Congressional Access Blocked: ICE's New Rules Keep Lawmakers from Detainee Oversight

Lawmakers are hitting a wall as ICE tightens the screws on congressional visits to immigration detention centers. Despite federal judges ruling that Congress members can’t be turned away, the Trump administration is throwing up new barriers, including a memo demanding two days' notice and specific names of detainees they wish to meet.

“The best, most transparent form of oversight is when you don't announce that you’re coming,” declared Democratic Rep. Mike Levin after being denied access to speak with detainees at California’s Otay Mesa Detention Center. He and fellow Rep. Sara Jacobs were allowed inside but were blocked from any direct communication with the hundreds of individuals held captive within.

Levin’s frustration boiled over as he pointed out, “If the public is in the dark, the American people don’t know what’s happening inside these facilities.” The lack of unannounced visits only fuels distrust among the public regarding the treatment of detainees.

Just an hour before arriving, Levin texted the regional ICE director, but he quickly realized that a facility of that size couldn’t be sanitized in such a short time. The lawmakers were handed a memo from ICE acting director Todd Lyons, dated May 11, labeling their visits as “disruptive and resource-intensive.”

ICE claims that at least 900 detainees across three major centers want to meet with Congress members, but Lyons argues that accommodating such requests would significantly disrupt operations. “Such requests are impractical and require substantial time and resources to adjudicate,” he wrote.

At Otay Mesa alone, over 1,000 detainees languish for an average of 130 days, with reports of sleeping on floors and receiving inedible food. Levin sampled the food during his visit and described it as “not terrible” but far from appetizing. However, without hearing directly from detainees, he believes lawmakers’ oversight capabilities are severely hampered.

“If they turn us away at the door, if they block a conversation we’re entitled to have, we’re going to make sure that the courts know about it,” Levin vowed. “Stopping now would tell ICE that they’re off the hook with regard to oversight.”

A spokesperson for DHS insisted that ICE will “facilitate” meetings between detainees and Congress members but added that these requests must be legitimate oversight activities rather than media stunts. They claimed that without proper support, such visits could jeopardize safety for everyone involved.

Across the nation, lawsuits paint a grim picture of life inside ICE detention centers, which are supposedly “non-punitive.” Yet many facilities operate under prison-like conditions. In 2025 alone, over 30 detainees died in custody—the deadliest year in two decades. This year has already seen at least 18 deaths.

Reports of unsanitary conditions, lack of legal access, and outbreaks of diseases like measles have surfaced, alongside allegations of medical mistreatment of children in overcrowded camps. Despite these claims, Homeland Security maintains that the care provided is adequate while urging immigrants to “self-deport.”

In a controversial move last week, the Trump administration announced plans to shut down the independent watchdog responsible for reviewing civil rights complaints against ICE. Citing funding issues post-government shutdown, they are closing the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.

Just days after a federal officer shot Renee Good in Minnesota, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem imposed a new policy requiring one week’s notice for congressional visits to ICE facilities. This was justified by claiming that Trump’s spending bill governs such visits.

However, federal judges have ruled against this policy twice, asserting that spending laws allow unrestricted congressional access to ICE facilities without prior notice—an essential aspect of their oversight role. A recent unanimous ruling from a federal appeals court confirmed that these surprise visits do not pose significant issues for government operations. Judge Neomi Rao noted in her opinion that such visits only create an “administrative inconvenience.”