The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is tightening the rules for lawmakers seeking access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. Under new guidance, members of Congress must now coordinate visits in advance, with staff required to give at least 24 hours’ notice. While DHS says it still respects lawmakers’ rights to inspect detention centers, the policy now blocks unapproved visits to ICE field offices altogether.
The change comes after several confrontational incidents, including a May protest in Newark, where three Democratic members of Congress, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and a group of protesters “stormed the gate” of an ICE detention center. DHS sources suggest these events prompted the new policy.
