A dozen House Democrats are suing the Department of Homeland Security after they were denied access to immigration detention facilities.
The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, says all 12 Democratic lawmakers were denied access to DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities after an agency rule was changed to require a week’s notice for congressional visits.
“The [2020 Homeland Security Committee staff oversight report] emphasized that when congressional staff provided advance notice of oversight visits, ‘ICE facilities used the advanced warning to improve the conditions within the facility,’” the suit reads. “Staff detected evidence of those improvements, including the smell of fresh paint, evidence of a major clean-up, the relocation of individuals from solitary cells to the general population, and the installation of new guards.”
In the first six months of the second Trump administration, immigration enforcement has taken center stage, as the number of individuals in detention has reached historic levels, ICE arrests have risen in every state and Mexico-border crossings are at a historic low. As enforcement efforts have intensified, Democratic lawmakers across the country have increasingly sought to conduct oversight at facilities they allege are overburdened.
Many have been denied entry during these unannounced visits to ICE facilities, leading some lawmakers to call for investigations.
Plaintiffs in the 67-page suit include Reps. Jamie Raskin, Adriano Espaillat, Joe Neguse, Bennie Thompson, Robert Garcia, Lou Correa, Jason Crow, Veronica Escobar, Dan Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Raul Ruiz and Norma Torres.
“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, including the one in my own district that set off national outrage and protests across the country,” Gomez said in Wednesday’s release. “I’ve tried repeatedly to get inside and conduct oversight, only to be turned away.”
The suit, brought in coordination with Democracy Forward and American Oversight, argues that the new policy violates provisions of various appropriations bills that say agency funds cannot be used to block lawmakers from visiting facilities.
“The obstruction of Congressional oversight is not just an affront to the Constitution — it’s a threat to our democracy,” Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a release. “The Trump Administration has consistently hindered oversight powers while gutting internal watchdogs, creating the perfect storm for abuse and impunity.”
The president and CEO of Democracy Forward, Skye Perryman, said the nonprofit was honored to take on the case as the “lawsuit goes to the heart of our democracy.”
Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that ICE’s requirement of notice is “designed to stop us from checking out reports of inhumane treatment and denial of fundamental rights to immigrants in detention.”
“But these brazen attempts to rebuff us — in stark violation of federal law — only deepen our resolve to get information to the American people,” Raskin continued.