House Democrats ask new ICE director to roll back policy on visits
WASHINGTON— Dozens of House Democrats are asking the new director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reverse a policy they say hinders their ability to talk to detainees during surveillance visits.
Under the new policy, lawmakers must identify detainees by name at least two business days before the visit and provide a signed consent form from each detainee. It’s the latest in an ongoing conflict over when and how lawmakers can inspect immigration facilities.
Acting ICE Director David Venturella, Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano) and 77 other members of Congress, including two dozen from California, argued in a letter Thursday that they must constantly monitor immigration facilities because of historic levels of reports of detainee mistreatment, in-custody deaths and substandard facility conditions.
“This Administration has activated a revolving door of arbitrary policies, directives, and guidance designed to prevent any productive oversight of members’ access to facilities or communication with detainees,” they wrote.
The letter was written in response to the new policy outlined in a memo last month.
In the letter, Levin and other members wrote that they had difficulty accessing the detainee visitation form because it was sometimes unavailable in the detention center’s law library. They said this limited their ability to speak broadly to detainees, especially those from vulnerable groups such as the elderly.
Detainees had previously used a registration form to meet with members of Congress or were just starting to talk to detainees they encountered during facility tours.
In the memo outlining ICE’s new policy, then-acting director Todd Lyons said increased visits by members of Congress had become a burden and a waste of time. Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has previously said the policy does not prevent lawmakers from talking to detainees.
Levin said the increase in visits was necessary as the agency reduced staffing in its probation offices. The letter states that the president has requested additional cuts from the Office of the Inspector General of Homeland Security for the next fiscal year.
“These actions, coupled with continued changes to policies surrounding member access to facilities, reveal a clear attack on the tools that ensure transparency of government at all levels,” members wrote.
House Democrats sued the Trump administration last July after they were repeatedly denied access to immigrant detention facilities in California and across the country.
Homeland Security officials had previously implemented a policy requiring lawmakers to give seven days’ notice of a visit, but that policy was temporarily blocked in federal court.
A Belizean man who helped organize hunger strikes at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center was moved to out-of-state facilities and is scheduled to be deported after speaking to three members of Congress about conditions at the detention center in San Bernardino County, lawyers said this week.
