politics

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37629159

Democratic Congressman Marc Veasey made an unannounced visit to a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility on Monday in an effort to demand accountability from the agency, which has failed to substantively respond to multiple inquiries from the congressman—including one stemming from a Texas Observer investigation earlier this year.

“I’m here today to get answers,” Veasey said. “I have letters from myself and other members of Congress and we’re simply asking for answers.”

Veasey, who wanted to carry out an inspection at the Dallas Field Office (which is part processing center and part office building), was not granted entry despite having authority as a member of Congress to conduct unannounced oversight visits to Department of Homeland Security facilities. “There’s a lot of secrecy and game playing right now,” Veasey said. “I’m sick of it.”

On February 19, the Observer reported that James “Jim” Joseph Rodden—an ICE assistant chief counsel representing the agency in immigration court in Dallas—operates a white supremacist X account named GlomarResponder, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details that the Observer matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation. Reached in-person at the time, Rodden said only to “call [his] press office,” and an ICE spokesperson said the agency “will not comment on the substance of this article pending further investigation.”

The GlomarResponder account has posted that “Migrants’ are all criminals” and that “All blacks are foreign to my people,” in addition to posting apparent praise of Adolf Hitler, among numerous other similar posts. Following the Observer’s reporting, the account was set to private, but it is still active and routinely opines on issues including immigration. “How about we deport all the people who don’t belong here, rather than turn nice neighborhoods into third world bug hives,” GlomarResponder wrote on June 28.

It is unclear whether Rodden still works for ICE.

Following the Observer‘s initial story, Rodden was not present at court hearings where he was scheduled to appear. “Rodden has not been spotted at the Executive Office for Immigration Review courts, but the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor also has not confirmed if he was fired,” an immigration attorney who works in Dallas and asked not to be named told the Observer for this story. “Even the government attorneys I’ve spoken with cannot get a clear answer on that.”

The Observer has repeatedly requested an update from ICE about Rodden’s employment, but the agency has declined to answer. Veasey is one of three Congress members who have requested information from the agency about Rodden.