A dozen members of Congress are back in court because the White House quietly reinstated a rule barring unannounced inspections of immigration detention centers.
The legislators filed an urgent motion in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Jan. 12 demanding the Trump administration explain how the secretly reimplemented policy does not violate federal law guaranteeing congressional oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.
The same court blocked the Department of Homeland Security policy last month in Joe Neguse et al. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al, a lawsuit filed on behalf of plaintiffs by American Oversight and Democracy Forward.
“Last month, the court preliminarily stopped DHS’ policy, affirming the rights of members to conduct unannounced visits,” the legal groups said. “However, after an ICE officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen last week, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem quietly signed a new memorandum reinstating the same seven-day notice requirement.”
Renee Nicole Good was shot at close range by an ICE agent Jan. 7 as she legally observed an ongoing enforcement action in Minneapolis. The administration claimed the agent acted in self-defense, an assertion proved false by multiple video recordings of the incident.
The memo’s existence was not disclosed to plaintiffs or to the court and came to light only after three representatives from Minnesota with court order in hand were denied access to an ICE facility Jan. 9.
The department has claimed the denial was legal because it is using “a funding source other than annually appropriated funds” to carry out Noem’s directive, the new motion explained.
“Members of Congress must be able to conduct oversight at ICE detention facilities, without notice, to obtain urgent and essential information for ongoing funding negotiations.”
The directive is a blatant effort by DHS to thwart the will of Congress and the court order clearing the way for oversight visits, the filing said. Plaintiffs also requested an emergency hearing as Congress negotiates DHS and ICE funding for the coming fiscal year.
“This is a critical moment for oversight, and members of Congress must be able to conduct oversight at ICE detention facilities, without notice, to obtain urgent and essential information for ongoing funding negotiations,” the complaint says.
Plaintiffs include Democratic Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow of Colorado, Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman of New York, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Veronica Escobar of Texas and Robert Garcia, J. Luis Correa, Jimmy Gomez, Raul Ruiz and Norma Torres of California.
“Oversight is a core responsibility of members of Congress, and a constitutional duty we do not take lightly,” plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “It is not something the executive branch can turn on or off at will. Today, we are going back to court to defend the rule of law, protect transparency and ensure that no administration can hide behind closed doors.”
Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman asked what it is DHS and ICE are attempting to hide by requiring members of Congress to submit seven days’ notice to inspect detention facilities.
“The answer has become more and more clear: What ICE is doing is harmful and indefensible, and this administration does not want checks and balances,” she said. “This threat to the rule of law and our system of checks and balances should concern every single American.”
It’s also clear from the administration’s actions that it is willing to subvert the will of Congress and the courts in order to hide conditions within its immigration detention centers, said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight.
“A federal court affirmed that members of Congress have a clear legal right to conduct unannounced oversight visits, yet DHS appears to have quietly resurrected the very policy the court stopped,” she said. “That kind of end-run around the law undermines transparency, accountability and the constitutional system of checks and balances.”