Democratic lawmakers sue Trump admin. for limiting visits to ICE detention centers

A dozen Democratic members of Congress sued the Trump administration on Wednesday over its effort to limit their access to detention centers housing immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, accusing the White House of inhibiting lawmakers' oversight responsibilities.

The lawsuit alleged the Trump administration had blocked attempts by Democratic lawmakers in states throughout the U.S. to enter Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers and sought to delay plans to visit and inspect such facilities.

The lawmakers argued in their complaint that the actions by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, violate a provision of federal law that guarantees members of Congress access to facilities holding those awaiting deportation.

"These illegal actions have harmed each Plaintiff's right as an individual member of Congress to conduct oversight and obtain information about DHS facilities and the conditions of immigration detention," the lawmakers said in their lawsuit, which was filed by lawyers from the groups Democracy Forward and American Oversight.

The complaint asked the federal district court in Washington, D.C., to require DHS to give members of Congress unfettered access to ICE holding facilities — even during unannounced visits — for the purposes of conducting congressional oversight.

Democratic lawmakers have sparred with the Trump administration for months over access to ICE facilities. One May clash with ICE officials at a Newark detention center led the Justice Department to charge Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey with assaulting law enforcement officers. She has pleaded not guilty. Six Maryland Democrats said they were denied access to an ICE facility in Baltimore earlier this week, and Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado said he couldn't get into a facility in a Denver suburb last week.

The complaint noted that appropriations law dating back to 2019 says DHS cannot use funds allocated by Congress to "prevent" members of Congress from entering detention facilities housing immigration detainees for the purposes of oversight. The Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Act also included a provision that states DHS should not require members of Congress to "provide prior notice of the intent" to inspect such facilities.

But DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the department is now requiring lawmakers to give a week of prior notice before any oversight visit to an ICE detention facility, citing President Trump's constitutional powers to oversee the executive branch. She said requests to shorten that time must be approved by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

"As for visits to detention facilities, requests should be made with sufficient time to prevent interference with the President's Article II authority to oversee executive department functions — a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the President's constitutional authority," McLaughlin said.

DHS has also taken the position that lawmakers don't automatically have access to visit ICE field offices and other short-term processing facilities, since they are not long-term detention centers. Some ICE field offices, however, have been used as makeshift detention centers recently, with holding facilities in New York and other cities housing detainees for days.

Citing an increase in threats and attacks against ICE officers, McLaughlin said any visits by lawmakers to ICE field officers or processing sites that are not detention centers would need to be approved by Noem.

McLaughlin said the members of Congress who sued the administration Wednesday "could have just scheduled a tour." Instead, she said, "they're running to court to drive clicks and fundraising emails."

The dozen Democrats who joined the lawsuit were Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow of Colorado; Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman of New York; Bennie Thompson of Mississippi; Jamie Raskin of Maryland; Veronica Escobar of Texas; and Robert Garcia, Luis Correa, Jimmy Gomez, Raul Ruiz and Norma Torres of California.

Wednesday's lawsuit comes as the Trump administration escalates its aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration. In recent weeks, ICE has transferred a record number of detainees to its sprawling detention system. As of this week, the agency was holding 57,000 individuals facing deportation, according to internal government data.

As the number of those in ICE custody has ballooned since the start of the year, some detainees have reported unsanitary and substandard conditions in facilities across the country. A recently released video showed detainees lying on the floor at an ICE holding facility in New York in what advocates called "inhumane" conditions. The Trump administration has categorically denied all claims of subpar conditions at ICE facilities.