Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined Senate colleagues to question the Department of Homeland Security about obstruction of congressional access to detention facilities.
“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,” the senators wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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.
“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,” the senators concluded.
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. In addition to Wyden, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Reverend Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md.
Wyden has been a champion for due process and government transparency. In November, Wyden led his Oregon colleagues to demand answers from the Trump administration questions about reports that the Department of Homeland Security relocated an essential Coast Guard helicopter away from Newport, and is planning to build an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in this small Oregon Coast town. Wyden also called for transparency in light of troubling reports detailing secretive immigration enforcement actions regarding ICE Air Operations, including inhumane treatment of immigrants in government custody. In October, Wyden led his colleagues to demand Trump withdraw National Guard troops from Portland. In September, Wyden conducted an oversight visit at the Portland ICE facility with other members of Oregon’s congressional delegation.
The full letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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