A Biden-appointed bureaucrat working at the top of an immigration enforcement agency has been accused of undermining its mission from within, letting thousands of illegal migrants off the hook, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Claire Trickler-McNulty, a powerful director in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), previously worked for a nonprofit organization that demanded an end to deportations and was affiliated with an 'Abolish ICE' movement during her tenure.
She has now carved out an influential role within immigration enforcement, but is using it to push her own woke agenda, while working remotely more than 2,500 miles away from the department's headquarters, according to sources on the Committee for Homeland Security.
It comes amid migrant crossing chaos at the U.S. Southwest border, with 232,972 enforcement encounters in August, up 14 per cent on the same time last year.
Republicans are now concerned that unelected mandarins are exacerbating the crisis by funneling money to anti-enforcement groups and pedaling policies contrary to ICE's mission of enforcing immigration law.
Claire Trickley-McNulty, a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has been accused of turning the agency into a 'social services' while working from home more than 2,500 miles away from the department's headquarters in Washington D.C.
Trickler-McNulty has been accused of pushing 'soft-touch' policies amid migrant crossing chaos at the U.S. Southwest border. Pictured: A border official helps a migrant cross the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Mexico, into Eagle Pass, Texas
Trickler-McNulty previously worked under Andrew Lorenzen-Strait (pictured) at ICE. Lorenzen-Strait is now at the center of a corruption probe after he landed an $87million contract for a nonprofit organization to provide hotels for illegal migrants just months after he left the ICE
Trickler-McNulty, a political appointee who worked on the Biden-Harris transition team, leads the ICE's Office of Immigration Program Evaluation (OIPE), which signs off contracts relating to immigration detention.
Prior to her role at the agency, Trickler-McNulty was Deputy Director for Legal Services at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a nonprofit organization which has previously demanded an end to deportations.
In May 2020, while Trickler-McNulty was at KIND, the group signed a letter alongside an 'Abolish ICE' group, which criticized government immigration policies.
'Abolish ICE' is a broad movement which favors social service provision for illegal migrants over detention and deportation.
Republicans on the Committee on Homeland Security fear that Trickler-McNulty has now attained a disproportionate level of influence at ICE, citing a recently published internal memorandum from former Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson stating that all contracts relating to detention programs be approved by her personally.
Committee sources told DailyMail.com that Trickler-McNulty was now using her influence to turn ICE from 'a law enforcement agency into a social services provider'.
The official is allegedly pursuing 'soft-touch' policies instead of detention and removal programs, without the public realizing, the sources said.
They highlighted the current ICE Alternatives to Detention contract, which under Trickler-McNulty has been split into three separate contracts, including one for 'community services'.
This includes services such as 'parenting education'.
Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) told DailyMail.com: 'ICE has a critical mission to fulfill—enforcing America's immigration laws and removing those who have entered, or remain in, our country unlawfully.
'Unfortunately, we are finding more and more evidence to show that a select group of unaccountable bureaucrats are making operational decisions limiting ICE officers' ability to pursue, detain, and remove illegal aliens with no lawful basis to remain in the country.
'It makes no sense that individuals like Claire Trickler-McNulty, who have previously worked for organizations that advocate limiting or ending enforcement of our immigration laws, should now be setting policy governing the execution of those laws.
'We need to get to the bottom of the Biden administration's assault on immigration enforcement, and the individuals tasked with leading the charge.'
Before joining KIND in June 2019, Trickler-McNulty was Deputy Assistant Director at ICE under Andrew Lorenzen-Strait.
Lorenzen-Strait is now at the center of a corruption probe after he landed an $87million contract for an NGO to provide hotels for illegal migrants just months after he left the ICE.
He was later caught on camera appearing to refer to the deal as a 'corrupt bargain' in a conversation with conservative nonprofit group Project Veritas.
