Press Releases

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) today led 43 House colleagues in condemning the diversion of U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) resources to assist aggressive deportation efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The USPIS is the federal law enforcement arm of the USPS, tasked with supporting and protecting the USPS, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enforcing the laws that defend the United States’ mail system from illegal or dangerous use. The USPIS’ core functions include fighting mail fraud, assaults on postal workers, and the use of the mail system for drug distribution. Reallocation of USPIS’ time and resources to supplement DHS’s operations will severely impact the primary responsibilities of the USPIS.

The USPIS came to the public’s attention during the first Trump administration when it arrested Trump advisor Steve Bannon for mail fraud. A few months later, that administration restricted USPIS’ law enforcement powers. 

“In recent years, chronic underfunding and politicization of USPS functions have seriously restricted the activities of the Inspection Service. The USPIS has cut back on staff and jurisdiction, even as crime against mail carriers is on the rise - having the USPIS take on additional tasks at this time drastically limits their ability to protect their own employees,” the members wrote.

“Using the U.S. Postal Service requires people to share address data, credit card numbers, IP addresses, and other critical financial information that could result in real harm if made public. Millions of Americans depend on the reliability and privacy of the USPS to receive personal items such as tax documents, medication, and mail-in ballots. It is deeply concerning that immigration enforcement agencies have access to the USPS’s sensitive data systems, and the use of the USPS to facilitate deportations raises serious constitutional and civil liberties concerns. The U.S. Postal Service should not be operating as a surveillance arm of federal immigration enforcement,” the members continued.

Amidst ongoing threats to disband the USPS Board of Governors, fire thousands of USPS employees, and fold the USPS into the Department of Commerce, this reportedly placed pressure on the Inspection Service to abandon its primary responsibilities in favor of assisting the administration’s mass deportation agenda. Despite their objections, the Inspection Service is being forced to participate in order to avoid the same fate as other critical agencies, such as the Department of Education or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“As Members of Congress, we demand that you terminate any general access by the Department of Homeland Security or any immigration enforcement agency to USPS’s broad data systems. We also ask for a commitment from your administration to refrain from any further actions to undermine the Postal Service’s critical role as an independent, depoliticized agency of the federal government. We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your swift response,” the members concluded.

Find the full letter here.

###