Davis, García, Ramirez, Jackson Demand Noem, ICE Provide Access to Detained Constituents at ICE Center in IL

CHICAGO, IL — Today, Congressmembers Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), and Jonathan Jackson (IL-01) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding access to constituents at the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Illinois, after masked, unidentified agents unlawfully denied their entry. The Members of Congress also blasted her policy to unlawfully prohibit Members of Congress from exercising their oversight authority, after receiving the excuse that an ICE agent could deny a tour of the site based on operational capacity. 

“Under the law, Members of Congress have the authority to enter any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain people. Whether that facility is formally identified as a detention facility is irrelevant. The operational capacity of agents and staff at the facility is also irrelevant when it comes to allowing access to Members of Congress. It is the role of Congress to provide oversight,” wrote the members. “Yet, you and the rest of the Trump Administration continue to break the law and bypass Congressional authority to conceal the ways in which you are abusing your power to violate our rights, undermine due process, and tear our communities apart.”

The Members of Congress also outline that in the past several weeks, DHS officials denied Members of Congress conducting oversight access to ICE facilities and detention centers in New Jersey, California, New York, and now the state of Illinois. 

“Your actions prove your lack of commitment to accountability, your disregard for Congress as an equal branch of government with oversight authority, and your intent to conceal the campaign of terror you are waging against our communities,” continued the representatives. 

To read the full letter, CLICK HERE. 

BACKGROUND:

The visit by the representatives to the  Broadview ICE Processing Center was prompted by reports that the center is unlawfully used against city and state ordinances as a detention center, where migrants are being denied access to their attorneys and held in inhumane and unsanitary conditions, sleeping on the floor, and without complete meals. Under appropriation laws, Members of Congress have the authority to enter any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used to detain or otherwise house people without advance notice. 

The authority is outlined in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-93), Division D – Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2020, Sec. 532 and re-affirmed in each year since, including Section 527(a) of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118–47). It establishes that “none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Homeland Security by this Act may be used to prevent...a Member of Congress...from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens... [nor] to make any temporary modification at any such facility that in any way alters what is observed by a visiting Member of Congress... compared to what would be observed in the absence of such modification.”

Additionally, subsection (b) clarifies that nothing in this section requires a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of intent to enter such a facility for oversight purposes. The Department itself has affirmed the oversight duties of Members of Congress in guidance posted by ICE dated February 2025.