More than a dozen Democrats sued Ice to prevent oversight visits from detention centers

Washington – More than a dozen Democratic House members, including four from California, have sued the Trump administration for attempting to monitor visits after lawmakers have been repeatedly denied access to immigration detention facilities.

The lawsuit was filed in the federal district court in Washington, and he said each plaintiff tried to access the detention facility by appearing in person or informing the Department of Homeland Security officials in advance and was illegally blocked.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that a request for access should be made in a statement to prevent interference with the president’s power to oversee the execution of departmental functions and must be approved by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. McLaughlin said a week’s notice would be enough.

“These members of Congress could have arranged tours; instead they ran to the court to send out clicks and fundraising emails,” she wrote.

Among the plaintiffs are Norma Torres of Pomona, California’s representative, Robert Garcia of Long Beach, who is a ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, Lou Correa of Santa Ana, and a House Homeland Security Committee on the Border Security and Law Enforcement of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Also included New York’s representative Adriano Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson is a ranking member of the Homeland Security Council; Maryland’s Jamie Raskin is a ranking member of the Judiciary Council.

“No child should sleep on concrete and not refuse care from any patient, but that’s exactly what we’ve been hearing about in Trump’s detention centers, including a person in my own area who sparked anger and protests across the country,” Gomez wrote in a statement. “I tried repeatedly inside and oversight and just been turned away.”

Correa added that as a long-time member of the House Homeland Security Committee, his job has been to oversee immigration and customs enforcement. He said he had fulfilled the role without any problems until this summer.

Reports in immigration detention centers have included problems such as overcrowding, food shortages and lack of medical services in recent months. In some cases, U.S. citizens are illegally detained by immigrant agents.

The lawsuit requires the Trump administration to comply with federal law that guarantees members of Congress the right to monitor visits anywhere an immigrant is detained, pending deportation lawsuit. Legislators are represented by the Democratic Forward Foundation and the U.S. supervisory supervision.

ICE released new guidelines last month for members of Congress and their staff, requiring lawmakers to issue at least 72 hours of notice and require at least 24 hours of notice from employees before monitoring visits. Guides that have since been removed from ICE’s website also claim that field offices such as facilities at the Royal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles “is not detention facilities” and are within the scope of supervision laws.

The agency said that if an emergency or the security of the facility jeopardizes access or rescheduling, the agency’s security hazards are not mentioned in federal law.

The lawsuit claims ICE’s new policy is illegal.

Since 2020, a federal regulation detailed in the annual grant program states that funds are not available to prevent members of Congress “from entering, with the aim of conducting supervision, which is either by the Department of Homeland Security or any facility used to detain housing aliens or other housing aliens.”

Under regulations, federal officials may need to notify congressional staff of visits at least 24 hours, but are not members themselves.

Lawmakers say Congressional oversight is now more than ever, with ICE holding more than 56,800 people in custody as of July 13, according to lawmakers.

Ten people have died on the ice since Trump took office. Earlier this year, the government began closing three internal oversight agencies of the Department of Homeland Security, but they resumed work with minimal staff after civil rights groups sued.

Gomez said in a statement that ice not only prevented lawmakers, but also prevented Americans from learning how the government treats people with taxes.

“This lawsuit is our message: As members of Congress, we will do our job and we will not let these institutions operate in the shadows,” he wrote.