Correspondence
Thompson Writes Capitol Police on Increasing Threats Against Members of Congress
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the Capitol Police Board following up on his letter earlier this week on member security and threats against members of Congress. In the letter, Chairman Thompson requests the police board hold an emergency meeting and act swiftly to address this heightened threat environment. Letter text: I am following up on my July 15th letter given President Trump's continued attacks on … Continue Reading
July 05, 2019
Chairman Thompson Requests DHS Inspector General Investigation of CBP Leadership After Racist Facebook Group Revelations
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) commence an investigation into current and former U.S. Customs and Border Protection leadership after it was discovered employees allegedly posted violent, racist, misogynistic comments and pictures on private Facebook groups. Specifically, Chairman … Continue Reading
July 03, 2019
House Chairs Urge Trump Administration to Rescind Child Migrant Information-Sharing Memo
(WASHINGTON) - Today, several House committee and subcommittee chairpersons sent a letter to the Trump Administration urging it to rescind a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) requiring information about sponsors for migrant children be shared by HHS with DHS, where the information is then used to deport a child's family and loved ones. The MOA has negatively impacted the ORR shelter system and possibly contributed to the current prolonged detention of child migrants in overcrowded, squalid … Continue Reading
June 27, 2019
Chairmen Thompson, Engel, and Nadler Call on Trump to End Unlawful Safe Third Country Negotiations
(WASHINGTON) Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and today expressed their strong opposition to the negotiation of safe third country agreements with Guatemala and Mexico and explained that these accords would be contrary to U.S. law since the countries do not have adequate asylum and … Continue Reading
June 18, 2019
Nadler, Cummings, Thompson Question Legal Basis for Appointment of Ken Cuccinelli as Acting Director of USCIS
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan demanding a full explanation regarding the appointment of Ken Cuccinelli to serve as Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Full text of the letter is available here and below: Dear Acting Secretary McAleenan: We … Continue Reading
June 04, 2019
Chairman Thompson Demands Answers After Reports of Child Migrants Being Left in Vans Overnight
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the John Kelly, Acting Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, and Joanne Chiedi, Acting Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, demanding they investigate reports of child migrants being left in vans overnight while awaiting reunification with their families. Letter text: Dear Acting Inspectors General Kelly and Chiedi: Late … Continue Reading
May 03, 2019
Homeland Security Democrats Urge TSA to Continue to Allow Collective Bargaining for its Frontline Workforce
(WASHINGTON) - All 18 Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security, led by Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee Chairman Lou Correa (D-CA), sent a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske urging him to continue to allow collective bargaining for TSA employees. At the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security's budget hearing on April 9th, Administrator Pekoske refused to commit to … Continue Reading
May 02, 2019
Rogers, Thompson Call for New Focus on Threats to Religious Institutions at DHS
(WASHINGTON) - Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Committee, today called on Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan to create a Homeland Security Advisory Council Subcommittee focused on threats to places of worship and religious institutions. This follows a wave of recent attacks on religious institutions across the globe. "We urge you to establish a Homeland Security Advisory Council … Continue Reading
April 25, 2019
House Committees Investigate Unprecedented Firings at DHS
(WASHINGTON) -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, and Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking documents relating to recent actions by President Donald Trump and his top aide, Stephen Miller, to remove senior leaders throughout DHS who reportedly refused orders to violate … Continue Reading
April 18, 2019
Thompson, Warren Seek GAO Review of Federal Disaster Aid Programs' Impact on Inequality
(WASHINGTON) Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting that the GAO conduct a review of federal disaster relief programs to determine the extent to which the structure and administration of those programs exacerbate racial and socioeconomic inequities in the United States and the extent to which they have a disparate impact on Native tribal … Continue Reading
April 15, 2019
Thompson, Cummings, Nadler Demand Documents on Trump Administration Plan to Treat Immigrant Families and Children as Pawns in Political Game
(WASHINGTON) - Three House Committee Chairs sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the White House requesting documents regarding a Trump Administration proposal to release detained immigrants into congressional districts represented by Democrats for purely political reasons. This letter follows the President's acknowledgement that the Administration is actively considering this proposal and his claim that he has the "absolute legal right" to release immigrants into … Continue Reading
April 11, 2019
Rep. Max Rose Calls for Counterterrorism Budgets from Social Media Companies
(WASHINGTON) Congressman Max Rose and fellow Democrats on the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, which he chairs, are requesting details on the investments that members of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism are making to prevent the exploitation of their platforms by terrorists and extremists. The request follows a March 27th briefing in which Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft were unable to answer questions about resource allocation … Continue Reading
April 10, 2019
Chairman Thompson Writes New Acting Homeland Security Secretary on Outstanding Document Request and Upcoming Hearing
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan reminding him of Secretary Nielsen's commitment to come before the Committee on May 1. In the letter, Chairman Thompson also asked Acting Secretary McAleenan to produce documents still outstanding from a January 4, 2019 request related to the Department's border activities, including its separation of families and … Continue Reading
April 08, 2019
Chairman Thompson to Trump: Law Is Clear on DHS Order of Succession
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to President Trump informing him that the law is clear on the Department of Homeland Security's order of succession following the resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen. The Under Secretary for Management shall be the Acting Homeland Security Secretary. Dear President Trump: Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's short-lived tenure at the Department of Homeland Security was a disaster from the … Continue Reading
April 03, 2019
Democrats Write Secretary Nielsen: You Must Engage with Congress on Thoughtful, Specific Border Security Solutions
(WASHINGTON) - Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, led a letter from leading border security and immigration House Democrats to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen after she wrote Congress on the current situation on the border last week. Letter … Continue Reading
March 19, 2019
Chairman Thompson: Tech Companies Must Work to Stop Spread of Terrorist Content
(WASHINGTON) - After last week's deadly white-nationalist domestic terror attack on two New Zealand mosques, and the shooter's concurrent live-stream of the attack, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, has written a letter to the CEOs of four major technology companies (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft) urging them to prioritize the immediate removal of violent terrorist content, including that of far-right, domestic terrorists. In the … Continue Reading
March 14, 2019
Reps. Thompson, Rice, Espaillat, & Clarke Demand Answers on Reports ICE is Tracking Trump Protesters
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Chairwoman of the Border Security, Facilitation, & Operations Subcommittee, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), sent a letter to the Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding news reports that ICE is tracking Trump Administration protesters. The letter demands the tracking document and an … Continue Reading
March 14, 2019
Chairman Thompson: Administration Stonewalling Domestic Terrorism Oversight
(WASHINGTON) - Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to demand the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI brief the Committee on Homeland Security on the evolving threat of domestic terrorism. After Congress has ignored the issue of domestic terrorism for years, the Committee plans to hold hearings on this issue in the coming months. This request comes … Continue Reading
March 07, 2019
Chairman Thompson & Chairwoman Rice Demand Answers on Secret CBP List to Target Reporters & Lawyers at the Border
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, & Operations, sent a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to demand answers about new reports of a list CBP is using to stop, detain, question, and search reporters, attorneys, and advocates at the southern border. In the letter, Chairs Thompson and Rice … Continue Reading
January 29, 2019
Chairman Thompson to Secretary Nielsen: Your Refusal to Testify on Border Security Is Unacceptable
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent the below letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, calling on her to reconsider her refusal to testify before the Committee next week: Dear Secretary Nielsen: Your decision to refuse my invitation to testify before the Committee on Homeland Security regarding our Nation’s border security on February 6, 2019, is unreasonable and unacceptable. I strongly urge you to … Continue Reading