Letter to Secretary Mayokas - Buchanan Blasts Decision to Cancel Program Targeting Sex Offenders

Letter

Dear Secretary Mayorkas and Acting Director Johnson,

I am writing to urge you to reconsider your recent decision to terminate Operation Talon, a federal operation intended to target and remove convicted sex offenders who are living in the country illegally.

With sex crimes including human trafficking continuing to rise in the U.S., now is clearly not the time to thwart efforts intended to remove these dangerous predators from our country. Canceling this program makes absolutely no sense and sends the wrong message. It's unclear whether the cancellation of "Operation Talon" was intentional or collateral damage in your softening of immigration enforcement, but regardless the program needs to be reinstated.

According to date collected by Syracuse University, between October 2014 and May 2018 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested nearly 20,000 illegal immigrants previously convicted of sex-related crimes including sexual assault, child molestation, rape, and human trafficking -- a staggering and heartbreaking statistic.

Operation Talon was explicitly designed to tackle this growing problem and deport these dangerous predators. If you are in this country illegally and have a history of sex convictions you should be a high priority for our law enforcement agencies.

Tragically, human trafficking cases have more than doubled in the last four years alone while other sex-related crimes have also increased. My home state of Florida has the third highest number of human trafficking cases of any state. Abruptly scrapping this important federal operation exposes potentially countless victims to these dangerous predators.

The federal government should be putting its full weight behind this essential law enforcement effort, not stepping back from the front lines of the battle to keep children safe. America should not be viewed as a sanctuary country to these criminals.

The administration owes the country an explanation for this decision and it should reverse the action to show that it is serious in addressing these types of heinous crimes. I look forward to your prompt response on this critically important matter.

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