Letter to Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States - Congresswoman Tenney, NY Colleagues Demand Biden End Secret Flights of Illegal Immigrants to NY

Letter

Dear President Biden,

We write to you today with grave concern regarding your administration's repeated flying of illegal immigrants from sites along our Southern Border to locations around the United States, including our home state of New York. A video recording, recently made public following a Freedom of Information Act request, shows illegal immigrants arriving in White Plains, New York by airplane on August 13, 2021.

In this video captured by a local Police Officer's bodycam, a number of federal contractors are seen shepherding dozens of illegal immigrants from a Boeing 737 to charter buses across the tarmac. The contractors refuse to identify their organization or employer to the Officer, stating they are not authorized to do so. This further signifies the bad faith your administration continues to act in regarding this practice, as the contractors repeatedly describe your Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) intent as keeping these flights away from media coverage.

On October 27, 2021, 51 Members of Congress wrote Secretaries Mayorkas and Becerra requesting information on which agencies are executing these flights, why these flights are being conducted, and a number of other pieces of information to allow Congress to execute its critical role of federal oversight. In its response to Congress, your DHS states it continues to actively transport illegal immigrants through our state of New York. Unfortunately, the Department of Health and Human Resources has failed to respond to date.

We urge you to immediately cease any activities of transporting illegal immigrants by plane, or any other method, from the Southern Border to New York State. Following your DHS's recent response, we demand you provide Congress and all New Yorkers with the current location and status of each illegal immigrants you have transferred to our state. The New Yorkers we represent are entitled to know how your failure to address the crisis at our Southern Border continues to impact their communities and day-to-day lives.

Sincerely,

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