Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) reamed the Department of Homeland Security for their stated excuse as to why they prohibited her from entering a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility for legally authorized congressional oversight.
Escobar, who represents El Paso, revealed earlier this week that she had been denied entry to the ICE processing center in El Paso, which watchdog groups allege is rampant with abuse of detainees.
DHS has reportedly laid out a requirement for members to give a 72-hour alert ahead of such inspections, despite federal law stating members of Congress have the right to inspect such facilities without prior notice.
“For years, I have conducted oversight visits of these facilities in accordance with guidelines in the law, including last month when I toured the ICE soft-sided site in Northeast,” Escobar wrote on X. “Let me be clear: it is the law that no Member of Congress can be denied entry to facilities operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct oversight. The law is straightforward, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is not only blatantly breaking it herself, she is instructing local DHS staff to break it as well.”
The official government X account for DHS responded on Friday afternoon, shortly after the department accused Escobar of engaging in “the appearance of a political stunt.”
“Unfortunately, the Congresswoman did not give sufficient notice to facilitate a visit, which is essential to keep staff and detainees safe,” said the statement. “For visits to detention facilities, requests should be made with sufficient time to prevent interference with the President’s Article II authority to oversee executive department functions—a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority. To protect the President’s Article II authority, any request to shorten that time must be approved by the Secretary.”
But Escobar was swift to hit back.
“You can tweet it from a government account, that doesn’t make it legal,” wrote Escobar.
This comes after Trump’s federal prosecutor in New Jersey filed criminal charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), another member of Congress who visited an ICE facility, alleging that she got into an altercation with federal agents.