Three Minnesota members of Congress said they were denied access to an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at Fort Snelling on Saturday morning after initially being told they could enter to check conditions as part of their congressional oversight duties.
U.S. Reps. Kelly Morrison, Angie Craig and Ilhan Omar told reporters that shortly after they entered the Whipple Federal Building, they were told “higher-ups” had rescinded that permission and ordered them to leave.
“Ten minutes after we entered the building, we were told to back out … and that an explanation would be provided to us once we got upstairs,” Omar said. “And when we got upstairs, the explanation we got was, ‘Yes, the law’s on your side, but we don’t care. And we are not going to allow you to fulfill your oversight.’”
The Democratic trio said they had been granted permission to enter the facility by the former acting director, who Omar said had been in charge until a few days ago.
When asked for a response, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin provided the Pioneer Press with the following statement Saturday afternoon:
“On January 10, Representatives Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison led a group of protestors to the Minneapolis ICE facility, the morning after a mob of violent rioters attacked, broke into, and destroyed parts of several hotels in downtown Minneapolis, with the explicit goal of ‘hunting down’ ICE officers who they believed may have been staying there.
“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.
“Because they were out of compliance with this mandate, Representative Omar and her colleagues were denied entry to the facility. If Congresswoman Omar and her colleagues wish to tour these facilities, then they must follow the proper guidelines.”
Outside the Whipple building Saturday morning, Craig said they let ICE officials and the Department of Homeland Security know that they were violating federal law, but that officials did not care. She said they will continue to seek access to the facility.
“We showed up to see what conditions are in that detention center,” Craig said. “We are going to continue to show up. We are going to continue to do our job.”
Before being removed, the lawmakers said they were allowed to see part of the facility’s monitoring or control room. They told reporters that before they were ordered to leave, they observed about 20 detainees.
“We saw a lot of young men sitting with their heads in their hands,” Morrison said. “We were not allowed to speak to any of them. … We are better than this.”
When they asked about showers, the lawmakers were told there were showers but they couldn’t view them. When asked about hygiene products, the lawmakers were told detainees weren’t there long enough to need them.
The lawmakers said they were told that two planes were leaving Saturday to fly detainees to another U.S. detention center.
ICE officials later told the lawmakers that access was rescinded because the facility was funded through President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act rather than a traditional appropriations bill.
Holding up a sheet of paper, Craig said that was why she brought a copy of a December court ruling that affirms Congress’ authority to conduct oversight.
“This court case refutes that,” she said.
ICE officials refused to continue discussions or answer any further questions in the facility, Craig said.
Lawmakers said the brief glimpse they were given of the detention center raised concerns about transparency and the treatment of detainees.
Omar said ICE is restricting detainees’ access to attorneys, members of Congress, family members and those who could provide them vital information to help their cases.
“This is a brand-new policy. This hasn’t happened before,” she said. “When people are disappeared in the darkness, American democracy dies. And for everyone in this country to understand they are not only disappearing people who have committed crimes who are in this country undocumented, they are disappearing U.S. citizens, people who have proper documentations, sometimes telling them their documentation is wrong, keeping them for days upon days. We’ve also seen people deported who have proper documentation.”
The three lawmakers said they plan to continue seeking access to the facility and called on members of Congress from both parties across the nation to defend congressional oversight and ensure detainees are treated humanely.
“It is our job as members of Congress to make sure those folks detained are treated with humanity,” Craig said, “because we are the damn United States of America and we don’t treat people the way that this administration is treating people in our country. We are better than this. This is not a partisan statement. We are better than this, America.”
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