Trickler-McNulty previously worked for a nonprofit organization that demanded an end to deportations and was affiliated with an 'Abolish ICE' movement during her tenure
Former ICE official Lorenzen-Strait was caught on camera appearing to describe an $87million ICE contract he landed while working for nonprofit group Endeavor as a 'corrupt bargain'
Republicans say his relationship with Trickler-McNulty, who has final approval on detention contracts at ICE, threatens the department's impartiality
Trickler-McNulty had recently taken up her new role at ICE at the time and her relationship with her former boss is now coming under scrutiny.
Republicans on the Committee on Homeland Security are demanding all communications between the pair relating to federal contracts involving the Department of Homeland Security or ICE since November 2020.
A letter from the committee to Acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner said it was 'concerned that Ms. Trickler-McNulty's history and relationships may undermine ICE's enforcement mission'.
The letter, shared exclusively with DailyMail.com, also cited Trickler-McNulty's lack of law enforcement experience and her decision to manage OIPE while working from home, according to committee sources.
'Ms. Trickler-McNulty's lack of law enforcement experience and association with nonprofit organizations that win lucrative government contracts call into question her impartiality in ICE's contract process,' the letter, signed by Green, Dan Bishop (R-NC) chairman of the investigations subcommittee, and Clay Higgins (R-LA), chairman of the subcommittee on border security, added.
Trickler-McNulty is originally from Boulder, Colorado, and now lives in Edmonds, Washington, according to her Facebook profile, the other side of the country to the ICE headquarters in Washington D.C.
Republicans also highlighted data that they claim shows immigration enforcement has been on the decline since Biden took office.
For example, removals of illegal migrants have plunged under the Biden administration, with around 72,000 carried out in 2022, down from 267,000 in 2019.
The $87million ICE contract at the center of the committee corruption probe was awarded to the nonprofit Endeavors without a competitive bidding process in March 2021.
But the department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) subsequently found that the ICE did not adequately justify the absence of a competitive tender, while Endeavors 'had no experience providing the services' covered by the contract'.
The OIG also found Endeavors spent nearly $17million on hotel space and services that went largely unused.
ICE rejected the majority of the auditor's recommendations.
Asylum seekers cross the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States on September 30, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas
A U.S. Border Patrol agent supervises as immigrants walk into the United States after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on September 30, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. The agent had cut coils of razor wire to let them pass through for processing
Republicans are investigating Security of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (above center) over claims he has failed to enforce the nation's immigration laws
The Committee on Homeland Security's investigation into possible corrupt border contracts comes after DailyMail.com revealed that the Biden administration helped a US security firm land a vital $600million contract to stop drugs and weapons flooding the country despite its prior failings and an FBI probe into one of its former executives.
The Committee is now examining how ICE's mission is being carried out and whether it is being corrupted altogether, including any possible waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
It is part of the Committee's months-long investigation into Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who Republicans say has failed to enforce the nation's immigration laws.
Mayorkas has previously told the Committee that 'the safety and the security of the American people is our highest priority' and disputed characterizations that the border is 'open'.
Accusations that the Biden administration has gone soft on immigration come after the White House made an unexpected U-turn this week by revealing it will build 20 miles of border wall in Texas to combat the latest surge in crossings.
The stunning policy reversal followed demands from Democrat-run cities such as New York and Chicago that Biden do more to stop migrants entering their communities and straining their resources.
Biden had declared on his first day in office that building a wall - one of Donald Trump's flagship pledges - wasn't 'a serious policy solution'.
An ICE spokesman said: 'Responsibility for administering the U.S. immigration system spans multiple agencies within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
'Policy decisions at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are made with coordination through interagency working groups to ensure ICE is working on behalf of the public and within the confines of the law.
'ICE continues to facilitate the safe, orderly, and humane management of the U.S. immigration system alongside its federal partners.'
Lorenzen-Strait resigned from Endeavors in September. The organization has previously said that the Project Veritas video 'focuses on actions Andrew Lorenzen-Strait took after his time of employment at Endeavors' and that the organization was 'in no way responsible for his business or personal actions since he left our employment'.
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