Goodlatte and Grassley: Administration’s Failure to Remove Criminal Alien Results in Five Deaths, Including Four Iowans

UPDATE: Four of the five people klled in the Los Angeles fire allegedly set by undocumented criminal Johnny Josue Sanchez were Jerry Dean Clemons, Mary Ann Davis, Joseph William Proenneke and Tierra Sue-Meschelle Stansberry, all from Ottumwa, Iowa.

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today pressed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson for answers about why federal immigration authorities released an illegally present alien and took no steps to remove him, consequently allowing him to remain unlawfully and later murder five people. 

On June 13, 2016, Johnny Josue Sanchez, an alien from Honduras illegally present in the United States, allegedly murdered five people in Los Angeles by intentionally setting fire to the building in which they were sleeping.  According to media reports, Sanchez was apprehended by Border Patrol agents after he unlawfully entered the United States in November 2012.  He was then transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but released one week later after ICE determined that Sanchez did not have a prior criminal history or prior immigration violation. Prior to murdering five people, Sanchez was arrested on multiple drug charges and a domestic violence charge.  He was also required to report to ICE, but stopped reporting.  Despite these violations, ICE did not detain him or even place him in removal proceedings.

In their letter to Secretary Johnson, Chairmen Goodlatte and Grassley rebuke the Obama Administration’s failure to ensure the safety and security of the American public and request that DHS provide them with Sanchez’s immigration and criminal histories. 

Read the Chairmen’s letter to Secretary Jeh Johnson here. Text of the letter is below.

June 27, 2016

The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Secretary 
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Dear Secretary Johnson:

On June 13, 2016, Johnny Josue Sanchez, an alien from Honduras illegally present in the United States, allegedly murdered five people in Los Angeles by intentionally setting fire to the building in which they were sleeping.  According to media reports, Sanchez was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol Agents after he unlawfully entered the United States in November 2012.  He was then transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but released one week later after ICE determined that Sanchez did not have a prior criminal history or prior immigration violation.  Reports indicate that Sanchez was ordered to report regularly to ICE, but according to ICE, he stopped reporting in August 2014 and for “unknown reasons” ICE did not initiate removal proceedings against him.    

Sanchez was arrested in January 2016 for domestic violence.  He was also arrested on drug charges in May and on June 8, five days before the alleged murders.  Sanchez is now charged with murder and faces the death penalty.  

In light of the fact that Sanchez is an illegally present alien, who was known to ICE but not placed in removal proceedings, it appears that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not taken all appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of the American public.

Therefore, please provide the following information no later than July 8, 2016:

1. The alien registration number for Sanchez, his complete alien file (A-file), including any temporary files, working files, or Service Center files, and all documents and items contained in them, all reports or notifications generated by DHS or in its possession about him, whether currently in written or electronic form, including, but not limited to, the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Executive Summary, criminal history or immigration summaries, detainers or requests for notification, I-213(s), and Notice(s) to Appear or other charging documents created to seek his removal from the United States.
2. Please identify each and every date on which Sanchez was encountered by a law enforcement agency in the United States, to include criminal and civil arrests, the nature of the charge, the jurisdiction where the arrest occurred, the disposition of that charge, the date(s) on which he was released from the custody of that law enforcement agency, and the reason(s) for the release.  Please provide the arrest and disposition documentation for each encounter. 
3. How and when did Sanchez enter the United States? Was he ever served with a Notice to Appear?  Was it filed with an immigration court? Please explain.
4. Did Sanchez ever apply for any immigration benefits, including deferred action?  If so, was any application approved?  Please provide copies of any applications that he may have submitted, whether or not adjudicated.  
5. Has Sanchez been removed previously?  If so, when?
6. Has ICE issued a detainer or request for notification to any entity regarding Sanchez?  Please explain.
7. Was Sanchez a member of, or associated with any criminal gang?  Please explain.
8. If Sanchez had been encountered by DHS enforcement officials prior to his arrest for murder, would he have met the requirements to be considered a priority for removal under the Administration’s Priority Enforcement Program?  If so, please provide the exact reason for such consideration.  If not, why not? 

As you know, the Privacy Act authorizes disclosure of information to committees of Congress. If you cannot fully respond to each and every request for documents or information set forth above, please identify the specific item requested to which you cannot fully respond and explain why you cannot respond.

Should you have any questions, please contact Tracy Short at (202) 225-3926 or Kathy Nuebel Kovarik at (202) 224-5225.  Thank you for your cooperation.