House Democrats Hold Press Briefing Calling For Heightened Oversight Of ICE Detention Facilities

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-14

[00:00:02]Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for being here. I am Congresswoman Lmon Monica Mcyver and I am here today with my colleague, Congressman Rob Mendez and in spirit Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman to speak about the bill we introduced today, the No Delay for for Immigration Oversight Act. It was just one year ago that this group, myself, Bonnie, and Rob stood outside of Delaney Hall. We were there to conduct oversight, which is our job and our responsibility to a community that was living in fear of ICE terror. We went to see what was happening behind closed doors and report out about what we saw.

[00:00:44]Something is our something that is our legal right to do. ICE tried to stop us.

[00:00:51]What should have been a routine part of our role in showing up for the people we represent became something much bigger.

[00:00:58]It became a flash point. What happened in May 2025 at Delaney Hall became a model for how the Trump administration treats oversight. They tried to delay it, deny it, and criminalize it. In the days after our visit to Delaney Hall, they tried to skirt the law by requiring a waiting period for oversight. They tried to block all oversight when they shut down the government. They handcuffed a United States senator for asking questions. And they they they're trying to put me in prison for doing oversight and doing my job. But we will keep doing the work to show that what happens in the dark must be brought to light. That is why we are introducing the No Delay Act today. People in detention have rights. They deserve dignity. And members of Congress are allowed by existing law to make sure that this is the case. We are allowed to arrive without warning to see the actual conditions in detention centers. Not what the administration wants us to see, but the true conditions.

[00:02:11]ICE can't delay us or keep us out while they clean up their act. It is ridiculous that this needs to be said, but under this administration, it absolutely does.

[00:02:24]We know what is happening in these detention centers and every single American should know as well. Immigrants are suffering in in inhumane conditions.

[00:02:35]People are having their dignity taken away each and every day. Some of you know of the tragic story of Jean Wilson Brutus, a Haitian immigrant from my district that was targeted by ICE, brought into Delaney Hall, and less than 24 hours of being in the facility, he died. When there is cruelty being hidden behind closed doors, the American public deserves to have someone to uncover what is being kept in the dark. Members of Congress provide the voiceless with someone to speak out for them.

[00:03:09]Visibility for those whose stories go unseen and stand up for those who have been pushed down. That is what we do as members of Congress. This is what oversight is and it's why Trump's DHS has been working tirelessly to deny you the right. But my colleagues and I are demanding an end to the games. Playtime is over. By introducing the No Delay Act, we're ensuring that oversight is not optional under this administration.

[00:03:42]We're establishing that ICE agents must open the door for members of Congress to conduct their legally their legal oversight. No shutting the door. No making us wait while you clean up your act at the last minute. No more gangs because no administration should be allowed to criminalize accountability and no detention center should go should operate as a blackbox while human beings are suffering inside.

[00:04:11]Today I have four words for any of Trump's colleagues who believe they can silence us out of the doing our jobs for the American people.

[00:04:21]We're not backing down. With that, I want to turn it over to my colleague from the eth congressional district in New Jersey, Rob Mendez.

[00:04:33]>> Well, thank you uh to Congresswoman Lam Monica MacGyver uh one for bringing us here today for her and her team for leading on this legislation which we're so proud to be a part of. Um, and thank you uh to all of you because the work that we're doing requires the media and the press to understand what's happening inside these privately run detention centers. A year ago, um, this past week, we did what we had done previously at different detention centers to go and do our job, which we have a legal right to do. Has been affirmed time and time again by multiple courts throughout the country. And what you saw that day differed so dramatically from what had happened in prior instances where we were allowed in, allowed to do our job.

[00:05:20]Not only do they try to prevent us from going in, to delay us from going in, but over 20 armed ICE and HSI officers try to intimidate us, prevent us, arrest the mayor of Newark from doing our job. So every day since we've been trying to warn the American people about the threat that this administration poses.

