WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic lawmakers on Thursday sought documents on Trump administration firings of top officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), saying they were concerned the dismissals were prompted by the officials’ refusal to break the law.
Three U.S. House of Representatives committee chairmen sent a letter to DHS asking for documents related to actions by Republican President Donald Trump and top aide Stephen Miller to remove senior leaders at the agency.
They expressed concern that the firings and forced resignations earlier this month put U.S. national security at risk.
“We are also concerned that the president may have removed DHS officials because they refused his demands to violate federal immigration law and judicial orders,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
They said they were troubled by reports that Trump wants to put Miller, who has spearheaded many of his hard-line immigration policies, in charge of all immigration and border affairs.
They cited reports that Miller called several DHS officials to exert pressure on them to follow on “extreme immigration policy decisions,” according to the statement from U.S. Representatives Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thomson. All three are Democrats.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned under pressure this month, followed by several other leaders at the sprawling department that includes Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Doina Chiacu; editing by Jonathan Oatis