Oversight is Needed to Stop Runaway Spending and Save Lives
Members of Congress have the legal right to visit immigration detention facilities without prior notice, in order to conduct vital oversight. Congress made this clear in Appropriations law (Section 527) that: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Homeland Security by this Act may be used to prevent any of the following persons from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens” and lists “a “Member of Congress.” This law is foundational for Congress to effectively carry out its oversight role over a system that is rampant with abuse, gross mismanagement, profiteering driven by inhumane conditions, and impunity.
The Trump administration is now attempting to suppress and deter authorized congressional oversight of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities – in contravention of appropriations law that has been in place for years. DHS shamefully released a May 14 press release full of false statements about members of Congress accused of “storming” the ICE Delaney Hall detention facility in New Jersey on May 9. That day, members of Congress were eventually able to enter the facility, but ICE blocked the Newark Mayor Ras Baraka from entering. They arrested him after he had left the facility space, dragging him back into the facility area. When members of Congress –who had come out of the facility to see what was happening—then tried to follow the mayor, video footage indicates that ICE used force to restrain and block them.
The mayor was released from prison and charged with trespassing. The following day, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem threatened the members of Congress with arrest. On May 19th, the Justice Department announced charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver, accusing the Congresswoman of “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.”
After the Delaney Hall incident, members of Congress sent a letter demanding that DHS and ICE issue directions to all agents reminding them that members of Congress have a legal right to show up unannounced and conduct oversight visits to federal detention facilities – and that any threats of arrest against members who do so are unlawful. The letter also condemned the arrest of the Newark Mayor Baraka, noting that the mayor had complied with a request to leave a fenced-in parking area. Members of Congress and advocates have widely condemned the charges against Congresswoman McIver.
When pressed by members of Congress during oversight hearings under oath, both Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE acting director Todd Lyons acknowledged that members of Congress have the right to visit detention facilities, even unannounced. Secretary Noem said the members of Congress should have requested a tour ahead of their visit to the New Jersey detention facility, but ICE Acting Director Lyons said: “We do acknowledge that any member of Congress has the right to show up for an inspection at one of our facilities in their oversight capability.”
Members of Congress must continue to exercise their right to visit facilities in their states and districts. Abuse and neglect are well-documented throughout the system, which is plagued by secrecy and impunity. Senator Richard Durbin’s staff, for example, released findings on May 19 from a visit to Louisiana detention facilities finding mistreatment of vulnerable individuals, the harmful effects of the administration’s dismantling of DHS internal watchdogs, and misuse of taxpayer dollars. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson led a group in visiting detention facilities in May, and reported “conflicting information from staff” regarding allegations that multiple women suffered from miscarriages while in custody, and denials of toilet paper and menstrual products. Members “saw young women shaking and crying in fear of retaliation if they were to speak to Members of Congress.” It is imperative for lawmakers to visit ICE facilities to fulfill their oversight responsibilities.
Congress has the right and obligation to demand access to ICE facilities:
The law is clear that members of Congress cannot be blocked from visiting ICE facilities: By law, members of Congress are allowed to visit ICE facilities and do not have to give any notice. Congressional staff members need to give 24 hours’ notice, but members can show up at a facility unannounced.
In-person visits to ICE facilities are an essential part of congressional oversight: providing direct access to people facing detention and witnessing first-hand the inhumane conditions. For years, legal service providers and groups monitoring rights abuses have recommended that members of Congress conduct unannounced visits, to be prepared to speak out publicly if a facility turns them away and continue to return to the facility until they are permitted entry. It is critical that members solicit information from ICE and from facilities’ operators to complement and inform their on-the-ground findings [see this NIJC & DWN 2019 toolkit on congressional visits]
Congressional visits are vital to combat rampant abuses and entrenched impunity:
Preventable deaths: There were three tragic deaths in the first month of the Trump administration. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told Congress on May 14 that nine people have died in ICE custody since January 20. 26 people died in ICE detention during the Biden administration. A June 2024 report found that 95 percent of documented deaths in ICE custody between 2017-2021 were likely preventable. Congressional visits are vital to monitor the conditions ICE holds people in that lead to the devastating loss of lives.
Rapid expansion: ICE’s sprawling detention apparatus covers more than 40 states and U.S. territories, including privately operated mega prisons and county jails. Since Trump returned to office, the detention apparatus has spread, with new agreements with private prison companies with ties to cabinet officials, new contracts with Bureau of Prisons (BOP) jails and its unlawful expansion of immigration detention to Naval Station Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. The administration also re-started the inhumane practice of detaining families, and is seeking to expand to military bases.
Overspending: Congressional oversight is important to halt the Trump administration’s opaque spending spree to further build up the detention system to carry out mass deportations. Congress has approved funding for 41,500 detention beds, while ICE is currently detaining nearly 50,000 people, and members of Congress have expressed concern that ICE is dramatically overspending funds that Congress has not approved. DHS Secretary Noem admitted that DHS was spending at a rate beyond appropriated levels with the reckless gamble that the department would get an extra $170 billion through the partisan reconciliation proposal currently under intense debate, which would supercharge mass detention expansion. It is pivotal for members of Congress to visit facilities to conduct pre-inspections before ICE awards any new contracts above appropriated levels.
Secrecy & obfuscation: Unannounced inspections are necessary to accurately document the conditions of ICE detention facilities in order to combat secrecy and obfuscation by ICE, who routinely colludes with inspectors, covers up conditions in anticipation of planned inspections, hides inspection results, and refuses to comply with any recommendations that do result from inspections.
For more information contact: Jesse Franzblau, National Immigrant Justice Center, at jfranzblau@immigrantjustice.org; Setareh Ghandehari, Detention Watch Network, at sghandehari@detentionwatchnetwork.org; & Naureen Shah, American Civil Liberties Union at nshah@aclu.org.