On Saturday morning, Ilhan Omar and Representatives Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison headed toward an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center outside of Minneapolis. They were turned away. To prepare for their visit, the representatives had warned the facility of their upcoming visit in advance. After only ten minutes of access to the app to get started, they were kicked out.
Shortly after the lawmakers walked into the facility, two officials dropped some surprising news. They communicated to the elected officials that their invitation to visit the ICE detention center had been revoked. Then they got the devastating news that WPD could no longer live in the building. They were told about the new restrictions at the last moment. What the Administration used as the legal ground for this denial was that the facility’s funding was directed via the Big Beautiful Bill Act.
This incident also comes on the heels of a well-publicized ruling by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb. Afterwards, she ruled that Homeland Security’s policies barring ICE field offices as “off-limits for congressional oversight” and requiring seven days’ notice to visit one are against federal law. The specific lawmakers who ordered the report expressed startled dismay about what happened, particularly pointing to a lack of transparency and oversight.
“Shortly after we were let in, two officials came in and said that they received the message that we were no longer allowed to be in the building and that they were rescinding our invitation to come in and declining any further access to the building.” – Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Omar, who represents a district in Minnesota, expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation, describing it as a “blatant attempt to obstruct members of Congress from doing their oversight duties.” As she looked at planes departing the facility, she found out what she really needed to know. These flights were not deportation flights, but rather relocation of detainees to other detention facilities in the United States.
Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison, both members from the suburbs of the Twin Cities, joined Omar in this call. Craig stated, “We let ICE know, the Department of Homeland Security know, that they were violating federal law.” Morrison added, “What happened today is a blatant attempt to obstruct members of Congress from doing their oversight duties.”
The blocked visit occurred near the Whipple Federal Building amidst protests following the police shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis earlier that week. The representatives argued that these incidents erode needed accountability and transparency in our immigration enforcement.