A congressional committee is pressing Travis County District Attorney José Garza to submit several years’ worth of documents and communications regarding his office’s prosecution of non-citizens and interactions with immigration officials.
In a letter addressed to Garza on Monday, three Republican members of the committee, including Representative Chip Roy from Austin, requested comprehensive records of all communications between Garza’s office and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as all documents pertaining to the handling of non-citizen cases. The letter accused Garza of “undermining the rule of law” through his leadership and emphasized that the requested documents are necessary to “inform potential legislative reforms to address sanctuary policies.”
Roy stated on social media, “This dereliction of duty has raised serious questions about whether repeat offenders, including criminal aliens, are being adequately prosecuted and whether the safety of law-abiding Austin residents is being put first.”
The letter also referenced Garza’s 2021 campaign promises, which included commitments to protect immigrant communities and enhance diversion programs in the county. It further criticized him for adopting a “soft-on-crime approach.”
The district attorney’s office has yet to respond to requests for comment. Similar inquiries were sent to five officials in Oregon, including the district attorney and sheriff of Multnomah County, which encompasses Portland.
Garza, who was first elected as district attorney in 2020, has faced ongoing criticism from conservative state leaders for allegedly failing to prosecute criminals effectively in Travis County. This includes accusations of not indicting some felony suspects within the mandated 90-day deadline, resulting in the release of some offenders while others experienced prolonged periods in jail.
In early April, Roy sent a separate letter to Garza’s office inquiring about its policies on prosecuting non-citizens. In that letter, Roy claimed that Garza was not enforcing the law adequately, pointing to a shooting incident in March involving a 53-year-old naturalized citizen. This individual killed three people and injured 15 others outside a well-known bar in downtown Austin. Despite the shooter’s prior criminal history and domestic violence record, he was not prosecuted in Travis County. Roy’s letter highlighted this incident as indicative of a larger issue with localities failing to hold habitual offenders accountable.
The latest correspondence to Garza’s office set a deadline of July 7 for the district attorney to provide the congressional committee with the requested five years’ worth of documents and communications.
