ICYMI: Congress Members Sue Trump Administration for Blocking Lawful Oversight of ICE Detention Facilities

Last week, American Oversight filed suit with Democracy Forward Foundation on behalf of 12 Members of Congress, challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight at ICE facilities, where both Americans and noncitizens have been detained without due process. Today, the nonprofit watchdog and its litigation partner asked the court for a preliminary injunction in the case.

“The law is clear — members of Congress have the legal right to inspect any ICE facility where noncitizens are housed, without prior warning. Congress’ oversight authority exists to protect people from abuse and neglect, particularly in places the government doesn’t want us to see. So, the question is: what is the Trump-Vance administration trying to hide?” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “Men, women, and children are being detained in inhumane conditions without access to their basic needs, including beds, showers, adequate food, and medical care — sometimes for days on end. The public deserves to know what’s happening behind those locked doors. And that is why we are asking the court to act swiftly — to stop ICE’s unlawful stonewalling and ensure Congress can carry out its oversight responsibilities before more harm is done.”

At a time when ICE is detaining more individuals than ever before — over 56,000 people — and reports of mistreatment, deplorable conditions, and in-custody deaths continue to mount, the need for real-time, on-the-ground oversight has never been more urgent.

The lawsuit challenges a new, unlawful policy from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that blocks these Members of Congress from access to facilities and information needed to perform their legally authorized oversight duties, and seeks to force the administration to comply with federal law guaranteeing oversight access.

In the days since the lawsuit’s filing, it has garnered extensive media coverage. Highlights include:

CBS News: Democratic Lawmakers Sue Trump Administration for Limiting Visits to ICE Detention Centers

[Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 7/30/25]

• A dozen Democratic members of Congress sued the Trump administration on Wednesday over its effort to limit their access to detention centers housing immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, accusing the White House of inhibiting lawmakers’ oversight responsibilities.
• “These illegal actions have harmed each Plaintiff’s right as an individual member of Congress to conduct oversight and obtain information about DHS facilities and the conditions of immigration detention,” the lawmakers said in their lawsuit, which was filed by lawyers from the groups Democracy Forward and American Oversight.
• As the number of those in ICE custody has ballooned since the start of the year, some detainees have reported unsanitary and substandard conditions in facilities across the country. A recently released video showed detainees lying on the floor at an ICE holding facility in New York in what advocates called “inhumane” conditions.

Associated Press: 12 Members of Congress Sue Trump Administration to Ensure Access to ICE Detention Centers

[Martha Bellisle, 7/30/25]

• “ICE is holding men, women, and children in overcrowded rooms without beds, showers, or medical care — sometimes for days on end,” Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, which filed the lawsuit with Democracy Forward. “ICE’s stonewalling is not only illegal — it’s a brazen attempt to shield abuse from scrutiny.”
• The lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia’s federal court, said the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are obstructing Congressional oversight of the centers at a time when there’s been an increase in ICE arrests, with reports of raids across the country and people taken into custody at immigration courts.
• As President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda plays out, detention facilities have become overcrowded and there have been reports of mistreatment, food shortages, a lack of medical care and unsanitary conditions, the lawsuit said. Congress has a duty to make sure the administration is complying with the law while operating the facilities, the lawsuit said.

Newsweek: Donald Trump Faces New Lawsuit from House Lawmakers

[Sonam Sheth, 7/30/25]

• President Donald Trump’s administration was hit with a new lawsuit on Wednesday from a dozen House lawmakers accusing it of unlawfully obstructing congressional oversight of federal immigration detention facilities.
• The suit was filed in Washington, D.C., and the 12 plaintiffs, all of whom are Democrats, are represented by the advocacy groups Democracy Forward Foundation and American Oversight.
• The 12 House Democrats who are plaintiffs in the suit are Representatives Joe Neguse and Jason Crow of Colorado, Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman of New York, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Robert Garcia, J. Luis Correa, Jimmy Gomez, Raul Ruiz and Norma Torres of California and Veronica Escobar of Texas.

Los Angeles Times: A dozen Democrats sue ICE for preventing detention center oversight visits

[Andrea Castillo, 7/30/25]

• A dozen Democratic House members — including four from California — sued the Trump administration Wednesday after lawmakers were repeatedly denied access to immigrant detention facilities where they sought to conduct oversight visits.
• The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, says each plaintiff has attempted to visit a detention facility, either by showing up in person or by giving Homeland Security Department officials advanced notice, and been unlawfully blocked from entering.
• The lawsuit demands that the Trump administration comply with federal law, which guarantees members of Congress the right to conduct oversight visits anywhere that immigrants are detained pending deportation proceedings. The lawmakers are represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation and American Oversight.
• The lawsuit calls ICE’s new policy unlawful. A federal statute, detailed in yearly appropriations packages since 2020, states that funds may not 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.”

The Hill: Democratic Lawmakers Sue DHS After Being Denied Access to Detention Centers

[Rebecca Beitsch, 7/30/25]

• A coalition of Democratic lawmakers is suing the Department of Homeland Security after the agency released a new policy seeking to limit how elected officials may visit detention centers.
• Brought in coordination with Democracy Forward and American Oversight, the suit says the new policy violates Section 527 of the fiscal year 2024 DHS appropriations bill as well as the Administrative Procedures Act.
• The suit says all 12 Democratic lawmakers were denied access to DHS and U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities as a result of the policy.

Mother Jones: Congressional Dems Sue After Being Turned Away from ICE Facilities

[Pema Levy, 7/30/25]

• On Wednesday, 12 Democratic House members sued for access to ICE detention facilities, in accordance with the law. The case is important to US immigration policy, and to the Trump administration’s goal of detaining immigrants without oversight into conditions in those facilities. It also raises a larger question: Can the executive branch turn off an oversight duty that is not just implicit in Congress’ powers but that it specifically inscribed in law?
• As detailed in Wednesday’s lawsuit, over the past few months ICE has come up with new reasons to deny entry to members of Congress and their designated staff. Though federal law allows for unannounced visits by lawmakers and 24 hours notice for their staff, ICE unilaterally instituted a seven-day notification requirement. But even when lawmakers provide a week’s notice, they have been turned away.
• According to the lawsuit, filed by the legal groups American Oversight and Democracy Forward, Goldman and Nadler were turned away because ICE insisted the 10th floor of its New York field office was not a detention facility. Even though ICE was holding people there, some for more than two days, the agency claimed that it fell outside the scope of Congress’ authority to enter ICE facilities “used to detain or otherwise house” detainees.