INBOX: Tillis, Colleagues Ask DHS Secretary Why They Are Using Taxpayer Dollars to Fly Illegal Immigrants Around the Country | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Donna Martinez.

    Arriving in my email inbox from Sen. Thom Tillis' office Thursday:

    WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Todd Young (R-IN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Boozman (R-AR), and Steve Daines (R-MT) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the movement of dangerous illegal immigrants from the border for release into law-abiding American communities.

    According to recent reports, ICE has been releasing large numbers of dangerous single adult illegal immigrants into our American communities. After being processed en masse at makeshift border facilities, these criminal illegal immigrants are being loaded onto planes and shuttled across the country for release.

    "In light of the public reporting around 'midnight flights' of illegal immigrants, we request a full accounting of your Department's activities so that we can understand the scope of this challenge," wrote the senators. "We are concerned that the use of these midnight flights by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is intended to obfuscate the Administration's failure to secure our borders and protect hardworking, law-abiding Americans."

    "It is deeply troubling to learn, according to an ICE source, that at a time when millions of Americans are struggling with inflation, their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being used to transport illegal immigrants across the country, including dangerous criminal aliens," the senators continued. "This appears to contradict the guidance you issued in September 2021, where you stated that a 'noncitizen who poses a current threat to public safety, typically because of serious criminal conduct, is a priority for apprehension and removal.'"

    "We are alarmed by the reports of mass release of criminal illegal immigrants into our communities under the cover of darkness. The American people deserve answers to why their taxpayer dollars are being used to fly illegal immigrants across the country to be released into our backyards. Public safety and national security are on the line," the senators concluded.

    The full letter can be found here.