The Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), John Roth announced late Wednesday night that following a request from Congress, his department has begun probing President Trump’s executive order that initiated the ‘travel ban’ and has directed its personnel’s to preserve all documents related to its implementation.
“All agency personnel must preserve any document that contains information that is potentially relevant to OIG’s investigation, or that might reasonably lead to the discovery of relevant information relating to the implementation of this Executive Order. For the duration of this hold, any relevant information that is within your possession or control must be preserved in the exact form as it currently exists,” Roth, wrote in an agency-wide directive sent to DHS staff early Wednesday afternoon, according to the Intercept.
Illinois senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin who also called for a “comprehensive investigation” earlier this week, sent a letter to Roth on Sunday, in which they asked several details regarding the “chaotic execution” of Trump’s ‘travel ban’, which included details such as the advisory role played by the DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in developing it and also about the directions received by the aforementioned departments regarding its implementation.
The lawmakers also urged the IG to find out if CBP officers were compliant of subsequent court orders and whether or not there exists a log entry of all individuals detained at respective ports of entry by DHS and CBP officials.
Chaos ensued in most major airports despite several legal challenges in a number of states including a Saturday night federal court order that sought to block all ban-related removals.
“Every time we talked to [CBP] about one of these instances, they just told us they were awaiting a call from DC and finally stopped talking to us altogether and told us to call President Trump…It’s really clear that there’s really no method to this madness and that the fate of all these people is sort of up to the whim of how bold is the [CBP] port director for that airport willing to be” Becca Heller, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, reportedly said on Sunday, according to the Intercept.
DHS took a queue from the ongoing legal challenges and said on Sunday that it would continue to execute the directives of the Trump administration while simultaneously following the newly issued court orders.
“We continue to face [CBP]’s noncompliance and chaos frankly at every airport across the country… the last 48 hours have been really full of chaos, the sense of the federal government completely deciding to not comply with the Constitution and on top of that, to not provide guidance to its field with respect to arriving immigrants and refugees,” Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, reportedly said on Sunday.
Amid the ongoing confusion, it would be speculative to suggest the sort of impact, Roth’s investigation may produce. However, after the sacking of acting attorney general Sally Yates, the morale amongst government officials is low according to a senior immigration official who spoke to the Intercept on condition of anonymity.
“Standby for the sacking of the OIG,” suggested the official.
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