Three Minnesota House representatives said that they were denied entry to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Minneapolis Saturday morning.
The Democratic congresswoman, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison, attempted to conduct congressional oversight of the Whipple detention facility in Minneapolis.
Ms. Omar told MS NOW that the three were initially permitted to enter the building before being told they were not allowed to tour, adding that denying access may have been an order from Washington.
Ms. Omar said that members of Congress have a “legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained.”
“Conducting oversight of these American taxpayer-funded facilities is not only our legal right, but our Constitutional duty. Kristi Noem’s ICE agents broke the law and illegally denied our entry,” Ms. Morrison said on social media.
In line with oversight powers over congressionally appropriated funds, congressional members have the right to conduct unannounced visits to federal detention facilities, affirmed through a December court ruling after several members sued over being denied entry.
A federal judge in Washington blocked a policy that required seven days’ notice for congressional visits because it likely violated federal law.
“For the safety of detainees and staff, and in compliance with the agency’s mandate, the Members of Congress were notified that their visit was improper and out of compliance with existing court orders and policies which mandate that members of Congress must notify ICE at least seven days in advance of Congressional visits,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Speaking with MS NOW, Ms. Craig called the refusal “completely nonsensical,” adding that when she brought a copy of the court ruling, agents at the facility “refused to look at it.
“I informed them that they were violating the law,” she said. “They said they didn’t care.”
She said they were told that they could not enter because funding for ICE comes through the One Big Beautiful Bill, not the Congressional Appropriations Act.
“The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities,” Ms. Omar wrote on social media.
