Colorado U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging that ICE has illegally blocked congressional access to detention facilities.
In the suit, which is led by Neguse, the two Colorado representatives join 10 other Democratic lawmakers in alleging that ICE is violating a federal law that allows members of Congress to enter detention centers for unannounced visits. As lawmakers have made more of those visits amid ICE’s mass-deportation program, several — including Crow — have been denied access under a new policy requiring seven days’ notice.
That policy runs counter to a federal law first adopted in 2019, the lawmakers argue.
“Blocking members of Congress from oversight visits to ICE facilities that house or otherwise detain immigrants clearly violates federal law — and the Trump administration knows it,” Neguse, the fourth-ranking member of the House Democratic caucus, said in a statement. “Such blatant disregard for both the law and the constitutional order by the Trump administration warrants a serious and decisive response, which is why I’m proud to lead the lawsuit we proceeded with earlier today.”
The suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. It names ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE’s acting director.
An email sent to ICE spokespeople was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Crow, who supported the legal requirement that congressional members get uninhibited access to the facilities, attempted to visit the privately run ICE detention center in Aurora earlier this month. He told The Denver Post last week that he wasn’t allowed in, and he said he and other lawmakers were exploring legal options.
In a statement Wednesday, he wrote that “oversight is a fundamental responsibility of Congress.”
The suit alleges that all 12 lawmakers involved had sought and were denied access to facilities, either in person or through advanced notification. The House members argued that oversight was more important now, as ICE’s arrests have increased significantly and the agency has sought to open additional facilities, including in Colorado.
“Concerns regarding poor conditions in ICE facilities predate the current administration, but recent news reports suggest that detention conditions have drastically deteriorated as the number of individuals in ICE custody has risen,” the lawsuit says.
“In some cases, detainees are being denied medical care, forced to sleep on the floor in overcrowded cells, and severely underfed, with potentially deadly consequences.”
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