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2d ago

Maryland Democrats Stage Sit-In After Being Barred From Baltimore ICE Holding Room

The protest shines a spotlight on the facility’s exemption from national detention standards; a federal class-action lawsuit challenges its detainee conditions

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From left, U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey (MD-04), and U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD listen as U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Ranking Member of the U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, speaks about what happened inside the George H. Fallon Federal Building where they went to conduct an official oversight visit of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holding facility were denied access to the holding facility. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
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Overview

  • Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Angela Alsobrooks and four Democratic representatives were denied an unannounced tour of the George H. Fallon Federal Building ICE holding room and sat in the hallway to demand access
  • They cited the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act granting members of Congress surprise inspections, but DHS reaffirmed a directive requiring advance notice to protect the President’s Article II authority
  • ICE maintains the Baltimore site is a temporary holding room not subject to the 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards for long-term detention facilities
  • Two immigrant rights organizations filed a federal class-action lawsuit in May alleging inhumane conditions at the holding room, with Maryland’s attorney general filing a friend-of-the-court brief in support
  • DHS Secretary Kristi Noem criticized the lawmakers as staging a “photo op” and posted mugshots of detainees accused of serious crimes while Republican officials dismissed the sit-in as political theater