Exclusive: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused President Biden's State Department of misconduct over the use of taxpayer money to provide counseling to migrants on how to use the asylum process to enter the United States.
“Your department is responsible for knowingly providing false information,” Issa told Julieta Valls Noyes, assistant secretary for the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Thursday's hearing, He was referring to the ministry’s PRM program, which provides funding to a nonprofit organization known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).
“We were told that PRM does not and will not fund legal representation or counseling for immigration proceedings,” Issa explained, citing a letter from the State Department to the committee. “We were then informed in December by the Mexican government that PRM does not fund legal representation or counseling for U.S. immigration proceedings and that the only legal assistance provided to Mexican persons is through Mexican legal proceedings.”
Issa continued: “Is that a true statement under 18 U.S.C. § 1001? Either way?”
Former Border Patrol chief slams Biden administration for concealing information about immigrants with suspected terrorism ties
Rep. Darrell Issa grilled State Department official Julieta Valls Noyes during a hearing on Thursday. (House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs)
“Senator, it's United States money,” Rep. Valls-Noyes replied, before Rep. Issa interjected, “That's yes and no. It's true.”
“Yes,” replied Mr. Varus Noys.
Issa then presented a series of slides from HIAS explaining how the group can best navigate the asylum system to get into the U.S., as well as details in Spanish about the legal process for entering the country.
“Are you aware of this packet that was used throughout 2023?” Issa asked, to which Vals-Noyes replied, “Yes.”
“Is this limited to lawful activity in Mexico, or does it explicitly advise on pages 9, 10 and 11 how to obtain asylum in the United States?”
“The information packet was not funded by PRM, it was funded by the UN refugee agency,” Valls Noyes countered.
Biden-Harris Recklessly Relaunches Fraudulent Immigration Programs
“Was this organization receiving funding from the United States at the time?” Issa asked.
“The organization was, but this packet was not,” Valls-Noyes responded.
Valls Noyes said she was “unaware” of the documents until the State Department collected them to comply with House oversight, but reiterated that PRM “did not directly fund” them.
“Ma'am, let me be very clear,” Issa said, “that it is not Congress' intent to use funds compatibility to provide funding to organizations that we fund and to work with those organizations and people to do things that are inconsistent with the mission that we have communicated to Congress.”
“Money is fungible. As far as giving to this organization, which I understand, you continue to fund it all over the world. This organization has a dual purpose, and they're using that dual purpose to do things that Congress clearly does not want. Nowhere in this deck, let's call it UN funding for now to please you, nowhere in this deck suggests that you can seek refuge in Mexico. Under international law, you have not only the right but the obligation to seek refuge in Mexico.”
Issa further explained that the State Department is effectively encouraging migrants to avoid applying for asylum in Mexico and instead enter the United States at “federal taxpayer expense.”
“If you funded the conference and used its materials, how can you say without being deceptive or misleading that you are telling us this was not funded by the United States government, or at least not enabled by the United States government?” Issa asked later in the hearing.
About 530,000 immigrants who entered the U.S. “legally” have been paroled into the U.S. under Biden administration's controversial policy: CBP
Migrants traveling north toward the U.S. border walk along a highway through Suchiate, Chiapas, southern Mexico, on Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
“Congressman, I say again that we did not fund the production of this material. However, it is true that this material was used in information sessions to inform migrants about the possibility of applying for asylum in Mexico,” Valls Noyes said.
“You're a great diplomat,” Issa responded. “Because diplomats tell people to go to hell and get them to pack their bags and look forward to traveling. What you said is not true. If an organization, I don't care who printed it and distributed it, but you funded the water and the transportation and everything else that you brought to the event, and you hosted the event, it's crystal clear — not under the UN flag, but under the flag of the United States of America. And you say, 'Oh, we didn't fund it. They got the money from somewhere else.' Madam, no American is going to believe that.”
Valls Noyes further stated that the State Department is ending funding for HIAS in 2023, in full compliance with the law, and similar slides are not currently being distributed.
“HIAS is the world's oldest refugee protection agency and a long-standing partner of the U.S. government and the American Jewish community, working to provide critical services to refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced and stateless people around the world,” a HIAS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “HIAS complies with U.S. laws and grant agreements, including those that apply to HIAS projects discussed at yesterday's hearing.”
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital after the hearing, Issa called the exchange a “total lie” by the State Department. The State Department distanced itself from the slideshows in a letter to committee Chairman Matt McCaul earlier this year, saying that while PRM did not directly fund the production of the actual slideshows, it acknowledged that it did fund the sessions in which they were used.
“If you were caught putting your hand in a cookie jar, the first thing you would do is deny the cookie jar,” Issa said. “The second thing you do is deny the raid, which is exactly what she did. We were presented with documentation that clearly states this organization advocates for ways to avoid being turned away at the border, yet she said we were only funding working with Mexicans to comply with their government.”
Top House committee harshly criticizes Biden-Harris administration over border crisis in new report: 'assault on rule of law'
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discusses Russia's invasion of Ukraine during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, March 2, 2022. (REUTERS/Elisabeth Franz/Pool/File Photo)
“Then I asked her, no, you paid these people at the same time. Yes, you did, but we didn't pay for that. Then I asked her, you paid for the event where they published it. She said, 'But we didn't pay for the production of the document that they published.'”
Issa told Fox News Digital that the specific laws he cited during the hearing were “there for a reason.”
“This isn't just about telling outright lies,” Issa explained, “I'm talking about deceiving, deceiving. With the intent to deceive Congress and risk fines and up to five years in prison. And her denial was clearly intended to at least deceive the public. It wasn't deceiving Congress, because it's clear on its face that our government knowingly assisted these people in circumventing the border, provided for them, and never encouraged people to remain in Mexico or obey Mexican laws.”
Issa continued: “You can't fund an organization, you fund the conferences that they held, you funded getting people there, you funded food and water and a lot of other things, and then say the presentation that was given wasn't a presentation that's prohibited by law. She acknowledged that the presentation would have been prohibited by law, but she simply said, 'We didn't fund it.' And that's like saying we took that person to the bank. Yes, we are their guarantor, but the counterfeit money was printed by someone else.”“
Center for Migration Studies reported earlier this year The report said the Biden administration has “diverted taxpayer funds” to various nonprofit organizations for years, “distributing them to facilitate the journey of hundreds of thousands of migrants to illegal border crossings in the southern United States.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson again denied that the slide presentation was directly funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“The State Department's humanitarian efforts through international organizations and NGOs do not encourage or facilitate illegal immigration, and no U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to produce the slide show in question,” the spokesman said.
“Rather, the Population, Refugee and Migration Bureau supports programs that help displaced people gain legal status, documentation, employment, and education in countries in the Western Hemisphere, leading to stability and integration,” the spokesperson continued. “All donations to implementing partners prohibit the use of government funds for activities such as encouraging, mobilizing, promoting, or managing mass migrant caravans heading to the U.S. southwest border, providing legal counseling regarding the U.S. asylum process, and/or referrals to legal representation in the U.S.”
“This is not the end of the story,” Issa told Fox News Digital, adding that he intends to “pursue this in the next Congress.”
“We need to come out with details about everyone involved in this, because policing isn't about asking questions and walking away, and asking questions and walking away when you get answers, even if they're not true,” Issa said. “It's about not stopping until the truth is out, and not stopping until those who are trying to whitewash and cover up are held accountable, and right now she's not being held accountable.”
