Washington, D.C. — Following credible reports of human rights violations at ICE detention facilities, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is pressing the Department of Homeland Security to stop obstructing Congressional oversight.
Today, Sen. Ossoff is leading Senate colleagues in launching an inquiry with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pressing the administration for answers about obstruction of Congressional access to detention facilities.
Since the beginning of 2025, there have been numerous, publicly reported examples of members of Congress and their staff facing obstructed access to ICE facilities nationwide, including to ICE field offices where people are being detained.
Sen. Ossoff is joined by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD).
“Obstructing Congressional access to immigration detention facilities violates Federal law and undermines Congress’s inherent authority to conduct oversight that ensures detained individuals’ human rights and protects Americans from agency waste, fraud, and abuse,” Sen. Ossoff and the group wrote.
“Members of Congress and their staff must be allowed, pursuant to Congress’s inherent oversight authority and as required by Federal law, to access any facility where individuals are held in federal custody to monitor and prevent these abuses and ensure accountability and compliance with standards for detention,” Sen. Ossoff and the group continued.
Today’s inquiry follows two recent reports from Sen. Ossoff’s ongoing investigation into human rights abuses in U.S. immigration detention.
In October, Sen. Ossoff released the second report of his ongoing investigation, which uncovered 85 credible reports of medical neglect, including cases that reportedly led to life-threatening injuries and complications, and 82 credible reports of denial of adequate food or water, including cases that reportedly led to malnutrition or dehydration.
In August, Sen. Ossoff released the first report of his investigation, which uncovered credible reports of abuse of pregnant women and children in immigration detention across the country.
Sen. Ossoff continues working to strengthen oversight of DHS.
In 2024, Sen. Ossoff launched an inquiry with DHS into delays deploying licensed child welfare professionals to assist children who are temporarily in U.S. Southern Border facilities.
In 2022, Sen. Ossoff led an 18-month bipartisan investigation into medical mistreatment of women in U.S. detention, which uncovered that female detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia were subjected to “invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures.”
Also in 2022, Sen. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock pressed the Biden Administration for answers about allegations of sexual assault against women at the ICE Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.
Click here to read the inquiry.
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