Election officials told to give 72 hours\u2019 notice before visiting immigration facilities, with some sites completely off limits<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Department of Homeland Security is now requiring lawmakers to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The guidance comes after a slew of tense visits from Democratic lawmakers to detention centers amid Donald Trump\u2019s crackdowns in immigrant communities across the country. Many Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks have either been turned away, arrested or manhandled by law enforcement officers at the facilities, leading to public condemnation towards Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (Ice) handling of such visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmakers are allowed to access DHS facilities \u201cused to detain or otherwise house aliens\u201d for inspections and are not required \u201cto provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility\u201d, according to<\/a> the 2024 Federal Appropriations Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previous language surrounding lawmaker visits to such facilities said that \u201cIce will comply with the law and accommodate members seeking to visit\/tour an Ice detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight,\u201d CNN reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, in the new guidance, the DHS updated the language to say that Ice \u201cwill make every effort to comply with the law\u201d but \u201cexigent circumstances (eg operational conditions, security posture, etc) may impact the time of entry into the facility\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new guidance also attempts to distinguish Ice field offices from Ice detention facilities, noting that since \u201cIce field offices are not detention facilities\u201d they do not fall under the visitation requirements laid out in the Appropriations Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guardian has contacted Ice for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response to the updated guidance, Mississippi\u2019s Democratic representative and the ranking member of the House committee on homeland security, Bennie Thompson, condemned what he called the attempt by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to \u201cblock oversight on Ice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKristi Noem\u2019s new policy to block congressional oversight of Ice facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the constitution and federal law. Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when members can visit, but completely blocking access to Ice field offices \u2013 even if members schedule visits in advance,\u201d Thompson said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny member visits to Ice offices across the country, which are holding migrants \u2013 and sometimes even US citizens \u2013 for days at a time. They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, the New Jersey representative LaMonica McIver was charged<\/a> with assaulting federal agents during a visit to a detention facility in Newark alongside two Democratic members of the state\u2019s congressional delegation. McIver called<\/a> the charges against her \u201cpurely political \u2026 and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Jersey\u2019s governor, Phil Murphy, also condemned the charges, saying it was \u201coutrageous for a congresswoman to be criminally charged for exercising her lawful duty to visit a detention site in her own district\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the day of McIver\u2019s visit, law enforcement also arrested<\/a> the mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, who they charged with trespassing as he attempted to join McIver\u2019s delegation visit. The charges against Baraka were later dropped and Baraka has since filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the state\u2019s top federal prosecutor over his arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bonnie Watson Coleman, another New Jersey representative who was part of McIver\u2019s visit, rejected the DHS\u2019s claims that the lawmakers assaulted law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe idea that I could \u2018body-slam\u2019 anyone, let alone an Ice agent, is absurd,\u201d the 80-year-old representative said<\/a> on X last month, adding: \u201cWe have an obligation to perform oversight at facilities paid for with taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this month, law enforcement officers forced the California senator Alex Padilla on to the ground as he attempted to ask a question to Noem during a press conference in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite repeatedly identifying himself, Padilla was handcuffed\u2002<\/a>and forced into the hallway before law enforcement officers shoved the two-term US senator chest-first on to the floor. Following the incident, which triggered widespread outrage<\/a> across both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Noem said she did not recognize the two-term senator and claimed that he did not request a meeting with her. The two then reportedly met for 15 minutes after the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Tuesday, the Illinois representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi and Jonathan Jackson were denied entry during their attempted visit to an Ice facility in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That same day, the New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate, Brad Lander, was forcibly arrested by multiple federal agents and detained for hours as he tried to accompany a Spanish-speaking immigrant out of a courtroom. The DHS claimed Lander \u201cwas arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer\u201d, an accusation Lander denies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following his release, New York\u2019s governor, Kathy Hochul, called<\/a> his arrest \u201cbullshit\u201d and said that the charges against Lander had been dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A day later, the New York representatives Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler were refused entry into Ice detention facilities in Manhattan\u2019s 26 Federal Plaza, despite requesting a visit in advance via letter, the City reports.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n