Lawmakers Sue ICE To Protect Right To Visit Detention Centers Unannounced
On Wednesday, 12 Democratic members of Congress filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Trump administration for obstructing lawful congressional oversight visits to federal immigration detention centers.Â
The lawsuit argues that a new rule implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which prohibits visits to ICE field offices and requires at least seven days’ notice before touring a facility, blocks members of Congress from ensuring DHS compliance with federal law and properly overseeing how taxpayer dollars are being spent.Â
Section 527 of the DHS Appropriations Act protects the legal right of members of Congress to visit immigration detention centers, stating, “none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Homeland Security…may be used to prevent” members of Congress or their staff “from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the [DHS] used to detain or otherwise house aliens.” According to the act, no prior notice is required for lawmakers, but DHS may require congressional staffers to provide notice at least 24 hours in advance.
The ability to oversee these facilities is particularly important since President Donald Trump took office and began implementing his mass deportation agenda. In the last six months, immigration detentions have reached record highs, leading to reports of overcrowded conditions and increased due process violations.
Following a clash in May at the Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey, in which Newark Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for trespassing while three members of Congress attempted
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