Biden-appointed WFH bureaucrat with ties to open border advocates to be hauled in front of Congress amid accusations she has turned ICE into 'social services'

A Biden-appointed bureaucrat with ties to open border advocates is to be hauled in front of Congress amid accusations she has turned immigration enforcement into a 'social services', DailyMail.com can reveal.

Claire Trickler-McNulty, a powerful director in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has presided over a stark drop in deportations while pursuing costly and unproven 'alternatives to detention' (ATD), according to a letter by the House Judiciary Committee.

She is accused of leaving more than 600,000 illegal migrants with criminal records 'free to reoffend' by committee chairman Jim Jordan and immigration subcommittee chairman Tom McClintock.

The pair wrote in their letter, addressed to the bureaucrat, that her approach is 'emblematic of the Biden Administration's open-borders policies that reward illegal aliens to the detriment of American citizens and legal immigrants'.

It comes after congressional sources raised fears that Trickler-McNulty, who previously worked for a nonprofit that sought to end deportations, was seeking to push her own woke agenda and undermine immigration enforcement from within.

Claire Trickley-McNulty, a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has been accused of turning the agency into a 'social services' 

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 

Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wants the bureaucrat to explain why she has pursued costly and unproven 'alternatives to detention' instead of enforcing the law

Republicans are concerned that unelected bureaucrats are exacerbating the border crisis by funneling money to anti-enforcement groups and pedaling policies contrary to ICE's mission of enforcing immigration law.

The committee's letter, shared exclusively with DailyMail.com, highlighted how ICE removed 41 per cent fewer illegal migrants with criminal convictions and charges in 2023 than in 2020.

The letter added that the decline in enforcement coincided with at least 617,607 criminal aliens on ICE's non-detained docket, meaning these people 'are out on American streets and 'free to reoffend'.'

It criticized Trickler-McNulty's support for detention alternatives, which include parenting classes for illegal migrants, despite a leaked 2020 draft ICE report concluding that such measures have 'little value' and are of 'significant expense'.

The report found that the 'vast majority' of illegal migrants enrolled in such programs for their entire immigration proceedings eventually absconded.

The committee's letter highlighted the recent example of a high-profile gang member who allegedly absconded from ATD in Colorado after 'he cut off' his ankle monitor, before going on to reoffend in the US.

It requested Trickler-McNulty present herself for questioning in front of Congress 'as soon as possible'. 

It comes after the US Border Patrol chief Jason Owens warned the crisis at the southern border is a 'national security threat', highlighting the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who haven't been apprehended and processed at the border on their way into the US.

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.

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

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

Last year, DailyMail.com revealed that Republicans on the Committee on Homeland Security feared Trickler-McNulty had 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'.

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. 

This includes services such as 'parenting education'.

DailyMail.com has contacted ICE for comment.

A spokesman has previously said that 'responsibility for administering the U.S. immigration system spans multiple agencies within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice'.

He added: '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.'