Ranking Member Garcia and Committee Democrats Demand Department of Homeland Security End Illegal Trump Policy Limiting Congressional Oversight of ICE Detention Facilities
Washington, D.C.—Today, in his first action as Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Robert Garcia led Committee Democrats in demanding U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem immediately end her new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy. This new policy bars elected Members of Congress from freely inspecting detention facilities by requiring them to give DHS 7 days’ notice before visiting. Members of Congress have the legal authority to carry out oversight duties of such facilities at any time. The Trump Administration’s policy shamelessly defies the law to shut out Congress, hide the truth, and secretly carry out their illegal mass deportations — even as disturbing reports of abuse and inhumane conditions pile up.
The letter comes after DHS has repeatedly blocked congressional Democrats’ good government oversight efforts and investigations, denying access and refusing to hand over critical information. That includes Democrats’ demands for answers about an incident in which U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was tackled to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents for questioning the Administration’s illegal and brutal actions in his home state of California during a press conference with Secretary Noem.
“Americans are shocked and outraged by the often violent, unlawful conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers acting at your direction, and they expect Congress to demand accountability. More than 70% of the people currently in ICE detention have not been convicted of a crime. Those held by ICE included a 6-year-old child with leukemia unable to get the care he needs and a father of three U.S. Marines who was beaten by masked federal agents. Members of Congress are working to ensure that your agency is behaving within the bounds of the law and the Constitution, but the Department of Homeland Security (Department or DHS) is now attempting to illegally bar members of Congress from doing their jobs with a new policy that restricts our access to facilities in which DHS personnel are detaining people for immigration-related purposes. We write to demand that DHS immediately rescind this policy, stop its efforts to impede congressional oversight, and provide information to hold accountable those responsible for initiating and advancing this unlawful attempt to stop Congress from fulfilling its constitutional mandate,” wrote the Members.
In their letter, the Members highlighted that despite ICE’s new policy, Congress, a coequal branch of government, has the constitutional and legal authority to, at any time and for the purpose of conducting oversight, enter DHS facilities used for immigration detention. Most recently, the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill, passed by the Republican controlled House and Senate, explicitly affirmed the authority of Members of Congress to conduct unannounced oversight visits of immigration detention facilities.
“The Department’s new policy and ongoing stonewalling, even in response to Congress’s most basic inquiries, is a clear violation of the law and a grave breach of the Constitution that threatens our democracy. When masked persons claiming to be agents of federal law enforcement snatch law-abiding people off the street, Members of Congress must be allowed to shine a light on the truth. If ICE and DHS have nothing shameful to hide, they should welcome such oversight and quickly work to correct their unlawful attempts to evade accountability,” concluded the Members.
Click here to read the letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
###