U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have stopped allowing on-demand access for members of Congress to make unannounced visits to detention facilities. ICE officials say they don’t have the funding or staff to support those visits during the shutdown, and that the legal requirement for congressional access expired when government funding ran out.
Instead, the Trump administration argues the operations are being paid for under a separate law that doesn’t include a mandate for access. Democrats have used oversight visits to monitor conditions and speak directly with detainees, and now are alleging the move is an excuse to shut down transparency. They also have an active lawsuit against the administration for restricting access that began before the shutdown.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson is blaming Democrats for the shutdown. U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10th) denounced the move as an “attempt to operate in the dark.”
McIver was charged earlier this year following a tense visit to Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention center in Newark. A federal judge is weighing whether to pause the lawmakers’ lawsuit until the shutdown ends.
