America First Legal (AFL) has obtained employment records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The records reveal detailed information about political appointees in the Biden Administration, including their full names, salaries, titles, and work histories.
The AFL has previously exposed individuals within the Department of Justice and other departments who they claim are working to implement President Biden's immigration agenda. The organization initiated litigation to obtain these documents after alleging that the Biden Administration was withholding information.
Since President Biden took office, DHS policies have led to a record number of crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. In December 2023 alone, there were 249,735 illegal border crossings. Almost 47,000 of these migrants were from Venezuela, and around 6,000 were Chinese nationals.
Among the political appointees whose work histories and affiliations were revealed include Felicia Escobar Carrillo, Chief of Staff of USCIS; Bitta Mostofiis Senior Advisor to the Director at USCIS; Avideh Moussavian, Chief of the Office of Policy and Strategy at USCIS; Amanda Baran, former USCIS Chief of Policy and Strategy; Royce Bernstein Murray, Chief Strategy Officer at USCIS; Eva A. Millona, Chief of Citizenship, Partnership, and Engagement at USCIS; Afsaneh Ashley Tabaddor, Chief Counsel of USCIS; Blas Nunez-Neto, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Immigration Policy at DHS; Charanya Krishnaswami, counselor for immigration to the DHS Secretary; and Eric Hysen is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) & Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer for DHS.
According to AFL's findings, these appointees have aggressively enacted policy goals aimed at easing illegal immigration. They have reportedly allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country while providing deportation protection for millions already present. The team has also created programs enticing refugees from Haiti and Venezuela, coinciding with disruptive domestic issues in these countries.
In 2023, the Biden immigration team ended Title 42, a COVID-era policy that AFL alleges made it easier for illegal immigrants to enter the country without any way to track whether these people have criminal records. However, AFL asserts that the Biden team did not just revert to pre-Title 42 policies but used the opportunity to make illegal immigration even easier, especially for migrants from economically and politically turmoiled countries like Venezuela.
The AFL argues that Biden's immigration team at DHS, with decades of experience advocating for progressive immigration policies, is controlling immigration policy and intentionally leading to what they term as an invasion at the border.