By Megan Lebowitz and Kyle Stewart -
NBC News
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, summoned Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday and asked him to provide the children's case files. unaccompanied migrants who have been charged with crimes in the United States after being released by HHS.
In the letter informing Becerra of the subpoena, Jordan detailed previous requests his committee has issued for case files, and argued that the Administration's response has been
“woefully inadequate
. ”
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio (left), and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The committee requested the records as part of its oversight of “mismanagement in the shipment of unaccompanied foreign children” that, according to Jordan, resulted in some of them “committing egregious criminal acts against Americans.”
Jordan cited his own previous letters to Becerra on multiple occasions.
In a November letter, Jordan referenced media reports of
allegations of murders and assaults.
The committee requested the files of the alleged perpetrators.
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In his February letter, Jordan asserted that HHS had “previously noted concerns about the privacy of criminal aliens and asserted that the committee lacked a legitimate oversight purpose for obtaining case records.”
Jordan noted that his committee agreed to review the HHS documents privately “as a courtesy,” but also alleged that the documents provided by HHS included “pervasive redacted information.”
An HHS spokesperson in a statement criticized Jordan's subpoena, arguing that House Republicans appeared to be “presenting a false premise to carry out the subpoena, while still refusing to take action on
immigration reform and the border security
”.
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“While we realize that Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee would like to construct a narrative based on evasions, the facts remain clear: HHS already voluntarily shared those documents with the committee weeks ago,” the president stated. spokesman.
“The only information the committee seeks is
that relating to personal identification
, medical records and private medical information of the children.”
The spokesperson added that it was “unclear” what purpose “that personal information” would serve.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Jordan,
a staunch critic of Becerra and the Biden Administration
, already had a subpoena to the HHS secretary in January.