Democracy Forward President & CEO Skye Perryman: “This lawsuit goes to the heart of our democracy. These individual members of Congress have the constitutional duty, and the legal right, to conduct oversight and investigate how the government treats people in its custody”

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, Democracy Forward and 12 members of the U.S. House of Representatives filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight that the members have sought to conduct at federal immigration detention facilities, in which both citizens and noncitizens have been detained without due process. 

The lawsuit demands that the administration comply with a federal law that guarantees members of Congress the right to conduct oversight visits to any U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sites where noncitizens are detained without prior notice.

Read the filing here. 

See Coverage Below:

New York Times: House Democrats Sue ICE for Barring Them From Detention Facilities

A dozen House Democrats who were barred from visiting immigration detention facilities sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, arguing that a new policy imposed by the Department of Homeland Security to limit lawmakers’ access was an illegal infringement on their ability to conduct congressional oversight.

Over the last few months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities have become the battleground in a political showdown between federal officials and Democratic lawmakers over the White House’s sweeping crackdown on immigration and the constitutional separation of powers.

The plaintiffs include Representatives Joe Neguse of Colorado, the assistant Democratic leader; Adriano Espaillat of New York, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrats on the Homeland Security, Judiciary and Oversight committees. The suit was filed in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia and was brought in conjunction with Democracy Forward, a left-leaning nonprofit legal organization.

CNN: Democratic lawmakers sue over ICE’s new policy limiting access to detention centers

Twelve Democratic members of Congress have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of unlawfully obstructing their efforts to visit federal immigration detention centers.

The complaint, filed Wednesday in Washington, DC, argues that a new Department of Homeland Security policy that requires seven days’ notice and limits access to certain field offices violates a longstanding federal law that permits unannounced inspections by members of Congress.

“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,” attorneys from Democracy Forward, which is representing the lawmakers, wrote. “These harms are significant, irreparable, and ongoing as long as Defendants continue to block such visits pursuant to their unlawful policy.”

Bloomberg: US Lawmakers Sue ICE Over Visiting Policy

A group of Democratic members of Congress sued the Trump administration over a policy barring them from visiting immigration detention facilities without advanced notice.

The policy is preventing lawmakers from investigating reports of overcrowding, food shortages and inadequate medical care at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities at an “essential” time amid President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign, according to a suit filed Wednesday.

“These individual members of Congress have the constitutional duty, and the legal right, to conduct oversight and investigate how the government treats people in its custody,” said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, a legal organization representing the lawmakers in the suit. “When the administration locks the doors on oversight, it locks out the American people.”

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.