ICE hosts House Democrats at two detention centers for oversight visits

Reps. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) and Rob Menendez (D-NJ) are visiting Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, where anti-ICE protesters staged themselves outside the facility starting in May. Similarly, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) is visiting the detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas.It’s unclear why Moore, who represents Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District, is crossing state lines to visit the Kansas facility. The Washington Examiner contacted Moore’s office for clarification. In July, Moore criticized tactical arrests conducted by ICE officers in Milwaukee, which is located in her district. There appears to be no publicly available press release in which Moore has mentioned FCI Leavenworth. It falls under the jurisdiction of ICE’s Chicago Field Office.“The American people deserve to know how their leaders are using their time and resources,” ICE said, adding that it “continues to deliver that transparency.”During their respective visits, ICE said, the lawmakers will meet with various types of detainees, including multiple illegal immigrants facing deportation orders and those deemed flight risks by immigration judges.Mejia fired back at the federal immigration agency for excluding a particular demographic of detainees.“You’ve conveniently left out the chronically ill people begging for doctors, pregnant women denied proper prenatal care, and folks being served food so rotten that they have lasting GI issues,” she wrote. “Of course I’ll continue conducting oversight and exposing this gross medical neglect.”At Delaney Hall, anti-ICE protesters called attention to the reported hunger and labor strike led by detainees inside the Newark facility. ICE publicly disputed the strike’s existence and largely refused to cooperate with New Jersey officials, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ).Sherrill and others were barred from accessing the whole facility, prompting New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to launch a civil rights investigation into the matter.ICE ROLLS OUT TIP LINE TO REPORT COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE FRAUDCongressional oversight has been a source of contention between the Trump administration and House Democrats since last year.Apart from its anti-ICE protests this summer, Delaney Hall was the site where Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) was accused of assaulting and resisting ICE officers in May 2025. The incident resulted in federal charges against her. No trial date has been set as McIver continues appealing to dismiss the case.