Letter to Hon. Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Secretary - Menendez, Colleagues Commend DHS on Actions to Keep Guns out Of the Hands of Domestic Abusers, Call for Additional Steps to Fully Enforce "Lautenberg Amendment,' Protect Survivors of Domestic Violence

Letter

Dear Secretary Mayorkas,

We are writing to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take additional steps to ensure federal law enforcement agencies are in full compliance with the Lautenberg Amendment. While we appreciate the actions your agency's representative described in her response to our February 5, 2021 letter, we believe DHS can do more to prevent domestic abusers from accessing and possessing firearms. In light of the recent sharp uptick in mass shootings[1]and the escalating gun violence crisis in underserved communities,[2] it is more critical than ever that federal agencies fully enforce all existing laws to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

The Lautenberg Amendment prohibits individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes from possessing firearms.[3] There is no exception for law enforcement officers. In November 2020, the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the United States Secret Service (USSS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were not fully complying with DHS's Lautenberg Amendment implementation guidelines.[4]

We commend DHS for taking action in response to the OIG's findings and our previous letter, including the reinstatement of the central office tasked with ensuring DHS-wide compliance with the Lautenberg Amendment.[5] Despite this important progress, we believe there may still be gaps in compliance. For example, the OIG's report stated that none of the DHS law enforcement agencies provided the required annual domestic violence prevention trainings. While your office's March 26, 2021 response letter indicated that the agencies updated their official policies to require such trainings, it is unclear if and when agencies implemented the trainings.

Additionally, the OIG's report found that CBP and ICE were not using FBI's databases to monitor the arrests and convictions of law enforcement officers.[6]These systems flag domestic abuse convictions and are helpful for ensuring compliance with the Lautenberg Amendment. Your agency's response letter noted that ICE is on track to implement an alternative database by the end of 2021, but provided no information regarding CBP's progress in this area.

In light of these concerns, we would appreciate responses to the following questions no later than May 14, 2021:
1. Your agency's response letter stated that DHS's Law Enforcement Policy team will "ensure DHS-wide compliance with relevant domestic violence trainings."[7] What is the status of such trainings at CBP, USSS, TSA, and ICE? Please provide any available statistics regarding the implementation of the required domestic violence prevention trainings at each of the four listed agencies.
2. Your agency's response letter stated that ICE is in the process of implementing a database to monitor the arrests and convictions of its law enforcement officers.[8] TSA and USSS already have such systems in place. Is CBP implementing a similar database to flag domestic abuse convictions? If so, please provide a brief description and an implementation timeline for both ICE and CBP.
3. The OIG's November 2020 report found that CBP and USSS were not requiring their law enforcement officers to complete the required annual Lautenberg Amendment certification stating they have no domestic violence misdemeanor convictions. In the case of USSS, the OIG specifically stated the annual statement of compliance the contents of the Secret Service Law Enforcement Manual was insufficient.[9] Have CBP and USSS implemented the compliant Lautenberg Amendment certification processes? If so, please provide a brief description and implementation timelines for the certification processes at CBP and USSS.
Finally, we respectfully reiterate our request that your agency report back to Congress within six months of receipt of our initial February 5, 2021 letter regarding its progress towards achieving full compliance with the Lautenberg Amendment.

We look forward to working with you to ensure DHS is doing everything required under current law to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who pose an unacceptable risk. Thank you for your efforts to date and your prompt attention to this timely matter.

Sincerely,