Letter to Hon. Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States - McConnell, Grassley Call Out AG On Plan To Send Taxpayer-Funded Settlements To Illegal Immigrants

Letter

Dear Attorney General Garland:
Last week we read with great concern a report in the Wall Street Journal about the Justice
Department trying to settle claims against the U.S. Government brought by illegal aliens whose
families were separated under the prior administration's zero-tolerance enforcement priorities. 1
Perhaps more troubling than the settlements themselves are the repo1ts that the Justice
Depaitment is looking to settle these claims for $450,000 per individual. This could result in
payouts that are over a million dollars per family because they entered our country illegally
during the course of these enforcement priorities.
It should not surprise you to learn that we find these reports outrageous. Any settlements to
illegal aliens because they violated the law are wrong. These kinds of settlements are offensive to
the American people.
Interestingly, President Biden may agree with us. When asked about these reports yesterday at a
press conference he seemed to deny them. When asked specifically if the U.S. Government
would pay out $450,000 each to illegal aliens separated from their families by the last
administration he replied, "Not gonna happen."
The ACLU, who represents many of the illegal-alien litigants, responded, "President Biden may
not have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department .... "2 But it
seems the ACLU may have spoken too soon, because in the wake of President Biden's press conference the ACLU Executive Director said, "DOJ communicated Wednesday night that the
numbers reported in the press are higher than anywhere that settlement can land."3
What's going on? Do you intend to stand with the ACLU and go forward with these massive
settlement payments? Or have you complied with President Biden's instruction and decided to
seek settlement amounts for illegal aliens that the White House finds more politically palatable?
On one hand, the President said that his administration will not go forward with these settlements
and the ACLU says the Department of Justice immediately complied. On the other hand, you
have been adamant that the Department, under your leadership, will not take political orders
from the White House concerning litigation and enforcement decisions.
Are these settlements under consideration or are they not? And if your response would be that
the Justice Department does not comment on ongoing settlement negotiations, we note that
President Biden and the ACLU already have. Where is the Department of Justice?
This matter demands clarification.
Sincerely,

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