A dozen Democratic members of Congress who have been blocked from making oversight visits at immigration detention centers filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Trump administration that seeks to ensure they are granted entry into the facilities, even without prior notice.
The lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia’s federal court, said the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are obstructing Congressional oversight of the centers at a time when there's been an increase in ICE arrests, with reports of raids across the country and people taken into custody at immigration courts.
By law, members of Congress are allowed to visit ICE facilities and don’t have to give any notice, but increasingly, the members have been stopped at the door. ICE officials have said a new rule requires a seven-day waiting period and they prohibit entry to the ICE field offices. The lawsuit asks the court for full and immediate access to all ICE facilities.
ICE Director Todd Lyons told a congressional committee in May that he recognized the right of members of Congress to visit detention facilities, even unannounced. But DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told a different committee that members of Congress should have requested a tour of an immigration detention facility in New Jersey where a skirmish broke out in May.
As President Donald Trump's immigration agenda plays out, detention facilities have become overcrowded and there have been reports of mistreatment, food shortages, a lack of medical care and unsanitary conditions, the lawsuit said. Congress has a duty to make sure the administration is complying with the law while operating the facilities, the lawsuit said.
The recently passed budget bill allocates $45 billion for ICE detention — more than 13 times ICE’s current annual detention budget, the lawsuit said. Members of Congress must ensure those funds are spent efficiently and legally, the suit said.
But recent attempts by House members to visit facilities were blocked, the lawsuit said.
“These members of Congress could have just scheduled a tour; instead, they’re running to court to drive clicks and fundraising emails," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the AP in an email.
Requests for visits to detention centers should be made “with sufficient time to prevent interference with the President’s Article II authority to oversee executive department functions—a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority,” she said.
Also, ICE has seen a surge in assaults, disruptions and obstructions to law enforcement so any requests for tours of ICE processing centers and field offices must be approved by Secretary Noem, McLaughlin said.
The Congressmembers said the law doesn't require prior approval, and said they've been blocked outright from the field offices, according to the lawsuit.
When Rep. Veronica Escobar tried to visit the El Paso center on July 9, ICE told her that they could not accommodate her attendance and said it is “now requiring requests to be made seven calendar days in advance,” the lawsuit said. When the Democrat arrived at the center, she was denied entry.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, met a similar fate when he tried to visit the ICE Aurora Facility on July 20.
While ICE is demanding a week's notice for detention center visits, it said it's prohibiting members of Congress from inspecting ICE field offices, where some detainees are being held.
When Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-New York, tried to tour the ICE New York Field Office in June, he was told his oversight authority doesn't apply there, because it's not a "detention facility." When Goldman went to the office, the deputy director barred his entry, but confirmed that people were being held overnight, sometimes for several days, but the facility did not have beds or showers.
Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado; Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi; and Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, made a similar attempt to enter the ICE Washington Field Office in Chantilly, Virginia, on July 21 after learning that people were being detained there, according to the lawsuit. But they also were turned away without being able to view the conditions at the site.
The other House members who are fighting for ICE access include: California Democratic Representatives Norma Torres, Raul Ruiz, Jimmy Gomez, Jose Luis Correa and Robert Garcia. Also suing is Adriano Espaillat, D-New York.
“No child should be sleeping on concrete, and no sick person should be denied care, yet that’s exactly what we keep hearing is happening inside Trump’s detention centers," Gomez said in a statement. "This lawsuit is our message: We as Members of Congress will do our job, and we will not let these agencies operate in the shadows.”
Martha Bellisle, The Associated Press
