Frost, Escobar, and Crow to Noem and ICE: Members of Congress Have a Legal Right to Enter Detention Facilities and Conduct Oversight
Lawmakers Blast the Trump Administration for Threatening to Arrest Members Doing Their Jobs
WASHINGTON D.C. — Following the alarming arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and threats to Members of Congress due to a recent oversight visit to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, Reps. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), and Jason Crow (CO-06) are demanding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE issue direction to all agents reminding them that Members of Congress have a legal right to show up unannounced and conduct oversight visits to federal detention facilities– and that any threats of arrest against Members who do so are unlawful.
In a letter sent today to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Patrick J. Lyons, the lawmakers condemned the May 9 incident at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, during which ICE agents arrested Mayor Baraka, despite the Mayor’s compliance with a request to leave a fenced-in parking area.
A DHS spokesperson later claimed that Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Rob Menendez (NJ-08), and LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), who were conducting a site visit of the detention center, could also be arrested citing an alleged “body slam” of an officer—a charge that has not been substantiated by any witness or video evidence.
In their letter, the Members cite the explicit statutory authority, which was most recently included in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act 2024, which prohibits DHS from interfering with congressional oversight, even when conducted without prior notice.
The Members are demanding that DHS issue immediate direction to personnel nationwide reaffirming these rights and protections. They request confirmation by May 17, 2025 that this direction has been given.
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