{"id":67820,"date":"2025-11-24T17:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T17:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/67820\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T17:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T17:18:10","slug":"local-legislators-to-try-to-tour-ice-detention-center-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/67820\/","title":{"rendered":"Local legislators to try to tour ICE detention center \u2014 again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Edward<\/a>Edward J. Schwartz federal office building in downtown San Diego. (File photo via casd.uscourts.gov)<\/p>\n

For the third time in just over a month, several local members of Congress will Monday attempt to tour an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention center<\/a> in the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building and United States Courthouse.<\/p>\n

They have been turned away multiple times, but Monday is supposed to be different. The representatives said they now have permission to visit the facility<\/a> following the conclusion of the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Democratic Reps. Juan Vargas and Scott Peters were refused entry on Oct. 20. On Oct. 27, they were joined by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, and Reps. Sara Jacobs and Rep. Mike Levin \u2014 and were again turned away.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs members of Congress, we have the right and the responsibility to enter detention sites in order to conduct oversight without prior authorization,\u201d Vargas said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we were again blocked from entering. If nothing is wrong here, why are we not allowed in? What is ICE hiding? We came here to confirm that the law is being followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter being denied entry again, I cannot say for certain that\u2019s the case. We will continue to push DHS for answers to what is going on here. We will not stand by while we continue to hear reports that people are being held in concerning conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislators sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting director of ICE Todd Lyons in October, laying out a pattern of \u201cignored requests and stonewalling\u201d by DHS, raising concerns that the agency is blocking congressional oversight in violation of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week, we began to hear alarming reports of increased numbers of people being detained in the basement facilities of the federal building during routine immigration check-ins,\u201d the joint letter read. \u201cWe have also heard reports that people were being detained in subpar conditions, without access to attorneys, medical care, or proper nutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though we identified ourselves as members of Congress who were conducting federal oversight, local ICE officials denied us entry and told us that we needed seven days\u2019 notice to schedule a site visit. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the visit, we again reached out to reiterate our request in writing for a tour of the facilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn response, ICE sent an automated response indicating that the \u2018ICE Office of Congressional Relations staff are currently out of the office and unable to respond to emails, phone calls, or perform other work-related duties\u2019 and that `incoming inquiries\u2019 would be reviewed only \u2018(o)nce funding is restored.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n

ICE at the time told the legislators that only requests approved seven days in advance would be allowed to inspect its facilities \u2014 a new policy put in place this summer by the DHS.<\/p>\n

As a result, for at least 43 days during the shutdown, these detention centers had little to zero Congressional oversight, leaving the condition of those detained unknown by the general public. <\/p>\n

The leaders hammer this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs members of Congress, we have the right and responsibility to conduct governmental oversight of federal agencies,\u201d they wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese oversight responsibilities are especially important in situations, like here, where reports indicate that people\u2019s well-being may be at risk. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. This administration has routinely denied this right and created arbitrary barriers in an attempt to prevent Congressional oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although permission has been granted, it may not be enough. In June, Democratic Reps. Judy Chu, Gil Cisneros, and Derek Tran were turned away from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center \u2014 despite being legally authorized to visit the San Bernardino County facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly a decade, I\u2019ve visited Adelanto because of its notorious history of violating detainees\u2019 basic human and constitutional rights,\u201d Chu said after she was denied entry. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, it appears that Adelanto\u2019s inhumane track record<\/a> continues as we hear reports that detainees rounded up after Trump\u2019s ICE raids in Los Angeles are being denied their right to due process and that even U.S. citizens may have been detained. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yet, our attempts as Members of Congress to conduct oversight at Adelanto, which is expressly permitted by law, were unlawfully denied, blocking us from getting the truth about what\u2019s going on behind illegally closed doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of immigration status, everyone has a right to due process. We need answers now.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edward J. Schwartz federal office building in downtown San Diego. (File photo via casd.uscourts.gov) For the third time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[40305,19812,11168,14,19814,15924,40306,74,76,75,19815,1695],"class_list":["post-67820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-asylum-seekers","tag-edward-j-schwartz-federal-building","tag-ice-detention","tag-immigration","tag-juan-vargas","tag-mike-levin","tag-refugees","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sara-jacobs","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}