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11h ago

DHS Issues Sweeping Limits on Congressional Visits to ICE Facilities

Democratic lawmakers argue the policy is designed to conceal reports of inhumane conditions, including migrants sleeping on facility floors for days.

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New York Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler, right, and Dan Goldman speak at a news conference Wednesday at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan after being barred from entering and inspecting Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding cells.

Overview

  • The new guidance requires 72 hours’ notice for congressional visits and 24 hours for staff, and prohibits tours of ICE field offices that are now classified outside inspection requirements.
  • ICE gains unreviewable authority to deny, cancel, reschedule or terminate oversight visits under any of five broad conditions, such as emergencies or operational concerns.
  • Tours now ban photography and videography inside facilities and demand lawmakers submit names, alien registration numbers and valid privacy releases to meet with detainees.
  • Delegations from New York and Illinois were recently turned away at 26 Federal Plaza and the Broadview Processing Center after citing reports of migrants forced to sleep on floors and live in unsanitary conditions.
  • Rep. LaMonica McIver faces federal assault charges for a scuffle with DHS agents during an attempted inspection, marking the most prominent legal fallout from these confrontations.