"The conflict started last summer when Trump announced his plan to raise the number of beds in immigration facilities from 41,000 to 100,000 to accommodate his deportation dragnet. Private prison groups squealed with glee as they dove into a trough of no-bid contracts, re-opening decrepit facilities that had been shuttered due to lack of demand, and throwing up squalid tents in which to imprison ICE's victims."
"Under § 527 of the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act - AKA the budget bill - ICE must allow legislators to inspect "any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens." DHS cannot use allocated funds to block access by members of Congress, and those lawmakers don't have to call first. This has caused substantial friction between DHS and congressional Democrats."
On January 10 Minnesota Representatives Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison were turned away after attempting to inspect an ICE facility in Minneapolis and were removed by order of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. In response to the murder of Renee Good and over federal law and a court order, Noem barred members of Congress from inspecting immigration facilities without notice and her permission. The change conflicts with §527 of the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which requires ICE to allow lawmakers to inspect detention sites without prior notice. Private prison expansion and controversial enforcement have heightened tensions and led to legal confrontations.
Read at Above the Law
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