Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) requested a memo sent by Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su in which she allegedly told her staff to "obstruct" agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement back in 2017 when the agency was visiting state labor offices.
The senators pointed to a memorandum issued by Su, who is President Joe Biden's nominee to become the next secretary of labor, in July 2017 that reportedly directed her staff to refuse entry to ICE agents who visited the labor offices looking to apprehend illegal immigrants.
FIVE DEMOCRATS WHO COULD STOP JULIE SU'S CONFIRMATION AS LABOR SECRETARY
Staff members should ask federal immigration agents "to leave our office, including the waiting room, and inform the agent[s] that the labor commissioner does not consent to entry or search of any part of our office," the memo said, per the Baltimore Sun, a 2017 report cited by the two Republican senators.
"The memorandum also allegedly directs staff to tell ICE agents 'to leave our office' and to demand a search warrant signed by a judge before allowing them onto the premises," the senators wrote in a letter to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
Tuberville asked Su about the memo during her nomination hearing last week, to which she said she did not have access to the memo and did not remember its contents.
“In response to her questions for the record, and in response to Senator Tuberville requesting the production of this memorandum, Julie Su stated that she ‘does not have access to this reported memo and do[es] not recall its precise contents,”’ the senators wrote. “Therefore, pursuant to our constitutional responsibilities, we request that your office produce a copy of the 2017 memorandum issued by Julie Su to the Committee by May 8, 2023.”
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The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee advanced Su's nomination out of committee on April 26 in an 11-10 vote, with all Republicans voting against the nomination. Her confirmation will now go to the Senate floor for a final vote.
Su's nomination has been an uphill battle for her and Biden, who has seen two of his three nominees tossed out. Several centrist Democrats, such as Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), are unsure of their stance on Su's confirmation, which could severely limit Su's chances of getting the votes needed to become labor secretary.