The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released new guidance for members of Congress who wish to visit federal immigration detention facilities.
The guidance comes as Democrat lawmakers have begun visiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities amid Trump's deportation efforts, with several being denied entry this week at immigration detention facilities in New York and Illinois.
Under the new guidance, which is dated this month, members of Congress wishing to visit an ICE facility are asked to notify the agency at least 72 hours ahead of time, in addition to existing requirements that compel House or Senate staffers to provide 24-hour notice in advance of their visits as well.
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Amid the Trump administration's efforts to tighten border security and deport illegal immigrants residing in the United States, members of Congress have been showing up at federal immigration facilities saying they are there to perform their statutorily authorized oversight duties.
"We went to conduct lawful congressional oversight-to do our jobs and demand answers for our constituents," Rep. LaMonica McIver said after she, two other members of Congress and a local mayor showed up at a detention facility in New Jersey last month, resulting in the mayor getting arrested and McIver, D-N.J., ultimately getting charged with forcibly impeding and interfering with federal immigration officials.
McIver's visit in May alongside Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka and two other members of Congress has been followed by other visits from Democratic officials to immigration facilities across the country. This week, at least two separate efforts to enter ICE facilities by a group of Democratic officials were denied.
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The new DHS guidance notes that while members of Congress have the statutory right to make unannounced visits to ICE detention facilities for oversight purposes, it did clarify that ICE field offices "fall outside" of that statutory authority.
The guidance also clarifies that ICE "retains the sole and unreviewable discretion to deny a request or otherwise cancel, reschedule or terminate a tour or visit" if "facility management or other ICE officials deem it appropriate to do so."
"ICE will make every effort to comply with the law and accommodate Members seeking to visit/tour an ICE detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight, but exigent circumstances (e.g., operational conditions, security posture, etc.) may impact the time of entry into the facility," the guidance states. "Regardless, Members must comply with entry requirements."
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The guidance says that anyone caught seeking to circumvent the entry requirements may be subject to arrest.
Another notable part of the guidance includes a ban on recording devices from being brought into federal detention facilities. The guidance also sets out parameters for how visitors can and can not interact with persons detained at ICE facilities, as well as with the ICE officers themselves.
The decision to approve, or deny, requests ultimately falls under the purview of the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Officer in Charge (OIC) of the facility that a visitor wishes to enter, the guidance states.
For facilities that house immigrant detainees, but are not solely an ICE or DHS facility, the guidance states that "as contractors" these facilities "cannot speak on behalf of the government," and "only ICE personnel are authorized to conduct visits for facilities housing ICE detainees." The guidance added that members of Congress, or their staff, attempting to enter Bureau of Prisons-owned (BOP) facilities that hold immigration detainees must follow BOP protocols that typically require five to seven business days of advance notice to coordinate the visit.
"As ICE law enforcement have seen a surge in assaults, disruptions and obstructions to enforcement, including by politicians themselves, any requests to tour processing centers and field offices must be approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security. These requests must be part of legitimate congressional oversight activities," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"As for visits to detention facilities, requests should be made with sufficient time to prevent interference with the President's Article II authority to oversee executive department functions-a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the President's constitutional authority," McLaughlin continued. "To protect the President's Article II authority, any request to shorten that time must be approved by the Secretary."
