Thread by @Haleaziz

SCOOP: Ken Cuccinelli is seeking a new power — to unilaterally publicize personal information about asylees, refugees, & their family members in the US who are being prosecuted for certain crimes, according to a memo obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Story: buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda…

In a memo he signed on 9/10 and intended for DHS Sec. McAleenan, Cuccinelli said the information he wants to reveal may include, but will not be limited to, the people’s dates of birth, whether they were granted asylum status or admitted as refugees, are family members of....

asylees or refugees “and if so, who the principal applicant was on the case,” and the date of the asylum grant or admission.

It’s unclear whether McAleenan has made a decision on the memo yet.

Cuccinelli requests he be able to “disclose asylum and refugee-related information...to courts and in press materials in connection with prosecutions involving crimes relating to national security or that threaten public safety.”

Such details are currently protected from disclosure by federal regulations and USCIS has previously explained that releasing such details could lead to “retaliatory measures by government authorities or non-state actors in the event that the claimant is repatriated..."

The DHS Sec. has the ability to provide this info to the media on a discretionary basis -- Cuccinelli wants that power.

"This undermines the very purpose of the asylum claim and the purpose of the prohibitions on the disclosure," said one former USCIS official. "I’m shocked.”

The USCIS response:

I had...a lot of time to work on this today.

Asylum officer who read my story:

“Asylum applicants are very carefully screened. If there’s any suspicion of gang affiliation, or terrorist affiliation, they are referred to (the fraud division)..This is pure disingenuous demagoguery twisting stuff for the public...”