Grassley: Terror suspect’s documents held up by waiver

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday the Department of
Homeland Security violated the law when it refused to provide his office
with immigration documents for a man suspected of plotting to bomb
the D.C. Metro system.

In a letter to Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano, Grassley wrote that DHS had denied his
office’s initial request on Nov. 1 because the suspect, Farooque
Ahmed, had not signed a privacy release.

Grassley called the refusal “unacceptable as a matter of accountability” and argued it disregards a provision of the Privacy Act that grants Congress access to this kind of information.

The
letter went on to formally request documents related to Ahmed’s immigration status and also
asked for legal opinions and analysis from DHS in support of its
decision not to provide them initially.

Comment from the
DHS was not immediately available.

Grassley is a senior
member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on
immigration.