"The basis of 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."
"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."
The Department of Homeland Security implemented a visitation policy requiring at least seven days' advance notice for congressional visits to certain Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. Federal law grants members of Congress the right to make unannounced visits to ICE detention facilities funded by regular congressional appropriations, and a D.C. federal court recently affirmed that right. The DHS policy asserts that facilities funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are funded from a different appropriation bucket, exempting them from the unannounced-visit rule. The policy was invoked to block a planned visit by three Minnesota congresswomen to a Minneapolis ICE detention facility. The reconciliation measure allocated roughly $45 billion for detention centers and about $30 billion for ICE personnel, transportation, and facility maintenance. The policy cites protection of members, staff, detainees, and ICE employees, operational disruptions from unannounced visits, and concerns about publicity-driven disruptions. The policy directs ICE to implement and enforce the visitation rules using only reconciliation funds.
Read at www.npr.org
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