A Guide for Members of Congress Visiting ICE Jails
Updated June 2025
Since President Trump returned to office, the federal government has spent record-breaking amounts of taxpayer funds to jail more people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention than ever before. ICE’s sprawling detention apparatus covers more than 40 states and U.S. territories, and the agency is striking new agreements with private prison companies with ties to cabinet officials, new contracts with Bureau of Prisons (BOP) jails, and offshoring the jailing of immigrants to Guantánamo Bay and El Salvador. The administration also re-started the inhumane practice of detaining families, and plans to expand to more military bases.
Congressional oversight is critical to evaluate these historic spending and budgetary increases to jail immigrants, as well as the alarmingly abusive conditions immigrants face under this new phase of mass incarceration. This toolkit provides a step-by-step guide for members of Congress to plan visits to ICE detention facilities in their districts and engage in oversight.