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Listening to Your Thoughts on Immigration
So many of you have reached out about the immigration situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. I appreciate each of you sharing your thoughts on this important issue and want to give you an update.
As many of you already know, people entering our country illegally are subject to federal prosecution for breaking the law. However, federal law prohibits minors from being detained in federal criminal detention facilities. This results in minors being placed in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS ORR).
The safety and wellbeing of these children is always the highest priority at this stage. Like American children in our welfare system, these children are offered services such as housing, nutrition, healthcare, and even recreational activities like sports and television. These services are provided by a network of certified nonprofits across the country.
About 11,000 minors are in the care of HHS ORR. Of these, about 80% are teenagers, most of whom crossed over the border unaccompanied by an adult. Approximately 100 children under the age of five were placed recently in the care of HHS ORR, and as of this week, about 50 have already been reunited with their families.
For those young children that remain with HHS ORR, there are very real and very serious concerns about their safety and wellbeing. HHS ORR is committed to reuniting children with appropriate family members whenever possible. Unfortunately, however, it has been revealed that, for some of these children, the parent has already left the U.S., has child abuse convictions, or is not even related to the child. Obviously, no child can be returned to an abusive or high-risk environment.
As I have said repeatedly, Congress must act to address this situation and secure our borders once and for all, so that we stop flow of illegal crossings. I will continue to work on this issue in the coming weeks.
Upholding Commitment to Government Transparency
As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I had the important responsibility of participating in an oversight hearing involving FBI Agent Peter Strzok who is the subject of a special investigation for his failure to follow FBI procedures during the 2016 Russian investigation.
Special Counsel Mueller removed Agent Strzok from his role as one of the lead investigators after it was revealed that Agent Strzok and another agent, Lisa Page, were romantically involved and exchanging highly explosive and negative text messages regarding President Trump. Agent Strzok was reassigned to a high-level post in the FBI’s HR department in August of 2017 pending an internal investigation.
Agent Strzok repeatedly said he was not biased and that the hundreds of inflammatory, some profane, messages should not be viewed as an indicator of bias. The FBI’s Inspector General had a different opinion. In the IG’s recent report, it was clear: Agent Strzok did indeed exhibit bias towards President Trump.
In related news, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced indictments of 12 Russian intel officers for hacking DNC computers today. The indictment does NOT allege or implicate involvement by any Trump campaign officials or that any American was knowingly in contact with Russian intel officials. These indictments are a step forward in getting to the truth and holding those responsible accountable. As the investigation continues, it is imperative that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Special Counsel Mueller follow the facts and that they do so as expeditiously as possible. The American people deserve no less.
Hearing the Needs of Georgia’s Agriculture Community
This week, I met with the Georgia Agribusiness Council to discuss the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, which has now passed the House and the Senate and heads to a Joint House/Senate Conference Committee. My thanks to Bryan Tolar and the entire leadership of the agriculture community for their input and insights.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this note. To stay current on what's going on in Congress, please follow me on Facebook by clicking here or visiting Facebook.com/RepKarenHandel. If you find this update helpful, please take a second to forward it along to a few of your friends and neighbors.
As always, feel free to call (202) 225-4501 or (770) 998-0049 if you need assistance from me or anyone in my office.
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