[00:05:41]The threat not just to us as legislators, but to our neighbors who they are taking off of the streets and putting them in these privately run detention centers. What we said a year ago after that experience at Delaney Hall is that no one is safe in Trump's America. And look at what's happened over the last year in Chicago, in LA, in New Orleans, and in Minneapolis. We've seen American citizens shot in broad daylight because of this administration in broad daylight. So imagine what's happening inside these privately run detention centers. That is why they have worked so hard to prevent us from going in on an unannounced basis, which we have the right to do. This legislation expands, codifies, and ensures that no matter what this administration tries to do, we have a right that we can show up anytime, anywhere we want. And in a time where there are so many challenges and so many fears in our community, transparency and accountability should be the core pillar of what the American people want their government to do. That is the work that we have been engaged.

[00:06:51]It's the work we will continue to do.

[00:06:52]this legislation allows us to do it in even greater terms. And so, uh, with that, we've had the good fortune to be joined by our incredible colleague, uh, Congresswoman Body Watson Coleman.

[00:07:07]>> Thanks, Rob.

[00:07:10]>> Good afternoon. And I want to thank Rob and L Monica because I'm leaving in January, but they're going to keep this up until we have the kind of accountability, responsibility, and transparency that we deserve, the kind of respect that members deserve in order to do their job. and the protection that we can afford by doing our job and going into these facilities unannounced and making sure that we're allowed in and we're not delayed and we're not hassled and we're not disrupted. The people that are in these facilities in a large part don't belong there. These facilities in a large part are not decent facilities, do not provide the best resources and protection and um a containment of individuals that should otherwise be out doing their jobs and raising their families. So, it is important that Congress gets to do their job. It's important at this time where we recognize that a year ago we had this issue getting into Delaney Hall that we offered this legislation that simply says codifies reiterates reiterates reiterates members can't be denied opportunity to come in. They can't be delayed in their oversight responsibility. the contractors that are working that are reaping our tax dollars have to understand that they too must uh adhere to the law and must held accountable. So I am really proud to be a part of this legislation and to know that uh Rob and Lmonica will not let this go until our government operates constitutionally on all levels and treats all individuals as decent human beings. So, thanks for being here and thanks for letting me be a part of this.

[00:09:10]>> All right, with that we'll take about a few questions.

[00:09:14]>> We asked you last year.

[00:09:31]Well, first of all, I mean, I'll let my colleagues chime in, but we're always trying to get answers from our Republican colleagues and can't seem to get any answers from them. And literally, the American people can't get answers from them as well. And so, you know, we're not surprised that they keep trying to operate in the dark. I think that we've seen some texts about it, but I mean, not in detail anyway, but I'll let my colleagues chime in as well.

[00:09:52]>> I think uh Congressman Macyver stated it correctly. You know, we're going through appropriations right now and we're going through all kinds of other requests that are alongside of these appropriations that this administration is asking for a number of things, including DHS and ICE and Border Patrol. We know from the big ugly bill, also known to the Republicans as the big beautiful bill, that there are hundreds of millions of dollars available for them to do their job legally and constitutionally.

[00:10:24]You know, the Democrats are not going to support a bill that has increased uh funding for ICE or Border Patrol, but we do believe that TSA and FEMA and the hardworking folks at DHS are to be paid for the work that they're doing, and we support that. What this president asks for every other day, but Thursday, is beyond us. But we know that he's got enough trash set aside in all of his various corrupt accounts and whatnot to take care of what he thinks is a priority, something other than painting the bottom of a pool or building an awfully grotesque uh ballroom.

[00:11:08]>> Thank you all for doing this. Michael Johnson, Once Upon a Hill. Following up on that question about the reconciliation bill, none of the provisions include any of the accountability measures that you that you all have asked for. Can you speak within that context of how difficult it is to do the kind of oversight that you're trying to do without any cooperation or bipartisanship around some of the common sense reforms that you all say the American people want, not just in your districts, but across the country?

[00:11:36]>> Yeah. Know, I appreciate the question.

