Murphy said he provided more than 24 hours\u2019 notice before his arrival to tour the facilities on Tuesday. He was ultimately barred from getting into two detention centers in Dilley and Pearsall, both about an hour and half southwest of San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Calling it \u201cpatently illegal,\u201d he said the denials impede congressional oversight, which he believes is even more pertinent given his role as the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. That panel oversees and funds the overall department, which has jurisdiction over ICE.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_4630-771x578.jpg\")
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tried to get into two detention facilities run by ICE, including South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. He was denied entry into both since the Department of Homeland Security currently requires members of Congress to give a week\u2019s notice. Credit: Courtesy of Sen. Murphy’s Office<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure that I was going to be turned away. I didn\u2019t show up unannounced. I gave them a day and half notice. I am the ranking Democrat on the committee that funds DHS. They had no reason to turn me away. And the fact that they did gives me an idea that they\u2019re trying to hide something,\u201d Murphy said in an interview Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more evidence of how critical this moment is and how DHS does not deserve to be funded without reforms,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
Tensions with ICE have become even more strained after the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a federal agent earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Multiple Democratic members of Congress have tried to get into ICE detention centers around the country, including the most recent attempts by three lawmakers from Minnesota. <\/p>\n
Last month, a federal judge temporarily blocked<\/a> a Trump administration policy that required members of Congress to provide at least seven days\u2019 notice before entering such facilities. But after an emergency hearing, followed by the denial of the trio of Minnesota lawmakers, the judge ruled that a similar policy blocking unannounced visits will remain in place<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Murphy tried to enter on Tuesday, DHS noted the 7-day policy on notification and told him that all facilities in the area are being completely funded by Republicans\u2019 \u201cbig beautiful bill,\u201d which allocated $75 billion over four years for ICE. They claimed that was a reason they didn\u2019t have to follow appropriations law regarding congressional oversight.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they are not letting members of Congress in with less than seven days\u2019 notice, it tells you how much work they know they need to do to cover up and hide the things they don\u2019t want us to see,\u201d Murphy said over social media. \u201cYou get to see the videos of what\u2019s happening in Minneapolis. You don\u2019t get to see anything that\u2019s happening behind these walls.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n DHS issued a memo on Jan. 8<\/a> instituting a new policy that mirrored a past one requiring notification of at least a week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe basis for this policy is that advance notice is necessary to ensure adequate protection for Members of Congress, congressional staff, detainees, and ICE employees alike. Unannounced visits require pulling ICE officers away from their normal duties. Moreover, there is an increasing trend of replacing legitimate oversight activities with circus-like publicity stunts, all of which creates a chaotic environment with heightened emotions,\u201d the memo reads.<\/p>\n While he didn\u2019t get to tour either facility, Murphy said he spoke with some of the people who run them. At South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Murphy was told there are 1,800 people at that facility, with 5% of them considered security threats, with convictions or arrests for violent crimes.<\/p>\n Murphy also met with two families who were recently detained in Texas. Both had young kids and were going through the court-ordered process as they apply for asylum when they were detained by federal agents.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they described is fundamentally un-American,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s fundamentally inhumane.\u201d<\/p>\n On Wednesday, he sat in on proceedings at an immigration court in San Antonio for about two hours. Murphy said he received an urgent request from lawyers and advocates who knew he was in town. They asked him to sit in on one of the hearings of a young couple with a 2-year-old daughter, hoping that the presence of a U.S. senator would make detainment less likely. Murphy said he helped walk the family out of the courtroom and to their car.<\/p>\n But that wasn\u2019t the case for another individual whose hearing Murphy also sat in on. The senator said the man didn\u2019t have legal representation, but the judge ordered him to finish his asylum paperwork and return in a year. Despite the permission he got to remain in the country during that time, Murphy said the man was immediately apprehended by ICE officers when he exited the courtroom, though he wasn\u2019t sure about his whereabouts after that happened.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s trip was much different from the one he took to the southern border in 2023<\/a>. That visit was with a bipartisan group of senators who were looking for a compromise to reform the immigration system. That led to Murphy negotiating a bipartisan border bill<\/a> a year later, which ultimately fell apart after Donald Trump\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n Since Trump\u2019s return to office, Murphy\u2019s role in the U.S. Senate has evolved<\/a>. He has become a vocal critic of the administration\u2019s immigration crackdown, which he argues isn\u2019t focusing on dangerous and violent criminals.<\/p>\n One of the ways Murphy and other Democrats have sought accountability for ICE is through the congressional appropriations process and placing limits on the enforcement agency through the budget of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE among many other offices.<\/p>\n In the days leading up to the compromise bill, Murphy signaled he wouldn\u2019t be able <\/a>to support a bill without certain reforms or guardrails surrounding ICE.<\/p>\n