ICE denies oversight of crowded detention facilities, lawmakers say

Federal officials are keeping lawmakers from inspecting increasingly crowded detention facilities.

In at least three instances in California and New York, nine members of Congress have been denied entry, lawmakers told USA TODAY. Their attempted visits as part of congressional oversight come amid protests over sweeping raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies. Advocates and lawmakers have raised concerns about detainees having little access to food, water or medicine in crowded conditions.

As the Trump administration increases quotas to detain thousands of migrants each day, Democratic lawmakers have sought entry to view conditions where people are held inside detention centers, skyscrapers and basements.

“People are going in and they’re not coming out,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, told reporters June 10.

Two days earlier, on Sunday, June 8, Espaillat and Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-New York, went to 26 Federal Plaza, a Manhattan skyscraper housing immigration court and ICE offices where they believe migrants are being held. Agents kept them from inspecting the building.

In recent days, people have attended immigration court hearings, had their cases dismissed, and were quickly apprehended by ICE, Espaillat said. While the two officials entered the lobby, Espaillat said officials told them they couldn’t go up because it was a sensitive location.

The same day across the country, in California’s Mojave Desert, lawmakers stood outside the privately-run Adelanto ICE Processing Center, which has faced years of scandal over treatment of detainees. They were barred at the facility by locked gates.

“It’s a complete mystery,” Rep. Judy Chu, D-California, one of three elected officials denied entry, said in an interview. “This is why we have to go.”

Families hadn’t heard from the people detained in militarized immigration raids in recent days in Los Angeles County, prompting lawmakers' visit to the facility, Chu said.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to email requests for comment.

NJ lawmaker indicted after ICE facility visit resulted in confrontation

The apparent denials of congressional inspections comes after three New Jersey congressmembers in May visited a newly opened private detention center in Newark. After lawmakers' visit, a tense confrontation ensued with agents at the entrance. Agents arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka but a federal trespassing charge was dropped.

In a statement posted on its website, DHS said members of Congress simply had to schedule a visit. But experts told USA TODAY federal law doesn't require representatives to schedule visits. Conversely, unannounced visits provide the opportunity to view conditions without giving officials the opportunity to hide facility issues or conditions.

Federal prosecutors charged one of the lawmakers, Rep. LaMonica McIver, for her involvement in the confrontation. On June 10, a grand jury indicted McIver on three criminal counts related to forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers. McIver called the case a "brazen act of political intimidation" from conducting her oversight role.

ICE data indicates substantial increases in detainees. Over 51,000 people are in custody as of June 1, an increase of more than 30% since Jan. 12, data shows. The agency is currently funded to house around 41,500 detainees, according to Reuters.

What does the law say about oversight of ICE facilities?

Members of Congress can conduct unannounced inspections of ICE facilities under federal law.

The 2024 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act said funds made available to DHS can’t be used to prevent members of Congress “from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.”

Additionally, the statute said, “Nothing in this section may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.”

Experts said such oversight, especially by inspecting conditions without notice, is key to ensuring safe conditions with DHS and ICE.

“This is an agency and a subagency that, over time, has overstepped its authority and has been unresponsive to pushback by members of Congress,” Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said. “The Trump administration is taking that increasing level of impunity to an all new level.”

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-California, invoked the oversight statutes in a letter dated June 8 to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “This is black letter law—and your department broke it," Gomez wrote.

Days earlier, migrants, including asylum seekers, had gone to ICE check-ins at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, in downtown Los Angeles, and placed into custody in the basement, CBS News reported.

In a separate incident, on June 7, Gomez and three members of Congress, all Southern California Democrats, tried to enter the building, where many detained during recent raids had also been taken. The representatives were denied entry, but not before a speaker on the intercom asked, “Who are you guys?”

This statutory oversight includes anywhere were the agency is holding people in custody, whether at a detention center or temporarily in a federal building, experts said.

“To close off the ability for there to be oversight and transparency is going to put these facilities essentially in an unfettered operating position,” Greg Chen, senior director for government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said. “It’s going to mean that there’s going to be no guardrails to ensure safe conditions for people that are detained there.”

Lawmakers search for migrants detained in LA sweeps at desert facility

Federal agents detained dozens of people in days of raids around Los Angeles worksites beginning June 6. 

The militarized action in the United States’ most populous county has triggered days of protests. In response, President Donald Trump deployed Marines and the National Guard, against the wishes of state and local leaders.

Many people detained in sweeping raids across Los Angeles were believed to have been transferred to the Adelanto facility, about 90 miles away, according to Chu, the Southern California congresswoman.

Chu had visited Adelanto several times before before due to its conditions, including after Raul Ernesto Morales-Ramos, a Salvadoran man, died in 2015 from liver and kidney failure after complaints of medical issues in detention.

During their latest visit, Chu and other lawmakers yelled at officials from behind the locked gate, videos showed.

A driver in a surgical mask could be seen in a car parked less than 100 feet beyond the gate. The group, which included legal advocates, received no responses. GEO Group, which operates Adelanto, referred USA TODAY's questions to ICE, which didn't respond to questions.

A family had been there at the same time as the representatives, Chu said. They had been searching for their son for three days.

Data as of May 27, more than a week before the raids, showed around 140 people held at Adelanto. The facility has capacity for 1,940 people.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at [email protected] or on Signal at emcuevas.01.