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Two Inland Empire Congress members were locked out at the gate of Adelanto ICE Processing Center last week as they attempted to check on constituents held there.
The episode illustrates the obstacles some Democratic lawmakers have experienced trying to observe conditions in ICE detention centers, and what they say are restrictive rules that interfere with Congressional oversight.
Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Palm Desert Democrat, planned to learn if detainees had legal representation and had seen an immigration judge, and whether they had access to healthcare, hygiene and nutrition.
“I had a questionnaire that was prepared with staff and the ACLU and other organizations that asked if they, for example, were allowed a lawyer, phone calls, if they were able to communicate with their loved ones, if they were read their rights,” Ruiz said.
On Monday, July 7, he submitted a request to ICE to tour the facility last Friday with Rep. Norma Torres, an Ontario Democrat. An Instagram post by the two lawmakers showed an earlier message from Torres’ office on July 3, also asking to schedule a visit.
Both requests complied with ICE requirements for 72 hours notice, Ruiz said. But those were courtesy gestures, he said, since federal law doesn’t require advance notice for Congressional oversight visits. When Ruiz and Torres arrived, ICE turned them away.
“They turn around and tell me it’s now seven days notice,” he said. “They keep moving the goal post. We showed up in the hopes that Congressmember Norma Torres and I could enter the facility and speak with an ICE agent and do our jobs. As soon as they saw us they shut the gate and locked it with a chain and a deadbolt.”
The two lawmakers posted a video outside the locked gate, demanding to enter and calling for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The same day, Ruiz said, Rep. Jay Obernolte, a Hesperia Republican, also scheduled a visit and was allowed inside.
A statement from ICE said Obernolte had provided seven days notice for touring the detention facility, but Ruiz and Torres had not.
“Congressman Raul Ruiz and Congresswoman Norma Torres showed up to Rep. Obernolte’s approved visit; ignoring the established DHS directive regarding visiting ICE facilities,” the agency stated. “They were advised that ICE would be more than happy to accommodate their visit—provided it was scheduled in accordance with DHS policy.”
In a message on X after the visit Friday, Obernolte said he was satisfied with the conditions he observed. He toured the dormitories, cafeteria and recreation facilities, observed the meals and confirmed that detainees had access to legal counsel.
“It’s clear to me that this facility is doing its job: ensuring that detainees are treated humanely – with access to medical care, legal representation, and timely hearings – while helping ICE carry out its mission to enforce our immigration laws,” Obernolte wrote.
An earlier group of Southern California lawmakers who visited the facility in June reported problems with the facility. They found detainees were held “without enough food, clean clothing, the ability to call their families or access to a lawyer,” according to Rep. Judy Chu, a Pasadena Democrat.
Ruiz said the 72 hour notice requirement - and even more so the seven day notice period - makes it hard to tell if the facility is consistently maintaining humane conditions, or has spruced them up in advance of a Congressional visit.
He’ll try to schedule a visit again with at least seven days notice. If he still can’t get access, he’ll consider legal action to challenge the restrictions. The effort to access immigration detention facilities is about due process and also the workings of democracy, Ruiz said.
“When you have an executive branch who’s purposely denying a member of the legislative branch to provide oversight of the executive branch, then you're starting to go down a very dangerous slippery slope that is contrary to the Constitution and ideas of the founding fathers and three co-equal branches of government,” Ruiz said. “They precisely did not want a single figure to act like a king.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
