At the end of November, reports indicated that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had accidentally leaked the identities of more than 6,000 immigrants that were seeking asylum in the United States. Since then, an order has been placed for 46 Cuban asylum-seekers to be deported. In response, Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) has issued a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DOHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calling on him to reconsider the deportation order.
In speaking to the Washington Examiner, an ICE spokesperson commented on the leak, saying that “though unintentional, this release of information is a breach of policy and the agency is investigating the incident and taking all corrective actions necessary.”
Rep. Salazar condemned the Department of Homeland Security in the letter, citing the data leak as negligence.
Salazar makes the case that the Biden administration should reassess the cases of the 46 Cuban asylum-seekers while also warning Secretary Mayorkas that the Department should not have "open diplomatic channels with the totalitarian regime occupying Cuba and their willingness to use anything the United States says against its opposition" according to a press release.
Specifically, the Florida Republican highlighted 3 key points that the Biden administration should take into account when revising the cases. Elvira Salazar warns that "this leak is life-threatening and unacceptable," she warns that "it is dangerous to deal with totalitarian dictatorships," and she also charges the Biden administration will a call to "protect these individuals at all costs."
In a statement regarding the letter, Salazar questioned the deportation order and leak, saying that “the publication of the personal information of more than 6,252 at-risk, vulnerable, asylum-seeking individuals could have a disastrous effect on their lives,” adding that “as a result of this leak, the safety of these 46 Cuban asylum-seekers simply cannot be assured.”
A copy of the letter can be read here.
