aware, these priorities are vast enough to label any undocumented individual as a priority for removal. We understand that ICE has provided clarifying guidance on this Order in the form of a memo. It is critical that our constituents have clarity on ICE operations and we request a copy of this memo. Without this guidance, our communities will be paralyzed as students will remain home from school, parents will be afraid to leave children alone and our local economies will be irreparably damaged.
Immediately after hearing about the enforcement activities occurring in California, Member offices contacted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE to get information regarding the individuals that were detained and the number of families affected. However, neither ICE nor DHS has yet to provide our offices with any concrete data pertaining to these enforcement activities. In advance of this meeting, we would like to request specific information about this targeted operation, the location of the raids, the number of individuals detained and deported, the number of parents of minor children that were apprehended, the reason for the apprehension as well as the number of people apprehended with criminal convictions and the types of criminal convictions.
We look forward to meeting with you in short order so that we can have an open and candid discussion regarding changes ICE has made regarding enforcement and removal activities and how this may impact immigrant communities.
Thank you for your prompt consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Michelle Lujan GrishamChairwomanCongressional Hispanic CaucusZoe LofgrenRanking MemberSubcommittee on Immigration and Border SecurityJohn Conyers
Ranking Member
House Judiciary CommitteeLuis GutierrezTask Force Chair on Immigration and Border IssuesCongressional Hispanic CaucusJudy ChuChairwoman
Congressional Asian Pacific Americans CaucusLucille Roybal-Allard
Member of Congress
This article has been updated to include comment from Gutirrez.
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