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WASHINGTON – A day after the immigration attack began in Los Angeles, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) and three other legislatures were denied entry into immigration detention facilities within the Loibal Federal Building.
Lawmakers were attempting unpublished testing, a common and long-standing practice under Congress’ oversight authority.
Immigration and customs enforcement officials said too many protesters were present on June 7th, and officers deployed the chemical multiple times. Later in a letter about ice director Todd Lyons’ acting, Torres said she had reached the emergency room for breathing treatment. She also said the protest was small and peaceful.
Torres is one of many Democrats in the state, including California, New York and Illinois, and has been denied entry into immigration detention facilities in recent weeks.
James Townsend, director of the Carl Levin Center for Surveillance and Democracy at Wayne State University, Michigan, said denial is a profound and illegal shift from past practices.
“Denying members of Congressional access to facilities is a direct attack on the system of checks and balance,” he said. “What Congressional members are trying to do now is to become part of a proud, bipartisan tradition of coming in and calling them overseers.”
Subsequent attempts by lawmakers to inspect facilities within the Loibal Building have also been unsuccessful.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who was with Torres on the day she was hospitalized, returned twice more on June 9th and Tuesday, and was denied. Torres and Rep. Judy Chew (D. Montapark) attempted at separate times on Wednesday, but both were rejected.
Gomez and other Democrats point to federal laws detailed in their annual appropriation budget package since 2020. It states that “finances will not be used to prevent members of Congress from entering because of facilities run by the Department of Homeland Security, which are used to detain or detain aliens for the purposes of carrying out monitoring…”
This section also states that for the purposes of oversight, it may be interpreted as “construed as requesting members of Congress to provide prior notice of their intention to enter the facility. Under the law, federal officials may require at least 24 hours notice for visits by Congressional staff, but for the members themselves, they do not.
Under ICE guidelines released this month for members of Congress and their staff, agents will request at least 72 hours of notice from lawmakers and at least 24 hours of notice from staff.
The agency states it has the discretion to refuse or reschedule a visit in the event of an emergency or the safety of the facility is at risk, but such contingency is not mentioned in the law.
Gomez said ice officials called him on Tuesday and said the surveillance law would not apply to facilities in downtown LA.
“Well, that’s what I mean here with a big bold letter,” he says in a video posted on social media later. “But they say this is a processing centre. So I smell like a bull.”
Department of Homeland Security police patrolled the streets after detaining protesters at the Edward R. Loibal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on June 12th.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
If no one is technically detained, Gomez said he asked the staff rhetorically during the phone call, can they leave freely?
Torres visited the facility in February by setting up an appointment, her staff said. She received another appointment last Saturday, but ICE cancelled it in protest. When members emailed ICE to set up a new appointment, they didn’t respond.
Gomez said Ice doesn’t want lawmakers to see the field office due to poor circumstances and lack of access to lawyers.
In some cases, lawmakers managed to appear without notice. On Friday, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D Redland) toured the Adelanto ice processing facility north of San Bernardino. Chew and four other California Democrats were allowed on Tuesday after being denied entry to the Adelanto facility on June 8th.
“Just because Ice has opened the door to a small number of members of Congress, we will not excuse inflammation tactics to meet deportation quotas,” said D-Riverside, a member of Congress who visited Adelanto in Chu. “Accountability means showing a consistent pattern of accessibility rather than a one-off event.”
Representatives learned that the facility was filled with 1,100 detainees from 300 a month ago. Chu said they spoke to the detainees in La Reid. She said she is not a criminal and currently lives in an inhumane situation.
Chu said the group arrived early and stood in the lobby to avoid repeating previous attempts.
President Trump’s border policy adviser Tom Homan will depart from a meeting with a Republican senator working to cancel spending already approved by Congress in Washington on June 11.
(J. Scott Apple White / Associated Press)
In an interview with the Times this month, Trump’s border policy adviser Tom Homan said that while Congress members are welcome to conduct oversight, they must first contact the facility and make arrangements. Agents must take care of the safety and security of facilities, officers and detainees, he said.
“Go and watch,” he said. “They are the best facilities that money can buy and the highest detention standard in the industry. But there are the right and wrong ways to do that.”
Homeland Security Director Tricia McLaughlin said the request for a visit is necessary because “ICE law enforcement has seen a surge in attacks, confusion and obstruction of enforcement, including politicians themselves.”
She added that the request for a visit must be “a week sufficient” in sufficient time to ensure that it does not interfere with the president’s authority under Article II of the Constitution to oversee the functions of the administrative department.
DHS Deputy Secretary of Public Relations, Tricia McLaughlin, left wing of Madison Xiahan, deputy director of Immigration and Customs, and acting director of the Ice Todd Lions, will speak at a press conference in Washington on May 21.
(Jose Luis Magana/Applications)
Rep. Benny Thompson (D-Miss.), a ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, denounced the guidance on X on Wednesday.
“This illegal policy is a smokescreen that refuses membership visits to ice offices across the country, which hold immigrants for several days at a time,” he wrote. “Therefore, they are facilities and are subject to monitoring and inspection at any time. Otherwise, DHS is simply the latest lie.”
Townsend, a Congressional Oversight Expert, said he had set up a committee to investigate the issues of contractors supplying World War II efforts, dating back to President Truman’s Senator.
“The committee conducts hundreds of outdoor visits, and in many cases they show up without notice,” Townsend said.
More recently, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) drove to the pentagon in 1983, demanding access from Department of Defense officials to ask questions about excess spending after stone construction.
The Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution as meaning that Congress has broad authority to oversee things to show unpublished to ensure accurate information, Townsend said.
National Guard members will be standing at the post office of the Edward R. Loibal Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 10th.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif) said the Trump administration is trying to hide the truth from the public. Last week, Padilla escaped from a press conference and was forced to the ground and handcuffed after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem.
“The Trump administration has done everything in their power, but to provide transparency to the American people about their mission in Los Angeles,” he said in a passionate floor speech on Wednesday.
In an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, McLaughlin accused Democrats of using directors as an excuse to stage propaganda stunts.
“Democrats are upset,” she said. “They don’t have a real message, so they’re doing this to get more attention and produce viral moments.”
On Tuesday, Gomez was wearing a suit jacket in a Congressional Lapel Pin and holding a Congressional ID card and business card in his hand. He said he was worried that what happened to Padilla could happen to him. He was denied access anyway.
Gomez said federal officials should be fined for every denying supervisory access to members of Congress. He said he is also debating whether he and other members will file a lawsuit to force access.
“When there is a government operating outside the law, they basically say, “What measures do you have? Can you force us? You don’t have an army. We don’t need to listen to you,” Gomez said. “Then you have to put real teeth in it.”
Nathan Solis, a Times staff writer in Los Angeles, contributed to this report.
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