On Monday, a group of House Democrats asked a federal judge to intervene and stop the Trump administration’s newly announced restrictions on lawmakers conducting oversight at immigrant jails being run by the Trump administration.
The Trump administration has repeatedly blocked Democratic officials from conducting oversight at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities across the country amid a litany of abuse claims lobbed by detainees and their advocates. Democrats had already legally challenged the lack of access, but they went back to court on Monday to push for an emergency hearing as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered even more restrictions on visits. This all comes after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman named Renee Good in Minneapolis last week.
A federal law requires that lawmakers be granted entry to conduct oversight at the jails without notice, but Noem and her department have argued in court — unsuccessfully so far — that their heightened restrictions are justified because some of the funding being used to operate the facility comes from a pool of money not authorized under the law.
Monday’s court filing, which lists Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., as a plaintiff, says the new DHS restrictions defy U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb’s decision last month to put the previous restrictions on hold. As for the department’s funding argument, the filing argues that it’s “practically impossible” for DHS to be implementing the new restrictions “without using a single dollar of annually appropriated funds subject to” the oversight law.
The filing says the oversight visits are necessary — and need to come soon — because Congress is currently negotiating DHS’ budget for the fiscal year ahead. “This is a critical moment for oversight, and members of Congress must be able to conduct oversight at ICE detention facilities, without notice, to obtain urgent and essential information for ongoing funding negotiations,” it says.
In a post on X, Neguse wrote:
“The law is crystal-clear: the administration can’t block Members of Congress from conducting real-time oversight of immigration detention facilities.
“Which is why, as DHS attempts to reimpose its unlawful policy, we’re going back to court to challenge it — immediately.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have warmed to the idea of slashing ICE’s funding amid horrifying scenes of federal agents brutalizing or harassing people as the agency carries out Trump’s racist anti-immigrant crackdown. Meanwhile, evidence suggests the American public is growing increasingly averse to the agency. A recent YouGov poll found a majority of people surveyed both disapprove of ICE and believe its tactics are “too forceful.” And DHS’ continued promotion of white supremacist rhetoric — a story I’ve covered previously — probably isn’t helping ICE in the popularity department. This is all playing out as House Democrats push to impeach Noem over her tenure at DHS, which has seen her embroiled in a slew of scandals and controversies. The efforts to prevent congressional oversight of ICE facilities can also be seen as part of the administration’s broader attack on people who seek to hold immigration authorities accountable — or simply monitor what they’re doing — be they lawmakers, members of news organizations or individuals who record ICE agents.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. 
