This article originally appeared on Minnesota Reformer.
Department of Homeland Security again denied two members of Congress access to the Whipple Federal Building.
U.S. Reps. Angie Craig, Betty McCollum and Kelly Morrison went to Whipple Friday to observe conditions inside the facility where federal agents have been detaining immigrants and citizens.
After more than half an hour inside, Craig and McCollum came out, saying that officials had again denied them access for what they said was their constitutional and statutory right to conduct congressional oversight. Morrison was allowed to go inside, the pair said.
“We have constituents in this facility. We are bound by our duties as members of Congress to be able to check on their health, their safety,” said Craig, who represents the 2nd District in the south and east metro and is leaving the House to run for U.S. Senate.
According to McCollum, whose district encompasses St. Paul, officials told the two members of Congress they wouldn’t be allowed to see the full facility because of a cap of 13 visitors. She added that this ignores the law prohibiting Homeland Security from barring members of Congress from conducting oversight of federal detention centers.
“Their little rule keeping the two of us out is also against the law, and we’re going to speak up, and we’re going to speak out and do everything we can to make sure that the next time we come back, we’re in there to do our duties of oversight,” McCollum said.
Craig said that each time she’s attempted to enter the building, officials have made her sit in a waiting room for a significant time, which makes her suspicious of what staff are doing to prepare the facility for scrutiny.
“What are they doing to get those detention facilities ready before we finally get to go down and look?” Craig asked. “We don’t know, but there should be no way. It is absolute law that members of Congress have the responsibility and right to perform these oversight visits again.”
A federal judge ruled this week that Homeland Security likely broke the law when it stopped members from visiting detention facilities without a week’s notice, and granted a temporary restraining order intended to prevent Homeland Security from breaking the law.
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