[00:11:39]um you know it's it's the things that we requested should be pretty simple in terms of things that are had previously been part of these um limitations uh the administration on DHS like sensitive locations right um that's something that we we limited enforcement around schools hospitals places of worship right and that was undone by this administration you've seen that I had two constituents taken uh outside their church in Union City um So the reforms are things that would bring us to a place that is in a better place than we've seen previously over the last 16 months. Republicans just refuse to engage in good faith conversations when they're asking for these billions of dollars from Congress.

[00:12:24]Um especially in the environment of reconciliation in which they cut a trillion dollars from healthcare because of fraud, waste, and abuse. So, I would suggest that before they are given an additional dollar, the Republicans, by their own words, should want to do a full auditing of then Secretary Gnome's DHS and how much money was wasted, how much fraudulent activity, how much they abuse the taxpayer dime um to do these horrendous things that they've been doing throughout our community. That should be the conversations that Republicans should want to have instead of just having adding $70 billion to the slush fund that's literally killing Americans. But, you know, Republicans just will not hold this administration accountable or even do what's right by their own communities and what's right by the taxpayer.

[00:13:10]>> Why do you think this administration is so concerned with elected officials witnessing these detention centers in person?

[00:13:19]>> Well, I mean, it's quite obvious. They want to do what they want to do. They want to operate in the dark. And they're operating doing things that they should not be doing. That is the honest truth.

[00:13:29]You know, when we visit Delaney Hall or we visit, you know, our the detention center in the 8th district in Elizabeth, we're always finding things that are, you know, just disgusting, right? The way they're treating people, the way they're not providing food, not providing health care. They do not want members of Congress to see that. And that's why they're working overtime each and every day to stop us from getting in to do our job to provide oversight. What else would you be hiding? Why would you not want members of Congress to get in to do lawful oversight, you know, visits if you don't have anything to hide? They have much to hide. And that is what they're proving. And sometimes not even hiding. You all have seen literally in broad daylight how ICE, DHS, how they treat literally American citizens, how they treat folks who are undocumented here. And they're not going to stop doing that. They're going to continue to be cruel because that is the main point of their agenda.

[00:14:22]>> May I say this? I just want to add to that.

[00:14:25]Let us not forget what administration we're dealing with. One that loves money over anything. One that loves power at the expense of the Constitution. They're detaining people who shouldn't be there.

[00:14:40]Citizens, innocent people. They're detaining even people that perhaps should be there until uh their situation is reconciled, but they're keeping them there longer. And we must remember that the reason that these facilities are staying full filled up and people are being detained longer is because the people that actually own the facilities are donors to Donald Trump. And that's the reason the truth.

[00:15:06]>> Yeah. Uh Congresswoman MacGyver, are you going to have anything? Let's assume that the Democrats win and you're in the majority next year. Are you going to have anything that protects the uh legislative branch and the executive branch prosecuting members for trying to conduct oversight and something that talks about what uh Congresswoman Watson Cobin just brings up, which is this corruption issue? Obviously, this is a grift with regard to people being detained longer, people making money.

[00:15:33]Are you going to have any sort of push for that if the Democrats in the majority next year? Thanks. So really simple answer to your question is absolutely. I mean we've been already having these conversation among members about what we do to be able to protect ourselves from the executive branch no matter if it's Donald Trump or anyone else in office at the time who literally goes after members of Congress for doing their job who don't agree with them. Um and so we're we're working on that. We haven't announced anything yet, but that is something that we've literally been having much conversation on, especially as we continue to see members of Congress and members of the Senate continue to be attacked by this administration.

[00:16:10]>> And also, did you ever get into Delaney?

[00:16:12]Did any of you ever get into Delaney Hall later? Yes, absolutely. That day.

[00:16:16]That day.

[00:16:17]>> That day. Okay. So, since then, it's been a year. Have you seen it since a year?

[00:16:22]>> Yes, multiple times. Yes. You're welcome.

[00:16:25]>> Anyone? That's it. Wrap. Okay. Sorry, guys. That's it. Thank you so much.

[00:16:28]>> Thanks a lot.

[00:16:30]>> Thank you.