Letter to Hon. Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security - Grassley Requests Briefings From DHS, DOJ, FBI On Gang-Related Activity And Steps Being Taken To Deter Gang Violence

Letter

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

This letter is to request a briefing on the data collection methods, procedures, efforts, and
reports of gang-related apprehensions and deportations, as well as the steps federal law
enforcement are currently taking against gang-related immigration offenses and gang-related
crimes, by the appropriate personnel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Gangs are a danger to the American public. According to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), over 30,000 gangs are criminally active in the United States. These gangs
use violence as a means of control. They intimidate, murder, and traffic humans and drugs. They
commit identity theft, credit card fraud, and money laundering. They murder and threaten law
enforcement, sometimes involving family members, to retaliate and intimidate.

Gangs are also particularly dangerous because they recruit disaffected youth. Schools
are used for gang recruitment and drug sales and distribution. According to the most recent
Bureau of Justice Statistics data, nine percent of students in middle school and high school
reported a gang presence at their school.

This issue is directly and significantly impacting Americans right now. In the past two
years, homicides have increased by roughly 35 percent in major U.S. cities. In 2021, FBI
Director Wray recently named gangs as an important danger to defend against, citing over 600
gang-related arrests in a single month of2021. And the DHS's Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) told Committee staff in January 2022 that the nation's recent spike in
organized retail crime is linked to gangs and organized crime groups, and HSI conveyed to
Committee staff that they are approaching organized retail crime issues as gang issues.

A critical part of winning the fight against gangs and gang-related violence is knowledge:
knowing who we are fighting against, whether our procedures are effective, and what additional
resources law enforcement needs. Unfortunately, the American public and Congress alike lack
access to current gang-related data. Even though the United States experienced a record 1.7
million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border in Fiscal Year 2021, 10 U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol had a record low in gang apprehensions. These data appear
inconsistent, yet my staff lack the ability to effectively analyze this issue due to the dearth of
reported data and data collection methods.

I would like to know the following:

1. How are the agencies under your authority tracking this issue? Which data collection
policies or procedures have been changed under the Biden Administration? What
changes to the collected data have resulted from such changes?

2. What are these agencies finding in terms of trends? Which gangs have shown most
growth in the last two years? To what extent is immigration related to their growth?
Are the fastest-growing gangs primarily local, national, or transnational? Which
crimes are these gangs committing most frequently? Has this changed in the last two
years? Are these gangs using new tools, methods, or networks to commit certain
crimes? To what extent and on which kinds of criminal activity do gangs cooperate?

3. Which sections of the criminal code currently provide the best tools for enforcement?
Which impede the effective investigation or prosecution of gang-related crimes?
What additional legislative tools might be helpful or necessary to assist in these
agencies' efforts?

4. What state-based reporting issues affect data collection and accuracy?

5. What new initiatives are the agencies under your authority undertaking on this issue?
Which existing initiatives have proved the most helpful?

6. What further steps can be taken to combat gang-related immigration and criminal
offenses?

I am deeply concerned that Congress, as the principal oversight authority of your agency,
lacks significant insight into this nationally prevalent issue. A briefing by the relevant agencies
under your purview to address the above questions would do much to correct this concern.
I ask that your Office of Legislative Affairs be in contact with my staff to set up such a
briefing. If you have any questions, please contact Tina Seidernan on my Committee staff at
(202) 224-5225.

Sincerely,[...]

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