ICE Is Now Trying To Convince Congress Members It Needs 72-Hours Notice Before Facility Inspections
from the trump-2.0-settings-applied dept
This was never an issue before, but it’s suddenly an issue now that ICE has gone full Gestapo to keep up with Trump’s mass deportation demands. ICE’s tactics — unmarked vehicles, masked officers, and untargeted raids of any place that might contain foreigners — have earned it all the criticism and hatred it now faces.
The DHS is trotting out fake stats to justify ICE officers’ actions and President Trump has gotten busy sending military troops to police city streets. ICE has decided to join the general lawlessness of Trump’s second term by not only refusing to allow US lawmakers to perform their oversight duties, but serving up arrests and bogus criminal charges when members of Congress demand access to detention facilities.
These intimidation tactics haven’t worked. In fact, they’ve backfired. So, in an effort to snatch victory from defeat, ICE has decided it no longer needs to respect the law when it comes to Congressional oversight.
After a spate of tense encounters involving lawmakers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the Department of Homeland Security is asking members of Congress to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.
Under the annual appropriations act, lawmakers are allowed to enter any DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” to inspect them as part of their oversight duties. The act outlines that they are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.”
ICE knows what the law says. And it knows it can’t actually demand prior notice before detention facility inspections. Its new “guidance” [PDF] actually contains a full quotation of the law it says it can break, which says this:
Nothing in this section may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility described in subsection (a) for the purpose of conducting oversight.
Subsection (a) refers to detention facilities. The only people that can be asked to give prior notice are Congressional staffers. Representatives and senators are not required to give ICE a head’s up.
Nevertheless, ICE is attempting to install just such a requirement, no matter what the law actually says.
When planning to visit an ICE facility, ICE asks requests to be submitted at least 72 hours in advance.
ICE can “ask” all it wants, but it certainly is in no legal position to demand this request be honored. So, that part of this guidance can be ignored, even by Congressional staffers, who are only required (by law) to give 24 hours notice.
ICE cannot actually enforce this request but presumably has placed it towards the top of its new guidance in hopes that it might trick a few people into submitting requests, rather than just exercising their legal rights. And it probably hopes no one reads past that paragraph, because it admits it has no right to make this demand latter in the memo.
ICE will make every effort to comply with the law and accommodate Members seeking to visit/tour an ICE detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight, but exigent circumstances (e.g., operational conditions, security posture, etc.) may impact the time of entry into the facility. Regardless, Members must comply with entry requirements.
There’s ICE claiming it will comply with the law before adding a bunch of stuff that will give it the excuses it needs to avoid this legal mandate. Law enforcement agencies love their “exigent circumstances,” which are mostly just universal adapters for rights violations.
Of course, those expected to be affected most by ICE’s little policy dodge see right through this new DHS guidance. Here’s Bennie Thompson (D-MS) calling bullshit on this memo:
Kristi Noem’s new policy to block congressional oversight of ICE facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the Constitution and Federal law. Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when Members can visit, but completely blocking access to ICE Field Offices – even if Members schedule visits in advance. No matter how much she and Trump want to force us to live under their authoritarian rule, ICE is not above oversight and the Department must follow the law.
Thompson isn’t wrong. No matter what ICE/DHS might “request” in terms of facility oversight, the law is still the law. And since ICE has yet to allow an unannounced inspection without trying to serve up some collateral arrests, these confrontations will continue for as long as Trump remains in power.
Filed Under: accountability, detention facilities, dhs, ice, mass deportation, oversight
Comments on “ICE Is Now Trying To Convince Congress Members It Needs 72-Hours Notice Before Facility Inspections”
Up next: no cameras allowed
Nothing says “everything we’re doing is legal” quite like insisting on three days’ advance notice of any impending inspection. I’m sure ICE wouldn’t use those three days to conceal evidence of wrongdoing and/or make conditions look more humane than they actually are… /s
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Actually, the no cameras or recording devices thing is already here. It’s specifically listed at the top of page 3 of the policy pdf. Jails have had similar such policies for many years.
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No one asked you.
Now run away little man.
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Noted. I stand by the content of my post, though. Frankly, I’m inclined to say there should be no rule against recording devices, too, but that’s ultimately immaterial to the topic at hand (i.e. wanting advance notice of inspections).
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Feel free to ignore Koby. Dude’s a Nazi prick.
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Shove your comment up your ass where you keep your copy of The Constitution.
Now run away little boy
The three coequal branches of government
Oh excuse me, I thought you said “the three comical branches of government”. I mean, would you describe Congress as anything but a laughing stock, the judiciary as court jesters and the government as a horror clown show?
'Oversight is coming, quick, hide the literal bodies!'
‘If you’ve done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide’ may usually be a bullshit excuse, used by those in authority positions to try to undermine the public’s privacy by framing privacy as a negative, but this is one of the cases where it is very valid and deserves to be treated as such.
If they truly are following the law and engaging in ethical behavior then a surprise inspection would reveal nothing differently than one that took place after three days of ‘warning’, so the fact that they are so desperate to get that warning shows that they know they have things to hide.
Congress Members should disguise as migrants if they want to pass by this 72h delay. This way, they would be in the facility in less than an hour.
When
iS SOMEONE going to walk up with 2-4 Federal Marshalls?
ICE/DHS have no power OUTSIDE their Jurisdictions. What person gave these 2 agencies THIS much power?
I consider their Basic USE is over. It was Finished After No terrorist attacks in the USA.
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When you realize that the Federal Marshals might be fine with this state of affairs, and simply tell the Congressperson “No.” They’re cops, and they (mostly) love authoritarian types, vote for Trump, and are perfectly happy with tossing everyone a different color than themselves out.
Note: To a cop, skin color matters a lot less than ‘Blue’ – If cop, they’ll let you get away with almost anything. If not cop, then being rich, old, and white helps, but isn’t a complete solution. Being poor and/or brown/black, and not-cop is effectively “has no rights” according to them.
This is also why judges are real reluctant to impose actual imprisonment on the lawyers who are making a mockery of the court and the law. What if the judge orders the bailiff to “Jail this man” and the bailiff says, “No.”?
Yeah, “operational conditions” like the place being in a condition they don’t want known, and “security posture” like their desire to hide that information.
Scumwads. Just your basic scumwads.
Maybe if we come out the other side of this somewhat intact, we can start destroying government agencies which truly need to die, and replace them, when necessary, with their last-century incarnations. Or better.
How bad are things when you need three days to cover them up?!
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Bad enough that DHS knew any longer than three days would’ve been an even bigger tip-off that some foul shit is going down in those detention centers.
Be fair to ICE
Hey, it takes time to set up pinatas, clowns and balloons.
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Is that what they’re calling beaten detainees these days?
Malicious compliance is the key here. A staffer duly emails a request at 10 am on the Tuesday, gets it approved, then promptly rocks up at 10 am on the Wednesday. “I gave 24 hours’ notice in full compliance with the law!”
They need that time to dismantle the Abu Ghraib style pyramids of naked bodies and delete the photos from phones and security videos, as well put little bowties on the rats to impress the press.