One day after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem put forward new restrictions on congressional visits to ICE detention facilities, according to a report from Politico on Saturday.
The order requires lawmakers to provide a week’s advance notice before visiting facilities. As Politico reported, last month, a federal judge rejected a nearly identical policy, ruling that as part of its oversight of federal spending, the law requires Congress to have unrestricted visits.
Noem’s order attempts to work around that ruling by allocating only funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for congressional visits.
The new restrictions prevented three House Democrats from Minnesota from touring a detention facility in Minneapolis on Saturday.
“I was just denied access to the ICE processing center at the Whipple Building,” Rep. Ilhan Omar wrote in a post on X. “Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained. The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.”
In a statement, Noem claimed the reason the administration changed the policy was to “ensure adequate protection for Members of Congress, congressional staff, detainees, and ICE employees alike,” adding that “unannounced visits require pulling ICE officers away from their normal duties.”
But Omar didn’t buy that justification. “That is the most BS statement I have ever heard from DHS,” she said on Sunday’s “The Weekend: Primetime.”
“There was no need to have anyone guarding us,” she said. “There was no need to have anyone with weapons with us. It was a casual visit inside the building, and we could have been allowed to fully complete our oversight duties.”
The congresswoman explained that she and her fellow lawmakers were beginning a tour of the facility when their visit was “abruptly” ended.
“If it had to do with any sort of security problems, we would have been rushed with some armed guards, or any of those kinds of things that you normally see,” Omar added. “But no, we quietly walked, and we were asked if we wanted coffee, so this had nothing to do with safety or worry for ICE agents or for ourselves.”
The Minnesota Democrat said oversight is especially important in a moment like this, as her city continues to reel from Good’s killing and the growing presence of immigration agents. “Federal law enforcement is being sent as an occupying force into Minneapolis,” she said. “There is no other way to explain having 2,000 — and soon over 3,000 — ICE and Border Patrol agents into our city … This is to create fear. It’s to terrorize our communities. It is to tell us that we are powerless, and it is dangerous.” Omar said the people of Minneapolis are responding to this threat with an “outpouring of love” for their neighbors. She praised members of her communities for continuing to peacefully protest ICE’s presence in their city. “People understand that these times are very dangerous, they’re dark, they’re chaotic, they’re very confusing,” Omar said. “They know that our democracy, our Constitution, is being challenged. What they do know is that they have to be out there. They have to be documenting. They have to be looking for accountability.” You can watch Omar’s full interview on “The Weekend: Primetime” in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. Recommended
