Letter to United State Attorney Carol C. Lam
Letter to United State Attorney Carol C. Lam
Ms. Carol C. Lam
United States Attorney
880 Front Street, Room 6293
San Diego, California 92101
Dear Ms. Lam:
In response to your comments on the Border Patrol internal memo my office obtained and released, your statement misses the mark and exhibits a willful disregard to the documented 251 incidents in fiscal year 2004 where the Border Patrol at the El Cajon station apprehended smugglers but led to smuggling charges for roughly 6% of the cases. The memo I released contains a specific enforcement number for each of the 251 incidents that you or the Department of Homeland Security can confirm by simply typing the number into a computer database.
Your failure to address the substantive issues raised in the memo is consistent with previous news reports and comments that I have repeatedly heard from Border Patrol agents who work closely with your office. You have previously disregarded my requests for information that can help me understand the extent of the problems associated with prosecuting alien smuggling cases and the resources you would need to adopt a zero tolerance policy for trafficking in human beings.
In the case of the memo I released, the fact that you have chosen to focus on unspecified alterations to what you freely admit is an "old Border Patrol document" and your assertion that this document was not seen or approved by Border Patrol management does not dismiss the verifiable facts and details in the memo. I can readily understand that the internal memo, written by a Border Patrol employee, is an embarrassment to your office as the memo speaks with such candor about barriers to prosecution that it could not be embraced and released publicly as a report representing the views of Border Patrol management.
On Monday, my office requested your assistance in obtaining a copy of the report you referenced in your statement but your office has not returned that phone call. I find your statement that "all dialogue and debate should be based on well-informed and accurate data" incredibly disingenuous considering your record in response to my past requests for information on criminal aliens and alien smuggling.
The last correspondence I sent to you was October 13, 2005, concerning an alien by the name of Alfredo Gonzales Garcia, a.k.a. Isidro Gonzales Alas, FBI # 180566JA5. In this letter I asked that if there is some barrier to the prosecution of criminal aliens, including smugglers, that I am unaware of, to please communicate it so we can make sure you have the resources and policies in place needed to allow you to bring these criminal aliens and repeat offenders to justice.
Finally, as the representative of a Congressional district that is greatly impacted by border crimes and as a Member of Congress who sits on the Judiciary Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Government Reform Committee that collectively have oversight responsibilities for the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, your lack of cooperation is hindering the ability of Congress to provide proper oversight over your office and to make informed policy decisions. I am asked to craft and vote on legislative policies that determine your legal authority and the resources you receive and having full and correct information on an issue like the challenges of stopping alien smugglers is essential.
I request a joint meeting with you and the Chief Patrol Agent of the San Diego Border Sector to discuss the prosecution of alien smugglers and what resources are needed to establish a zero tolerance policy for prosecuting individuals who traffic in human beings. My office will contact your office to try and arrange a meeting time.
Sincerely yours,
Darrell Issa
Member of Congress
http://issa.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&ContentRecord_id=405&Region_id=0&Issue_id=0&CFID=21382585&CFTOKEN=60458538